New Years, Christmas, and Thanksgiving
In the efforts to find things to do we decided to start a new tradition of taste testing on New Years. We did a root beer taste test and interesting sodas to go along with our fondue. It was a hit! We found a new favorite Root Beer!
The kids served us our salad and breadsticks first, then chicken parmigiana and grape juice. They were so silly, Ian put on stick-on mustaches and tried to talk in Italian and they named themselves Louie and Stouie. We finished our dinner and I made Scott slow dance with me
On Christmas Eve, eve we had our annual slumber party in the basement. We chose to watch the Lord of the Rings series.
At about 2:00 pm on Christmas Eve we started the cinnamon rolls, and our appetizer meal, we had- 7 layer dip, crab cakes, veggie tray, smokies, summer sausage cheese and crackers, chocolate fondue- pretzels, strawberries, marshmallows and danish cookies, peppermint brownies and sparkling cider.
We ate our feast and read our 25 days of Christ advent, we had a couple days to catch up on, and we played Telestrations.
We started to put out stocking stuff and each person took their turn putting out the stocking of who they had and then put a blanket over it so they wouldn’t see. Ian came running up the stairs and saw that there were blankets on the couch and thought that he would jump on the couch. He landed on top of the stockings and hit his eye on something hard in Rylan’s stocking.
Christmas morning I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep! I took the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge at 5:00 to raise, and put them in the oven at 7:00. We told the kids they had to stay upstairs until 8:00. Ian went into Maddy’s room and they watched a show until I came to get them.
I snuck down to wake up Rylan, and we started opening up stockings. We drew names for stockings and I had Maddy, Maddy had me, Rylan had Ian, Ian had Scott and Scott had Rylan. We ate cinnamon rolls and fruit then started opening presents.
Some highlights of gifts-
Rylan- books to prepare for his mission, north face sweatshirt, blue light glasses, baby yoda calendar, multi-purpose tool, Elizabethtown High School clothes,
Maddy- sharpies, nail polish, Just Dance switch game, 3 books, Fitbit watch, tennis shoes, Roblox bucks
Ian- mountain bike, camo coat, Fitbit, blue light glasses, Roblox bucks,
Scott backup batteries for his drill, Velcro straps for cords,
Leah- weighted blanket, silicone rings
The Kohrman’s gave us an escape room game and treats, Jody and Doug gave us a how to juggle book, a Ted Dekker trilogy series, Hawaiian treats, Margie's family gave us the Twas the Night Before Christmas puzzle earlier in the month, and Mom and dad gave us $100 for a Christmas adventure. Bonnie sent the kids some baby Yoda mugs and some fabric for me.
I saw an idea to do Reindeer games to pass the time. They were really simple and each game was associated with a reindeer. They were things like toss a wrapping paper roll in the air and spin around once and try and catch it with one hand, bounce a waterbottle on a basketball and catch the waterbottle when it bounces up, stack dice on top of a playing card on top of a glass jar, and then flick the card and try and get the dice to go inside of the jar. The kids had fun with it.
The day before Thanksgiving I had a turkey trot with mom, Margie and Anna. Scott and Bo came with me, it was a little drizzly at first but then it completely stopped. We were on Google duo the whole time, it kind of cut in and out, and sometimes the noise made it hard to hear but for the most part, we just talked the whole time it was a lot of fun.
The Prophet challenged us to share what we are thankful for on social media. This is what I wrote with the hashtag #give thanks:
1. I am thankful for all the wonderful people who are making school thrive right now. Our teachers and school administrators are working their tails off and making the best out of the situation we are in.
2. I am grateful for prayer! Just last week I was tasked with something I didn’t think I could do, in my mind it seemed impossible. I prayed hard over a couple days and the task was still there, however I had a new perspective, a new lens of vision and the task seemed more doable - still challenging - but within my power to do. I know it was because of my prayers and for a loving Heavenly Father who wants to help me.
3. I am thankful for EXERCISE! It is my therapy! If I don't exercise I can be kind of grumpy. No, I am not a marathon runner or have totally ripped abs. But there is nothing like getting a good hard sweat on whether its a run, walk, hiking a mountain, busting through weights, dancing in Zumba, a meditative Yoga session, or swimming laps. I love this body the Lord gave me and I intend to keep it strong, healthy and always moving.
4. I #givethanks for FAMILY! The parents, siblings and in-laws who shaped me and the family I have created with my loving, devoted, hilarious best friend Scott.
Each bring something special to my life:
Scott - always keeps us laughing and can make even the darkest days seem bright
Rylan- he gives his mama a hug everyday! I don’t even have to ask, he just knows
Maddy- she doesn’t let you get away with much and will keep you accountable on your promises, plus she gives awesome pedicures!
Ian- his quest for knowledge inspires me to learn so that I can keep up with him.
5. I am grateful for the great outdoors! While hiking in Illinois with the Fox family , their little girl (she was around 5 I think) shouted as loud as she could “I LOVE NATURE!” <—— my sentiments exactly! Every hike I have been on ever since I think about that and sometimes I will yell it out loud myself!
We have been so fortunate to live in some pretty remarkable places with gorgeous scenery! With every move, we try to visit any national or state park that is nearby. Nature calms me and reassures me that there is a God!
6. Being away from family, especially during the holidays always breaks my heart a little ! But amazing technology helps us connect! We were all in our kitchens watching each other work yesterday and that brought me so much joy!
We also had a gratitude session with Scott’s family in the afternoon!
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