Evers Family Christmas Party

We got together with my family on the Saturday after Christmas. We got the yummy tri-tip for dinner along with all of the fixings. It was fun to be together and even more special because Dad and Mom leave on their mission in a few weeks and won't be here for next Christmas. Their wish is for us kids to stay close and do things together while they are gone and I think it will be fun to plan and do things with my brothers and sister this next year. Heidi and my mom got all of the boys and Kaitlin t-shirts that said "git er done" on them. This has kind of been our family motto since dad had his surgery over a year ago.

After dinner Travis and Sean played the guitar for us and Kaitlin and Tyler sang a hot cup of cocoa song for us. It was fun to be together with family and fun that mom and dad almost have their dining room done for us to eat in. We ate in it even though it isn't quite finished.

Christmas Day

Travis only put 3 things on his list this year, he wanted Guitar Hero World Tour (didn't get it) Iron Man DVD, and a new black accoustic/electric guitar like his dads. I told Sean he was going to have to buy the guitar, because I know nothing about what is good or not. Luckily he found a Washburn guitar with an electric pick up on Ebay that had only been played 1/2 a dozen times and came with 2 extra sets of strings, and a hard case. The guitars he had looked at that were similar in the stores were $500-$800. He was able to pick this one up for $220 with shipping included. I was a little worried because it took like 3 weeks to get here and I was worried it wasn't ever going to arrive and then what would we do since it was the only thing Travis was getting? But it arrived in time and it was beautiful, not a scratch or a fingerprint on it. Travis was so excited when he opened it up and he and Sean sat and played guitar together almost all day on Christmas day. It was so fun to listen to them. Most of my pictures are with his hand in his face blocking the photo shot, but I did happen to get this one.

Tyrel only wanted snow toys for the January campout at the Haskell's cabin for scouts, so he did his own shopping on Amazon and got himself a snowboard and a snow scooter. He is loving his snow scooter. I don't have his pictures scrapped yet, but here is a photo without a layout.

Trevin wanted Indiana Jones Legos and an Eagles helmet. We opted for a real helmet so he could have as a keepsake instead of a cheap plastic imitation. He spent all morning putting his Lego set together according to the instruction booklet. All of the boys have really enjoyed Legos and it was fun to see him do it by himself.

Sick on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, all was going well. I had some extra time in the afternoon and since I didn't get pumpkin break made and gifted to my neighbors, I decided I should at least make some for Sean and Travis' home teaching families, so I made some pumpkin bread and while Sean and the boys were delivering, I threw together some chicken enchiladas for dinner.

After dinner we cleaned up the mess and I sent Sean downstairs to get the boys so we could open our Christmas Eve gifts and read the Christmas story from the Bible. All of the sudden I got the worst abdominal cramps I had ever had. I was in pain worse than I remember when I was in labor. I was sweating and shaking and doubled over in pain. Tyrel had been sick with the stomach flu a few days before, so I thought maybe that was it, but I seriously was in so much pain I thought an epidural would be great. I began to wonder if maybe my appendix had burst or something. It was absolutely awful!

I had Sean help me into bed and told him I didn't think I could stand it and that I needed a blessing. He was at a loss as to who to call on Christmas Eve. He tried his dad and got no answer, so he tried his brother Todd. Todd asked if we could wait until they had put their kids to bed and I said "No, keep trying the neighbors." Thankfully, Todd said he could come up. I felt really bad taking him away from the family on Christmas Eve, but I seriously thought it was something really serious.

While we were waiting I told Sean where the stocking stuffers were hidden and where the "Santa" presents were so he could get them out. We had the kids come in to our room and sit on the floor to open their Christmas Eve pajamas.

He came, they gave me a blessing, Sean walked Todd to his car and by the time he got back to me I was totally fine. I ended up getting up and finishing off the Christmas stuff like I had planned. I'm so thankful for the power of the Priesthood.

Nielsen Christmas Party

We decided for the first time ever to have a Nielsen Family Christmas party this year. It was at our house and we decided to have dinner and then to re-enact the Nativity because Sean's family grew up doing that.

We had spaghetti, salad, rolls, and dessert and then proceeded to get all of the "actors" in costume. After finding enough bath towels, we proceeded to the living room for Grandpa LaMarr to read the story while we sang and had the kids re-enact the story. My kids are so much older than the rest, it looked like we had giant wisemen. Trevin and Alexis were Joseph and Mary and we had a couple of little rabbits instead of sheep, but it was cute! Travis and Tyrel tried their hardest to stay out of camera range.

This is a picture of Diane and LaMarr in front of our tree.

This was a fun family tradition that I hope we can continue.

Constructing the Houses

Our gingerbread house activity was a little strange this year. Travis and Tyrel wanted to make their houses so they could eat them and Trevin has 2 teachers so he had to make two houses (he doesn't get to eat one). I had some leftover dough, so while we constructed the houses, we had Sean roll out the dough and then Travis and Tyrel cut into cookies and baked. They put them in the oven and didn't set the timer until a few minutes later. I didn't pay attention and they had set it for the full time after they had already been in there for 3 or 4 minutes. So, needless to say, our cookies were a little overbaked. They insisted they were not burnt and tried them, we had boys spitting and spewing and looking for a sink and some thing to drink. It was kind of funny!

Trevin got both of his houses made and delivered to his teachers. Didn't he do a great job? This is Mrs. McKee with her house.

This is Mrs. Turner and her house. I went to high school with her and her husband and all three of my boys have had her as a 4th grade teacher. She was so excited to get her house because she has kept the houses the other boys made and she said her kids have picked most of the candy off of them, so she was excited for a new pretty house.

Scrooge and Jacob Marley

Trevin came home from school all excited because his school class was going to do a program where they acted out Dickens "A Christmas Carol". I asked him if he had a part and he said he was going to be Jacob Marley. I assumed the teacher would be narrating and they would just walk around the stage for their parts, but I asked him if he had any lines and he said, "Mom, I have a whole scene!" It was so cute. So every evening while I was makng dinner, he and I would run lines while I cooked. It is all he talked about for two or three weeks.

They did the play in their classroom and had scenery and costumes and everything. Scrooge did very well at being grouchy (can you see the scowl on his face) and Trevin remembered all of his lines and did a great job as Marley. Don't you love his chains? The little girl in Trevin's class that was the ghost of Christmas present was hilarious. She kept waving her wand and twirling around in her dress and she even talked with a British accent. It was so funny! They all did a great job and Trevin was excited that both sets of his grandparents could be there. He made Grandpa LaMarr (the actor) very proud!

Christmas Guitar Concert

We got to enjoy a Christmas concert at the Jr. High. It included the choir, orchestra and guitar class. We had quite a few kids we knew from our ward in the choir and there are three boys from our ward in Travis' guitar class. The guitarists played Silent Night, Jingle Bells, O Come O Come Emmanuel and What Child is This. After everyone finished their parts, they all played and sang We Wish You A Merry Christmas together. I'm so proud of Travis and all that he has learned this year in his guitar class. He loves it and I love listening to him play while I make dinner in the evenings.

Sub For Santa Translation

My wonderful brother in law Ken was able to translate our Thank You cards from our Sub for Santa Family. Thanks Ken

Translation:

For Santa Clause
From Daniela
Thank you
For bringing me
Shoes

For Santa Clause
From Daniela
Thank you for the toys and I hope
That you have a merry Christmas

For Santa Clause
From Alfredo
Thank you for the toys and I hope
That you have a merry Christmas

Sub For Santa

I had to share the neat experience we had with Sub For Santa this year. This is a tradition we have every year. For the past 8 or 9 years we have gone through the United Way sub for Santa program because I like the way they screen the families and have them go to classes on how to interview for a job, how to prepare a resume, etc, to help them get back on the right track so they don't need Sub for Santa the next year hopefully. They also have very specific rules so that each family is treated fairly, 2 clothing items, 2 toys and a book (I am a proponent of reading, so I especially like the book part). Then, they suggest you sponsor more families if your budget allows instead of just buying more extra stuff for the family you got. We try to get a larger family (5-6 kids) because we have always budgeted the money to do so.

With the lack of work this past year at our household, we almost didn't do it, but Sean and I discussed it and still thought we should do it because we wanted to continue the tradition and also show the boys that even though we don't have a lot of money this year, we are still better off than a lot of people. Also, my Young Women had helped with that baby blanket with my lesson a couple of months ago, and sub for santa is where they wanted the blanket to be given. When I requested our family this year, I specifically asked for a family with a baby boy and 2 children max. The guy on the phone didn't think I could request something that specific but took the information anyway. I received our sponsor family and it was a woman that is recently separated from her husband with a 2 month old baby boy and a little girl that is 6. Perfect!!! One problem, they don't speak English very well and we don't speak Spanish very well (okay, we don't speak Spanish at all). I was very impressed with the list of things they asked for. Lots of times we get lists with very specific, sometimes large ticket items on it and it is hard to find the stuff. I could sense the humility in this family as I read the list, clothes, snowboots, coat, nursery rhyme book, Barbie. I guess a baby can't really need any big ticket items, but I was still impressed.

Monday for family night we took our list and the blanket made by my young women and this year I handed the list to the boys and had them make all of the decisions. It was kind of fun to see what they put together. We got a full outfit for the baby (pants, shirt, jacket, socks, and shoes) and also a pair of pajamas. They picked out a little spinning toy and we got a board book for him to go along with the fleece blanket. For the little girl we got a Sleeping Beauty princess Barbie, a princess microphone and play cell phone. Sean picked out a Disney princess activity/story book and the boys picked out the cutest pair of jeans with a silver sparkly belt and a pink long sleeved shirt with sequins on it. I should have taken a picture because it was the cutest outfit. The only disappointment was that we couldn't find princess or pink boots in her size so we had to get black ones but I'm sure she won't mind, I'm sure that warmth is more important and they looked like really warm boots.

We transferred the stuff to two white garbage bags when we got to the car and I called and told her we were on our way to the house. She is living in the basement with either a friend or relative but met us upstairs at the main door. The boys carried in the bags and we presented them to her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled with her English to tell us thank you and that she didn't know what she would have done without us to get gifts for her babies as she had no money. You could really feel how grateful and humbled she was by this experience and it really made an impact on all of us. She gave us these cards that they had made and apologized for them being in Spanish. We assured her it was okay and she broke down again and gave all of us hugs. Here are our cards. I think we figured out the main gist of what she was saying, but if anyone can translate for us, that would be great.

I'm so glad we decided to go ahead and do it this year because this was one of our greatest Sub for Santa experiences and I know it made a great impact on the boys.

Getting Ready for Christmas

So are you sick of posts from me today yet? So much has happened that I haven't had a chance to blog about so sorry. You don't have to read it all if you don't want to but since this is my journal, I had to add it all.

Are you ready for Christmas? I think we are close. The tree is decorated and Sean even volunteered to hang lights on the trees out front (that has never happened before). I didn't get out all of my decorations this year because I think it looks too cluttery if I get it all out. So we just got out the tree, wreath, stockings and hangar, nativity, and put garland around the stair bannister. Trevin pulled out a couple more things to put in the basement, but it should be easy cleanup after Christmas is over.

I sent out all of my Christmas cards and my gift for my grandparents.

We made our gingerbread houses and delivered to Trevin's teachers.

I got my 2 major projects done and back from the publisher.

I got almost everything wrapped this weekend, but I ran out of paper, so I have a few to finish up today.

We got the stocking stuffers bought and Travis' gift finally arrived (we were getting worried because he is really only getting 1 thing and it took over a month to get here) I was afraid it was lost in the mail.

We are doing our sub for Santa family gift shopping and delivery tonight.

I still have to do neighbor gifts and our Ward party is Saturday morning.

We are close!

Still in YW

I got a new calling! Our YW president just got her mission call with her husband to go to Boston, Massachusetts (they go into the MTC the same day as my parents). So, they released the YW presidency yesterday at church and I am moving from Mia Maid advisor to 1st counselor in the presidency, so I will still be with my Mia Maids that I love! I am so excited to be working with the new president. She will be great!

Cleveland Rocks!

Isn't there a song called that? Anyway, my parents got their mission call to do Records Preservation in Cleveland, Ohio. They go to the MTC on January 19th. I'm so proud of them for making this decision and being such a great example to our boys. Actually, they have been in touch with the guy over the records preservation and he said they need them worse in Montreal, Canada, so they may be changing but don't know for sure yet. We are all so excited for them (except Tyrel, he is afraid that they will come back as Cleveland Browns or Cincinnati Bengals fans which are the two teams he can't stand since he is a Steelers fan and they are the rival team for the Steelers, but he will get over it.) It's not like they are Steelers fans anyway.

We love you Dad and Mom!

Women in Christ's Life

We had our Enrichment Christmas party the other night. Sorry no pictures, but we had a great dinner of chicken with cherry sauce, rice pilaf, a wonderful salad, rolls, and a frozen peppermint ice cream dessert. The tables were decorated with nativities of various people in the ward. Then after we ate, we went to the relief society room that they had decorated with lighted pine trees and there were 6 women from our ward dressed like they were from the days of Christ. They had Christmas songs playing in the background and each of the women had a part where they talked about how their lives were influenced by Christ. There was Elizabeth (mother of John the baptist, cousin of Mary), Mary's mother, Joseph's mother, the Innkeeper's wife, the shepherds wife, and of course Mary. It was a beautiful program and really helped remind us of the real reason we celebrate this Christmas season.

Night of Excellence

We had our Young Women Night of Excellence a couple of weeks ago. We had a yummy dinner of pork chops cooked with salsa, maple syrup, and cheese. I know, I didn't think it sounded good either, but they were actually one of my favorite ways of having pork chops that I remember. They were really really good. I need to remember to ask Ashley for the recipe. One of our Young Women prepared all of the pork chops. Along with that we had salad, baked potatoes, and cheesecake for dessert. The theme was "Stand in Holy Places" and it revolved around being worthy now to hold a temple recommend. We had Carly Johnson talk and she did an excellent job. Then the Bishop said a few words and then we took pictures of all the girls blowing kisses to the bishop seated in the center. Sorry the lighting is a little bright at the bottom. I also took pictures of all of the girls with their parents. It was a lovely evening. This is just a "funny face" shot of all the girls.

Evers Family Photos

We had a family photo shoot at Thanksgiving with my family. It has taken me a while to get all of the photos edited and in layouts, but here they all are. I thought there were some cute one's. I especially love the one of Heidi, me and our Dad. The only one I didn't like was the one of Sean and I with his Steelers jacket on. The yellow just didn't go with the rest and the ones we took without the jacket all look goofy. Oh well, I think I have mentioned before that it is impossible to get all good pictures. The one regret I have is that we didn't get a picture of Jaron by himself. What was the photographer thinking? (LOL, that was me)

YM/YW Pinewood Derby

Here are some pictures from the YM/YW pinewood derby that we had after the regular scout pinewood derby. There were no rules except that you had to get your car done in 45 minutes. Each class made 2 cars and then we raced. Travis' car (that he made with Frank and Jacob) won the heat for the Teachers quorum, but their car's "hair" kept getting caught in the wheels for the final heat so they were beat by the Laurel's.

Here are all of the cars starting from the left and going right - Beehives, Mia Maids, Laurels, Deacons, Teachers, Priests.

This is the car Travis helped make. The hair was to cover up all of the Quarters they had to give it some weight.

County Fair

And you thought the Fairs were over for the year right?!

Every year for 4th grade, when they learn about the counties in Utah, they have the 4th graders pick a county. Then they have to learn about it and do a display about the population, sights to see, thing to do, economy, etc. All of my boy's have picked Uintah County because it is one of our favorite places to visit and recreate in. They have all done their own projects though. This is Trevin with his project. They let all of the classes come through to see their displays and the parents get to come in too. It is kind of fun. This is my last county fair project to help with though. Now just a few science fair projects left. They grow up too fast!

Trevin also was learning about Land Forms in social studies a couple of weeks ago. They were each assigned a land or water form like cliff, peninsula, ocean, river, canyon, etc.... You get the idea Anyway they were supposed to make a 3D reprepsentation of their land form. Trevin had Penninsula so we started out with making it from clay and I forgot to add the food coloring to the salt dough and while I was frantically looking for it, it overcooked. Not a good thing by the way. So we went to plan B which turned out to be much better anyway. We made it from cake and then the class got to eat it. Here is a picture of his land form with a blue frosting ocean around it. Sorry it isn't scrapped all cutsie, but I haven't got around to this one yet. Please ignore the crumbs and fingerprints all over my counter!