Our every day December moments ❄
It has officially been a year now of these journals and I love them.
Christmas Advents
The kiddos were in Christmas Advent heaven this year! Mark and I gave them a Christmas village advent where there got to build and create a new piece each day. And then my parents gave each of the kiddos their own advents. Jacob got a puzzle, Sarah got a charm bracelet, Benjamin got a LEGO, and Lydia got a Bluey. It was so fun!
Closet Makeover
This has been a project we have wanted to get done for a LONG time and it is finished and it is BEAUTIFUL! Both of the girls have good sized walk in closets but they were not very functional. Especially for Lydie and all of her medical equipment. It was a disaster. There was SO MUCH stuff on the floors – I am embarrassed to show the “before” but the afters are so pretty!
Mark did such a great job of bringing everything together – he definitely gets all the credit! He took down the existing shelf and added a new one with a greater depth so that things would fit better. Then he did some built in shelving for the girls clothes that don’t get hung up as well as medical equipment for Lydia. Then we painted the whole thing and that made such a big difference! We are so happy with how they turned out. We are officially marking Lydia’s room COMPLETED (and Sarah’s is so so close!).
BEFORE & AFTER
Benjamin’s 8th Birthday
It was a Hobbit adventure party! Read all about it HERE.
Benjamin’s Baptism
The weekend of Ben was wonderful. And his baptism will be a happy memory for always. Read all about it HERE.
Christmas Program
The kids have really gotten into putting on “programs” for Mark, Lydie, and I. They are filled with music, a lot of outfit changes, and dancing.
Building a Dollhouse
Mark and I decided to build the girls a dollhouse for Christmas. It didn’t quite go as we had hoped because COVID knocked us out but we can’t wait to do it with Sarah now.
Christkindlmarket
I’ve wanted to go to one of these Christmas markets for years and this year I finally made it happen. We drove down to Denver to their Christkindlmarket. If I am honest, I was a little underwhelmed, and would love to experience a different one someday. BUT we still had a good time. It was amazing to look at the things they had for sale and the craftsmanship was amazing. Everyone got an authentic German pretzel, except for me. I got a broccoli and cheddar quiche (it was not my thing – I think it was because it was cold – is that normal?), and definitely wished I had gone for the pretzel.
It was so cold and windy and so we sought refuge in one of their giant tents. They were doing bingo and Lydia and Mark won the first bingo of the game. They won a towel (interesting choice?) and a glowing crown but the bragging rights were the best part.
Giving Machines
After the Christmas market, we made our way over to the Light the World Giving Machines. It was freezing at this point, and we were running to go as fast as possible. We haven’t done these in years so it felt like a first for the kids. They loved picking out something to donate. We got a couple chickens, some insulin, and sent a child to a diabetes sports camp (we love you, Melina!). It was a great experience.
President M. Russell Ballard Study
This last year I have done a personal study of President M. Russell Ballard. It has really been impactful for me. I finished it this month and shared some of my thoughts HERE.
An Icelandic Christmas
We had such a fun Christmas School experience this year. The Yule Lads live on! Read all about it HERE.
Air Fort
Forts definitely come in waves in our house and December we went through a wave of forts!
Mountains of Faith Art
I am so grateful for amazing teachers that bring out the best in my kids. Jacob has an amazing Sunday School teacher who challenged Jacob to make a piece of art about faith. He did such an amazing job.
Ornaments
Every year my parents give each of the kids their own personal ornament (usually something impactful from the last year). They love them!
COVID
We got sick with COVID a couple days before Christmas and it was not fun. More about it HERE.
Gingerbread Houses
Autumn Bucket List ✔ We really tried to make the best of things while we were sick. We were all pretty miserable, but we made some gingerbread houses!
Christmas Baking
It wouldn’t be Christmas without a lot of time in the kitchen baking. We didn’t do quite as much as usual, but we still had a great time.
First Day of Winter
We love celebrating the changing of the seasons. This day was when I got hit hard with COVID but somehow we still managed to have our winter feast and make our winter bucket list. I can’t wait for all of the memories to be made (this also means we have done our seasonal bucket lists for a whole year now – one of the best new traditions we’ve made).
Board Games
The week of Christmas we played a whole lot of games! “Sorry” seemed to be the game of choice this go around – we played it over and over and over again!
Christmas
It was a bit of a tough Christmas this year. Read all about it HERE.
Equally Yoked in Revelation
Mark and I were asked to teach the 5th Sunday lesson in our ward family. It was SO FAR out of my comfort zone but we *hope* it went well. Our ward has been focusing this year on being equally yoked with your spouse and we focused on that with revelation. It was great for us to reflect on experiences we have had together.
Sleep Study
Lydia had her fourth sleep study a couple days after Christmas. I was really nervous about it. Our past experiences with sleep studies have not been great, especially the last one we had. We are really really hoping this is the last one. The reason for it was to see if Lydia’s tonsil and adenoid surgery had fixed her obstructive sleep apnea.
I am happy to say that this was the best sleep study we have ever had. We had such a kind and compassionate sleep technician who was so good with Lydia. Lydia actually slept! We haven’t gotten the official report yet, but the initial findings were good/bad. Lydia had three seizures recorded. Obviously it is not good that she had seizures, but this was the first time Lydia has ever had a seizure recorded so that is helpful. It also confirmed to Mark and I that what we have been seeing the last week is, in fact, seizures. Lydia’s neurologist was off for Christmas and we haven’t heard from him since her seizures started again, but the on-call neurologist did have us increase Lydia’s seizure medication and that has helped.
Her pulmonologist did say that her apnea seems cleared up! So that is a big win! The only times her oxygen dipped down was when she was having her seizures. So I don’t think they are going to want to continue oxygen which is a huge win for us. We haven’t had this officially confirmed yet (doctors are strange sometimes) but we are hoping this is the direction they stay with.
Also, it never gets easier seeing Lydie like this. She is such a super woman. I am so grateful for her patience with me and all of us. Lydie was absolutely exhausted the day after her sleep study though. It was a day full of snuggles for our sweet girl.
New Chair
Mark and I’s Christmas gift to each other was this new chair for our office. The office is our next project and we are both so excited and love our new chair!
New Year’s Eve
Our New Year’s Eve was quiet but good. Read all about it HERE.
