December 2015

Dear friend,

What a wonderful month celebrating Christ's birth!  We had so much fun with the many Christmas celebrations.  The kids loved spending time with our neighbor Debbie helping her set up her nativities.

We had a ton of snow this month and church was even cancelled one Sunday due to a 1.5 foot overnight dump.  

Elias is a master snow-shoveler and I keep busy making sure everyone's coats are zipped and gloves are on.  

 

 Summer is committed to making sure that each snow-play session concludes with hot chocolate, blanket cuddling, and then blanket monsters.

The boys have been playing really well together lately.  Their Gram referred to them as "sugar and spice" and at least for this stage, it's a pretty fitting nickname for the duo.  

(Smith being sugar and Boyd being spice.)

Some favorite conversations from Boyd lately include: 

Mommy: "Smith, I love you."

Smith: "Mommy, I love you."

Mommy: "Summer, I love you."

Summer: "Mommy, I love you."

Mommy: "Boyd, I love you."

Boyd: "Yeah, you do."

 Mommy: "Boyd, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

Boyd: "Play with Daddy."

Mommy: "Anything else?"

Boyd: "Eat hotdogs."

Mommy: "Okay, we'll play with Daddy and eat some hotdogs.  Anything else?"

Boyd: "Hum...eat more hotdogs."

 He loves his daddy, cars, and pirates.  He is really good at playing on his own, a sweet cuddler and a great helper around the house.  He has total confidence in Elias and his skills.  Anytime I explain to him that I can't fix the egg that just cracked open on the floor or remove the pen marks from the wall, he undoubtedly states, "Daddy fix it."

Summer continues to bring joy and laughter into our home.  She loves being in front of a camera and is always trying to put together some kind of program or schedule.  

She really got into the spirit of Christmas and made probably over 40 cards of some kind or another for people.  

Unfortunately she tried to boycott going to the bathroom this month.  She declared it as "boring" and repeatedly stated that she "doesn't like going potty by herself".  So she threw a fit every time we made her go.   I'll be honest, it was pretty frustrating.  I think it's starting to set in that going to the bathroom is kind of a lifetime thing...boring or not.  

 Smith went into full-on cowboy-mode for a few weeks.  After he adopted Summer's old cowgirl boots as his own, I thought it would be fun to check out a few books about cowboys from the library.   Little did I know that after reading those books he wouldn't go anywhere without his boots, gloves, hat and rope.  He even insisted that his rope had an "o" on the end so that he could lasso things.

Since the boys are talking so much more it has been fun to ask them questions.  One day I was interviewing Smith: 

Mommy: "Smith, what is your sister's name?"

Smith: "Summer"

Mommy: "What is your brother's name?"

Smith: "Boyd-ie"

Summer: "Do you know what Mommy's name is?"

Smith: "Bit-ney"

(Surprised he knew the response) Mommy: "What is Daddy's name?"

Smith: "Sugar"

He unfortunately has developed a bit of a mischievous side.  One morning I was changing Boyd's diaper on the floor of the living room and I knew Smith was just on the other side of the island in the kitchen.  He wasn't climbing up on anything, so I assumed no major damage was being done. But then I heard him repeat, "poke, poke, poke".  I walked to the other side of the island and discovered that he was repeatedly stabbing a steak knife into the padding of one of my stools.  

"Smith, what are you doing!?!" I cried out.  In true Smith fashion, he flashes me a grin and says, "So so so sorry Mom!" as he continues to stab.  

(As a side note, when Elias got home that night and I showed him what happened, he said that it was all his fault.  "How could that possibly by your fault?" I replied.

"Well...yesterday when I was working out in the garage, I kept the boys entertained by giving them a screwdriver and cardboard box and told them to poke holes in it."

"Oh.  Yeah...it's totally your fault.")

 

Speaking of destruction, one of the worst episodes came from Styrofoam packing material.  Elias and I were cleaning the kitchen one evening and the kids seemed to be entertaining themselves.  We then discovered that they were making "snow" out of Styrofoam.  Within 20 minutes it was tracked all over the house.  That stuff it so light and staticy it is nearly impossible to clean up.  It took the five of us a dedicated hour to clean up.

I was asked to be in charge of the food for our church Christmas party of 250 people.  It all came together in the end and we had lots of delicious food for everyone.

 I was also somehow roped into being the evening's entertainment.  I came out as the winter fairy and told the tale of three trees.  Yeah, you really missed out!

After my bit, it was time for Santa and the kids were not big fans.

As Summer stormed off the stage, Elias spread the Christmas cheer!

Sundays can be rough and a little exhausting, but we have instituted "Power Hour".  We take one hour to do something good as a family, whether it be write thank you cards, visit the sick, or skype with grandparents.  Summer has really grabbed onto the idea, and on a day with  "no, we don't do that on Sunday" being said so many times, it is fun to have something the kids to look forward to.  

One Sunday this month we made Christmas treats for our neighbors.   

 The kids were really helpful which means they ate a ton of sugar throughout0 the process and the mess was of epic proportions.

 One Friday evening we had a few of Elias' coworkers and their wives over for "one of those non-alcoholic Mormon Christmas parties".

 We played Christmas Minute-to-Win It and White Elephant.  It was a good time.

On another night, we made hot chocolate and a lot of holiday bread and invited a few families from the ward over.  

 We sang Christmas carols and the kids acted out the nativity.

 After the many Christmas get-togethers, Summer asked if we could throw one for everyone in her Sunday School class (the Sunbeams, or "Moonbeams" as she calls them).

She loved planning all the games,  

 and preparing every little detail.

 We had seven little friends over in addition to our three.

 We had fun playing games, doing crafts and making Christmas pretzels.

As exciting as it was, Boyd had to take a few minutes and hide from the crowd.  I have may joined him for a bit.

 This month had lots of dance parties,

 baking together,

coloring with window crayons, 

braving the cold together (I don't know how E is in shorts), 

 enjoying the magic of nutcrackers,

 playing blanket-monster with Daddy,

art projects.

bed-wrestling,

 and pillow fights.

Summer has fallen in love with ice skating so we have had a few daddy-daughter, mommy-son dates.  Elias and Summer go ice skating, 

  

while the boys and I go on adventures of our own.   

And let's not forget the night that Elias brought home a 15-pound Eiffel Tower of chocolate.  

 They were giving them away at work, so Elias brought part of one home and let the kids go at it.

 They had a blast with it.  The next night we cut off every part they had touched, melted it down, invited a bunch of families over and served chocolate fondue.

 Christmas Eve was wonderful.  The kids were all so excited!

 Elias surprised everyone with new pajamas.

 They were thrilled to say the least.

 

Elias' parents arrived late that night to be there for Christmas morning.

Summer woke up early and was extremely disappointed with how long it took the boys to wake up.

 When they finally did, we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas morning.

 Elias had a little "awesome-dad inspiration" and we surprised the kids with a tramp in the master bedroom.

We had a blast jumping around together.  

Elias has some mad skills.  

 

The rest of the morning was spent enjoying our time together,

and enjoying time with Gram and Grandpa.

 As it was 15 degrees outside, we did have to sneak over to the church in the afternoon to burn off a little energy.

 The next day Gram and Grandpa were kind enough to watch the kids so Elias and I could brave the 5 degrees and 11,000 feet elevation and go skiing at Santa Fe Ski Basin for the first time.

We had such a fun time!  It was beautiful and the trees were amazing!  They were so large and covered with thick snow; they looked like white ghosts.  Elias then surprised me and took me to this darling little french restaurant in town.   

 

 We were then blessed to have Elias' family come for a reunion.  We missed you John & Jenn!

Since we had just turned our largest bedroom into a jump house, the five of us slept in the master closet.  But it worked out well and was totally worth it!

We made t-shirts together, 

celebrated Christmas, 

played with cousins, 

went to the museum, 

played with Peppers, 

and had a cook-off.  

We had a wonderful time with everyone.  A great way to end the year!  

Hope you all had a merry Christmas!  Wishing you the very best 2016!

Always, Elias, Brittany, Summer, Boyd & Smith