December Fun

One morning during the breakfast prayer, P1 said "Please bless our snowman to not melt". Turns out, the sun didn't melt him but the rain ended up washing him away.

P1 and P2 have a lot of fun playing together. Most of the time they get along well. Sometimes P2 likes to tackle her big brother. P1 still hasn't figured out that he is bigger than her. One day P1 got mad at P2 while they were playing and said "Stop mixing up my mind!"

 We made sure to watch a few Christmas specials this year. Favorites were "Frosty the Snowman", "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", and "A Charlie Brown Christmas". However, we found out that Netflix has ruined our children. Whenever the show would go to commercial, they would demand us to turn it back to Frosty or Rudolph. And then, the next day they would ask to watch the show again and they didn't understand why they couldn't watch it again.

P1 saw a Lego General Grievous that he feel in love with. He kept talking about it and really wanted to go buy one. Well, Mom and Dad knew it was a set that was being discontinued, so Mom gave in quickly. But I told him how much it cost, and we counted the money in his piggy bank and he paid for it all my himself. He was so excited when we found it in the store and bought it.

Flying paper airplanes and making paper frogs:

 The kids love playing with their aunt. P1 kept calling her on the phone and asking her to come over and play. She is a good sport to play with them all the time!

Eating breakfast! Bagels are a treat Mom brings home when she makes it the temple in the morning. P1 likes a little pink stuff (berry cream cheese) on a cinnamon bagel, and P2 likes a lot of pink stuff on a cinnamon raisin bagel.

For Mutual, we took all the Young Women to see the lights at Temple Square. It was very crazy and chaotic, but it was still fun to get out and see the lights. And we didn't lose any of our girls!

Christmas Trees

We did a Christmas tree craft. P2 lost interest quickly, but P1 loved it! He said that it was very fun, and he was very proud of his Christmas tree. He loved it so much that whenever I pulled out a craft to do, he would change it to a Christmas tree. P1 loved making gifts for people this year, especially for his aunt. It was so sweet to watch.

 

Santa Claus

We went to "This Is the Place Heritage Park" for their Christmas celebration. They had a live nativity which was very sweet. We had fun wandering around and learning how the pioneers celebrated Christmas. The kids wrote letters to Santa Claus and burned them in the fire, because that is how they reached him in the old days. P1 asked for a Jake spyglass, and P2 asked for a doll.

They had a Father Christmas, who was really nice and funny. And the line was really short! P1 would only go up as long as I stayed nearby. But he did it! He sat on his lap and told him that he wanted a pirate spyglass. Then Santa made some silly pirate jokes and made P1 laugh and smile. Santa told P1 that he needed to help out his mom a lot (thanks Santa!). P2 refused to go near him, and we didn't force it. However, P2 and I ran into Santa again at Wal-Mart. He gave P2 a candy and she actually gave him a fist bump.

The Zoolights at Hogle Zoo were fun to see from the Pioneer Park. This picture doesn't do it justice.

P1 loved to pretend to be Santa. He would make lists, and have his elf (me) make toys for him to deliver. He would tell P2 to pretend to sleep, and he would come drop off the toys. He would even talk with a lower voice than normal. It was pretty adorable! So we finally got a picture of P2 on Santa's lap!

P1 also made a Christmas tree for his stuffed animals (by stealing ornaments from our real tree), and pretended it was Christmas for them. 

Dad's Birthday

We celebrated Dad's birthday. The kids enjoyed helping unwrap his presents. One of his gifts was "Try the World", which are boxes of food from different countries. He got a Holiday box (with food from all over), a Brazil box, and a Portugal box. PE has always enjoyed trying new cultures and food, so we thought this would be a fun thing to try.

 

 

Mom and Dad also went to see "Rogue One" for Dad's birthday. We even paid for luxury seats (nice recliners)! The movie was really well done, and PE liked it better than "The Force Awakens".

Happy Birthday Dad!

Gingerbread Men

We made our traditional gingerbread men this year. I made a list of neighbors we wanted to give some to, and found out that our list was twice as big as usual. And we've only lived her since April! But we already know and love so many people in our neighborhood.

I ended up ruining 3 batches of gingerbread dough because I was using blackstrap molasses which is way stronger than normal store bought molasses. I ended up turning those into gingerbread houses, so at least it wasn't a total waste! For my next batches, I ended up using 1/3 c. molasses instead of 1 cup, and those turned out much better!

P1 loved helping me roll out the dough and cut out the gingerbread men. The real reason is because he loved stealing some of the dough to eat. I told him to only eat the small pieces and save the big pieces. Well, his definition of small was certainly NOT the same as mine! Finally, I heard him say "This is a big piece Mom". I looked over in relief that he finally understood, and said "Yes, that is a big piece". So P1 replies "I'll break it up into little pieces then", and he proceeds to break it up and eat the little pieces! What a character!

Neighborhood Christmas Breakfast

PE and I were on the committee for the neighborhood Christmas breakfast. At our first meeting, we were talking about what our theme should be when one of the sisters mentioned something about not being strangers anymore. The Spirit filled the room, and we all knew immediately that our theme was supposed to be "Strangers No More". One, because we want to get to know our neighbors and not be strangers anymore. And two, because this would help us all feel the Christmas Spirit and not be strangers to Christ.

I designed the flyers, name badges, and was in charge of table settings and centerpieces. We decided to try to do Nativity sets for our centerpieces.

I made 3 of these vases to help decorate the tables.

The silver and navy blue went really well for the table settings. We set up 25 tables (for 200 people). Last year they had 160ish attend, so we thought we would be safe with 25. Turns out we were wrong! We ended up having to pull out more tables and I think we had about 230 people.

We had a photo booth and had some photographers in our ward take family pictures. 

Each organization in the ward did a little skit/dance/song/or game for our program.

All in all, it turned out pretty well! It was a lot of work, but it was also fun to help plan it!

Making #IBDVisible Through #LIGHTtheWORLD

Two years ago I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. Ironically, it was during IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) awareness week which is the first week of December. This year, I want to help make #IBDVisible.

My personal experience of IBD (during a flare):

• Some days you go to the bathroom over 30 times a day
• You bleed a lot, and worry if the toilet doesn't flush anyone who sees it will think you are dying
• Going to the bathroom is worse than childbirth
• You don't sleep at night because you are constantly running to the bathroom
• You are afraid to leave your house because you need to ALWAYS be near the bathroom. Trying to grocery shop with 2 small children and IBD is a nightmare.
• There is nothing more mortifying than having an accident in public
• You completely change your diet: cut out all sugar, grains, and processed food. No more easy meals or eating out. Everything you eat now has to be made from scratch.
• You have more financial stress and have to deal with all the craziness that is health insurance. Each dose of my current medication costs more than a new car. We will hit our out-of-pocket maximum each and every year.
• It is a chronic disease that never goes away. I am currently in remission, but have noticed that I have less energy than I used to have.

IBD, like many illnesses, is mostly invisible. People suffer silently. IBD has blessed me to have greater compassion and empathy for others. I believe everyone has a burden they are carrying, and it is so important to treat everyone with kindness and love.

Today's #LIGHTtheWORLD message is that "Jesus Healed the Sick and So Can You". Today I am grateful for my colitis. A crazy thing to say considering my flare lasted over a year. But I can testify that Jesus does heal the sick, and that we can be His hands here on earth. I felt the love of God for me as I was ministered to by others. I learned how to better serve by the service given to me. My friends didn't ask if I needed any help; they asked me if I would be willing to let them come clean my house. Others followed promptings and shared information with me that helped me find relief through nutrition. My angelic mother was always there, night or day, whenever I needed help with my small children. Over and over, I saw the hand of God blessing me through the hands of others.

I feel like how Daniel must have felt after emerging from the lion's den. God did not take away the trial, but He preserved me through a trial that should have torn me to shreds. Looking back, I am still amazed at how unscathed I am. My doctor says I am the only patient that he has referred to a surgeon that has not had to go through with the surgery. I have experienced none of the negative side effects of being on steroids much longer than the recommended amount of time. Our finances have also escaped unscathed. Whenever a large bill came our way, a way would be provided to pay.

My colitis has been a refiner's fire for me. I emerged from it with greater faith in my Heavenly Father and in my Savior Jesus Christ. I gained a more personal understanding of the Atonement, and a greater hope in the Resurrection. My heart has been filled with greater charity.

Jesus healed the sick, and He still heals today through us.