Christmas was great! We loved it but because I don't want to write everything again, i'll just copy and paste from my journal and post some pics. Happy Holidays everyone!

"We had the most wonderful Christmas! It was really great just being with our little family. It was less hectic and calmer but still exciting and fun. We were able to just focus on family traditions we want to establish in our family instead of going back and forth between families. We could take things at our own pace. On Christmas Eve we had a relaxing morning. We ate a nice breakfast together and then Benny and Ephraim helped shovel our neighbors’ driveways with Nathan while Asher and I did a little shopping for our shepherds’ meal and then I came home and made gingerbread dough. Next, we all went sledding and the boys had a great time. It was so fun seeing them laugh and enjoy themselves. Even Asher loved it. He went solo down the hill in fact. We just laid him on his back on the sled and let him go. He wasn’t scared or anything. Then we came back home and the boys watched a short BBC nature video while I made the gingerbread cookies and prepared our shepherds’ meal. We spread out a blanket and dressed up like shepherds in sheets and pillow cases. The boys loved it. I told stories about how I had fought off a wolf and lion to protect my sheep and tried to just have sheep talk in general. Benny was a shepherd at first but decided it would be a lot more fun to be a sheep. Ephraim was a sheep from the beginning and Asher was just excited that the food was on the floor at his level. Then I got a white sheet and pretended I was an angel declaring good tidings of great joy about the Christ child. Then Nathan took the boys “traveling” (to the kitchen and back) to see the baby Jesus. I snatched Asher up and positioned myself to be Mary holding the baby Jesus (Asher) and Nathan and the boys came and knelt pretending to worship Jesus. It was so much fun. I love that tradition of the Shepherds’ meal. Afterwards we got in the car and went Christmas light looking. Ephraim was so excited and pointed out every house that had lights, no matter how few. Our last stop was the nativity scene at the temple. When we got home, we told the boys that peek-a-boo snowman had left them a gift under the tree. Also, Kassie and Jared had left each of the boys a gift too at our door step. So they got to open two presents that night. Our gifts were Christmas pajamas to sleep in that night and Kassie and Jared had gotten them some cool Spiderman shirts and underwear. The boys were very excited. After we put them to bed, Nathan and I got to work wrapping their gifts and stuffing their stockings. It was fun just being together and preparing for Christmas, like a date. We ended the night by drinking a glass of sparkling cider together and talking about how excited we were to watch the boys open presents. It was truly a wonderful and magical day together as a family.

Christmas morning started with Benny coming into our room and telling us the night was just too long and he was tired of sleeping. He snuggled with me till Ephraim woke up and then we all got up and the boys changed out of their diapers. After we had changed Asher too, we were finally ready to go downstairs! The boys were enthralled at the sight of the beautiful Christmas tree with all the presents lying underneath. As I had planned though, I didn’t want to just go straight to opening presents. I wanted to take a moment to bring our focus to Christ. I could see that the boys were very eager to open presents though so I decided that it would be best to cut out the song. Their attention was waning fast. I bore my testimony first and then Nathan did. He then offered a prayer of thanksgiving for all our many blessings and then the opening of presents began. In no time, the floor was covered in wrapping paper and the content of stockings. It was delightful. The boys were excited about receiving all their gifts. They were so good and grateful. I was so happy that they were having a fun time. Nathan and I just watched them and soaked it in. Then when they were done with their presents, we opened ours. The boys also opened Asher’s presents since he really didn’t know what was going on. He just liked walking through the carnage and picking up whatever he fancied. We cleaned up a bit and Nathan made crepes while the boys played with their new toys. After our delicious breakfast, I went upstairs and tested out my bath beads that Nathan had given me. It was luxurious and so relaxing that I got out of the tub with a twinge of regret. It was time for us to go to the bishop’s house for our Christmas dinner, a very early Christmas dinner (he had invited us when we went in for tithing settlement). When we arrived we found Ceasar there to our surprise and delight. Apparently he had some kind of connection to them through one of his roommates or something.  Sister Lovell had cooked up such a delicious Christmas dinner. It really hit the spot. Another couple from our ward was there too, along with three of their children (two daughters and a son). After dinner we played games and talked and had dessert. The whole time was thoroughly enjoyable, every minute. The Lovells were such gracious and sweet hosts and it felt like being with family. When we left, Sister Lovell sent us home with crackers, and a cheese ball and a wrapped gift. They were so kind. Christmas day was truly as beautiful and magical as the day before".  

 Sledding!

 Our Shepherds meal

 Opening presents right after christmas light hunting on Christmas Eve

 Christmas morning!

 Trying to get a picture of all the boys with their dinosaur hats but Asher has other plans

 We gave up on Asher

 Asher's first chocolate Santa

Art and Christmas memories

 I just wanted to show off some of Nathan's work in his ceramic class. This is my vase he made me. It was the first thing I requested him to make when he asked. I think it's the perfect size for our little table.

 So this one is my favorite, the colors are beautiful but they're kinda bleached out in this picture. It was made using a different type of method in order to get the cool crackle effect. The only down side is that it doesn't get sealed when this method is used so you can't put any liquid in it, just dry stuff, which is just fine since it is a cookie jar after all.

 This is his first pitcher that he made. Nathan has been trying a lot of different colors with glaze and I think they're such eye candy. I love colorful ceramic ware. It seems like so many times, people chose some dull, sandy color. I don't know why, maybe they want to make sure everything will always match but as for me, bring on the color!

I had to throw these little puppies in. These are the German stars that my mother taught me to make growing up. They're the perfect, poor mans decoration because all they take is craft paper and hot glue, which are two things I have a supply of, and they look cute and classy. Every year I make them around Christmas time without actually planning to. This year, as I was rummaging through my craft box for something, I saw the craft paper. Seeing craft paper doesn't usually remind me of German stars but since the Christmas season was upon us, I instantly thought of German stars and my mom and just then I ached to make them. I wanted to get my hot glue gun out right then and start folding and cutting but I couldn't with the boys around so I resolved to do it soon when the kids were in bed. I realized that they just weren't a cute Christmas decoration to me, they were a memory of my mom and the very act of folding and cutting and gluing brought me back to the Christmases spent at the table by my mom helping her make all those stars. Thinking about my mom brings lots and lots of memories but I think one particular memory sums up my mom nicely in my mind. I was just a little girl living in our old mobile home with the huge yard. It was my brother Ben's birthday and my mom had set up a slip n' slide for him and his friends for his party. I think the party was pretty much done because I remember the slip n' slide was abandoned and I was taking advantage of it. It was all mine! I don't know where everybody was, where Ben and his friends were or Julie or Eric or Dad or Mom. All I know was that I was alone in the back yard enjoying the company of a large piece of plastic and a sprinkler on a sunny, hot day. As I ran to get sufficient momentum so I could slide smoothly down the whole length of plastic on my knees this time, I landed funny on my ankle and a shot of pain jolted my body. It was so sudden that it took the breath out of me and I couldn't scream out in pain. At that moment, I felt helpless. I felt like I couldn't scream out because the pain was so intense and I felt like I couldn't walk for the same reason. I also felt very alone because for some reason I was so sure that nobody was around. I didn't know what to do in my little kid mind. As I was despairing and in pain, something I didn't expect came into view out of the corner of my eye. It was my mom. She came so quickly that it confused me. I thought I had been alone. How did she know I was in pain and needed her right then? She quickly picked me up and helped me limp to the house where my memory of that event ends. I vaguely remember crutches but the strongest memory is by far the surprised and relieved feeling I had when my mom rushed out to help me. It turned out that she had been watching me the whole time from her bedroom window as she was folding some laundry. Since then, I've thought about that memory from time to time and it's probably my favorite one of my mom now. It kinda sums her up nicely because whether I've been critical or demanding, snobby or bratty, needy, ungrateful, unreasonable or what ever she surprises me and still rushes out to help me. She watches out for me. So here's to my sweet mom and all the many stars we've made together over the Christmases.

progress

By the way, here is my progress. 29 1/2 weeks with only 9 1/2 weeks left to go.

It's official, Levi's birthday will be on February the 8th. That works out perfect for us because that will be on a weekend, so Nathan will be able to spend all of Saturday and Sunday with me in the hospital and then he'll go to school on Monday and then i'll probably get out by Tuesday. This Saturday will be my 30 week mark and then i'll just have 9 more weeks to go! This pregnancy has been great so far and i'm excited that i'm finally on the last home stretch.

 It snowed this morning! A nice six inch, soft and fluffy snow. This was Asher's first time ever going out in the snow. He was excited for it but in the end he couldn't handle the terrain. He kept tripping so much that it frustrated him to the point of tears and then trying to rub his eyes with his snow-encrusted mittens didn't help either. Next year should be much better.

 We decorated for Christmas on Thanksgiving day. We thought since we are staying here for Christmas, we should get a bigger tree. The boys could not be stopped when we told them we had gotten it. They had to decorate it right that moment. They even got presents from cousins to put under the tree already but I needed to hide them because they remind Benny how mean I am for not letting him open them every time he sees them. (by the way, the boys picked out presents for their cousins already but we're trying to figure out how to get them to you guys without paying a whole bunch for shipping. Some of them might end up being late Christmas presents but hopefully not)

  We even decked out one of Nathan's sculptures with holiday cheer. He has been doing really good in his classes. He's made cute little mugs and bowls for each of the boys to use and they love it. He made me a cute vase for the the table too. I love having an artist in the house.

Just pictures

 This guy is an eater. He's envious of anybody that has a bowl of food and luckily his brothers are generous with him.

 When I saw this at a clearance store, I was so excited. Ephraim is so thrilled with his Spiderman underwear that he likes to tell people about them and show them off so I thought it would be nice to get him something Spiderman that he didn't have to pull down his pants to show off.

 He even liked the tag

 This was Benny's creation during conference. The boys were surprisingly good and I was able to listen to most of the talks

 The boys even sat and listened to some talks too

 Sharing a smoothie together

 I don't let him wield a spoon very often yet but when I do, he thoroughly enjoys himself.

 Pumpkin painting! I love this time of year because of all the fun holidays. I think Halloween is the funnest holiday by far for kids. This year both Benny and Ephraim want to be Spiderman and Asher will be a skeleton again.

Benny and the Police

A couple of days ago, Benny gave me a little scare. We were all inside and I was laying on the couch because I was feeling dizzy. Benny really is a good brother but that day he was struggling and was picking on Asher. I finally told him to go outside if he couldn't think of anything better to do. So being a little hurt and angry, he announced that I would never see him again and then walked outside. This is typical. He thinks I don't love him anymore and threatens to run away but he really just wants me to chase after him and bring him back home. I do this, but first I give him a couple of minutes to cool down before I come after him. I waited for about 5 minutes and then I went outside to look for him. He usually just wanders around the complex near by but this time I couldn't find him. I kept looking for 20 minutes and then started to think that maybe he really did run away. I started to panic and decided to call the police. They arrived very quickly and got a description of him and then asked if they could search the house just to make sure he wasn't hiding anywhere. I said yes and silently wished I had picked up a bit. Toys were everywhere, beds weren't made and it looked very disheveled but, oh well. It wasn't really important. I continued to look outside and then the officers came out and told me to start knocking on all the neighbors doors to see if any of them had seen Benny. I started at one end but decided to skip over to #7. There was a young couple there who had a baby girl and a tank of fish that Benny loved to look at and ask questions about. He loved going over there to chat with them but it hadn't crossed my mind to look there in the first place. When I knocked Benny came to the door and then I started to bawl uncontrollably. I hate it when that happens. I was embarrassed crying in front of the neighbors. It was obvious that he had totally forgotten that he was going to run away and was just enjoying a nice social call. I had told the neighbors that it was okay with me if Benny visited them if it was okay with them and I had told Benny the same thing. The neighbors apologized and felt bad of course and I tried to tell them it wasn't their fault, Benny just hadn't told me where he was going. Benny was very confused. He didn't get the big fuss. He always went to visit the neighbors, why was this visit any different? I told the police that I had found him and then one of them bent down and looking him in the eye, told him he had to tell mommy where he was going. This intimidated Benny quite a bit and he said nothing. When the police officers left and we where inside, he asked with his head hanging down, "Am I going to jail"?
I'm grateful for the police. They were so nice and comforting and I didn't feel the least bit judged by them for having a messy house or being a obnoxious mom who didn't look for the obvious before calling them. I didn't have to worry about them being corrupt or slow to respond. They were just nice people.

home sweet home

It’s been awhile since I wrote so just for an “in a nutshell” description, we headed down to home for the summer. Nathan was able to find work doing renovating and building jobs for my family. He remodeled my parent’s bathroom and built some shelves for my mom and then he put dry wall and bead board in my Uncle Doug’s bathroom and waxed my grandma’s floors. He amazes me with his skills. He’s learned so much about how to do home remodel stuff that I’m excited for when we have a house. He’s my dream fix-it man. I’m really glad he took some construction classes even though he switched majors because he still learned a lot from them. I, on the other hand, was excited to go home because oddly enough home has an amazing effect on me when I’m pregnant. It cures my nausea and odor sensitivities. Every time. I was super sick with Benny in Chicago till we moved back to Kennewick and I was instantly cured the day we got in the car and drove toward home. I was pregnant with Ephraim while we were in Kennewick and I don’t remember smells bothering me or being really nauseous. With Asher I felt better when we left Rexburg to go to Arizona and eventually to Kennewick. And now it worked again with Levi (that’s his name). I felt better the day we left to head down to Kennewick for the summer. So from past experience I was anxious to go home and start feeling better again. We stayed for about 6 weeks and it was the perfect amount of time. I didn’t feel like going back home till the last couple of days so the timing was just right. While we were there, we went on a week long trip with Julie, Corey, and Ben to the San Juan Islands and to Bellingham. We didn’t take the kids on this one because we needed the break and I don’t think they were old enough for it yet. Our tent spots were walk-in sites and with Asher still crawling, he would have been in constant danger of choking and used up all his clean clothes the first day. We did however go on a more kid friendly camping trip just for a night with the whole family (on my side) which was perfect for the boys. I love camping with the family. We all nerded it up big time with a nice star trek trivia game. With our combined knowledge we were hot. Then we lazily swam and hung about by the river. Good times. Oh, by the way, my parents watched the boys for us while Nathan and I escaped on the San Juan trip. What troopers my parents are. They did an amazing job. How lucky I am to have parents who are willing to do that for me just so I can go and have a little fun.

Now after all that, we are back in Rexburg. It was so nice returning back to our little home. I love our little space here. I was complaining about it before we left but I think that was because I was just feeling sick all the time. We’ve stayed here the longest of any apartment (except at my parents which I don’t count) and now we will have had two of our children here by the time we leave. Just a little note on that. I’m pretty sure everyone that reads this blog knows we are pregnant and that it’s a boy but I just wanted to mention that we were so thrilled when we found out it was a boy. The ultrasound technician thought we were hoping for a girl when she found out we had 3 boys, but quite the contrary.  I love little boys and wouldn’t mind having all boys. I just love the name Levi too (as does Nathan) and wanted to call the new baby Levi right away. I love saying “Levi kicked” or “when Levi comes”. It sounds good. Anyways, we are back in the grove of things here in Rexburg. Nathan is back in school. Benny and Ephraim started pre-school. Ephraim started speech therapy. We have our weekly play date set up with Issac (Benny’s best friend from church) again. And me, I’m just at home sweet home.  

 Asher's first birthday!!!

 Here comes the cake

 I've captured the step by step destruction of the birthday cake. He was timid at first but dad helped him get his hands dirty.

 missed the mouth, but honest effort

 Cake annihilated and now bored and ready to get out

 The most popular attraction with the kids was daddy pulling them along on a tarp dragged behind by the lawn mower.

Oma and Asher bonded during the summer. With the week while we were gone and all the times Oma baby sat so I could take a nap added up. He would reach out for Oma when ever we would come to the house.

 

 Wrestling!

 Ephraim sleeping with Rex

 

slipped into the tub with clothes and everything