We pulled into Mesa around 4pm, got the car washed then went to my mom's to make the trifle for the Udall family party. It was at my parent's ward building that night. We ate the usual soup and bread and had the program in the Relief Society room.
My mom lead the music... whilst video taping. Cracks me up.
This picture is so illustrative of their relationship! Grandpa trying to talk while Grandma is trying to make him stop. It was actually really sweet this time though as he got choked up talking about how much he loves her. Brought tears to my eyes.
She didn't sit still long. Luckil,y she had a playmate in Hunt out in the hall!
Then we went back to the gym to start the White Elephant exchange. Weston hadn't had much of an appetite, even though he chowed down on breakfast that morning. He told me his stomach hurt a couple of times but didn't make a big deal out of it, so I didn't think twice. Until he turned to me with that pale expression on his face and started throwing up all over me. (My mom caught it on camera!) I grabbed him and started running towards the bathroom as he continued to barf all down my front. I could feel the warmth wash down my chest, over and over and over. I had barf build up in my bra. (You're welcome for that tidbit!) I don't know how I stayed so calm. I just felt so bad for him. And felt so bad for Lisa and those who were cleaning up my kid's throw up in the gym!! As I was walking out the door with him, Collin burst out of the gym crying. His candy that Grandma had given him, got throw up on it. His candy was ruined and he was hysterical. That's when I had to take a deep breath! I swear. Weston and I are covered in puke and Weston is crying, but it still needs to be about Collin. I somehow calmed Collin down, then got Weston in the car and back to my in-laws where we were staying, to shower him off. While I was showering him, he looked at me with the biggest, concerned eyes and asked with so much innocence and incredulity, "Mom... who threw up on Collin's candy??!!" Seriously, he had no idea. I was dying. I didn't even know what to say, but finally admitted to him, "Sweetie, YOU did." Then watched as disbelief, then understanding and finally utter despair washed over his face. He felt SO BAD! It literally broke my heart! That's Weston for ya, such a sweet heart. My mom was amazing and took Olive and Collin home with her to bathe them. And then she kept Collin overnight so I would have one less kid to deal with. What would I do without that woman?!
On Sunday, my mom had Collin the whole day and took him to church with her. Biggest blessing ever. Even though Weston was running around fine and eating, I kept him home. Marcie and Austin came over for dinner and Christopher and Jael and gotten into town so it was fun to hang out with everyone.
Then Monday morning, Weston threw up again. What the heck??!! So weird! He threw up several times over the course of a few hours, then was back to his normal self. My mom picked up Collin again to help me out. He was driving all of us bonkers. There's nothing worse than having sick kids and not being at your own house! I basically did a lot of crocheting and working on blog books. Maybe it was good for me to lay low, I don't know. But by Monday afternoon, I was going crazy! So I picked up Collin from my mom's house and we went to Cheesecake Factory. I hadn't eaten all day and was feeling like I wanted to "treat myself". But I knew if I got my favorite dish as take out, the deep fried goodness of the orange chicken would be all soggy. I swore I'd never be one of those people who took kids to Cheesecake Factory. Here's me eating my words. And if this picture isn't any indication, I'll just tell you... it went pretty horribly. So I drove to Nielsens right afterward and got myself a delicious blackberry, cold fudge, cashew concrete. Now things were looking up. I was just super bummed to be missing out on the Lindblom family party that night. Wayne and Paula took Collin to the Evan's one though, so it was nice having him out again.
I went to bed that night, wondering which kid would bite the dust next. I woke up to Olive covered in throw up. Not sure when it happened. I was sleeping right next to her! I'd call her a champ for puking and not bothering me, but I'd feel too guilty... or not. The nice thing was, she never threw up after that and never acted sick or bothered. But STILL, since she HAD thrown up, I was looking down the barrel of another quarantined day. Bless my family though, because Christopher called me wondering if he could take the boys out to the park. Hallelujah!! Saved me!! Seriously, couldn't thank him enough. He's such a good uncle, wanting to spend time with them while he's in town. And then, I feel bad admitting it, but I took Olive out shopping that afternoon. I just couldn't stand staying inside another day! And she was acting fine. Plus, I really did have a lot of shopping to do before Christmas and it was already Christmas Adam. I just took Clorox wipes with me and wiped down the carts when we were done. We hit up Wal-Mart, TJMaxx and Sams Club. Bad news was, the pretzel I got at Sams was gross!! I had one at a SAMS in Albuquerque that changed my life and thought it was some hidden secret I'd never heard about. Nope. It's not. Such disappointment. BUT, good news was it felt soooo incredibly good to just get out of the house and hang out with my sweet, little shopping buddy.
Back to my mom's I found this scene. Such lucky kids!
Hung out there for a while, visiting. Olive gave Grandpa about .5 seconds of snuggle time! ;)
After the kids were in bed, I got some frozen yogurt, then Josie came over to visit. About 10pm, the best thing EVER happened.... my husband walked in the door!!!! There are not words for this moment. In blogging world, the pain of those sick kids is over in a few minutes, but they were the worst days! I felt such RELIEF to finally have Travis with me!! Bless that man!!
On Wednesday, I went over to visit Grandmother and give her my ornament. Can I just say how this sweet lady made my day?! She was so taken by the blackberry, she just kept turning it over and over in her hands and saying how much she loved it. Then she wouldn't even put it on the tree. She seemed worried that she wouldn't get it back if it went on the tree and that she wanted to keep it. Aww, for having such a crappy trip so far, this made everything worth it. Made me feel so good.
Well, since I got to go without kids, I actually had some peace and quiet to talk with her! So I started asking tons of questions... about her parents, their early years of marriage, the war... and look what she pulled out when talking about the war....
I was DYING!! This stuff is like candy to me. I'm so fascinated with history. I can't believe she kept these ration books! I told her if no one else wants them, I would love to have them someday. I wished I had days to talk to her and write down all her stories. It just amazes me to hear about life before it was normal to have a phone in your house or any of the conveniences and things I take for granted. My grandma told me to take a tape recorder next time. I just might do that!
That afternoon, we took pictures with my family, then spent the rest of Christmas Eve at the Evans. Paula made her famous, "Flora Specials". (Flora was Travis's Grandma.) They are chimigangas. And man are they delicious.
Next up was the family program, where each family is expected to present a talent... a song, a skit, a poem reading... anything really! But I always dread it, because we aren't so musically talented and our kids aren't really old enough to perform solo yet. HOWEVER, this year I changed my tune. At our ward's Christmas party, I listened to the beautiful piano solos and music and started feeling sorry for myself. I wished I had a musical talent. So this time I decided to do something about it. I was determined to learn a song on the piano that our family could sing to on Christmas Eve. I skimmed through the Children's Songbook and settle on Away in a Manger. Arguably, the easiest one. And yet, took me HOURS and hours of practicing. So sad. I almost convinced myself I just couldn't do it. I swear, my Everests... it's pathetic. Anyway, my patient husband saw us through it and we practiced with the kids a lot and finally performed! I wish I could upload the video, but Blogger says it's too big. I still messed up in a few places (if I could just not shake when I play for people!), but I was pretty pleased with myself. Simple musical talent... check.
Olive is so funny. She kept wanting Reddin to hold her.
The boys were mesmerized by Neil's violin song.
Time for the nativity! Love my shepherds.
I took these peaceful, sleeping pictures of my sweets, right before we went to bed on Christmas Eve. If we only knew Collin would be up in a few hours, throwing up. :( I tell ya what. Travis fielded most of the drama, the saint. Collin is definitely our worst puker. I say he gets it from his father. He doesn't just throw up... he cries and pukes, then wails and pukes, then SCREAMS and pukes. Like someone is hurting him and he's ANGRY!! It's this huge injustice being forced upon him and he's going to drag everyone down with him. A freakin' MIRACLE it didn't wake the other two.
Collin's last throw up was in the night, and after sleeping in, he woke up acting pretty normal.
Even though we had our "Christmas" at home, I still brought one present for each kid that was supposed to be from Santa.
Olive got her very first "Barbie" doll! A Frozen set with Anna, Elsa, Sven and Olaf. :)
Weston was the hardest to buy for, but since he loves everything car, truck or motorcycle related, I got him a motorized Spiderman quad. It flies by at 2mph. He was stoked. We just probably should have taken it out of the box and charged it beforehand. It was a long 12 hours before he got to ride that bad boy.
Collin has been asking for a skateboard for months. He loves the ones at Grandma Cat's house. His first Freedom board!
Then Travis started pulling out presents for me and earned quite the stinkey! We had an understanding that the washing machine was my Christmas. I think he knew he wouldn't be in trouble long, once I opened them. When I saw the picture shaped box, I couldn't hide my excitement. !!!!!!! I really did feel like a kid, unwrapping it in anticipation. YAYYYYYY!!!!! It's so beautiful. It's always been my favorite photograph of Mark Mabry's from his Christ collection. THEN, double jaw drop when I unwrapped a Cricut! I swear, that man. He spoils me way more than I deserve. I was really excited! I gave him some kisses and his dad chuckled and jokingly said, "I think I know why he buys you those things." I smiled. But the truth is, he'll never beat our first Christmas when we had NO money and he gave me the BEST present. A picture book, full of goofy faces of himself, paired with sweet message to me. (I hope he doesn't hate me for writing that!) But that's the best part of being with Travis. It's fun to be spoiled, but even better to know that I don't need any of it. Just him.
After opening our gifts, we put Olive down for a nap and I went to my mom's with Weston, while Trav layed low with Collin.
I gave to Marcie this year.. hehe! Her reaction was PERFECT!! I got myself a matching one. ;)
Austin got this upside down do-hickey. It was like a laugh machine for me. The second I went upside down, I was non-stop giggling!
How 'bout this girl in her leather duds?! Finally fitting into her birthday present from Aunt Marcie!
My mom got Olive this fake kitty that purrs and moves and was basically a huge hit. Weston was jealous.
Then we spent the evening at the Evans again. It's ping pong up in here with all our jumping back and forth between houses. But so nice that we're able to!
The annual, matching pajama pant picture! I don't know how she makes these every year.
Mine fit amazzzzing. Like, seriously, my bottom half was looking fly. Shame you'll never see. ;)
With no prior planning, Reddin and Travis came out looking like this. Must be brothers.
For our Christmas present to Travis's parents, we decided to remodel their toy room. I was so glad when the other siblings got on board too.
The house was built in the 70's. Pretty sure this carpet came with it.
So first thing, the day after Christmas, we went in to clean it up and haul everything out! I don't blame them for it being a mess... heavens know my toy room will probably be like this in 40 years, but oi! Vacuuming the baseboards and cleaning everything out was pretty therapeutic for my dejunking soul. It was pretty bad... thank 20 years of kids and 12 years of grandkids for trashing it, right! ;)
(Poor Trevor's boutonniere's have to find a new home!! hehe. Can you spot them?)
Travis's brothers and brother in-law came over a couple hours later and pretty much took over from there. I was relegated to Home Depot shopping and kid duty. Watching that wall paper come down felt so good! So did seeing the carpet getting ripped up.
I think it was Reddin's idea to scrape off the popcorn ceiling. Good choice!
They worked into the evening and basically got it all ready for painting in the morning.
Since my trip had basically consisted of sick kids and now this project (not complaining though- it was my idea after all!!) Travis suggested we go get some sushi after the kids were in bed. Exactlyyy what I needed! It was fun to have Marcie and Christopher come!
Bright and early on Saturday morning, Trav and I were back at it, painting. Abby got baptized at 11am, so we had to break for that. It's always nice when big things like that happen when we're in town. I want my kids to have those experiences, seeing their cousins get baptized. So far, I think we're 3 for 6!
I left right after the baptism to make it to my friend, Anjane's family sealing in the Gilbert temple. I felt so bad, this was the best family shot they got afterward. But look how adorable their baby is! Sweet Mr. Benson. They adopted their oldest daughter, Kylie, and were already sealed to her, but this sealing was for their second son, Benson, that they were just able to adopt. Anjane and I go wayyy back. We hadn't really kept in touch since high school, but recent events have brought us together again. I love her dearly. She will always be one of those people I have just that connection with. I also grew up being close friends with her younger sister, Melissa, but hadn't seen her since we were probably 12! She lives in Oregon, but was in town for the sealing. Best 1/2 hour ever, getting to catch up with her and her amazing husband in the temple, before the sealing. They are a really neat family. I'm going to go ahead and call it... mission president at 35, area authority at 40... they have big things ahead of them. Truly an incredible, generous couple. I wished we had days to spend together.
When it was time to go in the sealing room, I filed in and ended up sitting next to who I assumed was Anjane's uncle because he was the spitting image of her dad, Shaun, with gray hair. Before I sat down, I asked him if he wanted the seat next to him for anyone else. He kindly motioned for me to sit down and whispered, "Are you kidding?! You're practically family." Wow. Sooo nice. Then he leaned over and said, "You're Chris's daughter, right?" I was dumbfounded! Who was this guy?! It sounds corny, but it warmed my heart. The roots from old 9th ward run deep! The very second that Anjane and her family walked into the room, the tears started down my cheeks. The Spirit was palpable. Is there anything sweeter than watching a righteous family be sealed together for the rest of eternity?? It was a sacred, special 1/2 hour. Knowing how small kids can get restless or upset, I was praying that Benson would be happy throughout it. Oh, was he ever! The cutest thing, just beaming. When they were being sealed, he kept his eyes up, just locked on the gorgeous chandelier above him. I wonder if there weren't others that we couldn't see, that he was keeping his eyes on as well. To say that this event was the highlight of my week, is a serious understatement. I felt so honored to even be invited! What a blessing the gospel is in our lives! So so blessed.
It's such a stark contrast to go from such a beautiful moment, back to real life. I spent the afternoon running errands, while Travis and his brothers finished painting and putting the floor in. I REALLY hoped it would be finished that night, but there was still the tiles around the edges and the baseboards to do. But they sent us pictures the next week, all done! I think the new fan looks really nice. And Wayne got rid of the old entertainment center and put a flat screen on the wall! Ahhh!!! It's just so clean and beautiful! Totally worth it! So grateful that the other siblings were on board with helping!
We were kind of rushed, but I was determined to go to Gecko Grill and the temple lights that night. We hadn't done either yet. I needed my shrimp burrito fix! We got hot chocolate at QT before walking around the temple grounds. It was perfect. Still a little crowded, but nothing like the mass hoards of people before Christmas. The boys LOVED the lights and spent the whole time excitedly running to the next thing or pointing out something pretty they saw. These are definitely the sweet moments I live for.
While we were looking at lights, I got a text from Christopher that he wanted to see the boys one more time before they left in the morning. We had Paula's birthday, Bunko night we were already late for, so we just dropped them off at my parent's house. Made me feel so good that he wanted to spend more time with them! He was being so sweet. And the boys love him! We went back to the Evans and put Olive to bed and got our Bunko on! It was a pretty entertaining game, complete with Reddin doing body shakes and laughing so hard he was bright red. The rest of us had to completely stop our game just to watch him! Never seen anything like it, haha! I made brownies and hot fudge and everyone else brought icecream. Yay for 64!! I love my mother in law!
The next morning, I got to sneak over to Marcie and Austin's ward to hear Marcie give a talk about the new YW/YM theme- service. It was amazing! That girl! I didn't want her stop talking, it was all so perfect. We were pretty good to get mostly packed before church so we could leave right afterward. I'd say we ended on a good note, but there was enough unpleasantness about this trip that I was ready to get home!! Now we had the Shaws visit to look forward to!! YAY!!
