The Holidays

So our Holiday Season was a step up from the usual crazy because of lots of overtime and a business trip for Aaron.  I failed to foresee said overtime and scheduled many, many doctor's appointments for Porter in December (not sure what I was thinking, but some of his specialists take a long time to get in with so you take what you can get) and then the kids and I were sick often.  My nephew Logan had heart surgery (he did great!), Grandpa Bruce had a massive heart attack and open heart surgery and one of my best friends tried to die on me.  See, Holiday's gone out of control.  :(  This lead up to a Christmas Eve wrapping party that lasted until 2 a.m.  Not the way I would have liked things to go, but we still managed to really enjoy some of the best parts of the season.  Was it story book perfect? No.  But, it was close enough.  Our children certainty didn't mind and loved all that we were able to do.

I'm just going to share my Instagram posts from Thanksgiving to New Years. This is condensed and hopefully I'll find time for the more detailed post soon.

It was a White Christmas for sure.   I often find myself defending winter just because it's the uncommon thing to do, why fit in?  I don't mind the snow or the cold.  I do enjoy the endless play that summer offers, but we've had some great adventures this winter as well.  The one thing that keeps me in love with Snow is that it's beautiful...no argument... just is. 

We tend to be spontaneous at our home and lots of things are done on a late afternoon whim.  I'll call Aaron to ask, "What do you think about this...?  We'll meet you in 30 minutes!" Our trip to Down Town for the lights was on of those whims.  We went early on a Monday just as it was getting dark.  We beat the crowds and the bitter cold temperatures.  We ended the night with some Red Iguana and play time at City Creek.  

 Car Hopping at Big H!  Our first real car hop experience.  We had been at the Cardiologist with Porter and lots of things went wrong, including a potty accident and no extra clothes so we couldn't take Porter in anywhere since he only had underwear on.  So this was our solution.  GREAT NEWS did come from Porter's Echo results though.  His heart is healthy, his heart does not have abnormal pressure and he is officially off oxygen!  YAY!!!  Every bit we can save on monthly medical will help since our insurance premiums just doubled, again. :( 

love him

Things we did at home every evening that we could: our stories of Christ and Music Advent, read Christmas Children's books, Christmas Movies and cuddles in Christmas tree glow. 

Seriously, everything about this photo of them all at the piano just makes me smile. 

Classic "Glow" photo

Co-Worker Gifts and a special one for Daddy

One of the nights Aaron worked late I took the kids on a Christmas Light Tour as we listened to The Nutcracker.  My children are AWESOME: they prefer to listen to symphonic music over any other kind of music!  It does my soul well to share this love with them. 

I dressed Porter in Green and White for school in respect for those killed in the Connecticut School Shooting.  Thinking of it brings a heavy despair upon me.  Yet, having a smoothie for this little guy after he safely came home from school made me grateful for each blessed day God grants me with my family members. 

As a Young Women's presidency we taught a lesson called "The Life of Christ". I volunteered to reflect on his betrayal and death.  It was one of the Hardest things I've done in a long time.  Mostly because as I prepared I was overwhelmed by My Savior's love for me and my love for Him.  Talking about those two horrifying parts of his life was really difficult, but it was an incredible way to spend Christmas Sunday.  Aaron and the kids had to stay home that Sunday because of illness. 

We did get pretty sick but we wanted to keep enjoying the season so we loaded up and went to Thanksgiving Point to see their Holiday lights but to stay in our car instead of doing the wagon ride like we usually do.  The kids had such a fun time and we've been converted to car spectators.  It's warmer, a  lot warmer!

Christmas with the kids was exactly as it should be... magical! 

Here are our the kids on Christmas Eve in their PJs.  We had to stay home from the traditional Christmas Eve Party because we were not 100% and my Grandpa is recovering from Open Heart Surgery still.

Christmas Afternoon we joined part of my family for a Christmas dinner.  I got a big surprise when my friend texted to tell me her water broke and she would be having a Christmas baby.  About an hour after that Mom got a phone call and we found out that my Sister-In-Law Kaleena's water broke as well.  2 babies on Christmas Day!  It was such exciting news!  We sat down to this beautiful Christmas dinner and my heart was a flutter of anticipation! 

Hollie's baby came healthy and well!  She was named, Sydney.  Couper's baby, Emelia Noelle came into this world very sick and how my heart rejoiced that she was here, but I was very concerned about their girl.  Come to find out she was born with Strep B even though her Mom had been tested for it twice.  There was nothing they could have done to prevent what happened.  Their pediatrician most likely saved her life by doing a spinal tap to remove the liquid off her brain as soon as he got lab results confirming the extreme levels of her infection.  Their story is a long and heart wrenching one that lasted 2 weeks in the NICU.  SO, SO MANY things went right though.  She received incredible care that was accurate and immediate.  This lead to many blessings 

I have yet to meet cute baby Em, but the night she was born I went right to work on a blanket for her because that's what I do. 

This is me cuddling my darling niece Whitley.  I was a mess this day because my brother, his wife and baby Em were going through hell not knowing what was truly going on yet, they had to transfer the baby during a storm and my SIL had to watch her baby be wheeled away from her while she waited to be discharged.  Every private moment I got and some not so private moments I was crying.  Whitley brought peace to my heart.  She's a little slice of Heaven!  Thanks to her Momma for leading me her sweet baby. 

 My brother with Emelia in the NICU

Porter's got imagination! 

Homemade rolls for a Gelter family dinner

We ended up in a snow storm on our way to St George for New Years with Aaron's family.  It was a result of unanticipated events and I'm very grateful to Aaron for getting us through it.  It was a long ride but we were blessed and comforted along this trip.  It was not good conditions but I never felt terribly frightened.  We went to bed that night at 2 a.m.

We got a screaming deal on an extremely nice hotel room down South.   Last time we tried to stay with Aaron's family down there is was a train wreck (our kids don't sleep well together) so it was a blessing to find a hotel we could easily pay for with Rewards points for 2 nights.  There were 2 rooms, which is the key with our kids because sometime they just talk if they're in the same room and they often wake up very easily.  Having the option to separate them made our night so much more restful.  

We really enjoyed our time in sunny St George and getting to spend quality time with Aaron's grandparents and parents. 

This is from New Years Eve. After a little party at Aaron's grandparents we went back to the hotel, put the kids in the jet tub, cleaned them up, had some popcorn, watched an episode of curious george and magically they fell asleep in the same room together which meant Aaron and I got to watch a movie!  It was cozy. 

Our trip home was smooth except we brought home a flu bug that was being passed around.  The kids and I got it.  When I don't feel well but have responsibilities I get done up because in my mind if you can't make it, fake it.  I taught young women's so I had to pull myself together long enough to get that done. 

Season 3 of Downtown Abby...YAY! 

We took a trip to Park City to get above the nasty inversion.  We took the kids sledding and they had so much fun!  Don't worry once we got up there I pulled a pair of jeans over this clashing combo.

We discovered a better library for children in our area!  Priya wouldn't put that book down. 

Most recently terrible twos have started...we still love her!