Upgraded to First Class

One of the perks of Ben traveling so much is that we sometimes get upgraded to first class.  Tonight we hit the jackpot, all 3 of us got upgraded!

Skiing!

These girls! Not only did they go skiing, they also went sledding, to the aquarium, and to a movie over Christmas break.  I hope they realize this lifestyle isn't normal, these two are abundantly blessed!.

First Flight

The day before Christmas I asked Q what he was most excited for.  He said he was most excited to fly on an airplane to visit far away grandma and grandpa.

He got his wings.  #firstflight

All is Calm All is White

Santa did great this year

Without the other 5 kids around, Christmas morning was calm and Qyntn enjoyed every minute!  Except when we told him it was time to leave his new toys and go to church.  We even woke up to a dusting of snow.  It was a white Christmas after all.

Christmas Eve

Dinner out for Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve jammies

We enjoyed a lovely Christmas Eve with Nick and Tiffany.  We did dinner Winger's style, delivered Christmas presents to some families in our ward, and watched the nativity.

A Waffle Love Christmas Party

The owners of Waffle Love moved into the ward and offered to make everyone waffles for our ward Christmas party.  It was Scrumptious!

Ben made his ward viola debut

Christmas Card, Carols and Concerts

Bah-hum-bug Holly

Tiago and Halle sittin in a tree

 ,

Alyssa is taking piano lessons again, hurray!

65 and Counting

My mom has made it to 65!  This poor woman has been sick for 35 years, so honestly, 65 is a big deal!  I thought we were going to lose her while I was on my mission (20 years ago), but she's still with us.  She will be having a kidney transplant on January 3rd and is super excited that she won't have to be on dialysis anymore. Praying everything goes well for both her and my sister who is giving her a kidney.

Tonight, as is our tradition, we had our family Christmas/birthday party.  Fun times!  Love you mom!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

A few weeks ago Ben told me that he had found a lump on his testicle, so we made an appointment to get it evaluated.  The doctor checked it out and seemed concerned, so he had us schedule an ultrasound and then Ben went out of town on business.  I didn't sleep very well for the next several nights.  When Ben got back from his trip he had the ultrasound and the tech was also concerned and told us that there were abnormalities. Waiting for the radiology report was no fun, I didn't sleep very well for another few nights.  The radiologist looked at the images and said he thought the mass was probably benign, but wanted Ben to see a specialist.  I slept a little better that night, but was still concerned.  Finally, after 2 long weeks of wondering and waiting, we met with the urologist who gave us the great news that the lump is just an epididymal cyst and that we should not be concerned in any way that it could be cancer.  Phew!  What a relief!  I feel like a dark cloud has been lifted.  Tonight I will hopefully sleep in heavenly peace.

12 Days of Sickness

It's a little hard to be jolly when everyone is sick...

Holly....cold/laryngitis
Ayzha...sore throat
Alyssa...croup
Qyntn...nausea/vomiting/runny nose
Shannon...yeast infection
Ben...torn gastrocnemius

Our enthusiasm to LighttheWorld this Christmas season was dimmed by illness. Now that we are all on the mend we hope to finish off strong!

Croup

The 12 days of Christmas are turning into the 12 days of sickness.  Last night at 2:30am I woke up to Alyssa calling for me while struggling to breathe.  She had been sick for several days and we had been given an Albuterol inhaler 2 days earlier at a doctor appointment, so I had her take a puff.  After several minutes she could still hardly breathe.  We tried again, and still no improvement.  She was scared and I began to get scared so we took a trip to the ER. Within no time she was diagnosed with croup, given a breathing treatment and a steroid and was under control, but it was scary.  I am so grateful for modern medicine and doctors and nurses who are willing to work all through the night!

#LIGHTtheWard

$100 dollar budget ÷150 sisters= Christmas music CD

Light Entertainment

I smiled and laughed for 2 hours straight. My face hurts.  Jim Gaffigan was well worth the money and the wait. Thanks for taking me babe!  I could use more nights like tonight in my life.

Bantam Basketball

The girls rocked their first Bantam Basketball game!  I was beginning to lose hope, but maybe they do have a future playing basketball.

"Wild Wenesday"

It was another "Wild Wednesday" at the Hogle Zoo. That means it was free on Wednesday.  I knew it was going to be awfully cold that day, but when I woke up that morning I decided we were going to go anyways.  The kids all thought they were getting ready to go to school that morning, but we went to the zoo instead.  I was right, it was freezing cold, but that made it so there weren't any crowds.

The Lions and apes were especially fun this time.

Lightening Burdens

This Christmas we have the opportunity to help some families in our ward who are struggling financially.  For family home evening we made ornaments for the ward Christmas Giving Tree.

Let it Snow?

I don't normally like snow, but we got several inches the other day and it was so cute to watch Qyntn get all bundled up to go sledding.  He was sooo excited!  We headed over to a new sledding hill nearby and had a ball.  Maybe snow isn't so bad after all.

It's an added bonus that he can drag the sled all the way up the hill without help.  Makes my job much easier!

and how does his hair look so good after

wearing a beanie for hours...what a cutie pie!

Visit to the Lights

The Christmas initiative inspired us to visit the lights on Temple Square early this year.  At the visitor center we watched the video "LighttheWorld" to introduce it to the kids.

We made it a day and visited the visitor centers, Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle, the Conference Center and watched "Meet the Mormons" at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (this was their favorite part).

Instead of driving we took Frontrunner which made it even more exciting.

Ben makes everything fun!

Lighting Our Home

We kicked off the Christmas season by lighting our home...

We also added some smells and sounds of Christmas.  Love the way it feels and smells in our home!