Merry Christmas 2008

(This card was sent mostly to people who don't use the internet  . . . someday I might get one out to everybody . . .)

On May 26, Noah Merrill came into our family, marking our most significant event of the year. He weighed in at 8 lbs., 13 oz., and came with a healthy appetite. He ate himself past the 20 lb. mark by six months old! He is a sweet boy, and melts us all with his large brown eyes. He’s cuddly and ticklish, and it’s not too hard to get him really belly-laughing.


Joshua (Josh) is a great big brother, although he has been trying to get wrestle-mania going on at our house a little earlier than Noah can take. This year Josh has developed a near-obsession with sports, and BYU football is part of it. I’m having a hard time typing this because he wants to, “Press the Y.” He also loves music, books, trains, rocks, mud . . . he’s decently well-rounded. He’s pretty hilarious now that he can talk and he keeps us laughing (and cleaning).

Gary and Emily feel like they can divide their year into four parts. Still moving in/getting through the legislative session, Preparing for/waiting for baby, Having a new baby, and New and busy responsibilities at church (Primary for Emily and now Sunday School for Gary.) All this has made it breeze by! Gary likes his job with the legislature, although he does not like being involved with budget cuts. Emily is getting used to the world of staying home with kids, although she is always thinking of research questions and issues she wants to explore.

We’ve had fun this year going on various streaks of obsession. First it was cooking, then the Olympics, then politics, now who knows. (Originally I mentioned our Discovery Channel phase, but Gary said, “I wish I could include something like I set up a nonprofit microcredit organization for entrepreneurs in Burma rather than the Discovery Channel.” I say we’re working up to it.) We talk a lot about doing adventurous things, but for now we consider our two trips to California (one of them spontaneous) and a camping trip to be adventurous . . . The kids have been awesome at “adventuring” with us, and seeing things through their eyes makes everything fun.

Like everyone, we have rough times, but they are out-weighed by all of the little joys we are blessed to have in our lives. We love to hear from people, although staying in contact is sometimes difficult. We are interested in your news and stories, and want you to know we think of you often. May the peace of the Savior be in your hearts and homes this Christmas season.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!

The Nativity, Josh Version

I was really excited to find a plastic Precious Moments Nativity set in my garage the other day. Finally, I would have something for Josh to play with that would teach him the real reason for the season! So, we set it up together and talked about it, then I went to do something else while he played. Immediately he made a few adjustments to the set up. First he removed all of the people from the stable and did the following. Yes, there is a plastic baseball in there. Why? Because he couldn't fit his basketball in.

Then, he laid Mary in the manger and put a bale of hay at her feet. At first I was going to tell him, "No, Josh, the manger is for the Baby Jesus." But then I thought about it. This woman just went through an incredibly long donkey ride while 9 months pregnant, then birthed a baby . . . very astute by Josh to give her a rest. What an understanding little man!
(Don't worry, I really am trying to teach him the real story.)

Living in Thanksgiving Daily

I was bemoaning my fate - stuck with a fake tree for Christmas. And not an amazing one, either. Growing up we always had a real tree. It was usually pretty scrawny (I'm positive not expensive), but it was alive, we got to pick it out, and it smelled like Christmas. But, since we've been married Gary insists this fake tree is what we can afford. He's right, but I thought it was pretty depressing. Then I came downstairs with Josh one morning right after we put it up. He ran right over to the Christmas tree and plugged it in, then looked up at it in awe. You could see the excitement and the magic sparkling in his eyes. Then, I opened my eyes. What a beautiful thing, this tree with its twinkling lights. Then I remembered how excited Gary was to get this tree for me when Josh was a baby. We didn't have any Christmas decorations or much money, but Gary really wanted me to have a Christmas tree. Changing my thought process totally changed everything . . . I love this tree!

Recently Joseph B. Wirthlin died. (He was one of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the church I belong to.) I learned to love that man through his deeply insightful and inspirational writings. His death made me remember an article he wrote that struck my heart called Living in Thanksgiving Daily (read by clicking). In it, he tells us to be happy we need to be continually thankful for what we have, and to do so we should open our eyes, open our hearts, and open our arms (serve).

I am trying (key word is trying) to do these things. Recently I was feeling a little jealous of people who have money to look fabulous and go on cool trips. Then something happened that made me open my eyes and heart. I could do a lot of things to pull in more cash, but if my children are the most important thing in the world to me, aren't they worth forgoing new outfits and accessories? They are growing so quickly, and babies eat necklaces anyway. I have been so blessed to be able to spend so much time with them, and still be able to have our needs covered, and a lot of wants, too. Wow. I feel so good when I think of things that way.

In the spirit of the topic, I want to add that just in the last few days I have had cause to be grateful for kissable baby cheeks, monkey hugs from a toddler, a body that works well for the most part, a house that separates us comfortably from below-freezing weather, friends to talk to, technology to keep in touch with friends that I can't talk to, and a husband that I can have fun with ransacking the house for white-elephant gifts late at night. (I was going to comment that all of those things are free, but the house was definitely not free. And not the technology, either. 5 for 7 isn't bad, though.)

I'll end with two experiences that not only opened my heart to the things I'm grateful for, but made it downright melt. Yesterday I was downstairs and my kids were finishing naps. All of the sudden I heard them laughing. Both of them, just belly-laughing. They don't sleep in the same bedroom, so I went upstairs to see what was going on. This is what I found.

Josh woke up and climbed in Noah's crib, and they were having tons of fun. I love it!! (Noah was un-harmed, so I love it.)

Last week we had our first snow storm of the year, and Josh was pumped to put on his winter gear. Here's how it turned out. (Gary said, "It looks like he's from North Dakota." I said, "It looks like he's from Utah, this is what you wear in the snow." California boys!)

Josh went outside to help Gary shovel the driveway. They then shoveled several other driveways in the neighborhood. The whole time Josh walked right alongside Gary, shoveling away. I stood at the window and watched, my heart just melting away and my day gaining a new perspective. If I wouldn't have paused my cleaning that I was stressed about and taken the chance to look out my window and open my eyes, I would have missed out on a lot. And been a lot more stressed.

Then on Saturday Josh made his first snowman. VERY exciting. I didn't notice until I put this picture on the computer that he is holding hands with the snowman.

I am not fantasic at opening my eyes, heart, and arms yet, but I am grateful to have little moments that remind me to try more often.

Too Busy to Say You Care? Try This!

I happened upon a mass email I wrote 5 years ago:

Happy Thanksgiving yesterday! I am in Idaho and our computer only works every now and again I guess, and yesterday must have been neither now nor again, because it didn't work. So, I am extending the holiday a day, and hoping that you had a lovely day, as I sure did. I even survived the mass production of lemon pudding on pie-making night. I know you are probably noticing the non-personal nature of this email, and groaning, and reaching to click delete, but I assure you, this email is just for you. In order to illustrate my point, I am putting a little personal message at the end . . . fill in the blanks the way you see best:

Wow, I haven't seen you since _______! What's new since then? Are you still ________? I was thinking the other day about the time we _________, and I started laughing really hard. That was awesome. Well, next time I see you we'll have to __________. I love how you always _________. Have a nice fabulous day! YOU are the best!

Love, Emily
p.s. Don't hate me - I am ridiculous, but sincere.

When I found this email I thought, "Oh my goodness I am a nutty girl." But I then noticed several people emailed me back, some even filling in the blanks with hilarious results! So, if your life/the holidays has you too busy to properly stay in touch, feel free to send this out. You could even fill it out now, it would definitely count as a deep conversation between us.

Oh, and my reference to lemon pudding was because this was only 4 months after I got my face burned half-off by some of it. You know, just in case that was the strangest part of that email for you.

Santa's Little Helper

Last Saturday at our church Christmas party I was asked to help our "special visitor" by whispering the children's names to him before they sat on his lap. No problem. Then I was informed that Santa required a song of introduction before he would starting talking to kids. Again, no problem, that would lend an air of festivity, and as long as I could just shoot from the hip and not have to choose a note for everyone, it would be great.


So, at the appointed time I grabbed the microphone to get things going, and it wasn't on. There was no switch on it or anything, so I thought of abandoning the song and just getting the kids going, but no dice - Santa required a song. So, I started singing Jingle Bells as loudly as possible while making large arm motions, but only a few in the crowd sang, mostly people who already knew what I was trying to do. The rest of the 200 people? Staring at me. Awkward moment. Luckily it was but a small moment because someone fixed the mic and I was able to announce what I was doing up there, namely, Santa would talk to no kids until he got his song. Immediately everyone launched into the loudest rendition of Jingle Bells ever, and it was festive, indeed.


I found the Santa's-name-whisperer job to be quite amusing, probably because he couldn't hear me very well due to the beard unless I got really close. I would whisper, "Sean," and he would say, "Oh, hi, John!" So I'd whisper a little closer next time. Fun times.

My children were among those that spoke with Ol' Saint Nic that night. Josh was a little reticent at first . . . But, the candy and promises of toys thawed him. Noah saw Santa for the first time! His Christmas list was huge . . .

Hee Hee

Spontaneity Rewarded - California Thanksgiving

This year was a Gary's-family Thanksgiving year, and we planned to spend it here with the Utah-branch. (I'm not trying to get all my family/your family, just trying to to keep our last name off . . .) We had originally planned to be with Gary's parents, but since they are in California we thought we wouldn't be able to make it. Gary has a lot of things due around this time for work, and with gas around $4 a gallon when we were making plans, it would have been too hard to go and also afford to keep Noah in biter biscuits.

On Wednesday morning I sent Gary off to work, not expecting to see him until 6 p.m. Then, at 9:15 I got a phone call . . . he was done with his report and already catching the bus - get ready to go to California! What about church responsibilities? What about our Utah family? Can't we be spontaneous a week in advance? Don't worry, pack your bag and go! California here we come!

By some miracle, our kids were angels on the drive and we made it in record time. And it was so worth the drive. We got to see family that we rarely see, and it was so great to relax and enjoy talking to everyone. (Hope it was relaxing for Gary's mom - I have a problem with getting caught up in conversations while holding some dish I was on my way to put away, and never helping enough . . . next time I'll do better.) Now Noah has finally met all of his aunts, uncles, and cousins. Before this trip I was thinking it would be so long before we saw everyone that he'd have to wait until he could call and introduce himself.

Gary's dad had surgery the day before Thanksgiving, but was kind enough to put on his famous golden Christmas robe and hang out with us. Here he is with Noah.

Josh was able to hang out with his cousin Jill, whom he fell in love with last Christmas. She endeared herself to him by pretending his port-a-crib was a pet shop and introducing him to a game called "Doobie Dobbie," where you jump on the bed and say, "doobie dobbie." If you know Josh, you know this is right up his alley. They played a lot over Thanksgiving, and Josh even went to the bathroom by himself to impress her. (Afterwards he shyly said to her, "Jill, I went pee." He knows what the ladies like.) Here they are - Jill is showing us her sweet chapstick belt clip.
Cousin Scott became a new best-friend while were there. We lived briefly at his house when Josh was a newborn, and Scott called him Baby J. Well, Baby J is now big enough to play ball, and play ball they did . . . for literal hours. They rolled the balls, threw them into laundry baskets, rolled them down stairs . . . who knows what else, but it left me lots of time to talk to sister-in-laws, so I applaud their creativity.

Josh came to adore Scott, as you can see by the look on his face here.

Here's the whole crew - Stacey, Charlotte, Shannon, Scott, Drew, Josh, Gary, Emily, Christian, Leah, Merrill, Deanne, Sydney, and Jill. Sadly, Candacy was taking the picture, so is not pictured. She is in the group photo that Stacey took, and since I know my mom will like seeing the event from her point of view, you can find it HERE. Oh, and Allison and Ted aren't in it either. Sad, because they were the bait that made Josh want to be good while driving across 4 states. I will bug some pictures from her later. Although this makes a lot of people, it was only half the family. We missed you Utah-branch!

So, fantastic people (and I mean it), lots of food (and I mean lots . . . I cannot believe how much I ate), and even some sunshine. Spontaneity rewarded.

Um, I had to adjust the post date to make it post as the most recent, even though I started it a week ago . . . no one has accused me of being on top of things.

It's All About the Little Guy

Good job, Noah was the one who is teething, you matched one of the maladies correctly! (All of you who guessed Gary got it wrong, sorry.) Seems that I post a lot of Josh-stories (he does provide a lot of material at his age), but Noah is developing a cute little personality of his own. So what has he been up to? Let's take a little look-see, shall we?

He's been able to sit by himself for a little over a month now, and so he's moved on up to the high chair for his many meals. He's a really hungry boy! Instead of just gnawing on biter biscuits for a minute and then discarding, he actually eats them down to a nub then gets mad that it's gone.

This fuzzy photo is his first time in the high chair - for memory's sake, yes, we gave him something to eat besides the plastic yellow monkey. He really gets around with his rolling. A little over a month ago he rolled over to a sippy cup of water some friends brought over, and started drinking out of it. I couldn't believe it - I couldn't get Josh to like sippy cups forever, but Noah just stole one to drink out of at 5 months.

Noah loves textures. I can't read a magazine while I feed him because he'll always have his little hand back grabbing it and rubbing his little hand on it. Here he is with my sister's dog - notice what both of his hands are doing. Gary had to protect the dog.

He loves to sit and play with stuff in boxes. He's entertained for quite a while with this shoebox full of cars.

I just took him to the doctor this morning for his 6 month check up, and watch out - 20 lbs. 9 0z. (91st percentile), 28.5 inches long (99th percentile). I love his chubbiness. He is so kissable and squeezable! He is ticklish and really gets laughing sometimes. He is entertained by playing and watching Josh most of the time, although he does NOT like teething, and apparently he doesn't like immunizations, either. I've been taking care of him the whole time I've been writing and at one point I said, "Quit screaming so I can blog about how adorable you are!"

Here is his, "I just went to the doctor today and my mom is going to share my stats," picture. We love this boy!