Christmas, and New Years in Utah

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!  What a week to have so much going on.  I was originally planning to put a good Christmas picture in here for the first image, but I thought this New Years picture of Monica and Brooke was too good to pass up on.  We had some New Years fun with sparklers, and the girls even both made it until midnight!  Grayson went to bed around 10, and was up until about 10:56.  We happened to be keeping a very close watch as we had a game going to see who guessed closest to when Grayson went to sleep.  Winry won with her guess of 10:55.

Let's roll it back to Christmas morning.  Not only did Santa visit our living room, but he also stopped by Grayson's bedroom to drop off a little pig under his Christmas tree!  What a guy!

And here are the kids arriving in the living room to see what Santa brought them.  They were very excited, and very happy.

Grayson got a Hex Bug set, and was over the moon.  He loves hex bugs.  We have a board game that has one, and he'll get it out and run it until the batteries die.  Now he has 7 to run simultaneously until their batteries die.  10 at a time... 10 per day...  We might have ordered a pack of 100 batteries, and I also limit the number of bugs I'll swap in a day.  Anyway, he just loves to turn them on and watch them wiggle around.

The girls got roller skates for Christmas and were so excited to give them a try.  Things were pretty shaky the first day, but they're already getting quite good.  They're hoping to roller skate to school, and I think they should be able to within a few weeks.

Grayson got a Bluey game for the switch that we all gave a try.  It was pretty fun, and it plays out like episodes of the show.  Original episodes for the game.  I thought it was a pretty clever idea.

For Christmas dinner Monica let everyone pick something they wanted.  In age order the picks were Cheez-its, coleslaw, broccoli cheese soup, goat cheese beet salad, and lasagna.  Quite the combo, and quite the interesting picks.

The kids all got LCD Disney games in their stockings.  Winry and Monica gave them a try together and had a very good time.

We got our Texas license plates a little bit ago, and Monica put them on the van!  What a hero!  I promise I'll swap them on my car soon.

On Friday we got on an airplane to fly to Utah.  Party time!  Here's the opposite isle.  Brooke and Grayson did a good job sharing the tablet and were super great the whole flight.

And here's my side.  Winry and I had a great time as well.

Everyone was very excited for us to arrive, and grandpa especially!  Also, it's great that Grayson remembers people now because he ran right up and got picked up and was plenty happy!

Niki did a hero's duty and changed Grayson's poopy diaper.  I will note that this is not an area of expertise for her, and when she was changing my nephews diaper many years ago he called her out and said "This girl needs her mother!"  Thanks Niki!  Hero's work.

Grayson was very excited to have C(eleste) read him stories.  I think he asked her to every night, and she always obliged!  What a great bunch of sisters I have, always willing to help out with the kids.

My parents house had a coughing corner set up.  Oriah and her boys were there for Christmas, and we had a little overlap our first two days that we were there.  So while I don't have the full history of the coughing corner, I think the name says it all... it's a place to wrestle!  There's not enough space for anything else in that little corner with 3 boys.

On Saturday we had my family's Christmas party.  Since we were coming out for New Years they postponed the party so we could be included.  That was super fun to get to see my aunts and uncles.  We did a gift exchange, and there was nothing too crazy.  I guess it's moved from white elephant to hopefully something someone would want.  Some gifts definitely needed to go to the right someone though...

And our girls got super lucky!  Winry got a playground ball, and Brooke stole an Elf (the movie) puzzle from someone that also came with spaghetti and syrup.  Winry was very attached to her ball immediately!  She did her best to hide it from everyone and let them know she'd be the saddest if it got stolen, and fortunately she got to keep it the whole time.

That afternoon the kids also got some gifts from my parents.  They all got a book, and they were all perfect.  They were all so excited for them.  Winry got The Big Cheese, Brooke got a learn to draw Pokemon book, and Grayson got a collection of Bluey stories.

Sunday was church of course.  Grayson was the only one in nursery, but he still had a great time.  Celeste came up and went with us too, and the kids were happy to have her there.  Once we made it back it was New Years Eve time.  There was decorating and food prep and dressing up.  All the best things.

Oh, this might have been in Grayson's present, otherwise I don't know where they came from, but Grayson got some AMAZING reindeer slippers!  He's a bit iffy on wearing them because he's worried they'll fall off, but they're awesome and we'll have to try to get them on him more.

We all sat around the table for a game of 5 Crowns, a Harding family favorite.  Brooke and Winry played for a little, but after a few hands they just stuck around for the company.  Grayson was there to check for elbows on the table, because as we all know, that's very impolite (he caught Grandpa, I don't remember if you can hear that part in the video).

Right before Grayson went to bed, we went out to do sparklers.  Grayson wouldn't ever hold one, but everyone had a great time with them.

And after Grayson was in bed it was basically anything you could think of to make sure you stayed awake.  This involved playing a Guess in 10 game, and Monica and Winry playing a little indoor soccer.

Everyone but Grayson made it until midnight, which means that, yes, I'm actually writing this AFTER the new year, but I'm okay with that.  I've gotten behind a few times this year, but instead of writing one mutli-week post I've begun writing multiple posts for the weeks I've missed, and I think I like that system more.  It can be daunting at times to know I've got 3 posts to write, but once I'm done I'm always happy I did it this way.

Well, I hope everyone had a fabulous 2023, and here's to a stellar 2024! 

Christmas Eve

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Oh boy, oh boy, Christmas is tomorrow!  How exciting.  Everyone's ready here, and we had a really great week leading up.  We got a nice family picture in front of the Christmas tree, and everyone was a pretty good listener for the pictures as well.

Grayson is just growing up too fast!  He spilled something on the floor this past week, and then cleaned it up himself.  While I'm grateful he can help out and clean up, and am UNgrateful that he is no longer a little baby!  In unrelated news, we're accepting applications for new neighbors, and the application process is to send us a picture of your current baby...

Brooke got sick this past week, which is super lame.  She's just been so sick so much lately.  That means Grayson has a playmate for most of the week.  They had all kinds of fun, including some Mario Kart.  Grayson had a great time playing, and even got second in a race.  He'll also alternate setting down his controller and letting the auto-pilots keep him on course, or wiggling the controls and swerving off the road.  He's a natural.

Do you know what the problem is with having a sick playmate?  Well, at Grayson's age at least, you tend to share everything.  Snacks, the switch controller, germs... a throw up bowl...  Great news, no one actually used the bowl... bad news, that means two people threw up somewhere we never wanted it.  It's a little funny when Grayson is sick though, he'll usually take long naps, but when he's awake he is going full speed just like any other day.  In this picture he's full speed watching TV... but when he's up, he's active.

I don't remember if there's any story to this, but Winry had a chocolate popsicle after school one day, and mostly I just love how she gets a ring around her mouth!

On Friday both of the kids had a party at school, and Brooke was feeling better by then too!  Parents were invited, and Monica went to both parties while I watched Grayson.  Watching Grayson involved him sleeping in until 9, and then turning on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" when he woke up.  Anyway, here's Winry at her party with an awesome wreath ornament.

And Brooke made a reindeer hat.

School was a short day, and really was just a day to have a Christmas party.  Monica took all the kids to Chick-fil-a for lunch, and of course they all got ice cream.  What a way to celebrate the start of Christmas break.

On Christmas Adam we had Santa waffles for breakfast.  I slept in, I don't remember if I was up late with Grayson or what at this point, but if I recall correctly Monica said Winry helped make it all.  What a great helper, and hopefully she'll just bring Monica and me breakfast in bed all on her own soon!

I don't really remember the context of this picture, but I'm guessing Grayson was still feeling a little sick, and we were just snuggle buddies.

On the 23rd for dinner we decided to have a "Bethlehem" dinner.  I don't know how authentic we really were, but we ate on the floor by candlelight, and had lentils and pita bread and humus and olives and dates.  I know Monica looked things up, but I think we also just ate a lot of what we had, and I at least don't think the Madras Indian Lentils were period authentic!  Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and the kids all dressed up.  Grayson was a donkey, Brooke was a shepherd, and Winry was a wise man with a gift. Oh and Brooke completely came up with Grayson's costume on her own, made it for him, and dressed him in it!

On Christmas Eve, the girls sang in church.  They did a fabulous job, and the picture was better than ever thanks to Monica's new phone!

That evening the kids all put on their matching pajamas and we got a picture in front of the tree.  Fortunately none of them look naughty in this picture, which is good as this was a last chance for a good impression.

That night we all came to the piano and sang some Christmas songs together.  I thought it was a really great time and I would love to do it again every year.

Brooke even played her Christmas song she has been working on this year.

And that night right before bed we did a call with Monica's family.  Her parents were home alone for Christmas, so we all called to chat, even Melanie and family in India!  It's not terribly easy to get everyone together, so it was nice to see everyone.

And I think that's a wrap for our lead up to Christmas.  Of course we're excited for presents tomorrow, but we're also excited that we can return to live with Heavenly Father because Jesus Christ was born!  I am so grateful He is my Savior, and that He was willing to suffer for my sins so that I can repent and be healed.  I am grateful for the gift that He is in my life, in the life of my wife and children, and the lives of all people.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Howdy folks!  Christmas is right around the corner, and we had quite a busy week of activities.  Monica had her choir concert, we went to the Trail of Lights, and hosted a relief society party at our house.  We had several late nights, and I think Monica and I might be more tired than the kids are, but we're all happy and having a great time, and are super excited for Christmas!

Oh hey, Monica put together the 1 second every day for November!  Check it out!

Winry had a school assignment to decorate an ugly sweater with a tradition we have, so she drew Elf on the TV, specifically when the narwhal is talking to Buddy.  A+ work for sure.

The girls got to show off their ballet dance as it was the last class before the winter break.  They're dance class has a dance to come watch about once a month I'd say, which is pretty cool.

On Tuesday night Monica had her choir concert, and I went with the girls.  It was in downtown on the UT campus.  The girls and I had a great time.

The music was super great, and I don't remember the last time I was at a performance that professional.  I really enjoyed all the music, and it was a great evening.  Monica called us between shows and we chatted a little while we were walking to the car.  I also recorded Monica's favorite song from the concert, O Holy Night.

On Wednesday night my work got tickets to the Trail of Lights for all of us here in Austin.  Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic and did not meet up with the rest of the group, and it took us like an hour to drive the last mile or two into the parking lot, and we had some hard times in the car, but as soon as we got to the lights everyone was so happy.  I specifically remember Winry when we got out of the car and were walking in the dark saying something like "this isn't even fun" or something like that.  Then the second we got through the front gate and saw a bunch of lit up trees she flipped a 180 and said "WHOA! Look at all those pretty trees!"  Speaking of walking in the dark to the entrance, Grayson was having a wonderful time singing Jingle Bells for all to hear!

Next to the parking lot before entering there was this giant tree set up.  They don't have lots of pine trees down here (and I don't think I've ever seen one  this big anyway), and from our observation it seems pretty popular to put up trees like this were you run lights up to a star at the top.  This one was huge, probably 100 feet tall, and we got to walk under it.  It was really cool.

Here we all are inside.  Grayson and I were just moving too fast for the lighting, we were too excited.

The tickets that work bought for us got us in an hour early... which didn't end up mattering because we got stuck in the parking line for so long.  But it also got us into the zip area where they had cookies and hot chocolate!  So that was super fun.  Everyone probably ate too many cookies, and the hot chocolate was pretty good too.

Grayson took his to go.  Being called the Trail of Lights, everything was set up along a path.  There were tunnels of lights to walk through in some places, and there were a lot of displays on the side to check out.  The Trail of Lights has been happening for a long time, and some of the things looked like they were definitely long time traditions.  There was even a dinosaur Santa that Grayson loved.  Also, looking back at this picture, that tree is really what caught my eye.  That is super lit up and looks amazing!

Towards the end of the trail there was a big I love you in the trees, and there was a really cool tunnel as the exit too.

Jelly still spends most of the day with me in my office sleeping.  One day this past week she was snoring super loud!  (p.s. she's snoring right now as I write this)  Also, I think she might get a little cold being shaved, because she's been sleeping on me all night long lately, and if I wake up and move around she does NOT get off.

One morning when Grayson woke up he grabbed a book and started reading to his stuffed cat in his bed!  What a cutie!

On Friday the girls had a dance to show off for hip hop.  They did awesome.

And then in the middle of the night last night... Brooke threw up. :(  I stayed home from church with her as it was my week (not an Elders Quorum week).  She mostly slept the whole time.  Hopefully she's feeling all better soon.

I didn't take pictures while I was doing it, but I spent all day Saturday painting primer on the shelves for the office.  You can see one bookshelf built, I had to sand and prime three others.  It was a lot of work, but now the priming is all done and hopefully we can get to painting soon.

Today when Grayson was going down for his nap he told me he was hungry, which made sense because he didn't eat his lunch.  So when he asked for a snack, I brought up his sandwich from his lunch, which he of course didn't want, so I left it on his bed.  And just a minute or two later, wouldn't you know it, he was eating his sandwich!

And that catches us all up!  We're getting pretty excited for Christmas, which is right around the corner!