Holiday fun!

This Christmas break has been one of the most fun and relaxing we've ever had!  Besides the actual Christmas Day excitement, we've:

• Played in the snow!  The kids were still supposed to have school on the 20th and 21st, but a snow/ice storm came through and school was cancelled.  The kids were thrilled, except they weren't able to have their class Christmas parties.  Brevan and Logan spent HOURS piling up snow to build a snow fort.  It was very impressive!  Brevan wanted to sleep in the fort, but couldn't convince anyone else to spend a freezing cold night underneath a large pile of snow.  

Logan was literally frozen when I peeled off all his snow clothes and bundled him up in dry clothes with blankets, hot chocolate and his Snickers dog.

• Made and delivered many goodies and presents for our friends. 

• We invited a few families over on the evening of the 21st to have dinner, decorate sugar cookies and put on a nativity skit.  I made a triple batch of chili and cornbread, plus cooked over 100 cookies in various shapes.  The families that came over were the Freestones, Stuarts, Martineaus and Pam Marion.  We have a tradition of inviting different families over every year to decorate cookies.  We've decided to include a nativity skit every year now also.  Brynlie was a narrator, Jadon was Joseph, Elayna was Mary, Ella was the Baby Jesus, Lindsey was the Angel Gabriel, Sydney was a shepherd, and Logan was a wiseman.  

• Last Saturday evening I got a phone call from a member of the Relief Society presidency, asking me if I would teach the lesson the following day.  In my 18 years of church service, I have NEVER taught an adult.  I was terrified, but excited for the challenge.  I was asked to talk about Elder Holland's most recent conference talk titled "The First Great Commandment."  No pressure - just a last minute call to teach about Christ for the Christmas lesson to a room FULL of women, since so many people were visiting.  It was a great challenge for me and I thought I might throw-up in the bathroom just prior to teaching, but I made it through the lesson and am hoping I'm not so nervous next time.  My favorite quote from the lesson is:  "My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty.“If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before."
• Stayed up until about midnight, then slept in until as late as 10:00 (heavenly).
• Read and read and read good books while lounging in pajamas.
• Brevan, Logan and I went to see the new Hobbit movie.  Brevan and I really liked it, although it was quite long.  Logan fell asleep on my lap and slept for almost two hours, which is very unlike him.  We realized the next day that he was getting sick.
• I went to see the new movie adaptation of "Les Mis" with Brenda, Jill, Brandi Cotton and Sarah Palmer.  It was so fun to spend time with friends, plus I really liked the movie!  I cried many times, as well as quietly singing the music along with the actors.  I loved seeing the emotion in the faces of the actors, which is something you miss in a live Broadway show.
• One night Brynlie babysat Dane Cotton (a new family in our ward) while Ryan and I went to dinner with Brandi and Alan.  
• I watched a couple cute little girls one day so their parents could prepare for their move to Utah this weekend.  The sweet baby girl Roxy was so happy and fell asleep in my arms.  It's such a rare moment for me to rock a baby to sleep these days, so I let the house stay messy and held her for the entire two hours that she napped.  There is something very therapeutic about rocking a baby.  Everything is right in the world when I have a baby in my arms.  I took this photo of her while she slept peacefully.  

• We went swimming at the Gladstone indoor pool.  Jillian came with us, and all the kids tried something daring so they could each earn a dollar.  Lindsey learned to dive off the diving board, Brynlie cut a whole second off her dive and stroke, Logan jumped off the diving board and swam to the side by himself, and Jillian improved her diving skills.  Brynlie and Logan also learned how to use the snorkel gear in preparation for our upcoming vacation. Brevan sat on the side and watched since he forgot his swim suit.  Haha, that kid and his memory sometimes.

• We've watched so many movies I've lost count, played games as a family and spent quality time with each other.  Tomorrow I'm going to tackle the project of painting the kitchen.