Christmas Eve... check!

Sledding.... check!
Pies made for dinner at Mom and Dad Walker's tomorrow... check!
Cookies made with Grandma and Great-Grandma... check!
Caroling to neighbors... check!
Pasta, breadsticks and salad for dinner... check!
Presents wrapped... check!
Nativity scene/Luke 2... check!
Last Advent candle lighting... check!
Sardines (the game, not the fish)... check!
PJ's and books opened... check!
Stockings stuffed... check!
Putting the last present together...

Well, Tim is almost finished.

Time for bed and a few hours sleep before we have excited kids sneaking into the bedroom.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Emma's Christmas Letter

Dear Mom and Dad,

I like your cooking.
I like your food.
I like your pizza.
I like how you tuck me in.
You are so fun.
even when I'm 100 I will still love you.
You are a good hugger.
I like you a lot.

Love,
Emma

15 years?!

Yes, it's true- Tim and I have been married for 15 years.

To celebrate, we ate dinner at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Midway (Tarahumara- go there and order the cheesecake chimichanga- I'm still drooling over the memory) and spent the night at the Johnson Mill bed and breakfast. Everything was wonderful, and it was good to get away and remember we're still in love!

There was hoarfrost covering everything in the morning- it was gorgeous!
This is the antenna on our car. Cool, huh?

As a look back on these last 15 years, here are 15 moments in our lives together that stand out as being important.

1- December 17, 1994- the big day! The most important thing about the whole day was where it happened- in the Oakland Temple. That meant that we started off right. We planned to be together forever. Pretty bold, if you think about it- I mean, we'd really only known each other for a few months, and we were planning to spend eternity together? But we each had spiritual confirmation that it was right. And it was.

2- Our first child. Rebekah's birth was absolutely amazing. Who knew we could pull off something like that? Wow. And then we somehow survived while Tim was working graveyards and going to school full-time, and I was working from my computer at home, with Rebekah on a pillow on my lap.

3- Moving and getting a real job. Manila was Tim's first job offer. He took it. Sounds kinda dumb now, but boy are we glad we ended up there. 10 amazing years- and wonderful friends and memories.

4- Having surprise twins! Obviously, this is an event that sticks out in our minds. Pretty crazy. The whole thing was pretty hard on our marriage at the time, but hey- what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? And we're still here.

5- Ethan's birth. Four kids? No problem. Especially when you have a baby who hardly ever cries. I thought I was getting good at the whole parenthood thing!

6- Our own house! This was a really good thing to do- we bought land, picked a house, coordinated bank/builder/utility/whatever else I have conveniently forgotten- and it worked! I even uncovered a bank scam in the process!

7- Emma's birth- again, so easy! Wow, I was a good mom.

8- My brother Tom's death. This was a new one for us- and I found out both how terrible death can be, and how strong I am. It also introduced a new element into our lives for awhile- fear.

9- Annie's birth. This was the reality check. I don't know if it was my age, or the number of kids, or just Annie's personality, but I found out that I didn't know as much about parenthood as I thought. It is good that Tim is so patient with me, and so willing to help. I wouldn't want to try parenting without him!

10- I'm going to call this one "callings". Our various callings in the church (Primary chorister, pianist, president, nursery, and RS counselor and activity leader for me, EQ president, ward clerk, executive secretary, bishopric counselor, HP assistant for Tim), have been major learning experiences for both of us. Not just learning individually in our callings, but learning to support each other in them. It is a hard thing to be happy and willing to have your spouse gone at night or on Sunday while they work at the church, and you wrangle the kids (that totally goes both ways, since I am the RS activity leader now- at least one night a month I'm gone until late). I'm getting better at it, I think, and Tim is great.

11- Our experiences leading us to the Azores.

12- Living overseas. I loved the whole experience- except when I didn't. It was harder than I thought it would be to be far away from family and familiarity. We didn't really stay long enough for me to overcome all of my issues- I would like to be able to try again someday! What an adventure we had- and how amazing that we could do it together!

13- Moving back. Although our time in the Azores was cut shorter than I had planned, coming back was the right thing to do. In the process, I learned to trust my husband as the head of our family (well, most of the time- I'm still learning). He is a good man.

14- Grad school? This one was definitely a leap of faith. Going back to school full-time after 11 years of having a real job- not an easy decision. But again, we learned to rely on the Spirit, and to work together to succeed. I'm still trying to convince Tim that I'm not interfering when I bug him about working on his dissertation....

15- Living with my parents. Four adults and six children is a pretty good ratio- and splitting dinner and dishes duty has been wonderful! I am still amazed at my parents' willingness to take us in and help us thrive during this challenging time. This experience has also made me confront my pride problem- it's not easy to tell people that I'm 38, have 6 kids, and live with my parents. But this time will be over before long, and then I will miss it. I don't tell my parents often (or ever) how grateful I am for this sacrifice- but I am. Thank you.

So far, this has been a wonderful roller coaster ride. I'm excited to see what the next 15 years will bring!

Old ladies can be sneaky, too.

I volunteer to deliver food for Meals on Wheels once a week. Basically, I pick up hot food from a central point and deliver it to 11 seniors. I LOVE it- I have amazing people on my route, and I love seeing them and learning from them every week.

Last week I was delivering, and stopped at the home of a favorite of ours (Annie goes with me). This cute little lady has been through a lot, health-wise, but always has wonderful, kind words for us, and treats for Annie. When she came to the door, she handed me a Christmas card, told us how much she appreciated the delivery, and wished us a Merry Christmas. As I walked back out to the car, I handed Annie the card- she opened it and said, "Mom, there's a dollar in here!" When I looked in the card, I saw that she had included a $20 bill. Sigh.... I went back up to the door. "Doris (names have been changed to protect the very cute), I love you, but I can't take money from you- that's one of the rules for volunteers." She was not happy. "You have to let me do something to feel like I have worth. I want to do this!" I totally understood, but explained that the rule was in place to prevent problems with volunteers taking advantage of seniors. She finally agreed, but made me wait while she went to her pantry for a bag of Fritos and a box of granola bars for Annie. I probably shouldn't take those, either, but I happen to agree with her- she needs to feel needed and loved. I took the treats, got back in the car, and pulled out of her driveway.
Just as I started past her house, I saw Doris at the door, waving frantically. "You forgot the card! It doesn't have any money in it!" That last part was very clear- I'm not making it up. I stopped, ran up, took the card, said my thank you's again, and ran back to the car, which was idling in the middle of the street.
She totally tricked me. There WAS SO money in the card- she just tricked me into taking it. I wasn't about to go through all of that again, so I'll donate the $20 to Meals on Wheels. She did make me laugh, though.
Never underestimate the elderly!

Where has December gone?

I can't believe Christmas is in 5 days. The kids can, though- they are getting to that uber-excited, ultra-hyper stage that mothers everywhere dread. At least they have school for two more days!

This year, instead of a regular advent calendar, I decided to do an advent activity calendar. Every day of the month, the kids got to open a piece of paper that told them what we would do that day- the activities ranged from singing everyone's favorite Christmas carol to reading a story while we drink hot chocolate, to going to see the lights at Thanksgiving Point. (We haven't actually done that last one yet, although we were supposed to yesterday- we got there and saw the 3 mile long line of cars snaking out of the park. We'll go back when it's not a Saturday night. Maybe after Christmas?)

Here are a few pictures of things we've done this month- some were advent activities, and some not, but everything has been fun, and has (alas) contributed to the general air of excitement around here.

A real, live reindeer- at Thanksgiving Point when we tried to go to their 1st annual ice sculpture contest. Cancelled. I'm guessing it is not only the 1st annual, but also the last. TP hasn't been working out so well for us this season....

At the Festival of Trees. The day started with a visit to the breakfast buffet at Golden Corral- big hit with everybody, especially the boys. I've decided not to pay attention to how much they eat. It's just better if I don't know.
The Festival was amazing, but we were glad we went early- it got EXTREMELY busy later- right about the time we decided it was time to leave. I'm really not into crowded places.

This was my favorite tree-

but Rebekah preferred the paper crane tree.
Everything was gorgeous. What an amazing place!

Outside the festival- it was easier to get a picture of everyone out here, where we didn't have to fight the crowds!

Here's Emma at her 1st grade Christmas sing. She was super excited, and the kids did a wonderful job singing. 1st grade is such a fun group!

That same night, we also stopped at the jr. high for Rebekah's band concert. They were so good! I love that she has a great band program here!

That's her to the right of the middle stand.

We've had a good month so far, and it should actually calm down a little this week- it seems like all the normal things (lessons, church activities, homework) are canceled, and we should be able to just concentrate on Christmas.

Thanksgiving in Pictures

This was the week before Thanksgiving, but it figures into the time period. Grandpa Steele fell at his home and ended up in the hospital a few weeks before Thanksgiving. He was sent to a rehab center afterwards, and then needed somewhere to go while the siblings figured out what the best course of action would be. So we got to have him for a week! It involved a lot of shuffling- we moved Rebekah to the couch, Tim and I to Rebekah's room, and Grandpa into our room, but it was worth it to get to spend time with Grandpa. The week wasn't easy- he is easily confused, and there were many other issues to deal with, but the lucid days, when he talked with me and the kids about his life, were wonderful. I'm glad they will have these memories of him.

Thanksgiving dinner- our family, Mom and Dad, Ben and Grandma Shipley. The food was amazing! I love Thanksgiving.

Friday, we left and drove to Levan for the day to visit Grandma and Grandpa Walker. There are always fun things to do there, although the kids definitely have expectations, and can be demanding- some of the "must do's":

Read books,

make sugar cookies,

ride the four wheelers,

and peruse the Australian artifacts (this is a digeridoo). Not pictured are watching t.v. in the basement, playing at the park, and smiley face pancakes for breakfast. The kids definitely have their routine down!

The rest of the weekend involved lots of cleaning and finishing this puzzle- my first in many years. It took us forever- all of the pieces fit with each other, creating several very frustrating moments, but we persevered, and...

And there was much rejoicing!

Rebekah's Championship!

Rebekah had a great volleyball team this year. They were tied for second going into the tournament, and made it all the way to the final game without losing. That last match was a nailbiter, but they pulled it off, and won the championship! Yay, Rebekah!

Tim Gets Older

Yes, it's true- Tim is older than I am for the next 9 months. You'd think I could take advantage of this time to feel young or something, but really it just messes with my mind. I end up not knowing how old I am until my next birthday. Maybe I should just move my birthday to Tim's and be done with the whole thing.

We already had presents for Tim (he picked them out himself. I know, I'm pathetic), but at the last minute I took the kids to the dollar store so they could have something to give him, too.

For himself, Tim had chosen a copy of the new Spanish Bible and Book of Mormon and the Tabernacle Choir/King Singer's Christmas CD. Mom and Dad gave him what he really wanted: the latest installment in the Peanuts collection (1970-74). From the dollar store, Tim ended up with a Christmas tie that plays "Silent Night," a snow globe, popcorn, peanut butter cups, a mouse pad, and a book about coaching. We're all about cheap variety around here.

Empanadas and Dulce du Leche cake rounded out the evening. And now the countdown to 40 starts....