December 2015

I can't believe 2015 has come and gone. Time just keeps flying by. Here are some of our highlights (and lowlights) of the last month of the year. And... once again the pictures are out of order, which drives me crazy, but it takes too long to move them around so they are just going to have to stay out of order.

At the beginning of the month Dan's brother, Brandon and his wife Brittani and their kids Oakley, Holden and Taylin were sealed in the Manti Temple. It was amazing. It is so emotional to see a family be sealed. I am so grateful for temples and that families can be together forever. I am so happy we were able to be there to witness their family be sealed (luckly, Brittani's sister was able to watch our kids in the hotel room). 

We went up to Manti a night early so Dan could go through the temple with them while they received their endowments. It was a late session so I hung out in the hotel room with the kids. Getting all the kids to sleep at the same time was not fun at all! It was so bad, it was funny. Kami was yelling at Cason to stop touching her and Ellie wouldn't sleep. It was just the normal chaos that goes on at home but we were at a hotel surrounded by other people trying to sleep.  This is how Ellie finally ended up falling asleep. 

This picture was taken at the Beehive Home just down the street from us. Cason tagged along with Dan to mutual to sing Christmas carol's at the old folks home. The kids also sat on Santa's lap at the ward Christmas party but I didn't get a picture so this will have to do. Santa is obviously a BIG deal around our house.

Christmas was absolutely amazing. I am so grateful for this time of year for so many reasons. First and foremost for the birth and life of the Savior and for the peace I feel in my life because of Him. Teaching our kids about Him in the simplest ways really strengthened my belief in and gratitude for Him. I love to see their testimonies of Him grow. I am also grateful to be a mom to little kids at this time of year. They make it SOOO much fun. I love the Christmas season because of them. 

One reason I especially loved this Christmas was that the kids were so grateful for every little present they got. They had no big expectations and therefore were thrilled beyond belief with every present. It was so cute. After Cason opened the presents in his stocking which included a new toothbrush, underwear, socks, candy, soda, and an orange he threw his arms up in the air and yelled, "THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!"  

And Ellie loved crawling around and playing with the wrapping paper! 

Ellie had lots of willing helpers to help her unwrap her presents.  

The only thing he asked for was a remote control motorcycle and Grandpa Tony came through for this happy boy. 

Kami got a new kitchen and has been cooking us delicious food ever since. 

Is it bad that Dan and I love when Kami's little bum crack shows? It cracks us up every time (no pun intended). 

We went through a week of sickness this month. On this particular day it was Kami's turn for a fever. I had so much to do to catch up from sick kids but while Cason was at school and Ellie was napping I decided instead to hold this sweet girl while I still can... and I loved it. 

I posted these two pictures to show what a typical evening or day at home with Dad looks like. They love him. 

So this was definitely a "lowlight" of the month. Poor little Ellie walked up to the fireplace while it was on and planted her hand right on it. I felt (feel) so bad. We didn't even know she could reach it, but she can. She burned her hand pretty bad as you can see. This picture was taken after we got home for the doctor and it really doesn't even do it justice. I couldn't believe how big the blisters got. But we got a prescription for some burn cream and kept her hand wrapped up for about a week and it healed up perfectly. She does have some scars on her palm but it is not nearly as bad as I thought it might be. Ironically it is on the same hand as my burn scars from when I was a little older than her and fell in the camp fire.

I also want to document some of the tender mercy we had during this experience. As soon as it happened I obviously called Dan to let him know what had happened and let him know that I was going to take her to urgent care, I had called our pediatrician and they said to go straight to urgent care. Dan told my parents what happened and while I was driving to urgent care my mom called and asked if I wanted my Dad, who was just leaving town, to come give Ellie a blessing. I said no because at that point I didn't think it was as bad as it actually was. Cason was at school when it happened so when Kami, Ellie and I got to urgent care they informed me that the wait would be over an hour and a half. By this point the pain was really setting in for poor Ellie and she was screaming and I couldn't imagine waiting that long. So I walked down to the pediatricians office and asked very nicely if there was any doctor here that could possibly see her before then. They called Ellie's doctor while he was at lunch and he stopped eating and came right in to see her. We were meeting with him in less than 10 minutes. He gave Ellie some pain medicine and wrapped her hand up and gave us a prescription but through it all it seemed like Ellie was in more and more pain and it was really hard to watch. I was sitting in the office waiting for all these things to happen regretting not asking my dad come give her a blessing. When we were done with the doctor I was pretty shaken up. Then we walked into the waiting room and there I see my dad sitting in his white shirt and tie (which he happened to be wearing anyways). It brought tears to my eyes. He was such a hero to me that day. He helped me with the girls while I scheduled Ellie's follow-up appointment and helped me get them out to the car, where he gave Ellie a healing blessing. I am so grateful that he was in tune with the spirit that day and came to help me even when I said I didn't need it. Because I totally needed it and Ellie needed it too. Her hand healed perfectly which I know is a result of that blessing! I am so grateful to be surrounded by a husband and a dad that are worthy Priesthood holders and are always there and ready to help. 

This was taken the night she got burned. She just needed her Daddy to help her feel better. She wore this little mitt wrap for a few days. We changed it twice a day and reapplied the medicine. I was worried that she would hate it but she actually adjusted to it really fast and never really acted like it bothered her. I was very impressed. She also started walking as her main source of transportation while she had it on because I don't think she liked crawling on her hand. 

I usually do my grocery shopping with Kami and Ellie while Cason is at school. When we were at Costco Kami saw this princess castle and was sold. Its all she wanted for Christmas, but unfortunately it was $500! So She got a castle tent that my mom happened to already have at her house. She was just as happy. 

One day my sister, Erin sent a picture out to our family of the beautiful view of Mt. Timpanogos from her kitchen as the snow was falling outside and everything was peaceful, so I replied with this picture of my view. Luckily things don't get this out of hand on the average day but when you have three little kids this does occasionally happen. I would be a shame to have all these toys and not play with them. This particular mess was made by Kami who couldn't find her little Minnie Mouse toy and emptied every toy bucket in the house searching for it. We found it a few weeks later in Dan's truck.  

While the mess above was being made I went into Kami's room and found Ellie emptying every piece of clothing out of Kami's drawers. Sigh. (As I am typing this Kami just came up to me with blue marker all over her face. My life is a circus!)

This girl is so so so busy. 

But so so so much fun! 

We met Dan at Home Depot one day for some Christmas shopping. We always love an excuse to see Dad during the day. 

When you have left over frosting from making gingerbread houses there is only one thing to do. 

We have this Christmas tradition in our family that my mom started and passed down to us called Rudy. He is a little reindeer that visits every day of the month of December and brings a small treat, toy, game, activity, etc. with cute little cards that have poems my mom made and a scripture. He also brings the pieces to this cute Little People nativity. My kids LOVE Rudy and the nativity, and I love this Christmas tradition. It is so fun. 

On Christmas Eve we did our little nativity play with the kids. My brother Bryan and his family were in town but were skiing so my parents came over with Marcos, who had a cold so couldn't ski. It was cute to watch them act out the birth of the Savior. They took their rolls very seriously. It was really fun to see Bryan and his family, we also got to see the Uhrichs and Simpsons around Christmas. I love being around family and I love watching my kids play with their cousins. I wish I was better at getting my camera out while we're all together to document how cute all the cousins are together. 

Kami was Mary, obviously. She never let baby Jesus and the manger out of her grasp. 

Cason was a shepard, and here he is getting a sweet little hug from the angel. Marcos was a wise man with all his precious gifts. As you can see the costume department (me and my mom) had to get a little creative. 

Our house all set up and ready for Christmas! It was a beautiful sight and made me want to cry just looking at it. Cason woke up at 3 am  yelling that Santa had come and we had a very long 3 hours following that until we would let them actually get up. But they made it to 6 am after a lot of tears and not so much patience (we may or may not have threatened Christmas) but it was totally worth it. 

On Christmas break we made a trip into the Children's Museum in St. George. My mom had never been so we picked her up and brought her along with us. The kids love it there.

We went for a Jeep ride out to the desert one day to do some "rock climbing". It ended up being a little colder than we wanted it too but was still a fun family adventure. 

Dan assisting in the rock climbing.

Sitting on top of a huge boulder. 

Nothing like a bumpy jeep ride put the girls to sleep. It works every time. 

There you have it! December in a nutshell. I am so grateful for this past year. In fact if I had to summarize my year in one word it would be gratitude. I felt like Dan and I learned so much in the last 12 months. It wasn't all cupcakes and roses (I don't take pictures at the low points and therefore those days don't get documented) but luckily we had tons of good times and fun adventures to pull us through the times that were a little more challenging. We had a lot of prayers answered and our testimony of a loving Father in Heaven and Savior grew a lot. I know that they are there for us always and I am so grateful for this wonderful family and life we have been blessed with. We truly are blessed. This year was really hard at times and every time it was hard all I could do was look around and see my blessings, especially the three that make it so challenging sometimes! I love my life and I pray every day that I can live worthy of all that I have been given. I am excited for what 2016 has in store for us!