Remember Christmas?

Remember how we got to spend SO much time with family?

Remember when Mommy & Daddy got to hike in a winter wonderland?

Remember how we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus?

Remember how Grandpa created a special moment on Christmas Eve to read the story of Jesus' birth?

Remember when Ryan & Macy helped tell the story of the nativity?

Remember when we decorated the house with green lights?

Remember how exciting it was to finally get to open presents?

Remember how Ryan got a tent making kit from Keegan?

Remember how Evan got a cool drum from Wade?

Remember how Daddy got a nice purple shirt & ties from Jo?(along with another shirt with a quote that fits Daddy perfectly)

Remember how Mommy got a beautiful birdhouse and story from Grammy?

Remember how Christmas was on Sunday this year?

That meant that during sacrament meeting we were able to sing joyous songs on Christ's birth in the same hour of singing a song about why the birth was important. We were reminded of the moment Jesus atoned for our sins, gave his blood and body for us. remember how much our Heavenly Father loves us?

Deep Breath

The week of cleaning inspections and checkouts has come to an end. I had 40 residents pack up and move on. The week wasn't too intense, but I did push myself a little more than a regular week. This morning was chilly, but we were able to walk through the buildings and "shut them down" in less than 2 hours. Oliver finished his classes this week, both the ones he's been taking and the ones he's been teaching. He'll be back at it in January, but he gets a two week break. He took full advantage of today by participated in the Christmas Bird Count. He and a partner were given a section of the county to birdwatch all day long. He came home between 3 & 4 and said, "Megan, go take a nap." I love him so much.
I took a nap for an hour and now I am going to take a deep breath and clean the house. After that we're going to go to the store and all next week we're just going to rest. We'll all take a deep breath and be a family without work to think about. That's what I call a great Christmas gift. Merry Christmas!

Last Eleventh

So I was not so successful this year with the eleven photos. The last one wasn't successful either. But here are the few photos taken today.

The advent calendar that keeps Ryan from asking "Is it Christmas today?" Thanks to Grandma karen for it.

I've had a recipe sitting in the cupboard and decided to finally try it.

It's Cannoli French Toast. Bread filled with a ricotta & powdered sugar mixture and then cooked like french toast.

Mr. Won't Try Anything New wanted just french toast.

I get to do singing time for the nursery age kids(18 months-3 years) and I decided I should take a photo of them.

I should have taken a photo of Evan during church, but he gets so distracted when I see him that he latches onto my hand instead of continuing with what he normally does.

I could have also taken a photo of Oliver in front of his computer working on his final assignments for UVU due today.

I could have also taken a photo of the pile of papers on my desk for work-this week is finals which also means its cleaning inspections and moving for about 40 of my residents.

I could have taken a photo of the 2 slices of pie that one of my RAs brought me.

I could have taken a photo of Evan still up at midnight since he came into our bed and fell back asleep that morning.

I could have taken a photo of Oliver coloring during Sunday School(he was helping me color "bells" for nursery singing time).

I could have taken a photo of Ryan talking on the phone to his cousin Macy who called him as part of her advent calendar. Each day has a task to do and yesterday's was "call a friend."

Happy December.

Best Idea Ever

Setting up and decorating our Christmas tree at someone else’s apartment!

Brings out the fun and joy of all those collected Christmas ornaments without the threat of them breaking at Evan’s whim!

Photos from a Long Trip

Driving across half of Utah, all of Colorado, Nebraska & Iowa and then heading south slightly in Illinois can be a daunting thing. Especially if you are the sole driver with the responsibility of getting yourself safely across those states, but also to keep your two sons entertained and happy in the back seat.
Luckily, we are blessed to have a beautiful set of friends in Denver. This was a great highlight for Ryan. Amber, Brian, Kalen, Brady & Trace have a very welcoming home and nature. They have a "big nice doggie" that thrilled the boys but led Evan to cause some yelps. They have a whole room dedicated to toys and 3 boys that are so much fun to go with it. On the drive east, we spent a day with them and I got some pictures while we were at the park.

I just love Amber's little baby bump...a girl! They are so excited!
Our next stop was at the end of Nebraska the following day, Oliver's parents are currently in the Omaha area which not only provided for a nice stop but a great opportunity to see their beautiful home and to see Grampa in a rather relaxed state. Unfortunately, I relaxed so much that I didn't take any photos myself.
The last stretch was the shortest since Iowa is not as wide as Colorado or Nebraska. We made it in on Saturday night so that we didn't have to travel on Sunday and we spent several days with Mom & Pop before everyone started coming into town for the festivities.
On Monday afternoon, we decided to roam outside even though it was a little windy.
We went down to visit the chickens(their coop is behind me). Evan was fascinated with the cats and Goofy dog.
So fascinated with Goofy that he tried to reach him through this tall grass...Goofy was safe.
The harvested cornfield across from my parents' house.
We went on a walk down the road for a while and on the way back the boys finally started to be nicer to each other. Here they are playing with the sun visor off the stroller and having a great time.
We found the shed with the tractor in it...or "Papa's barn" as Ryan declared it.
This has always been a favorite view of mine. Not only is the grass fantastically green at the end of November, but the view is very calming to me.
On Tuesday, I decided to drive to Nauvoo for a short visit and to get some turtle pretzel rods and caramels(while we enjoyed our covered pretzels very much that day, they got forgotten and didn't come home to Utah with us sadly). Even though it was a wet and chilly day, it was still fun.
Evan liked the water on the pedestal of the Joseph & Hyrum statue. Ryan did too.
He was making handprints with it.It was fun to show Ryan the temple where mommy & daddy were married and to just see the boys in front of this beautiful building.Because it was cold I made a decision to visit just two more places. The Family Living Center is always entertaining. We were the only ones there for a while. Ryan got to help make a rope.Evan made a friend with one of the sisters who brought him a bucket and was throwing empty spools of thread into it. He thought it was a hilarious game for a rather long time.The last stop I made was to the blacksmith shop. First, because I thought Ryan might like it(his attention span is still a little short). Second, because I wanted him to see what a horse shoe was since he was going to carry one on Friday at the wedding. The shop was decorated for Christmas and I loved this nutcracker. It reminded me of my Grandpa who passed away this summer. Grandpa was a blacksmith and it was a pleasant little reminder of him.The blacksmith shop does a lovely little explanation of things and always creates one little black horseshoe during each "session". Luckily, it was just the three of us in our session so Ryan got to take the horseshoe home. Along with his very own horseshoe nail ring.Wednesday brought a couple great people into town. Natalie and Oliver flew in together. While Daddy got to come home with us in the car, Natalie got a first class ride on Pop's cycle. Crazy that it was warm enough for it. Nat said the only thing that got cold was her face!
Wednesday night we went to the church to set up for Thanksgiving the next day. We brought some of the puzzles that we all grew up on. Ryan loved them...and so did Natalie.
The other great people that came into town were Jo, Mikayla & Grace. Ryan was thrilled to finally be with "My Cousins!!" that we'd been talking about for a while. He latched onto Grace quite a bit. Literally.
We did this alot...hung out in the kitchen or random rooms. It was the start of a great gathering.

The next day was Thanksgiving. There were about 50 people there. Not only ALL of my siblings and most of their families(we missed Mike & Kara & Keagan didn't get to show up until later), but also Mom's siblings, cousins, and aunts and their families. A little after the eating was done, Evan and I went to find the nursery to distract him from all of the people. It allowed me to relax a little bit and just sit instead of chasing him around. It was also the place where Mom & Pop found to take a nap.

We also had a great time building towers so that Evan could knock them down.

We were called away from the nursery in order to take a large group photo.Ryan and Oliver had commandeered Denean's Ipad which Ryan LOVED!While Aunt Ruthie was prepared with her tripod, Casey & Jo improvised. I love my sisters. :)These are two of my cute nieces(even if one refused to smile appropriately for the photo) and nephew Trevor photo bombing(but successfully looks better than his sister).
Like I said, Ryan REALLY liked the Ipad. And Jo let hers be used by our cousin's little girl as well.
This is a photo of Mitchell and his very soon to be wife Olivia before leaving the Thanksgiving festivities.
I know this is fuzzy, but I love this image. My parents looking at their youngest son at the beginning of his wedding. This and the following photos of the wedding were taken by Natalie.

As they left the church, they got a short ride around town in a Rolls Royce. I love Mitchell's giant smile in this photo.
While I didn't get pictures of everyone, I did get this cute little family photo of Wade, Rhonda and Patricia dancing at the reception.
And I got this special one too. Denean and Natalie dancing with Neal.
Evan was hugging EVERYONE at the reception. Cousins...
& Aunts. And strangers...but we don't have pictures of that.
My cute parents always get at least one dance.
And this was taken at home because I never got an appropriate one on the day of the wedding. This was Ryan's kilt made by my mom and his cute little outfit. I loved it. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of everyone who was wearing a kilt that day.

On Saturday, after Oliver and Natalie were headed toward the airport, we packed up and left to drive back east. The worst weather on the drive was that day, with rain for an hour or two followed by super wind across Iowa. Luckily, we were safely back to Oliver's parents' house and spent Sunday with them with more time playing. It was fun to have visited both my parents and Oliver's parents' wards on the trip. There was a great talk comparing cars to life and a talk that led me to have a great discussion with Oliver about Evan and the celestial kingdom. After another relaxing time with Mom & Dad, we continued to drive west back to visit Amber & Brian & boys. That was a little harder since we were just staying overnight so that we could get home on Tuesday night. Ryan did not want to leave such a fun house. He finally gave in and we got on our way. Evan made a few rough moments in the car. On the drive from Oliver's parents' back to Denver, he wiggled under the lap belt three times in an hour and a half while I'm driving down the interstate. I wasn't too thrilled. Ryan only had one pee accident the whole time. Then as we were about 40 minutes away from home, Evan tore the pillow apart that had been sitting next to him the entire trip east and west. The week was full and I'm a little sad its over, but at the same time, I was very grateful to get home again. Ryan did have a bit of a meltdown because he'd been sleeping in the same bed with me every night on the trip so he wanted to sleep in our bed instead of his own the night we got home. But I think we may be back to normal now.