Merry Christmas 2018

The lack of presents by the parents prompted the kids to step it up this year and really give to each other. I was amazed at the amount of presents under the tree and it made my Mama heart swell.

We were awoken at 5:00 a.m. Oi. I'm getting old!

Some of us had been awake for hours. 

Ew. Slime ball.

After presents, I went back to sleep for an hour. Then I got up to put the Christmas Carol Roll in the oven.

Merril's parents were out of town so I made the roll this year and it turned out perfect! I finally feel like it could rate up there with Grandma Campbells! I invited my parents over because we did Christmas on the Saturday before. They came over for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. I made the Christmas Carol Roll and the egg/sausage/potato bake the night before. I just popped them in the oven. We spent the rest of Christmas day being lazy but headed up to Merril's parents house to have dinner with Jared and Emily's family. They were staying there for the night.

On Christmas Eve, we decided to attend Catholic Mass with a neighbor. It was similar to our church but different. We didn't know what we were doing. Mark was asked to help put the baby Jesus in the manger scene and then the Father blessed it with holy water. Mark came back to our pew and said, "He got me all wet!" I guess he blessed Mark with holy water too. The kids didn't love mass, I thought it was interesting. It seemed like Maxine felt she was cheating on her church. She wouldn't participate very much. It cracked me up. As we left, the small children received small candy canes in mini crocheted stockings. We hung them on the tree as a memento of the evening.

New stake center...

My boys are used to walking home from church but we switched buildings today and the new building is farther away. They still walked the 1.5 miles home.  I drove.  I'm thankful that the gospel is moving forward. Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to be happy and make good choices.  I love this family of mine and the good choices they are making.  May they continue to do so!

Maxine and Merril trip day 2: Washington D.C.

Merril woke up bright and early and got Maxine up. They stopped at Waffle House for breakfast and then Maxine fell asleep in the car on the way to Washington, D.C. 

They arrived in D.C. and saw the Washington Monument.

This is the WW2 Memorial and there's one of these for each state.

Outside the Lincoln Memorial. Merril keeps thinking it's the Lincoln Monument.

This is where Martin L. King gave his 'I have a dream' speech.

This is the Vietnam Memorial and Maxine is pointing to Daddy's great Uncle Ken Maxwell, who died.

The White House is in the background. I think I see Trump!

This is the National Christmas Tree! There were some little trains and a tree from each state.

This is the capitol building.

This is where they inaugurate the President.

This is the inside of the Library of Congress. Maxine was able to get a reader's card (library card) to go back where the books were. She said it was the coolest part of the trip.

This is the oldest printed book I believe. It was printed on animal parchment, which is the only reason it's survived. Printed in 1455!

They stopped and bought some cupcakes from this shop. It became famous because it had a show on TV.

After this they left and boogied home. They took turns driving. They spent the next 36 hours eating, driving, sleeping, and getting gas. Maxine slept a lot but switched with Merril every so often so he could sleep. 

Maxine and Merril trip day 1: New York...

Merril needed to pick up a car for Shota in New Jersey. He asked Maxine if she wanted to ditch the last day of school before Christmas and take a little tour of New York and Washington D.C. and then help him drive home. She jumped at the opportunity to see New York. 

They went to the top of the Empire State Building!

They found some authentic New York-style pizza on the way to Time Square. This place, Joe's Pizza, is supposed to be the best pizza in the area near Time Square, according to an app recommended by a Lyft driver in Las Vegas.

Macy's was near Time Square.

This is the 19 that will be added to the 2019 up where the ball drops on New Year's Eve.

Here's Rockefeller Center.

The ice skating rink.

St. Patrick's Cathedral. It's right by Rockefeller Center.

They found the missionaries at the Manhattan Temple and bought some little fishes at the giving machines. The fishes will go to a struggling family so they can start a fish farm and support themselves with food.

Maxine said she walked right past the temple. The Manhattan Temple really blends in.

They caught the Staten Island Ferry to go past the Statue of Liberty.

Visited the World Trade Center Memorial.

And Wall Street.

They ate fabulous pastrami at Katz' Deli.

Back to Times Square at night. Maxine was super excited to see the theatre where Hamilton performs.

Grand Central station was the last stop.

Merril's tracker said they walked 15 miles. Maxine was dead. She said she barely slept on the red eye flight. They headed back to New Jersey to sleep at their AirBnB.

Gingerbread Village...

We finally finished the gingerbread houses. Jack wanted to make sure there were enough pieces for a garage. We held some structural pieces together with hot glue. 

Mikayla and Mark made sure to put on Mark's smoke detector. It has 2 chimneys that look like reindeer antlers.

Maxine's been so busy. She finished her's last. I like her tree. She was patient and only used frosting, not hot glue to hold it together. 

The gingerbread village is complete!!

Search and Rescue Christmas Party...

The Search and Rescue Christmas Party is a good time. I get free dinner and see the people that Merril hangs out with. Merril has served as the Assistant High Angle Leader for the past two years and they thanked him. 

He received this cool plaque.

He must have done a good job, they asked him to be the Assistant Commander of SAR. 

Gingerbread man...

We aren't having a lot of Christmas presents this year because we are going Japan in March! We are taking all the kids! I didn't want Christmas to feel like a bust so I wanted to do some fun Christmas things that we don't normally do.  So we are making the gingerbread for gingerbread houses!

This is my first year making my own gingerbread for the houses. We don't even normally decorate houses but we are going to this year.  Mark made a ball of dough and said it was a smoke detector.  He's pretty proud of it!

Recitals...

We had 5 recitals in 5 days. I only have pictures of two. I took video instead of the others. Jack had a guitar recital. He played the family heirloom guitar.

Mikayla had 2 recitals. Same program, just a different day. She was the cutest and best in her group, if I do say so myself. At the beginning of the season, Mikayla's dance teacher seemed concerned that Mik didn't have any previous dance experience. She bloomed. She asked Mikayla to be a part of her more advanced class next season. Ha ha! Go kiddo!

Mikayla really wanted flowers after her performance and reminded me to pick them up on the way to the recital. We stopped at Lin's and she picked them out.

Juliet had a piano recital and Maxine had a choir concert. Awesome! Glad those are done! It made for a really busy week!

The sickness...

Juliet brought home the weirdest virus. There was no fever, just a day of throwing up, feeling okay, throwing up a few days later, feeling okay, and then getting better. Mikayla and Mark got it the next week. I could not figure out if they were better because I'd keep them home for 24 hours after throwing up, they'd feel okay, I'd send them to school the next day, they'd start to feel sick again, I'd pick them up from school. So weird. 

Mark and Mikayla had a night where they slept in our room on the floor. Between the two of them, someone was throwing up every 30 minutes all night long. They did a lot better the next day. Then Merril got sick. He didn't throw up, just felt yucky. 

I'm so horrible to people when they are sick. I'm trying to keep everyone else, myself included, from getting sick. I sanitize like a crazy person and when the next person gets sick, I'm so annoyed that someone else got it. Maxine, Jack and I never got sick. I apologize to everyone who did because I was a brat. Sorry.

Mikayla recovered in time to play with a free train we got from Jeannie.

Second counselor no more...

After 4 years, I was released as Primary 2nd Counselor today. I served with the very best sisters, my testimony grew, and wonderful friendships we're made!!! I'm filled with gratitude for my calling and this gospel. 

It was so nice to be in a calling where we all got along! These gals were my friends and I enjoyed working and serving with them! Mandy, Libbi and Valerie are the best!