The Powder Calls

Adam and Zac had originally planned to go for their first ski/board trip of the season on Zac's birthday.  He received his 6th grade snow pass as a gift, and he was itching to use it right away.  Unfortunately, our mountains are suffering from the same drought that is plaguing our plains.  With only a few easy runs open using mostly manufactured snow, Adam wasn't eager to waste money on an adult lift ticket, so they delayed their first day up on the slopes until Colorado could get some real snow.  Just before winter break it finally came!  The forecast for the mountains, especially the southern mountains called for snow, snow, snow all through the week, so Zac and Adam planned on taking their first snowboarding/skiing outing on the first day out of school, the Thursday before Christmas.

Then came the germs.  The Tuesday before Christmas Adam came down with an awful cold.  By Wednesday he had a high fever and a horrible thick cough.  He missed three days of work and slept for about 24 hours straight.  Everyday he'd tell Zac he was sure he'd be up for skiing the next day, but he was so sick.  Thursday night he was starting to improve, but was still not doing well.  He thought he'd be OK to go Friday, but it wasn't to be.  Friday he was definitely getting better, but he still slugged around the house from bed, to couch, to bed.  So he determined to go up to Monarch Mountain with Zac on Saturday.  I was a little incredulous that he could go, but I felt so badly for both Zac and Adam, and told them both that if Adam couldn't go, I'd take Zac up Saturday.  That did it!  I think the thought of missing a day on the slopes so distressed Adam that, rib-breaking, hacking cough or no cough, he was going! 

So he did!  They had a great time and Adam even felt pretty good, having several major coughing spasms but enough energy to move.  They had a nice day of skiing and snowboarding in their first taste of glorious Colorado mountain powder.  Last year they never really had a chance to go when the snow was powder, it was good snow, but never freshly fallen on the days they were able to make it up to the resorts.  As a first time out for the season it was a perfect day!  Zac got tired just about when Adam's surge of energy tanked and they were able to head home.  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!  I can't wait for my turn to go with Zac!

Fresh powder!

Advent Three

So much to catch up on.  Let's start back where we left off....  Our family advent continued!

Day 16: 'Express your gratitude: pick 3 people in your life, could be a friend, teacher at school or church, or family member and write them a "thank you" letter.  Let them know specifics of what you are thankful for.'  Zac and Ben really embraced this one.  I loved reading their letters.  And Luke drew an amazing picture for his primary teacher.

From Zac to Brother Cort Hacker

Day 17: 'Share a smile!  Put up free smile signs on the community boards around Briargate (our neighborhood).'  In the condo laundromat that we used while we were in Sedona over Thanksgiving I saw a sign similar to the one below.  'What a fun idea,' I thought.  I immediately decided that I wanted to do something like that with the boys, and our advent activity calendar provided the perfect opportunity.  The afternoon following the night we put the signs up, I passed by the one we put up at Keva Juice and only one smile was left!

Day 18: 'Make pom-pom Christmas trees.'  Tuesday night, youth night at church, meant that it was time for a quick, easy craft!  The pom-pom tree was a craft I found on Pinterest and oh, did they look cute on the pin!  Our trees?  Hmmm....  Not quite the loveliest trees ever made, that is for sure!  These trees particularly made me laugh because I just discovered an incredibly funny website: Pinterest Fail.  Maybe the site is so funny to me because it hits a little close to home--many of my own Pinterest efforts have come out as the ugly cousin of the original Pinterest pin.  After seeing the result of our pom-pom tree attempt I felt like a photo needed to be submitted to the fail list...if only my blog weren't private I totally would!  So, even though they aren't decorations I will be putting up for the years to come, the boys had fun making them, and that is what it is all about! 

Our trees--HAHAHAHAHA!  Pinterest fail, but still SO fun!

Just for reference, here is the original pin.  :)

Day 19: 'Pick your favorite ornament and tell about why you love it so much.'  I am excited to do this one year after year and see how the boys' favorites change or don't change!

Day 20: 'Make red and green playdough and ding-dong-ditch it on the doorsteps of Tommy's to-be-Sunbeams class.'  Here's a fact: Conlin boys LOVE to ding-dong-ditch!  Tommy has five other almost-Sunbeams in his nursery class and the two he was most determined to ditch all "BY MYSELF" (can't you hear him insisting?!) were Emma Moreton and Beckett Goss' doorsteps.  The boys had so much fun, we had to make a second batch the next morning to keep.

Day 21: 'Watch THREE Christmas movies in a row!'  Well, this one might have been a bit selfishly motivated because I wanted to do a lot of cleaning before my parents' arrival on the 22nd, and with 5 boys home, the house has a hard time staying clean for even a millisecond.  Plus, they only got through two movies before they were ready for some wiggle time.  AND I wasted some cleaning time because I HAD to stop and watch A Christmas Story...how could I not?!  Love that one!  "BUMPUSES!!!"  Even if it didn't quite go as stated on the card, it was fun anyway because the boys felt it was such an indulgent/decadent thing to do--three movies in a row!

Day 22: 'Read Gift of the Magi' with Mom.  This is one of my all-time favorite stories.  I first heard it as a little girl, Sesame Street-style when Ernie sold his rubber duckie to buy a cigar box for Bert's paper clip collection, and Bert sold his paper clip collection to buy a soap dish for Ernie's rubber duckie.  Of course, in the spirit of children's happy-endings, unlike Della and Jim's irretrievable treasures of hair and heirloom watch, Mr. Hooper brings two Christmas presents to Bert and Ernie Christmas Eve...the duckie and paper clips.  Since then I've heard the story told in many ways, but the wonderful message of selfless giving, putting another's happiness above your own, is always the same.  "The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi."  The best finishing paragraph ever written.

Day 23: 'Take a nighttime light walk.'  We had already had a light drive, but my parents were going to be in town by this day and I thought a light walk around the neighborhood would be fun!  The little boys were both suffering from mega-colds, so Adam stayed home with them, but the rest of us went out into the cool, crisp night and had a lovely night-light walk!

Day 24: 'Deliver Secret Santa gifts.'  The boys were so excited to deliver the gifts, Christmas dinner and Christmas breakfast items assembled for our secret Santa family.  With the combined effort of four different families we had a huge haul!  Since we had dinner food, we had to make our delivery during the day, so the boys dressed as stealthy as possible by using props from our costume box (please note Tommy's little wolf ninja face poking up over the package in the car!  Hahahahaha!).  When we were making the drop-off, a neighbor pulled out of their driveway in their car all slow and curious like, watching the boys all-ninjaed-up running from the house.  I am sure it looked a little suspicious!  I had to laugh.  Once the car passed the house and saw the gifts all stacked on the porch though, I saw them speed up and drive away.  No problem here!  The family we were delivering to ended up not being home, so we had to find a place to hide the gifts where they would be out of view of the street and wouldn't get snowed on before we made our getaway, leaving a note on the door for where the family could find the gifts.  It was so fun helping Santa out a bit on his busiest night of the year!

Day 25: 'Spend the day celebrating the birth of the Savior and the love of family.'  And we did.  But that is for another post.

It's Christmas Time in the City

In other holiday news....

A few years back our Cub Scout pack master wanted to give the boys an opportunity to serve the community at Christmas time.  He signed the pack up for one day of Salvation Army red bucket bell ringing, and the boys each took one hour shifts.  Thus a tradition was born!  Now every December instead of having a regular pack meeting, our pack signs up to ring the bell at the nearby Walgreen's.  We are lucky to have had Zac, Ben and Josh all able to participate in this awesome service.  When people see those darling scouts out there ringing the bell, they are always generous.  This year, when Ben and Josh took their turn at 1pm, the bucket was already full, and one of the boys who rang later was given a $100 bill to put in the bucket!  Wow! 

Tommy has embraced the Christmas season by pretending he's Santa Claus and leaving out pretend milk and cookies for himself, then pretending to go to sleep, then pretending to wake up--excited to eat them.  It's hilarious!  The other day he and Luke were playing Santa Claus/kid.  Luke was telling Tommy it was time to go to sleep so Santa could come, and Tommy was apparently not cooperating.  Luke in his most persuasive, sweet tone said, "Tommy, do you want Santa to bring you some coal?"  And Tommy, who doesn't know what coal is said, "Yes!"  Luke, intending to clarify, because why would any normal person want coal, said, "Tommy, it's just a big, black rock.  Is that what you want for Christmas?"  And Tommy jumped up with excitement and exclaimed, "YES!"  I guess a big, black rock sounds pretty cool when you are three!

Adam and I attended his company party at the Garden of the Gods Club last weekend.  It was a lovely venue!  And of course, it's always nice to spend some time with Adam's colleagues and their spouses.  He works with some pretty nice people.  Below is the adorable, impressive gingerbread house at the entrance to the club house.  I actually have a dream to one day find the time and unearth the effort to make a grand gingerbread house like this one.

I got the Christmas cards and packages mailed the day BEFORE the busiest mailing day of the year!  YAY!  Go me!  There was still a long line, but I went after dropping off Luke at school, so it was just me and my shadow, Tommy, so it was pretty painless...for everything but my wallet.  As I forked out the money to mail my six packages, I was reminded of why I love gift cards so much.  Sorry, I know, uncreative, but so much easier, and cheaper, to mail!

We attended a beautiful Christmas music program put on by our stake.  I was able to participate in the stake choir, which I love to do, and Ben sang one song with a children's choir.  It was a lovely, peaceful night of music and our entire family left feeling uplifted and touched by the spirit of the season.  Luke's favorite was the cello duet of O Come, Immanuel.  It's the third or fourth time he's mentioned how much he loves quiet, string pieces recently.  I am thinking it's time to sign the boy up for piano lessons!  We may have a violinist in our future!

Our pre-Christmas youth night activity was Christmas caroling to several ward member's homes, many of whom needed a little extra holiday cheer, followed by doughnuts and cocoa at the church.  What a great activity!  I can tell you that there is not one person out there who isn't grateful to have young people show up at their door and sing songs to them.  Plus, it was Zac's first mutual night, so it was fun to have an activity where all the young women and young men were together so I could see him in action with his new peer group.  I gave him smooshes and squeezes all night, which didn't embarrass him in the least!

Along with a couple other families in the ward, we've been privileged to be a part of a 12 Days of Christmas Secret Santa gift-giving for a family that has seen some tough times this year.  It will culminate in Christmas gifts for the whole family on Christmas Eve.  The boys are having a blast with the ding-dong ditch while they learn about the blessing of giving to others!  This opportunity has brought a special spirit to this Christmas season for our family.  I love that the more we are able to help others, the more we feel the joy in serving and the more we begin to wonder who the service is really benefiting!

Along with our YW secretary, Julie, I spent a morning making Christmas gifts for the YW--these pretty little decorative tiles that have next year's mutual theme on them: "Stand ye in holy places and be not moved."  I love them!  I have a couple of extra vinyl stickers left-over, so I am going to have to go out and get myself a tile!

Tuesday, either by luck or by some divine inspiration on the part of Luke's teacher, Luke's kindergarten class had its holiday celebration a day before the actual last day of school before the winter break.  And then it snowed early Wednesday morning and school for Wednesday was canceled.  This was a gift to the happiness of our home because Luke doesn't deal with disappointment all that well sometimes.  Zac, Josh and Ben were bummed, because their parties were canceled or postponed until after the break, but they understood and moved on quickly to feeling joy for the snow day.  I don't think the transition from sad/mad to 'oh well' would have gone so smoothly for Luke.  Anyhow, I was able to go help in the classroom for Luke's Tuesday party, which I love and was so fun...and honestly, a little tough.  With the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy still so fresh, it was hard not to look around the room at those sweet, smiling, carefree 5- and 6 year-olds and think, "these kids are those kids."  Like so many others, I've been extra emotional since Friday anyway, tears coming at the drop of a hat.  During my time in Luke's class on Tuesday, I kept swallowing down that teary feeling and had to keep my mind distracted by focusing on the joy that was radiating from the kids as I traced hands, helped with cutting, stapled headbands and painted noses for several Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeers.

Finally, we delivered 31 bottles of 7Up (well, make that 28, I still have 3 to deliver!) to friends, church teachers, visiting teachers, home teachers, and neighbors as a Merry Christmas and end-of-year thank-you gift.  The little tag on all the bottles says, "Everything looks UP whenever you are around."  We are so blessed with wonderful people in our lives, so many more than just these 31 bottles indicate, and we want them to know how grateful we are for them and the support they give to our family.  We are strengthened and uplifted by the amazing people who all play a unique and instrumental part in the symphony that is our lives. 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

It was supposed to be the last day of school before winter break.
Instead it was a snow day!
We had blizzard warnings, and although it was freezing, snowy and super windy, the snow wasn't so abundant that I'd call it a blizzard.  Darn!  But it was still a cold, cuddly day, and I do love that!  The big boys were a little disappointed to miss out on holiday parties, but they got over it pretty quickly.  We ate comfort foods and drank hot chocolate.  We watched movies and made Christmas Shrinky Dinks, an early Christmas present from my cousin for the boys.  Cooped up inside, of course there was whining and bickering, but there was more laughing and playing.  Sadly, Adam was home sick with a fever.  By evening the wind had {mostly} let up, so all but Adam and Luke, who opted for warmth, went into the wintry afternoon to play in the snow for just a bit.  It was still cold, but it was beautiful.  Watching the Christmas lights coming on as dusk settled in, reflecting their bright colors on the snow, made everything feel so Christmassy...six days to go!

Watching the Shrinky Dinks shrink, curl and finally flatten...fascinating.  The boys LOVED them!

Zac's Priesthood Day

Sunday was a big day for Zac in the life-long journey of his faith.  In our church, when a young man turns 12, if he is doing his best to live righteously, he is worthy to receive the priesthood.  Zac definitely qualifies!  He is such a great young man.  Hands were laid upon his head and he was given the power of the priesthood and ordained a deacon in the church.  Following that, Adam gave him a very special blessing encouraging him to seek ways to use his priesthood authority to bless and serve others.

As in any church, being a deacon is a pretty big job!  It includes: administering priesthood ordinances, "deacons pass the sacrament"; serving others, "deacons assist the bishop in administering temporal things. This may include gathering fast offerings, caring for the poor and needy, caring for the meetinghouse and grounds, serving as a messenger for the bishop in Church meetings, and fulfilling other assignments from the quorum president"; and finally, inviting all to come unto Christ, 'deacons watch over the church [and are] standing ministers unto the church'. They 'warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ'. This includes setting a good example, fellowshipping quorum members and others, notifying members of Church meetings, speaking in meetings, sharing the gospel, and bearing testimony. (text on deacon duties used from lds.org)

What does having priesthood authority mean?  "The authority to act in the name of God is called the priesthood.  Some mistakenly think it gives one the power to tell other people what to do. What it actually means is that a person can act in God’s name in behalf of His church—like when we give someone power of attorney so they can act in their behalf.  Prior to the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith received priesthood authority at the hands of John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John who received that same "power and authority" from Jesus Christ Himself ( Luke 9:1 ). These men appeared as angels and bestowed the priesthood upon Joseph Smith. The prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, is the authorized successor to Joseph Smith. He and the Church’s other Apostles trace their priesthood authority back to Jesus Christ in an unbroken chain of ordinations." (used from mormon.org)

Zac was so excited to have this honor and duty given to him.  He had been talking about it for months as the best part about turning 12.  We were all able to feel the specialness of the moment during Zac's ordination, it was sweet and tender and strong.  We are blessed as a family to have a second priesthood holder in our home and to have such a wonderful example of living right for his younger brothers in Zac.  It was a very special day.  My heart was full, and the joy in Zac's countenance was near to giddiness all day long.

A text I received from Zac on Sunday morning.

Advent Round Two

Oh we are having so much fun with our advent this year!

Day 8: 'Purchase gifts to donate to the Junior UN toy drive at AIES (the boys' elementary school).'  Ben is one of the two delegates from his class this year and the country they are representing is Russia.  Adam and I ended up getting so caught up in setting up for the ward party on the 8th, that we actually did this toy shopping activity on the 10th.  Note to self: next year, make it more clear to the boys BEFORE we go into the store that we are NOT shopping for gifts for ourselves on this trip...at all.  Although we had talked about the purpose of the trip before we went into the store, I had to give them several annoyed reminders that the toys we were looking for would be donated to kids who would otherwise not be receiving gifts this Christmas and not for our family (so stop with the "I wants"!).

Day 9: 'Bake cookies and take them to the local fire station to give to the amazing, hardworking firefighters of our community.'  This activity was SO fantastic!!  We had fun baking, and, of course, eating, chocolate chip cookies on only the second snowy and freezey day of the season.  About time!  We mixed and baked among my many Sunday meetings, and then we packaged the cookies up and brought them to our local station.  We were greeted by four firefighters, four were out on a call.  We sang them "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and they let the boys explore the ladder truck and talked to them about the job and the truck.  The boys were so stoked!  I'll admit, Adam and I were too!  Firefighters/firetrucks...very, very cool.

This egg smile was completely unintentional!  Even the cookies were happy to be baked for a good cause!

Day 10: 'Go to see Rise of the Guardians as a family.'  A great way to celebrate our family AND my birthday!  We all really enjoyed it, and Tommy spent the rest of the night pretending to be the Easter Bunny.

Day 11: 'Take a night drive to look at the Christmas lights.  Bring notes that say "Your lights are the best," and tape them to the doorknob of the house that has your favorite lights.'  We do something like this every year, and we all love it every time.  There are a couple of houses in our area that go ALL out, one that even has a music program to go with the light display.  Fun!

Day 12: 'Go shopping for canned goods to donate to the Care and Share canned food drive.'  Maybe it's because Albertson's sells very few toys and food items don't cause a case of the "gimmies" in my boys quite like the toy section of Target does, but hopefully it is because of our discussion on gracious giving that followed Monday's Target trip, whatever the reason, this trip to the store thankfully went much more smoothly than the one on Monday.

Day 13: 'Write letters to missionaries or family members.'  The boys chose to write to Tutu and Auntie Sara.  The letters were short but sweet!

Day 14: 'Each of you pick your favorite Christmas book and we will read them together around the tree.'  {sigh}  Loved this.

Day 15: "Make ice cream cone Christmas trees.'  Thanks to Pinterest, a much simpler version of the gingerbread house theme has been revealed to the world!  Now, now...don't be hasty in thinking I'm being a little grinchy.  I'm not doing away with the possibility of building gingerbread houses another year, I still really love them, but this was fun, quick, and simple enough that everyone felt happy about eating them right away.