Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone again. The kids were out of school the whole week before Christmas, so we had a lot of time to read Christmas books, go shopping, play games, watch fun shows, and drink hot chocolate (even though most days have been in the 60s lately!). We were all ready and excited for the big day.

One really crazy thing happened this past weekend though that will make this Christmas especially memorable for me and Mark. Our friends, the Alders, had invited some families over to make candy houses Saturday night. We were there in the Alder's home with friends having a fun little party when Brian Alder, who is Mark's good friend from both work and church, started having serious chest pain. His wife Lindsay rushed him to the hospital and we were all left there with nothing to do but clean up the house and watch their kids and worry. Mark took me and our kids home after a while and went up to the hospital to see if he could help at all. After some long hours he came home and said that Brian had suffered a major heart attack, had undergone surgery, and was in the ICU but doing okay. Yikes. That was way too close. Brian is our same age! He is tall and thin and healthy and just an awesome guy. He and Lindsay have kids the same ages as our kids. Brian is the chief ophthalmology resident, just like Mark will be next year. It was so scary thinking about how close we were to losing Brian and how fragile life is. We are oh so grateful that the Lord is watching over Brian and his family. We've been able to help the Alders a bit--we even got to decorate Brian's hospital room for his little family to have Christmas there--and that has added a nice spirit to our Christmas.

For our Christmas Eve party, we had the Preeces, the Paxtons, and the Maglebys over. After dinner, I made everyone participate in a talent show, and it was awesome! Here are a few highlights from the show...

Kimball's piano song, "Silent Night":

Grant's demonstration of his amazing ninja skills:

Eliza wanted to sing "Rudolph." She was so funny whenever I asked her if she wanted to practice because she'd say, "No Mom, I can do this."

I can't get the video to upload, but all my kids sang "When Joseph Went to Bethlehem" together. I loved Grant's smile when he said his favorite line, "and carried bread and goat cheese..." :) Good times.

True to tradition, we finished off the talent show with "Gentle Jesus" and then acted out the Nativity. I love how the Spirit always comes in when we do that. Here's our cute bunch of actors:

Once everyone went home, we opened new pajamas and put the kiddos to bed.

Christmas morning came, and it was so fun to watch the kids open their gifts. I can't decide if Christmas is more fun for kids or moms. :)

Eliza really wanted an art set with markers and paints and the works. She was thrilled with her Santa gift and has already spent hours creating artwork. (Yes, she's holding her new toothbrush in the pic, but you can see the art kit behind her)

Grant is all about the Avengers right now, so here he is with his new "Hulk smash!" toy and his little action figures of his favorite super heroes.

Mark got Kimball a pocket knife, and he LOVES it. I am still nervous about it, but what can I do? I guess my little boy isn't so little anymore.

Here's Eliza's new baby doll I got her. I had so much fun making a baby carrier, a quilt, and clothes for the baby. Liza named her baby Heidi and she's taking good care of her.

Playing an awesome new game, the Disney edition of Hedbanz. It's hilarious to play with the kids and help them try to figure out which character they have on their forehead.

New Legos!!!

And here's my super cool present from Mark--a magnet board! We've started collecting magnets from the places we visit the past couple of years, so Mark put this magnet board together so we'd have a good place to display our fun magnets.

I just had to throw this one last picture in of Grant in his new Avengers sleeping bag. He's in heaven with all his new Avenger things.

We spent all day today just reading books and playing with the kids' toys and eating leftover Christmas treats. I wish we were heading off to visit our families in Utah this weekend like we'd hoped (then we'd even get to see some snow!), but we're doing great here in NC and loving this magical time of year. We miss all of you far away and hope you're having wonderful holidays too. Love you!

The Holidays 2012

After the kids Primary program at church...

and our awesome Thanksgiving with the Bramhalls and Burgons...

It was time to get ready for Christmas!

We've decorated our home,

Had a girls' date to see the Nutcracker,

Enjoyed our sock advent calendar,

Visited Santa,

Spent a fun family evening at Pullen Park's Holiday Express,

and read our favorite Christmas books and scripture stories and listened to both fun and reverent Christmas songs that remind us of what this season is all about. We attended a choral concert at Duke chapel earlier this week and got to sing along to some of our favorite Christmas hymns with hundreds of people from our community. I love this time of year! And it's only December 9th. Hooray!  

Nana and Grandpa's Visit

We got to spend five awesome days with Nana and Grandpa. We sent the men off to a Duke basketball game one night, ate lunch with the kids at their school, went on walks in the beautiful fall weather, read (and shopped for!) lots of good books, headed to Asheville for the weekend and explored the Biltmore, ate at fun restaurants, played games with the kids, and stayed up way too late talking almost every night. It was so nice to have my Mom and Dad here. My kids and Mark needed to see them, but I think I needed to see them most of all.

Here are some pictures from the visit:

After the Duke basketball game... Go Duke!

At recess with Kimball after lunch with his class

Hanging out in Liza's classroom for "Fun Friday"

Watching the crazy drum circle in downtown Asheville

Eating at the amazingly yummy Tupelo Honey restaurant in Asheville

Tupelo Honey

Grant and Liza and Captain America (look closely) at the Biltmore 

My cute parents in front of the Biltmore

All of us in front of our new home

Riding in a wagon at the Biltmore farmyard

Loving our rootbeer floats at the Biltmore creamery

Nice look, Kimball :)

I love this picture of Nana helping Liza pet the horse

Reading with Grandpa

Grandpa taught Kimball how to play marbles, and the kids all loved it (I'm not sure why Liza is tackling Grant in this picture, but it's a common occurrence around here)

We're all in mourning now that they've gone home (and since the election too!), but we're so glad we got to see some family before we head into the holidays. Thanks for coming, Nana and Grandpa. We love you!

Yes, I'm a Bit Crazy...

I thought I'd tell a quick story to show what a crazy, emotional lady I am these days. I went to vote one morning last week (we have early voting here, which is super convenient), just me and Grant. We didn't have to wait in any lines, and the whole process only took about 5 minutes. It felt so good to be there casting my vote for this presidential election, something I care so much about. When we got back to the car I told Grant that I was really happy I got to vote. Then I started singing super loud "I'm Proud to Be An American." (Yes, I like to surprise my kids by singing random songs at random times. In fact, just the other night at dinner I sang them the C-h-i-c-k-e-n song I learned at Mill Hollow.) Anyway, I started singing the old Lee Greenwood classic, and by the third line, I was crying like a baby. I am not usually a crier, but since my recent miscarriage the tears seem to come limitlessly. So, I sat there in my van singing and crying and laughing too--since even in the moment I thought it was funny--and thinking about how grateful I am for my freedom and my country. Grant just sat there in his carseat, entertained by it all but surely wondering, Since when did my mom turn into this crazy lady? 

As I heal this time around, I feel like I am doing surprisingly well for the most part. But the ups and downs are inevitable and often and very real. I am thankful for so much good mixed in with the pain. I may be crazy, but I am still me and I am moving forward.

Liza's Field Trip to the Farm

Grant and I got to join Liza's kindergarten class for their field trip to a farm. We got to pick soybeans and sunflowers and corn to feed to the animals. We went on a hayride, picked pumpkins, and had a picnic lunch. A very fun day with lots of cute kiddos.

Feeding the piglets 

and the bunnies

and even the cows (from a distance!)

We got to see some HUGE tractors. There was one about 3 times this one's size.

Loving the hayride (with our cute friend Carolina from church and Liza's school class) 

Mrs. Farr's kindergarten class (sorry Liza's hiding behind a leaf!)

Me and my favorite kindergartener

Kimball the Soccer Man

Kimball moved up into the next age group for soccer this year and had to leave his old team behind, but he ended up having a great season. He loves to play goalie, and he really is awesome at it. Way to go, Kimball!

Grant, aka "the Hulk"

I got this little video of Grant and his friend Joey after Kimball's soccer game last night. Grant lives in a superhero world right now, and I love it.

September so far

There is not much to complain about in North Carolina in September. The humidity disappeared last week, and we are having perfect play-outside weather now--just in time for the kids to have their first break from school starting next week (yea!). Here are some of the things we've been up to the last few weeks...

Duke's opening football game... and they actually won! :) It was employee family night, so there was a free dinner, face painting, and all kinds of fun.

Eliza begged for months to take ballet lessons, so here she is in her new dance class. She takes tap and ballet and is loving it. Ever since she started kindergarten she just seems too grown up.

Our awesome home teacher gave us his old trampoline since his kids are all grown now. As you can see from this pic, our kids LOVE their newest toy. 

Kimball went to his very first pack meeting tonight, and I realized we have entered a whole new world with scouts. Those cub scout cheers are really something. :) Kimball is also playing soccer, keeping up with piano, and he's joined his school's "Golden Skippers" jump rope team. Busy but fun.

Grant's newest craze is superheroes. He especially loves Spiderman, Captain America, and the Incredibles. He wore this Spiderman suit all morning as we ran errands today. He loved all the attention from strangers, and one guy at the grocery store even got into a web slinging battle with him. 

 So, there is a small sampling of our crazy life.