Christmas 07

Well, we made it. It’s over. Thank goodness. I am not a scrooge in any way, but it just seems like so much energy and effort go into the holidays, that I am so relieved when they are over. I had such a busy weekend, so I will do a quick recap, and then you can watch our little slideshow to see a glimpse of what was going on with our family this weekend.

First, Hallie was in the Nutcracker Friday and Saturday night. She looked so cute, and did such a good job. She informed me that she doesn’t really like to dance; she just likes to get flowers on the night that she performs.lol. Her friend Taylor is in her class. They looked so cute together. Taylor didn’t perform on Saturday night, and after it was over, Hallie said, “Mommy, I searched and searched for Taylor and couldn’t find her, and I have a sick feeling in my tummy and my heart. I hope she’s not sick or hurt.” I just love it when she says cute things.

Anyways moving on- Saturday, Holly, Janice, Mandy, Tari, and I along with our kids had a cute Christmas party. I did a game, Janice the food, Tari the drinks, Holly the cookies that the kids frosted, and of course, crafty Mandy did the craft. It was very cute and very fun. The kids exchanged gifts, and that was great. They enjoyed giving, and of course enjoyed receiving, and the kids who gave to my kids did a great job, and they love their new stuff, so THANKS!

Saturday afternoon, I had a little get to gether with all my friends from high school. Nikki, Heather, Lindsey, Corinne, and Erin all came over for snacks and we just visited, it was fun.

On Sunday, we had our annual family Christmas party with family from my mom’s side. There are no pictures from that, sorry. I really cannot recall in all the years that we have had that party ever seeing a camera there. That is pretty sad. Anyways, it was fun. That night was really special as my family and I went to a Stake Christmas music concert. I sang with our choir and it was really nice.

Christmas Eve was pretty boring actually. The main excitement came when I was helping Mandy find a lost package that was for her little boy for Christmas. This boy who is a DHL driver has a sister that is a mutual friend of me and Mandy’s. Anyways, we were trying to get a hold of Kristen so we could get a hold of her brother who had the package, or so we thought. Mandy tried to call; she had people driving around town looking for him etc. I was going to grab a few groceries at Jubilee, but hadn’t’ had lunch yet so I decided to stop at Smith’s. Just as I sat down with my food at the good ol’ Smith’s deli Kristen walked by, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I ran up to her, explained the details and to make a long story short, the package was found and all is well. Anyways, I told Mandy as cheesy as it may sound, I truly felt prompted to go to Smith’s and I was so glad that I did because it helped make her little boys Christmas complete. Moving on to that evening, we had my Parents and Kris along with my Grandma and Grandpa Bowthorpe over for dinner and all that fun stuff. The kids went to bed easily and were snug in bed….so we thought.

At 11:30 Kayler woke up with a TERRIBLE cough. He could hardly breathe and I knew right away it was croup. He was wheezing and crying and we had him in a steamy shower and gave him medicine and had the vaporizer going full speed. It was not getting any better. I was going to take him to the ER, but I just knew that they would be slow and retarded there as usual, and that I would miss my other kids waking up on Christmas morning, and I was NOT going to miss that chance. So, I stood on the porch with him swaddled in a blanket letting him breathe the cool air and giving him sips of ice water, because that helps him breathe better. Even though it was so terrible, and I was so tired, and I felt so bad for him, a great thing happened. As I was standing on the porch, it was sooooo peaceful. It was snowing, and it was just glowing outside. It was extremely serene, and my mind quickly wandered to the night the savior was born. I couldn’t help but to feel a small fraction of what Mary must have felt that night. Holding her newborn baby boy knowing that his life was going to be full of so much pain. I stood there holding Kayler feeling so helpless and not wanting him to suffer, but realizing that I am so truly lucky to have him.

So, I did get to sleep at 3:30, only to have the neighbor dog bark the rest of the night, so I didn’t get any sleep. The kids were up bright and early at 7:30. They were so excited and cute and played so nicely with each other. Gavin was so cute and so happy and more interested in what Hallie and Kayler got than his own. Kayler was really sad and sick and didn’t even look at his presents. Hallie said, “thanks mommy!” I asked her what for. She said, “well, you know, for like letting me sign that letter to santa.” How cute is that. After we got all cleaned up and ate, my parents came and got the older kids and G.J. and I took Kayler to the ER for a shot for his croup. We were in and out in about an hour, thank goodness. We went to our annual family Stewart party, had a nap, had dinner that night, and came home and crashed. (That was after we took down all the Christmas décor of course….aren’t’ I such a party pooper)

Yesterday I just let the kids play and enjoy all their new stuff. I cleaned house and it felt so good to have everything in order. GJ and I went to a party last night for our friend Becky, who has been battling leukemia for the greater part of this last year. She has gone through SO much. A bone marrow transplant, lots of hospital time, pain, suffering, etc.etc.etc. Yet, she was so upbeat not only last night but through her whole ordeal. She was the same ol’ Becky I remember from High School. It was so nice to eat dinner and reminisce with our friends that we haven’t seen for a long time. It was also a good reminder that even though I do have trials of my kids being sick, there is always someone worse off, and that someone (Becky) has such a great attitude through her trials. It made me realize that I need to have more faith that everything will work out ok.

We had a wonderful weekend. It was filled with all the people I care about most, my husband, kids, friends, and all my family. I hope everyone else had a wonderful time as well. Have a good day!