Christmas

Here is how Christmas 2025 went:

Monday, December 22nd. Ivy woke up with a nasty sore throat. I told her to stay home and rest up while I went to my piano party and a couple hours of work at the Daniel Town office, where I am the Town Clerk. Everyone else was fine, Justin and Molly had seemed to come down with sinus infections the previous week but they were going about their business as mostly normal.

Tuesday, December 23rd. Ivy was coughing all night so I decided to take her to Instacare that morning just in case there was anything they could do for her so she could feel better for Christmas. She tested positive for influenza A and was given a prescription to alleviate symptoms. I went to work. Molly and Brynn worked on the train that night. I made sugar cookies and frosting for kids to decorate. Outside of Brynn, the cookie-decorating was a half-hearted effort. Stockton started the worst of his sickness, a pounding headache and sore throat. He spent most of the afternoon and evening on the couch, intermittently sleeping and watching Christmas movies. I started feeling unwell that night, I could not get warm and had the chills. I also started on a cough. It was pretty clear that we would not be healthy for Christmas and would be staying home. Justin and I started making alternate plans for a quiet at-home Christmas. Justin also made a visit to a ward member who is a doctor, who promptly wrote out prescriptions for the rest of us if, or when, we needed to fill them. We are very grateful for Doctor Heder!

Wednesday, December 24, Christmas Eve. I woke up with a pounding headache and spent most of the morning resting. I also started losing my voice. I rallied in the afternoon and had enough energy to get all the food ready for Christmas morning breakfast. Thankfully, I was done with my worst, as was Stockton. Molly didn't feel well this day. Ivy was improving. I made Brynn (who was feeling completely fine) go with me to fill prescriptions and she also did the last of my shopping while I sat in the car in the pharmacy drive thru. Lee's was out of Tamiflu so we had to go to Smith's.

Justin had gone to work until they closed that afternoon at 3 then he came home to see how everyone was doing. He was feeling better from his sinus infection, Dr. Heder had also prescribed him a steroid for that. We decided that our Christmas Eve would go as follows:

-Order takeout from the best Chinese restaurant Heber has (a step up from Panda Express). Everyone got to order what they wanted and we all shared. It was yummy.

-Teach the kids how to play Settlers of Catan. Justin and I used to play this all the time but had never played with the kids. Ivy and Brynn joined forces with Justin and me and Molly and Stockton were their own team. Molly and Stockton really got into it and started to get the hang of the strategy. I'm not sure if Ivy and Brynn really enjoyed it or not-but we did have a good time together. We had a steady stream of Christmas movies going while we played: The Grinch (classic cartoon version), Charlie Brown Christmas, and The Muppet's Christmas Carol.

-Set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Ivy also set out candy canes for the reindeer because she had watched a movie where the kids had done that.

-Justin read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" down in Stockton's room. The kids had set up beds there early, although Molly opted to sleep in her room since she was still not feeling great.

-Justin and I finished the night getting ready for Christmas morning and watching "It's a Wonderful Life", something we've done on Christmas Eve for years and years. It's my favorite and we have several lines memorized that we like to quote.

It was a good, peaceful night and while I was bummed to miss out on the normal festivities, I was grateful that we were together.

Christmas Morning-

We told the kids that they couldn't get us up until 8 the next morning, an hour later than the normal 7 that we've told them in past years. We figured we could all use the extra sleep. I was thinking they would maybe sleep longer but they called us right at 8 on the dot. Santa had come and they were excited!

Santa came to the main living room, rather than the loft. It was just getting a little too squished upstairs, plus Justin had received a weight bench/cage thing for his 20 year anniversary working for AFCU so there was even less space. Santa brought everyone two gifts and 3 stocking stuffers, along with some candy and soda.

Molly got a paddle board, a towel warmer, an Etta James record, pickleball paddles, and Spotify premium for another year.

Stockton got a backpacking pack, a hot wheels car building set, a long-sleeve Carhart shirt, a Braves baseball hat, and a steering wheel cover.

Brynn got a new bedside table for her room, a new Kindle and case, a cheer outfit, new sheets and bedspread, and Summer Fridays mini lip balms.

Ivy got a bookcase for her room, a 3D pen, bear paw slippers/clogs, a purple sweatsuit, and a CTR ring.

 Santa had done a good job this year! The kids were very happy! When they were done opening presents, I took some time to finish making breakfast and we all sat down to eat together. We had Creme Brulee French Toast with fresh whipped cream, mini ham and egg cups, bacon, berries, chocolate milk, and eggnog. We were stuffed when we were finished!

We cleaned up breakfast (gotta stretch the morning out a little!) then went back to the tree. The kids each had a sibling gift to open and then a family gift from Justin and me.

From their siblings, Molly got: a minky blanket; Stockton: a "lifting box" filled with stuff for the weight set; Brynn: a letterman's jacket (that she continues to call "leatherman's" jacket); and Ivy: Wicked Legos.

Justin and I didn't want to get the kids one more "thing"...they had already gotten so much. We talked about gifting them a "family day" but then we couldn't decide on what to do on said family day. Then Justin suggested giving them a road trip to a national park this summer, which sounded amazing to me...so that's what we did. We threw a few ideas around but ended up settling on Grand Teton National Park. We ordered a puzzle from Amazon and wrapped it up with a little note saying we would be making a trip there this coming summer. They all seemed very excited!

That was the last of the gift-giving but here are a few snapshots from the rest of the day...

Gotta love the Christmas chaos, it's so happy. This is what I came down to after my shower. We have Molly and Justin working on the puzzle (I got a new puzzle table!), Stockton and Ivy working on their Lego projects, and Brynn doing some skincare/makeup stuff.

Our two cats (Coco and Smokey) are treated like royalty by Brynn and Ivy. They were pampered on Christmas as well, with tuna and lots of inside time. (They are outside cats but the girls bring them in a lot for snuggles. They are not allowed to wander the house and have to be supervised if they are inside.)

The kids had a heel-clicking contest. Look how high Stockton got! He was the definite winner.

Puzzle #1 of Christmas break was completed: Grand Tetons. We are all super excited to visit this summer!

Stockton completed his Hot Wheels Corvette. It was really cool, lots of fun details that he enjoyed!

That was the last picture I took from the day. Other memories I have:

-lasagna soup for dinner hit the spot since we were all feeling under the weather

-much-anticipated Stranger Things for the big kids and Justin; I introduced the little girls to "Father of the Bride"

-started another puzzle

-happiness being together