Christmas 2013

We had a great Christmas this year. As soon as I decorated the house the boys were sure Christmas was just a few days away. We made a chain (actually with how many days until we leave for "cousin's house") and marked it on our calendar. We made sugar cookies, did various Christmas crafts, and made Christmas cards and presents. We wrote and "mailed" letters to Santa.  Thomas asked for 1 glide plane and 2 rockets and Stuart asked for duckies and turtles and they got just what they wanted.  My favorite was the day Thomas wanted to make Daddy a present, so we made him a paper airplane, wrapped it and Daddy opened it. During this whole process Daddy was banished to his room. Then, they repeated the process for me. When we got our package from Grandma Stewart the boys didn't want to wait to open the presents and played with them so much that the paper ripped and I finally gave in and let them open them. One of their favorite activities was going to the new Bass Pro Shop which included a Santa's workshop with crafts, and electric train and race cars. After that we went to McDonald's and let them get kid's meals (thanks to the gift card we got from Grandma Stewart) and play. You have never heard two boys more excited to eat at McDonald's (I think this is only their 3rd time ever getting a kid's meal from anywhere). To top it off we went to Grandma Nance's orchestra concert. It was a fun night.

About a week before Christmas I hurt my back really bad. It wasn't a specific act, it has been bugging me off and on since I was pregnant with Heidi, but this time it got so bad I could barely walk. I finally decided I had to get help. Our neighbor TJ is a physical therapist and said he would see me for free. He figured out the problem and we worked on it. After a couple of days I could finally function again, but I overdid it and it got just as bad or worse than before, so he put it back in place and told me I had to sit/stand up straight and rest as much as possible. I didn't pick up Heidi for over a week, but luckily David was off to help most of that time. The week before Christmas was not the best time to be down and out, but we made it work. Now I am doing much better, but I'm still working on it and doing exercises to strengthen it.

A rare picture of me with all of the kids.  Not that this scene doesn't happen a lot, it just doesn't get captured very often.

My little cutie playing with the ornaments.  As usual the tree was not very decorated on the bottom half.

My boys at the ward Christmas party.  The primary did a nativity and they told the Sunbeams they could be stars or sheep.  Thomas didn't want to wear anything, but was okay carrying a star.

He ended up being the star of the show holding his star over baby Jesus.

We went to David's sister Cynthia's house for Christmas.  Here are all of our stocking lined up on the fireplace.  David's mom embroidered our stockings for us and I think they turned out nice.

We went to a cave called Cosmic Caverns in North Central Arkansas.  I thought this was a good picture of a growing stalactite.

I got David a telescope for Christmas and he put it to use right away.  He has even gotten up in the middle of the night to try to see certain planets.  We did get a good look at Venus (which was a crescent, it apparently has phases like the moon), and Jupiter (we could see a couple of its stripes).  David got me a pressure canner and canning gear and I can't wait to use it to do more chicken.

We celebrated Stuart's birthday with a few candles in some cupcakes and a small present.  He had a hard time remembering how old he was for a few days, but he's got it down now.  (We did a big half birthday party this summer.)

David and I were able to get away for our anniversary.  We went to Eureka Springs which is less than an hour from Cynthia's house.  We went to the Basic Park Hotel which was built in 1905 and it supposed to be haunted.  We had fun, but didn't see any ghosts.

All the kids in front of the tree.  We had a hard time keeping the presents under the tree, but at least none got opened early.

The view from just outside our hotel room door.  It started snowing soon after we arrived.  It was pretty, but very cold and everything in town basically shut down, she we just had to enjoy our jacuzzi tub and eat at the hotel restaurant. The roads were fine the next day and we made it home fine for Stuart's birthday.

Uncle Jared reading The Night Before Christmas

One New Year's Day we celebrated with An'mere and Aunt Jane.  The boys love their An'mere.  They were doing an I Spy Book.

The boys were a little scared to go into the cave and Thomas kept asking when we could leave, but they really did enjoy it.  Thomas didn't like the dripping water and kept covering his head.

David had to carry Heidi the whole time and this is about what she thought about it.  She is a cute little squirmy girl.

On our trip to Northwest Arkansas over Christmas we saw a total of at least 8 bald eagles.  This one cooperated for me and just sat in the tree so I could get a good picture.  We saw at least 4 together just outside of the cave.  David and I saw 2 on the way back from Eureka Springs and we saw one on the drive home.  It was awesome!

Our group in the cave,