*yes I know it is the beginning of March but I am finally getting around to Chrismas*

We had our annual Santa party at the Scott's house.

It is always such a fun time seeing the big man in red with his elf, playing trivia games, the kids acting out a silly Christmas story, and of course, opening presents.

This year Nick was putting up a little bit of a stink about having to sit on Santa's lap but it didn't take much coercing to make it happen. Still a little bit of his inner child remains underneath all this handsome manliness.






Singing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" after we answered the joke that is always asked: "Which side of a reindeer has the most hair?" Well, the outside, of course.



The kids received red hoodies from Santa which is great for us since they are dress code approved.

A couple days later we headed to my most favorite Christmas tradition. Hands down.
This year I thought it would be fun to do an advent calendar of activities. I made a super cute one with little brown paper bags with little tags in them that listed the activity we were going to do for the day.

The activities ranged from decorating our tree to service projects to places to go and things to make and eat. It was a really fun idea in theory but I was so busy trying to MAKE the Christmas spirit happen that I was totally missing the point of the season.

The Candlelight Christmas is the best thing ever to get you out of over stimulated mode into the right frame of mind to think about the true meaning of Christmas.

Here we are making paper chains and popcorn garlands to decorate the schoolhouse tree. The cute ladies started singing Jingle Bells and even got my boys in on it too.

It made me so happy to hear Nick's new scratchy voice sing along.


The carolers are amazing and always so friendly calling out "Happy Christmas!" as you walk by.


We wrote letters to Santa and set them in the fire to have the ashes get carried to the North Pole by the wind. Liam did two just to make sure.



One of my favorite parts of the entire evening was learning a line dance with Andrew. He was mortified that Justin would be taking pictures and was into it for a while but then bowed out in the middle. Nick stepped in and finished off the dance with me.



We went on the train and I tried taking pictures but had the wrong lens so the pictures were super close and the flash was really bright. As if you couldn't tell from Andrew's face.


We visited the quilt display at the old hospital. I didn't get any pictures of the quilts because I was too worried that the boys would touch the displays but they were pretty amazing. Some of them dated back to the 1800s.


We went to the printing press, saw a puppet show, and made handmade ornaments.




My favorite part is the live nativity. This year they staged it in the stable and as we walked by the shephards welcoming us the beauty of everything hit me so hard that I started crying. Walking into the stable was smelly, flies and animals were everywhere, and there was Mary and Joseph looking content and proud with their sweet little one bundled up to protect him from the cold. It was absolutely beautiful.

This is the true meaning of Christmas. Our Savior and His love for us. I wish I could remember as I am planning for Christmas to do more service and not jam pack every day full of silly things because Christmas needs to find our hearts. Needs to seep in and fill in the cracks of our broken souls and build us up so we can build up others. Christmas is a time for meditation and reflection, not running amuck and feeling stressed. My goal for next Christmas is to do less and feel more and hopefully by doing so, teach my children that you need to slow down to let the spirit talk to us and help us understand what we need to do and that by serving others, especially around Christmas, is the best way to show our Heavenly Father and his precious son how much we love them.

I am not saying that I don't like the festive spirit and doing fun things throughout the month but I just need to tell myself it doesn't need to be forced and to see what occurs when we just let things happen to us rather than making things happen.




We visited Father Christmas and the boys were able to tell them their wishes and received a candy cane.



I absolutely cannot wait for next year's visit.

*random*

While I am trying to figure out the password to Justin's laptop so I can load pictures, I wanted to remember some funny things the boys have said lately.

We will start with one from Liam.

We were playing "pass" with his stuffed angry bird and after a couple throws he decided that the areas in front of the couch were acid. He jumped onto the couch and proceeded to tell me that the areas on the side and in back of the couch were safe. I asked him how we were going to be able to get anywhere since we are not allowed to go over the back of the couch. His little body manuvered over to the side of the couch to get off and as he was hopping back on, one of his feet touched the acid.

I asked him if his foot hurt since it was probably burning off because of the acid and he looked at me and said: "I'm okay, I am wearing special shoes."

One from Luke.

Our cable is out due to all the snow that has been falling up at my in laws. The boys get a little restless and Luke was getting a little bored. I was at work and Justin texted me a conversation he had with Luke.

Justin: "Why don't you choose a board game?"
Luke: "No way. Grandma and grandpa only have old games like the pioneers had when they walked and walked."

Oh boy.

Lastly, another one involving Liam and I couldn't have a post about funny things my boys say without including a bodily function.

There is quite a bit of roadwork being done on the way to the boys' school. Liam and I were on our way to pick up the brothers and as I was turning onto the road I smelled something foul.

"Liam, was that you? Did you toot?"
"No mom! It was you."
"Um, I know it was not me."

The smell dissipated somewhat but then a couple seconds later it was pretty bad again.

"Seriously Liam. Quit farting!"
"Mom! It wasn't me! I didn't feel a burst from my bottom!"

Turns out they are working on the sewer line.

*light*

One of my most favorite things about Christmas is all the lights.

We love to go see the Temple Square lights early in the season on a random weeknight--absolutely NOT on a Monday--so it is not super crowded. This makes walking down lover's lane more romantic, taking pictures easier, watching the nativity more meaningful, being able to spend a moment with the Christus and reflect on the true light of the season.

It was so bitter cold but the boys kept warm running everywhere looking at all the different nativities and I didn't have to worry because again, there was hardly anyone there.









One million lights greeted us at the zoo about a week later. It was absolutely stunning.

And the fact that we got in for super cheap thanks to Groupon it made the night even more enjoyable.













Light makes everything lovely.

*2012*

Hello New Year.

There have been many things that have been on my mind lately and I realize I still have much of the Christmas holiday to post but with our computer temporarily out of commission I feel this is a perfect time to take a breath and reflect on our life over the past year or so.

It has been a crazy ride the past couple years. Well, the last few years actually. One that involved tears, patience, swallowing pride, and a huge amount of self realization. It was actually very productive and created a strange but lovely garden of stress and harmony and self confidence and frustration and a most bountiful harvest of hope.

Part of me wants to push rewind and revisit choices that were made. Actions that were taken. Consequences that were felt. But then my practical side realizes that this never can be done and we look at the damage. A few bruises here. A bump there. Overall, we have come through relatively unscathed.

I am not quite sure what I am supposed to learn from all of this however. I am obviously not catching the hint because I feel that we have had the same trials over and over but hopefully I become more polished as I tumble through. I feel like it is slowly coming to an end but don't want to become too sure of the prospect of our own house again yet since everything is in God's timing but I am hopeful that what we have been working so hard for will finally come to fruition.

Justin and I are better communicators. Better friends. More thoughtful and kind to one another. No, it is not all roses and butterflies around our home but we are definitely in a good place. A happy place.

My kids are amazing people. I am so proud to be their mom. Honestly, I love being a mom more than anything in the world. I cannot imagine my life without them. Sometimes I feel like I am uninteresting because my life revolves around my kids and they are all I ever really talk about. But then I don't care because they are my life.

Nick is wonderful. He has such a good head on his shoulders and plans to do good things with his life. He is polite and helps and uses his manners. He also uses his big brotherliness to bother the daylights out of his siblings but if that is the worst he does, I can live with it. He will get what is coming to him in a couple years when those little brothers become taller and stronger than he is.

Andrew is fabulous. He is scatterbrained but makes up for it with his sincere love for everyone. He is so loving and kind and sensitive that it makes my heart melt. He is such a delight to have in our family.

Luke is as stubborn as the day is long but he makes me smile. My favorite thing lately is to watch him play the cello with his tongue sticking out. His smiles melt my heart and I love that he signs "I love you" as he walks into school and makes sure that I am watching.

Liam is my little buddy. We do everything together. He is worried that I will die before him and it is a source of anxiety for him. I assure him that it will be a long time before this happens. He asked my dad the other day if he would be his friend because Grandma Scott said he could have one friend come up and play with him at their house. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. I am so happy that he is our baby.

I don't want to focus on New Year's resolutions because there are so many things that I would like to accomplish. There is one goal, however, that I realize I must focus on. My relationship with my Savior.

I have not been doing the little things that I should be and want to be doing but time slips away and another day goes by without saying my prayers. Or reading my scriptures. You get the idea. So no more excuses. I will be better.

One of my favorite people ever passed away just before Thanksgiving. An incredible woman who bravely fought breast cancer with grace and with an insane amount of courage. She is wonder woman and happens to be the mother of my dear brother in law.

At her funeral service, I learned that one thing she was adamant about was everyone being together in the celestial kingdom. "No empty chairs." I love love love that and I hope it is okay with her family but I would like to also use it for my family. "No empty chairs" means there will be family home evening. There will be good choices. There will be no excuses to do the little things that keep our family strong. This is why I got married in the temple--to have an eternal family.

I also want to post inspiration that I have read or heard to help me stay on track with my goal. I will start with a talk from the October General Conference.

Read it here.

2012 is going to be a good year.

I love it already.

*festivities*

I absolutely love the holiday season. It is magical and beautiful and amid the stress and craziness it brings promises of happiness and love and family.

Thanksgiving was spent at my parents home and we stuffed ourselves with a delicious meal surrounded by family and old friends.




As we compared our food babies, we began our rousing annual bingo competition.

Pretty soon the little ones dropped out one by one and were drawn in by my wonderful cousin Brian. It was so adorable hearing their little voices calling out the numbers.



We hit the Festival of Trees. Twice. In shifts.

Both times were super fun.

The first time Luke, Liam, and I along with my sister and her girls and my sister in law went Thursday morning and there was hardly anyone there. We decided to try the Kids Corner for the first time ever since it was virtually empty.

They went fishing, got candy, made some crafts, and Liam was eaten by a huge bubble.



Then we perused the gingerbread masterpieces and the fun trees. I made a mistake of reading some of stories associated with the trees and choked back tears numerous times. I feel so lucky right now that my entire family is happy and healthy.








The second time Nick and Justin joined us and next year Nick wants us to decorate a gingerbread house and donate it to the cause. It may be sorry looking but we will give it a try.



We also decorated our tree...


...made North Pole cupcakes...


...Liam had his Christmas program and showed off his dance moves...



...we "elfed" a couple families in our neighborhood...


...and made some reindeer cupcakes.



It has been a wonderful start to this most wonderful of seasons.