Christmas: family & friends

During the Christmas season we love to remember and be remembered by family & friends.

(Thank you for all of your pictures and notes).

Now that it is January, Kyralyn has used your pics to decorate her room - you are never far from our thoughts!

Each year, as I consider the gifts I would like to give my family I have a strong desire to create something.  What better gift than something made by hand & heart?

I used to make pajamas, sometimes blankets, occasionally ornaments and other fun crafts to give away.

But.............(you can fill in the blank)
 

This year my handmade-with-love-at-Christmas was Raspberry Jalepeno jam (made in September), tags for the Giving Tree & pretty bows on Toblerone bars for our Relief Society activity (thanks to the wonderful Relief Society ladies I get to work with for their help & tools), and this awesome picture book that I made for my parents (thanks Mom for taking the pictures since I forgot!)

Making the deliveries of the Giving Tree gifts

Christmas: the beginning

Our family's Christmas season began in the first part of December with our ward party.

Paul was reffing a game & Dallin had practice so it was really only part of us there to welcome in the season.

Even so, we welcomed it in!

We went over a little early to set up the Giving Tree and wouldn't you know, Santa had just arrived and was getting ready also.  Parker spent the next 20 minutes hovering outside the door & in the hallway trying to peak into what was "really" going on.  He offered to help, but Santa had all the elves he needed.

 We had dinner and got to visit with Santa Claus before we had to leave.

Kyralyn asked Santa for a real phone, then turned to me and asked, "is that ok, Mom?"
 

Santa has also been known to teach Parker's primary class.  That night during his time next to Santa (that's right, not on his knee), he asked for a new primary teacher.

Oh, boy!

12/2/11

Then the season really began to glitter with a visit from Nana & Papa.

They took us all out for a late lunch at Goodwood BBQ, 12/10/11

Thanks for the dishes Mom & Dad! 11/20/11

Parker was given money to help him buy the iPod Touch he was saving for, 12/11/11

Dallin was given an iTunes gift card for his collection of music & apps on his iPod Touch, 12/11/11

Kyralyn was given a little bit of spending money to tide her over until the real gift came in the mail, 12/11/11

Thank you Nana & Papa! 12/13/11

   One particular day in November, Parker came home from school bursting with excitement.

His teacher was shopping the night before, had seen something that reminded him of Parker & told him that he would go back that night to buy it for him.

That day, as he told me about it, Parker couldn't remember what it was; some kind of tester-button thingy.

The next day, all was made clear.

Or was it?

11/10/11

11/10/11

One of the Christmas traditions we love in our family is
Scones & Stories 

Sometime close to Christmas day, the kids are each given a new Christmas story & we make scones.
I read the stories while they enjoy a sticky treat.

Unfortunately it doesn't always work out as planned.

Like this year.

The story was one that followed the German tradition of setting shoes out for 5 days.  It is called The Miracle of the Wooden Shoes.  The kids each got the same story so that they too could set out their shoes to be filled.

Unfortunately time gets away from me pretty quickly during the holiday season & I didn't get the fun shoe activity ready.

We also didn't make scones.

So instead, we all enjoyed the story & a cookie on Christmas Eve.

We've been doing this in some form since Dallin was born.  

Their collections of stories serve as collections of memories for me.

The dark green one is A Christmas Bell for Anya

Some of the stories have such a heartfelt message of love, service & sacrifice for someone else that I get pretty choked up & the tears start to flow.

Kyralyn looks at me and wonders why I'm sad.


Parker watches me and starts to rub his own eyes with a big smile on his face.  


Before we start reading, they all ask me if I'm going to cry .

#12

Happy Birthday Dallin!

Singing Happy Birthday (& keeping Melvin Jr. close by)

Dallin celebrated his birthday on Sunday this year.

That morning he woke us up at 7:30 asking when he could open his gifts.  

He wasn't too thrilled when he had to wait 

(but only a little while longer.)

For breakfast, he ate some of the Key Lime Pie that his sister gave him.

That afternoon at church we were privileged to be together with many family members as the Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon Dallin and he was ordained to the office of a Deacon.

 (Thanks for the picture Heather)

Later that evening, he had his special birthday dinner of his choice:  

Fettucini  Alfredo with Shrimp 

(or as we affectionately call it "Shrimp Pasta").  

We served pie for dessert & he got to blow out his candles that were standing in ice cream.

We played, visited & enjoyed being together.

  
We are so grateful for the love & support of family.

"heavy heavy hang over thy poor head, if it drops, what's it going to be?"

Hugs

Shrimp pasta dinner & Playtime

a picture of dallin at 12:

favorites:
playing basketball outside
Melvin Jr. (his iPod touch)
basketball on the Wii
listening to music
family
watching basketball
reading 
Beverly's homemade bread
playing basketball with Dad at the gym
 the Indy Colts & the NY Jets
dodgeball at school (if all work is completed)
#11
steel-cut oats with brown sugar
texting family & friends
Orlando Magic & Dwight Howard

playing basketball at recess
Wheaties
shrimp
the color purple
friends
wearing shorts


Dear Dallin,
You are a joy to have in our family.
You are responsible & very helpful.
I know that I can count on you.
Thank you for your kindness to your sister.
I love the hugs & "I love you, Mom" that you give me as you leave for school in the morning & and again at bedtime.
I'm glad that you ask me to read to you (since sometimes I forget).
Thank you for announcing to your baby-loving brother & sister that we are having twins.
That simple & extremely random (not to mention false & far-fetched) announcement led to several weeks of laughter & good conversation as a family.
Thank you for the love you show your grandparents, aunts, uncles & cousins.
Your love of family is awesome.
Thank you for not eating us out of cereal, even though you would like to.
Thank you for putting pants on over your shorts to walk to school, even if you do take them off when you get there.  
(just the pants.)
Thank you for the good choices you make.
It is a privilege to be your mother.
Love, Mom

Sparkle

Christmas Showcase, 12/12/11

"With rings on her fingers & bells on her toes, she shall have music wherever she goes."  

This is part of a nursery rhyme that I remember reading to my kids, called "Ride a Cockhorse to Banbury Cross."  It is in the nursery rhyme book from Aunt Katie to Dallin when he was born.  

I think of this phrase often when I think of Kyralyn.  

She loves to sing, dance & sparkle.

She took a dance class with her friend Maloree this past fall.

She learned several different ballet & jazz moves and then performed a Christmas routine so that we could see what she had been learning.

She was so happy out there on that dance floor.

She sparkled.

A few video clips:


The girls showed us a few different dance steps that they've been working on. After the last one Miss Karen told them they could choose what they would like to do. Kyralyn chose cartwheels & twirls.

The girls prepared one dance routine over the last 5 weeks. This is their first go at it during the showcase, in a room much larger than they are used to.

This is the girls' second time doing their Christmas Showcase Routine.

Books

11/22/11

From the time the kids were born Paul & I would read to them.  

When I consider the many things I want to instill in my children, reading is always near the top.

My own love of reading came from watching my parents who are avid readers.

  

I don't remember doing this, but my mom tells me that as a 3 year old I would sit in my closet and read for long periods of time.

  

My kids don't read in their closets, and they never have, but they do love to read.

Our collection began with a few picture books I picked up before we had kids, hoping that someday I would have some children to share them with.

  

They were books I remembered enjoying as a child:  Beatrix Potter, the Giving Tree, the Little Engine that Could, and some Berenstein Bear books.

 

More books came from a friend as we prepared for the birth of our first child; she gave me a large box of picture books that her children had finished using.

  Then Dallin was born just two weeks before Christmas.  

One night Paul stayed home with him while I went out for a little while.  One of the places I went to was the bookstore in the Bozeman mall.  I found a book called The Littlest Angel.  I enjoyed the story so much as I thought of my own little angel at home.  I picked this up for him and thus began his collection of books and a Christmas tradition that continues still today with all the kids.  

He also received Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever from Nana & Papa and a collection of Nursery Rhymes from Aunt Katie.

  We've been collecting picture books ever since. 

A few family favorites through the years, 11/22/11 (the "Ston" is Jon J Muth's Stone Soup)

As the kids have grown, many of their books have become favorites and read many times over.  

When Parker was 2, he was able to retell There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer from memory.  

As a 6 year old, Dallin loved to read Superdog by Caralyn Beuhner & imagine himself a superhero.  

When the boys were very little I would read to them while they were in the bathtub.  Audrey Wood's King Bidgood's in the Bathtub was a favorite read for this activity.  

The Berenstein Bear books have been a favorite of Kyralyn's.

In years past, I would spend many evenings sitting in the hallway, reading chapter books to them as they'd be laying in bed.  

We enjoyed several stories this way:  the Charlie Bone series, the Chronicles of Narnia, & the Chocolate Touch just to name a few.  

We also read during long car rides & sometimes at mealtime.  Fablehaven, Wednesday Wars, & some Harry Potter were enjoyed this way.  

Several weeks ago, we had the privelege of a quiet evening; dinner was cleaned up early, homework & piano practice were done, and Dad was out reffing a game. 

Kyralyn's pile of books from our after-lunch reading, 11/22/11

 I got the kids tucked in a bit early and then spent the rest of the evening reading to each one of them in turn.  

That night I realized that some of the picture books we held on our shelves were a sort of memory of my children's younger days.

Kyralyn still loves picture stories & sometimes chooses books off of Dallin's & Parker's shelves that take me on a walk down memory lane so to speak as I remember reading these same stories to my "little" boys.  

Sometimes they will still let me read picture stories to them but usually we pick up in the middle of a chapter book we are working on:  Candy Shop Wars with Dallin & Wednesday Wars with Parker (he doesn't remember it from the first time we read it several years ago).  

One thing particularly close to my heart is the time Paul takes most evenings to read stories to the kids.  He and Parker are reading 39 Clues, Hardy Boys, or Wierd But True (by National Geographic) while he & Dallin are reading My Side of the Mountain, 39 Clues or Hardy Boys together and many others over the past several years.  This is a favorite time with Daddy, especially as he adds his own unique twists to each story & personalizes many to whichever child he is reading to.

I don't want to forget the kids' favorite picture stories & the memories that come with them as the kids get older and the picture books are used less & less.

So in an effort to remember, I've captured some of the kids' favorites: 

A few of Dallin's, 11/22/11

A few of Kyralyn's, 11/22/11 ("Jamb" is Jamberry, by Bruce Degen)

A few of Parker's, 11/22/11

Some of my favorite picture book authors & illustrators are:

Audrey & Don Wood

Steven Kellogg

Caralyn & Mark Beuhner

Mercer Mayer

Will Hillenbrand

Bill Peet

Holly Hobbie

Jerry Pallotta

Jack Prelutsky

Another family favorite through the years, 11/22/11

Merry Christmas!

12/15/11

Dear all of our family & friends,

I am ashamed to admit that the first thing that goes out the window when the Christmas-craze arrives is the family picture/letter.  The other thing to go are neighbor gifts.  The third thing that goes (sometimes the second) is food.

We love to get all of your family pictures & letters.  Although I may not see many of you often, you are regularly in my thoughts.  As for us, I had hoped to get a nice family picture done this year so I didn't get to putting a card together in November.  But the family pic just never happened quite right.  And in all honesty, I knew that I could "post" a family letter with a quick picture if necessary.  I did intend to write up something of the reflections of our year, a few funnies, and a nice inspired message of hope & Christ-centered love at this time of year.

Instead, Merry Christmas is about all I've got. 

(Oh yeah, and read the gospel of John in the New Testament & 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon which is the account of the prophecies & signs of Christ's birth being watched for by the people on the American Continent, the faith of the believers, and later Christ's visit to these people after his death & resurrection.) 

As for neighbor gifts, I made raspberry-jalepeno jam in September.  So I thought I had that covered.  Just package it with a small thing of cream cheese & a box of Wheat Thins.  Oh, wait.  Not enough jars of jam.  Should have made a third batch.  Oh well.  Pioneer Party's gift bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears are easy to come by.  Shoot, still didn't buy enough.  Oh look, ready-made white chocolate covered pretzels.  Add to a bag of mixed nuts & Clementines & what a nice give-away gift.  Oh, boy.  Still not enough.  Guess we have to pull out the mixer, turn on the oven & start the popper.  Parker made chocolate chip cookies & we shared a favorite snack - homemade caramel popcorn.  Wait, still haven't given local family members anything.  Well, we did share at the white-elephant party & we do get to spend time together & share food at other special family gatherings.  

Had I known that doing neighbor gifts would turn out the way it did, I probably wouldn't have done them! 

But maybe I would have...I do enjoy the work of it all.  But I really enjoy the quick visits during this crazy wonderful holiday time that come with the deliveries.  I am so grateful for so many people in my life who lift, support & love my family & I.  

We just want to share a piece of us with you. 

Of course, I don't want to miss out on any of the goodies that you are sharing either!  (Stop, I'm totally kidding!)

And food?  Yep, with all the goodies coming in who needs regular food?  And all the shopping?  Why bother eating?  Its 3:00 & no lunch yet?  Get your own!  You know where the food is.  8:00 and you haven't had dinner yet?  Oh well.  Go eat a yogurt or an apple.  That's not enough?  Have a bowl of cereal.  Its not really that bad, but I would love for Santa to bring me a few instant meals.  In the true spirit of keeping Christmas (!??!), I have promised my family a real dinner of taco salad (even with taco meat, a rarity in our taco salads - & not for lack of beef!) tomorrow.  Hope we get the table cleared off in time to serve it!

Now, it hasn't been all work the past couple of weeks.  We've taken time to play together.  

Kyralyn's dance showcase was fun to see (for now you can see it on youtube - search for Kyralyns dance showcase).  
We watched a couple of Dallin's bball games.  

We've done lots of shopping.  

The boys had cousin sleepovers.  

Paul coordinated a wonderful Awards Ceremony for Cub Scout Pack Meeting, with a great Arrow of Light ceremony and awesome cookies!  

We had a birthday party (so grateful for a church building to send several 12 year olds to play basketball in -thanks for doing this Paul).  

Paul took the kids swimming.  

Parker & Tylan went swimming the next day.  

We had a family night out watching Daddy ref a game with Greg & Tammy (an adventure as we sat in the mouthy section of the crowd - a bit hard on the ears of the ref's family, but even the kids have learned to be in good humor as they hear the comments yelled out.)  

We enjoyed a meal out with Tanya to Chile's.  Delicious.  And we always love your company.  
We watched the Hale Center Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol - from the front row.  We were all enthralled by the amazing ability of these actors & actresses as well as the stage effects.  
We did a lot more shopping.  
We visited Grandma Locher.  
We got a tree put up this year (after a little bump last year - we used a little fake tree - the ward's Giving Tree - as our own Christmas tree).  
Paul & I even escaped twice for an evening out just us together. 

Phew.....

Its been an amazing Christmas holiday.  
 Filled with family, fun & lots of service.  

(And yes I am very grateful for the service opportunities my Relief Society (in the link you can scroll down a bit for a description of this part of our church) calling provides.  I work with amazing women who believe strongly in the purpose of Relief Society & really make my job much smoother!  I also try to involve the kids where appropriate too.  They are very helpful in carrying food dishes, fielding phone calls, visiting with people, loading up giving tree gifts & folding laundry.)

I hope to sit by the tree, soak in the magic of my favorite holiday album (Boston Pops Orchestra's "Holiday Pops") and sip on a cup of hot cocoa with a mint candy cane stirred in.

Maybe in March.   

We love you all & hope you have yourselves a very 

Merry Christmas!

Remembering Fall

Although Christmas is fast approaching, I wanted to make sure to record some of the other things we've been doing this past Fall.   

In September we went out west of Utah Lake for an afternoon activity.  We drove through fields of sunflowers in full bloom. 

9/10/11

Who says chores can't be fun?  Especially when you have your own music attached to your ears!

11/5/11

Kyralyn held school for some of the neighbor boys on the porch.

11/5/11

11/5/11

During the first several weeks of Kindergarten, Kyralyn's favorite after school activity was to play with a friend.  

She'd sometimes even forget she was hungry so she could get to playing.  

Sometime during the month of November I realized that this had not happened for quite a while.  

She seemed to want some alone time.  

I would often find her immersed in imaginative play of some kind:  being a teacher to her babies & animals, being the "hair-cutter" lady, creating art, or rearranging & decorating rooms in the house.  

One day she called me upstairs and asked me to read to her on her bed of pillows & blankets.  

We took some pictures too.

11/15/11

11/15/11

One of the many things I appreciate in my children is the initiative they often show.  

As a child, at Grandpa Locher's house, he would occasionally ask what certain words meant.  

Initiative was one of these words.  

After I'd stumble trying to get out a definition, he would simply state, "initiative is doing the right thing for the right reason, without being asked."  

But then integrity was close to that too (or maybe I'm just remembering it that way...), "doing the right thing for the right reason even if no one is watching." 

One day I looked outside and found Parker raking leaves.

I did a double-take.

First of all, we don't have a leaf rake.  This meant he must have asked one of the neighbors for the use of theirs.

Second, I had never even asked this of him in any way, shape or form.

I was feeling all warm and fuzzy inside that he would take care of this outside chore for us.  

11/16/11

 A few seconds later I laughed as I realized what he had in mind for the pile of leaves he was building.  

Sounds like the right reason to me for a 9 year old!  

Chalk one up for initiative.

(Sorry for the fuzzy picture.  The settings were all wrong but in my hurry to catch him I just pressed the button!  I pleaded for another chance, but the moment was gone.)

11/16/11

Dallin loves his iPod touch that he bought with his hard earned money!  One morning I found him sharing it with Kyralyn.  

12/3/11

Parker came home one day so excited to get his report card because he had been told that Krispy Kreme gives the kids a donut if they bring in their report card. 

When the report cards came home, we had to give it a try.  

Paul was off in Rangely, Colorado reffing a basketball game and the kids and I decided to head out for the evening.  

With report cards in hand, they walked in to get their donut.

Much to their delight (& my chagrin?), it wasn't just "a donut."  

Oh, no.

Because who can eat only one Krispy Kreme glazed donut?

No, it was "a donut" per "A" on the report card.  

The nice boy at the counter stamped their papers and opened up three boxes.  

Into each box went 6 donuts.

And into 3 mouths went donut after donut after donut.  

(To their credit, the kids only ate 2 that night, AND waited until after church the next day (Fast day) to finish them.)

12/3/11