Christmas 2011

Christmas morning started bright and early this year.  Because Christmas fell on a Sunday this year, we had Sacrament Meeting to get to by 11:00, so we woke the kids up before six to ensure we had enough time for presents, breakfast, and baths.  

The kids were excited to go upstairs and see the presents!  Well, Sophie was a bit concerned.  Apparently, our little Anne-kins was none to fond of the idea of some man coming in the house at night while she slept.  She wouldn't go to sleep on Christmas Eve until we promised her that we would text Santa and tell him not to come in the house.  We kindly instructed Santa to leave the gifts on the front porch and that we would place them under the tree for him.  That helped to ease Sophie's anxiety enough for her to fall asleep.  But as soon as we woke her up, she anxiously asked, "Is he still here?"  She wouldn't come upstairs until we had promised her that Santa was long gone, and had never come in the house.  Not exactly the reaction you expect from your three year-old on Christmas morning!  What a funny girl. :)

At any rate, the kids were ready and waiting in Grandma and Papa's room for permission to come and see the loot.  The kids had one incredible Christmas this year!

The girls were so excited when they saw what Santa brought for them!  Johnny was slower to get into things.  I think he was a little peeved about being woken up so early.  :)  But it didn't take long for him to get into the excitement.

Claire had a pretty incredible Christmas this year.  She got to sit on Santa's lap at the Rulon Call Christmas Party earlier in the month, and when he asked what she wanted for Christmas she knew just what to tell him.  A hairstyle doll!  Santa came through, too!  She also got a Nick Jr. Dance game for the Wii to share with Sophie.  She was a pretty good girl this year, after all.  Some of her other awesome gifts included some magnetic wooden "paper" dolls, a ballerina skirt, a Princess book, a Red Rover game (from Johnny), beauty supplies (from Grandma and Papa), a Unicorn Pillow Pet, and an awesome Crayola bucket of fun!  

Sophie wasn't as creeped out by Santa once she saw what the big guy left for her...on the porch, of course. :)  Sophie asked us to tell Santa that she wanted a doll house for Christmas.  And sure enough, that's what she got!  Along with that Wii game she was instructed to share with Claire.  She also got a Dolphin Pillow Pet, a beautiful Aurora doll (from Claire), a set of Princesses and Princes for her doll house, a ballerina skirt, puzzles (from Grandma and Papa), and a set of magnetic wooden "paper" dolls.

And Johnny made a haul this Christmas as well!  Santa brought him a giant bowling set and a miniature F-35 to enjoy.  He also got a remote control car (from Sophie), a big Lightening McQueen car, Cars 2 dishes, a cool set of airplanes complete with guys and missiles, some new clothes, a hammering game, and wooden puzzles (from Grandma and Papa).

But the kids weren't the only ones to have fun this Christmas.  The kids and Danny each got me a beautiful decorative hard bound book, which I absolutely adore!  In all, I have "Black Beauty", "Huckleberry Finn", "Peter Pan", and "Anne of Green Gables".  I look forward to reading these with the kids at night before bed, when they're old enough to understand them.  And Danny got some extra special presents this year from the kids and me.  An F-14 Tomcat and F-22 Raptor, hand carved from mahogany!  They are absolutely beautiful!  Danny is getting pretty well outfitted for a pretty awesome looking office someday!  He was stoked about the gifts, especially because I managed to keep it a secret this year. :)  And from Grandma and Papa we got an heirloom leather bound family edition of the Book of Mormon, with a special letter from them.  The book is, well, absolutely gorgeous.  I know our family will treasure it for always.

Of course, once all the presents were open it was time to enjoy them!  We had some time before we had to get the kids in the bath, so we let them have fun.  In fact, Danny joined right in!  He particularly liked tormenting Gracie with Johnny's new remote control car. ;)

  

Even with all the playtime, we still managed to get everyone cleaned, curled, and in their Christmas duds in time for church.  I found these gorgeous dresses for the girls, and got matching ties for the guys.  I'm going to enjoy this "matching" time just as long as I can! :)  

We enjoyed a wonderful Sacrament Meeting with Grandma Candy, and even got to listen to her sing in the choir.  It was quite the treat to get to go to church on Christmas.  It helped us remember what the day was really about.  After church, we went to Grandma Candy's for Christmas #2!  We enjoyed giving our gift to Jenny and Matt and their family, as well as giving Grandma Candy her gift.  And the kids LOVED their little cell phones from Grandma Candy!  Seriously, of all the things they got that day, the cell phones topped them all.  Way to go, Grandma Candy!

After the gift exchange, we brought the kids home and everyone took a quick nap.  We were due back for dinner at Grandma Candy's, and we weren't going to miss that for anything!  Especially tired kids. :)  We made it back just in time to sit down to an incredible dinner of smoked brisket, baked potatoes, fruit salad...the works.  I didn't get Grandma Candy in the picture, but she was there!

The kids were well-rested, well-fed, and in good spirits!  Christmas as a parent is so much fun.  It's just incredible to make your kids so happy.  Love it!

We tried to get some games going after dinner, but we were all stuffed and lethargic.  We Skyped with Heather and the twins, and called it a night.  Claire climbed in the car and said, "This is the best Christmas ever!"  What more can a Mom and Dad ask for?  It really was an incredible Christmas.  It was wonderful to be with our families, and it was wonderful to partake of the sacrament.  We're so grateful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We're grateful for the restoration of the gospel, and the blessings of the priesthood in our family.  We recognize how blessed we are to be sealed for time and all eternity, and strive to live for that blessing.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Adam and Eve

This year's Call Family Christmas was on Christmas Adam.  We had everyone here this year, and it was a blast! Grandma and Papa had all of their kids and all of their grandkids under their roof for Christmas, which was a pretty special treat.  Originally, Grandma had planned to make Christmas houses with the kids out of graham crackers, frosting, and candy.  Until Papa came across an even better (and easier!) idea.  We made Christmas Trees out of sugar cones!  Pure genius.  The kids had a ball!

When I told Danny about his Dad's genius idea, Danny thought we ought to be making Christmas Teepees instead of trees.  The idea caught on pretty quick.  Aunt Katie took it upon herself to make the Call's first Christmas Teepee.  I think it turned out pretty good!

After everyone's trees/teepees were complete, and the kids were all hopped up on sugary goodness, we had some dinner.  Spaghetti and Meatballs fed the troops this year, and it worked out great!  Especially because I made the double batch of sauce and meatballs two days before, so all we had to do was take it out and stick it in the crockpot that morning and dinner was basically done!  Another genius Christmas idea. :)

Following dinner, we all headed downstairs for the first annual Call Christmas Pageant.  This was Grandma's favorite part.  When she was a little girl growing up in Livermore, California, her family didn't have extended family close to spend the holidays with.  So they would gather with friends and put on a Christmas Pageant every year.  Finally, Grandma had enough grandkids for the Nativity!  She spent all day working on costumes so that everything would be just perfect.  

But there was one last childhood memory of Grandma's that she just had to live vicariously through Claire.  Apparently, Grandma always did a free-style interpretive dance to a song titled "Little Snow Girl".  Grandma designed and constructed a costume for Claire, and after just a couple of rehearsals, Claire was ready.  She did an awesome job dancing, was cute as could be, and did an excellent job of getting the pageant started.

Finally, it was time for the long awaited Nativity!  The cast was as follows: Claire was Mary, Braxton was Joseph, Sophie and Ruby were angels (though Ruby wasn't really in the mood), Johnny and Tavin were the shepherds, and Andi was a lamb with her special shepherd, her Daddy.  It was the cutest darn Nativity ever!

Grandma was feeling pretty good about things at this point.  But we weren't done yet!  Since we had to get the kids out of their costumes, we figured it was a good time to open up the Christmas jammies from Grandma and Papa!  Again, the cuteness was almost more than a person could take!

Johnny really liked hanging out with Andi, and all the Christmas excitement was just too much!

"What, you're not supposed to kiss your cousins?  I wish someone had told me!  My mouth was open and everything!  No wonder Andi seemed so freaked out..."

And of course, we had to get the Great Grandmas in on the action!  The picture action, not the kissing action. :)

Yet still, we were not done.  Grandma wanted to finish off the evening with some singing time for the kids to get them settled down before we had the more spiritual side of things.  This was Sophie's time to shine.  All the songs were ones they've been working on at school.  When Sophie was at school, she wouldn't sing a single word.  But apparently, she was learning them!  She took control and made sure everyone was following along with Grandma.  It was quite possibly the cutest thing all evening.  That's my girl!

Once the kids were settled down a bit, we watched a short DVD with pictures about the life of the Savior with "O, Holy Night" playing in the background.  After which, Papa closed the evening with his testimony.  It was so special to be there as an entire family, and feel the spirit of the season so strong.  Our Call Christmas on Christmas Adam was the perfect way to kick off Christmas.

Of course, after Christmas Adam comes Christmas Eve!  This used to be the day that everyone gathered at Grandma and Papa's for Call Christmas.  But with all the local in-laws, scheduling wouldn't permit it, which was why it was bumped up a day.  But, we still had the traditional Chinese dinner and a movie on Christmas Eve.  This year's movie was "MegaMind", and it was thoroughly enjoyable!  As was the food.  As always.

Now, Grandma was on a roll after the pageant success.  She decided she wanted to make cardboard cutouts of Mary and Joseph and dress them up in the costumes from the night before.  This Nativity would then be placed on the front porch, with lighted lanterns along the sidewalk.  Papa checked out of the craziness at this point, and Grandma was on her own!  With the help of Claire and Sophie, of course.  It turned out pretty cute!  Claire did a great job drawing the faces on Mary and Joseph, and finally Grandma felt that the Christmas season was complete.  

Good thing, too.  Cause with the lanterns lit, it was time to get the kiddos to bed before a certain jolly old man stopped by...

Rachel's Birthday

The holiday season always started out with celebrating Rachel's birthday on the 22nd.  Even though she isn't here with us to celebrate it with us, we keep the tradition alive!  This year marked the second anniversary of Rachel's "graduation", as well as the second birthday we've celebrated without her.  On her "graduation" day, December 1st, Davis County experienced a wind storm with hurricane force winds that damaged much of the county, and kept us inside all day.  We weren't able to get together as a family to mark that day, or leave anything at the cemetery.  Partly because of that, Grandma Candy wanted to do something special for Rachel's birthday.

Grandma Candy got a balloon for each of us, and we spent a few minutes and wrote a personal message to Rachel to attach to our balloon.  We went to the cemetery and gathered around Rachel's headstone.  After Grandma Candy said a few words, we let go of our balloons and watched them float away.

It was a neat thing to do.  It gave me the opportunity to explain more about the Plan of Salvation to my kids.  I think that's my favorite part about being able to visit Rachel's Place.  My girls thought that Rachel was going to come and get all the balloons and messages that we sent.  I was able to explain that because Rachel didn't have her body right now, she wouldn't be able to do that.  But that I was sure she was going to know that we sent her our love, and she could watch how pretty the balloons looked as they floated toward the beautiful winter mountains.  Even for how young they are, they seemed to understand that we lose our bodies, temporarily, when we die.  And that because Jesus loves us so much, we're able to get them back and be with our families forever.  I am so grateful for the gospel!  How else would I be able to explain something like that to my little girls?

At any rate, the kids had a good time looking at the other decorations on other headstones, and enjoying the fresh air.  The fresh, frigid air!

After we were done at the cemetery, we all gathered back at Grandma Candy's house for Rachel's birthday dinner of beans and chili, with fried chicken strips and fresh tortillas.  Delicious!  The girls (Isabelle, Claire, and Sophie) really wanted to do a birthday cake for Aunt Rachel, so Grandma Candy helped them get one decorated and ready with 19 candles.  

We sang "Happy Birthday" and the kids all helped blow out the candles.  I don't know how many more years we'll do all this for Rachel's birthday.  But I do enjoy the opportunity to feel like she's a little less gone.  I like being able to talk to my kids about my little sister, and the comforting doctrines of the Restored Gospel.  

Happy 19th Birthday, Rachel-babes!  We love you!

Flashback: Raptoberfest 2011

Way back in November...or was it October?...we attended the annual Raptoberfest for the 411 CTF.  This was our second Raptoberfest, but we didn't know it would be our last.  Kind of sad to think of that now...

We had a lot of fun!  We loved watching the promotional video of the F-22 Raptor in flight.  The camera work was amazing.  Not that awesome footage is hard to come by with such an awesome jet. :)  We enjoyed some good food and awesome company, and the kids especially loved the bouncy house and kid crafts.  Danny's job at the 411th was unique in that we never got to meet the people he spent most of his time with.  Raptoberfest provided us that opportunity, and it was fun to see where Daddy spent his time.

Since I'm documenting this well after we've left Edwards and moved to Utah for Danny's new job, I feel compelled to mention how good that job was.  Danny loved going to work, and loved every minute there.  He would come home smiling on so many days, and simply say "I love my job."  Not many people can say that.  When Danny notified them he had accepted a different job, they fought to keep him.  It is nice to know they valued him as much as he valued the job.  We appreciate the experience we had working there, and I know that Danny hopes to keep his relationships fresh with his colleagues back at Edwards.  

We're excited to see where this new adventure takes us, but it's always nostalgic to take a look at where you've been... 

Festival Of Trees

One of the perks of living in Utah again is being able to do the fun stuff with family.  Just a few days after getting back from Denver and sending Danny back to Cali, Grandma Call decided we should have a Girl's Night Out.  That sounded good to us girls! :)  We got the ladies together and headed to Sandy for dinner and the Festival of Trees.

We enjoyed dinner at Paradise Bakery, and it was delicious!  We had quite the group.  Both Great Grandma Call and Great Grandma Lovell were there, along with Aunt Suzie, Aunt Julie, Aunt Katie, Aunt Camillia, and Ruby.  And of course Claire, Sophie, me, and Grandma Call. 

And then it was time for the trees!  I've never been to the Festival of Trees before, and wasn't quite prepared for the amount of trees there.  The girls loved it!

Their favorite tree was the "Tangled" tree.  Claire literally couldn't take her eyes off of it...

But I did get her to pose with the "Snuggly Duckling" sign. :)

After walking the rows of trees for a while, the girls and I were starting to get a little tired.  So we stopped and watched some dance performances that were happening.  And Sophie hitched a ride with Great Grandma Lovell.  Smart girl!

We had so much fun with all the Ladies of the Call side.  But we missed our Johnny, who was having some fun at Grandma Candy's house.  So we called it a night and headed back home.  We're looking forward to many more fun family times now that we're back!  Bring on the holidays... :)