Where did Christmas go?

It's hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone! It felt like one day I was running around shopping and wrapping gifts and making treats for my neighbors and friends and wondering if I'd ever get it all done...and then it was all over! At times I was left wondering if all of the months of preparation were worth it...but it only took one look at the little boy's faces as they opened up their Christmas gifts for that thought to vanish! There's nothing that brings more joy than to see Christmas through the eyes of a little one...and I'm grateful to have had that experience yet once again this year!

As has become tradition, we were able to spend Christmas Eve with the Moshers. We all gathered (minus Patrick, Ryan, and Jon) at Pam and Mike's house, where we ate dinner and opened gifts, and were just blessed to spend time together. It is obvious that everyone is getting older though, because there didn't seem to be as much chaos as there has been in year's past. Overall, other than Abby's new Baby Alive not working (even with new batteries) and Grandpa Mosher and Chris having to put their "man" skills to work in order to put together Hayden and Connor's new Twist and Ride bikes, it was a relatively quiet night! My only regret is that we couldn't stick around any longer than we did because we needed to get home to our own Christmas Eve festivities, which basically consisted of each of us opening one gift...that just happened to be pajamas or some semblance of resting attire! Jon even joined us because he was off work by then!

Chris and his little brothers

What do you think we got mom?

Abby with her new Baby Alive

Chris and Grandpa putting together Hayden and Connor's gifts

Chris and Jon waiting for their gifts

Even Kaydee got a gift...she loves Christmas!

Now that we’re all getting older, you’d think that getting up early on Christmas morning would be a thing of the past, but it’s not! Another one of our Christmas traditions has always been to have Christmas breakfast with the family and in the past when the kids were smaller, we always included the entire Mosher family. However, now that the “cousins” aren’t as easily convinced that they need to drive an hour to have breakfast at our house, we now only have Grandma and Grandpa Mosher join us. That meant that we had to be ready for them by 9:00...and I barely was! I was dressed and showered, but my hair never did get done until later in the morning. I just figured that it was more important to enjoy the morning and not worry about minor details like that. I’ve also decided in my older years that the breakfast isn’t what’s important...it’s just another reason for us to be able to spend time together! And we did have an enjoyable morning, although it didn’t last nearly long enough. Shortly after we were done eating, Don was ready to go home! Now I know why Rod is always so ansy when we go anywhere...he got it from his dad!

Our traditional Christmas morning family photo

Hayden opening his Legos


Chris with his new Star Trek game

Connor opening the Bat Cave

What is that Jon? New scriptures!

My gift from Rod, a new Bosch bread mixer...and yes, it's what I wanted!

Grandpa Mosher with Hayden and Kaydee

Grandma Mosher and Jon

Shortly after Grandma and Grandpa Mosher left, we got a call from Grandma Carling telling us that they were on their way to visit. She didn’t tell me that Diane and Vicki were also coming, but I was glad when they showed up too. Although we didn’t do anything really exciting all afternoon, Vicki did enjoy a nap while she was “watching" her basketball game, Diane was able to add a few pieces to the puzzle that Hayden and I had started a few days earlier, Mom was able to play an exciting game of Blokus with Hayden and we were just happy to be able to visit! Then about the same time that our dinner was ready, mom and dad decided that it was time for them to head for home. We were having prime rib for dinner and we really tried to convince them to stay and join us, but they wouldn’t hear of it...so we ate alone! They missed out because the prime rib was wonderful! Rod had cooked it to perfection and it literally melted in our mouths! It was yummy! And even though we didn’t get to have rolls with it (because I forgot to set them out), we enjoyed every bit of it!

We all had an enjoyable day and aside from the fact that Connor was sick for most of it, we were able to relax and just enjoy being together. I’m not sure how Connor got sick because he’s been home for the past week, but somehow he came down with a fever and a sore throat on Christmas eve and he didn’t feel good all day on Christmas day! Luckily, we were able to give him some medicine and within no time, he would feel good enough to play and enjoy his toys for 5 or 6 hours...and then just like clockwork, the aches and pains were back! But we’d just give him another round of medicine and he would be good for several more hours! Thank heavens for ibuprofen!

We enjoyed having Chris and Jon home with us for Christmas this year. It hardly felt like Jon had been gone for the past two years, but we were glad that he was with us this year. Unfortunately, Patrick wasn’t as lucky! We thought for sure that once he got home from Iraq, he wouldn’t miss Christmas for anything…but he proved us wrong! Apparently, due to circumstances beyond his control, he was only able to get 2 days off work and he only found that out a few days earlier, which meant he couldn’t get an airline ticket that quickly (at least not one that would cost him less than $500)…so he wasn’t able to join us! I guess he could have driven down, but after making that 13+ hour trip a few weeks ago myself, I didn’t even try to make him do that. I couldn’t imagine driving down (and back) in that short of time, so our only option was to have Christmas without him. We figured that we’d rather spend more than a few days with him anyway, so he’s supposed to be coming down in January sometime! I hope he had a wonderful Christmas in Washington though! Patrick did find out this week that he’s going to be promoted to Sergeant on January 1st and we’re awfully proud of him for that! Congratulations!

Overall, at this Christmas season, we’re extremely grateful for our wonderful family and friends and we hope that everyone had a nice Christmas like we did! Happy Holidays everyone!

14 Years and Counting!

Rod and I on our wedding day

On December 16, 1995, only 14 short years ago, Rod and I were married...and our lives have been pure bliss ever since then! OK, maybe not pure bliss, but something close to it! We've definitely had our share of ups and downs over those 14 years, but the blessings we've received in that time have far outweighed the rough times. We've added 2 sweet boys to the mix, which brings our total to 5 boys (6 counting Rod)...and me! Patrick just returned from serving a year in Iraq, Chris is going to school at the University of Utah, Jon just returned from his mission in Brazil, Hayden just turned 8 and was baptized by Jon in September, and Connor just started kindergarten!

Our family in 1995

It's been a great 14 years and I'm grateful to have been able to celebrate our anniversary this past week! I can't say that we did anything spectacular, but if you were to ask Rod, he'd say that just being with him is a treat...and I'd have to agree!

Our family in 2009 - minus Patrick who was in Iraq at the time

With Christmas day less than a week away, we've had a very busy week, mostly consisting of lots of shopping, wrapping and delivering gifts, and making treats for some of our friends and neighbors! Somewhere in the midst of all that busy-ness though, we've still been able to enjoy the Christmas season. In fact, just on Wednesday night, the boys and I sat down and watched "The Polar Express" together and after we got done watching that, how could we not have the Christmas spirit? Connor and his kindergarten class even got to go on the Polar Express on Friday for their class Christmas party. Now everytime we hear a bell ring, we tell ourselves "I Believe" and we get all the more excited for Christmas!

The best part of Christmas though is remembering what we are truly celebrating...and that's not the part about getting gifts or even Santa Claus, although those are all things that make it fun...it's the birth of our Savior! Today at church, I was touched as our Relief Society president sang a beautiful rendition of the song "Jesus Once of Humble Birth", which reminded me that Jesus may have been born in the most humble of circumstances, but He is truly our King! It brought tears to my eyes...and I hoped that no one noticed! I just hope that everyone has a truly Merry Christmas...and remembers the true meaning of the season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

On the 12th Day of Christmas...!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! That's easy to say today when I have no place to go and am sitting here in my nice, warm house...but come tomorrow, it might be a different story! It's amazing how fresh falling snow can bring such a quiet calm...and in a way, make you feel as though everything is clean and pure, as though everything is new and fresh! Unfortunately, it only takes a single footprint to mar that sense of freshness! Right now it's killing Hayden not to be the first one to go outside and slush through the snow and ruin that freshness for all of us, but it's Sunday and so I can say no!

The snow actually started falling early Saturday morning, so we spent some time yesterday cleaning off the driveway and boy did it need it. Up until then, Rod hadn't had time to put the plow on the 4 wheeler and even though it had already snowed a little throughout the week, without the plow, I wasn't about to go out and shovel it...so it was basically frozen in place on the driveway! Today though, before Rod did anything else, I made him put the plow on the 4 wheeler, so as soon as we got a chance, Hayden and I went out and plowed everything. Unfortunately, it no longer looks as though we did anything because it continued to snow off and on throughout the day and now today it's snowed nonstop most of the morning. I guess we have our work cut out for us when (or if) it ever stops snowing!

Hayden playing in the snow after we plowed the driveway

Connor had no desire to come out in the snow

Hayden had his third grade economics fair this week and he sold all but about 4 or 5 of the magnets that we made for him to sell, so he did a great job! The name of his business was "Magnet-ude" and since he was selling magnets, we thought that was pretty clever! They had the fair on a day when I normally volunteer in his class, so I figured my help wouldn't be needed, since I usually read with the kids and that wasn't going to happen with a fair going on! I didn't feel right just blowing it off though, so I went to school with Hayden and specifically went in to ask his teacher if I was OK not to come back...or was there something she needed me to help with! Well guess what? She asked if I could stay and help right then and there. So I did...and that's pretty much where I stayed the remainder of the day! I did take a break to go volunteer in Connor's classroom for an hour and to take kids home and get Connor and myself some lunch, but I came right back and helped out all day long! Hayden loved having us there and Connor even helped him sell 2 of his magnets!

All 50 magnets that we had to make for the Fair

Hayden's booth at the Fair

Yesterday the boys had a primary activity where they pretended to go on missions. Hayden's mission call was to France and Connor's mission call was to Brazil...and you can only guess that Hayden was incredibly jealous of Connor because he wanted to go to Brazil too, just like their big brother! Fortunately, they really got to go to all of the missions, so he didn't really miss out. They had to wear their Sunday clothes to the activity and it started at 9:00, so I had to hurry and get them ready to go. While I was tying Hayden's shoes, I glanced up and noticed Connor sucking on his fingers like he always does, so I asked him if they tasted good. Without any hesitation, he answered "they taste like strawberries, blueberries and Fridays...which is watermelon in Chinese!" Isn't he such a nut? That's almost as funny as when he sings, "Elise Nahmeenah" instead of "Feliz Navidad".

Our little missionaries

Along with plowing snow and going to a primary activity, the boys and I were able to wrap presents yesterday...and now more than ever it feels like Christmas is just around the corner! Christmas is such a fun time of year, it's hard not to get excited for it, but this year we're especially excited because our whole family will be together again for the first time in 2 1/2 years! With only 12 days left until then, we can't wait!

Only 12 days until Christmas!

Washington...or bust!

Driving to Washington

Rod and I just spent a whirlwind weekend driving 13 hours to Washington and flying home 2 days later! While it felt like a crazy thing to do and was a pretty long trek...it was well worth it! Why Washington? And why now? Because Patrick just returned on Friday night from his year long tour of duty in Iraq and he needed someone to bring him his car that he had left here in Utah. Rod and I are always up for an adventure, so we volunteered to help him out. 13 hours is definitely a long time to be stuck in a car, but there's no one else I'd rather be stuck with than Rod...and I hope he felt the same about me! We will be celebrating our 14th anniversary next week, so we figured this might be the only time we'd be able to get away!

Our original plan had been to leave here at noon on Friday, drive as far as we could for the rest of the day, and then wake up and drive the rest of the way and be at Ft. Lewis by the time Patrick flew in. I was really excited about the thought of being able to be there to welcome home our soldier because I see familes do that all of the time on the news, but with Patrick stationed in Washington, I didn't think I'd ever get that chance...and now I was finally going to get to! As luck would have it, just as we were leaving home on Friday, we got a phone call from Patrick telling us that he was in Newfoundland at that very moment and he'd be flying into Washington in about 8 hours! Well it was physically impossible to drive a car all of that way in 8 hours, so my dream got dashed pretty quickly. Oh well...at least we still got to see him and spend time with him! We didn't even have to worry about the boys because they were spending the weekend being with our wonderful friends and family. Thank heavens for all of them!

As soon as I got home from my long awaited trip to the pulmonology doctor on Friday morning, we headed to Washington. At the doctor, I found out that I am officially an asthmatic, but I think I already knew that! It's just nice to know that it isn't all in my head! We drove as far as Boise, where we stopped and ate at my favorite restaurant, Smoky Mountain Pizza and Pasta. The thought that we'd be able to do that hadn't even crossed my mind, but when Rod suggested it, there was no way that he was going to get out of taking me. So we stopped and I got to eat my absoluty favorite meal, Teriyaki Chicken Fettucini, which is simply delightful...and I'd recommend it to anyone! We drove as far as Pendleton, Oregon before we called it a night, but we'd driven for 8+ hours by that time and our legs and butts were tired of sitting.

This is where we met Patrick

On Saturday we drove straight to Fort Lewis where we met Patrick waiting for us just outside of the gate. It was so much fun to see him and he looked great! He was just happy to be home, but he was definitely tired because it was about midnight Iraq time by then and I don't think he'd slept much the night before. In our excitement to see Patrick, we hadn't even stopped to realize that as soon as we picked him up, there would be 3 people vying for the same car...and since it's Patrick's car and he had lots of stuff to do in order to get settled, he got dibs on it! Somehow, I had envisioned doing all sorts of sightseeing and some shopping while Patrick got settled, but I hadn't even thought about the fact that he'd need a car to do that with! Silly, silly me! So instead Rod and I settled for going to the hotel and waiting until dinner to see Patrick again!

On Sunday, we were able to attend church in Lakewood, Washington, which is the same town where 4 police officers were killed just last weekend. It kind of hit us hard when we realized that we were so close to something that had happened so recently and was so awful. The ward that we attended was so sweet and Rod and I sat by a couple of ladies that talked to us as if we were their dear friends. By the time we left, I think Rod knew everything about everybody in that ward...and not because he'd been asking about them! It was kind of cool that the bishop of the ward was named Bishop Jarrett! I didn't bother to ask if he was any relation to Darin, but I kind of figured that he probably wasn't!

The Seattle Skyline

When we left church, we went straight to Seattle to do a little sightseeing. As we approached the city and could see the skyline looming in the distance, it brought back all sorts of memories from our trip this summer. Rod and I and the boys had taken the ferry from Bainbridge Island over to Seattle to spend the day. One of the few things that I really wanted to see had been Pike's Market but parking was horrible...and there were no parking places big enough for our huge truck anyway, so we settled for seeing the Space Needle, which was pretty cool too! Today though, I finally got to see the market and we even found a parking spot right across the street. It cost us $12 to park there but who's keeping track? We figured the convenience was worth it and since Rod didn't have any kind of jacket (yes, I forgot to pack him one, but it was merely because he said he didn't need one!) we figured that we probably shouldn't make him walk any further in the cold than necessary...and let me tell you, it was cold there right next to the waterfront!

This is the best picture I have of Rod and Patrick together

Pike's Market

With only an hour to shop (and no real intent of shopping on Sunday anyway), we had to basically race through the market so that we could see as much as we could. As we raced through the market, we ran across a restaurant called the Athenian, which is where they filmed a scene in Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner sitting at a bar. So we had to stop and take a look, and as long as we were there, we decided that we might as well eat lunch too. So now I can say that I've eaten where Tom Hanks once ate!

Me in front of the Athenian

Me with Patrick at the Athenian

The stool where Tom Hanks sat (can you see the placard on the bar?)

Overall, our trip to Washington was short and cold, but we had a great time and it was especially fun to spend time with Patrick, although it didn't feel like nearly enough time. Hopefully we'll get to see him in a couple of weeks for Christmas. As for now, THANKS for the fun weekend Patrick and welcome home!

Me and Patrick at the airport as we were leaving