Sledding

We finished the year with a little sledding activity just outside our door in the courtyard.

Truthfully, it was bitter cold, and the snow wasn't great for sledding.

But the boys still had a good time.

After once or twice down the hill, Ammon made a snow angel.

Then he disappeared inside.

Peter lasted a little bit longer.

He had a fun time with our neighbors, who had invited us out.

After a while, the mom's decided WE were cold and ready to go back in.

I made a big batch of hot chocolate and we invited lots of people over.

Ultimately I had five or six children buzzing around my home.

As the oldest of six, I love the commotion of lots of kids.

It was a happy day.

All Day Long

The day after getting his SEVERAL Lego sets, Ammon woke up eager to get them built.

He barely took a bite of his breakfast before he was dumping legos onto the table.

I caught him as he was dumping the third set and stopped him from adding the fourth.

We did our best to sort the third one back out,

and so he began his project with only two sets blended together.

He built, and built, and built.

ALL DAY LONG.

We had friends come visit.

But he didn't stop.

I had to force him to eat lunch.

He got the first one done, then the second and even the third.

He finished the fourth set and then it was time.

The fifth and last set - Headquarters - was the biggest one of all.

He kept working:

Seven hours, eight hours, NINE HOURS.

After nine hours of non-stop building, he knocked something over and part of headquarters caved in.

So, before I knew what had happened, he had taken everything apart.

And decided to start over the next day.

10 Years Later (or something like that)

For my birthday, my in-laws offered to babysit so that Andy and I could have a night out.

But my mother-in-law and I were both in the middle of finals, so we took a raincheck.

Once school was done I started to look at the calendar to see when would be a good date night.

Andy suggested December 28 - the ten year anniversary of our first date.

That seemed like a fun idea, so we went with it.

It worked out perfectly and while Ammon had an extend the day party, Andy and I had date night.

Originally I had planned for us to go iceskating at the Gallivan Center.

I was going to make sure Andy held my hand and kissed me lots

(unlike the last time we skated there)

But when it came down to it, we decided it was much too cold.

Instead we decided to wander around the Gateway mall.

(Which, being an outdoor mall, wasn't much warmer.)

We had a nice dinner and enjoyed a movie together.

More than anything, though, we were just happy to be out with each other.

It was a pleasant evening - a nice anniversary.

Or so it seemed.

A couple of days later I realized that December 28th wasn't our first date at all.

Ooops.

We thought that maybe the 28th was the day I came home from my mission.

That would make it the anniversary of the day he first asked me out.

Turns out, that was the 27th.

So really, we went out on our special anniversary date on a very un-special day.

We realized that our first date was actually December 30.

But even though Andy remembered it wrong, I think it was sweet that he thought of it at all.

And that to him, ten years with me was worth celebrating.

Extending the Day

Pictures taken December 28, 2010

Andy's mom has a phrase that I have come to love.

When there are birthdays and holidays she often says that we will "extend the day".

And so, two days after Ammon's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa came by to do just that.

(Truthfully, they were there to babysit.)

But, since they were coming, they brought a party with them.

Grandma and Grandpa Shadel showed up with cake, ice cream AND presents!

Earlier in the day Ammon received a call asking what kind of cake he would like.

The question was meant to determine chocolate vs vanilla or something like that.

The answer:

A Transformer cake.

Ammon is lucky to have such an accommodating Grandma.

He was thrilled with the cake that came.

This is the first year I have really seen the benefit to having a birthday right after Christmas.

Grandma and Grandpa remedied Santa's mistake.

The presents they brought were more Legos!

(Ammon literally spent nine straight hours the next day building the different sets he got.)

Andy and I weren't here, but I understand that the evening went great.

The boys even did a good job going to bed for Grandma and Grandpa.

Often when we are putting Ammon and Peter to bed I want Peggy and Derrick to come back.

Bedtime just doesn't always go so well for us.

Thanks Peggy and Derrick!

We appreciate you.

Turning Seven

Just yesterday I was looking at pictures of days gone by.

I found myself staring into the face of five month old Peter and the three year old Ammon.

How I miss my baby Peter and my three year old Ammon!

They were so adorable at that stage.

Then I looked over to more recent pictures.

I saw my three year old Peter and my six year old Ammon.

And I remembered how adorable they are at this stage.

But already this stage is changing.

Ammon isn't six years old anymore.

He is a charming, vivacious, energetic, and just plain fun seven year old!

Pictures taken December 26, 2010

From the moment I learned I was expecting a baby - due January 11,

my goal was to get the birthday as far after Christmas as possible.

I was none too successful - only managing to get four hours and eleven minutes past the holiday.
Every year I feel like properly celebrating Ammon's birthday is a struggle.

It seems hard to compete with the celebration of Christmas.

This year we arranged for a slumber party with cousins Michael and Will.

They were planning to come over Monday night.

We spent the morning of Ammon's birthday attending church with grandparents.

Afterwards we stopped by my parents home for a visit.

It was there that Peter came down with a sudden and high fever.

Because scarlet fever had been going around our area,
Andy took him into the instacare right away.

Despite unexpectedly spending the day waiting for Peter,

it turned out to be a fun time.

We played Trouble many times and he won most of them.
Grandma and Grandpa gave him presents which included his very own game of SkipBo

So he also learned how to play that and we had a few rounds.

After lots of game playing, Ammon even decided to bake his own cake!
(Aunt Rebecca helped with that.)

Soon after the cake went into the oven, Peter and Andy returned from the doctor.

We lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday and ate our treat.

I was glad that Ammon was satisfied with this birthday celebration.

Peter, we learned, did have the strep germ and so we had to cancel the slumber party.

By the time we returned home, it was practically bed time.

Fortunately Andy reminded me that WE had a present for Ammon.

It hadn't gotten wrapped yet, so Andy just brought it out under a blanket.

Ammon was pretty excited about his remote control truck!

By this time, the medicine had helped bring down Peter's fever.

For the first time all day, he had some energy to play.

So the two of them had fun trying out the new toy.

Eventually we really did send them to bed.

And I ended my day grateful that Ammon's birthday was a miraculous success.

Why Didn't You Teach Me That Before?

I attribute much of the development of my childhood testimony to my mom, who was very deliberate and selective in exposing me to certain music.  One of the tapes I listened to had children songs based on the New Testament.  Many of those songs have impactful lessons that still influence my life.  A favorite of those songs was about Satan tempting Jesus during His 40 day fast.  One verse went like this:

Come, Satan said, I know you must be hungry.

Use your power now to turn this stone to bread.

But Jesus said to Satan, there's more to life than bread.

Like trying to live by every word of God instead.

And then there was the chorus, that has always stuck with me:

Jesus knew who He was

And He didn't need to prove it.

Not even to Himself.

He just stayed very calm

And He went about His business

Making sure He did the work His Father wanted Him to do.

As a parent I have often found myself in situations where Ammon is distressed because he knows he is right about something, but there is someone else who disagrees.  I usually try to talk him down from it:

"Ammon, you know you are right, and I know you are right, so it doesn't matter what [insert name here] thinks."

And that works pretty well.  But today, on the way to church, when Peter was disagreeing with him about something, and he needed that reminder once again, I elaborated.  I told him about this song.  About the lesson he can learn, not from me, but from the Savior.  He understood it immediately and responded by simply asking "Mom, why didn't you teach me that before?"

And I have to wonder - why didn't I?  I wanted to say that I was waiting for him to get old enough to listen or to understand.  But I realized (again) that children understand a great deal at very young ages - particularly as it pertains to gospel truth.

There is nothing that has brought my life more peace, joy, understanding, direction and happiness than my knowledge of the Savior.  And although I think I am teaching my children those same lessons that bless me, it turns out that there are parts that are slipping through the cracks.

Today I was reminded to do even better - to place a greater emphasis on and more completely teach the knowledge I have of a loving Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ.  So that my children can be blessed as I have been.

Christmas Day

The morning started at 5:10.

That's when I woke up, restless and excited.

Every year I sneak into the boys room and wake them up.

Then I let them wake up Andy and play innocent.

OK, maybe not EVERY year.

Sometimes I am honest and wake up Andy before I go get the boys.

This year was an honest year - I woke up Andy.

We wanted to let the boys sleep, so we waited.

I took pictures of us while we waited.

Andy hid from the flash of the camera.

We made it until almost 7:00 before I finally gave in and went to wake up the boys.

(That's a record for me - I usually don't wait past 6:00.)

The boys stumbled out of bed and were eager to start with their stockings.

After having fun discovering all sorts of goodies in our stockings, we moved on to presents.

This was a fun year with Peter.

EVERYTHING he opened was received with an excited shriek:

"I wanted this!"

I think he takes after Andy.

Ammon is more like me.

Every time he opened a present he was quiet and serious.

But because I am like him, I could wait, and see how happy he was on the inside.

Sometimes he just needed a minute to process what he had unwrapped.

This was a really good year, but one of my absolute highlights was giving Andy this new coat.

Just a few days before Christmas, I went to do some last minute shopping.

Andy and I have never been in a position to do much for each other when it comes to Christmas gifts.

But as I was out, I decided that the best thing I could think of to do with my birthday money

was to buy some Christmas gifts for my husband.

Earlier in the month I had some pretty specific ideas of what he might want.

And I had been really sad that I couldn't buy them.

Suddenly I realized that I could!

I went through the store, retrieving most everything from my list.

Ammon had gotten some new pants recently, and Andy wanted a similar pair.

He wanted a new pair of pajama pants.

I wanted him to have a new U of U shirt because even though his other one is stained, he still wears it.

And then I found it - the coat.

All I knew was that he wanted a coat like Ammon's.

The one I found seemed to fit the bill.

But Andy is a FUN person to buy for.

He was shocked!

And he was thrilled!

To me, it was just the first coat I came across that looked right.

But to him it was the world!

Giving him the coat was definitely the best birthday present I have ever had.

Santa wanted to make sure we had lots of fun things to do on Christmas.

The family got Skip Bo

Ammon got MouseTrap.

Peter got a Super Why game.

There were nerf guns, DVD's, puzzles and Legos.

After presents, Peter helped me make cinnimon rolls.

Then, my parents and sister came over for Andy's yummy breakfast.

We had bacon and sausage with hashbrowns and cheesey scrambled eggs.

Grandpa played Ammon's new Battle Ship game with him.

(That was fitting since it was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Nunes.)

And picked Peter up by his ears.

After they left, we had a major nerf gun war.

Ammon got his first gun in a gift exchange with cousins

(Thanks Maeli/Kambria!)

The boys both liked it so much that Santa brought them a twin set.

Andy decided that with his boys both having guns, he would need one of his own.

I tried to point out the fact that we already had one, and one plus two equals three.

But that didn't work.

Santa brought Andy his very own gun.

That's how we ended up with four guns - which is how I ended up being part of the gun show.

It was an amazing amount of fun.

And completely exhausting.

Ammon got out his Legos.

And put the whole thing together all by himself!

All he asked for ALL season long was Atlantis Legos.

He wanted FIVE different packages all belonging to the same series.

Santa played it conservatively and only got him one small set.

Santa regretted that immediately.
But Ammon was thrilled with what he had, so it was OK.

Peter went outside to ride his new scooter.

(Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Nunes.)

Grandma and Grandpa Shadel came over in the evening.

We had a delicious dinner:

Honey Baked ham AND turkey

(I LOVE their turkey)

Lion House potatoes, cheesey garlic rolls, and veggies.

I was going to make a pie for dessert, but we just ate more cinnimon rolls instead.

Overall, I don't think I could have asked for a better Christmas.

(Well, I would have liked to have slept in a little later... 

It's an ongoing goal.  One of these years I'll figure it out.)

Santa Came

Picture taken December 24, 2010

Andy and I kept looking at the tree and asking each other,

"Is all that for just TWO kids?"

Yup - it was.
No one got any "big ticket" items, but there were lots of fun, less expensive things.

Christmas was great this year.

Holiday Fruit Cookies

Pictures taken December 24, 2010

Andy remembers making holiday fruit cookies at Christmas time when he was a boy.

Andy's Dad Derrick remembers them from his childhood as well.

Years ago, when I was first exposed to them, I didn't think much of the cookie itself.
They have dates and pecans in them, but I think I missed the chocolate.

But I liked the tradition.

So we make them every year.

This year we made them with cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

It was a fun group!

And somehow, over the years, these cookies have grown on me.

The past two years I have noticed that I seem to run out of them way too fast.

They have dates and pecans in them - who needs chocolate with that?

Yum!

After the cookies were done, my boys had fun with Michael, Sophia and Quincy.

They were especially cute with Quincy.

And Quincy was cute with them.

Tangled

Pictures taken December 24, 2010

On Christmas Eve we went the the movie with the entire Shadel family.
It was a tradition they had growing up - a Christmas Eve movie.
Back then, they had a group of five.
This year, it was a group of fifteen!  And that isn't including the two babies that stayed with sitters.
My boys were spread throughout the group.
Ammon sat between Will and Michael.
Peter sat with Spencer, Kate and Sophia.
Tangled is my new favorite movie.
It was adorable for children and adults alike!
It was a fun way to spend the morning before Christmas.

Fudge

Pictures taken December 23, 2010

Sometimes there are multiple reasons to having Peter help in the kitchen.

Distracting him from Ammon is one of those "extra" reasons.

This was one of those days.

Andy came home from work early.

I went Christmas shopping.

Peter was driving Ammon crazy.

So Andy and Peter worked together to make fudge.

The plan was to deliver it to our neighbors for Christmas.

Unfortunately, in their fun, Andy and Peter forgot to include the marshmellow cream.

As it turns out, marshmellow cream is a pretty key ingredient and the fudge never set right.

It still tasted good.

But the neighbors never got any.

Sorry neighbors.

Home Alone

Picture taken December 22, 2010

I decided that this year was the perfect time to show Ammon the movie Home Alone.

I was right.

He (and Peter) laughed and giggled the whole way through the defense of the house.

Both of them asked when they could watch it again.

It was a great way for our family to spend the evening together.

Snuggle Time

Peter loves to snuggle.

He can usually sense it when he's not sleeping next to someone.

We wake up with him in our bed WAY too often.

Even when he falls asleep on the couch we have a hard time sneaking away from him.

But sometimes, just sometimes, we can.

Daddy's Little Helper

We are a family that loves to cook.

Andy and I have interests in cooking different things.

The boys are usually happy to help us with whatever we are making.

Peter is at a real "helping" age.

I have so many pictures of Ammon at this age cooking with Daddy.

And here we are, three years later, with tons of memories being made for Peter.

It warms my heart to see our little father/son teams.

They are my life!

Lights at Temple Square

Pictures taken December 12, 2010

We spent a Sunday evening downtown enjoying the lights at temple square.

We started with the Christus statue.

 

Then we headed around the grounds.

It was a warm winter night, and quite pleasant.

The boys enjoyed all the sights.

I tried to take a family picture - simultaneously holding the camera and being in the shot.
It didn't work very well.

Fortunately, a nice stranger saw our dilemma and offered to take the picture for us.

When it was time to head back to the car, we split up.

Andy and Peter took a direct route back.

Ammon wanted to take lots of detours to make sure he saw EVERYTHING.

But he's faster than Peter, so we covered more ground in about the same time frame.

We all arrived back at the car within minutes of each other and headed home.

Christmas Lights

Peter:  Age 3
Enjoying the Christmas lights in our window

The Forgotten Carols

Pictures taken December 11, 2010

Katy decided that she would take her daughters to see The Forgotten Carols this year.

She extended the invitation to several more of us.

We ended up with a fun Girl's Night Out.

I was actually sick as a dog and completely miserable.

But I had forgotten how much I loved the music.

Many of the songs were meaningful to me.

The Spirit of Christmas - which is to say, the Spirit of the Lord - was present that night.

And so even though I was physically destroyed, I was so very glad I went.

Because emotionally and spiritually, I was fed.

Not to mention the fact that I was in great company!

I love my sisters (including you, Krista!) and that cute little niece of mine!

More Santa...

Pictures taken December 11, 2010

Santa came for another visit just a few days after our Ward party.

This time it was a neighborhood party.

There was coloring, movies, donuts and hot chocolate.

And of course, great friends!

Ward Christmas Party

Pictures taken December 09, 2010

The night of the ward Christmas Party I had my first final.

I was still going to attend the first hour, but Ammon and I both ended up  being sick.

So we stayed home.

When it was time for me to go to my test, Santa hadn't arrived at the party yet.

Andy didn't want to Peter to miss that by coming home.

Ultimately, I dropped Ammon off at the party on my way to the school.

I was told that Peter drew Santa a picture, which he was happy to deliver in person.

Ammon seemed to have had a nice chat despite being sick.

And I survived my first final of the semester.

Christmas Tree(s)

Pictures taken December 04, 2010



A Perfect Day

Thanksgiving, this year, was my perfect day.

All of my favorite childhood memories of Thanksgiving were relived

and  then combined with all of the best parts of Thanksgiving as an adult.

Ammon and Peter spent the day having fun with their cousins.

Which left me free to spend time playing games with my siblings.

My favorite card game is hearts.

And we played and played and played.

The meal was fantastic!

The three in-laws of the family - Andy, Jeremiah, and Krista are all amazing cooks.

I had fun cooking too.

But I did it ahead of time which gave me time to play.

I made sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin cheesecake.

I love to cook holiday food!

As is tradition, Ammon made the pumpkin pie.
(Andy helped him again this year, but one of these days, Ammon isn't going to need the help.)

We had every member of my family there, which is harder to accomplish the bigger the family gets.

It was a full house, to be sure.

But I wouldn't have had it any other way!

Thoughts in December

Last week I turned thirty-three.

I have been continually thinking that the Savior was thirty-three when He finished His earthly ministry.

I feel like there is meaning for me to find in that.

But I haven't found it yet.

***

I have been riding an emotional high for the past several months.

There have been some hard moments, but overall, I've been really happy.

Something changed - and I don't know why.

Now I have some happy moments, but overall, I've been really struggling.

I'm not sure what to do with that.

***

I feel like there are answers:

knowledge;

understanding;

peace;

growth -

just beyond my grasp.

Clarity starts to form in my mind,

then melts away before I can gain hold.

Recently I have felt that every day brings me a miracle.

Mostly they are miracles of comfort.

Usually in the form of a friend:

A kind gesture, a thought, a prayer.

With daily miracles, why am I struggling as much as I am?

Sometimes that miracle comes in the form of understanding.

Knowledge as I see the hand of God working in my life -

or in the life of someone around me.

The Spirit touches me - testifies to me.

And I feel blessed to witness the power of God.

I have been keenly aware, lately, of the individuality of God's love.

Quite by mistake, I recently became aware of the most private struggles of someone I know.

But I also became aware, in part, of her healing.

And although I am embarassed to have stumbled upon parts of her life that weren't mine to know,

I have been strengthened by her experience.

It reminds me that Heavenly Father knows us all.

He loves us all.

He takes care of us all.

And we all receive the answers and guidance we need.

I continue to flounder  - facing daily miracles and daily agony.

Opposition is playing it's part well these days.

But I know where to turn for peace.

It is easier than it used to be.

At thirty I was stronger than I was at twenty-seven.

At thirty-three I am stronger than I was at thirty.

I hope to continue this pattern in my life.

I am still on my journey

Line upon line.

Similtaneously I am blessed and I struggle.

This past year, at a funeral, someone explained that

Even though we have a knowledge of the resurrection -

Even though we know that families can be together forever -

the loss of a loved one can be painful.

This hurt doesn't take away from the miracle of eternal life;

It doesn't subtract from the healing granted through our Savior.

Rather, the loss, the hurt, the pain, is what makes the joyful reunion so sweet.

I feel the weight of difficulty in my life right now.

Daily I fight back tears - of exhaustion, of sadness, of worry.

And then they turn to tears of peace, of comfort, of healing.

When I was younger, I thought that having a knowledge of my Savior meant that life would be easy.

I thought, that because all things were possible in God, I would never face doubt, or fear or sadness.

That because He is the Prince of Peace, I would always have peace in my heart.

Instead, I have learned to be continually stretched.

A loving Father in Heaven has shown me that He will always be with me.

And then He allows me to face situations where I can grow, and He can fill in the gaps.

This is how I have come to know Him -

to trust Him.

I am so very grateful for that babe - born in a manger.

King of kings and Lord of lords.

He is my rock and my Redeemer.

Ammon's Thanksgiving Wishlist

I wish for

Everyone to recycle

No tornados or earthquakes or floods

I wish for everyone to be healthy.

Unrelated

That the trial of your faith,

being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,

though it be tried with fire,

might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Whom having not seen,

ye love;

in whom, though now ye see him not,

yet believing,

ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;

Receiving the object of your faith,

even the salvation of your souls.

~Peter 1:7-9

The Real Snow Storm

Pictures taken November 21, 2010

The Blizzard of 2010 was a much hyped event.

Preparations were made, businesses, schools, federal and state agencies closed.

Even the temple shut their doors early.

All in an effort to get everyone off the roads and safely at home.

Maybe it's because we were all tucked away safely at home that the blizzard seemed so innocent.

Perhaps had more people been on the roads, we would have seen unfortunate outcomes.

We'll never know.

What we do know, is that days earlier we had a real snow storm.

A storm that we did drive through, after spending the evening at my sisters house.

A storm that brought inches and inches of snow.

Ammon enjoyed making snow angels.

Face down.

(Yes, I think he's weird.)

Peter was excited to make his very own snow man.

And, for the first time this year, we have snow that has now been on the ground for over a week.

I think winter has really come.