Okay fine... I'll post something, but I'm warning you that it's a LONG ONE!

Okay- so it's been a while. But come on people! It's Christmas! We had such a great time the last couple of weeks- it's hard to come back to reality and much to my kid's disappointment- bedtimes made a big comeback. This December was a lot of fun- Ty is old enough to understand some of the finer points of the holiday season and we had fun putting together a Christmas chain.

We also got a chance to go and visit Temple Square down in Salt Lake. It was pretty cold and it snowed the whole time- but it was a lot of fun to go and see it again. Growing up in Salt Lake- I think that I took having the temple so close for granted, and especially the lights around Christmas time- they are gorgeous!! This was Ty's first time down at Temple Square and he was in awe. He couldn't believe all the lights and thought the Nativity was pretty cool. But I think my favorite part was when we took Ty into the visitor's center and took him upstairs to see the big statue of Christ. I took Ty's hand and we stood right up underneath him, and as I was whispering into his ear a few things about Christ and Christmas- I couldn't help but notice that we were surrounded by six or seven other parents with their own kids, saying similar things. And I was almost struck dumb. It just hit me- we, as parents, have such a huge responsibility in this life. We are entrusted with this little souls, and we are given the charge to bring them up righteously... and look at everything that they need to be taught to be able to cope with the world around them. It was so overwhelming that I just burst into tears. Why in the world would Heavenly Father trust Shaun and I to do this? We're just a couple of idiots- how are we going to be able to teach Ty and Ryan all that they need to know?! The more I thought about this- the happier I was that we both have great parents and siblings that will help with this teaching process, as well as teachers from Church and friends. Anyway- it was my "AH-HA" moment for the season.

We spent Christmas at my parents house. It was so nice- Dave and Nat flew in from Minnesota for two weeks and Mark and Melissa spent Christmas Eve at the house too... It was so strange to have everyone there- but it was so much fun. My parents were both so sweet to allow Shaun and I to introduce a few family traditions of our own to Ty and Ryan in conjunction with what we had always done as a family. Shaun is a big believer that Christmas has become too commercialized and in an effort to make sure that our children understand why we have Christmas, we wanted to read the Christmas story on Christmas Eve as a family.

We also got to leave out milk and cookies for Santa- which Ty loved! On Christmas morning- that was the first thing he checked. Ty had left two Oreos out for Santa (which from what I can remember growing up- are his FAVORITE!), and Santa ate one and only took a bite out of the other. Ty was just in awe- it was like proof that the big guy had been there. Santa left a bike for Ty and a drum for Ryan.

Shaun unfortunately had to go home the day after Christmas because he had basketball practice- but Ty, Ryan and I took advantage of my parents hospitality for a few more days. It's just so nice to have extra arms to help and more people to help entertain. Ty became my dad's little shadow- in fact Grandpa had to chase Ty out of the bathroom a couple of times, telling him that there are just somethings that Grandpas like to do alone- and peeing is one of them. I'm not sure the message sunk in though- Ty just kept trying to break into the bathroom. I think Grandpa had fun though- he took Ty outside to build a snowfort on the front lawn- it was pretty big. I'm not sure Grandma was too impressed that they used one of her comforters as a roof... but she didn't complain too loudly.

Ryan stayed inside most of the time, it was a little cold and he was a little irritated. Not only did he get a new drum and rattle for Christmas- but the poor little guy also got two new teeth. I don't think he was all that excited about them and Ty found out first hand how sharp little teeth can be. Ty didn't believe me that his little brother had teeth- so he stuck his finger in Ryan's mouth and (obviously) got chewed on.

I also got the chance on Sunday to go down with my grandparents to Nephi to visit my great-aunt Carol and her family. I haven't been down to Nephi for years and it was so much fun to see everyone again. My grandma grew up in Mona (near Nephi) where her parents owned a small ranch. Growing up, we spent a lot of time down there. It has since been sold and is now a home for boys that are working on becoming better members of the community. The old barn is gone and so are the corrals... It was so strange to see. There have been some changes made to the old ranch house too- you can still see the original structure- but it was still a little heart wrenching to see so many childhood memories gone.

On Monday (okay, so my "few days" that I spent with my parents turned into a week. So sue me.), I took Ty to the mall so that he could spend his "Build a Bear" gift certificate that he got from grandma Janet. Now, this is a business that I wish I had thought up first. It's so silly that it's brilliant! Ty wandered through the animals making sure that he got to pick out the best one. He saw the green dinosaur in the corner- and it was love at first roar. The guy helping us was so sweet- he let Ty push the button that filled the dino full of fluff. Ty was in heaven. He was so impressed with the "roar" that the first thing he did when he got home was shove it in Ryan's face. Ryan didn't think it was such a great thing and burst into tears. Ty kept telling him that it was okay and then tried to get him to push the button. It was so funny!

In all- it was a crazy week- as evidenced by this last picture. It was about seven at night and my dad and I walked in to find Ty, Ryan and my mom sound asleep on her bed.

We were also lucky enough to be visited by Shaun's parents a few days later. They came down for a second Christmas and they wanted to see Shaun's game. I have to admit- he's pretty impressive in action. Granted the Varisty keeps taking away his best players, but he keeps plugging along. They almost won on Saturday. Almost.
In all it was a fantatic Christmas and Christmas season. I am so grateful for both my parents and for Shaun's parents (who gave us half a cow for Christmas- it may sound silly- but the meat is sooo good and it's awesome to have meat ready to go in the freezer all the time), who love us and treat us so well. We are so lucky and have been so blessed. My mom took the time on Christmas morning to read a letter from their Stake Presidency. In it was a quote from one of the inmates at the prison, who said that when we look at what we have we are rich, but when we look at what we don't have we will always be poor. I hope this is a message that we can all keep with us in our hearts as we start into this new year.