Christmas

Christmas Eve we cooked, ate the leftover goodies we didn't deliver, played games, watched movies and the nativity video the Church put out this year. On Christmas Day we enjoyed making and eating pancakes, opening gifts, reading together, calling family, and having Oma and Opa join us that afternoon for more gifts, more food, and more games, including laser tag.

Sophie was gifted attachable colored hair strands which she promptly decorated her dad with. He is a good dad.

More Christmas Happenings

We attended our congregation's Christmas party which was a journey to Bethlehem in which all families were given a pouch of coins and we had to go from place to place in the market to buy produce, beverages, meat, bread, etc. for our dinner. Some larger families did not have enough money for their numbers and would have to earn it by singing to the elders of our congregation. Once just about everyone was seated on blankets on the floor and eating, we listened to the Christmas story with accompanying shadow pictures, sang hymns, and visited.  It was a lot of work and was conducive to the spirit but I was glad our part was small--we made baked goods and decorated the bakery in the market.

I've been reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens to ghe kids and it is a mouthful but such a good message of how Christ's atonement can change us. (Update: It took a lot to finish, as the kids were not as interested in it as The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, it being more funny. Finished the thrid ghost on Christmas Eve and read his new life on Christmas day which seems fitting.)

Also, almost synonymous with Christmas is a release of the Star Wars movie! We got our tickets early and went to see the Rise of Skywalker which was super good. 

Free Holiday Babysitting

Because Sophie learned she hates raking leaves and cleaning windows to earn money recently, she was glad that we set up an opportunity to gain experience babysitting. We put out an email to select families that Sophie would babysit for free and I would be present to offer input and support but that she would be taking care of all the responsibilities. We offered prime holiday weekend opportunities and she was able to baby sit a range of ages and groups of children as well as an only child.  It went pretty well and was, I hope, excellent awareness building for saving procreation for married adulthood. She definitely learned she has to be alert at all times.  Here's hoping she gets a few more jobs this year and bring in money from outside sources.

Date Night

Thanks for Oma and Opa watching the kids! Neal and I took off for a great evening. We ate papusas for the first time for dinner and enjoyed a Styx concert.

Just Going to Leave This Here...

Neal posted this to Facebook after seeing the achievements of our family. You'll see why I love him.

My amazing wife, Keri, has made several posts the last couple of days touting some of the recent accomplishments of our family. Rhys getting his Webelos in cub scouts, Sophie getting a beekeeping scholarship, and me completing a 5k. Whats not talked about in those posts is the work involved and who guided and helped in a lot of that work. Keri has been driving Sophie to the beekeeping meetings, assisting her with the application process, driving her to the interviews, and providing coaching and support. It's Keri that's been working hard with Rhys to complete his Webelos badge in just 6 months, making sure he is staying on track and doing the required work, taking him to cub scouts for 2 1/2 years, helping him when things got hard. It's Keri that got up with me every morning at 5:30 to run, motivated me when I was feeling down, woke me up to run when it was too hot, too, cold, or too whatever and I didn't want to get out of bed. All these things are happening because of an amazing wife, mother, and friend. Not all heroes wear capes, but most of them go by the name of wife and mother. I love you, Keri, and thank you for all you sacrifice each day for our family.

Rhys Acheives Webelos Rank

Rhys has been working to achieve his Webelos rank before the end of the year and thanks to his participation, and the support of his den leaders and parents, he did just that! Way to go, Rhys!

This was our last pack meeting of the year and last Boy Scouts of America meeting ever as over a year ago The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints let the BSA know that it would be ending it's chartered partnership with the organization in an effort to implement a youth program that serves its members globally as over half of the church members live outside the United States.

Our family has decided to not continue with scouting as we do many of those types of things as a family and the new youth program will continue to provided interaction with peers as well as personal growth in spiritual, physical, intellectual, and social areas. This also means that Neal and I will not be serving as den leaders anymore, but will serve in the church as needed and as we volunteer in the community.

Here's the Buzz!

I've been looking into Homesteading a lot over the last several months and have learned it is a state of mind more than having a plot of land with a milking cow and an orchard, etc.  I was looking into different interests and came upon our local beekeeping group--the Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Associaiton. They offer a youth scholarship program in which training, bees, and equipement are provided upon certain requirements. With some parental "persuasion" Sophie decided to apply for the scholarship. I think what we are both looking forward to is learning something together. It's like built in meaningful time with my daughter which is getting harder to come by as she grows and her frends importance to her grows.

She filled out the application, attended two monthly meetings with me to learn more about them and introduce ourselves. I helped coach her for the interview and attended with her and then she got the email. Sophie was 1 of 5 youth selected to receive the Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association's (CCHBA) scholarship. Starting in January, Sophie will be required to present her hive report, research and present a bee related topic, extract honey, and work the association's stand at the state fair--all of which I have promised to help and support her with. The CCHBA encourages strong family involvement. We are excited for this experience and grateful for the generosity of the association in providing such a program. Here's to our worker bee!

Christmas Kickoff and Rudolf Run

Our family kicked off Christmas the first weekend of December as usual. We attended the city's Christmas tree lighting in which we enjoyed hot cocoa, a hay ride, watching singers and ballerinas on stage, and the lighting with fireworks.

The next morning was the Rudolph Run 5K for our family. This year, instead of volunteering for crowd control with CERT, Neal decided to join his family for the Rudolph Run as a runner, and he ran the whole thing! I am so proud of my amazing husband. It was fun training with him--he makes a great running partner. Rhys came in first, followed by Sophie, then Neal with myself right behind. The Hancock family came out to cheer our family on, especially Neal, with signs and all! They stayed to cheer as we hit the halfway point and were making our return, too.  We later found that his CERT friends positioned along the route were radioing to each other his progress along way so the next group would be looking for him! Pretty awesome support!

After the race, Keri and Sophie took off for the annual ornament exchange at the Anderson's while Neal and Rhys enjoyed some BBQ with the CERT crowd and then hit target to see the Legos. While at Target, they ran into some stormtroopers and were held hostage for a short time.

When we got back together we headed over to the Nativity Exhibit at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and checked out the nativities as well as the paintings depicting his life, the sweetest of which for me was "Agony in the Garden" by Frans Schwartz (1898). I'm sure I cannot post it to the blog for copyright reasons but it is horrible and endearing all at once. It was my favorite because after seeing such and innocent baby in a manger, viewing the pictures of the man He was in doing His Father's will--teaching, comforting, providing hope, forgiving, healing, blessing, guiding.  To see Jesus, still innocent, then suffering the magnitude of our weaknesses, our sins, our illness, and our sorrow--my weakness, my illness and sorrows, my outright sin--it helped me to love Him even more. It encourages me to live better and to use Christ's atoning sacrifice in my life because He loves me more than I know, because He wants me to, because He did it for me.

The next day was Sunday in which at church, I was released from teaching the children in Primary and called as a second counselor in the Young Women program to help lead and teach the 11 to 13 year old young women, which includes our Sophie! I was sad for having to leave my Primary kids, especially two of which I have worked so hard to with they cannot deny I love them. One needed to come out of his shell and be more confident in speaking in front of the group because he had great ideas. The other, to learn to be reverent so he could personally connect with the gospel principles being taught. Connecting that he lived a particular principle when he was playing football on the field or that their will be another opportunity to live the gospel when his little brother is bothering him was were teaching became golden.

For a couple days I had a hard time with the change because the new duties are more time consuming, because working closely with Sophie can be good but also really hard for both of us at times, because I felt like I was having impact with the Primary kids--but I also know that God does not give us something to do and then hedge up our way. I know without a doubt that He provides a way for us to accomplish the task. I just don't get to see all the details of how that is going to happen but I do know it will.

It was good, after the hustle of Saturday, and the emotional imbalance of Sunday morning, to gather with my family that evening to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, to hear sacred Christmas music and feel the true spirit of Christmas!

Donuts with Dads

A quick, fun breakfast at school to start the day!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving week, we enjoyed having the kids home, practicing baking dinner rolls, sewing felt ornaments, and decorating for Christmas.

 This Christmas tree was my favorite because of a youtube video my sister shared with me a couple years back called "Do you like my decorations?" I sent this to her and it is spot on.

 The kids still play with the nativity set I hand made. It makes me happy even if the angel has a broken wing and one of the sheep have rolled behind the curio cabinet never to be retrieved until we move some day.

We went over to our friends, the Hancocks, for Thanksgiving dinner and games. Our dinner was a pie theme with both savory and sweet options.

Later in the week we gathered at the Goode home with friends to catch up, eat, and play. It was relaxing and fun.

Gratitude Through Service

What's a great way to show God how grateful you are for His blessings and His hand in you life?--Serve others!  We went up to McKinney to pack and deliver Thanksgiving meal boxes for several families and were happy to do it.

A Gift for Mom

My dad is getting unclear news about his pancreatic cancer so they are getting tests run to confirm or dismiss what they think they are seeing. They've also been getting him diagnosed with diabetes and setting up treatment. We were not sure if mom would be able to make it out with all that so we were glad that two weeks before her flight she confirmed she was coming.

I had been really putting in a lot of time and effort to complete my second quilt ever which was intended for her and succeeded! She loved it! I chose the fabric because it was pretty, had insects as one print (her dad was an entomologist) and mums as flowers (mum = mom), and I hand appliqued for the first time one of her favorite motifs. It was so much fun to do for her and I love it too.

Sadly, I did not get a picture of my mom with the quilt or any pictures of my mom for that matter, as we were just having too much fun together. Dad received bad news while mom was with us that his cancer had indeed returned. They have some rough days ahead so they are in our prayers for sure. I don't think mom will travel to see us again for some time. If she does, it may be to stay. We shall see how it all plays out.

Neal and Keri's Bed Not Occupied By Neal and Keri

Halloween and Sky Ranch Camp and Medical Fun

So 5th Grade Sky Ranch Camp (2 nights) was scheduled during Halloween this year. What?! I know. Anyway, Rhys still had our church's trunk or treat to get goodies and they were making special arrangements to make Halloween special for the kids.

Here is Rhys at our Trunk or Treat as the Whomping Willow from Harry Potter.  He also enjoyed a party at a friend's house.

Sophie dressed up as a country music singer or cowgirl which looks pretty close to a regular person in my opinion but whatever. She went trick or treating with friends.

While at Sky Ranch, Rhys touched a chinchilla, among other animals, zip-lined, ate what he wanted, bounced on a huge bouncing pad, participated in skits, and hung out with two crushes. Not bad. They let the kids have s'mores as a Halloween treat,...one...and they were not let near the fire to roast their own...but whatever. Rhys got involved with some tussling with classmates while on large bouncing pillow the afternoon of Halloween and when we received the call from Nurse Anna that he had injured his finger, it had been splinted, and that he wanted to stay, we said yes, since they were getting on the bus the next morning, late.

When he got home, he told me all about Sky Ranch before I could look at his finger which I carefully unwrapped to screams and once able to view it, told him to get in the car. An urgent care visit declared what was already obvious and an appointment for the break was made at Children's Orthopedics. That appointment led us to set up a surgical appointment in which he got two pins placed.

Superhero Day at the hospital the day of his surgery!

Third break but only two on our watch and this is his 3rd surgery. This kid!

We're Grandparents!

Heck no! It's just a sugar baby for Sophie's Human Services class. William or "Will" is the easiest baby and Sophie is a good mommy but let's make sure this day doesn't come for real for a very, very long time.

A Girl and her Cat

Camping

Tyler State Park but too cold for a swim but they did anyhow and lots of hiking.  Just to go to the bathroom, actually. You either had to climb a long steep set up dirt and log stairs or take the longer way around and up the road. Either way your reward was the use of the bathroom. The set of stairs did have a vine hanging down near the bottom that was fun to swing on.  Rhys' air mattress had a leak so that became a fun way to project young friends by jumping on it. A little visit to the local town had him set up with a new one. Also, Rhys took a huge spill and roll on blacktop and into dirt coming down a hill on his scooter in which no less than 5 first aid kits were rummaged through to find all that we needed to clean him and bandage him. Gave him some ibuprofen and let him take things real easy after that. He looked through his Legos magazines/catalogs and chatted with his youngest friend. It took him some time to heal and I believe his knee will scar.