The Bits: December 1st Through December 31st

All of December's Bits in one gigantic post!

To kick-off the Light the World Christmas campaign for our church, we baked and brought a batch of cookies to the firefighters at our local station.  They are always so awesome the few times we've stopped by--and just like in the past, they gave us the grand tour.

Tommy's Light the World note to Adam and I to honor his parents like Jesus did.

Due to extreme cold, the live nativity was cancelled on the day we went to the Creche Exhibit, but we still enjoyed the many nativities displayed throughout the building.  This one was the family favorite this year, a balloon nativity, made by one of the men in our ward.

We forgot to get a photo of Luke in action, but once again, he was lucky to serve the community with his Cub Scout Pack this Christmas season, supporting the Salvation Army by taking a turn ringing the bell in front of a nearby grocery store.

Yule Tea at Glen Eyrie with some wonderful women and friends!

The 8th grade winter concert was so great!  These kids come so far in three years.  I was so excited when we first sat down.  We had carefully chosen our seats, so I was sure we'd have a good line of sight on Ben.  It is always a gamble whether you are going to be able to see your child at these things.  He walked in, sat down and we could see him so well...then his neighbor raised her music stand unusually high.  Dang!  Even though we couldn't see his face, we could hear Ben and those trumpeteers doing their thing!

Thirteen degrees.

Luke's Y.E.S. Club Symposium at Colorado College wrapped up their semester of learning and growing as "young environmental stewards."  The SITW group did a project tracking trash that was collected off the ground, discovering how much was out there, what was recyclable, what was decomposable and what was not.  Their project and presentation were well received by the other groups of Y.E.S. Club kids, and they loved seeing the other projects, as well as touring the campus and hearing about the majors and careers available in environmental protection.  We are so grateful Luke had the opportunity to be a part of this great club!  He had so much fun and it did a great job enhancing his learning from school in a hands-on way.

PTO President life plugs onward!  We finished up 2016 with a teacher appreciation cookie event where the teachers are treated with our school community's favorite holiday treats, some to eat immediately as well as boxes to take some home.  It was a nice way to close out our 2016 efforts.

While Ben and I were in Alabama, I received an email from Luke's math teacher say in that the kids would be forgoing their usual math homework in order to complete 14 pages of a huge long division math packet.  Luke, as has been expressed before, HATES homework.  Also, unfortunately, Luke had left his math packet at school over the weekend (not shocking for my boy who reigns as King of Forgotten Things).  This meant that he had just three days to complete 14 pages of math.  Luke is very smart, but he is a diagnosed "slow processor" which means he gets how to do it, but it just takes him a long time to relay the information through his brain and his body--he doesn't work fast.  Anyhow, the celebration of this photo is that HE DID IT!  And there was surprisingly little drama about it all, too.  I am so proud of Luke and his little victories!

With two days left of school before winter break, Tommy came down with two days of the stomach flu and fever.  Poor buddy!

This boy and his rosy cheeks make my heart melt faster than an ice candle holder!

The School in the Woods kids gathering around the Solstice Tree with their ice candles, learning about the importance of the sun and the seasons.  I love this school.

Windy!

Josh was so excited to be a part of the Briargate Ward Jazz Band this year, and Ben had planned it for his band project, so even though the boundaries had changed, our boys were able to make a "special appearance" at Briargate's Christmas Party.  We are sure going to miss being a part of this great group of musicians!  We love this ward!

We braved the zero degree temperatures and snowy roads to go to our new ward's delightful Christmas Breakfast.

Seriously a good film!  And all for free, thanks to the boys' orthodontist who treated their clients to a rented-out theater!

While we saw Rogue One, Tommy was having fun celebrating his best buddy Noella's birthday at the gym.

Getting out the post-church wiggles in a frozen world (because I made them).

Gingerbread house building with some of our favorite friends, the Murdocks!  I'm pretty sure as much candy ended up in their bellies as on their houses.

Both Josh and Tommy played so well at their winter piano recital!  Music is such a gift!

I took the boys to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to kick-off the winter break!  It was so fun to return to the magical world of Harry Potter.  Unfortunately, Josh was the second (and only other victim) of Tommy's stomach bug, so he missed it.

Three monkey boys.

I mean, the elf is a little creepy, right?!  Hahahaha!

When a normal-sized gingerbread man just won't cut it for all the candy you want to pile on....

A visit to the skating rink is like time traveling to my childhood.  And the boys love it.  Also, Tommy and Luke both won a game: Tommy--limbo, and Luke--spotlight!

The woman in front of me at Target on Christmas Eve day, turned around at the end of her purchase and handed me a $5 gift card to Starbucks saying, "Merry Christmas!"  Wow!  I was stunned!  SO very kind!  It made a day I love already even better.

It was so fun having Ben come to yoga with me over winter break, and he really loved it!  Another yogi is born!

A great big thanks to Auntie Mary for the delicious lunch out with the family!

Snow Play in Silverthorne with the Simonds

We were invited by our dear friends and neighbors, the Simonds, to join them for a couple of days at a condo up in Silverthorne for some skiing/boarding at Copper and snow play.  YES, thankyouverymuch! 

It was so much fun and a great way to break up the days of our winter break!  Adam and the boys planned for two days of skiing/boarding at Copper.  I joined them for one and spent the second with my little boys playing at the condo with our friends and sledding.  The Simonds have a big family of their own, and several others who they have adopted into their lives, some of their friends from Nigeria and their church community here, and then us...we are all the Framily (friends that are family).  And much of the framily was at the condo--so it was a constant party: card games, board games, video games, hot tub time, chatter, music, laughter, and foooooood! 

It's so nice to have a couple of days at the slopes that don't require a long early morning and late afternoon drive to and from the mountain.  And I love skiing with my boys!  It was really thoughtful of Valerie to offer to hang with my littles so I could have a day at Copper.  Right now, I only go once about every-other-year, so I get to see their progress in leaps and bounds.  It was really so neat to see what great snow sportsmen they've become over their seasons.  Zac and Josh both had frustrations to deal with on new-to-them boards, plus, it's only Josh's second season, but it was a great day with a lot of good runs.  It was also a joy to play with my little boys in the snow and spend some time hanging out with them at the cabin.  They are so funny and were so cute and helpful with Jackson and little Ben, children of Emily and Danny, who were also part of the framily.

The second day up, after a pretty great day, Josh fell hard and hurt his wrist on one of the last runs of the day.  While the other boys were sent off by Adam to take some extra runs, Adam and Josh slowly made their way down the mountain so that Josh wouldn't fall again.  Eventually, they ran into some of the guys from the Ski Patrol, hanging out by one of the "SLOW" signs.  Adam asked which village had the first aid station, and after directing them to center village, they offered to take Josh down the mountain the rest of the way.  Adam had called me before he texted the picture of Josh in the Ski Patrol sled, so I knew Josh was OK, but seeing your child in a Ski Patrol sled is an unsettling picture nonetheless!  He was bandaged up and we planned to take him to the doctor after we returned home.  That was Saturday, and by Monday, he seemed to be feeling better and healing up, so we are still contemplating whether to take him in for an x-ray.

Unfortunately, Josh's wasn't the worst of the injuries for the weekend!!  Phillip Simonds, one of David and Valerie's adult kids, tore his ACL his first day up, and, while snowboarding on New Year's Day, David was hit by another boarder from our group and his ankle was broken in two places.  So heartbreaking for our friends!

Our older boys had plans for New Years Eve, so after the guys all returned to the condo from the mountain, we loaded the car, said a sad goodbye to our friends--who were staying for the holiday, and drove home to party like it's 2016!   

Soooo...this picture tells a story.  We got to the mountain, unloaded the car and OYE! Adam realized he forgot to bring the key to the ski rack!  No key means no snowboards or skis for the entire crew.  At first we were really dismayed and thought we'd just have to bust the rack, because he had brought a car key on our trip, but left the rest of his keys back at OUR HOUSE (he hates carrying around a lot of keys).  Then I remembered that he had mentioned giving me one of the rack keys and I had told him to put it on my giant key wad (all of my keys, except for my car keys, that sits at the bottom of my purse most of the time since I hardly use them).  He had actually done it!  So the key to the rack was as close as the condo.  It delayed our start just a bit, but by the time I had my skis rented, Ben and Adam were nearly back to Copper with the rack key.  Sorry, babe!  The story had to be recorded...for posterity!

It was a pretty busy day on the slopes!

Zac

Josh

Benny!

End-of-day happy/exhausted faces!

We were introduced to a card game called Nerts, which is now our favorite game to play!

Kitchen talk.

Luke helping Jackson in the deep snow.

Post-sledding happiness!

Day two!

Micah (in the green helmet) had a 24-hour stomach bug on day one, so he was extra pumped to join my guys for day two.

Not my favorite picture ever.  Hopefully the one and only time I'll ever see this for any of my family!

Wrapped up and still smiling!

The mamas: Valerie, Emily and I.

Adam and David--before the broken ankle.