Christmas is always a fun time of year. It is especially fun when you have a house full of little ones. Every day that we took a link off our Christmas count-down chain, the excitement mounted. The only downside is that Christmas time falls at the end of the year, and the end of the year is quite stressful for Neil at work. He missed many evening Christmas devotionals and the day-to-day cute things.
However, he still made it to Grace's Kindergarten devotional and weekend family outings. He had to finish a meeting over the phone on his way to the devotional and leave immediately after to begin a new meeting. But he was there, and he loved every minute. He is the best Dad.
Mom Andersen gave her tickets for the First Presidency Devotional to us, and cooked us a Holiday Feast, AND babysat the kids for us while we got to enjoy the devotional. Neil and I had a memorable time as we sat at the feet of the Prophet and heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform the most inspiring Christmas Hymns. The kids got to make Christmas ornaments and Gingerbread Men with Grandma while we were gone.
Grace shared her crafting skills with her brothers and sister and made reindeer hats for everyone after her school Christmas party--a very "Grace-like" thing to do.
To feel the true spirit of Christmas this year, Grace participated in her school's Teddy Bear drive. She worked hard all month to earn money doing chores and practicing piano. Days before the drive, she realized she would not have enough to buy a teddy bear. Kade, then graciously offered to give her the money he had earned from chores in December in order to make up the difference. I took the kids to Toys "R" Us to pick out the bear. Grace was slightly hesitant to put it under the school tree when the day came to give it away. However, she returned from school that day feeling satisfied that she will have made a homeless girl very happy this Christmas to receive her teddy bear.
Christmas along the Wasatch front is never complete without a trip to Temple Square to see the lights. We went once with the Reicherts and then again with the Andersen's. I hadn't planned well the second time and didn't pack warm clothes for Kathryn. We made due and she wore Kade's pajama pants under her dress, her socks on her hands, and she stayed plenty warm in Uncle Spencer's arms.
I am not sure what the boys were doing here, but this is an indication of how much fun they had that night with their cousins.
An organist was playing Christmas carols in the Tabernacle. We took a minute to warm up and listen.
Christmas Eve was our first snow. The kids built snowmen while I prepared for the big day.
We ate our traditional, candle lit "humble supper" of soup and bread.
Dinner was followed by our best rendition of the Nativity yet. We are starting to fill all the important roles as our family is growing! We let the kids open one gift from under the tree--new slippers!
Christmas morning brought lots of:
excitement,
surprises,
good food--cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast and chiles rellenos, enchiladas, fresh salsa and horchata for dinner,
and SNOW!
We pulled the kids around the yard in sleds and built an awesome snow fort.
The next day we left for California (by way of Mesa) to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Bowman's 60th Wedding Anniversary. We drove as far as Henderson, NV and spent the night in a hotel. We arrived at James and Shawnne's the next afternoon where we celebrated Kathryn's 2nd birthday by playing at Riverview park and eating ice cream. She loved the new clothes from Grandma Reichert and the baby book I made for her.
The reason for our short stay in Mesa before heading to California was to be there while Spencer gave his farewell talk to the Vineyard Ward. We also got to attend his Missionary Dinner at Uncle David and Aunt Jeri's and reminisce with Neil's cousins of memories of Grandma Erma and Grandpa Darl and their legacy of Missionary service.
We are really going to miss Spencer, but we are also excited to hear of his adventures as he serves in Rome, Italy for the next two years.
We must have stayed in Mesa just long enough to catch a little bug from cousins, because the night we arrived in Long Beach, Kathryn started fevering. The next day, she was so ill that she would hardly eat or drink and her fever was near 105 degrees. We couldn't take her out like that, and there was no sense in having the entire family cooped up in the hotel room all day. So, Neil took Grace and Kade to Knott's Berry Farm while I nursed Kathryn back to health. It was a long day in the hotel room, but worth it. She slept all day and by the evening she was eating and drinking again.
Neil and the kids had a BLAST at the amusement park. Grace and Kade were so brave on all the rides. It was actually a blessing in disguise that Kathryn got sick and had to stay behind. The original plan for the day was just to play in the sand at the beach and bum around. There wasn't much we could do with a 3-month-old infant, so going to Knott's Berry Farm was never in the plan.
They were fearless on the roller coaster, ferris wheel and other fast rides. It's a miracle Grace didn't get motion sickness!
That night was New Year's Eve. We decided to go to the beach and let Kathryn breathe in some of the salty-sea air. What a thrill to watch our kids see the ocean for the first time. For a bunch of landlocked kids, the ocean really is an amazing spectacle. We watched the most beautiful sunset and found seashells in the sand. The kids could have stayed for hours, totally unfazed by the chilly night air, but Neil and I were freezing.
We went to Seal Beach all three days we were in Long Beach. It has a long pier to walk out on above the ocean. I would be lying if I said I didn't get a case of the willies walking all the way to the end of the pier. This country-raised girl is a chicken when it comes to being on the ocean!
We spent the next morning at the Aquarium of the Pacific with Grandma and Grandpa Reichert, Uncle Kaleb, and Grandpa Bowman. The kids got such a kick out of every sea creature they saw, and we got a kick out of watching their reactions.
Of course, the whole purpose we took this family trip was to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Bowman's 60th wedding anniversary. The whole celebration almost didn't happen when a couple months back, Grandpa felt like it was going to be too much work and an imposition on us to put it together. We convinced him otherwise and the party was back on! We spent most of the day prior getting ready--shopping for food, preparing food, cleaning the room it was held in, and decorating.
The best part was getting to see my grandparents, cousins Brittney and Bre, and Uncle Bob and Aunt Susan whom I rarely see.
The last time I saw any of them was at Brittney's wedding three years ago. We both have two more children now than we did then! And, isn't the expressions on our boys' faces hilarious?!
Grandma looked through her closets and found her wedding dress from 60 years ago! The Bible she holds in this picture is the Bible she held during the ceremony. The orchid is a "replica."
It was such a successful family gathering. I wanted to stay longer and continue visiting with my cousins, but we had to get back on the road home to Utah. However, we are already scheming plans to return again soon. It's a real shame I don't see these people often enough.
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