Every year time goes faster and faster and that means that there is less time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I felt frantic during this period trying to get all the shopping done while dealing with obligations from being a room mom, spanish teacher, RS teacher, PTA fund raiser and, of course, everyday Mom stuff. In the middle of the pre-holiday chaos, Matt got called to be Elder's Quorum president in the ward. We don't really know what to expect in this area but are excited for the opportunity.
Kristy and James flew in on Dec 17th. We went to the train park and just hung out for a few days. It was fun to catch up with Isaac and watch Mathew and Levi get to know each other. Freddy, Jenny, Sam and Sheila came in on Friday. I felt bad that we could not offer more comfortable sleeping arrangements to everyone--it was a bit crammed. Mathew had not been feeling well and he was crying a lot more too which didn't help the situation.
On Sunday morning we took Mathew in to the doctor--double ear infections. After stalking up on antibiotics, we went ahead and started up to Snowflake. It was cold but the kids still had fun playing in their back yard. Sam and Sheila also emptied out their garage and put a heater on so that the kids could play out there. Mathew and Levi had a blast. They were chasing, immitating and even throwing the ball to each other.
It seems like during the day the kids had a blast. But as soon as night came it was chaos. Mathew was waking up crying and Matt must have spent 4 days in a row entertaining Mathew from 2-4am. Isaac was also not sleeping at night so the rest of the trip is a blur of no sleep, crying kids and lots of runny noses.
We spent Christmas Eve wrapping presents and watching TV and in the evening we did the traditional reenactment of the manger scene. It was cut short because the babies were trying to open the presents. Sheila had put together packets of "Reindeer food" which they sprinkled outside-it was very cute.
That night, Sophie told Ellie they had to talk to her privately and they both went into the bathroom. They were in there for a long time having what sounded like a very serious conversation. I had my ear to the door but could not make out what they were saying. Suddenly the door flew open and Sophie had a very angry face on..she said " That's it, Mom was listening". I tried to convince her that I'd not heard anything but she was not happy about the situation. She finally agreed to tell me what they were discussing and, with Ellie standing right there, she asked "are you and Dad leaving presents out and pretending they are from Santa?". I explained that Dad and I did wrap presents and leave them out but they were from us...the Santa presents were separate. She kept on pinning me down asking "But are the Santa presents also really from you?" I kept on skirting around the question but she said "Mom, you're not really answering my question". This seemed like a crucial moment and I would have told her the truth but I didn't think it was fair to spoil it for Ellie and probably her friends at school too. Anyway we tried to distract her a little that night talking about other things but she still went to bed annoyed with us. She kept on saying "remember Mom, we don't keep secrets in our family". I felt terrible.
The next morning was fun and nothing more was said of it. Santa brought Sophie a makeup kit and Ellie a panda (exactly what they'd asked for). We spent a few more days in Snowflake and then headed off for Eagar.
Eagar was also very cold and the pattern of sleepless nights continued. Basically everyone got sick. Jenny ended up getting a sinus infection and pink eye the day before her reception and we had a day where nobody knew whether or not to call the whole thing off. In the end they decided to move forward and everything worked out well. Aunt Julie held the reception at their house. All of the Bosens were there from Phoenix and Wes came in from Safford.
Jo had bought and robotic horse and the kids had a blast playing on the horse and with the millions of toys upstairs.
On New Year's day, we decided to stay an extra day to go skiing. We took Sophie along and put her in Ski school for the day. Then Matt and I went skiing/snowboarding. We had not been since we'd gotten married and it was so fun! For a few minutes I felt free again. I thought I would have forgotten how to ski but it's funny how you pick up where you leave off.
The ski school was a waste of money--they didn't even get on the ski lift and all it did was scare Sophie. I guess they don't teach the snowplow technique anymore so it takes a lot longer to feel comfortable enough to actually get out and ski. If we go again, I think we'll just try and teach the girls on our own.
The next day, I watched Isaac and Levi while James and Kristy went skiing and Matt, Sam and Freddy went shooting. Then we left for Phoenix in the afternoon. Even though it was sad to see 2 weeks fly by so quickly, it felt good to be home and start working on getting some kind of routine back.
