2 weeks until Christmas!

Good thing I have pictures to remember some of the things we've done in the past couple weeks.  For lack of time, I will give a quick update of the main events!

Brevan:
• is involved with Science Olympiad this year, which keeps him after school a couple days a week to prepare for the once-a-month competitions with other schools.
• is also volunteering with the Special Olympics on Tuesdays and Thursdays, where he helps some Downs Syndrome kids learn basketball so they can compete in a January event. 
• has continued to have some struggles (what middle-schooler doesn't, though?) but has matured by leaps and bounds this year.  He has some amazing school administrators that care for him and want desperately to help him succeed.
• Continues to get STRAIGHT A's.  Not even one A-.  What a brilliant boy.
• Attended the Nauvoo Temple yesterday with the other teenagers in our ward.
• Spoke in Sacrament today about his experience in the temple yesterday.  There's a funny story here that I just have to include.  Our Brevan is like a little professor, and he uses words that most adults don't even understand.  When preparing his talk late last night, he wrote some of the FUNNIEST things (which weren't meant to be funny, so I know I sound awful.  But seriously.  This just has to be recorded)  Some excerpts: "As I took the fateful steps towards the holy ground . . .even the most rambunctious of young children hushed up . . ." (although Brevan is one of the youngest teenagers that attended), ". . .I felt a strong sense of being as a pioneer of old, who toiled and troubled many hard hours to build the glorious temple . . .I will honestly say that as the brethren and sisters step into the font, the presence of God descends like a warm cloak upon the breasts of the baptised women and men."  OK, by this point Ryan and I were literally rolling on the floor in tears because we were laughing so hard.  Did he seriously just say something about women's breasts?  Oh my.  Now to continue with one more excerpt:  "I beg and implore of thee to go forth, and invite thy neighbor unto the open house of the temple."  Holy Hannah, it's a good thing we heard his rough draft and did MUCH editing before he presented his thoughts today.  This is definitely going to be an Ellefsen Classic Story!    

Brynlie:

• has performed with the Upbeat Music Company twice already this week - at a nursing home and a school craft fair.  The big Christmas choir event is this Tuesday.
• has hit the teenage years a bit earlier than I'd planned, so she can go from crying to giggling in 10 seconds flat.  So far the difference I've seen in a pre-teen boy as opposed to a pre-teen girl is that boys hate their parents, whereas girls think their parents hate them!  Brynlie actually ran away for an hour in the freezing cold last weekend because she decided we did not love her enough.  Please tell me I was not this emotional when I was going through puberty.  But there's so much cuteness and sweetness that it makes up for all the moments that she confuses the life out of us.
• Performed a song/dance with Madelyn and Jillian at our ward Christmas party.  They are such darling girls, and have decided to start a band called "Towers of Power" since they are all tall!
• Is doing her year-long report on Broadway Musicals this year, since she has become fascinated with all things Broadway lately.
• Is doing awesome in school, even though she thinks math is hard and no fun.
• enjoys learning to cook.  As I type, she is making pork chops, rolls and corn for dinner.  Yum!

Lindsey:

• is also performing with the Upbeat Music Company in all their holiday events.  She loves to be on stage, and loves learning the songs!
• also sang her heart out with the other 1st graders in the Kearney Elementary Christmas program.  
•  Starts basketball this week, and is excited her daddy will be the coach!
• Attended a Girl Scout meeting this past week with a friend.  Afterward she asked why I won't let her join, and I told her the church has Activity Days when she turns 8, which is free and has no cookie sales!
• Has earned money this year to buy every family member a Christmas present.  She can't wait to wrap them and see our happy faces!

Logan:

• loves preschool with his buddies, especially when it's at our house like it was this past week!  We learned about the letters U and V, and did some fun winter activities.
• Has learned so much in the past few months!  He now knows his letters, can spell some simple words, and can even add and subtract.  Ryan loves to ask him to add numbers such as 11 + 4, because he can actually give us the correct answer.  What a smartypants!
• Hates wearing a tie and thinks church is the worst invention ever.  Every Sunday morning he throws himself on the ground and sobs when we tell him it's time to get ready for church!  Haha!

Ryan:

• has started a new company within his current company.  It's big news and very time-consuming, but he couldn't be happier (besides the fact that he's been living out of a suitcase for the past couple months) because his "brain child" is off and running.
• I'm trying hard to think of anything he's done lately besides work and play with the kids, but I'm coming up short!  I love this guy so much and can't wait until business slows down a bit so he can spend more time at home.
• his buddies, Nate and Brian Hughes, stayed with us this past weekend.  They are the best guests ever, because they love to play with the kids and make us all laugh.  Ryan and I are planning a couples trip with them and their wives in the spring.  Brian and his wife, Sandy, were married just one day after us, so we are all celebrating our 15th anniversary in February!

Me:

• Well the biggest (but worst) news is that my kidney issues are more severe than I'd hoped and thought.  I've been in and out of urologists and radiologists offices lately, finding out that my right kidney (the one that was reconstructed when I was 10) has deteriorated quite a bit, and I have so many stones in BOTH kidneys that (to quote the doctor), "it looks like someone took a white marker and polka-dotted your x-rays."  2 of the largest stones are impacted, including one that is almost completely blocking my right ureter.  On the 20th of this month, I have to go to the hospital for surgery to remove the blockage, clear the surrounding infection and insert stints.  Ouch and yuck.  But the bigger concern is that my kidneys (especially the right one) are not functioning well and will most likely require more reconstruction following this surgery.  I have to admit, I'm scared.  I think all the surgeries I endured as a kid traumatized me, because the scariest part of surgery to me is being put to sleep.  I HATE not having any control over my own body.  I've been having nightmares about the surgery all week, and I just hope everything goes well so I can enjoy Christmas.  I'm tired of having a constant UTI and dealing with kidney pain. 
• I planned a fun Jeopardy game for the combined YM and YW activity this past week.  I think it went really well, and the kids had a lot of fun!
• We adopted a family for Christmas through the awesome local charity again, but we decided we wanted to also do a different service this year where our kids could be more involved.  It's been nice to see the kids get involved in serving others so the focus has been off Santa and presents a little bit.

Here are some of the pictures of the past couple weeks!

Brynlie and her cute friends, after performing for the ward party.

 Zumba night with my cute Young Women!

 Brevan, showing off his skills at the robotics open house.  I was very impressed!

I think there's actually a song about this, isn't there?  "You better not pout, I'm telling you why . . ."  I guess Lindsey wants coal for Christmas!  She asked Santa for an American Girl doll, but was angry that her friend had asked for one too. 

Logan's first year sitting on Santa's lap without crying!  But he was too shy to say anything.  Santa asked him numerous times what he wanted for Christmas, and finally asked Logan, "How about a really loud drum set??"  Dang Santa.  That is NOT going to happen, but now Logan keeps telling us that's what Santa is bringing him!

Brynlie sat right on Santa's lap and said, "I want a real SPACESHIP!"  Silly girl.  It's just not so much fun once the secret is out.

 Even Ryan and I got to sit on the big guy's lap!  We asked for happy children that don't argue.  Think we will get our wish?

 Christine and I took our oldest daughters shopping at Zona Rosa one night.  First we got dinner, then took the girls to Justice and Old Navy.  While in Old Navy, they tried on clothes off the adult racks and pranced around the store acting like they were headed to a Prom.  They even put the glitter high-heels on their Christmas wish lists!  Not a chance Bryn is getting them.

 I had to include this picture, even though it didn't turn out well.  If you look very closely, you can see tire tracks that go in a diagonal line across our front lawn.  Ryan and I have a little tradition when we take separate cars to church.  When church is over, each of us will take a couple kids in our vehicle and race to see who can get home the fastest.  At times this has caused us to do lots of passing each other, but more often it means doing things like cutting across the grass at the last minute, which is what I did on this day.  Me and the girls rolled down the window in the van and yelled "Haha, suckers!" to the boys in the truck.  The girls have always found a way to win!  Last time we won when I casually drove home behind Ryan so he wouldn't think I was racing him, then when he turned to go into his parking space in the garage, I cut him off and quickly parked in his spot.  The girls and I ran in the house, and sang a song to the tune of "She's a maniac" that went like this:  "She's a maniac, maniac in her van.  And she's gonna get home faster than her man!  She's a maniac, maniac in the car.  And she's driving fast cuz she's a superstar!!"  We even presented a little dance with our jingle.  We are such a strange family.

 Some pictures from Lindsey's school choir performance.  I love that my girls go to such a small elementary, where they get so much attention.  This is the entire 1st grade - both classes!

 There's my little blonde cutie on the top row.  She was proud to be tall enough to be one of the backrow kids!

 I also had to take some pictures of other kids that made me smile.  Such as this little guy, who refused to sing and stared at his feet the entire performance.  Or the girl behind him who had to stand on the end because her "Santa" dress was too poofy.

 Or how about this guy, who didn't stop moving the entire time, even after knocking other children off the riser.  All that testosterone was causing him to swing his arms in every direction.  But at least he was singing!

 I took this picture of Lindsey after the performance, with one of her best friends, Shanna.

 When I taught preschool last Thursday, we did a lot of snowman activities.  These jumbo marshmallow snowmen were the biggest hit with the kids!

 I took the kids to the "Snowflake Festival" at their school this past Friday.  At least this time Lindsey didn't scowl while on Santa's lap!

 Today was Brevan's piano recital at a beautiful church in Liberty.  He has improved so much and always amazes me (and his teacher) with how quickly he picks up melodies.  He hates to use piano books because he can play by ear so well.

 He played his first song perfectly, but messed up a few times in his second song.  He was very disappointed in himself, so I had to tell him about all the times I messed up in recitals while taking lessons as a kid.

 I tried to get a good picture of the kids after the recital, but they were angry that I was keeping them away from the refreshments.  Can you believe how tall Brevan is now?  Ryan wasn't able to attend the concert because he left on a business trip right after Brevan spoke in sacrament. 

I can smell delicious pork chops in the kitchen, so I will have to end there for tonight!