Christmas Caroling Follies

It was sooooo cold, that baby Seth and Mama skipped the caroling and came for the chocolate.

FROZEN! Noses and cheeks!

Enjoying chocolate, sugar dipped spoons and hot chocolate!

Each year, as a tradition, we host the annual Christmas Caroling and hot chocolate party. This year, after passing out invitations and inviting the entire ward, we watched the weather turn dangerous! On Monday, it snowed all day, then towards afternoon, the snow slowed down. I was getting excited as I scoured the house and made treats and hot chocolate. Then I looked out the window and saw the wind whip the snow into a white out! I watched and waited and answered phone calls asking if we were cancelling. Finally we decided that there was no other time we could do it and we would have to brave the weather, and we headed out. We had fewer families attend due, I'm sure, to the weather. But we still had several small children in attendance. We started walking and took a "short cut" to get to our starting point. I hadn't thought through the fact that the path wouldn't be shoveled yet. The snow was about 18 inches deep on the path. That's pretty deep for little ones. The wind was howling and we trudged forward through drifts up to 2 feet or more.

We ended up going to just a few houses before the weather turned severe! No longer gentle flakes were blowing in our faces! The wind hurled shards of ice into our eyes and frozen noses and mouths. We had a van set aside just in case the kids needed respite from the weather, but after we finished the last house, the van was no where to be found. The driver had driven off with his little boy who was screaming. We quickly herded the remaining children back through the drifts of snow towards our house. We felt like the Martin Handcart Company! We had just a small taste of what they must have gone through. I was grateful for my down, fur lined hooded, coat, snow boots, scarf, and gloves. Those poor saints out in that horrid weather with their feet wrapped in fabric and no more than shawls on their heads and wrapped around their bodies! I was grateful to enter a nice, warm home with hot chocolate waiting to warm my insides.

I learned a thing or two that night. Tradition is not worth risking life and limb--especially when little children are involved. We should have just cancelled the out door caroling and had everyone in for cocoa and a sing a long. I also have greater appreciation of what those early saints went through. One of my relatives was in this party. She ended up losing her feet, but made it to the Salt Lake Valley. I would not be here today if it weren't for her great suffering and endurance!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Celebrating the Moments

One thing that I decided to do to alleviate some stress and find bits of joy this year, is to enjoy and celebrate the moments! Since doing this, I have found many of these moments--many more than I realized. I have grabbed the camera a few times to capture those moments, and now I'm feeling quite joyful. Here are the results! My little Christmas Connor Claus

Playing "Airplane" makes my kids soooo happy. They were also playing "Race Car" which is a game that James and his dad played when he was a little boy.

This was one of those rare moments when everyone was just taking time to play together. Everyone was happy!

This cute little Hunter present is filled with lots of love!

Have you ever seen a Santa-Pi-Rat? It's pretty weird!

Alex and his silly costumes keeps us in stitches!

Hope you are taking time to enjoy the little moments!

Gingerbread House Party

We had a great time decorating Gingerbread houses this year. We invited 3 families over and all together, we had 8 adults and 14 kids! Our kitchen was bursting at the seams, but we couldn't have had more fun! Here are the highlights:
My house!
Little Bryn Legg, who looks just like Cindy Lou Who, snitching the candy.

Sarah and her crashing house. This house supplied much of the night's humor!

No matter how she tried, she couldn't keep it together until someone else helped.

Ken was being a bear! (just kidding)

Alex made this clever chimney out of crackers and then James decided to create bricks by sanding red hots with tweezers (I'm shaking my head).

Only James would think of sandpaper for a Gingerbread house!

The Leggs with little Grayson.

Cody and Lori, the newlyweds!

Hannah and Mikaela (Lori's daughter and Hannah's best friend) and their creation.

Emily was so good instructing all of the little ones on how to create a graham cracker luxury house.

Hannah and Mikaela couldn't possibly have gotten one more piece of candy on this house!

Ashlyn Legg and her house.

Aiden Legg and his house.

MaKenna Legg and her house.

Christmas is Back on the Menu!

Deep breath in---out---! Okay, I'm back to normal. After a big fight with my family and a long day of crying, I feel much better. Hormones? Emotions? Teenagers? Holiday Stress? Whatever the problem was, I suffer with it every year, the week before Christmas. I have tried different things on different years, but it always sneaks up on me. My only consolation is that I know it will pass. Of course there are always pieces to pick up afterwards, but that just makes me so grateful for the atonement and the true message of the season! Live, Learn, move on. I am now ready and able to continue on with the joys of the season.

Skipping Christmas

Would I be a total scrooge or grinch next year if I just skipped Christmas all-together? I would put up a Nativity-but that's it. It is getting too over the top. Remind me next year to just skip Christmas!

Is Christmas Over yet???

I'm feeling the usual week or so before Christmas burn out. HELP! I don't want to be Scrooge!

Strep Throat

We have now had three cases of strep throat in our house! Yikes! Hunter has had it twice; once about 6 weeks ago, then my mom took him to the Dr. the day I went in for surgery on the 13th because he got it again (How could that happen?), and Connor was just confirmed as having a very bad case of it!

I was suspicious when Connor woke up in the night saying that he had "spikes" in his throat. I hoped it would go away the next day, but it didn't. When we got to the Dr.'s office, he told the Dr. that he had "struck throat." I thought that was funny. I guess it's good because it can be treated by an antibiotic whereas a virus would just linger on for weeks.

We have miraculously avoided viruses so far this season. I have made it through fall without contracting laryngitis--an amazing feat for me. I was exposed, though (thanks Mom, hope you're feeling better), but I have been taking Airborn and vitamins this week. It will be nice to actually participate in the choir and maybe do an additional musical number if my voice keeps up!

Speaking of voices, Alex has started a long chain of choir performances. We were able to go to his rehearsal on Mon night. The director decided that since he had to call a rehearsal on Mon, that he would invite the families and call it Family Home Evening. It was really fun seeing the dynamics of the class and watching how the director interacts with the kids. It brought back SOOOO many wonderful memories. I loved being in choirs in high school and college. And I currently enjoy being in the ward choir. Maybe someday I'll make it to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! It got really hot in the choir room with all of those bodies, and one girl fainted. She fell right off the back of the bleachers! I didn't notice until a few people jumped up and ran to help her. One of those people happened to be the town's doctor. Everyone is connected here! Apparently she is in remission from cancer. She looked really awful, but like a trooper, she stayed at the rehearsal and sat in a chair. Alex is one of only two sophomores in the choir. He's one of the youngest members, but he seems to fit in very well.

Alex will be performing at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Saturday, the 13th. If you are in the area, I'm sure he'd love to have you come! He'll be at Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg at 4 PM, the Assembly Hall at 5:30 PM, and the South Visitor's Center at 7 PM. It's the Rigby High School Choir, the Triolairs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

That most wonderful day has already come and gone! I love Thanksgiving because it means being with family and loved ones as well as doing one of my favorite activities: eating! Thus it is one of my favorite holidays!

Thanksgiving gives us a great opportunity to stand back and look at our lives and feel gratitude for all that we have been given.

James recently took a challenge at work to list 125 things he was thankful for. I had him forward the list to me in an email. It was a list that really said a lot about him. I won't list it here, as it is very personal to him, I think. I did find it funny, however, how many electronic gadgets made the list. What a great challenge to have to think of 125 different things in a short amount of time. I know you're thinking how easy it would be--yes, we are all so blessed. Well, then, I challenge you. Write down 125 things that you are thankful for--being careful not to repeat yourself (as I found James doing when it came to his gadgets). Yeah, I know it's after Thanksgiving, but this is an exercise that can be done anytime. So get going. I know you'll be glad you did!

Once again, we had a very exciting Thanksgiving. It was a rare opportunity when all 9 of us children were together. We tried to get a photo op in, but unfortunately, it didn't happen. Maybe next year? It was so great catching up with all of my siblings as well as my aunts and uncles and cousins. The food was delicious. None of it was made by me (except for a banana cream pie that Hunter begged me to make while we were there--easy). I have to say that my Edward (aka James) did ALL of the dishes!!! The family women were so impressed!

After dinner, we had the annual fire show but this year it had a twist! My sister, Sadie, and her friend, belly danced with the fire spinners! It was freezing cold, so I decided to watch from the picture window with my Grandma Shirley and the other sickies.

On Friday we went to a movie--which is another favorite of mine. We saw Australia. It was beautifully shot with epoch scenes that brought me to tears on several occasions. My only critique of the film is that they didn't throw in a little wedding scene before the big love scene! Really, how hard would it have been? I understand that the Drover had commitment issues, but still I think it would have been appropriate.

On Saturday we went to Salt Lake to Julie's Fire station in Sandy, then to see our good friends, the Atkissons.

Now that I'm home, I just can't get over the fact that it's Christmastime, and time to set up the tree! Jingle Bells--Here we come!

Medical Update

Well, nearly two weeks have passed by since my surgery, and I must say that I am feeling quite well considering what my body went through!

Because of this experience, and in an effort to help anyone else out there who may be going through a similar experience, I have decided to share a link that has been a life saver to me. It is http://hystersisters.com/. This also will reveal the type of surgery I went through, which I previously felt I should keep confidential, however, after reading the invaluable information on this website, I think it's worth the risk of sharing.

My path labs came back positive for endometriosis. No wonder I was always in so much pain! I have many, many, many internal stitches, and although I'm feeling pretty good on the outside, I am still very fragile on the inside! It makes it very difficult for me to behave and take it easy.

I read something on that website that recommends that you remain in pjs with no make up for the entire six weeks so that everyone else will remember that you are still recovering. I think it is a good idea!--although I'm the one that really needs the reminder.

After one week post-op, I was already feeling so good that I decided that I could start doing some light picking up. Then I was reading about what I was and was not able to do during recovery, and found out that, among the obvious things like no driving, heavy lifting, stairs, etc., there is absolutely no bending or twisting allowed. Wow! I continued reading to discover that if I do, it could cause internal bleeding, which leads to adhesions, which could lead to a life of pain. Here is the quote:

"Some of the damage you can do in the longer term is harder to detect when you are doing it. When your tissues are healing they are very sensitive to being pulled and squeezed. Scar tissue wants to form wherever there are internal incisions, and if there is even a tiny amount of bleeding inside it can 'stick' areas together that shouldn't be stuck together, with the result that bridges of scar tissue can form between organs or tissues that should not normally be connected. These areas of scar tissue are called adhesions. In some cases, they can grow over time until they occupy large areas of the pelvis and connect some or all of the organs there, and occasionally they can even grow nerves and their own blood supply. The result can be that every movement pulls on something it shouldn't and causes intense pain."


Since reading this information, I have been a very good little girl. In fact, each time I move I imagine my insides ripping apart. I'm sure these images are still due to the dramatic effects of the anesthesia. The anesthesia has also contributed to some vivid dreams and night mares. In fact, one morning I woke up and asked James if my brother, Josh, had come by in the night to pick up his dog. I was convinced that he was there! I also dreamed that Emily was sick in the night. Another night mare!

I have received so much help during the past two weeks. I have to attribute a lot of my quick healing to James and my kids who have taken up my slack, my mom, who came and took the kids so I could recuperate in total peace, and many friends and ward members, who brought delicious, nutritious meals for our family. The key to recovery, is taking it easy, and these people have been instrumental in helping me follow Dr.'s orders! Thank you everyone!

I'm Home

I'm home from the hospital after a short 3-day 2-night stay. Thinking back, it is mostly a blur. Even still almost 4 days later, I'm still very groggy.

I had some complications, and had to be cut open. Other than that, I think it was standard. Healing will take a little longer than anticipated, but I'm already feeling better than anticipated.

My youngest three kids went home with Grandma, and for that, I am grateful. Although, walking past my little boys' rooms, I feel sad and lonely. They are happily getting spoiled at Grandma's house, and I'm sure they don't even miss me yet. They'll be home Tue night. It will give me a couple more days to recover.

I'll be signing off for now since I can barely keep my eyes open! I haven't been able to read more than two pages in a book before falling asleep. AHHH drugs! They are wonderful!

Thank you all for your prayers and phone calls. I'll be back to my old self soon.

The clock is ticking . . .

Only 3 more days until I am no longer the person I am today --Well, I'll still be mostly the same person I am today, just with a few slight changes. How do I feel about having these changes made to me? Scared, relieved, grateful, apprehensive, nervous, free. . . and a little excited to spend the next six weeks taking it easy and being pampered by all of my loved ones.

Preparing for surgery is much like preparing to have a baby. I feel that I am "nesting." I have been cleaning, baking, and organizing like crazy for the past two weeks. There is no way that I will ever be able to completely finish the tasks on my list before Thursday. The major difference between surgery and giving birth, is that I won't have a cute little cuddly baby to bring home with me to distract me from the pain. But on the other hand, I won't be getting up at all hours of the night for feedings either!

I am also somewhat pensive. Well, as pensive as I can be, anyway. I'm so thankful for the beautiful family that I have been blessed with. I'm so happy with the children that I have been given. They are truly gifts and I cherish them immensely. I don't regret that stage of my life (childbirth) coming to a close. I feel very fulfilled as a mother, and I am ready to move on. I am ready to make myself as healthy as possible to withstand the next chapter of my life--whatever is given to me (teenagers).

Strangely, as James and I were driving home from our anniversary date, we discussed the matter of complications. Actually we skipped the whole part about complications and talked about his moving on if I died. I know, morbid, but, I think, a little necessary. I told him to go ahead and get remarried right away. Then I listed off some names of prospective wives for him. He wasn't too keen on my list. But, hey, I was just thinking of my kids! I am not worried at all about "moving on" eternally. Sure you all would miss me and everything. But I'd see you soon. And oh, how wonderful to have fulfilled my calling here on earth. But, I know that my number's not up quite yet. Gratefully, I shall live to see another day. It is an interesting thing to ponder, however.

FYI Surgery date Thursday, November 13 Th 8 AM. Thanks in advance for all of your prayers and of course, phone calls! :)

Finally . . .

I'm finally working on a blog specifically dedicated to my cards! Wish me luck!

Happy 17th Anniversary, Darling (Nov 8)

Yesterday, James and I celebrated our 17th anniversary! As you can see from this photo, a lot has changed since then, but some things still remain the same.

Changes:

1. James got Lasik, and now I wear the glasses.

2. My hair is much shorter.

3. My waist line isn't quite so slim!

4. We were so blissfully naive then. Now we know all about the hard knocks of life!

5. Our lives have been enhanced by 5 little angels.

Similarities:

1. James' hair still looks great (like he's still 22)!

2. We are still madly in love--in fact, even more so!

3. He still brings me flowers.

4. We still like to have a lot of fun!

Being married is the BEST thing in the world! I'm so happy to have James in my life.

Yes, James, you truly are the very best thing that ever happened to me! I'm so glad you kept calling (stalking) me until I said yes! My heart is yours forever!

Election Drama

I'm not a very politically minded person. And I'm not very opinionated--until you come to issues of abortion and immorality and then I am adamant. Generally, I would like to just shut out the world and live in my little Idahoan bubble. Yet I know how irresponsible that is. So what is a person like me to do during a major election? I had pretty much given up on the election this year. I thought the race would be pretty close (unlike how it really was), and I felt a little guilt about my one tiny vote, but I hadn't taken the time to acquire an Idaho driver's license not to mention filling out a voter registration card (both the driver's ed manual and the registration card were tucked nicely in the bottom of the junk drawer). About two weeks ago, I heard that the time to register was quickly slipping by. When I realized it, the time was gone, and I thought I would have to kiss my God given right to vote goodbye. Sadly, I was somewhat okay with that. James also thought he was too late. On a whim he headed to the local voting office on voting day, and found out that in Idaho (at least in our county) you don't have to have a valid Idaho driver's license, you can register with any old photo ID on the day of the election!!! He voted and immediately called me and informed me that I could too!!!

Now, I'm not one who likes to have my schedule changed. I had planned to stay in and avoid TV and radio and make Christmas cards for The New West store. I had blocked out 2 and 1/2 precious hours just for that reason. But now I had to go and change my plans and vote! I also decided that I might as well take the opportunity to get my driver's license. Amazingly, timing was perfect and I was able to get it all done! I voted. And did my little vote count? Hummm. . . Was it worth all of the effort? . . . . All I can say is that I stayed up way too late last night getting more and more depressed watching the news. What is going to happen to our country now? My Idaho bubble is looking more and more comfortable each moment. At times like this, I have to turn to my faith in God. After all, He is in control, not men.

Book of Mormon
Ether 12:4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith . . .

Snapshots of Halloween

[This posting has a lot of photos!!! Beware. . . and enjoy]

It's all over, and so I'm taking this opportunity while all of my little goblins are sleeping to document the day. It began when my eyes popped open, but instead of waking the kids to get ready for school and snuggling back into my warm fluffy flannel sheets to snooze and wait for them to get ready for scriptures like I usually do, I saw visions of Halloween pancakes dance through my head! I jumped out of bed and flipped on the stove. I was cranking out ghosts and goblins and pumpkins (with little chocolate chip eyes and mouths) like a pancake flipping machine, in no time at all. My family wondered who this strange woman was in the kitchen, and what she did with their mother! As you can see, they were HAPPY!

Hunter and Mrs. Brown (hopefully she won't mind having her photo all over the web :)

It is fun living in a small town where you can still celebrate that old pagan holiday (or old religious holiday--you choose)--Halloween--in the schools in a non threatening and fun way. They don't have to make up names like "Fall Frivolities" or "Autumn Awareness" in order to celebrate it. It's just plain old HALLOWEEN. I don't know how long this tradition will continue before some extremest parent complains and sends the school board spinning into a PC downfall, but we shall enjoy it while we can.

The kids were able to pack their costumes in their backpacks and don them at a certain time for the party and parade, sans weapons, masks or heavy make-up. Parents were invited to come and help their child dress if it would take the child longer than 5 minutes. All parents requesting party attendance were invited and put to work! Much more conservative than other schools we've attended ;)

Connor and I headed to the school and had a lot of fun helping kiddos decorate cupcakes. Then we watched a nauseating blur of children parade by in a very short amount of time.

(Hunter is finally getting some teeth in there!)

As soon as the younger kids got home from school, we whisked them off to James' company's trick-or-treating party. Emily saw this Spanish dancer and was in awe of her costume. Of course, we had to snap a photo!

Hannah looked amazingly grown up in her Vampire attire. I had to do a double take when she came home from school. For a second, I thought she was someone else! She looked BEAUTIFUL, yet slightly evil.

Little Link. What a trooper! All day is a long time for a little guy to stomp around in boots that are too large! We went t-or-t-ing in our neighborhood. We actually got twice as far this year compared to last year before the complaints began. At the beginning of block three, the boys dropped down onto some one's yard, and began crawling, saying that they were too tired to continue, and wanted to go home. I forced them to finish block three, then we cut through the school yard and went home.

My cute little goblins.

Spanish Senorita. Thankfully not a dead Spanish Senorita as was previously planned.

This is the first year that Hunter was something scary. He actually could only stand the scary mask for a few houses before he got rid of it. Nothing could be cuter than a Hunter skeleton!

Just look at those baby bat wing ears poking out! He's still cute, even with the mask!

Hannah and her best Idaho friend, Mikaela. They altered their make-up for evening t-or-t-ing. It looks a little too KISSish.

And there it is . . . our 16th Halloween as a family. Life couldn't get much better than that!

Chiefs, and Angels, and Pocket Knives (?) OH MY

I don't know what it is about my family, but we get really "into" making costumes around here. It's a fun thing to pretend you are something that you are not for a brief moment in time. Then it's always good to get back to your old self again.

Master Chief!

Alex came across a pretty cool Master Chief costume idea on the web. It is made using pepekura. He created it in a 3-D program, printed it on regular old computer paper, and painstakingly cut and glued each section together. He then coated it with fiberglass resin (found at Home Depot). I think he enjoys paper crafting as much as I do! What he created really is amazing! He finished the helmet, and has now decided to begin sculpting the body of armor. Eventually, I hope to post his how-to video that he is creating.

James decided that he wanted to be a pocket knife for Halloween. I have no idea how he came up with this idea. He thought he was being original, until he found a commercially made costume on the web. He determined to make his much cooler. I think he accomplished it! It's a pretty nifty knife, if you ask me. It even includes a removable "tooth pick." Thankfully he was able to have a reason to complete it before Halloween. The Buska's had a fab Halloween party. Although we were 30 min late due to knife assembly, he will be on-time for his Halloween work party!

I decided to make my life easy and wear my angel costume from last year to the Buska's party. I used it to be a princess last year, and next year, I think I'll use it to be a fairy! My girls won't do anything "girly" anymore, so I have to do it myself! I spent about an hour on my hair and make-up. I sprinkled on glitter and bling. I thought I looked pretty angelic. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with my eyes very swollen and red and blotchy cheeks. Apparently my skin did not approve of the angel look! I'm not sure if I was allergic to the old eye make-up that Emily got for her birthday 2 1/2 years ago, or the face paint that I just bought this year! Maybe it was all of the scrapbooking glitter and jems I applied to my face. Oh, the cost of looking angelic! I think I'll stick to my earthly look for now!