December

December started out with a bang! The kids had been sick that week- none of them had been to church on Sunday or school on Monday.  Molly and Brynn went back on Tuesday and Stockton on Wednesday but Ivy just seemed to get worse.  She had mostly been struggling with a cough but had a normal energy level but Wednesday she started fevering and she was lethargic and had no energy.  She was even worse on Thursday.  I thought it was probably just a virus that had to run its course but Justin wanted to take her to a doctor, just to see if it was something that could be treated.  I made an appointment with her pediatrician and he took her in so I could teach lessons that Thursday afternoon.

It was a good thing he followed his gut...the doctor examined her, thought she might have pneumonia, and walked them over to the ER and admitted her there.  They hooked her up to monitor her oxygen and blood pressure and started an IV.  They ran a bunch of tests...Covid, flu, RSV.  She tested negative for covid and the flu but positive for RSV.  They watched her oxygen level and ultimately decided it was too low so they put her on oxygen and started fluids through an IV.  Poor girl was a lot sicker than I had thought!

The kept us in the ER for several hours before determining that they wanted her to stay overnight so they could make sure she was getting the oxygen she needed.  That was a sad moment, she cried and said she just wanted to go home and see Brynn.  Justin went home to be with the other kids and I stayed at the hospital overnight with Ivy.  Brynn FaceTimed Ivy when she got home from cheer and instantly burst into tears when she saw her.  It made Justin and me cry to see those two...they have their share of fighting but love each other so much.  It was a tender moment.

Anyway, they moved us to a room in the hospital and got Ivy all set up.  She was exhausted and fell right to sleep and slept sound all night.  They kept her on the oxygen through the night and gave her some more fluids through the IV as well.

The doctor came in the next morning and told us the two things he was looking for: she needed to keep her oxygen levels up on her own, specifically while she was sleeping.  So she needed a nice, long nap.  Second, he wanted her to hydrate so to go to the bathroom three or four times.  She had been too shy the day before to ask for a popsicle but went through a few that day.  She hadn't really had an appetite at all so they gave her all the popsicles that she wanted!

We hung out that morning, watching shows and playing games, and watching the World Cup (me).  She finally fell asleep around 1:15 that afternoon and slept for a couple of hours...with no oxygen!  That was what they were wanting and so they were able to discharge her after that, around 4:00.  She cried when they told her she could come home, she was so happy.  We kept her home for a few days after that but she got better each day until she was back to normal.

Brynn was supposed to have a competition in November.  We were all looking forward to it but it ended up getting canceled so we had to wait until December.  They worked hard in those weeks and at their first practice in December, they hit zero four times in a row.  I don't think I know exactly what that means, but I think it means they hit all their stunts and no one fell in their tumbling.  They were super pumped and ready for competition!

Brynn is third in from the left on the bottom

When I printed out the Christmas Bucket List, Ivy told me that she was too grown-up for Christmas playdough so I wasn't planning on making it.  I knew we were getting close to being done with that tradition and that was okay.  But.  We had a Sunday afternoon and the kids pulled out last years playdough which was pretty dried out.  I asked them if they wanted me to make a fresh batch and they said yes! so I did.  That entertained them for a while that afternoon.

That night was also one of my favorite traditions, the Christmas Devotional.  Caramel popcorn!  Plus, last year we started making snowflakes while we watched and ate...we decided that was a fun way to keep our hands busy so we did it again.  I spent the entire devotional folding paper for 6-pointed snowflakes while Stockton, Brynn, and Ivy cut designs.  What a cozy scene with the tree lights as a background.

More playdough on a different night.  Don't tell me they are too old for playdough!

 

Our new book this year was The 12 Sleighs of Christmas.  Stockton got to open it.  I read it since Justin had a cold.  A cute book about the elves having a sleigh-building contest when they discover Santa's sleigh is not working.  I went for more fun this year and glad I did. 

Christmas crepes on a Thursday morning.  Sort of in celebration of Ivy finally going back to school after more than 2 weeks but also because Thursday mornings are the days I make an effort to make a hot breakfast.

Ivy also got to go back to gymnastics that night.  She was a little nervous that she would start coughing and wanted me to stay and watch.  They have a parent room but I always go home to work on dinner or something but I did stay that night.  I had a perfect view of the balance beam and she was fine the entire time.

Brynn had a Christmas party at our house this year.  I was a little hesitant because I caught the tail end of the party last year and those boys were crazy. But Brynn wanted it at our house so bad so we went ahead and did it.  They surprised me and were very well-behaved.  Not crazy at all.  They did charades and played "Hello Neighbor".  They had drawn names and exchanged gifts with each other. Justin and I stayed upstairs in our room and I was pleasantly surprised at how not-messy the house was when everyone left.  Justin also giggled that Brynn was having a boy-girl party but I told him that, for this group, it wasn't weird at all since they have been friends since 1st grade.

Tania, Briley Smith, Taylor Judd, Ellie Graff, Dawson Boone, McKay Anthony, Andrew Reynolds, Mari Freeman, Brynn

Ivy was so excited to go to her best friends baptism.  Brynn and I tagged along and it was a sweet morning celebrating her.

Ivy and Hannah Reynolds

My mom and dad were wanting to come up and see for themselves that Ivy was okay.  They were going to come Wednesday and stay with her while I did preschool but Molly woke up with a cold that morning so she stayed home with Ivy and they stayed home so we didn't pass something to them.  So they came Saturday when everyone was feeling much better.  Justin had to work but the rest of us went to lunch in Midway then walked over to Kringles which is a year-round Christmas store.  I picked out a nativity snow globe for them to give us for our anniversary.  We also saw Santa who just happened to be there when we walked up.  Ivy didn't want to sit on his lap or right next to him.  We walked over to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got a treat when we were done and then Mom and Dad went home.  It was a fun day.

Most of the Christmas books were read to just Brynn and Ivy since Molly and Stockton were off working so often.  Justin read a good chunk but I filled in when he was busy.  I think we only missed two or three the entire month, but we sometimes had to do two in one night to make up for a night that we missed.  (Then I finished the rest of the during the Christmas break so we got them all done.)

Both Stockton and Brynn had a part in the middle school art gala.  Brynn had some art displayed and Stockton performed with the percussion class.

Stockton and Kelton Webb

Justin and I celebrated 19 years on the 13th.  We usually try to take a Saturday and go down to Provo to do a little Christmas shopping and eat at Bombay House.  We didn't get to Bombay House until January but we did get to go to the Jazz game that night.  Justin got tickets through work and we were on the 5th row from the court.  I have never sat that close...the players were much bigger the closer we were to them!  The Jazz won and it was a fun night.

Ivy was better and got to go to school for three days (Th-M) before she started throwing up one night and had to stay home again (on Tuesday). I thought she was better and sent her back to school the next day (Wednesday) only to have the school call that morning to tell me she had thrown up on the bus.  It was a little bit of a crazy morning, being about 15 minutes before I was set to start preschool and Justin couldn't leave work.  But we managed and I got her home and settled before heading back to teach my class.  When I got home, she was fine and wanted salad, apples, and chips for lunch.  She had had all her snow gear on that morning so I wondered if she had just gotten overheated and bus sick.

She hates staying home without Brynn because the days get so long and boring especially when she is feeling okay.  She was excited when Brynn got home and wanted to go out and play in the snow that afternoon.  She showed every sign of being fine but threw up again that night after she had gone to sleep.  Then she was fine all day Thursday and Friday but was sick again Friday night.  She had us baffled that whole week but she was finally better after the weekend and was able to go back to school on Monday for the last two days.  Total days of school between Thanksgiving and Christmas was 5 days.  Good thing it is just 2nd grade and that she is way above grade level in every subject!

Molly texted me from work one night to tell me she was hosting Donny Osmond and his family.  I told her to get a picture but she was too chicken to ask for one.  She finally had one of the other hosts ask for one and he was very nice.  Not a good picture but he's famous, so...

On Ivy's third day at home and a day she was feeling good and getting bored I pulled out the stuff for a Christmas craft.  We did yarn trees this year and she made several before she took a break.  Brynn made some when she got home and then Stockton came up with a way to turn them into a forest (he cut a long skinny piece of cardboard and hot-glued them to that) and they were super cute in our kitchen windowsill the rest of the month.

Brynn and Ivy wrote their letters to Santa.  Brynn asked for a giant squishmallow, a beanie, and a surprise.  Ivy also asked for a giant squishmallow along with led lights ("el-ee-dee" lights), and a knitting set.  Ivy also included a sentence that said "This year I've been mostly good, partly bad."

Brynn had her first competition.  They had put hours and hours of work into their routine and they were ready.  Gosh, I love watching her so much.  They were solid and everyone hit their stunts flawlessly.  They did amazing against some tough competition and came home with 2nd place and a prize for Best Motions.  A promising start to the season, I can't wait to watch them again.

back flyer

left flyer

right flyer

with Grandma and Grandpa Moyes

front row, second in from right

Abby Boyer, Brook Moore, Brynn, Claire Winsor

We did Bethlehem dinner on the Sunday before Christmas (December 18th).  It's an easy meal to put together which gave me the day to make the three different cookies for elfing, which we did after dinner.  This year our cookie plates had gingerbread men, peanut butter snickerdoodles, and chocolate peppermint cookies.  I told the kids to cover their faces because so many people have doorbell cameras now...this is what they came up with.

Stockton wanted to prank someone so bad by knocking on the door with his grinch mask on and just standing there with a plate of cookies to see their reaction.  He did it twice to people in the ward that we knew and we laughed so hard.  He ended up taking the mask off eventually and showing them who he was...but that was after they shut the door in his face!  If you ask my kids what their favorite Christmas tradition is, this would probably be it for most everyone.

I had my piano party on Monday, the 19th.  It was nice to get it done early that week and then have the week off from lessons.  I did the same thing I've done every year at Christmas...we played bingo and everyone played their Christmas song.  It was fun.  Brynn and Ivy had me teach them a song last minute so they could be part of the program.

me, Tristan Treu, Mallory Pearson, Asher Quinn, Layla Treu, Reese Allen, Tessa Baird, Raylie Anderson, Haley Knowles, Maya Treu, Lily Chappell, Taylee Baird, Nora Owens, Ivy, Brynn, Ellie Graff, Alina Quinn, Verity Phelps

Molly was working as a host on the train and Stockton was hired as an elf this year and they both had a lot of fun doing that.  I kept telling them to send me a picture of the two of them together and they were finally able to get on a car together and get some pictures.  This is such a fun first job for the kids in the valley here, they will have great memories of these days.  Stockton's elf name was "Jangles".

The kids had school through Tuesday that week before Christmas.  Ivy wore pajamas Monday and Tuesday.  I taught preschool for an hour Tuesday morning and then was able to help with Ivy's class party that afternoon.  I was assigned the treat.  I took mini cupcakes and, since I figured they would be sugared out, some sliced up apples too.  I was right and they loved the apples.  Since we had 15 minutes just to eat our snack, I had packed Uno and Go Fish as well and played with each group when they came to my station.  Ivy had made the gingerbread house earlier that day.

My mom and dad had turned in mission papers clear back on October 30th and had been anxiously awaiting a call.  It had taken so long they thought maybe they had been forgotten about!  But finally, finally it came and we all gathered to listen to them open the call (us via FaceTime).  They had requested a temple or historical mission in the states and so had hung a map of the United States for everyone to make their guesses.  Imagine everyone's shock and surprise to hear that they were heading to the Suva, Fiji Temple mission!  They couldn't believe it but now that the news had settled, they are really looking forward to heading there at the end of May.  I am so excited for them, what an incredible experience!!

We were a little divided that night.  Ivy and I watched the call from home, Justin watched from work.  Molly and Stockton were at work so I taped it and showed them when they got home.  Surprise all over again...and tears from Molly who was thinking how far away they will be.  Brynn was at her cheer party.  They did a gift exchange and got to have the gym to themselves to do whatever they wanted.  Brynn, of course, got wrangled into trying all sorts of new stunts.  The coaches especially love stunting her and she did some pretty fancy tricks that I really wish I would have got on video.  They tossed her so high and she has no fear.  There were also some spectacular fails but they caught her every time and she kept going back up until the head coach started getting worried about an injury and put a stop to it.  She thrives every minute she is at the gym.

little one in the front

We had three days at home with no plans until Christmas Eve.  I had told Brynn and Ivy that they could get a little gift for some of their closest friends and they did a bath bomb with a candy cane.  I had made neighbor gifts that morning (honeycrisp apples and fruit dip) so we took a few hours on that first day to drive around and hand out gifts.

Molly had a soccer scrimmage/white elephant exchange that night.  She had missed a lot of trainings in December because of work so she was happy that she got to finally make it to something.  She is getting to know this team a little more and really enjoying it.

she's in the back, on the right

 That night we finally got around to wrapping sibling gifts.  Justin did the wrapping with the kids while I played Uno with the kid whose present was being wrapped.  They are all so excited about what they are giving everyone else!  Stockton, Brynn, and Ivy slept under the tree that night and the next.  Molly thought she would but she was getting up early for a scrimmage with a different team the first morning and was working late the second night so she decided to pass on this tradition and that was fine with me.

We didn't do anything on Thursday that I remember.  Friday was Santa cookie day.  I baked and frosted, they decorated.  They didn't skimp on the sprinkles and when they commented on the mess, I told them it was a "happy mess" and not to worry about it.  (I don't say this for very many messes.)  But it was happy.  Everyone picked their favorite cookie to leave out for Santa the following night.

The last days leading up to Christmas were spent trying to watch all the Christmas movies that we hadn't seen yet...the magic is thick in the air and I love it!