Traditions

In Brock and Noah's classes they talked a lot about family traditions and both had assignments regarding Holiday traditions in our family.  I was already nervous about how the month of December was going to go and wondered if they had really internalized that we had moved away from Utah and family and that things were going to be different this year. 

 

We have many Christmas traditions, things we have done every year, for example: A Santa party (Santa comes and gives them a present here, here, here, here, and here), temple square to see the lights here, here, here, here, here - we added to this tradition the last two or three years and go out to dinner as a family - so far it has been the only time in the year we go out so it has made it really special.  We have specials houses we go see lights on every year, of course we see lots of family, we dance around a Christmas tree with my extended family here, here and act out the nativity here (some/most years I didn't take pictures - sad).  So basically I felt like we had strong traditions - most of which could not be reenacted in Denver (the Denver temple does NOTHING special for Christmas - can you believe that??).  And I was not paying for a Santa to come to my house!  I worried what the kids would think about our Christmas, alone, in Denver.

 

But when we talked with the boys about our Christmas traditions NONE of the above things were mentioned - not even when I tried to prompt it.  Only two things were ever remembered as "things we do as a family around Christmas time" 1) I make Æbleskiver's on Christmas morning(almost all families on my maternal line make these on Christmas for 2 or 3 generations back) and 2) we make gingerbread houses - I actually didn't even know this was a tradition and never intended it to be - but it turns out we have done it almost every year here, here and here.  Both of those could be replicated!  Awesome!

 

I guess I shouldn't call these Gingerbread houses - they are gram cracker houses - every year I think I will be fancy and make real gingerbread walls and a roof (I remember my mom doing that one year - I think it was for a homemaking activity) - but then I acknowledge the fact that all that time and fanciness would be wasted by the young age of my children - I think it would be better served when the kids are between 8-11 and can help with the whole process.

 

The problem with Denver... No Winco, or any other store with candy bins - and I am way too cheap to buy a whole bag of gum drops to only use 10.  I went to Sprouts (they have a ton of those) and picked out the red and green gummy bears from their bin and called it good.  The rest was a hodge podge of licorice, marshmallows, chocolate chips, etc.  I thought the kids would call me out on it and ask where all the good Christmas candy was... but they didn't.  Turns out all they really care is that there is some sort of candy.   They thought it was great. 

 

Madison directed Jason exactly where to put each and every candy.

 

Megan could have spent hours on hers.

 

 

Noah's had a WHOLE LONG story that went with it - I think it incorporated every fairytale (Three Bears, Goldy Locks, Hansel and Grettel etc) - I got it all on video camera

 

I guess I didn't take a picture of Brock making his - but it had a gun on the roof - so basically it was awesome!

Our Christmas Card

Today I got about 9 Christmas cards returned in the mail - and several for stupid address reasons!  That is always the saddest day, however, most of the Christmas cards have stopped coming and then you think - wow we got a lot today, awesome... only to have your dreams dashed by realizing they all say "return to sender" - now I have wasted an envelope and a stamp!  Only to have to get correct addresses again, rebuy envelopes, and get more stamps - plus I have already crossed mail Christmas cards off my to-do list, so that in and of itself is the nail in the coffin. 

So some of you who didn't get one, you might still, or you might not, I am out of envelopes and if I remember to pick some up the next time I am at Walmart then I will resend them - if not - know that my intentions were good.

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Herberts'.  I decided I wanted to tell you about 2013 through numbers.  It would have been nice if I would have figured out a way to do each number, not skip any, or have any doubles - I struggled and struggled to make it work - but then I realized this letter perfectly represents our family at this stage: organized chaos, best intentions, total randomness, and a little bit of comic relief here and there.  At the end of the day it gets the job done.  Enjoy!

 

528  - miles we moved away  - From West Jordan, Utah to Highlands Ranch, Colorado.

450 - our new grocery budget.

236 - the number of boxes and inventory our moving company packed, moved and unpacked for us!

75 - students Jason has successfully helped pass their series 63 and series 7 tests since we have been in Denver - he loves his job and is great at it!

58 - dollars in fines at the library - one lost DVD, one book left in the rain, and too many late to count - my failure!

56 - pairs of glasses Megan tried on before we found "the ones".

45 - dollars saved each month on diapers now that Madison is potty trained.

42 - houses I looked at during my 3 day "house hunting" trip to Denver.

27 - texts Jason and I went over while he was in Denver before we "upgraded" to unlimited texts - we are very reluctantly heading into the 21 century - we are both thrilled to still have flip phones!

24 - jars of pears I canned 2 days before we moved to Denver - Ever start a project and realize you got in over your head?  Me too. (Did I mention Jason was in Denver and the movers were coming in 40 hours?)

23 - dolls.  We have officially switched from action figures to dolls - I preferred the action figures.

18 - inches of rain in Denver the week we moved into our house (average rainfall for September is 2 inches!)

15 - pictures Jason sent to me of our new house - since we were buying it without me ever seeing it - good thing he knows me… I love it!

10 - the number of minutes Brock and Noah read to us each night (I know it should be 20 - but it is what it is).

9 - the number of squirrels and bunnies that live in and under our trees and bushes. (We have yet to catch one!)

8 - soccer games Brock played in.

7 - weeks Jason spent in Denver while I was back in Salt Lake alone with the kids.

7 - ALSO days I spent on vacation alone: sans husband and kids (Lake Powell, BYU Women's Conference, and Park City).

7 - days it took Noah to learn to ride a 2 wheeler.

7  - the number of Thanksgiving invitations Jason received in Denver while the kids and I were back in Salt Lake - but this just shows how great our ward is!

6 - cities we considered living in before choosing Highlands Ranch.

6 - the number of accidents Madison had before she was fully potty trained - my easiest one by far!

5 - gallons of milk we go through each week.

5 - the number of Priests Jason has in his Priest Quorum and also the number of Wolves I have in my Wolf Den.

4 - the number of hours Jamie spends a week in the kitchen making snacks and staples from scratch (beef and chicken broth, yogurt, cream of _____ soups, yogurt, granola bars, granola, muffins, and crackers)

4 - days a week we average getting in our family scripture study.

3 - pairs of Megan's glasses we went through before we went with the indestructible rubber ones.

3 - trips to the school to drop the boys off, pick Noah up from Kindergarten, and pick Brock up from school.

2 - Girls still napping everyday for 3 hours - great one on one time for me and Noah!

1 - Happy family making Colorado our new home.

 

Not to mention innumerable tantrums, fights, tears (ours and theirs), time-outs (including mom's), hide and seek games, Candy Land, wrestles, stories, cookies, hugs, songs, smiles, laughs, and moments of joy.

Grandkids pictures

Since my mom had all her grandkids in Salt Lake again - and the fall grandkid picture didn't turn out so wonderful - she decided to try and get a cute Christmas picture.  She bought all of them matching Christmas jammies.  We went to the reception center that Jason and I had our reception at because it is usually all decorated for Christmas at Thanksgiving.  We were so sad when we went inside to find that they hadn't even started.  Our hopes for a picture with cute kids in matching Christmas jammies in front of a giant Christmas tree were dashed.

Brad (5), Noah (5), Audrey (8), Sam (3), Brock (6),

Madison (2), Megan (3)

They all did pretty good - except for Brad was really sad to not get to sit by Brock for the picture - they are best friends.  But it would have thrown the whole color pallet off! :) 

 

Of course you have to have a silly one - I love how Madison went right into frog mode - and Noah's face kills me.

 

One of mine - This was going to be my Christmas card for weeks - and then on the day of ordering I decided to go with something different.

 

 

Cute girl cousins.

Hollywood Connection

Even though I lived on the "west side" we had never actually been to Hollywood Connections.  But  we finally got to go over Thanksgiving with my whole family.  It was so fun - especially since we had as many adults and we did children.

My sister, Ashley, with Maddie

                                     Brad, Brock, (in back) Noah, and Brooke (my brother's wife)

                                                                   My brother Daniel.

 

                                                                               Audrey

                                                                               

                                                                              Megan

 

 

My mom and sister Katie

Megan and my brother, Michael.

 

We did the rides, miniature golf, roller skating, and the token games.

Roller skating was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen.

It was a wonderful evening with the whole family (minus Jason of course).

Greats

My sister, Katie, and her kids came up from Las Vegas for Thanksgiving as well. One day we took our kids to my Grandma's house to play in her pear orchard.  We had to drag them home.  I am glad they get to play in their Great Grandparent's pear orchard and make the same memories I made as a child.

Downtown with the Bells

When we told the kids we were moving to Denver one of their first concerns was that they wouldn't get to see Payton again.  I assured them that it would be more difficult - but that Karli and I would try to align our visits to Salt Lake.  Luckily our visits did align and we spent 2 whole days with them.  The first we just hung out at her mom's house and on the other we went downtown to City Creek and temple square, Karli's sister came with her 2 kids - she was 8 and a half months pregnant - she is a good sport.

Karli and Haley

 

All the kids

Brooklyn, Madison, Megan, Noah, Payton, Brock, Zurik (Lydia and Rachel's little girl, (I have tried several different ways to spell her name and I don't want to look like an idiot - it is pronounced, rain a) did not want to be in the picture.

 

I can always count on Payton to teach my kids the coolest things - he is teaching them the peace sign.

 

We decided to ride tracks around downtown.  Between the three of us we had 10 kids under 7.  People just looked at us like we were crazy - we kind of are.

 

But we kind of aren't - because it is so fun to spend time with these cuties!

 

Discovery Gateway

Matt and Janina live over 2 hours away form their closest temple.  Since my Discovery Gateway pass is still valid I offered to take the kids there one afternoon so they could go do a session in the Salt Lake Temple.  It was not busy at all and it was nice to give the cousins some time to play together without a million adults around.

 

They have really updated their helicopter section since we have moved.  The kids loved it - especially Aaron - he didn't want to do anything else after he had seen it.

 

We even got a surprise visit from Santa - right after I took this "practice" picture the worker told me we were not allowed to take our own pictures.  So this was the only one I got and it ended up being the only time my kids saw Santa this year.

Duck Pond on Thanksgiving

One the funeral was over we split our time between Mapleton (where Jason's parents live) and Sandy (where my parents live).  Officially we spent Thanksgiving with the Herberts.  It was wonderful because Jason's brother, Matt, and his family came up from Arkansas.  We hadn't seen Aaron in almost 2 years and it was wonderful!  All three boys play so well together.

 

While the meal was cooking Matt, Debby, and I took the kids to the Duck Pond in Provo.  This has to, strangely, be one of my favorite places in the world.  Mostly because I have so many wonderful memories with my boys there.  They have even made it more wonderful since we lived there.  It was a wonderful day.

 

Megan and Madison wanted a picture with their leaf collection.

 

For some reason I only have one, really bad, picture of the kids playing at the house.  Debby has thousands and thousands of Lego's (all organized in tackle boxes).  Aaron loves Lego's and is really really good and creative with them.  One thing my kids really lack is creativity.  They are very logical and practical - but not very creative or imaginative - so I was SO HAPPY for them to play along side Aaron and learn some serious Lego skills - which they did.