It's been long enough since I sat down and blogged that I had to give myself a pep talk about starting up again. I've been feeling overwhelmed at all the events that I neglected to record. I might get around to blogging about our trip to Disneyland or about my trip to Vermont to see my dear friend Chelsey get married. I might. Then again, I might not. I might have too much laundry to do, too many dishes to wash and meals to cook. What I can tackle, though, is today- Christmas 2013. I can take a minute to capture the magic of today.
This picture was taken this Sunday before we headed off to our second to last one o'clock church meeting for three more years. I thought the boys were rather dashing in their Christmas sweaters and, in a miraculous turn of events, Hyrum sat still long enough to get a picture of the four of them. When I look at this picture I see these boys and I can't believe how blessed I am. Four boys. Healthy, happy and wonderful boys grew inside me, made their entrance into this world and continue to thrive and amaze me on a daily basis. I am blessed.
We started our Christmas celebrating at my mom's house with a little dinner and my dad was kind enough to snap this picture.
After dinner with my parents we loaded up and went to temple square, as has become our Christmas Eve tradition. We love the lights, the music, the nativities and that temple. This year was a little more crowded than years past but the boys were good with the exception of Hyrum who kind of lost his mind. He's two though and it's forgiveable. There were some really sweet moments while on temple square that I wanted to capture.
- At one point I was walking hand in hand with sweet Noah and we started talking about the temple and how Nat and I were married there. When I told him that the temple made us a forever family he squeezed my hand and melted into me a little bit.
- We took the boys to see the statues of Joseph and Hyrum Smith and they all got really excited at Hyrum's statue and tried to get Hyrum as excited as they were. He remained a little confused.
- I was praising Luke for always setting such a good example in public for his brothers and I could tell that it meant a lot to him. He cuddled up into me and thanked me for noticing.
- Isaac was really sweet and quiet the whole time we were there. I could tell he was really taking it all in. He's a pensive little one who notices everything.
We didn't stay as long this year on temple square. We were tired and the boys were claiming to be hungry so we headed home for cookies and cocoa. After a snack and setting cookies and carrots out for Santa we sat in front of the fire where the boys took turns singing Christmas songs for us. They then surprised Nat with their recitation of Luke 2. We've been working on it in the mornings before school and we memorized about half of it. I was particularly impressed with Isaac. I didn't even know he'd been paying attention but he had large passages committed to memory. I thought that it would be fun to fall asleep in front of the Christmas tree and then carry the boys up. They had a different idea though and just wanted to get in their own beds. Fine with me. I fell asleep next to Isaac. Nat made several attempts at waking me up and I finally went down and laid on the couch while he got things ready.
Luke and Noah snuggled up and fell asleep in Luke's bed. I'd like to think there were visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads but I'm pretty sure neither one knows what a sugarplum is. I am not entirely sure that I know either. I could google it but I am sure it would take the intrigue out of it for me. I took this picture after stockings were stuffed and Christmas was all set out. This was done mostly by Nat while I struggled to stay awake and help him locate Christmas. I am not a night person.
Then Christmas morning was all too quickly upon us. The boys got up about 6:30 and were itching to get downstairs. I made them pose for the stair picture and got these hilarious results. Noah and Isaac managed some cute expressions but Luke and Hyrum took turns looking pained instead of excited. Luke was the most animated about coming down and discovering Christmas. They opened their stockings and played happily with the contents while we prepared breakfast.
Every boy got a few toys in their stockings. Isaac, not surprisingly, latched onto his toys and tried to carry every last one of them everywhere he went. After stockings my parents and brothers arrived and ate with us.
After breakfast the present opening ensued. The boys were darling and grateful. They were especially excited about the gifts that they gave each other. This is one of my favorite parts and they always manage to know exactly what to select. Noah wins the most enthusiastic award. Everything was exactly what he wanted and he let us all know it.
I-guy just made me melt all day. He was so happy and sweet. He just about burst with pride when I opened the present he'd made me at preschool. He's been so excited for me to open it all month. Being the mom at Christmas gets better and better. These boys fill the day with wonder and magic.
