Christmas Eve/Christmas 2017

I forgot to share this video in my last photo dump post. Ryan made a Leyden jar and got all the kids to touch it. That's what it's like when your dad teaches physics labs. I refused to try it on the grounds that I'm pregnant. Yes, Heidi was exaggerating.

 

We had the Christmas program in Sacrament meeting on the morning of Christmas Eve, and that was the end of church for that Sunday. It was such a relief to have the program out of the way.

In the afternoon the kids and I decorated sugar cookies. We had some fun sprinkles and ended up with some pretty cookies and some pretty interesting cookies. The kitchen looked like Candyland.

We delivered cookies to some of the neighbors and some friends in the ward. Maybe to some people this is a small thing, but for introverts like us it takes a bit of effort to get the courage to go knock on someone's door to give them cookies. The neighbors were very appreciative, though, and I was glad we did it because we don't talk to them enough.

For dinner we had potato soup, rolls, and our traditional cheese ball and wassail. I thought the cheese ball looked pretty rolled in the slivered almonds this year.

We did the nativity with the kids. Kevin was Joseph (he insisted on getting tools and building things because Joseph was a carpenter), Heidi was Mary, and Ann Marie was the angel. Ann Marie finally consented to dress up when I offered one of my white shirts as her costume.

Then we got the kids put to bed and worked on getting Christmas presents put out. I actually worked on wrapping presents ahead of time, so everything was pretty much ready to go under the tree.

I always want the magic of the present-opening to last longer, but the kids went so fast that it was over pretty quickly. But then there was the magic of everyone playing with their new presents for the rest of the day, which is also lovely.

We received so many lovely packages from people and had a very full Christmas.

The girls both got Barbies. It turns out that Barbies don't have obnoxious baby doll voices like their dolls do, which to Ryan and me is a bonus. They played with them for hours.

Ryan gave me an Instant Pot. I was completely surprised! I didn't expect it at all. It's turned out to be pretty handy in the kitchen. I actually haven't taken it off the counter to put it away because I use it at least a few times a week. I kind of want to giggle like I got away with something when I use it to make mashed potatoes because it's so easy and there's no starchy mess all over the stove. I also really like it for "boiled" eggs because I can time them exactly and they're super easy to peel. I'm still trying out recipes and figuring out how to use it, but it's been fun.

Kevin got modeling clay and Legos from us. I gave Ryan a book and some water beads (which was a random gift, but it was on his wish list, and as I expected they've been interesting to play around with).

We got the game Forbidden Desert for a family gift. Kevin really enjoys it.

These are called Brain Flakes, and they're very fun. They were a family gift. I think if the kids asked I said that these were Santa's gift (because they were the only present nobody saw before Christmas . . . I'm not good at hiding presents). I think I played with them more than the kids on Christmas. One thing I've learned is that if I'm going to play with the kids, it's a lot easier if we have toys that I like playing with too. I made this little person.

Annandag Jul 2015

I actually took pictures at Annandag this year. I guess it helps that I have a cell phone now, so I usually have a camera in my pocket.

The Johnsons have invited us to Annandag Jul every year since we've lived here and we always look forward to it. Reed gives the same lecture about the proper way to cut cheese every year: "This is not a tomahawk. You don't whack the cheese. You use a cheese plane, like this, to get nice thin slices." It took me until last year to work up the courage to try the brown cheese, but it's actually pretty good!

There were the typical dishes that they make every year, including a few kinds of fish and cheese, and other things that people brought. We brought some rolls.

After dinner we did ring dances and danced Christmas through the house. Heidi wasn't as shy this year and she participated, and Kevin participated sometimes between getting distracted by other interesting things. I got a video of the ring dances this time!

Chad Kearsley always makes a kransekake (a Norwegian wedding cake) and this year's was a good one!

It was in the 70s outside and pretty hot inside. I had brought my fudge and homemade Take 5 bars to share, and even though we kept them in the freezer until it was time for dessert, the fudge melted into the consistency of frosting by the time people started going around with their plates, so that was interesting. A lot of people still took some and said it was good.

Ward Party

Our ward had a Christmas party. Ryan got sick and couldn't stand up, let alone go to a ward party, but I had signed up to bring orange glazed carrots and a dessert and the way the emails about food were phrased it sounded like people would go hungry if my carrots didn't show up, so I went to a ward party with three kids by myself. I read the recipe wrong and the carrots didn't turn out quite right, then somehow the glaze that didn't get thick got spilled all over my pants and I had to change, then we had to drive to the church in traffic, so we were late to the party, but it wasn't a big deal. It turned out that there was way more than enough food and my contribution wasn't really needed, but the kids were actually good and I didn't have to make dinner, so that was nice. Kevin and Heidi are at a stage now where they can go off and play with friends and I don't have to worry that they'll be off in Mexico if I can't find them for fifteen seconds, so that has made things easier. Ann Marie didn't get to leave her stroller, but she was a pretty good sport about it all things considered, and she ate a pretty good dinner.

The Primary children sang some songs.

I bet your ward doesn't have a youth band/orchestra like mine does. We had a piano, a baritone, violins, a saxophone, a bass clarinet, and a cello. They played several songs and did a lovely job.

I wasn't planning to stay afterwards and help, but when Kevin saw people cleaning up he said he wanted to help, which I decided was a desire worth encouraging. He was actually really helpful and worked really hard. I really appreciate that Kevin likes to be a helper.

The next day was the ward choir's Christmas program, and fortunately Ryan was feeling better, so the kids were taken care of while I played the piano with the choir. It was a really special program and I really felt the spirit, especially playing John Rutter's Rejoice and Be Merry (which is also very fun to play on the piano). "So blessed forever be Jesus our King, who brought us salvation. His praises we'll sing, his praises we'll sing!" What a blessing it has been to praise my Savior each year with our choir. Because of his gift we have so many reasons to rejoice.

Christmas 2014

We had all the presents and stockings out and ready by 9:00 on Christmas Eve. I had gotten almost everything wrapped on the 23rd, which was nice because I didn't have to be up late wrapping presents. I tried wrapping diagonally this year, and I think I like that method better than how I used to do it. It seems faster and it's easier to make the presents look nice.

Early on Christmas morning I realized that Heidi had come out and fallen asleep on the couch (which happens most nights lately . . . ugh), but since it was already about 5:15 I decided to just shut their bedroom door so their nightlight wouldn't bother me and I could hopefully go back to sleep for a little longer. Unfortunately, Kevin saw me, and he followed me out and said, "Mom, I don't hear any reindeers on the roof. I think it's because our building is really, really huge." I told him to go back to bed, which he did, but a little while later he came out and joined Heidi on the couch.

A little after 6:00 I heard Heidi whisper, "Kevin! Kevin! Presents!" Then they got really excited and got up to look at all the presents and open their stockings. I managed to get them to eat breakfast and distract themselves with their stockings long enough for Ryan to get a shower, and then the present opening began.

I went to Joann's to get some flannel for making baby gifts and some pajama pants for Kevin, and Heidi saw this purple fabric and insisted she wanted me to make a blanket for her with it. I couldn't resist, so I bought a yard and made it for her.

Everybody was really happy with their presents. Heidi kept saying thank you for everything, and everything Kevin opened was his favorite and just what he'd always wanted. We got a lot of books and fun things.

The very last present I opened was a CD from my mom and my Aunt Sue. It's full of recordings of my Grandpa Warthen singing songs and telling stories about himself. My mom made the recordings on tapes when they were both recovering from injuries. I was never able to meet him, so this gift is truly a treasure. It took me a second to be able to tell Ryan what it was because I was close to tears.

While we were busy playing with kinetic sand and putting together Kevin's racetrack from Aunt Sue, I didn't notice that Ann Marie had found herself a candy cane and was having a great time sucking on it.

For breakfast we had Buttermilk Coffee Cake.

My parents sent this gorgeous dress for Ann Marie and I love it!

Christmas Eve 2014

On Christmas Eve we had egg rolls, crackers, a cheese ball, spinach artichoke dip (I am the only one who likes it, so if you want some let me know because I have tons!), french bread, and wassail. Kevin and Heidi wanted to help make the wassail.

We did a nativity in the evening. Kevin was Joseph, Heidi was a sheep, I was Mary, Ann Marie was the baby Jesus, and Ryan was the narrator. Kevin insisted that he needed tools because Joseph was a carpenter. Kevin keeps asking to do the nativity again.

Gingerbread Houses

We made gingerbread houses from scratch. I've kind of wanted to try it for a few years, but because I was in school I have always been swamped with finals around Christmastime, so I never did it. This year it actually happened, although it was partly because I'm always looking for constructive ways to keep Kevin occupied and making gingerbread houses seemed like a good way to do that.

If you want some great tips for making gingerbread houses, check out this post on the family recipe blog. I used the gingerbread cookies recipe and the 3x5 card pattern. For the frosting, I used royal icing (yuck) as the glue and decorator's icing (amazing) for the rest.

Kevin did a lot to help me with making the dough and putting the houses together. I was freaking out a little too much during the cutting out part and I sent them out of the kitchen.

I was planning to decorate the houses after school one day. Kevin actually ended up not feeling well. He slept off and on most of the afternoon and evening (on the living room floor), waking up occasionally and crying. He was pretty warm. So Heidi and I decorated her house together while Kevin slept. I had to keep reminding Heidi to leave Kevin alone, and then I remembered one of Daniel Tiger's latest jingles: When you're sick, rest is best, rest is best. So I sang that to Heidi to remind her that Kevin needed to sleep because he was sick, and she hasn't stopped singing the jingle since. It worked, though. Heidi was very cute and really enjoyed decorating her house. We just used candy canes and mint M&Ms.

The next morning Kevin still had a slight fever, so I kept him home from school. He wanted to decorate his house, so we did that in the morning, and he had a good time. Heidi added even more M&Ms to her house.

It turns out that Kevin and Heidi don't like gingerbread, so Ryan and I ate the houses. Next time I think I'll do sugar cookie houses (which I know they'll like) because I ate way too much gingerbread and frosting for my own good.

It's also really hard to get a regular smile out of these two lately.

Christmas

(Skip to the end if you just want to see pictures.)

At the end of dinner on the 23rd, Heidi started throwing up all over herself. I wasn't too surprised since about a week before I had found her licking Kevin's toothbrush while Kevin was in the midst of fighting a stomach bug, but I wasn't exactly thrilled either. Ryan was feeling under the weather himself and he just ran out of the room (unfortunately, I am the designated throw-up cleaner in the house). The next 24 hours involved four throw-up loads of laundry and a very sad little Heidi getting her hair washed four more times than she would have liked. I was sure she wasn't going to get to enjoy Christmas very much.

We had a fun time getting everything set out for Christmas. We had gotten a huge bin of Duplos from someone off Craigslist, and it included a lot more Duplo trains and tracks as well as a barn and some farm animals, so Ryan put them all together and set up a train track around the Christmas tree, then we put all the presents inside the train track. Considering that Heidi hadn't kept much down in the past 24 hours, I figured that her stomach probably did not need a stocking full of candy, so the kids got one small bag of M&Ms in their stockings in addition to a dinosaur and a small flashlight, and Kevin also got a little tape measure in his.

Christmas morning, I woke up at 7:45 and thought, "I am one lucky mom." The kids didn't get up until 8:00. It occurred to me that my parents and siblings had probably already been up for half an hour. Kevin was so excited with what Ryan had done with the Duplos. He was dancing around and saying, "Did you guys do this? Oh, I am so happy!"

The Duplos were probably the thing the kids were most excited about, and Ryan was excited too. When he brought them home several months ago and washed them thoroughly in the sink, he was dancing around excitedly and saying, "Is it Christmas yet?" My aunt also sent us even more Duplos and Duplo trains (she was the one who introduced us to Duplo trains last year), so we have quite the stash now. We've been building a lot.

Amazingly, Heidi seemed to be doing better. There was no throwing up on Christmas and she had a nice day.

After we opened presents, we were able to talk to Ryan's parents and his brother Jared's family using a Google Hangout, and then my family called me so that I could listen in while they skyped with my sister Michelle, who is serving as a missionary right now. It was great to hear about the interesting experiences Michelle is having.

The day after Christmas we went to the annual Boxing Day celebration with some friends. This was the third year that we have done it. Everybody brought their boxes from Christmas and we used them to make towers, slides, and robot costumes. The Rasmussens salvaged the boxes that they thought would be useful for moving, and the rest went to the recycling.

In the evening we went to the annual Annandag Jul celebration at the home of our ward choir director. Annandag Jul is a Swedish/Scandinavian holiday that means "Another day of Christmas." Ryan said this was probably the best one yet because we didn't have to chase kids around the entire night, which meant we got to talk to people. Kevin mostly stayed in the living room with the other kids playing with toys and watching A Muppet's Christmas Carol. There is always good quality cheese and a few kinds of fish, and for dessert the Johnsons always serve rice pudding with strawberries and the Kearsleys bring a Kransekake (a cake [ingredients are almonds, sugar, and egg whites] made with concentric rings stacked on top of each other to form a cone). I made some Andes Mint Cookies, and they disappeared pretty fast. Between dinner and dessert we did ring dances (Kevin actually participated a little this year!) and then danced Christmas through the house.

Oh, and we also had maintenance people come four different times to fix the dishwasher. The first time the guy didn't finish fixing it, the second time they realized that the door hinge was having problems and did a temporary fix, then it started leaking water all over the floor so they came a third time and put in a "new" (i.e. "refurbished") dishwasher, then that dishwasher wasn't draining so they came a fourth time and figured out that the plug wasn't aligned properly and wasn't moving to let the water drain. I still haven't decided if it's even worth it to have a dishwasher here because the dishwashers are pretty pathetic (and I have now used four different dishwashers in our apartment complex, so I know from experience), so you practically have to wash the dishes before putting them in anyway. I'm not sure if it took any more time for me to wash everything by hand in the sink. But at least the door on the new dishwasher isn't breaking toes every time we open it. We were a little upset because when they took away the old dishwasher we forgot to take out a plastic basket that we use to hold the small things like sippy cup lids that tend to fly around, but then one day Ryan realized that the dishwasher that had been sitting in the garage for a week was our old one and he retrieved the basket. Also, the know-it-all maintenance man unclogged the sink in the kids' bathroom (which actually was draining fine--it was just the master bathroom sink that was draining slowly) and replaced the plug, despite my attempts to explain that I took the plug off on purpose so the kids would stop flooding the bathroom. Guess what, I took that plug off too the first time I found the kids splashing in an overflowing sink of water.

On New Years Eve we had the sister missionaries over for dinner and had a nice time. We had potato soup, rolls, and wassail. I had postponed making wassail for Christmas since the apple juice I had bought for it was the only thing Heidi was able to keep down. It was great to be able to share it with the sister missionaries, though, because they really enjoyed it. It was a good batch.

Here are some pictures from Christmas.

This was one of our Nativity sets. I think we have five now. This is one Ryan inherited from another missionary while serving a mission. After helping me set the figures out on the shelf, Kevin went and got the geode from where they are normally displayed on the wall shelves and put them next to the nativity set, saying, "Here, this will be their home." I was feeling pretty pleased because we fully intend to teach the kids that Mary and Joseph probably stayed in a cave, not a wooden barn (see Stone Manger), and I thought Kevin had put the geode pieces there to be like caves. But when I called them caves, he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "They're volcanoes, Mom."

Here is our tree with the new tracks around the presents.

Stockings with dinosaurs standing guard.

Ryan is excited that now we have enough duplos that he can build multi-story houses complete with stairs.

Here are a couple of videos of the Christmas excitement: