Christmas

I just wanted to do a quick Christmas post.  I remember every year as a child growing up in the small town of Page, AZ, my Dad would pick a couple families to take Christmas boxes too.  They were usually Navajo families with several children who lived in the trailer park area.  He would buy some of his favorite foods, staple items, and fun treats and toys, and we would help divide the items evenly into  boxes.  We would then go drop the boxes off on doorsteps and drive away.  I loved doing this anonymous service with my Dad. 
I'm always trying to think of ways to get my children to feel how wonderful it is to give, especially around Christmas time when it is so easy to get a greedy mindset.  Last year we did the twelve days of Christmas to a family in our ward with 13 kids.  I was on maternity leave with Grayce then and had the time to make/prepare each days gift.  This year I am working full time and knew that I didn't have the time available to commit to the twelve days of Christmas.
I have a Disney credit card that I use for each months bills (and then pay off at the end of each month).  You get points accumulated through your purchases that can be redeemed in the form of a Disney gift card.  I decided we would use the gift card I'd received to buy a few gifts at the Disney store for a sweet family in our ward who is on a tighter budget.  My boys naturally wanted to keep the gifts for themselves and were a little torn about the fact that we were wrapping them for someone else.  We went and dropped them off on the doorstep and drove off, just like I used to do with my Dad.  She later posted pictures on Facebook of how excited her children were when they found the gifts.  I showed my boys the pictures of the kids and how happy they were, and it made my boys happy.  I felt like they finally got it and it sunk in a little.
I'm not writing this to brag about having done such a small deed, but I hope someday if my boys are reading this and reminiscing on their childhood, that they will remember this and remember the joy that giving brings. 

Look who's walking!

Grayce loved showing off for my Parents her standing and stepping capabilities, and thrived on the attention she got every time she did so.  It was enough that now she is determined to walk everywhere she goes.  It took three days of trial and error, but now she walks like a champ!

More extended family fun!

My beautiful cousin Lindsey got married in the Gilbert Temple this weekend. 

 My dear Grandpa performed the Temple Sealing.

My brother Brian came from Texas, and my Parents from Page, 

and it was so fun having them stay with us!

Reese got to see his favorite cousin Reese. 

The boys had a blast running around with him!

 I love my family so much and am so grateful 

whenever we are able to get together like this!

Thanksgiving in Page

Two peas in a pod:

Hayden helped my Dad rake leaves:

My Dad was impressed with his hardworking dedication.

For being only 3yrs old it's impressive how he sticks with a task till it's done,

and works up quite a sweat doing it!

 

Grayce got lots of Grandma time :)

We went on a post-Thanksgiving hike to the toadstools:

This hike is becoming a tradition. 

This last pic became our Christmas card:

My Mom made ham along with the turkey this year.  

It was moist and tender and the best ham I've ever had.

 Hayden loved it and kept asking for more "pink turkey".

2nd cousins!

My cousin Jamie was passing through Phoenix on their way to CA for Thanksgiving.

Her cute family was able to stay with us on the way too, and from, and it was such a blast. 

We loved having them.  My two boys had an especially fun time.

Hayden & his "dumbells"...

 

The funniest thing about Hayden's pretend dumbbells (which he makes), is that he grunts and grimaces when he's lifting them like they weigh a hundred pounds.  And the only person I can think of that he gets the grunting from is my Dad, who uses a couple of weights with his evening exercise routine.  Funny kid!

 

School Pictures

Reese -5yrs old:

 Hayden -3yrs old:

Grayce's 1st Birthday!

 Our sweet Grayce turned 1yr old on Nov 7th.

 Bye bye cake!

She is getting so close to walking.  She can stand up on her own,

but still prefers crawling at top speed to get around. 

She's learned how to climb up, and scoot down the stairs.

Grayce is a sweet, happy, loving, bundle of joy.

The only time she ever gets a little feisty is if someone is eating something she would like to sample,

then she lets out a few grunts and squawks, or if she wants your phone -same thing. 

She gives the sweetest little hugs where she tucks her head into you, holds on with her arms, and presses in tight.  

She is bright eyed, curious, and a bit of a tease.

She can say Dadda (first word), Mama (rarely though), and Night night.
She says "De Du" for Thank you, and "Doya" for dog. 

She'll point at me and say "Dadda" with this little glint in her eye, 

so I'll tickle her and say, "No! I'm your Mama! Say Mama."

Then she'll laugh, get her little pointer out again, and say "Dadda."  
Edward claims she knows a bunch more words, but I've yet to hear them. 
Everything sounds like "Da-da daaa" to me. ;)

She has the most charismatic infectious smile.

She sleeps with her three middle fingers in her mouth and it is adorable.

Happy Halloween!

The boys love their Ironman and Transformer costumes 

and have been wearing them all month long. 

Reese won a mustache as a prize.  He really wanted it so he could look like Mario.
I explained that it was more of a cowboy mustache, so he obliged me with the getup.

 Grayce was "BOO-tiful" for Halloween.

I bought her a cute zebra costume for Halloween, but even though it's size 6-12months, it's way too big for her.

  She's sucking on a lollipop and when I tried to take it away for the picture -she threw a fit!

 Reese's preschool Halloween pic. (Hayden's class didn't take one).

I was a bunny at work.  I even had a cotton tail pinned to the back of my scrubs.

One scary scarecrow...

Reese learned this story in school...
The words are: One pair of shoes go stomp stomp.

                         One pair of pants go wiggle wiggle.

                         One shirt goes shake shake.

                         One pair of gloves go clap clap.

                         One hat goes nod nod.

                         One scary pumpkin goes Boo! Boo!

                         And the scary scarecrow scares all the birds away.

This sandbox was in place when we bought this house, but the sand was so depleted and packed down it was like concrete.  I had wanted to fill it up with sand again for some time, and finally had some surplus in my budget to do so.  I had 4 tons of sand delivered to my driveway.  Edward had thrown out his back, so I shoveled and hauled all the sand from the driveway to our back yard using that nifty mac daddy wagon pictured below.  It was quite a workout, but oh so worth it.  The kids have been enjoying the sandbox every day.

Now the wagon comes in handy for hauling kids around in ;)

Craft room

So our house came with another empty -too small to be a room, but bigger than normal closet- downstairs.  

This one I turned into my craft room.  When the boys were tiny they got into it one time while Brian was babysitting them, and it's been a growing mess the last few years.  I finally got around to organizing it and now I love going in there!  I even made Grayce some hair-bows for her Birthday yesterday. :)

Toy closet

There aren't very many projects of mine that turn out successful,

but one of the few accomplishments I am very pleased with is this toy closet.

It was just a plain white empty itty-bitty room when we moved in.

We used to tease Brian when he lived with us, that if he got grounded 

that'd be his new room, and he'd have to sleep sitting up. ;)

(the room is about the length of Brian's legs.)

I painted the walls, and changed the ceiling fixture so there's more light.

I bought the wood and L brackets for the shelves at home depot.

The measurements were so precise, that if the cut had been off by even an 1/8th of an inch

 the pieces wouldn't have fit at the corners, so I know the Lord blessed the old gentleman

who cut my wood with steady hands and a sharp eye.

The gentleman who cut my wood the next visit was not as precise,

but luckily those were just the thin support strips for under the shelves, 

and I was able to correct his measurements with my dinky little handsaw at home. 

I painted and installed the shelves myself.

I measured this IKEA shelf and it looked like it would fit perfectly against the side wall,

but I forgot to take into account the baseboards at the bottom -which took away about an inch of space.

So I had to modify the end of the shelf with a thinner piece of wood so it would fit, 

Again I got the wood from Home depot, and painted it to blend in with the rest of the shelf.  

Honestly I dream of these shelves being filled with books, but for now

this closet works great to store the kids toys since it is right in between the boys and Grayce's room. 

 Another project I am proud of is hauling 4 tons of playground sand from our driveway to 

our sandbox in back all by myself...but I'll post more about that later. :)

She's getting to be a busy girl!

Grayce figured out how to open the cash register...

Baking pumpkin cupcakes...

Somebody "Booed" us and we got a fun bucket of Halloween surprises.  This package of cupcake mix and Halloween sprinkles was the boys favorite part.  It made for a fun evening =) And then we got to "Boo" somebody the next night.

Attitude adjustment

This week in the Pathway program we studied 1 Nephi 15-22.  One thing that really stood out to me was Nephi's attitude while bound on the boat as they were journeying across the sea.  In 1 Nephi 18: 15-16 he says,

"And it came to pass that we were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea. And after we had been driven back upon the waters for the space of four days, my brethren began to see that the judgments of God were upon them, and that they must perish save that they should repent of their iniquities; wherefore, they came unto me, and loosed the bands which were upon my wrists, and behold they had swollen exceedingly; and also mine ankles were much swollen, and great was the soreness thereof.

 Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions."

By this point Nephi had been beaten and bound by his brothers several times in the past already, and thinking of myself in that situation I would no doubt be remembering all the prior beatings added to the current one and feeling sorry for myself, feeling that my life was so very hard and full of so much injustice...and on and on.  But Nephi is able to feel gratitude even in the midst of his trials, which is so wonderfully amazing and humbling.  

In our Pathway group we talked about why the Lord allowed Nephi to remain so tightly bound in this instance when in the past He had loosed his bands.  We came to the conclusion that it was for Laman and Lemuel's benefit -not in their seeking for revenge -but in The Lord's attempts to teach them.  He had already tried sending an Angel to speak to them, shocking them, proving to them that he would provide a way for them to get the plates, get food in the wilderness, and build a boat to cross the sea, and none of those methods got through to them because they once again hardened their hearts.  

In 1 Nephi 18:11 it says, "
"And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel did take me and bind me with cords, and they did treat me with much harshness; nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it that he might show forth his power, unto the fulfilling of his word which he had spoken concerning the wicked."

 and then in 1 Nephi 18:20 it says, "And there was nothing save it were the power of God, which threatened them with destruction, could soften their hearts..."  

 I am humbled and inspired by Nephi's example. I hope to find gratitude in  my trials and trust in the Lord and not complain!

Pathway Program

I signed up for the Pathway program through BYU-I.  For those -like me- who have never attended a Brigham Young University, the Pathway program offers a way for me to be eligible to eventually get a degree online through BYU.  The Pathway program is 3 semesters long consisting of an academic class coupled with a religious studies class (Institute) each semester, totaling 15 credits upon completion of the program.  Once I have completed the program I can apply to BYU's distance learning program and choose from one of their 12 on-line Bachelors degrees to pursue.  The Pathway courses themselves are on-line, but we also meet every Thursday night at an Institute building with other students in the program, and teach one another.  These meetings are led by an elderly missionary couple.  Our missionary couple are the Estes's, and they are the sweetest cutest couple ever.  I fell in love with them immediately.

Some people (namely my parents) think I am a little crazy to be signing up for school right now when I am also working full time, have 3 little kids, and am busy with my calling in Young Women's.  I have long been pursuing the idea of getting my bachelors degree.  I would like to be able to teach at one of the Dental schools some day.  And the Pathway's program offers a very financially feasible opportunity towards getting a degree ($60 a credit hour, vs say NAU which is $360 a credit hour for their on-line bachelors program).  I even looked into the Pathway's program a couple years ago, but hit a couple road blocks and decided it wasn't quite right.  This time however, as I revisited the program, doors opened for me and I felt really good about the decision.

I talked one of my co-workers (also a hygienist) into doing the program with me, and I'm starting to suspect that the timing of the program is more for her benefit than for mine.  If I dropped out and didn't finish (which I won't), I would still feel good about having started just for the fact that it helped get her in the program.  She is a convert to the church and has a lot of faith, and would like to have more gospel knowledge.  She is a dear friend to me and becoming ever dearer as I get to know her spiritual side.  It gives me great joy to see her testimony shine in such a spiritual atmosphere.

One of our assignments for my Institute class is to share what I have learned this past lesson through some form of media outlet, such as a blog.  So my next post will be dedicated to that topic.

Big Brothers