Christmas Eve Morning

On Christmas Eve Morning we had breakfast and a lovely visit with Travis's parents and Travis's sister Liz and brother-in-law Andrew. Liz and Andrew spent a night with us when they first drove in from Michigan, and we are so happy that they did. We abused their goodwill by putting them to work assembling Christmas presents, but we hope we fed them well enough to be forgiven. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast with Mom and Dad Dastrup with two kinds of bundt pan pull-apart yumminess. We played music and sang together in the music room, which is really fun with Liz and Andrew because they sing so well and drown me out so I can pretend I'm contributing. Anna was still in bed at Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's after being up all night coughing with the worst cough we have ever heard, but Michael, Sarah, and Lucy opened very special gifts. Grandma crocheted teddy bears for all 17 of her grandchildren. Lucy's is pink with a white face; Sarah's is butter yellow; Michael's is chocolate brown; and Anna's is a fuzzy warm brown with lots of loopy texture. They are absolutely adorable, and have  music boxes in them that play Love One Another with a crank on the back. They are wearing tunics made of Grandmother Squares that Great-Grandma Holdaway crocheted. Each bear belongs in this army of cousin bears, a reminder that there are other loved ones to call on in time of need, and a Grandma and Grandpa Dastrup who love them, and Holdaway Grandparents who are also guarding them from beyond the veil. We know these bears will be treasured by every grandchild. How sweet to hear the music boxes from behind the closed doors of three bedrooms on Christmas Eve. Lucy was most interested in Sarah's bear for a few weeks, but recently she has discovered her own little pink bear. We hold it up as a reward at the end of a couple of steps. Then there are hugs and squeals and smiles!

Michael and Sarah in their Sunday Best

Sunday Best must be an old-fashioned expression. I think I'll sound the same when I'm 80 and my kids will roll their eyes at my quaint expressions. Cute pictures of Sarah and Lucy are pretty easy to take, but good pictures of Michael are hard to come by. I like these pictures of him in his new suit. He got his first suit when he was baptized, and he's never worn anything but his full suit and white shirt and tie to church since. He wouldn't feel right at church without his proper attire. Once I tried to encourage him to wear an ironed yellow shirt when he didn't have a clean, ironed white shirt, and he was horrified. Since I've encouraged this, and am pleased that he wants to be dressed appropriately at church, I have to support it by keeping him in clean, ironed white shirts and a suit that fits. It's his job to get his shirt in the laundry and remind me if Sunday is coming around and he doesn't have an ironed shirt. It won't be too long before he learns how to iron, but I iron so many shirts for Travis that one more isn't hard. The man at Mr. Mac who helped us pick it out was so tickled that a nine year-old boy could be so excited about a new suit. 

Sarah and Lucy

I'm not good with titles. These are just some cute pictures that I took today after we brought Anna to school. Lucy climbed up in her chair with her coat on, and she just looked ready for pictures. Sarah had to get in on it too, which is always welcome. She had fun hopping around the house in a black garbage bag today.

Lucy Turns 1

Poor Lucy was really sick on her 1st birthday. We didn't know it at the time, but her fever, constant crying, and inability to sleep (from pain) was because she had strep, an accidental birthday gift from Anna. Apparently it's unusual to have strep at 12 months. Emily got it too. But we still had a fun party with both sets of grandparents driving up from Orem at this busy time of year. Grandma and Grandpa Thompson brought Will and Piper with them too. Lucy perked up a little with the company and a full dose of Motrin (hard to get in little ones), but fell asleep in Emily's arms during dinner. This was her only nap of the day. She woke up to the clapping after Piper and Sarah blew out her candle for her, and she was able to open her presents. There were tears, but they were punctuated with a few genuine smiles. She was pleased with her presents, which is as much as you can hope for from a one year-old, healthy or sick. Her cream cheese frosted cupcakes were the second batch. The first disappeared from our back porch while we were at Target. They were homemade banana with pineapple cream cheese centers--a fussy but delicious recipe. Lucy has very descriminating taste. I would put money on the magpies as culprits. The second batch were strawberry-from-a-box, but they served their purpose just fine. We adore this little girl! Everyone in the family has a special relationship with her, and she smiles in such a way we're all convinced we're her favorite. 

The next morning Lucy was still sick--after a long night, but happy to see her toys. She understood perfectly that they were hers, and she loved to empty and fill her walker wagon. A week later she still does that, but here's how it's really used. She doesn't push it, she gets rides in it. She climbs in it all the time and sits there until a big sibling pushes her. She especially loves Michael to push her because he goes way too fast. I'm afraid we're raising a little adrenaline junkie. 

Real Life in December

Michael gathered all of his sturdy vehicles and invited Lucy and Sarah to come play with him in his bedroom. These little girls had so much fun! This shot doesn't show a fourth of the vehicles he out of for them. I have bought so many cars, trucks, and planes! It's fun to see how much Lucy and Sarah enjoy them too. Anna used to play Cars with Michael. It was an enormous, long game that included toys and knickknacks from all over the house as well as everything with wheels. It was really an elaborate game of house, designed by Anna. They had marriages, births, deaths, adoptions, elections, laws, trials, construction, utilities, natural disasters, holidays . . . I can't believe I never took any decent pictures or video. Michael was never happier than when Anna played cars with him. He never got to make any decisions, but he had a lot of fun. Sometimes they even let Sarah sit on the top bunk and watch the game from above:). 

A really nice woman in our ward passed on some clothes for Anna. This vintage 1980s European boy's snowsuit was in the bag, and for some reason it really caught Sarah's fancy. 

I know this last picture is really gross. I noticed a growing odor of urine in Sarah and Lucy's room, but no matter how many times I changed their sheets and how much Febreze I used, it was getting worse instead of better. I knelt down to retrieve something by the edge of their dresser and saw the corner of a Pull-up. Their dresser is set at an angle, so there was a lot of space behind it. This is what we found when we pulled it out. Apparently Sarah has been using this space as a handy disposal. Hard to believe someone so cute could be doing this!