Christmas

We camped out in the living room on the eve of Christmas Eve (Christmas Adam as our VA friends call it). We had popcorn and watched the Polar Express. Poor Belen had a really bad cough. Darin was kind and gave up his spot on the bed to her, while he slept on the couch. I didn't get much sleep that night with Belen kicking around and coughing in my face, but here's to the tradition!

 Darin and I were dying when we looked over to see Shae stuffed to the max with his stuffed animals under that blanket.

 We made our presents to Jesus during Family Home Evening the Monday before Christmas.

 The kids were very excited when the door bell rang and they found their Christmas jammies from Mrs. Claus on the porch. 

  We read through and acted out the nativity story from the Bible. 

 

 I just love Christmas Eve so much. The calm before the storm. The anticipation and excitement. All the traditions and intentional family time. I honestly just love it all so much more than Christmas day when everything comes to an end.

I felt so much gratitude and love this year. We have SO much. We are insanely blessed with amazing friends and family. We felt so so lucky to get to spend Christmas with Darin's mom, whom we hadn't seen in almost a year and a half. We had a lot of opportunities present themselves over the past few months which allowed us to earn gift cards for different reasons which really helped support our Christmas. A week before Christmas, a friend was getting rid of her daughter's doll house, and even though we already had presents all set by that point, I grabbed it for the kids. It made things feel a bit excessive, but it was also so fun to see the kid's excitement on Christmas morning.

 

 Opening his pack of GX cards from Santa.

 

 Shae had his entire class help with his present to Ibu which was really sweet. Each kid got a square on this paper to write their name in and draw a picture. I loved that one of the kids put her phone number. 

 They each ended up getting each other Lego 2 movie lego kits for their sibling gift.

 They have been VERY excited about these new hats.

This BYU mini van shirt gave us all a good laugh.

 I had my anatomy scan for the baby just a week before Christmas. We decided to keep the gender hush hush until Christmas morning when the kids opened this box to discover that we are having a baby sister.

     When the 4 year old tries to set up the self-timer. 

Darin was man of the kitchen on Christmas and cooked us up a delicious ham dinner. We had our sweet neighbor/landlady over and a couple from our ward. I was definitely exhausted by the end of the day (I'm like a little kid and can't sleep on Christmas Eve, and then there was that awful night's sleep in the living room the night before), but it was a really beautiful Christmas :).

We sure did love having Ibu here for a little over a week and loved spending Christmas with her. We sure are missing her already.

Books Read in 2019

It was so easy for me to put together a top ten list of books read in 2018. Last year was a really good reading year for me. While I read quite a few good books this past year, not many seemed to fit the "top" book category.

Sadly, and strangely, I went through a first trimester stage of total book aversion. I didn't want to read anything, or even listen to anything. I started 3 audiobooks during that time and never got through any of them. September-November was a pretty bleak time for me in the reading department--even reading with the kids! (Honestly, reading out loud just made me so nauseous). I've finally gotten back into a reading groove this past month and it has been so nice. 

Here's a list of the 44 books that I read in 2019. 

Top Books that I Read in 2019:

Front Desk, Kelly Yang 

(Middle Grade book that I will definitely read again with the kids in a few years. I think about this book all the time).

Becoming, Michelle Obama 

(Waited MONTHS to get the audiobook through Overdrive, but it was worth it. I loved all the insights into what it was like living in the White House. It was also so fascinating to learn about President Obama through the life of his wife. I loved hearing about all of her own professional successes, but also all of her tender thoughts/feelings about her children/family).

A Place for Us, Fatima Mirza

(I found myself in so many different relationships in this book, as a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife. I really enjoyed that the story follows an Indian-American Muslim family, which was really insightful after living in Indonesia).

Before We Were Yours, Lisa Wingate

(Cannot believe this one was based off of a real life orphanage scandal. So heart-wrenching, but such a fascinating read).

The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah 

(I am not one to sit and read for hours at a time, but this book had me captivated. Probably the first time in my life that I've sat and read a book for 3 hours straight so that I could finish it--probably other than Harry Potter as a teenager).

All the Other Books I Read:

A Fall of Marigolds, Susan Meissner

Secrets of a Charmed Life, Susan Meissner

Year of No Sugar, Eve Schaub

Siblings Without Rivalry, Adele Fabner

The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith, Terryl Givens

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred Taylor

On the Come Up, Angie Thomas

How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids, Jancee Dunn 

(Gotta love that title--this one really had a lot of golden marriage nuggets to hold on to)

To Night Owl From Dogfish, Holly Sloan

Me Before You, Jojo Moyes

Come As You Are: The Surprising New Science That Will Transform Your Sex Life, Emily Nagoski

I've Got Your Number, Sophie Kinsella

Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens 

(This one has been getting SO. MUCH. HYPE. this past year, but it just did not live up to the hype for me. It was a good read, but I expected more from it after all the reviews). 

Orphan Island, Laurel Snyder

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, Chimamanda Adichie

This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today, Chrissy Metz

The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works, Evelyn Tribole  

(I thought about putting this on the "top" book list, but as a book, it's a little stale. With that said, the ideas that are presented in it spoke to me in so many different ways, and for that reason, I really love it). 

Dark Matter, Blake Crouch

Teaching Your Children Values, Linda Eyre

(This book has really impacted our family. Darin and I both read it throughout the year, choosing a different value to focus on each month as a family. We are excited to continue doing it this coming year).

Read Alouds with the Kids

The Chocolate Touch, Patrick Skene Catling  

(This Midas inspired book about a little boy turning everything to chocolate that his lips touch was all fun and games when it was just his toothpaste, but then his mom turns to Chocolate and poor Shae LOST IT. Even with the happy ending, Shae was not a fan)

Poppy, Avi

Mr. Popper's Penguins, Richard Atwater

The Baltimore Bandit, David Kelly

Ramona and Her Father, Beverly Cleary

Mitch and Amy, Beverly Cleary

Fantastic Mr. Fox, Roald Dahl

Summer of the Monkeys, Wilson Rawls

Fairest of All, Sarah Mlynowski

If the Shoe Fits, Sarah Mlynowski

Spill the Beans, Sarah Mlynowski

Lawn Mower Magic, Lynne Jonell

Hamster Magic, Lynne Jonell

Half Magic, Edward Eager

Detective Camp (A to Z Mysteries), Ron Roy

Toys Go Out, Emily Jenkins

Toy Dance Party, Emily Jenkins

Rise of the Earth Dragon, Tracey West

The Wild Robot, Peter Brown

Dicken's Village and Ninjabread Men

We've been wanting to check out Dicken's Village in the town of Skaneatles since our very first year here and we finally made it this Christmas. What an adorable little town. 

We "prepped" the kids the night before by watching A Muppet Christmas Carol, which neither of them were fond of (Marley & Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come were just too much for them).

We arrived and quickly ran into a sweet lady handing out roasted chestnuts. They were fun to try, but none of us really liked them in the end.

 We ran in to Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim.

 The kids were a little wary of the chained Marley, but were still kind enough to take a quick picture with me.

 It was SO cold next to the lake, but so beautiful. 

 The kids had asked to see Santa this year and this was just the perfect way to do it. I really dreaded the idea of going to a mall Santa where we would have to stand in line for so long and where everything feels so commercial and the kids just want to talk to Santa but the little helper elves just want them to look at the camera so that they can get the perfect picture and try to sell it to me.... so many feelings about that. We were able to walk right up to this sweet Santa, there were no elves taking pictures, and all was just right in the Christmas world. 

We went to the adorable library and warmed up a bit and listened to a girl play her guitar and sing. It was a good performance, but wasn't Christmasy at all and seemed a little out of place. It was nice nonetheless to warm up our toes and read a few books.

We then went to the chocolate shop and drooled over all the delicious chocolates they had. We sampled some super yummy egg nog and tried figgy pudding (which was interesting). We finished off our trip with a few Christmas carols by the lake with the talented Dickens cast.

A few days before Christmas we made gingerbread cookies. We found some ninjabread cookie cutters this year and had to get them.

Shae made sure to make a Captain Cookie from one of our favorite Christmas books, The Gingerbread Pirates. 

 

Santa had some decorative cookies to choose from on Christmas Eve.