Happy New Year's Eve! Corey and some kids are out celebrating with friends, and I'm home with a cough with a few sick kids. But it's ok - it's giving me a chance to review this past year, and it's been great. Here's some of the highlights for our family in 2021 - vacations and trips, ski and bike outings, kids birthdays, and lots of other family fun:
Kid group photo in April before Joseph and Hyrum left for Philly
...and the most exciting news of 2021 that we shared with the kids on Christmas Eve is that they are getting a little sister in May! We are looking forward to meeting her in 2022! We are also excited for 2022 because Melodie will be returning from her mission in March, and Ethan will come home from his mission at the end of June. We are looking forward to all the memories we will make together in this new year!
I don't know who grabbed my phone today, but this is the only picture on my camera roll. I might be putting dishes away.
I'm either holding a bag of goldfish crackers or almond crackers in the silver bag. Lately I have been craving cheese and crackers. My weight this month has gone from 145 to 152. We've been laying low here. Some of us have sore throats and stuff. Corey was sick on the 21st last week with a fever after his covid booster shot. That same day Joseph went skiing with Wes and a cousin Seth. Seth's brother Isaac decided to come over and hang out, which we wouldn't have minded except that after he got here, he had a cough. Not totally out of control, but coughing (like sneezing) is the new leprosy and we were like "Uh... should you be out in public?" aka "Unclean! Unclean!" At the end of the day I took him to front runner to take the train home, and I think from my being in the car with him, as he continued to cough, on that 20 minute drive, I was exposed and I think that is what got me sick. I've had a sore throat and cough. Daniel and Sophi have too. Corey told Isaac that day "I'm gonna be mad if you ruin our New Years Eve plans!!" and it looks like that might be happening for some of us. Plans are to go up to the cabin on New Years Eve and enjoy a day of skiing on New Years Day, but we'll see who makes it. I did a Costco run today to get stuff for our food contribution at the cabin
Not much else to report for now. School starts on Monday, back to carpool. life, and routine. Speaking of routine, Joseph me this definition that he learned today. It was shared in context of taking care of the elderly and people with Alzheimer's or dementia, but I think toddlers suffer from this too! The word is sundowning. "Sundowning: When a person gets restless and agitated in the late afternoon, evening, or night. Maybe be caused by hunger or fatigue, a change in routine or caregiver, or any new or frustrating situation. Some effective responses to sundowning are: Remove triggers, give snacks or encourage rest. Avoid stressful situations, limit activities. Play soft music. Set a bedtime routine and keep it. Give a soothing back massage. Distract the resident (in our case toddler) with a simple calm activity like looking at a magazine." Anyway, I'm going to try some of these tips with our little boys and their sundown runaround!
Oh, one other item from this past week. A text exchange between Corey and I on Monday... Corey asked "still OK if Rafael's mom comes and visits us for some weeks/months and comes to Nauvoo and stays for conference?" My reply - "Yes (months?)" Corey: "(since your having another baby and I haven't even traveled?) August 8th (when Nauvoo starts) until after Conference in October?" So we're having a guest, but I am pregnant, so I guess since it goes along with the verbal agreement we made, (end of this post - me on not one of my best days) haha.
Yesterday we received a Christmas package from Brazil! Thank you Mel! Wesley worked last night so Corey saved it until today when we were all home. Inside were lots of treats and a letter to each person in our family. Peter reading his letter - Mel drew him some pictures!
Everyone reading their letter - and excited to have the BIS treats
Owen was able to read most of his letter on his own! He just needed help with the words "practicing" and "few". I like Mel's disclaimer at the end next to her drawing of her and Owen -
"Wesley, if you're reading this don't judge my poor drawing skills, It's late here and I'm tired" - haha
It was a lazy day at home. When I took this picture, I said "Joe, have you been in your pajamas all day?" and he admitted that he had been. But today was the last lazy day. Tomorrow we gotta clean up and kids have to remember how to contribute to the world. I guess a lot of the kids have been sick with coughs and sore throats, but they gotta get better so that we can all go up to our friend's cabin for New Years Eve. If anyone is sick, I've volunteered to stay home, cause I could catch up on the blog and cause Corey would do a better job getting everyone skiing (everyone who is not sick). Corey and I went out on a date tonight to Braza Grill. We went tonight cause we're going to miss this Friday night because of New Years at Brighton, and cause we missed last week cause of Christmas Eve. I hope the kids all feel better and that we make it up to the party.
For Christmas, Joseph got two gifts for his siblings - one is a family card came for us to play, and the other one was a movie ticket for each kid to go see Spider-Man! Peter loved it the most - there were three Spider-Man's flying around in the fight scene at the end! Wow!
I didn't get to enjoy Peter's cuteness, cause he was sitting by Wes, but I saw a little bit at the end. He was mesmerized.
Joseph invited his Aunt Nancy and her kids to come, so that was fun. 11 tickets for us and 3 for them - we took up the whole row.
Visiting after the movie. Some of the kids have been coughing, but no fevers. They wore mask in but I didn't see if they kept them on. But I didn't notice any coughing during the show, so that was good that it seemed to be under control. As one of my sisters said recently, coughing is the new leprosy, and you just feel like everyone is scared of you for being unclean. I thought that was a good way to describe it!
Wes and Peter talking about SPIDER-MAN!
Back at home after the movie and talking to Hyrum -
Peter looked pretty funny in these pictures. He's go great eyebrows.
Nothing else to report for today, other than the kids did practice music before we went to the movie, so that was good. They asked to play the Wii a lot, but I said no. Yesterday was a kinda recovery day for Corey and I - he did a little bit of work and did some returns, I tried to clean a bit, and Abi took down the trees and all the Christmas decorations all by herself! She took a nap before she was had finished, and that's ok.
I wouldn't have minded if they stayed up for a few more days, I just wanted them down before the kids were back in school, but she decided to just get it all done, so yeah, thanks Abi! She put up all the decorations and took them all down. She's amazing. It'll be nice to have the front room back to normal. Monday we let the kids play the Wii for one last time. I actually said no, but Owen pleaded "Dad said we could play on Monday..." so I said fine, but this is the last Wii day. Actually, if Corey wants to let them have a little more time playing that is his decision, but I'm sick of it and the constant requests to play it. It has too strong of a hold on their brains and they can't think of anything else to do. I told Daniel today, after one of the many times that he asked to play "Why don't you go play with some of the toys you got for Christmas?" to which he replied with a wallowing cry of "Noooooo..." So, Corey, we can maybe save ourselves a lot of money and hassle next year by just skipping gifts for the some of the kids altogether!
Merry Christmas. It's been a Christmas of all the usual Christmas traditions: Tradition 1 - Last night the kids all slept slept under the tree -
Joseph got a blow up mattress (that had folded in on him like a burrito by morning) - Owen next him, then Natalie and Sophi -
and on the right side of the tree, we've got Wes up top, D below with his face in his pillow, Lily with her pink blanket over her head, and Abi on the loveseat.
I woke up at 4:20 to set out presents. Tradition 2 - The kids had set out a treat for Santa: cookies, an orange, and water.
I was grateful for the p.s. reminder to be careful with the tree (it needs a new base). Corey was feeling sick so I did it by myself, which is also becoming a tradition! It was fine though - took me an hour, which was also when Peter woke up, so good timing there. Tradition 3 - Corey did most of the wrapping and did a beautiful job.
Just past 5 am and we're ready to go. I woke up later that I do most years, but the kids were up really late playing the Wii and I begged them to go to sleep but they wanted to play and then clean up. I said fine, but absolutely NO setting alarms for 3 am! Cause I won't be done by then, they agreed.
Corey had bought eggo waffles and nutella for breakfast. I didn't have any, and I don't think the kids did either since they were already full from Tradition 4 - going to town on the chocolate goodies that were in their stockings. Tradition 5 - talking to our missionaries! We've got three this year! We were on the phone for a bit and then hooked them up to the side room big screen. They said it doesn't really feel like Christmas where they are, and that they had a semi normal missionary day of street contacting and proselytizing.
Joseph laughed as he remembered in 2019 when they wanted to be done talking to him so they could get back to playing Smash Brothers. Some of the little kids were like that today, but the big kids are learning and we barely outnumber the little ones, so it was good and they sat patiently while we visited. Mel only had 30 minutes, so we were glad they could all call at the same time. After Mel had to go, we said goodbye for a bit (we talked to E and H again later) and we went to open family gifts. This was funny, as usual. Owen had taken any random thing and wrapped it for people. With his limited resources, he really has the spirit of Christmas. He gave Joseph a Book of Mormon, which is one of the greatest gifts anyone can receive! He gave Sophi a small turtle that he took off of Abi's desk. He took a black cat of Lily's, that was in her room, and wrapped it and gave that to her. It was pretty funny. Owen used up a lot of wrapping paper this past month. He'd wrap things, then unwrap them cause he couldn't contain his excitement at seeing all those gifts under the tree, and then go get something else to wrap. We had to lock up the wrapping paper and tape to try to conserve resources before they used it all! Wes bought Peter some little dinosaur cars that he looked up on the computer just for fun, and once Peter saw them he couldn't stop talking about them, and when Wes was at this computer, Peter would come up and ask to see the Dinosaur Cars. Peter was very happy.
He got a lot of dinosaurs and a lot of cars today, but Wes came through with the hybrid of both!
After the family gifts, we went over to the white tree for gifts from "Santa". Owen was the only one that got legos, so that was new. Lily was kinda in a transition year, against her will, and Corey got her mostly clothes and jewelry. Plus he gave her a early gift of a new saxophone clarinet case a few months ago that was expensive and he told her it was part of her Christmas, so it was ok, but she was a little disappointed.
Daniel opening a remote control car.
Peter was very content with his Dinosaur cars.
Abi was very happy with the Chacos that Corey found her.
Wes was easy to shop for since he has discovered hockey. He probably go the biggest haul this year.
We felt justified with him though, since we kinda needed to make up for 2019 when he got a block of wood. Abi was happy, Sophi and Natalie too. After gifts, they played a little bit of the Wii, and then around 1:30 we headed out to go to Wrides. Hyrum called again while we were on our way there. We had lunch over there and opened presents.
Ethan called tonight after we got home. I called my mom after we got home around 6 for a visit. I was feeling a bit tired and so I went to lay down for a bit, now I'm on duty and it's Corey's turn to take a break, and we'll see if I have any luck trying to get them to go to bed tonight! We have church early tomorrow, so hopefully they'll cooperate.
Tonight we are headed up to Layton to hang out with Corey's side of the family for our annual Wride Christmas Eve party. We've hosted the party once, and it's been at his parents house, but usually we go to Corey's brother's house in Layton. That was the case for this year. But yesterday I told Corey that I did not want to go if I had to try to hid my tummy and the fact that we are expecting again. I think I was able to hide it ok enough over Thanksgiving and at Park City, and then again at the Curtis Family gathering, and after that I figured I was home free, since I was not planning on seeing anyone until Christmas. Which would work out since Corey wanted to wait until Christmas to tell the kids and his family. But then we were invited over for Wayne's birthday on the 5th... I wore a big sweatshirt and sighed "Ok... I can probably maybe hide it one more time..." but now here we are a few weeks later again and I am definitely showing enough that I can't hide the truth anymore. So I told Corey I would not be going to the festive gathering tonight with his family unless we acknowledged what I felt would be obvious to the adults present. He said it was ok, so we decided to tell the kids first and then they'd share the news with everyone tonight. JW&A already knew, as do all our missionaries, but it was time to clue LSNODP in. We were waiting until the gender check ultrasound, which was this past Monday, and if it was a girl that would be extra fun, since Lily, Sophi, and Natalie have ALL been telling us separately for the past few months that they want a little sister. Lucky for them, we just found out on Monday that it is a girl. Here she is doing a little "put your hands in the air" celebration waving at them.
After the ultrasound on Monday, I went by Zurchers and got present for Peter, and a pack of gender reveal pencils, then by Kid to Kid for a little outfit. We called the kids together today before we left for the party for Peter to open his present. It was a hat that says "Coolest Big Brother Ever!"
We thought that would be enough to share the news, but the girls didn't get the hint. Video below ~
So they didn't know until Corey whispered in their ears that Peter's hat might mean that I am pregnant... And then we got the surprised expressions we were going for and a lot of excited gasps!
Lily - "If this is a joke I am going to be so mad!" It's not a joke, and when they asked if it was a boy or girl, I had them look at the bag of something behind my back. Yes, it's a girl!
They are all excited. The girls have been waiting for another girl for a few years. They were a little upset when they found out Peter was a boy, (Lily's sad expression at 1:55) but he has not been a disappointment at all, so if it was a boy, we would be totally happy with another cutie like Peter...
Even if he does have the creative bad habit of snipping ornaments off of the tree!
My little Charlie Brown ornament, that I bought cause it looked like my little toe head Owen ,has had his string clipped at the roots... not sure how I'm going to fix that yet, it made me laugh. Peter makes a mess but he can do no wrong. So, yeah, the kids are excited for a girl though. There was jumping up and down and cheering. We are happy too and feeling humbled at our abundant blessings. It will be fun to share our joy with others. Joseph it out doing some last minute shopping, the kids are killing time playing the Wii again, and we'll go up to Layton after he gets back. Exciting news.
And now it's 10 pm and we're back from the party. I liked these lights that they had up - "Oh what fun it is to WRIDE!" haha, funny! We had a taco bar dinner, and there was a hot cocoa bar and lots of desserts.
After dinner we held the family talent show.
Then we played some reindeer games - how many candy canes can you grap -
...and throw the ring over the reindeer antlers -
Peter wearing a Rudolph nose that Lily won - in pinned down his cute ears, haha.
Then we had one ball for the saran wrap game. It seemed to help it be less crazy than years past.
One thing that was really funny there was watching the little boys play. Owen and Daniel both were very dutifully rolling the dice over and over again - not knowing that they were supposed to be watching the dice for if they got doubles. They didn't know the object of the game, but they were trying hard. It was also funny to watch Joseph - several times it was taken from him as soon as he got it.
It was especially funny in that clip above, cause it had taken him so long to roll doubles (starting at :48) - like over 25 rolls! and then Isaac got doubles and took it right away (1:20). His resigned expression was great. That's life sometimes, huh! After the games, we watched a video presentation that Wayne had, while he read the scriptures from the Bible and then we sang along with carols and hymns for each one. Snuggling with Peter as we listened.
Christ is the reason for the season. I didn't do the Light the World stuff this year, as I've just been trying to survive from some lingering morning sickness, but I do feel the peace of Christ when I hold my kids. I'm grateful to be a mother. My family is His greatest gift to me.
Corey wanted to go skiing today, but my only goal for the day was to mail our missionaries their Christmas packages. I was not ready to ship them yet, cause I still didn't have any letters from their siblings. I've been waiting for the kids to each write letters, but only Lily did it, but it was crunch time, and I had to send them today or else, so one sibling letter was all they got (and a note from me). Super late, I know, but atleast I could tell them that they were sent before Christmas. They definitely won't arrive before Christmas, and for Hyrum that's ok, cause he said it's been torture to just look at and not open the gifts grandma sent. Ethan's will hopefully be there in two weeks, and Mel's might never arrive... the Brazil mail system is not reliable. So I didn't sent her anything valuable, it was a small box with mostly chocolate, and cost me $30 to ship, which is stupid, but hey, trying to be festive and supportive. She is going to be home in March, so we'll see if it gets there before she's on the plane home. I got those off around 10, and then we went skiing. Corey bought a parking pass, so we weren't that worried about being late. Little Peter read to go!!
Joseph came up and joined us, which was fun! Cute little Peter walking through the slush.
It was kind of a warm temperature - the warm before the storm, cause there was a storm blowing in. We don't mind cause we all have goggles this year, yay. We learned from our experience at Jackson Hole that goggles can make the difference between a good and bad experience. Today was good, not too icy. In line for the lift - Corey in the back with Peter and I think Natalie was with them, I had Daniel with me, Joseph in front next to Sophi in pink, and Abi in black next to her in black.
Wes didn't come, so he could try to catch up on homework and he had work, and Lily had to babysit, so they both stayed home. Abi, Sophi, Joseph -
It was a good time. We did a few runs and then stopped for lunch. It seems like the kids usually ask when we're stopping for lunch on the first or second runs of the day. They are lucky their father cares.
Corey makes pb&j sandwhiches, packs cans of pringles, and gets a thermos of hot chocolate ready every ski morning. I bring along a baggie of dried fruit and nuts. If it were up to me, we'd all just squirrel away a bag of food in our pockets and call it good - we wouldn't even have to stop and sit, we could just nibble on the chairlift. So yeah, they are grateful their father takes the initiative and we don't have to resort to my default.
Cute Natalie and Peter
After lunch, ready to hit the slopes again.
I was on Daniel duty, and he and I took a right and went down Pasty Marley on one of our last runs. The next time he wanted to show it to Natalie. But she went a little faster and ahead of us and missed the turn to Patsy and was down on Crooked Mile. Daniel took the right turn for our plan, but I called after him that we had to go the other way with Natalie. He started to come and went down a small hill -
and after he was down, he said he wanted to do Pasty and wouldn't come. But he couldn't go up. He collapsed on the ground in protest. I was getting frustrated.
So Natalie hiked up and then I tried to hike up the hill with my skis and pull Daniel up which was kinda impossible and I was heev-ing and ho-ing and almost cursing it was so exhausting and difficult to move him. It took us like 15 minutes, Sophi and Abi zipped by asking what we were doing. I'm just making myself angry. We finally got up to Patsy and went down that way, which isn't even as fun as Crooked Mile anyway. It was a blizzard.
And after that last run, I was done, and that was ok cause it was time topack up and go home anyway. Corey and the kids were staring to load up in the car. Peter peeking out of and then hiding back in his bula.
Making Owen laugh.
Time to head home. We weren't stuck in much traffic. Good ski day. Corey thought we'd all go ski on Christmas Eve, cause it's a tradition, but we have a family party tomorrow so today worked out well. Now the kids are all excited to focus on the holiday. Christmas is so close!! Hooray
