Hotels. Post-Christmas. Grandma. Priesthood

We had plans to spend some post-Christmas time at the Burnhams with all the cousins.  They have a beautiful new home that is meant to accommodate many, but.... it's still quite squishy because there are MANY Burnhams.  So just as we were packing up the car, they called and offered to put us up in a hotel again this year.  I didn't think it was going to happen because I know Colette has been working hard to make sure we can all squeeze in there, but it was a lovely surprise.... on account of too much sickness at the house.  Which was NOT a surprise!  We love spending time at Granny and Grandpa's and having all the cousins play together, but there is something REALLY fun and posh about getting to spend some time as a family in a hotel.  We were feeling very spoiled and dearly grateful!  Maybe one day we will be able to afford it ourselves.  As Grandpa (Kay) Burnham used to say, "money can't buy you happiness, ....but it sure helps."  Haha!   

Swimming every day!  Zoe is ALMOST at the point where she doesn't need a life jacket.  Which means she is always almost drowning.

Granny filled our time with some proper fun, including booking the swimming pool (which I have zero pics of) and booking the movie theatre.  I think I was the most excited to see the new Mary Poppins movie.  I loved it.  Everything.  It was amazing! 

This was the best part of Granny's and Grandpa's.  Their pond is the perfect little ice rink in the winter!  I joined the kids and played a mean game of hockey.  For TWO HOURS!  Loved every minute of it.  Me and Charlie were teammates for most of it (boys against girls).  It was a fun time.  And very sweaty.

Cousins!

Bitsy is a new addition to Christie's family, so Noah has a new reason to love Granny's house even more (aside from the new skating rink out back).  Actually ALL the kids love Bitsy to bits.  Jane was constantly asking to hold her or kiss her.  In this case, Bitsy was cheering Zoe up after she had hurt herself.  A puppy solves all problems!  Haha!

Bracelets!

There is always a puzzle going.  Always.  And always a poop-face on a Burnham when the camera comes out.  Always.

We took a day to visit Grandma Burnham during one of our afternoons.  There is such a goodness to this woman.  I feel like with each visit, my life is put into more perspective.  It's like visiting the temple!  After we left, Ellie said she missed Grandma.  Wish we lived a little closer so we could do this more often.

The most special part of our visit was when Jackson was ordained to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.  My boy is now a Deacon.  My prayer going into this ordination (aside from the littles being quiet and reverent) was that Jackson would feel the Spirit.  I know I felt it.  Joe and I were both crying during his blessing, and when it was over, Jackson had to wipe his eyes.  The poor kid has no chance with the leaky-eyes genes with Joe and I as his parents.  I am just so glad he felt something, be it our love for him, or the responsibility of holding the priesthood, or hopefully in there was the Spirit.  I haven't really had a chance to sit down and talk with him privately, but he did take some time to write down his thoughts.  The thing that really stood out to me during his blessing was peace.  Which is what every Mother wants to feel about her children.  Jackson will use his Priesthood for good.  He has an inquisitive mind that searches for truth and enlightenment, and he will continue to grow in testimony through experiences.  Jackson is the kind of kid who likes to know things, so he is always asking me questions, which I love.  Jackson is also always striving to choose the right.  His nature is to want to do the right thing and make good choices in life.  Yes, peace was the main thing that overwhelmed me.  Jackson will be okay in life.

And here's to the start of another great year ahead of us!

My Word

Tomorrow is the new year and I am still struggling with what my word for this year will be.  Last year it was "soft."  I intended to speak more softly and have a gentler approach, in particular with the kids and Joe.  I found myself flying off the handle and yelling too much.  I will say that I was certainly more aware of when I was failing and I would remind myself of my word, but the reality is I was still not that great at it.  Actually, I think in the past couple months I have finally gotten to a point where I am finally getting better at taking a breath before reacting.  And this is why:  I have been seeing my doctor for over a year now about how I've been feeling and the diagnosis is anxiety.  So I started learning all I could about mindfulness (which is a lot of work by the way), and started taking some hippy vitamins called Empower that are supposed to help my body where it's lacking.  I can't say that I am "cured" or anything, but I am definitely a little more chill and have more control.  I still yell and get flustered, but it seems I am able to bring it right down and start with a deep breath before going full steam.  I have been able to "let go" a lot better as well.  Which means, I try not to let things bother me or not allow myself to get overwhelmed with this or that, and generally just don't let those things take over.  It seems to really help.

My word....

If I am being honest with myself I think I need to learn more about the temple and GO more to the temple.  This has been on my mind a lot.  Perhaps I could include it more in my study so that my trips to the temple are more meaningful.  Perhaps I could actually learn how to prepare names to bring to the temple.  And Jackson is now able to go to the temple as well.  I have not made temple attendance or understanding the temple a focal point in my life for a long time.  It's time to make it more of a focus.  Usually my "word" of the year is more of a behavioural trait that I need to work on, but I think this can be too.  It will help me to be more temple-minded and I think when we spend more time going to the temple, God will pour out more of his blessings upon us and give us clarity and direction, and who doesn't want more of that?  I have heard many testimonies of people receiving answers or clarity while in the temple, and have had a few experiences of my own as well.  It just been a long time.  The temple is there to bless my life, why am I not there every day that I possibly can be?  I am excited about my new word. 

Temple

It's Christmas!

 We have had such a fun-filled Christmas thus far, and it's only Christmas day.  We still have so much more ahead, but I will say there is something to be said of immediate family-time.  A few days before Christmas we went skating on the lake the first time this winter.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful afternoon!  And the funnest part is we got a little hockey game going with some extra kids on the ice and played girls against boys.  The girls totally represented and it made me so proud to be Canadian.  Also, Jane was adorable and her only interest was in going fast.

Go Ellie!

I think my most memorable and favourite tradition (year three!) was going to the live outdoor Nativity.  It's just such a good reminder of what it's all about.  There was a moment at the end where the song "Still, Still, Still" plays and the townspeople come out to kneel and worship the Saviour, and then all the angels come out and put their arms around the individuals in the group.  It was such a powerful visual of how there are angels around us every day bearing us up and helping us with our load.  It made me think, "what if that particular person really needed that angel right in that moment?"  Isn't that how it goes in life?  We need angels every day.

And as per tradition we warmed up at Tim Horton's.

On Christmas Eve, we met up with the Andruski's to skate on the lake again.  And again, it was an amazing day to be on the ice!  Minus the whining and tears.  Jane only wanted her Daddy (because he does shoulders and Mommy isn't good enough for that!), so I got to play hockey with the kids and it was so fun!  Each time I would try to give Joe a break, she would freak out.  Sorry Joe.

And Jane wasn't the only one.

We certainly had our share of a few tears that morning (Ellie included).  I'm going to bank on not enough sleep and way too many treats.  Thankfully it wasn't all-tears the whole time.  

 Christmas is not Christmas without our Lego advent calendar.  I think the boys seemed a little "over it" this year (or maybe just Jackson), but the girls were certainly on top of who's turn it was to open and took very good care of each little character/toy.

I don't know why, but Harry Potter screams Christmas to me.  I mean, I guess I just love all the Christmas-y parts in the movies.  So festive.  So I picked up this 4-D puzzle, we cranked some Christmas tunes (and sometimes, the HP soundtrack) and within three nights we had it completed!  The first level took the longest!  Noah lasted about twenty minutes that first night!  Haha!  I don't blame him.  We were up until midnight!

A new tradition I intend to continue is tracking Santa!  Apparently he rides around town with a bunch of firetrucks on Christmas Eve, and you can track him online, so when he gets close to your house you can come out and wave!  It was pretty magical.

The Christmas Eve food prep.  Joe is grooming Jackson.

It was a delicious spread!  The wings being my favourite.  I don't think one person touched the vegetables.

After dinner, Jackson's snake, Jalepeno  played a nasty trick on us and hid deep inside our couch.  So deep that Joe had to tip the couch over and un-staple it just to get her out.  Meanwhile, I was in the kitchen cleaning.  My bet is it was rigged.  A cunning plan to get out of dishes.

Safe and sound.

This year, I actually sat at the piano and played some carols to sing along to between certain scripture verses.  This is my first time doing that!  Meaning, my sight reading is kind of getting better!  Huzzah!  I still totally messed up several times, but ya gotta start somewhere!  Here we are trying to pose after acting out the Nativity.  Jane is actually supposed to be an angel, but she kept stealing baby Jesus.  And then his gifts.  She wasn't a very good angel.

Then Jolly Holly left us some Christmas PJ's.  We will miss you JH.  You didn't get into too much trouble this year, but we did capture a few funny moments.

Also, Jolly Holly wrote us a letter during her stay with us.  JH's presence in our home didn't really affect the kids one way or another and it used to absolutely affect it!  This used to be the month where my kids were most pleasant, but Zoe has been particularly whiney this past little bit and apparently Jolly Holly couldn't take it anymore, so she left!  Haha!  As soon as Zoe read this she immediately owned it, "yup, this is totally me guys." 

Nailing the self-timer on these pics.

The great debate of the night was how many cookies Santa could handle.  Ellie felt the perfect number was three and Zoe thought nine was good. 

Noah wrote Santa a letter to be left by the cookies.  I thought it was sweet until I read the letter.  Apparently Noah doesn't think that Jolly Holly's magic is real, and therefore isn't so sure of Santa's magic.  I threw the letter away so Santa couldn't read it.  Or the girls....

After watching "The Polar Express" (which, I kind of don't like that movie.  Every year I give it a shot, but I have decided as of last night after watching it that we will be picking a new Christmas Eve movie to watch!), we got ready for bed.  Well, the boys finished the puzzle with me and Joe and THEN all was quiet.  I took this picture this morning before the chaos.  Joe and I heard the girls wake up, so I just decided to get up and get going.  I came downstairs and it was quiet!  The girls had gone straight to the basement???  I think they were going to turn on a show or something until we all woke up, but then the boys woke up shortly after and the chaos began!

We always do stockings first and then cereal.

But who needs cereal when you have chocolate?  Jane got a make-up set in her stocking and all she has been wanting to do all day is put make up on and do her nails!  Haha!  I will have to find a way to toss that stuff before she does some real damage.  I already threw away the glitter.

The thing Zoe was most looking forward to was her massive teddy bear.  And she might be in heaven.

This was an awesome purchase.  Busy girls all morning.

Also busy eating candy.  Jane has been on a sugar high ALL day!  It is actually quite hilarious to see her so hyper.

Some of the other fun we have had over the holidays include making a gingerbread house, making sugar cookies and delivering them to that Karch's via carolling, inviting a bunch of families over for a carolling sing-along and I was in charge of the Stake's Christmas program, which meant my family was apart of it.  Joe and I sang in the choir and our kids sang in a couple of numbers as well:"Holiday Lights" and "Born To Be a King" which was actually the first time hearing it live for me.  Very cool experience.  I wish I wasn't so involved so that I could have enjoyed the moment a little more.  It's been a very humbling Christmas for me.  I keep getting emails and comments of thanks and praise for writing that song.  It means the world to me, but I also feel so undeserving of such praise.  It's a weird place to be, writing a song that actually touches people Spiritually.  So weird that I can't wait to do it again.

The kids and I did something a little extra special for Joe this year.  I asked them if they did any parent-gifts at school or had made any Christmas cards for him, and there was a firm no from all of them!  So, I thought I'd remedy that by having them all help me write a song for him to tell him how great we all think he is.  It's titled, "Daddy's Christmas Blues"  ...because it's a blues song.  Not because Joe is actually feeling blue!  Ha!  They were really excited about it.  And after each kid wrote and recorded their verse I thought, "wouldn't it be fun to make a music video together?"  So we did!  I was a little worried about it all coming together in time (and all while Joe was in town!), but together it came!  It was so fun to put together and even more fun watching the kids present it to Joe.  Zoe basically belly-laughed her way watching the whole thing!  Her section was my favourite to film because they were all her ideas.  It was so hard to edit because every cut was adorable.

Anywho, we have all thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas over here!  I even got in a NAP this afternoon!  So it's been a complete day of loveliness.  And since the boys and Joe and I were in such a Harry Potter mood from building that puzzle, we watched the very last movie tonight before sending the boys to bed!  It just makes me want to watch all the movies from the top now!

Merry Christmas y'all!