B+C+B+C+B+C: i LIED! More Christmas!

Monday, January 17, 2011

i LIED! More Christmas!

And I have to blog it all right? Or it might as well NOT HAVE EVEN HAPPENED.
:)
So when we got to Spokane Christmas Day evening, we should've been exhausted. The babies had done their usual all nighter party, then we had our early morning Christmas, then the crazy packing, cleaning, 3 hrs driving, Spanish Fork McKell get together, another hour of driving, airport security line fun, 90 minute flight, 40 min drive to the house....
But I was so excited to be there and see everyone! So we went right into Christmas mode.

I gave the gifts to Brianna, she passed them out to their recipients.

I'm laughing in the above picture because....

Kardon (Cougar's Dad, Lindsay's, umm, friend?) is opening an unexpected gift "from Brian" that has written on the tag, "to my brozzle Kardon, with Love from Brian McKell." And it's a bottle of men's sensitive fash wash. I don't know if Brian appreciated my humor, but I found the whole scene extremely entertaining.

As you can see from the his wild expression of joy, Dad was ecstatic about his new calendar. (THE REST OF YOU SMITHS BETTER BE LIKING IT MORE!)

The COIN GRAB
I love this tradition. Dad puts his change in a big jar all year long, then at Christmas each kid gets to reach their hand in and see how much they can get in one grab. Brianna's total: $1.44 We'll have to start practicing for next year. And hope she doesn't inherit my small hands.

I think it's funny Brian caught this expression of mine. I'm pretty sure I'm saying to Brianna, "DO YOU HAVE TO GO POTTY?!" That was a frequent urgent question to our little pooper throughout the trip. Fortunately, I think she only had 2 accidents during the 15 days there. I had her in pullups just in case, because I know she does fine at home, but I wasn't sure how she'd do out of her element and in such a big house. She actually acheieved a new milestone there - she can now get up on to the toilet (pronounced twah-ley) by herself, no stepstool needed.

CHRISTMAS BOOKS

Every year mom gives us all a new Christmas book (religious, secular, classics, a good variety), with an envelope taped in the back and paper to write about our Christmas that year. I think this is the 9th year, so we've accumulated a nice library of Christmas books with memories written inside. Here she is reading the newest one to the group:

And now.... Christmas can end.

1 comment:

debbieandstevefamily said...: There is benefit to taking "one" more trip down memory lane!; January 22, 2011 at 12:51 PM

Quotes I want to remember

"The Lord knows our bearing capacity, both as to coping and to comprehending, and He will not give us more to bear than we can manage at the moment, though to us it may seem otherwise. Just as no temptations will come to us from which we cannot escape or which we cannot bear, we will not be given more trials than we can sustain."
- Neal A. Maxwell

"It is a fundamental truth that the responsibilities of motherhood cannot be successfully delegated. No, not to day-care centers, not to schools, not to nurseries, not to babysitters. We become enamored with men's theories such as the idea of preschool training outside the home for young children. Not only does this put added pressure on the budget, but it places young children in an environment away from mother's influence."
-Ezra Taft Benson

“Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can. Keep the covenants your children know you have made. And bear your testimony! Don’t just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.
-Jeffrey R. Holland

"We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith."
-Neil L. Andersen

"Certainly there are times when getting the family together to read the scriptures does not stack up as a spiritual experience worthy of a journal entry. But we must not be deterred. There are special times when the spirit of a son or daughter is just right and the power of these great scriptures goes down into their heart like fire. As we honor our Heavenly Father in our homes, He will honor our efforts."
-Neil L. Andersen

President Hinckley admonished both men and women to be nurturers. He said, ‘How much more beautiful would be the society in which we live if every father . . . and . . . mother regarded [their] children . . . as gifts from the God of heaven . . . and brought them up with true affection in the wisdom and admonition of the Lord.’ ”
-Susan W. Tanner

"Children are like trees. When they are young, their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (22:6). That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush, wife of former U.S. president George Bush, spoke wisely: 'Your success as a family, our success as society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside your house.' "
-Gordon B. Hinckley

“I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.”
-Henry B. Eyring

“Reverent behavior is not a natural tendency for most children. It is a quality that is taught by parents and leaders through example and training. But remember, if reverence is rooted in love, so is the teaching of it. Harshness in our training begets resentment, not reverence.”
-Margaret S. Lifferth

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else."
- M. Russell Ballard

“As parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, ‘I want to follow my dad,’ or ‘I want to be like my mother’?”
-Thomas S. Monson

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
-Kent D. Watson

Monday, January 17, 2011

i LIED! More Christmas!

1 comment:

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