Virginia Sempervirens: December 26, 2010

December 26, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas! I am so sad that Christmas is already over. It went too quickly this year. We tried to pack in a lot of Christmas cheer this week. I hope B-man feels like we were successful. Monday B-man was still in school. I spent the day making bread and I also managed a trip to the grocery store. A friend and I are going to start trading babysitting while we go to the grocery stores. Hopefully it will work out well. That night for FHE we delivered things to some of M’ home teaching families.

Tuesday was another baking day. I did more bread and cookies. I made a big mess in the process and of course someone called to come see the house. Luckily I had enough time. We got everything done and out of the house in time. We spent the evening at Costco. The realtor was supposed to call when they were done, but never did. So the boys got to bed a little late.

This is what the boys did while I was baking…

Wednesday was B-man’s last day of school. He had a great day at school and was excited to be on “Winter Break.” Thursday we had two showings of the house. We are really surprised to be having people coming through this week. It wasn’t what we were expecting. Shortly after the showings M got home. It was so fun to have him home early for the fun.

Friday was Christmas Eve. We took the boys to do some shopping for each other. M helped J, and I helped B-man. We then came home and took turns wrapping. B-man was really excited to help wrap. J loves having the tree and presents under the tree. Of course that means that all of the ornaments have been making a slow migration up the tree to where he can’t reach, and only one present was a victim of his early opening. We had another showing that day, (I was mostly annoyed by that) and then that evening we had a tasty dinner and some fun activities. We read the several scripture accounts of the birth of Christ, and the boys were able to open two packages. One was pajamas (which they loved) and the other was some great pears for the tree. J REALLY liked opening up a present. The boys went to bed easily. I did a bunch of cooking after the kids were in bed to make it easier on Saturday. Poor RM had a hard night. All of us have colds, and he was having a hard time sleeping well.

Christmas was a fantastic day. We take things really slow and stretch it out as much as possible. Plus we had the bonus of being able to listen in on two missionary phone calls, and lots of video chats with our family. We let the boys see what Santa brought at about 7:30. They were thrilled. We then took a break to eat breakfast, play with the new toys, chat with family, eat orange rolls, etc… We were in no rush. J took a nap. After J’s nap we then opened up the gifts under the tree. Mostly J and B-man opened up every present. It was so exciting for both of them. We ended the evening with a video chat with my family as they were chatting with one of my brothers on his mission. It was a great day full of family and love. (Even if we were all under the weather.)

Early Sunday morning RM woke up very distressed. M and I were both a little distressed too. He sounded awful, and we were worried that he wasn’t breathing very well. I went downstairs with him to look up some advice on the internet. By the time I was done RM had calmed down and was breathing more easily. I then went back upstairs and we both went to bed. He did a little better the rest of the night, but Sunday morning I wanted to make sure he was okay so we went to an urgent care very close to our house. The doctor’s office was very crowded with lots of coughing people. I hated being there, and of course by that time RM was acting like he just had a cold. Why does that happen? I really hate it. I am not one to go to the doctor at the first sneeze, but it is hard to explain what is so concerning when the baby isn’t doing it at the time the doctor sees them. Oh well. I was planning on staying home from church, but had to meet with a bishopric member at the last minute before church. We all drove in two cars, met with the bishopric member and then I took J and RM home. I am being released from my calling in the Young Women. I am really sad about it. After Sacrament meeting M came home and then I drove to the church so that I could teach the Beehives. (Also a last minute discovery.) When I arrived at the church I discovered that I had left my lesson stuff at home. I immediately turned around and went home to get it. Luckily I live close and had enough time. After church B-man and I came home immediately. The rest of the day was very relaxing. We had leftovers for dinner, and were able to listen in through video chat when my youngest brother called from Argentina on his mission. We were able to speak with all of the missionaries in our family! It was great. While we were chatting with them RM started doing his funny breathing again. We were on the video chat suctioning out his mouth and nose. It was a little distracting to us, but it did help him a little. We are hoping that we all get better very early in the week.