Sunday, December 31, 2017

Don't Go!!

Brandt, Blythe, and I stopped by Mikayla's house today.  It's her birthday.  
Cora didn't want us to go.
We love her!

Friday, December 29, 2017

#LightTheWorld

Every year, when December rolls around, I think about the month, the Christmas season, and all that comes into play that is not related, in any way, to Christ.  I have grand intentions of focusing on the Savior's birth, and then all the other stuff gets in the way and it doesn't happen.  Last year the Church introduced a way to keep our celebrating more Christ centered with their "Light the World" campaign.  During the 25 days leading up to Christmas, each day had a theme relating in some way to Jesus, and some act of service that would help us be more like him.  I was delighted with this, and for the first week or nine days, we did pretty well.  Then I got distracted, I didn't remind anyone about it, and the rest of the month was not focused on the real meaning of Christmas.

This year the Church presented the same campaign, with slightly different themes but the same focus on service, and I vowed to be more diligent in my efforts to light the world.  I've also been feeling a pull to post more about my faith on social media, and so I made a goal to post something on Facebook each day relating to the themes.  The Church produced short videos to go with each day's theme, so I included those and a thought or a report on what I/we did that day.  I wanted the children to be involved and had each day included in our advent calendar.  In every pocket was something we were doing that day, and a way we could light the world.

All in all, I think it went very well.  Here are some of the highlights.
Day 1 "Freely ye have received, freely give."  Blythe wrote a sweet note to Keyaira and included a $5 bill, because, as Blythe says, "She could really use our help."  Blythe also wanted to do the "Get Give" vending machines the Church had in the Joseph Smith Building, but we didn't make it to Salt Lake in time.  We went up on the 29th, and by that time, they were all done letting people contribute, even though they were still set up.  She was fantastically disappointed.  We'll donate online.


Day 2  "I was thirsty and ye gave me drink."  This is what I posted on Facebook.  "To think that so many in the world live without clean water. And even more live without the living water that Christ offers through His gospel. When my spirit thirsts, I know where to look for satisfaction, refreshment, and cleansing."  In addition, Kent and I made a donation to a non-profit that worked with BYU engineering students to create a village drill that is relatively inexpensive, can be easily assembled, and is human powered.  Their combined efforts have brought, over the past five years, 55 drills to 23 countries, been responsible for drilling more than 1,100 boreholes, and have provided clean water to at least 300,000 people.   

Day 5  This is what I posted on Facebook.  "Every time I think of Matthew 15:4, 'Honor thy father and mother,' I'm sad my father is not with us anymore. I miss him. He was so good with people, never judging, accepting them where they were at. He was the funniest man I've ever met. I haven't laughed as much since he died. My mother is a rock. She is faithful, a woman of integrity, and a person who wants to do what's right. She is a great example to me of turning to the Lord when help is needed, and then acting confidently that He will answer our prayers. I love my parents and honor their sacrifices to make my life better."  I wanted to post a picture of my parents, and I couldn't find one of the two of them, together, that wasn't nearly 10 years old.  Makes me sad.  We should have taken more pictures of them.

Day 6  "Judge not, that ye be not judged."  Matthew 7:1 I got a message on Facebook from a friend of ours from Albany, Phil Adikes.  He said, "You are helping me make December my month of Christ too... When my pride and delusion made me feel 'holiest' I had really put myself in isolation from God and others. When I was most keenly aware of my selfish nature I found myself drawing closer to God and being a much better friend to my peers. Consciousness of my own sin is my ticket to join the celebration and to love without reserve. The paradoxes are rich."  I just love this!  And I loved how we were working, as a family, each day, to make our actions more like Christ's.

Day 7's theme was "Suffer the little children to come unto me."  Mikayla and her kids came over to hang out with me.  We were doing a bit of a quilting project for Mikayla.  She had made blankets for Brick and Cora, but needed to do some quilting to keep the layers together.  While she was there, Kal managed to swallow a small, thin piece of metal from a needle threader, and ended up in the ER followed by a quickie surgery to remove it.  Mikayla's other little children were with us all afternoon and evening until Guy and Mikayla could get home with Kal from the hospital.  What a day that was!

Day 8  Matthew 5:44 "Love your enemies, bless them at curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you."  We read this scripture and watched the video that morning. I asked the children if they had someone at school they had a hard time getting along with, and Blythe immediately said yes, and named a friend she's been having some conflict with. She has really been struggling to be nice, but has been accused of being mean and not inclusive. But before she left for school, she said a prayer, specifically naming this friend, and vowing to make an effort today and over the next week to be kind. I could see a softening in Blythe after she prayed, and know I can experience that same softening as I pray for those I might sometimes see as my enemy.

Day 10  John 5: 39 "Search the scriptures." I frequently feel inadequate for the tasks and responsibilities that are mine. Parenting is hard. Marriage is sometimes a challenge. My current church assignment seems overwhelming. There are needs to be met and tasks to complete. While I am doing pretty well at some things, I am falling short in a great many others. But Christ offers this reassurance in Doctrine and Covenants 32:3. "I myself will go with them and be in their midst; and I am their advocate with the Father, and nothing shall prevail against them." Christ is on my side. He's on my team! He will be with me and plead my cause before God. I take great comfort in knowing that though I am weak and struggle and fall short all the time, my Savior will represent me for my benefit and good. I love him for that!

Day 12  Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn." To lose a loved one is one of life's greatest sorrows. Two nights ago, as I was snuggled under the covers trying to go to sleep, I was thinking of my dad and his death. It's been six years, yet as I lay there, it all felt very fresh. I didn't want to start crying because my nose would run and I'd have a hard time breathing, and I didn't want to disturb Kent, so I tried to think of something else. Anything else. I know my dad is in a good place, busy, happy, feeling fantastic. But I still mourn. Dad loved Christmas, and my Santa decorations poignantly remind me of him. I know others mourn, too, and Christmas without a loved one is always hard.

Dec 13  Matthew 7:12 "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do for you, do you even so for them." It's the Golden Rule, a wonderful way to live. Today, I took time to be with my niece, Michelle, and her new daughter, Mina. What a beautiful mother and new child. As I watched her with her sweet baby, I thought about the joy that comes into your life when you become a parent the first time, and each time. And I thought about the joy that entered the world when Jesus was born, joy felt by a new mother, Mary, and joy felt by the world at the birth of our Savior. New life that would bring triumph over death. It was a wonderful few hours spent with those I love, and I was grateful I could take them a meal and visit, as I was grateful when we brought Brandt home and others did the same for me.

Dec 16  Matthew 25:6 "[I was] naked, and ye clothed me." Today we dropped off some items at the United Way Giving Tree.  On Wednesday we went and picked up cards that had the name of a person in need of something, and suggestions of what we could get them.  We selected a nine and a half year old girl (just like Blythe!) and a thirteen year old boy (close to Brandt).  Then we went shopping.  The children helped select clothes, toys, and books, hoping to make their Christmas a little brighter. They had a good time shopping.  Blythe did ask if she could have her name on the tree, but I pointed out that she was hardly in need of anything, and we certainly were in a position to get her whatever she might need.  But we all felt good about our contribution.



Dec 17  3 Nephi 18:22 "Ye shall meet together oft." This evening, we attended our stake music fireside. One short hour of beautiful Christmas music performed by members of the stake. I hadn't felt particularly interested in going, but as we were singing and I wanted to support Jeri Covey, the choir director, I went.  Kent was going to come, too, and we were going to bring the children, but then Blythe said, "I don't want to go," so Kent stayed home with her and Brandt and I went.  Then, just before the program started, Kent and Blythe arrived.  She changed her mind.  The music was great and the spirit was strong and uplifting.  A family from the 9th ward did an instrumental version of O Come, O Come Emmanuel which was fabulous!  One man played the trombone, which I think Brandt liked.  He watched him through the whole number.  Our ward sang a lovely piece of music called Follow the Star which encourages us, like the wisemen of old, to look for Christ. The lyrics say, "Jesus has come, the Light of the World. He will return again. If we follow His light like the Wisemen of old, He will guide us safely home." I was so glad we went and joined with our fellow saints to sing praises and worship the Savior through song. 

Dec 19  Matthew 5:12 "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad." Done! When I look at my life and all the rich goodness that is mine, I am exceedingly glad. Glad for life, for prosperity, for a stellar husband and great kids, for meaningful extended family relationships, and for an abundance of friends. I've got the gospel, good health, and more than I could possible need. Life is good!  

Dec 20  Along with that thought, the following day I posted: I was just looking at houses for sale in our area. We're not moving. Ever. But it's fun to look at what's out there, other possibilities. Brandt came in and asked what I was doing, then sat on my lap to look, too. We found a couple of listings for houses that were over 1 million, and Brandt said, "Let's buy one of those!" No thank you. Even with all the money in the world, I know I wouldn't want the responsibility of so much. Luke 12:15 says, "A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." Christ tells his disciples not to worry about clothing or shelter, but to focus on the kingdom of God, and then all things will be added. I have an abundance, and sometimes it overwhelms me. I am making an earnest goal to eliminate the excess and focus more on what most matters in my life.

Dec 21  Matthew 25:35 "For I was hungred, and ye gave me meat." Blythe feels very strongly that because we have so much, we should be giving to others. Just today, as we walked into Hobby Lobby for some crafting supplies, there was a bell ringer outside. Blythe asked if we could put some money in his bucket, and initially I said no. We've been generous this year and I felt like we'd done enough. But she looked up at me and said, "But Mom. Think about all we have and how others don't have as much." I gave her a dollar. In addition, last week, the kids each took donations to the food bank into school. We did our part to feed the hungry. And though Blythe looks somewhat putout at doing it, she was only pouting because it was cold outside and I made her stop for a picture on the way to the car.  She was glad to be taking food.


It was at this point that I became overwhelmed with last minute Christmas details, including shopping for a few little gifts, food preparations, and partying.  The children were home, I was trying to entertain them and keep them engaged in something other than watching TV, and getting it all finished.  I fear that I did not visit anyone in prison or really focus on the other themes, but I did post this on Christmas day, as something of a concluding thought to my Christ focused service efforts.  

"Our celebration of Christmas should be a reflection of the love and selflessness taught by the Savior. Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. We feel more kindly one to another. We reach out in love to help those less fortunate. Our hearts are softened. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things. To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the Spirit of Christ.

As the Christmas season envelops us with all its glory, may we, as did the Wise Men, seek a bright, particular star to guide us in our celebration of the Savior’s birth. May we all make the journey to Bethlehem in spirit, taking with us a tender, caring heart as our gift to the Savior." President Thomas S. Monson
Merry Christmas friends! May it be a wonderful, spirit-filled day.
I feel as though December was, for me, more spirit-filled.  Our Light the World tree, prominently hung in the kitchen so we could look at it and be reminded each day, filled with ornaments, and the month was filled with service.  What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ!

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Looking Young and Tan


I was going through emails this afternoon, trying to delete hundreds that are clogging up the inbox that I don't need.  I came across an email that contained nothing but this picture, sent from my brother-in-law Tad.  It's from summer of 2011.  I know this because of my hair.  It's a weird color.  I tried what I had hoped would be a fun, bright red on the ends thing, and it didn't work out.  It ended up being orange and not what I had in mind.  It was this color when my dad died.  Looking at this picture, Kent and I seem much younger, though it's only six years ago.  That's not really a long time to have passed.  And we're both tan, even Kent, another indication that it's summer.  We're apparently in the middle of some project, and this picture is a reminder to me that we work well together.  I sure do like my man. 

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Tidying Up

Post Christmas, I always feel an itching to clean up and throw out stuff.  Just stuff.  We are inundated with stuff.  Getting new stuff that needs a place to live makes me want to throw out old stuff that no longer serves a purpose or is just taking up space.

Today, I tackled the laundry room.  It has been full of stuff I don't want, that needs to go to DI, that has been clogging up flow and ease of washing clothes, and I was sick of it.  Every time I walked into the laundry room, I wanted to scream.  So I began by removing everything that didn't belong in the room and sorted it.  Quite a bit was destined for DI and I filled several bags of clothes and toys that needed a new home.  I cleaned off the top of the washer and dryer, sorted through stuff in laundry baskets, and removed trash.  I cleaned off the shelves, and then cleaned between the washer and dryer and behind the dryer.  I had Blythe help with that part.  She is small and thin and could get between the machines easier than either Kent or I.  She kept saying, "Ewwww!" but persevered until the job was done.

I am determined to have the laundry room finished before the end of January.  Kent poured a concrete floor before we moved in, but it didn't work.  Earlier this year, I whacked the whole thing up, leaving the bare sub-floor plywood.  I want to put fun tile on the floor, maybe repaint, and hang different hooks and things.  I'm tired of looking at unfinished projects and saying, "One of these days I'm going to get to that."  Now is the time for the laundry room!

After clearing out and vacuuming everything, I was thrilled with the way the whole room looked and felt.  It was like a weight lifted to get it cleaned up, and I'm excited to see further transformation.


Says Blythe, "This is not how I want to spend the rest of my day."

Self-Awareness

It's the day after Christmas.  At 10:30 I asked Kent what we were going to do for the rest of the day.  Before he could respond, Blythe piped up and said, "At 11:00, I'm going to call Lilly and Emma and see if they can play.  If they can't, I'm going to call Ellen.  If she can't play, I'm going to call Sarah.  If she can't play, I'm going to mope around the house."

Isn't self-awareness a marvelous thing?

Monday, December 25, 2017

Christmas Day

Ah Christmas!  I'm happy to report that the children didn't wake us, well, maybe me, until 7:00am, a very reasonable and civilized hour considering the holiday and the excitement level.  We got right to opening presents, and I think the children were pleased with what Santa brought.  Blythe received a Barbie jet, a huge thing with lots of little pieces that got stuck in the interior of the jet almost immediately.  Brandt got a remote control Bugati and drove it wildly around the house off and on most of the day.

Obligatory Christmas morning picture wherein none of us looks very good.

Here's Blythe with her enormous Barbie jet.  This has been at the top of Blythe's Christmas list from the beginning.  The list began with 16 items, some of which were "opshonal," and each item listed next to who would give it to her.  It was eventually whittled down, by Blythe herself, to about six things.  But this remained always at the top of the list, always from Santa.  Santa had a hard time getting one here because he discovered at the end of November that they aren't made anymore.  I'm not sure where Blythe saw one to know she had to have it, but it was going to be a real stretch for Santa to come by one.  After looking repeatedly on ebay for an aftermarket one that wasn't $400, he was fortunate enough to find one on KSL for just over 1/4 of that price.  Phew!  I think it is highly likely that this is the last year "Santa" will be coming down the chimney.

After presents, I made crépes for breakfast.  I'm always amazed at how many crépes the children can eat at a sitting.  I think Brandt had six and Blythe four.  They were delicious.  

Blythe told us repeatedly that she wanted to stay home all day, in the house, playing with her Barbie jet.  She was fairly firm on that.  I, however, was equally firm that I wanted to go over to Grandma Sue's in the afternoon and play games with anyone who was around.  Eventually, Blythe was convinced to get dressed, after I told her Makenna would be there.  We spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing, eating, and visiting with DeMartini cousins.  The kids came in and out of the kitchen, snacking on whatever took their fancy, and we left in the evening having celebrated a lovely Christmas day.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Christmas Eve

We began the day with church, it being Sunday.  We only met for sacrament meeting, but it was a lovely Christmas program filled with music and the Christmas story from the New Testament.  The Primary children sang and both Brandt and Blythe sang nicely.  I watched.  I think Brandt really sang, not just lip-synced.  The ward choir sang two numbers which were also nice.  I know Kent and I both sang.  It was such a nice way to spend Christmas Eve morning and I wish that we could go to church every Christmas or Christmas Eve.  It helps keep the focus of Christmas on Christ.

I took a sneaky picture during church as the children sang.
Don't tell anyone!

Because it was the Sabbath, we didn't have much planned for the day, and we had done all our fun, festive, family activities yesterday.  I did have the children help me wrap presents, Brandt helping with Blythe's and Blythe helping with Brandt's.  Both of them wrapped presents for Kent.  We made cookies for Santa, sort of.  Grandma Dawn had brought us some frozen cookie dough, and our neighbor, Justine Banks, had brought us some little sugar cookies and frosting and sprinkles to decorate them with.  So we baked cookies, then decorated the others.  I assured the children that Santa would love the frosted sugar cookies more than the chocolate chip, as they had done such a cute job decorating, so that's what we put out for Santa.  He did a fine job finishing them off when he stopped at our house.

Brandt has been asking about his birth mom, Jamie.  I had made her a photo book of pictures of Brandt throughout the year, but I hadn't gotten it mailed.  I suggested we drive down to Springville so we could meet her and deliver her book in person.  Brandt thought that was a great idea, so he was able to meet Jamie today.  We certainly surprised her, but in a good way.  We had a nice visit, she and I cried practically the whole time, and Brandt was good about answering questions and being kind.  He is naturally shy and reserved around adults he doesn't know, so he wasn't super talkative.  Jamie was glad to meet him and told us how grateful she was that we stopped by.  I'm sure we'll see her again.

We had Grandma Sue and Richard Ledford join us for dinner.  We played a couple of games after dinner, and after Grandma Sue had helped clean the kitchen and left for the night, we all went for a walk.  The children were squirrelly both from it being Sunday and it being Christmas Eve, and we needed to get out of the house.  It was snowing lightly, all was calm and bright, and the neighborhood was lined with luminaries again.  There was a magical feel in the air, probably because it was Christmas.

Picture taken by random guy who drove into the cul-de-sac looking at the luminaries.
His window was down so I asked him to take our picture.
Kent was embarrassed. 
That's why he looks so short in this picture.
That, or because I'm wearing a really big hat so I look way taller than he is.
It was snowing.

We managed to get the children into bed at a decent hour, finish the bit of wrapping we still needed to do, and get into bed ourselves.  Everything looked ready for the next day.  We just hope the children don't wake up at 3:00am.

These six small cookies were polished off handily.
If the six surrounding them were actual decorated sugar cookies, not part of the plate,
they would have been polished off, too.


Saturday, December 23, 2017

Christmas Adam

Christmas Eve is on Sunday this year, and as a result of that, all our normal Christmas Eve activities got pushed to Christmas Adam.  We still celebrated, we still partied, and still ate way too much, we just did it a day early than we usually do.  No biggie.

We gathered with almost all of the DeMartinis at Christopher and Tysen's house to have Christmas brunch, open presents, and play together.  The kids were so hyped up they didn't eat very well, but when there are presents waiting to be opened and cousins to run around with, food seems largely incidental.  After a delicious meal, we did sit around and open presents.  Kent and I gave everyone a photobook which Mikayla had largely put together.  Brandt got Legos, Blythe got an erasable drawing easel with markers.  It was a lovely late morning and early afternoon.





We always spend Christmas Eve evening with the Barri, but that gathering was also moved to Christmas Adam.  The past several years we have met at the Sandy Institute where Uncle David works, and this year was so exception.  We did encounter a slight hiccup in that the building was double booked.  We normally have access to the gym, a gaming area, and a large area with tables to eat.  Another family gathering of 75 people was also there, and as we were only about 25, we took a smaller room.  It was still plenty large enough for everything we wanted to do and worked out just fine.  

We had a delicious dinner (we brought shrimp and rolls), then did our traditional white elephant gift exchange and nativity.  There were very silly things on offer at the gift exchange, as always.  There as a large box of red potatoes, probably 20 pounds worth, an Obama commemorative plate that Brandt came home with (we would like to shoot it with the BB gun), and a 4inch disco ball (very popular!).  Kent came home with a kid microphone, I got earmuffs, and Blythe was lucky enough to get a stuffed animal.  Such fun!




The nativity went about as well as they usually do.  We did have a sweet baby Jesus in the form of Mina who is only about a month old.  Blythe was a reluctant inn keeper, Brandt a wise guy, and the audience sang with gusto at the appropriate moments.  We didn't have as many children as we often do, with only Brandt and Blythe, and Matthew's kids Aubrey, Tyson, and Emma.  The bigger kids were good about stepping in to fill the breach.  It was so nice to be together, to talk and laugh, and celebrate Christmas as a family.

Angels bringing glad tidings of great joy.

Mary, Joseph, and a sturdy donkey.

The inn keeper, offering the stable.

Baby "Jesus" wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a "manger."


Shepherds and sheep

Wise men following the star.

The cast
Standing: Blythe, Brandt, Aaron, Matthew, Amy, Ian (kneeling), Michelle, Mina, and Brandon
Sitting: Aubrey, Becca holding Emma and Tyson

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Selfies or Funny Children

I'm almost always in for a surprise when I open my phone photo album.  I find the silliest pictures the children have taken of themselves.  They make me laugh.  The children AND the pictures.




 






Tuesday, December 19, 2017

To Do List



Blythe made a To Do list today.  I love it!  It is evidence of how her name suits her perfectly.  There are the important Christmas preparation that need to be done, but there's more.  Even before play with friends, she wants to sing carols and be merry and spread joy.  She truly is a blithe spirit!

Saturday, December 16, 2017

Pie Day

Pie day today!  It was our annual make but don't bake pie bonanza, and this year we cranked out 42 pies, half apple, half jumbleberry.  We met at my mom's house, and together with her, Mikayla, Tysen, Ava, and Luke, plus some help from Makenna and Lyla, and a bit from Blythe and Lilly Bradford, we made crust (Ava and Luke), rolled (me), filled with guts (Mom, Luke, Ava, Tysen, Lyla, and Mikayla), and topped (me again) a lot of pies.  While we worked in the kitchen, the other little people ran wildly around the house, whizzing through from time to time, stopping to see how things were going, demanding a treat, then whizzing off again.  It's a fun day, a tradition activity, and a nice time to be together and talk and work.  Everyone had a job, everyone stuck with it, and everyone felt good about the results.  We made a point of delivering most of the 18 pies we made for me and Kent because we certainly don't have room to freeze and store 18 pies, and we were happy to spread a little Christmas cheer.

Mom quartered and peeled close to 100 apples.

Tysen and Lyla, with a bit of help from Cora, sliced them all.

 
Ava and Luke made crust and filled,
and eventually Makenna helped fill, too.  

I was the crust roller.
I only had to reroll twice.


Cora "helping" trim crust.

42 pies staying cool on the porch.
A is for apple, B is for berry.