Remembering

One of my friends is posting 12 days of Christmas memories on her blog, and it got me thinking about the Christmas memories I have that are probably not written down anywhere. So I'm going to write out a few of those here so I have a record of them (thanks, Laura! I hope you don't mind me borrowing your idea). It might take me a few days.

Christmases in Missouri:
1. When we lived in Missouri (7th-12th grades for me) there was an amazing family in our ward with many, many children. During my Laurel years in Young Womens they had 4 boys in Young Mens, and those boys were fun, responsible, polite. We love the Howalds. Anyway, one year when I went home for Christmas from college we were enjoying a quiet evening when the doorbell rang. We answered it to find the entire Nativity on our doorstep. The Howalds had come to tell us the Christmas story complete with Mary, Joseph, wise men, shepherds, and angels. Their home was a good half hour drive from ours, and this was no small feat for them. I remember being so touched by it. So if any of the Howalds happen to read this, Thanks for a great memory and a touch of the true Christmas spirit!

2. Our second year in Missouri (I think), we made the drive to Maryland to spend Christmas with my grandparents. My Aunt Kim and Uncle Mark went, too, and we had so much fun together. I remember Kim filling a pair of pantyhose with gifts for Mark since he didn't have a stocking there. That really made an impression on me as a 14 year old. :) We acted out the nativity there, and I was an angel and made my appearance at the top of the stairs leading down to the family room. I also remember getting a BYU sweatshirt that year, which I still have 18 years later (now a BYU alumnus!)

3. In our family the Christmas morning tradition was that we kids (four of us) got up early and played Monopoly until Mom and Dad were ready for us to come open presents. We would hear them start the Anne Murray cassette tape (later CD) upstairs and walk around, and the anticipation would build. Finally they would call us up, and we'd ascend the stairs in giggles. This tradition continued through high school and into college. Until one year....

I went home for Christmas from BYU, and on Christmas morning my younger brothers and I began the traditional game of early morning Monopoly downstairs. Eventually we heard my parents get up, turn on the music, walk around. We waited patiently for them to come get us (yes, we were a little old for this, but it was tradition!!), but the time went on, and no summons was made. Fifteen minutes went by, then 30, then an hour. All walking around upstairs had long since ceased, and we were still waiting, totally puzzled. Finally we three decided to go up and peek into the living room to gauge the situation. I still shake my head in disbelief when I think about what happened next. There were mom and dad sitting on the couch, surrounded by all their opened presents, torn wrapping paper strewn across the floor. They had opened all their presents without us while we waited for them to call us up! When they saw us they said, "We waited and waited for you to come up, and finally we just decided you weren't going to come, so we opened our presents without you." What?! Inconceivable! Had they forgotten that for 20 years the tradition had been for them to call us up?! Yes, they had forgotten. And didn't quite believe us when we told them. But we know; yes, we know. And for all the Christmases since it has made a great story! :)

Open Mouth, Insert Foot

Literally! Last night for the first time, Isaac discovered that if he bends just right, the big toe is not only functional for transportation purposes, but also doubles as a teether! Mmmmmm....Delicious!

Does anyone else remember sucking on their big toe? I have a distinct memory of it, which I'm hoping means that I have a great memory and not that I was way too old to be sucking on my big toe.

The other evening as I was getting ready for bed, Walt suddenly remembered something: "Oh, I forgot to tell you that Isaac peed into your contact case from his bath last night, and I forgot to clean it out." Thank you. Apparently a little pee never hurt anybody - in fact, my vision that day was as good as ever. Who do you think won't forget to put the lids on her contact case from now on? Lesson learned. Hee hee. :)

Twin Cousins

We just returned from a delightful trip to Arizona to spend the holiday with Walt's siblings. Walt and his brother went mountain biking and shooting, we all went to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights, the women had a breakfast out while the men watched all the kids, lots of talking and eating was accomplished, and a good time was had by all!

The highlight of our Thanksgiving trip was having Isaac meet his "twin" cousin, Sam. They were born 10 hours apart and turned 5 months old on Thanksgiving Day. We hope they grow up to be great friends!

Early Christmas Present

For Christmas this year my maternal grandparents gave the family an experience. They bought tickets for all 35 of us 8 years old and older to attend last night's performance of "Savior of the World" at the Conference Center on Temple Square. Wow. It was wonderful! I felt the Spirit testify strongly to me that the events and circumstances of the Savior’s birth, ministry, death, and resurrection as we read in the Bible are real.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for giving us the opportunity to have that witness and to feel the strength of family as we all experienced it together! What a perfect Christmas gift.

Honestly

Ok I've been tagged with an Honest Scrap award (thanks, Crystal!). The rules are I'm supposed to tell 10 brutally honest things about myself and then tag 10 people. So here goes...

1. Most days I don't get out of my PJs until the afternoon (gasp!).

2. If I'm in my PJs I don't answer the door unless it is a good friend or the mailman. The Jehovah's Witnesses have given up on me.

3. I feel bad throwing food away, so even if I know I'm not going to eat it, I keep it in my fridge until it starts changing color. Then I feel totally justified in throwing it away.

4. I really like to cook, but I'm a very practical cook. I'm all about casseroles and easy homestyle meals. No gourmet for me. And most of what I make tastes a lot better than it looks - I'm not so good with presentation.

5. I love love love to read. Bookworm.

6. I love love love to play the piano. I play for Isaac a lot, and he loves it. He will sit and listen to me play for 20 minutes easy and be perfectly content. But sometimes I worry that it'll cause him to love music so much he won't want to do boy things like play sports. I know this is irrational and gender steroetyping and silly and stuff, but this is supposed to be a totally honest list, right?

7. I enjoy keeping my house neat and orderly, except for one tiny thing. Mopping the kitchen floor. Then all my stalling tactics come into play and sometimes it is...dare I say it?..... 2 MONTHS (say it isn't so!) in-between floor moppings. And then I usually get Walt to do it. :)

8. I love to drink orange juice while eating chocolate.

9. I get squeamish around spiders.

10. There are two kinds of people in the world - those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don't. I happen to like Neil Diamond. And What About Bob. :)

I tag all of you. Ha!

New Job

Walt was offered and accepted an electrical engineering position with a new company in Spanish Fork this week. On Monday he will start working 2 days a week for imSAR and go full time January 1st. Until then he will continue to work 3 days a week for Procerus to ease out of the work projects there and allow them time to find a replacement for him. We feel so blessed in times of economic instability to have a choice of places to work. Walt is really looking forward to the chance to expand his skill set and get a new experience. Procerus has been a great place to work for the past 5 years, and we're excited to move on.