2013 Already?

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted.  

And like always, I miss it, but dislike playing catch-up.

There's so much to post about, namely Christmas.

I have to get motivated. 

Michael's been waiting to print off our 2012 family blog book.

So that should give me a little extra push.

In the meantime, here are some random pictures of our life lately.

Row 1:  Our darling post office, I love it so much; a beautiful sunset, Max the King

Row 2:  Eating at our favorite breakfast restaurant; post office again; Kathryn's new car seat

Row 3:  Queen Kathryn at Burger King; same pretty sunset; our favorite ice cream shop

A sad heart

My heart is so sad today for the terrible tragedy that occurred yesterday in Connecticut.

Everyone I talked to had wept tears of anguish and sorrow for those innocent children.

For their families, the teachers, the principle, the adults, the school and the community.

What a horrible sadness, especially at such a beautiful and peaceful time of year.

It has made me want to hold on to my children and all the people I love so tightly.

Because life is short and we never know what will happen from one day to the next.

After hearing the news yesterday, Kathryn and I said a prayer together.

It was difficult to explain to her, but I did the best I could without taking away some of her innocence.

I woke up in the middle of the night again, snuggled between my two sleeping children.

I thought about it over and over, and I tried to imagine how those families were feeling at that moment.  

Our family is thinking and praying for Newtown, Connecticut.

The sick are sleeping

I read a friends blog this morning.  She'd posted pictures of her sick, sleeping children.

Last night, Kathryn had a high fever.  Michael took care of her while I put Maxwell to sleep.

Then, she came into our room during the night asking for a drink of water.

After she was hydrated, she asked if she could "cuddle up" to me for a while.

Michael had opted to sleep on the couch, since Maxwell was already in our bed (not uncommon these days).

So there I laid, sandwiched between our two sick children.  

I listened to their constant croupy coughs while the humidifier ran in the background.

Maxwell tossed and turned, while Kathryn spooned me tightly.

So, it was only fitting this morning that I read that post and saw those pictures.

After laying Maxwell down for a nap (we'd fallen asleep together while Kathryn watched a show),

I came back out to the living room and found her asleep by the fire.

She was cuddled up in a cozy warm blanket.

They were both asleep at noon today, which is completely out of the normal.

And they were peacefully sleeping.

Sentimental Christmas Things

I broke this Christmas decoration tonight.

It's hard to believe how quickly it happened.

I brushed my hand against it, and watched in slow motion as it fell over.

I hoped it would just bounce against the counter, but it shattered instead.

As I cleaned it up, a wave of emotions passed over me.  I cried a little.

You see, that little vase has been in our family for four Christmases.

It has sat by three different kitchen sinks.  

The colorful, twinkling lights have brightened each of those rooms.

Four years ago, a friend gave it to our family as a Christmas gift.

Michael was finishing his last year of clinical rotations.

We were renting a home from a family in our ward while they were serving a mission.

At the time, Michael was serving as the ward mission leader.

It was a heavy calling for a young student.

But, it was accompanied by great blessings and incredible spiritual experiences.

We fondly look back at that time in our lives.

We remember the amazing love we felt for those we served, and those we served with.

This vase was given to us by a sweet, single mother.

She joined the church while Michael was serving in that calling.

She had a burning testimony of the gospel and had overcome many obstacles.

She and her daughter were examples to each other, and to the members of our ward.

They desired to become like Christ.

They didn't have much, but they wanted to give us a gift for Christmas.

So, they made us that decoration.

While cleaning up the broken pieces, the thought occurred that I could just replace the vase.

It would be easy enough to find something similar.

But, it just wouldn't be the same.  It had become a Christmas staple for our family.

We had a sentimental attachment to that vase.

One (of many) great lessons I have learned from my dear husband is to be more sentimental.

It hasn't been an easy journey for me.

I haven't always valued personal treasures for what they were, and who they were from.

Maybe it comes with time too.  As I grow older, I become more sentimental.

I am learning to value those things that are given to me out of love.  

Things to remind me of a person, a place, a time or a memory.

I am learning to hang on to those precious heirlooms that can be passed on to our children.

Those are things that make Christmas so special.

Today's Ten

1.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  The weekend passed much too quickly, but we enjoyed spending the time with our family.  We did a little shopping, a lot of eating, played laser tag and had an impromptu swimming party.

2.  Sadly, Maxwell and Kathryn have been sick off and on since Halloween.  It has been rough in our house.  Max had croup badly enough one night/morning, that we made a trip to the doctors office for a steroid shot and chest x-rays.  Luckily, he did not end up with pneumonia this time.

3.  We pulled out the Christmas decorations and we've been "decorating" for two weeks now.  Kathryn decorated Maxwell's baby Christmas tree for him.

4.  Recently, Max made a phone call on Michael's cell phone.  It was to 911 and the call lasted four minutes.  When they called Michael back to notify him that the police were in route to our home, he embarrassingly told them that the call was placed by his one year old son.

5.  Speaking of phones, Michael ushered me into the technology age a little over a week ago.  Despite my protesting, he buckled down and got us (me) smartphones.  I was physically sick as we turned them on for the first time and navigated through everything.  I was so worried I would ruin it, plus I'm not one for all this technology   But, I like it already.  There will, however, hopefully be no 911 calls made from this phone.

6.  We built a fort one morning, and spent a good part of the day in there (inspired by this post).

7.  And we played school one morning, since Kathryn was too sick to go to preschool that day.  The animals were the other students, but I have to say, Kathryn was by far the best student in her class.

8.  Michael's Christmas work party was awhile ago.  They play a card game every year, and depending on what the employee draws, they get a certain amount of money.  This year, Michael got $100.  When he returned to the table, he immediately handed the money over to me, which everyone around us thought was funny.  We already spent spent some of it on a set of Liberty Bell China we found at an estate sale.  We thought it would be fun to be patriotic.

9.  I set up and decorated a table for our Relief Society Christmas dinner last night.  As we left for the church to decorate, I noticed that Kathryn had a little purse with her.  And when we came home, she started to cry.  She told me that she hadn't been able to decorate with me, and showed me her purse full of yarn.  So, I told her she could decorate our table instead.

10.  The other day, Kathryn brought a bear to me.  She told me it was baby Jesus, she was Mary and Max was God.  I wasn't sure whether I should be proud of her or remind her to speak reverently of Heavenly Father.  Then, she asked me to be the doctor so baby Jesus could come for a check-up.  She proceeded to tell me that he was not growing well, he was so little and that he chokes all the time.  Michael and I had a good laugh later that night.  I guess she really listens at those doctors appointments for Max.

Finishing out October

One of the moms in our co-op planned the Halloween party for preschool.

The kids had fun making crafts playing games and making pizzas.

 We then went to the pumpkin patch for our monthly field trip.

Unfortunately it was too hot, and our family didn't dress for the weather.

But it was fun, despite the heat.

    

Temple Open House

Several weeks ago, we took our children to a Temple Open House.

Michael and I loved showing them the beauty of the temple.

And telling them what a special and sacred place it is.

We told Kathryn many times what a wonderful opportunity it was to go inside the temple.

When we reached the sealing room, we told her that we were married in a sealing room just like that one.  And then, Michael lifted her up, so she could see her reflection in the mirror.

Which symbolizes eternal marriage.  And eternity.

 Yesterday, I watched the dedication of that same temple.

The spirit was strong, and I was reminded of the great blessings that come from attending the temple.

These were some of my favorite messages from that beautiful meeting:

-Remember the covenants we've made and the blessings that are awaiting us.

-Attend the temple more frequently and find answers to questions regarding families

-Focus on the temple and we can weather any storm

-Never be too busy to be the Lord's servant

-Stand in holy places in order to withstand the trials of these latter-days

-We have been given much, therefore much is required of us

-Is the fire of the covenants we've made burning within us?

-Love, patience, tenderness, and spiritually are found in the temple      

-Make room for Christ and time for the Savior of the world