The Christmas Flu Epidemic

This Christmas was many months in the making.  We told my parents way back in September that their Christmas presents from their kids this year were plane tickets to Boise for Christmas.  Every person in the family wrote them a letter telling them why they should come for Christmas.  We planned and re-planned and agonized over where my parents would stay for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning  and when to see extended family and when to move from staying at one house to another so that they would get to be with everyone “equally”.  The logistics for our perfect plan would impress the most seasoned general or wedding planner.  I should say here that when I say “we” I do not mean Rock and I.  He would want everyone to know he had no part in our ridiculous planning and apportioning.  The “we” was all the women in the family.  Of course. 

December 17th finally arrived and my parents flew in right on schedule.  For several days things went as planned.  Grandma and Grandpa helped us open our Christmas books, we got some Christmas shopping done and made yummy gingersnap cookies.

And then…. the flu hit.  First it was Levi, and then Levi and Cade and then Levi, Cade and Libby and then Reagan and on down the line till within a few days, eleven people were sick.  One more got it after Christmas.  I don’t know if you’ve ever been sick at Christmas, but it’s bad enough when it’s just you and your kids and you’re not hosting a million people.  This time we, and those million people got sick!  Needless to say, the best laid plans got changed, scheduled events were postponed or canceled all together and our Christmas kind of fell apart.  We sat around looking like this the week of Christmas:

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house every creature was coughing, including the mouse.  Luckily my kids were mostly past the worst by Christmas and it was me laying around feeling miserable.  We did manage to do the Nativity on Christmas Eve.  Though our last few carols sung by the tree turned into a chorus of hacking instead of a chorus of angels.

Mary and Joseph of equal size.  Very cute.

It’s blurry, but I love this one…

Christmas Eve Presents:

My nephews, so cute in their matching jammies!!!  The one on the right was the sickest of us all.  Flu AND strep throat.  Poor kid.

Blankets and Jammies

Grandma reading The Night Before Christmas before the kids went to bed.  She could have done it from memory, as she did when I was growing up, but my kids like the pictures.

I have NEVER gone to bed early on Christmas Eve, but I did this year.  Thank goodness my mom was there to help with the last minute preparations.

Christmas Morning:

Waiting to run upstairs to see what Santa brought them.

A foosball table!!!


It came with this note:

I was feeling so crummy and we had so many people opening presents this year that I didn’t get many pictures, but there are a few that are worth posting.

Reagan locked himself in his bedroom for two days to sew this stuffed pig for Liberty.  He did not even use a pattern!  Pretty good for a kid who took 6 weeks of Home Ec!!

This one of Levi is pretty funny.  He was so excited he dropped the Pokémon cards!

The Master of Ceremonies

The boys favorite gift this year was Minecraft.  Santa set up the game on their computers and left them a note in their stockings.   This is what Levi wrote in his journal about Christmas morning.

I guess it’s good to know that if Santa ever needs to quit his day job, he can go work for Microsoft.  They always need good programmers.

Reading their Minecraft handbooks.  

They played this computerized lego game the entire Christmas break and there was NO FIGHTING.  It was wonderful.  Especially since I was trying to recover from the flu.

This Christmas went so awry that Cade even forgot to give his biggest Christmas gift to the family.  He worked the whole month of December to learn a really hard Christmas song and he kept it a secret!  (Benefits of having a digital piano).  Finally a few days after Christmas he remembered to play it for us all.  The video is pretty long, so here is just a clip.  Keep in mind he hadn’t practiced for about a week prior to this because he’d been sick.

Cade did a great job and we are all so impressed at his talent!  It was a wonderful surprise.  If you want to hear the professionals do the whole song, click here:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P9xxJ4V7no

I thought I was just being funny to call this blog post the Flu Epidemic, but my mom told me yesterday that Idaho and Utah literally reached epidemic flu numbers this Christmas.  Wow.  So glad we could participate in such a historic event.  Hope we never have to again!

Pre-Christmas Happenings

As you may recall if you read my Three Trees post, we were a little late in getting our tree up this year.  After we realized that our fake tree was not going to cut it (no pun intended!) we were too lazy to take it down until we got the real one put up.  So it sat in the living room empty of ornaments for more than a week.   One night we opened our Christmas story called The Christmas Oranges.  It is about an orphanage that decorated its tree with only oranges that the orphans then got to eat.  I had not yet bought any “Christmas oranges” this year and so that night I bought some and put them on our empty tree for the kids to find the next morning. 

Cade decided to buy his own Christmas presents for his siblings this year and couldn’t wait to wrap them.  Finally, once we got our real tree up and decorated, he wrapped them all.  Here is a bow he made from ribbon.  This kid never stops creating.

Truffle Night

For the last couple years the Wesel women who live here in Boise have gotten together to make the most amazing truffles ever created. We love my brother’s wife, Penny May Wesel,  for many reasons, but one of the biggest is that she brought this recipe to our family.  They made them for their wedding and I have been in love with them ever since.  So we get together to make them and chat at Christmas time.  This year my mom and sisters were able to join us.  It’s been three years now and I’m finally getting the hang of this special recipe.

It all starts with this monster bar of gourmet  chocolate.  It is about 12x18 inches large!

Then you melt the chocolate.

And stir it REALLY hard with ALL your concentration.

After scalding the cream you stir it till it’s cool enough.

Making sure to smile while you are doing it.

Then you mix, pour and chill!

This year’s Truffle Night almost didn’t happen because four days before Christmas every single one of my kids got sick with the flu and my mom, who should have been in this picture, was sick with a stomach bug!  But we quarantined them (the kids, not my mom) in the basement and were able to make our delicious treat. 

Little did we know that was the beginning of the Christmas Flu Epidemic of 2014.  Stay tuned….

The Great Lego Famine of 2014

The boys tend to go in phases with Legos.  Sometimes they are way into them and sometimes they are not.  Just prior to going to Legoland, the boys got back into Legos after having taken a break from them for a while.  We were glad of this because it made Legoland more exciting.  However with Lego mania always comes fighting.  And this December the boys were fighting a LOT.  I finally got so sick of it that I did something I have never done before. I TOOK THE LEGOS AWAY.  ALL OF THEM. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.  I have never even threatened to do this because I knew how hard it would be on everyone, including me, because even though Legos cause a lot of fights, they also create hours and hours of peaceful fun too.  And I knew that finding all of them spread throughout my house would be a nightmare.  But I was done.  I was tired of listening to the constant fighting that seemed worse than usual and so in a moment of genius (Rock thought it was insanity) I confiscated the Legos the week before Christmas.  It took me over an hour but I got every last lego.  No one got to keep the sets they leave up for display, no one got to keep their recently purchased Legos from Legoland and no one got to keep even legos they bought with their own money!  I wanted them to feel what it was like to miss the legos, to feel the boredom, to feel the pain!  I also wanted to help them at least have a chance at keeping the dictum, “You better not pout, you better not cry, you better not fight I’m telling you why…..Santa Claus is coming to town!”

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, not a Lego was stirring not even a brick.  That week was great!  No fighting.  The boys did go through withdrawals, but they played with toys they had not touched in a long while, Cade got back into Origami again and Reagan made a fabulous homemade gift for his sister.  Of course, Reagan did his best to argue, cajole and manipulate some of the legos back, but I did not budge. 

Then about three days after the Lego confiscation, I noticed that it was very quiet downstairs. I didn’t think much of it until a while later when Reagan and the boys came upstairs with a  whiteboard that said “The Lego Constitution” on it with each of their signatures.  Reagan then proceeded to explain the meeting they had just had downstairs to hash out the rules everyone would play by from now on so that they could have their legos back.  I was pleasantly surprised they had remembered enough from our studies of the constitution to create one of their own and that they were attempting to solve the problem on their own.  As I started to question them I found that they had been relatively thorough in their rule making, though they were still missing many details and they had not written anything down.  This was the perfect opportunity to teach a little more about our constitution.  What would have happened if the constitution had not been written down? What happens when someone breaks a rule?  What is a contract?  I sent them back downstairs to write out their constitution so that we could discuss it further. 

We tried once more to discuss their rules and make sure that all three boys were on board and not just Reagan, but it became very apparent that everyone was not on the same page. With Christmas and family in town we decided to tackle it in January, though we did give them back their Legos after Christmas.  The pain of losing their legos should buy me some peace for at least a little while until we can figure out the “constitution”. I don’t know that there will ever be a perfect solution to the fighting over legos, but I’m sure in July of 1787 the founding fathers were not sure they would ever reach an agreement about their dilemma either. So I’m hopeful!

The Christmas Birthdays

Once again, I was so busy at Christmas time that I didn’t have time to blog about it until the New Year.  Happy 2015 everyone!  The next several posts will be Christmas catch up.

On my sister Alli’s 23rd birthday I gave her a new nephew as a present.  Levi and Alli share the same birthday and since this was a special one for her, I’ll blog about both.  First, Levi.

This year Levi turned seven. 

He is a wonderful big brother who is always looking out for Liberty.  Whenever we are out shopping he is on the lookout for things that Liberty would like.  Even at Christmas time when most kids are only concerned with what they will get from Santa,  I often hear from Levi, “Liberty would LOVE this!” And he can’t wait to tell her all the exciting things he learns about in school or about life in general.  She needs a poster in her room that says, “Everything I learned in life I learned from Levi.”  I have no doubt these two were best friends in Heaven before they came to earth.  Levi has tons of friends in the neighborhood because of his happy, friendly personality and we love him dearly.

He wanted a pokeball for his cake this year.  For those who have no clue what that is because you do not have young boys addicted to Pokémon at your house, here is a picture of the real deal to look at before you see the cake.

He has never actually had his very own Pokémon deck, so when his brothers gave him money to get one, he was pretty excited.

If you’re good at math, you’ll have figured out already that if Levi turned seven this year, Allison turned THIRTY!!!!  So we decided to make it a fun one for her.  We gorged ourselves at Tucanos and then went home for cake and presents.  Here’s what she got:

From:
Kami- 30 Men (Army Men in a bag, one of which just HAS to be Mr. Right)

Rock-Thirty-1 dollar bills
Sarin-30 birthday wishes/candles
Dad-30 Peppermint Kisses
Mom-29 ponytail holders (because a woman is never really older than 29)
Derek and Penny-30 Bear Hugs (chocolate covered cinnamon bears)

Since we were all getting her thirty somethings, I told Cade he should make her thirty origami somethings.  This is what he did!

And this:

We love you Alli!!!

Christmas Comes Early

On our 2nd date Rock took me to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert and it was amazing.  Beautiful, powerful music that moved me so much I have always wanted to go back.  Tickets are next to impossible to get, though; you have to win a lottery in November to even get them.  But this weekend my wonderful husband totally surprised me with tickets to the concert! 

We were supposed to have some friends over for a game night on Friday but after dinner Rock handed me a wrapped envelope.  I opened it to find the MoTab tickets and he informed me that the game night was all a hoax to make sure I didn’t find out about the concert and our trip to Utah the next day.  He worked out a sitter for the kids (thank you Katelyn and Taylor), he booked a hotel, and made dinner reservations at a delicious Mexican restaurant.  And he kept it all secret for months! 

The lights on Temple Square were beautiful.  I haven’t seen them in a long time.  Reagan was two months old the last time we went!

Ok, I have to put this cute one in from that same Christmas…

Here are some pictures from the lights this weekend‘.

The Macy’s windows never disappoint.  This ornament is all candy!

The concert was lots of fun, though I really wish the kids could have been there.  The guest stars were the Muppets from Sesame Street.  It was definitely different than the last time we went, but still very good.  And this time, Rock’s date held his hand.  The last time he took that girl, she was not ready for such a move and kept her hands in her pockets the whole night. 

On Sunday morning we did something else I’ve always wanted to do.  We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial building for sacrament meeting.  So gorgeous! 

At first glance, this tree looks kind of weird, but it starts at the bottom with a deep purple, then moves to hot pink, then light pink, then cream, then gold at the top. 

It was a wonderful trip; short and sweet.  Thank you so much, Rock for once again making my dreams become reality!

The Real Tale of the Three Trees

One of our traditions at Christmas time is unwrapping a Christmas book each day the whole month.  We use the same ones every year, but I usually add one new one.  One of the books we have unwrapped for years is called the Tale of the Three Trees.  It is about three trees that are used in some way in Christ’s life.  One became the manger, one became a boat that carried Christ on Galilee, and one became his cross.  It is a beautiful story, but here is the real story of the three trees. 
This year when we went to put up our real looking, pre-lit, fake tree after Thanksgiving, half the lights didn’t work.  We have been limping it along for the last couple years, having gotten a good seven years out of the lights on it.  It is the best fake tree I’ve ever seen so I really did not want to go buy another one.  I suggested we just take off the lights and put on our own, but Rock convinced me that taking the lights off of it would be a monstrously tedious task so we decided to look for another tree.  It was too late for Black Friday deals, so we couldn’t find any we liked enough that we could afford.  My whole family, all from Western Washington, the “Evergreen State”, are coming for Christmas this year so we decided to get a real tree and wait for the after Christmas sales.  You should know that my parents, did I mention they are from the “Evergreen State” where the main export is evergreen trees, almost disowned me when we first bought a fake tree.  It was sacrilege!  In all honesty that is probably the real reason they have never spent a Christmas morning with us.    This year they finally decided they could overlook that flaw in my character and come here for Christmas.  But it’s their lucky day!  We got a real one. 
Don’t think we’ll be doing that again.  Here’s why.  My living room stood empty of its Christmas tree for two weeks; usually we get it put up the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Many of our Christmas traditions, like unwrapping the books, revolve around the tree and we couldn’t start them, because if you buy a real tree the day after Thanksgiving it will be dead by Christmas!  
The whole process of getting a real tree was way more work than I remember.  But as I was standing their covered in sap and pine needles, holding the tree upright while Rock adjusted, then cut, then readjusted the tree to get it straight, I was suddenly transported back in time to the home of my youth.  The beautiful smell of the tree alone was enough to transport me back, but having to do the same thing my mother did for years brought back so many memories! 
And now I have to water it too?!  There is a reason I do not have any live plants in my house!  We will be lucky if this tree makes it to Christmas, but hey, my parents and siblings will be happy.  And so, Family, consider this my gift to you for Christmas.  You won’t be getting anything else.  Especially after the two hours and two trips to the store process of putting on the lights.  Ugh!  I will pay any amount now for a pre-lit tree, and throw in my first born child to seal the deal if need be.  Our usual one hour, no pain, no mess process of putting up a tree quintupled!  Don’t get me wrong, the smell is wonderful and really did make me think, “Ah, THIS is Christmas.”  But John Denver’s Christmas album does the same thing and he’s way less work!
So, there you have it.  The real Tale of the Three Trees.  You’re probably thinking I can’t count because I’ve only talked about two trees so far.  I can count just fine.  The third tree is the new fake tree we will be purchasing at my earliest convenience.

Thanksgiving 2014

Yes, I know, it’s practically time to write about Christmas, but I am finally done with a very big Relief Society Christmas dinner that I was in charge of and can now breathe a little.  Here I am relaxing, see? 

 

Rock’s parents invited us to Grand Junction for Thanksgiving, but after the big Disneyland trip and its bang of an ending, we opted to stay here this year.  We didn’t think it would be a good idea to risk losing our dangling bumper on the way to CO.  My sisters came up and they wanted me to tell you what a blast they had raking the leaves in our yard and then raking more leaves in a total stranger’s yard for a service project we did as a family.  They can’t wait to come rake our leaves again next year!  Actually, what they don’t know is that we are saving our very late falling cherry tree leaves for them to rake at Christmas. 

While out getting some last minute Thanksgiving supplies at Walmart, we discovered this modern monument to commercialism. 

 
Watching Aunties get ready is so much fun!

Time for Turkey!

Uncle Calvin likes to sit at the kid table… can you guess why?  Apparently the initiation for sitting at the kid table was putting a paper turkey on your head.  And seeing how long you could not smile.

Bryce likes to smile, though, so he didn’t get to sit at the kid table. 

Anyone see a resemblance?

And Uncle Calvin wins for fullest plate!  He really could have filled up some of that extra space next to the potatoes and bean casserole, but we’ll give him the win anyway. 

This year I am most grateful for three things I did not know could be so important to my happiness; bumpers, modern medicine and recliners! 

Hope you all had a good T-day too!