January Birthdays

Both Brian and Jaycey’s birthdays are in January. Like most years, Brian's birthday was fun but he doesn’t like to make it a big deal. I guess once you pass a certain age, it’s not so exciting anymore. (At least for him, I still love my birthday!) We love the Heroes series, so he got the first two seasons on DVD. Sweet! We also had a fun party because his two sisters and their kids came to visit.

Jaycey, on the other hand, was WAY excited about her birthday. I can’t believe my baby is 4. My mom sent her a package. I went ahead and wrapped it in the box it came it. After she unwrapped it and opened the box, she found that it was wrapped in the box. Oops! Mom and Grammy both wrapped it. I told my Mom about that and she thought it was really funny. I guess there’s nothing like unwrapping a gift twice. When you’re three (now 4) unwrapping is still part of the fun. Anyway, Grammy sent her a bride dress up kit. Super fun. The present was a big hit!

We decided to let her pick out her own cake this year. She was all set on getting a Tinkerbell cake until she opened her present. After that, it was all about the bride. She picked an all white cake so it could be a wedding cake. Brian did talk her into putting some Tinkerbell decorations on it, but it was still her wedding cake. I think she married her Dad like 20 times yesterday.

What do you do when you don't have plans for the weekend?

My most favorite weekends are the ones where we don’t have any “plans”. Even though we usually end up doing tons of chores, we get to spend the whole time together as a family. A few weekends ago we went for a drive to the bird refuge out past Brigham City. We saw lots of birds, (more than I expected for the winter) including some cranes and a bald eagle and we got to walk on the iced over river. Of course, Jaycey ran out and fell flat on her behind. Oh well! Since the refuge is way out there, Brian will usually let the girls drive for a few minutes each. For the most part, that means that they steer while sitting on his lap. This time he did something a little different and actually let Hayley do the whole thing: shift, steer, gas and brake. She caught on after only a few whiplash sessions. I think it’s cool that he finds the opportunities to teach them, especially while they are young enough to listen.

Did you know . . .

The other day we were in the grocery store and Ryeley points at one of the many H&R block booths and says, "Look! It's H&R block. That stands for Hayley and Ryeley block!".

Kids! :o)

Christmas

Christmas was awesome. We had such a good time and was able to see everyone. First, the Christmas Eve extravangza was a lot of fun. Food, crafts, crazy kids, a puppy and lots of love. We missed Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle David, but luckily got to spend some time with them the next day. In addition to running wild and laughing like crazy, the kids wresteled Uncle Matt, did Christmas crafts, had an awesome nativity and sang rudolf with one of their crafts.

It so fun to have little kids do the nativity! Joseph didn't stick around for long as he kept climbing onto the back of the couch but he loved his costume and didn't take it off until the gift explosion. Also, the shepherd made a quick entrance and exit as he ran into and right back out of the room, shedding his costume as he went. This is the only picture I got of the nativity, but we caught it on video camera, so it's good.

We also got to sing songs with the fam. My Aunt Karen is so sweet! She always plays the piano for our Christmas Eve parties. But, I can only play the big notes songs very slowly, so there was not chance of me being able to play for our party. She actually recorded over an hour's worth of piano music so we could sing. How sweet is that? I owe her big time. My talented sissy-in-law also pitched in with the piano stuff and played during the whole nativity and for a few songs as well. That's so neat. Thanks Diana and Karen!!

The gift explosion was fun, as well. When kids are little, it's so fun to hear them squeal with excitement as they open a gift. The reaction is worth so much more than anything you could buy.

The next day we got to go to Mom and Dad's for the day. It was really relaxing and we got to spend time with each other.

We've already decided we need to do the Extravaganza party every year, even if it's not on Christmas Eve. This holiday is definitely one that will be remembered for a long time.

A Memory to Preserve

There is a couple in our ward whom we just adore: Leland and Leila Saunders. They are an older couple who have lived in Harrisville forever, have 12 children that are our parent's ages and oodles of grandchildren, great grandchildren and even a few great-greats. When Brian and I were preparing to get married in the temple, the Saunders gave us temple/marriage preparation classes. Since then, we've kind of thought of them as our adopted grandparents.

At the ward Christmas party, they told us that we needed to come to their house to see a quilt. They insisted that we come on the way home from the party because they were going to take it to their cabin the next day. So, we stopped on the way home. We visited for a while, looked at the amazing family quilt and Sister Saunders showed me her Christmas tree. She had it covered in these little ornaments that her mother had tatted. Of course, they gave candy to the kids and told us about the family pictures on the wall. It was just like going home to Grandma Hunsaker's house. The spirit is always so strong when you enter and the love that they have is evident.

Even though it was just a few minutes, I wanted to record this memory. We absolutely adore the Saunders and hope one day to become like they are. We consider ourselves extremely lucky to have "adopted" grandparents in our ward who freely share their love for us and the gospel.