Wilcox Family Party

This year, McKay's family wasn't able to be here because they were just out for a wedding.  We had fun even though we missed them.  My Uncle Reid came.  That was fun to chat with him.  He helped with the cooking, and like always..... is an amazing cook.

These two are not blood related, but I swear they are.  You'd look at them and think cousins.  

Little Thea was so cute and happy.  She's becoming more and more happy to see extended family and it's so cute.

These guys played a new Brandon Sanderson game.  It's from the new Skyward book series.  You all have your ship and you're trying to make repairs on it.  I kind of see it as a mash up between Pit and Old Maid.

All the kids just love Uncle Seth.  He's the place to be.

I was in charge of the Nativity this year.  Sam wanted to be the narrator.  My Dad helped him know where to read and Sam read very loud and clearly.  

I asked Emma and Lance to be Mary and Joseph so that Thea would be a happy baby Jesus.  Ada asked to be ALL the animals.  She was the donkey, camel, sheep, etc.... Funny girl.  I love her.

Sharon was the shepherds because we ran out of kids. She was very game and kept petting Ada's head and quoting from Zootopia that she was very soft.

Evelyn LOVES being the Angel.  She loves mouthing the part of Fear Not and is very expressive.  I could completely see her being part of the concourses of angels praising God and bringing tidings of great Joy.  There's a reason that I felt that she needed to be named Joy.

Sharon leaned down to give Vivien a big kiss.  She had the cutest smile on her face, but I got the picture just a second too late.

Seth refused to dress up, but he loved the idea of being a wiseman.  I asked him what part he wanted to play and he very excitedly told me about the star and the Wisemen bringing gifts to Jesus.

Seth and his camel.  Jer said that he'd be a wiseman with Seth.  Cute Daddy.

Cute crew is all growing up.  They'll be adults before we know it.

Vivien got a tea set for Christmas.  Evelyn taught her how to have a tea party and Grandpa joined in.  It reminds me of when I was a little girl and he let me style his hair and lay all over his back.

Sharon made cupcakes and let the kids decorate their own cupcake trees.  I brought Aubrey's Christmas song game (where you try to guess the name of the song) and Ggma Robertson's "Night Before Christmas" noun replacement game.  It was so cute and Lance especially loved it.  He was giggling all over the floor.  Ada filled out half of the words with the word 'Hamburger'.  She thought that was really funny and Jer refused to use most of them when he drew them out of the box.

Sharon and my Mom made some minute to win it games.  The kids had a lot of fun.  I love games with the kids!

She was the last to finish this game, but the only one not to cheat in any way.  Cutie patootie.

These were from a ring toss game.

after party

Jer made us into a puzzle.  It took us two days to put this together because of the background, but I love this picture.

My Mom's picture off her camera

Sharon sent me these two pictures.  Everyone was tired and we chilled and watched Christmas movies for a while before heading home.

Piano recital

The kids had their yearly piano recital.  I think it's important as a pianist to have chances to play in front of other people.  The kids usually have no problem playing for other people.... Ada, like all teens, is going through a stage where it's emotionally hard to make mistakes in front of others.  She did not want to play her song.  She was playing Far Far Away from the hymn book.  That's a challenging song.  Half of the students only played one hand and even though Ada could play both hands with just a few mistakes, she chose to play just the right hand so that she wouldn't make mistakes in front of  everyone.  Silly girl.  No one cared if she made a mistake except for her.  I just hope that she doesn't get hung up on this.  She did for a while with her singing.  She has a lovely voice, but she wouldn't sing in front of anyone for almost three years.  This Christmas, she joined me in the Ward Choir and sang in public for the first time voluntarily in a long time.  Maybe the piano thing will pass too.  I know this is probably a stage, but it presents a very real challenge.  Seeing this, I wonder how often we put our own limitations on us by our own perceptions and not by anything that's really happening.  How often do we limit our own spiritual growth for fear of making a mistake?

Evelyn was the first of the piano students to have her Christmas song memorized.  She was really proud of herself.  I love seeing when they accomplish something hard.

These nuts did a great job.  My parents both came and my mom was really sweet.  She recorded it to send to Judy.  

pre-Christmas party

Right before Christmas, the lady that takes Seth to school backed into on of my daycare kids' car with our van.  Our van is really banged up, so an extra scratch doesn't bother me, but the damage to the other car will be $650 to fix.  Luckily my friend said that she'd pay for it out of pocket so it doesn't ding our insurance.  Whoops.  I think it was actually all three of our responsibility.  If I had texted my friend 15 minutes earlier to make sure she was on time instead of running late, they wouldn't have been there at the same time.  The daycare mom shouldn't have parked behind my van, but why would it be pulling out when I'm watching kids in the house?  She wasn't there when my friend walked out and got into my van, but my friend should have checked the mirror before backing out.  Perfect storm.

These guys have been the cutest buddies.  They go everywhere together and play all sorts of things.  Computer, board games, dolls, etc.... Seth told me that he wished that he had an "American boy doll" so that he could pretend to be Harry Potter and Evelyn could be Hermione.

After Margaret, Jim and James all dipped leftovers from the chocolate party, we finished dipped what would go bad and bagged it all up.  Ada especially had fun.  I think that she's going to follow in Dad and Grandpa's footsteps.

On Christmas Eve, Grandma Robertson had her last Chemo treatment.  She still has her 2 surgeries and her radiation, but I think that the hardest part is behind.  To celebrate, we had a little sing in.  We sang out of the same music book that we do every year.  I suggested that we Sing Hey Hey Ho for Grandma and Jer absolutely refused.... so there's that.  We're so glad that Judy's doing so well.  I'm sure she doesn't feel like she is at the moment, but I think she looks very strong and healthy for having just been through two rounds of chemo!  Her friend said that her hair should start growing back in about 3 weeks, so I'm sure that she's excited for that.  My daycare kids had RSV going around, so we stayed away from Grandma and Walter for the last 2 weeks.  (I was really sad to miss the Hansen's Christmas party at their new house, but I just had a friend whose 12 year old died from complications from the flu.... his colon died and he passed away right after surgery.  That made me want to be extra cautious with both Grandma and Walter.  We love you guys enough to stay away!)  

Sam's Arrow of Light

When Sam earned his Weblos they told me that he wouldn't have time to earn his Arrow of Light.  I looked at the requirements and he had earned everything he needed except for one or two things.  He spent twenty minutes on it and he was done.   Then he ehleped his friend, Logan do the last two requirements to get his Weblos before the end of our involvement in the Scouting program.

Jeremy's birthday

Since Jeremy's birthday was super busy, he made his own buttermilk pancakes, sent Evelyn off to dance and Sam to his last pack meeting where he received his Arrow of Light.  My sister, Janelle picked up Evelyn for me..... I'm so glad to have Jer. I love him so much. I'm so proud of Sam and all the work he puts in.

The two hardest things for me in life are being organized and asking for help. The last month I've had to do both, but it's still working out okay.  It's good to be humbled and to go through adjustments.

Light the World

This is the Young Women's group. I couldn't go because they chose to go at 4 pm to miss the crowds and I have daycare kids until 5:30. They had a great time though and I'm so proud of the efforts they are making.