Christmas in Utah was a big success! Now that our kids are getting a little older, quite a few people have started asking me if we feel like we are missing out on a Christmas at home. Here's the thing - we haven't ever had a Christmas in our own house and this is all that our kids know. It makes Christmas special to be around family that they don't get to spend time with during the year, and it feels like Christmas to us when we are in Utah. Sometimes it's tricky to haul all of our Christmas presents up and back, but for now, it is worth it!
We had the Parker/Thompson talent show early this year, and it did not disappoint! Everyone brought their A-game talents and we had a lot of good laughs.
Brandon - sang the "Hanukkah Song" and played the guitar
Whitney - listed all the Utah counties via song we all learned in the 5th grade
Rachel - sang "Let it Go"
Andrew - sang "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer"
Kendall - sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
Cindy & family - played the clarinet while the kids banged on bowls/drums and Chad did "cowbell"
Kyle - recorded own version of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" used only his voice for all parts
Katherine - sung with Alicia who played the flute
Dad - recited an original poem, "O Treehouse Man" while we hummed "O Christmas Tree"
Mom - wore black and glow sticks, turned off all the lights and danced to "Happy"
The extended family also brought some awesome talents!
Kendall really surprised me at this family function because she wasn't shy at all and didn't mind being the center of attention! During the nativity, quite a few people were taking pictures and recording and she kept saying "Cheese!" over and over and smiling so that everyone could capture her. She also wouldn't take off her wiseman costume and held baby Jesus the whole night (and he needed to be swaddled). Rachel always gets picked to be Mary and she's getting quite good at the role (and she's quite the little actress). Andrew was very brave at singing his solo and I was proud of him for participating in everything.
One afternoon, I took Rachel and Andrew to visit Grandma Parker, who is staying in a care center (Kyle & Katherine were with us too). We didn't realize that she was actually spending the afternoon at home, so while we were at the care center, we found a few people to visit with for a few minutes. Rachel and Andrew sung some Christmas songs to a tenant named Diane and she was so sweet and we had a nice visit. She gave Rachel a red pair of children's sized gloves that she said didn't fit her, which was a very sweet gift. We visited with a very sweet lady in the hall named Ellie and her face was very deformed. I was so proud/grateful that Rachel and Andrew didn't treat her any different and didn't say anything rude - phew! It was a very good thing to have Andrew and Rachel spend some time so close to Christmas trying to brighten someone else's day. We need to do that more often. One more funny lady - she asked if we were available. We asked what for and she responded, "For a beating!" She also asked us if we were going to the meeting upstairs and that we were invited (no second floor at this care center) - we all had a good chuckle. We did make it to Grandma Parker's house and had a nice visit, but Frozen was on at their house, so it was hard for the kids to focus!
We visited Ellie's grave at the cemetery and talked about her a lot with so much family around. The cousins drew pictures about her and she is often part of their conversation or playtime. Rachel Murray had a stocking for Ellie that the kids could write down things they did for others and put them in her stocking. The idea was that we are trying our best to make good choices so that we can return to live with Jesus and Ellie one day. Rachel Faye kept track of all of the nice things she had been doing in Ellie's honor:
- Volunteered at "Feed My Starving Children"with mom
- Ate lunch with Ella at school twice (Ella has Prader-Willi syndrome and has to eat on the nut-free table at school and if Rachel buys school lunch - which she thinks is gross - then she can sit with Ella)
- Agreed to be Addison's bathroom buddy everyday (apparently she needs to go a lot & at inconvenient times during recess and everyone else tells her no)
I can't remember all the things she listed, but she totally understood the concept and was really trying. Rachel also got caught up in the spirit of giving this year and was very thoughtful with her gifts. She enlisted Brandon's help to build me a jewelry box, she made Andrew a Scoobie Doo blankie and made an Olaf pillowcase for Kendall (with mom's help). She gave notes and gifts to her teachers, friends and neighbors - I could hardly keep up with all her gift giving! It was really rewarding to have her really feel of the true meaning of Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, we got pictures taken with the Hale's for Val & Nancy's Christmas gift. The babies - Kendall & Cole were such stinkers, you would have thought they were being tortured! I was shocked to see how well the pictures turned out! Way to go, Camera Shy in Lehi, since they had their work cut out for them! We exchanged cousin presents and then got back together that night for the extended Hale family dinner. At bedtime, we heard Santa's bells outside the window, so the kids rushed downstairs to go right to sleep! Us adults wrapped presents and re-watched the movie, "Christmas Oranges" - which we said was so awful last year. It actually wasn't as bad as we all remember - it's a great little show actually, and we had a hard time remembering what we got so mad about. While watching the credits in confusion, we remembered that they had not addressed a major theory that we had built up in our minds about one of the main characters and who her mother was, and there is a confusing insight in the credits. Anywho…we all had a good laugh about it!
Santa brought Rachel an Anna doll and lego friends set. Andrew got BYU football helmet/outfit and a dinosaur dreamlite. Kendall got an Anna doll and Olaf. It was a fun-filled, magical morning and then we even got to talk to Cader, who is on his mission in Mexico. He has a great missionary/Mexican accent and we all can't wait to see him in April! That night after total and complete exhaustion, Kyle & Katherine came over to play games. I was seriously grouchy and wanting some downtime, but I finally changed my attitude and we had a great game night - turned counseling session, which I could not have predicted.
The grandma/grandpa sleepover is one of the most highly anticipated events of the year! I was so grateful that none of the kids got sick because that would literally be devastating. Then the next night, our kids got to sleep in nana & papa's treehouse with daddy. It is fully insulated with electricity, so the heater kept them nice and toasty (Brandon's version was that at one point it felt more like a sweat lodge, but he survived).
While the kids were having their sleepover, we went to Outback with Brandon's siblings and then hung out at Chris & Kacie's. The girls chatted while the boys watched "Hot Rod", which was apparently Scott's first time watching it and he had never laughed so hard - he was crying from laughing so much. Then we played games and I can't remember who won exactly, but it was probably the girls!
The Hale's treated everyone to skiing on chickadee at Snowbird and Brandon taught Rachel while I taught myself (it was only my second time going). I was surprised at how much Rachel and I both liked it, and we genuinely had a good time. Rachel told her school class that this was her favorite part of Christmas break. Skiing might be in our family's future again! My parents offered to watch Andrew & Kendall. They got their turns in the snow too! Andrew loved sledding - which completely shocked all of us since he hated it last year. And Kendall got to taste and touch it, but only for a minute, because she outright refused to wear a coat/jacket the entire trip. Yes, I could have made her wear one, but she would have been throwing the most giant fit and she is big enough to just take these things off. So we always warmed up the car before getting in and the only "coat" she would wear was mine. She would tuck her legs up and around my waist and put her arms in the arms of my coat and we'd run to the warm car. She did wear long sleeves and pants the whole time, which was amazing (according to our standards since she really prefers short sleeves and shorts - Arizona problems!).
It was almost time to go home and I began to feel lousy, but put on my game face for Kyle's nerf gun war at the church building. I was losing steam quickly…. Chad had to cancel because he was sick. Then one-by-one, all the adults got sick over the next few days. I brought home the sickness and wallowed in it for a week or so while the kids played with their new toys. Then I got the stomach bug, and passed it around to the rest of my family and the first two weeks of January have been spent at home recovering and passing around different illnesses to each other. :) But we had a mostly sick-free Christmas in Utah and loved every minute of it!!
