Atypical Christmas

This was not a typical Christmas. Everything about it was atypical. It might have been because of the spring-like weather we had during December or because we were so busy with work, church, and ball games that I didn't even have time to shop. I also didn't make Christmas candy or send out Christmas cards (for the first time in 20 years!). We did put our Christmas decorations up early and began listening to Christmas music in November, but the Christmas spirit eluded me throughout the season.

Even Christmas day was atypical. The kids decided they didn't want to open any gifts until after church, so there was no anticipation or waking during early morning hours (did I mention that this is our first official year of not having to hide things, sneak around, or lie about Santa? They all know the truth... and the magic is gone). We didn't have our annual Christmas breakfast, but ate sandwiches at noon when we got home from church instead. Anti-climatic.

We also decided to have an unplugged Christmas this year which might have contributed to the ho-hums. The kids could ask for anything they wanted, as long as it wasn't an electronic of any kind. Without being able to ask for i-pods, cameras, cell phones, or gameboys, they didn't know what to ask for. As a result, their lists were simple and the items on them, inexpensive. At first I felt bad about this, but in hindsight this decision turned out to be a tender mercy. Korry was laid off from his job on January 1st so we were grateful that we hadn't gone overboard or spent too much money. It's funny that I spent so much time trying to find the spirit and it was watching over us all along.


Taylor's List: guitar case, basketball, TOMS, Nutella

Kaycie's List: scrubs, new coat, chick flicks, music, clothes

Jaymon's List: Lego Hogwarts, CARS cars, basketball, ski coat

Lyndsie's List: G-2 pens, makeup, nail polish, basketball, beanbag, coat

Merry Christmas 2012!

Hey, Santa

The Jordan Family Christmas Party was held at Margie and Jerry's house this year. In a rare display of enthusiasm, Elliott dressed up like "Santa" and had each of the kids sit on his lap as he gave them a handmade wooden gift. It has been so nice (the past two years) to get together with the Jordan family again. I think JoLynn would be happy to see it. She's been gone almost eleven years now which is hard to believe in many ways. It's hard to believe it's been that long and some days it's still hard to believe that she really is gone. I hope she was watching this Christmas. I think she would be proud of her grandchildren and happy to see what great kids they have all become.

Kaycie

Taylor

Lyndsie

Jaymon

Unseasonably Fun

The weather here in Utah (or rather the lack of it) is a bit unsettling. We've had the driest December in recorded history and highs close to 50 degrees. I don't know whether to be afraid or celebrate.

Today Amie and I took Jaymon, Brennan, and Jackson snowboarding at Sundance as a final hurrah before school starts back up tomorrow. My friend Stacey (Jackson's mom) and her daughter Gracie met up with us later in the afternoon. The weather was spectacular enough to make up for the lack of snow and we all had a great time. It was thrilling to reconnect with a sport I love so much.

While I was in the mountains on the slopes, Korry was down in the valley, hitting the greens, golfing 18 holes with a couple of old friends. He too has been reconnecting with a sport that he loves. In fact, he's been a golfing fanatic the past few months, golfing 18 holes on his birthday (Dec. 2), on New Years Eve, and again today.

I hope this will be a theme for us in 2012...to reconnect with the things, the people, the places, and the activities that we love the most.

Remember Who You Are

Lyndsie has a new Sunday School teacher that she adores. He told the kids the first week of January that he only has three rules they have to live by each Sunday which are, 1) Bring Brother Pexton Chocolate 2) Show up for class 3) Bring Brother Pexton more chocolate.

Sounds simple enough to me, though every Saturday night Lyndsie (who still takes things literally) is wanting us to take her to Reams to buy candy bars.

Tonight, at New Beginnings, I was chatting with the above named Sunday School teacher and his wife. I mentioned that I was going broke buying candy bars, and wondered if he had any more rules we needed to be aware of.

He didn't, but he did warn me about a few "life lessons" that he plans to teach the kids...

"Marry someone HOT and teach her how to be nice because you can't marry someone nice and teach her how to be HOT."

And my personal favorite....

"Remember who you are....and don't let it get you down."

I approve :0)

Old Stuff

Sometimes living in an old house can get discouraging. If you look too closely at anything you begin to feel a desperate need to scrub it, though it won't do any good. Well, this week my girls had an assignment in their photography class to take pictures of "Antique" things...or in other words "Old Stuff". We certainly don't lack for old things around here, so they had fun taking pictures all around our house and yard. Their pictures turned out really great (Taylor even won the "best picture of the week" award) and it was fun to see our "old stuff" from a different perspective.

My Version of H. E. Double Toothpicks

It seems one time I heard this idea that if you die (and instead of making it to the celestial kingdom you head in the opposite direction) that HELL (oops... sorry kids, H.E. Double Toothpicks) will be customized especially for you. For example, if you were an alcoholic, your version of hell will be that everywhere you look you will see drinks, and people drinking, and people tempting you with drinks, but you won't be able to take a single drink...not one drop!

Now, I'm going to bird walk for a minute, but stay with me here....I promise it will all come together.

Have you ever been at an elementary school on an especially cold, rainy, or snowy day during recess? It is called "Inside Recess". It happens three times a day. To paint you a mental picture, it looks something like this...

* Imagine 500 assorted game pieces thrown all over the floor. Little plastic battleships, pawns from a chess game, small, smiling cardboard-cut-out children from Chutes and Ladders (but the little plastic thing that makes them stand up is missing), UNO cards, Go Fish cards, red checkers, black checkers, checkers from a Connect Four game, Jenga blocks, monopoly money...you get the picture.

* Next imagine 100 first graders who seem to have no recollection of ever playing with any of those game pieces, don't know how they got on the floor, and don't feel a need to clean them up because "I wasn't playing with that!"

*Let your imagination take you to the corner of the room where 5 rambunctious boys are using the bean bags from a Toss-A-Cross game as weapons to physically assault one another. But don't worry, only one of them is bruised and crying.

*Just think of children (about one every second) asking, "Why can't we go outside? When is my bell going to ring? Is third grade suppose to be in here? Can I go get a drink? Can I go to the bathroom? Can my friend go to the bathroom? Can you tell someone to play with me? Can you tell that kid to let me have a turn with the Bop-It? Have you seen my friend, she has brown hair?"

*Imagine coughing. Lots of coughing, oh... and sneezing too. Coughing and sneezing in a confined space by multiple children all at once.

* Picture a clock that slows down with every passing minute. Picture yourself counting to 60 then looking up and only 20 seconds have passed and there are still 20 more to go until the bell rings.

That my friends, is my version of H.E. DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS! And THAT is what my colleagues and I have been doing almost daily since December. Do I feel like I'm living in H.E. Double Toothpicks? No, because I love my job and even love those coughing, sneezing, messy, rambunctious children. HOWEVER...

I am going to live very righteously. VERY RIGHTEOUSLY. Because, if that is what hell is, I don't want to go there. EVER!

Cookbookaholics Anonymous

Everybody seems to be addicted to something these days and for me that would be cookbooks. Like a drug addict, I will take them any way I can get them; hardback, paperback, ward cookbooks, in magazine form, etc.
The saddest part of my addiction is that while I continue to uncontrollably purchase cookbooks, I haven't actually become a USER.
Here's what I mean. I love the cookbooks. I look at the cookbooks all the time (I can't stop). I write down the recipes I want to fix on little sticky note pads. BUT THEN I NEVER ACTUALLY COOK ANYTHING!!!
My diet today consisted of the following: 1 piece of carb-filled white bread with a little pb & j spread on it, a snickers candy bar, gold fish crackers, string cheese, and Frito's with chili poured over the top. I washed all that healthy grub down with a diet Dr. Pepper that someone gave me because they felt sorry for me. You see, I've had a terrible cold for about two weeks now and my eyes and nose have been watering so badly that I probably look like a drug addict instead of the cookbookaholic that I really am.
With all this healthy eating I've been doing I can't imagine why I'm not getting better. Well, at least I've finally admitted that I have a problem. That's the first step to recovery, right?

Hi....I'm Teresa and I'm a cookbookaholic.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

Don't Ask!

Let's just say, don't ever buy the $4.99 pies at Reams. They don't taste very good, so your kids will get other ideas.

Yesterday and Tommorrow

Yesterday I was standing here....

Doing this...

and living here....

and seeing this every morning...

And spending time with him....

I was drinking this....

And eating this...

Tommorrow I will be here...

This is probably what I will eat...

It's not good or bad. Just a sad reminder that summer is over and it's back to the drawing board. Luckily I love my drawing board. Still, I have a hard time letting go....
of summer.

Baptism Gift Idea

Wanted to share this cute idea for a quick, easy and inexpensive baptism gift. Simply buy a white towel and attach the following poem.

My Baptism Towel

This baptism towel is to help remind you
Of your baptism day all the years through.
When you come out of the water all clean and pure,
Dry off with this towel and you can be sure,
That you are as clean as this towel is white.
And the Holy Ghost will be with you both day and night.
For the Holy Ghost is your gift after the laying on of hands,
And will be a comfort and a guide if you obey God's commands.
This CTR emblem will help remind you to be strong
As you continue to learn right from wrong.
When your towel becomes soiled, remember that we, too,
May sometimes make mistakes and we've been taught just what to do.
Just as you can wash your towel so it can again be clean,
The wrongs you make can be washed away and never again be seen.
Your Heavenly Father loves you, remember always to pray,
And He will be beside you for forever and a day.

The Hammock Story

Once upon a time there was a mom who tried to sneak out to swing in her hammock. You see, she was very tired, and a cool breeze was blowing. She had never swung in her hammock since hanging it more than a year ago. And the thought occurred to her that no one would see her out there swinging under the big pine trees. So she went, armed only with her camera and a dream of a few minute's peace.

The mom settled in to the hammock and aimed her camera upward.

She noticed how the light filtered through the branches of the pines. For one short moment she thought to herself..."hmmmm, this is nice."

But this peaceful bliss was short lived. Suddenly, through the branches came A GIRL!

The girl sat down on a chair and started doing this....

and THIS....

AND THIS!!!.....

While the whole disruption was quite entertaining, the mom still longed for a little peace, so she told the girl that while she "rocked the house" she should really "go back in the house" and do her chores.
The mom had just settled back in, when along came....ANOTHER GIRL!

Now, this girl had a sunburn and apparently the sunburn was hurting.

And even though the mom had given the girl ibuprofen and rubbed aloe vera on the sunburn, more complaining, whining, and whimpering was needed in order for the girl to feel better.

The mom had no sooner sent girl #2 in for more aloe vera when she heard a strange rumbling, buzzing noise in the yard. It came closer and closer.

At first the mom couldn't tell what the strange buzzing sound was, but then she saw him...it was a man with a LAWNMOWER! How did he get out here?

Pretty soon everyone gathered to see the unusual spectacle...a mom trying to relax in a hammock.... HOW SHOCKING! They had to put a stop to it.

And so the mom, still tired and feeling very much defeated, got out of the hammock and went back inside to lock the bathroom door and continue her quest for a few minutes peace.

The End

PROLOGUE: She didn't bring her camera in to the bathroom, just her pillow.

Oh yeah...that's right!

Here are all of the pictures I took of the kids at Christmas....


Oh wait........I didn't take any.

Not One.

Worlds greatest mom award comin' right at me any minute. I can feel it.

P.S. Does anyone know anyone who can get me a killer deal on a laptop? You should see me right now typing with one hand while precariously pushing and holding the frayed power cord into the side of our broken, old, junky computer just to get enough juice to type these few measly words.

Can't. Go. One. More. Day. Without. Computer. Help!

ca

Pictures With Shannon