Christmas

I can't believe it came & went as fast as it did! We had a great Christmas. It was quiet & a lot of time spent with just the 5 of us. Here are just a few from the 2 days of festivities.

The Kids all dressed up to head to Aunt Jill's house for a yummy prime rib dinner. I thought I'd get their picture before their clothes/faces were covered in food.

I love these outake pictures of our little photo session. Can you imagine how life will be for Tess with these two as her brothers as she gets older. It makes me happy.



Santa made Luke's life with these 2 superman figurines. Too bad he lost one at church an hour later :( He is obsessed with superman. He brings me his superman toys & demands that we play. So the past couple of days have been spent flying around the house making superman noises (?). I tried to make superman going "night night" as part of our play (& to be done playing superman) but Luke doesn't buy it. He's too smart. He's got me figured out.

Love this time of year with my kiddos & love teaching them & remembering the birth of our Savior. I loved having Christmas on Sunday & wish that it was that way every year. I thought a lot about His humble beginning this year. A king born in a manger. No designer crib. No perfectly decorated nursery. Just a stable & a bed made of hay. So simple & so perfect.

Until next year tree! We will say goodbye to you tomorrow. I'm ready to declutter!!!

Merry Christmas card

Our cute friend Bri Webb designed our Christmas card for us this year & did such a great job! Getting Christmas cards thru snail mail is one of my favorite things about the season! We just got back from Palm Springs & have one day pretty much to get everything ready for this weekend. Eeeek!

being mom

I've had a few experiences lately that have really got me thinking about life.

Deep I know.

But one happened just this week that I can't stop thinking about.

I traveled with Scott to LA for a short business trip he was doing. We met a lady named Jewel who was very successful, educated, very pretty, & well traveled.

We ended up having to be together for quite some time so I made an effort to get to know her & what not. She is 42, not married, lives in NYC, LA, & San Francisco. She knows many people, she has many contacts, she's worked for numerous big city companies doing marketing & what not. She told me about how she gets hit on by much younger guys because she looks much younger than 42. Her family is the most important thing to her & yet not once did she mention their names nor did she know how old her only nephew was.

Needless to say we were 2 very different gals but she was very nice & could hold conversation well so I didn't mind the differences at all & I don't think she did either.

EXCEPT

When she asked me what I did back in Utah.

That was when I told her that I was mom to 3 little kiddos.

BAAAMMM!

It was like a steel door had been closed right on my face. She didn't even acknowledge this very big detail & only detail she had asked for so far about my life.

She in fact laughed & turned away looking for someone else to talk to. I'm sure someone else who she thought was more educated, contributed more to society in some way or another, had something more to offer.

It was my first experience where I felt "in the world but not of the world!"

I have thought about this experience so much in the past 2 days. I am so grateful for it. So grateful for my 3 kids who keep me grounded & remind me what is most important in this life. So grateful for a husband that when I told him about this conversation said "Little does she know that you are doing the greatest work possible on this earth." So grateful for my testimony & the Holy Ghost that reassures me of how right the things I am doing in my life right now really are.

Like I said, our conversation pretty much ended right there but she did warm up a little more as we had to spend more time together. Being a mom is not super glamorous. I sometimes get those feelings inside that make me feel entitled to something more. Like "hey, I'm an educated woman. I could go out there & have a career instead of worrying about my laundry & what is for dinner."

But I choose my 3 little ones instead.

I choose to have a home where we try to fill it with meaningful, lasting things like our family.

Speaking of family, here are a few pics from Thanksgiving in St. George.

The table was set so beautifully. My mom did such a great job but right as she was making the last few things for dinner she got super sick. It was so sad. It still was such a great dinner we were just bummed mom couldn't enjoy it more.

The kiddos were able to play with all their cousins so they were pretty much in heaven.

Now on to Christmas......