Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas this year.  On Christmas Eve morning Justin took Allie and Timmy to aebleskiver breakfast at Shannon's to celebrate with the McMurrays.  Mikey had a fever so I stayed home and got the home ready for Santa's visit and put all of the presents under the tree.

Since Rusty is on his mission and  my parent's house in Murray was sold, my sisters Liz and Sherri decided to go and spend the holidays with Pete and Amber in Chicago.  That only left Jer and myself so we decided not to do the regular Christmas Eve dinner at my Dad's.  Instead we had my Mom and Dennis spend the night on Christmas Eve and then we had a wonderful Christmas morning opening and playing with presents. Then after lunch we had a video chat with Rusty.  It was great to see him!

Then my Dad, Kari and Grandma Griggs came over for Christmas Dinner.  It was a really nice holiday season staying home and letting our kids relax and play at home.

Here are some pictures from Christmas.

Kids ready for Christmas Sunday.

Merry Christmas Mom and Dennis!

Merry Christmas Kids!

Merry Christmas Justin and Janelle

Merry Christmas Timmy

Merry Christmas Mikey

Merry Christmas to us all

Christmas ship for Timmy from Grandpa Martin

Merry Christmas Allie

Timmy with Mario

Allie Christmas clothes

Allie wiggle car

Allie Hello Kitty

Timmy reindeer

Allie R/C car

Allie Hello Kitty movie

Timmy color by number book

Allie bracelet from Mikey

Sick baby Mikey and mama

Timmy angry bird

Mikey toys

Mikey singing flashlight

Allie dolly and bed from Grandma Roberts

Mom new hat and gloves

Janelle clothes, PJ's, jewelry and back massager

Justin tools, shirts, U of U sandals, Planet Earth

Mom new leather jacket

New Christmas Traditions

If you know me at all, you know I love the holidays and traditions, they are my favorite!  However, in the past few years, some traditions have gone away with my parents getting divorced and some have just become to hard and needed some simplifying.  So, this December I decided to start 3 new traditions for Christmas and I'm excited about them.  Overall, they have worked out very well.

#1 - Christmas Pajamas - given to the family on December 1st.  Since my parents are divorced we no longer get PJ's on Christmas Eve.  We have Christmas Eve with my Dad and my Mom really wanted to continue the tradition but it was too expensive and she wasn't even there to enjoy having us open them.  So, instead of having my family open pajamas at home after we visited my Dad on Christmas Eve until late, I decided to give my kids Christmas themed PJ's on December 1st to wear all month long.  Justin even suggested that us adults get some too and I was only too happy to go along with his comment although I think he was joking :)  I guess we didn't get a picture of Timmy, whoops.  Note to self, next time get a photo of the family wearing them all together.

#2 - Elf on the Shelf - This year I decided to follow the tradition of the elf on the shelf.  The kids named him Elfie although I wanted him to be named Norman or Quinn but they won out.  Basically, he shows up around December 1st or after Thanksgiving and watches the kids during the day to make sure they're being good.  Then he visits Santa each night to report on their behavior and then comes back and hides somewhere new each day.  There have been a few nights that he hasn't moved, whoops.  Here is at least one picture of him visiting.  The kids are not allowed to touch him or he loses his magic.  He has to hide up high so that Mikey doesn't grab him.  It's been fun but a bit of work.

Elfie auditioning for Mission Impossible

#3 - Scones and Layton Lights - Growing up my family always went to Winder Dairy to get scones and chocolate milk each year on one Family Night in December.  It was fun but always crowded and hard to get a table.  For many years after being married I have taken my kids to join my family and fought to secure a table big enough for us to fit around and drove an hour each way on a Monday night.  Justin only came once and that was enough for him, he didn't like the crowds, the long drive etc.  So, this year I sadly told my family I would no longer join them in this tradition but start my own!  I decided we would visit the Layton City Lights and then I found a cute cafe around the corner called Sill's Cafe that serves huge scones and chocolate milk and hot chocolate.  We tried it last night and it was the most wonderful evening!  We went to the lights first and the kids loved so many of the lit up animals that we went around twice.  Then we went to Sill's and ordered 4 scones, chocolate milk for the kids and hot chocolates for Justin and myself.  The service was fast, the scones were huge and we all a fun time except we didn't come close to eating them all.  I ate one with Allie and Justin ate half of one and then 2 were untouched so I brought them home and ate one for breakfast this morning.  Now, if I could just get my family to love scones as much as I do!!

Pink Bear - Timmy laughing in this picture is my favorite!

Allie with a mermaid

Girls with a buterfly

Mikey happy in the stroller (next year I am going to let him walk around)

Timmy with a bear climbing a tree

Whole family in the tunnel of lights

Allie loves unicorns!

Alligator

Bear trying to catch a fish

The Season of Giving

I was reading recently in Mosiah Chapter 4 and some verses really stood out to me, especially as we are entering this Christmas Season.  I am going to write them out here:

Verse 21  And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.

Verse 22  And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing with thou hast done.

Verse 23  I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of the world. 

Verse 24  And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that:  I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give

Verse 25  And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.

Verse 26  And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you - that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God- I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants.

Many times I have judged the homeless people who are begging for money, food, or work.  I have thought to myself that they are going to buy alcohol or cigarettes, but then I read this scripture and it tells us that we are not to deny helping those who petition our help.  Who am I to judge these people who are begging for help?  I will say it again, who am I to judge these people when I have been so richly blessed?

So, I have made a conscious effort to help out everyone I see within reason.  I went to a Jazz game not long after reading this scripture and I saw a woman begging for money to buy formula and I gave her the $10 bill that I had in my wallet and then the next day I went to the bank and got several $1 bills to put in my car and in my wallet to give to those I come across in need.   I am also going to work on putting some easy-to-hand-out food so that if I come across someone in my car I can give them not only money but food. 

I will let the Lord judge these people who may be begging unrighteously, but as for me, I am going to do all I can to bless those that stand in need.

Daddy

So for the past few months, Mikey has refused to say Mama which he used to say all the time and all he now says is Daddy.  He calls me Daddy and he calls Justin Daddy but he won't say mama or mommy or anything related to me.  Hopefully this is a phase that will end soon!  He can say Allie and Tee eee for Timmy and it's so sweet.  I mentioned this to the doctor at his 18 month checkup and he said it was unusual but he said he probably just likes saying Daddy more.  It's like he knows he's doing it and is just trying to tease me.....little punk!  Just kiddin, I'm sure he doesn't know what he's saying too much but he is so funny :)

Halloween Party Bust!

So this weekend I planned a huge Halloween party for my neighbors and friends here in Syracuse and I spent a lot of money decorating my house and making fun party food and only 6 people showed up.  There were 12 confirmed guests and another 14 or so maybes and only 6 showed up.  Now, they all had good reasons why they didn't come.....one got electrocuted and felt ill, two couples were dealing with the flu, one couple got stuck at a work party and some others ended up spending time with family but all in all, I am feeling a little lame, lol.

I thought for sure more people would show up and I was so excited planning a great party and then it was a bust.  I guess I needed a good dose of humble pie.  Of course, then I had to go to church and hear all of the excuses and all of the "Oh I wish I could've come" lines but really, I just wish I could ignore them and not pretend that it was awesome, lol.  Then as a cherry on top, I was looking at facebook to see if a new girl in my ward was on fb and she wasn't, but it brought up a screen to show recommended friends and it showed a girl in my ward who was already my friend and I had invited her to my Halloween party and she has unfriended me, uh, thanks for that.

So, I usually shake these things off pretty easily and don't let many things get me down, but I can't seem to shake this one yet.  I think it was a culmination of sooooo much work and so much effort put into it, and then it was just kind of boring and of course you could tell everyone that did come felt bad for me and didn't leave early because they didn't want to hurt my feelings.  However, by about 9 PM I just wanted it to end and go to bed.

Oh well, I am going on a getaway trip with Justin this week so hopefully getting away for a while will get me out of this funk.  I'm feeling kind of done with Halloween.......

Here are the pictures.

Doing Better

I went to see my family doc about a month ago and he put me on Meloxicam, a long time release anti-inflammatory drug so that I can rest all night without pain as well as prilosec for heartburn.  The first afternoon I took the prilosec it gave me a bad headache so I am taking it at night with my Meloxicam and it is no longer causing headaches. 

The first night I took the Meloxicam I had no pain and could've slept in til 10 AM, it felt so nice.  Since then I haven't been completely pain free but that usually happens when I do too much with my upper body like mow the lawn, trim and fold a ton of laundry all at once.  I also have some pain when I don't take it every day.  The only question now that I am doing a lot better, do I keep taking this drug the rest of my life?  I guess every few months I could stop taking it and see how I'm doing without drugs but it sure feels nice to feel so much better.  I need to call the doc soon and discuss furthering my treatment.

It does have a side effect of possibly preventing pregnancy so that may be something to consider and of course if I do get pregnant, then I can't take it or any nsaid's for that matter.  Anyway, life is getting better and I am feeling so much better.

I have also been battling a cold/sinus infection for over 2 weeks but I refuse to pay to see the doc for this.  It is getting better but still there a bit, sheesh.

Still trying to figure it out.....

It has been a year of chronic back pain and while it got better when seeing the physical therapist in June and July, he told me I could go on my own.  I was pretty diligent about doing my exercises and icing for a few weeks and then I stopped because I just didn't have to be accountable anymore.  He told me to do it every day for a month, 5ish times a week for the 2nd month and 3-4 times a week the 3rd month and if it got bad again, to come back.

Well, as you can guess, the back pain is back in full force, the heartburn is back (although my regular doc did a blood test and says there is a 90% chance I don't have an ulcer) and last night I was miserable.  I woke up at 3:30 AM with extreme back pain and some heartburn (not as bad as the night I ended up in the ER).  I took my heartburn meds as well as a percocet as recommended by the ER that night and tried to go back to bed.  Percocet makes me feel happy and relaxed but I have a hard time actually falling asleep.  Around 5 AM I woke up with severe nausea and spent 20ish minutes with the bathroom on hand but never threw up although I tried.  I finally had some doterra peppermint oil and it calmed my stomach enough for me to go to sleep til 8 AM.

All day long I have felt nausea on and off and it has calmed down some but I still feel ill to my stomach and still have some back pain.  I did go to the chiropractor and get an adjustment and I had Justin and my home teacher Chris give me a blessing.  I have another appt with my family doc tomorrow to discuss if anything else may be going on (perhaps an issue with my gallbladder?)  Anyway, still trying to figure out what is causing so much back pain when I was nearly back pain free seeing a chiropractor once a month for 5 years.

Apart from the back pain, I have really tried hard to read my scriptures focusing on the women in the scriptures and I have felt very content and peaceful lately.  I'm sure it doesn't hurt that Timmy has started school and we are back in a good routine and it is finally September and cooling down a bit, but I feel happy and peaceful and just, content.

Summer Swimming Lessons

We all participated in swimming lessons this summer.  Timmy and Allie in wave 2 and Mikey and I did a parent/tot class at the same time.  Mikey started out so well, floating on his back and blowing bubbles and pretty much doing whatever I had him do.  Then as time went by, he started fighting everything and crying quite a lot and the Thursday morning before his last class I took him to the doctor because of a high fever and he had an ear infection.  No wonder he had cried and cried the few days before when going under water. 

Also, Timmy was still pretty shy in the water, did not pass level 2 and was even recommended to go back to level 1 or 2.  Allie, my little fishy passed level 2 no problem and is ready for level 3. 

Here are some pictures from the last day, hence Mikey is not dressed for the water.

Take time to be Holy

I heard the phrase, "Take Time to be Holy" a few weeks ago and it has really stuck with me.  For the past several years, I have read scriptures with my family in the evening and Justin and I have read scriptures on and off through the years, but I have not done personal scripture study in quite some time.  When I heard this phrase coupled with another one, "If you don't have time to pray and read your scriptures daily, you are more busy than God ever intended you to be," I am feeling prompted that I need to spend some personal time with the Lord every day. 

I read on Pinterest about a Women in the Scriptures Challenge (see link on the side) and I am ready to do it.  I got a fresh new Book of Mormon and started reading the first few chapters and I am marking everything to do with women with a pink highlighter.  I even wrote my name on the inside cover and wrote below it, "Women in the Scriptures" so I would always know that this Book of Mormon is the one I followed the women in. 

I am also going to try and watch better television.  I have been watching Desperate Housewives and shows like the Bachelor Pad which are entertaining to be sure, but probably don't bring the best spirit in me and in my home.  It's time to make better decisions and behave in a more righteous way. 

Summer Fun

I have never felt super busy before, but I seem to be going all the time these days!  Isn't summer supposed to be a more relaxing time?  Well, not here!  Here are some pictures, not necessarily in order of things we have done in the past few months.

 Allie and I went to City Creek

 Visiting Fountain Green near Wales, UT

 Fountain Fun at the Gateway with Aunt Liz

 At the Gateway Fountains

 Allie on Bulgy the Whale at Lagoon

 Allie and her friend on the swings at Lagoon

 Mikey at the Zoo

 My Mom's 58th Birthday at Murray Park

 Hiking in Maple Canyon near Wales, UT

 Timmy on Bulgy the Whale

 Mikey loving the water ball at the Zoo

At the big elephant at the Zoo

Justin and Allie in the Wales children's parade