Friday Family Funnies

I thought I was doing so well in this new year, posting every day - and then my writings didn't show up on the blog.  I figured out the problem, and they are back!  So look through the posts before this to see what I "posted" this week.

My kids say the funniest things!  No, not the funniest.  I think that distinction goes to my sister-in-law, JaNae.  Her kids are side-splittingly hilarious on a daily basis.  But mine are pretty funny, too.  I had to write some of these down because I forget them.  I'm talented that way.

Georgie:  How about one more Sunday and then I can be a grandpa?

Freddie:  No.  Don't dump hot soup on my head!  I will say "ouch!" and I will be dead and you will have to scrape it all up and you will have to pump my head in the toilet then you will have to flush and then pull my head out!

Georgie: I have two problems.  One is I want to see Heavenly Father and Jesus and the angels.  And the other is that I want to play a Wii game.

(During a long distance phone call to grandma)

Freddie: Who is this?   So Grandma, are you dead?  Where are you?Do you have an airplane in your backyard?

Angel:  Guess what?  I got a pencil from my teacher and then I lost it and Gram gave me one of hers and I lost that one too.  Can you believe I lost two pencils in a row?  Gram is probably so upset about that. 

Georgie:  (when prompted to get off the phone and let somone else have a turn) No!  I still have a lots of dings to say!

Happy Birthday to Us

We have an odd tradition in our family, and it involves pizza and china.  But we like it, and no one complains, so I think we'll keep it.

Many moons ago (286, to be exact!), I went to the temple and married a nice man.  It was the most beautiful wintery day - cold and clear, the sunshine glinting off the clean snow like a thousand diamonds.  We wanted to remember that day and celebrate it forever.

But the next year, the end of our college classes got in the way, so we didn't celebrate it much.  The next year, there were Christmas parties that night, so we didn't celebrate it again.  By the third year, with a toddler and a bun in the oven, we realized that getting away to celebrate our anniversary during Christmas would be difficult.  So we decided to change it to a family birthday party.  It is the date that our family started, after all.  We started a new tradition of having pizza on our fanciest dishes, eating by candlelight, and topping it off with birthday cake.  That was a tradition we could handle during the hustle of a holiday season.

When Jay died, the tradition was all the more special to us.  But when Trent and I married, it became a bit awkward.  How do you celebrate your anniversary to your first spouse while you are married to your second?  Fortunately, Trent is very easy-going and does not mind celebrating our family birthday party with us.  It is when our family started, and we love our family.  So break out the pizza!

This year, due to our active 4-year-olds, we decided to forgo the candles.  Safer that way.  But we did make the old-fashioned punch that I remember having at family parties growing up.  It's the really difficult kind, with rainbow sherbet and orange soda dumped in.  I think we used some raspberry creme soda in there, too.  I can handle this meal.  

We put olives on our fingers, dabbed the corners of our mouths with fancy embossed napkins, and held our pinky fingers out so daintily as we guzzled punch.  And we didn't even break any china.  Yeah, I think we'll do it again next year.

Nourish

This year, my word is nourish.  I so like the idea of picking a word as a theme instead of making specific goals.  I can't see what the year will hold, and sometimes my aspirations don't match up with what real life looks like.  But I can work on getting better in some areas.  It's all part of being a better and better person.  Isn't that what we are all about?

This year, I can nourish myself and those around me - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  When I think of nourishing, it is twofold:  not giving in to the easy way of inputting junk, and getting the good stuff in instead.

Here's to a lovely 2015!

Resolutions

We had Family Home Evening last night and talked about the new year and how it is a good time to make a fresh start and resolve to do better.  I love seeing what is going on in these wonderful little heads.

Angel wrote her own words (in red), and I think that is her bed at the bottom of the picture.

This is Georgie and his self-portrait.  He is starting to write letters to represent words.

David had quite a few good goals.  I'm not sure if he would be thrilled that I posted this, so if you see him, don't ask how he is doing on these.

And here is Eddie's cute face.  I love his expressions.  And I love that they are all trying to do better.

Trent wrote his goal on some app that he thinks is great because he just found it.  Hopefully that works for him!  Chris is at work, but I'm sure he wants to improve and be a better person too.  Right?  Watch out 2015 -  it's gonna be a good one!  Stay tuned for my  word of the year tomorrow.

Mission Monday

Woohoo!  We're back!  I loved, loved, loved (I wish there was a bigger word for "really, really loved and enjoyed and it wasn't anywhere near long enough") getting to Skype with my missionary boys over Christmas.  The Skype calls overlapped for a while so they could visit with each other.  Due to the time differences, they called first thing in the morning so we opened presents together.  (Note to my Christmas 2015 self: yeah, it was fun, but don't do that again.  Focus on one child at a time instead of trying to do everything all at once.  Your sanity is worth waking up a bit earlier and getting less sleep.)

It was just amazing to see how much they have grown.  That sounds so trite, but it was inspiring, and humbling, for me as a mother to see the amount of personal growth in their faces.  Their voices are the same, but there is a different light there.  They carry themselves more... confidently.  More lovingly.  More gently and yet more strongly at the same time.  My boys are growing into men, and I am delighted and gobsmacked about the whole thing.  And I love them more than ever.

This is our screen shot of one laughing and the other demonstrating how to properly enjoy Christmas chocolate.  Loved it.

From South Africa:

This is going to be an interesting year full of awesome stuff that is going to happen. This new year is full of lots of exciting potential. I'm happy because we have done a ton of finding since the new year started, and we had a bunch of new investigators at church after only one lesson during this past week. I love working with them and seeing the light in their eyes as they learn! And we also had a ton of recent convert and less active lessons this week, even with the holiday. (We weren't supposed to proselyte except for fixed appointments, but the truth is, there was nobody here, and those that were here were all drunk beyond imagination.)


And from Madagascar:

Yesterday was fast Sunday, and because we have been dropping a lot of people because they aren't actually doing anything, Elder Razakamandimby fasted that the people who wanted to learn would find us and ask to learn. So now you're thinking, oh, so then someone came up and asked to learn, and it was all great and happy. No. Four people did. And then at a couple of our lessons THAT DAY they brought family members to come learn with them who hadn't learned before. It was fantastic!  It was pretty cool to see how quickly our prayers were answered!

Happy New Year!

So far, it has been a happy new year.  That shouldn't be surprising.  Everyone tells you to be happy about it.  But this year, for the first time in a long time, I really feel happy.  I am encouraged about the start of a new year, and I really think it will be better than the last.

I'm not sure why I feel happy about the new year.  Usually New Year's Eve finds me weeping over all the things that went awry over the year, and bedding a sad farewell to the things I dreamed would happen.  But this year - not so much.  Could it be that I am at peace with living with my dad and caring for him?  Could it be that we hung out in our Christmas jammies all day?  Could it be the joy from seeing my two oldest boys serving missions?  Could it be that I am figuring out that I am better than I thought I was?  Could it be that my relationship with my husband is better than it has been in years?  Could it be that I didn't drink the eggnog that I accidentally let go sour (what a waste!)?  I'll let go of the why and just be happy for my new year.

I think it will be a great one!

New Year's Eve

Welcome to the quietest morning of the year!  I think most everyone in the country is sleeping in or hung over or some combination of the two.  Trent commented that this would be the right time to be attacked.  What a nice sentiment!  Actually, New Year's morning is when Teancum snuck in and killed the Lamanite leader.  Interesting tidbit of the day.  So iv you are planning to invade, go for it.  You won't meet much resistance in this house, because we are all too tired.

We partied hard last night.  Well, maybe.  Define "hard."  In fact, you'll have to define "party."  Alright, alright.  We just stayed up late and enjoyed being together.  Eddie, David, Trent and I played all the way to the long, long end of a Phase 10 match.  Or maybe we watched Angel and the twins dance to their movie.  It was fun to see them jump up and run or dance as they were watching!  Funny kids.  My dad joined us for the last bit and shared  traditional German pfeffernuesse and chocolate covered marzipan with us.  We tried to get the little ones into bed earlier, but Netfix's countdown with King Julien was jammed with too many other parents who were trying to do the same thing.  In the end, we watched the ball drop, hugged each other, and were just happy to be a family.  David did have to go outside and bang noisy things together, and the little ones finally went to bed.  Chris called from his party and had to be reminded that when I say "be home at 12:30" does not mean "you may start a movie at 12:30."

So happy new year, everyone.  Hope it's a good one for all of you!