Like a kid on Christmas morning.

Braden and I have yet to be awoken in the dark hours of the morning to children announcing that Santa has come. We have to go get them and show them and they don't seem as excited as we are. I told Lila that Santa had come and she asked if he was still here. I told her that he wasn't but that he had left presents for her. She lost interest and asked to eat breakfast. Then she asked to watch the "church movie about Baby Jesus". So we made breakfast muffins and smoothies and we all sat down together and watched the movie of the birth of Christ. Lila asked to watch it 4 or 5 times a day in the month of December. I took that movie to the hospital when she spent the night for her EEG. I noticed her brain waves were very calm during the movie, especially during Silent Night. She kept us all on track with her spiritual sensitivity. We couldn't get distracted if we wanted to as long as she is around. We talked about the reason we give gifts and our gratitude for the life of the Savior. And Braden and I agreed that our children are better people than we were/are, as we were following their lead on how the morning went. 

And then they opened presents.

And that was fun. 

Santa got me an elliptical. Sometimes Lila lets me use it. For a minute.

New twisty crayons! No more papers everywhere. Part of my strategic  gifting.

We got the book "The Tickle Monster"., complete with tickling gloves. It was a hit.

And then we went down to Levan and spent the night with Aunt Paula's gang. It was the perfect combination of doing our own thing and also being together with family, without a lot of travel. It was a merry Christmas indeed.

Christmas Eve

Phil's family was in town so we did the only reasonable thing to do in that situation and built jolly pancakes and waffles. 

 We wanted to do the jammies tradition, but we also wanted to have our girls get in the habit of getting each other a gift, and it being a gift that was truly from them. So we thought we'd combine the two and let them make jammies for each other. Braden helped them to paint a shirt for their sisters and then they exchanged them that night. It was darn sweet.

 Then we watched a little movie together and opened our new family game. Poor Anabelle was sick the whole week. She couldn't even come to the table to eat our french dip subs. Somehow she found the strength when it was present time.

 Always one of my favorite things of the year- playing Santa with Braden and getting everything all ready for Christmas morning.

All Aboooooard!!!

A few weeks before Christmas we took the girls for a ride on the Polar Express via the Heber Valley Railroad. They wore their jammies, drank cocoa and ate cookies, and received a bell from ol' Santa himself. The whole thing was a little cheapish and tacky to me, but the girls thought it was legit so we considered it a great night.  

The elf that Maisey is picking her nose with, goes by the name of Cinnamon. But Maisey couldn't seem to remember that and she kept calling her, "Medicine"!

A child's prayer

Braden just took Lila to Children's in Salt Lake to have a sleep study done about an hour ago. The Mother in me is having a hard time not being there with her. As I was reading scriptures with the other girls, Anabelle and I were discussing praying and fasting in secret. I felt like I should bear my testimony to her about fasting. She had been particularly whiny tonight and I was anxious to get her in bed. The article I read this morning in the Ensign was about teaching our children and made the point that sometimes you have to teach children on their terms, when they are ready and listening, even if it is an inconvenient time for us. With this fresh in my mind, I proceeded to tell her about when Lila was born.I told her how she was sick and the doctors didn't know what was wrong and that she had to stay in the hospital for a while. I told her that our family had fasted and prayed for Lila and we knew that Heavenly father was blessing her. When you looked into Lila's eyes you felt Heaven, and I feel certain that angels were with her, comforting her. She came here with so much love in her eyes and in her heart. Anabelle asked how long she was in the hospital then and why she is four years old and they still don't know what's wrong with her. I took a few minutes and explained to her that Lila has a lot of struggles that Anabelle doesn't. We discussed some of the things that are going on with her, things that keep me up at night, things Braden and I have stayed up late discussing, just this week. We talked about how things are harder for her, people don't respond to her the same way they do to Anabelle, and how painful this must be for Lila each day of her life. I watched as Anabelle softened as she understood what Lila must feel like and what she must go through. I told her it is our job as her family to make sure she knows how wonderful she is because others might not always make her feel that way. Anabelle said her prayers and then we talked again for a moment about how special Lila is, and how full of love. That she has different strengths and weaknesses then we have and that we want her to know how great she is. Anabelle seemed helpless. She seemed overwhelmed. She told me she wanted to say another prayer. This prayer was said through many tears. It was a prayer just for Lila. She had a hard time finding the words to fit all the emotion she was feeling. It was the most sincere prayer I have ever heard from her, and one of the more tender prayers I have been a part of in my life. She asked Heavenly Father to please help Lila. To please bless her to be healthy. Her little hands were clasped together and her little cheeks were wet and her little eyes were shut so tight. As I watched this, I said a silent prayer myself that He would please hear the prayer of this sweet, innocent child. I felt like there was no way to deny that pure heart her desires. When she finished she crawled up on my lap. We sat, crying together, feeling overcome with love for Lila. After a minute I asked her to tell me what she was feeling, wondering if she was feeling sad or worried for Lila. She simply said, "I feel the Holy Ghost".

All hooked up for her 24 hour EEG in December

I don't always take the time I need to in my life to prepare myself for such moments. I don't always slow down routines enough to allow the Spirit to teach us. Tonight I did. And I will be forever grateful for that.

My favorite kind of light at my favorite place!

Really cold. Totally worth it. I will mourn the day (next year) when we don't live here anymore and this can't be a part of our Christmas tradition. 

AEF deployers retreat...take 2

I went to this retreat about a month before Braden got home. And it was a pretty painful experience for me. You'll never guess what makes all the difference? A husband! And patience! This one was so much fun. We had several friends who went also (The Kooymans, Bladhs, Humistons, Ferreiras), so every meal was not only fun, but so much easier with the kids. The mandatory sessions were given by a local pastor who had really solid and applicable marriage advice that would be useful for any marriage, but especially great for those of us constantly dealing with marriage stressers, like deployments and moves. We were very grateful to have been a part of his sessions. I'd like to get my hands on some of the video clips he used because they were true and knee slapping hilarious. We got to go to a local farm and take a hay ride, where the girls loved on dogs, reindeer, and observed some elk (or elves if you ask Maisey). They had a dance one night where all our girls danced for hours with their friends and then Santa came. Another night they provided babysitting for the kids and Braden and I got to go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a delicious candlelight dinner at no cost. It was really a fantastic weekend in every way possible. We are so grateful for all these programs that really are helpful and such a blessing to our family.