Christmas Stories

Merry Christmas!

We hope that this letter finds you well. Mama and I have just completed our sixth Christmas together. We’ve  come a long way. This year we have made an extra effort to help Underfoot and K2 understand the real  reason why we celebrate Christmas. Each day we have learned a different part of the Christmas story, starting with the creation of the world.

Here are some funny stories for the week.

K2 loves to pour liquids from one container to another. We frequently find him on the floor dumping the  contents of a cup into another worthwhile container.One morning Mama found him drinking water from one of Underfoot’ shoes. Mama thought it was so funny that she called me at work, so I could share the story with my coworkers.

When people would ask Underfoot if Santa was coming to his house, he would say, “No. The Three Kings  are coming. Santa brings 1 present. The Three Kings bring 3.”

On Christmas Eve we did some last minute shopping and drove around our neighborhood to see the lights.  Underfoot would look at the lights and say, “Mama, I see Christmas.”

Last night Underfoot looked at me and said, “Daddy, don’t talk to me, I’m telling Mama about my day.” (His  sweet honesty shines through.)

K2 loves to say C’mon. He will push on me until I get up and follow him (or carry him) to wherever it is that  he wants to go. Frequently it is to the fridge. K2 loves Eggnog. He has consumed approximately a quart of the stuff all by himself. Of course, that includes the cupful that he poured into his plate and tried to drink. He  soon discovered that plates make horrible cups. The thick, gooey goodness found its way all over him and the table.

Underfoot has really taken to coloring. He loves to sit with a coloring book on the floor and a bag of crayons.  He is learning how to share with his brother. It is fun to watch Underfoot and K2 play together. K2 loves the  sound a crayon makes when he snaps it in half.

We put together a gingerbread bread house. K2 would dip the candy in the frosting and then drop it in the  same spot. We had a nice pile of candy right next to the chimney.

Underfoot wanted to have a candy  representation of our family. So we were each put on the house.

California Dreams

Last week we traveled to California to attend the memorial service for L4’s 94 1/2 year old Grandmother. On Monday and Tuesday we made preparations for our travel by getting the house cleaned up (before messing it  up as we packed). We took care of various items like dry cleaning, Joy School Christmas program practice,  mailing the giveaways from the 30 Days of Pie, and other things. My list seems to always be longer than my  time, ability, and discipline justify. My children help with undoing a lot of what I try to do. Bless them for trying  to be helpful.

We flew on Tuesday evening and went through TSA without any problems. We have found that TSA is  usually very helpful to our family. The flights were not completely full so K2 got to ride in a seat instead of on  one of our laps. That was very helpful. A gentleman turned around and said how jealous he was because of  K2’s behavior. He has a daughter of a similar age that will not sit still. After arriving in California we got a  rental car. This was a first for us when visiting CA. We TOTALLY enjoyed the freedom of having our own transportation.

On Wednesday we spent the morning with T. C.. He interviewed me before L4 and I were officially a boyfriend and girlfriend. One of his favorite questions is, “Why do you  exist?” He shared some of his special ice cream with us. After leaving the Cutting home, we picked up Mom  and Dad and went thrift store shopping. Underfoot acquired a new pair of shoes, and I got 2 new
pair of jeans. We went to visit our matchmakers, T. and J., for the late afternoon and evening. It was fun to  watch the boys play and get caught up with their family. A., L4’s brother, invited us to go to dessert with  him and his friend, R.. We enjoyed each other’s company and yummy dessert. The boys were very good.  After such a long day they were tired and fell asleep on the way home.

Thursday we visited with Glenn, L4’s former boss, and went to the family ranch. The ranch is where L4 and I  had our first date where we hiked and ate a picnic supper. The boys got a chance to ride on a horse.  Underfoot wasn’t too keen on the idea. He got off after one lap. K2 loved it and didn’t want to get off after  three laps around the barn.

It was the first time I had met Glenn. He is a very positive, happy guy. After the ranch we went to the  Oakland Temple grounds to show the boys the lights and so Grandma could spend some time inside. The  boys got to see a slug for the first time. If you live in a place where water is precious, slugs don’t exist except in fossil form. We then had supper at Fenton’s Creamery. We ate hamburgers, onion rings, fries, and of  course ice cream. L4 was wearing a suit and K2 did his best to smear ice cream everywhere. They loved it.

Friday we went to a small cafe and walked around the little shops. We picked up pizza and L4 dropped us off so he could go and pick up his siblings (B., M., and Y. & A. (Y.’s daughter)) from the airport. The boys and I played on the swing set, slide, and  merry-go-round, and then picked lemons. We picked a cooler full of lemons. We made lemonade for the  evening and were lucky enough to bring the rest of the lemons home. We had a lot of fun talking throughout  the evening mostly about how each of us got engaged and of course a few F. stories because they are  infamous. F. really should write a book about his “adventures” as a youth. It could be the next how-to  manual for the up and coming generation. We laughed and laughed. K2 and A. chased each other  around in circles for most of the night. K2 has a new challenge in life. He is the first one up in the morning and  the last one to sleep at night with or without a nap. He can go forever.

Saturday was the memorial service for Grandmother. We went to the 1st Congregational Church, where she attended as a child and a married adult. Some of her nieces and nephews still live in the area.  Grandmother has 3 children who all attended plus 24 grandchildren (that includes her greats). Eleven of the 24 were came. The service was very nice. Dad, B., and the Pastor spoke. The Pastor spoke about the scripture in John 14:2 which speaks about the mansions to be prepared by Christ. He said that an  interpretation is that the mansion is home. He then made a comparison to the home Grandmother had here in  mortality with the one that she would have in the next life. After the service, the church provided a beautiful  meal. Uncle M. and Aunt B. shared their memories and feelings they had for Grandmother as well as  some of the grandchildren. We took a family picture, and we were off to the airport. We arrived back home late that night.

On Sunday we hosted a Joy School Christmas party. The children performed the nativity story and a few  other songs. There was a potluck. We landed in bed last night exhausted. Underfoot’ tee ball coach brought  him his trophy from the end of the year. Underfoot kept telling his coach (who is also a Joy School Dad)  thank you for the nice present. He talked about it over and over again how great his coach is.

We are very glad that we went to California and look forward to getting together with family again. We have some (not all) pictures here.

Delayed Communication

We have been slackers lately with our communication. Since our other computer has gone to the doctor, we haven't been very good. We'll get back on track......soon. Hopefully this coming Sunday.

Here are some bullets from the last week:

• Underfoot did his last t-ball practice and game this last weekend. He was not injured and was in charge of the treats. He was so happy!
  
• L4 worked. We are really glad he enjoys his employment. He is excited to get up in the morning to go to work.
• K2's head has started to heal from all the bumps he has gotten. On Sunday during church, he fell off the pew backwards. He took another chunk out of the back of his head. The amazing thing he didn't cry hard. He sucked in his breath, and L4 took him to the hallway for the scream. He didn't scream very long. He also started going to the church nursery on Sunday.
• I have been cleaning up from our last trip getting ready to go to California for L4's Grandmother's memorial service. We are excited to see family.

It wasn't the most exciting week except a few friends had their babies.

Be Well,

Wendy

--
"Be of good cheer..."

Thanksgivng a little late

We have returned home and know that our weekly letter is very late because it is Wednesday when we are writing. Our computer has gotten sick. So sick that it will be going on a trip and staying in a hospital (a.k.a.  Dell Depot) to the doctor for about 10 days. The start up takes about 10 minutes if it is going to start up and  then can’t be moved, bumped or touched by little hands. While we were in Idaho, the computer was locked  up in the family library so no one could play games on it.

My Dad and S. (my brother) bought a snow groomer. They added a cab to the machine to haul people.  L4, Scott, and SM (my brother-in-law) worked together to put in a heater, lights, and the tracks on the snow  roomer. They worked earlier morning to late evening for 3 days solid and the morning of Thanksgiving. They got it running and ready to go for a test drive. Even Underfoot got to drive it in the parking lot. They all  loved it.

I worked on more pies because I didn’t get pictures taken of the final product. I worked one afternoon for my  Mom so she could prepare a family meal for our family. The boys and I went to Lava with my Grandpa K, parents, and their cousins.

Underfoot and K2 got to play with their cousins a lot. Everyone took a bout with the flu either up chucking or the other end.

For Thanksgiving, Aunt K. and Uncle R. hosted a meal at Grandpa K’s home. The hope was  to have the day at the cabin, but there was a lot of snow and would have been really hard to get into the  cabin. We enjoyed being together listening to 1940s music and little children running up and down the stairs.

On Friday L4 got to ride into the cabin with S. and Uncle R. to fix some of the plumbing. That evening was  the Lights Parade and then we had Christmas.

S. and J. spoiled us with a lot of neat treasures that we will  enjoy as a family as well as individually!

We traveled to Las Vegas on Saturday and finished our journey Sunday and had clean roads the whole way  home. We really enjoyed ourselves. We unpacked and were very grateful for the clean house we returned to  because of the help after the pie party.

L4 returned to work on Monday, and we set up Christmas as a surprise and finished putting away a few of  the details from the pie party. Over all it was an adventure to be remembered.