Twas the Night Before Christmas...

This year on Christmas Eve, we put away the boxes, and most importantly, the craziness of moving!
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We made cookies for Santa - two kids to a batch. Yes, that's a cake mix box on the table - don't knock 'em till you've tried 'em! They are delicious! To me, any recipe with more than 4 ingredients creates too much stress. These were perfect! An egg for each child - add some oil - stir. Seriously - no fuss. My kind of baking. Besides, we still had loads of fun in the process! I am still trying to forgive Aunt Kelley though - ever since she made "real" chocolate chip cookies with the kids, they tease me and nag me to do it again. Thanks, Kells.

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Anyway... after baking Cake Mix Cookies,

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Chip surprised the kids by telling them to bundle up - I think playing in the snow with dad is their favorite winter activity. Thank goodness, cause their memories of mom in the winter will have to be of me with a camera in my hands - through the closed window! I always get away with saying no when I tell them I will make hot chocolate and cup-o-noodle soup! My little trick...

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(just for fun - that's Taylor's school right behind our fence! When she's running a little behind, she hops on over, and she's at school!)

Opening jammies after a traditional ham dinner has become a fun tradition for us - posing with them and taking their picture has become a fun tradition for dad. :)
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Of course the sprinkling of the reindeer food is a must!

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One Christmas Eve, about 9-ish years ago, Taylor decided to ask Santa a question and put it by his cookies. She figured this was a good way to get an answer straight from Santa himself! I believe her burning question was, "How many elves are there?" Santa's answer was "more than the stars in the sky!" She was dumbfounded. This started the tradition of asking Santa questions and putting them by the cookie plate. We have a priceless collection from over the years! I'm sure it is getting tougher and tougher to answer the questions as they get more creative every year! Next year we'll have to limit the questions to one per child - that poor Santa!

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We always end the night by reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - page by page. This was the first year we could all read well enough to make it actually flow! It was kind of monumental for Chip and me - it was a moment that made us realize how time truly does fly.

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Christmas Day post next... then finally done with 2008!

A Party We'll Never Forget!

Although I know the Christmasy feeling is gone... I promised myself I would make these next few posts so we wouldn't only remember how crazy, chaotic, and even difficult our Christmas season of 2008 was. So, these next few posts will highlight the times that brought happiness and good feelings - those are the feelings we want to remember the most!

A big highlight this year was one very special Sunday. Hannah got a personal invitation from the Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho to go to a Christmas Party just for kids with epilepsy, and their families. Chip and I found out there was going to be a really cool surprise there. We were so excited and decided not to tell the kids.

On the way there, we told the kids there would be a surprise, and that we wouldn't tell them until it was time. All the kids thought the surprise was going to be Santa Clause -

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Yeah, he was cool and all, but nothing compared to what the real surprise was!

So while we waited, we participated in all of the fun activities there were for the kids, including

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Balloon animals...

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Face (or hand) painting...

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and gingerbread house building...

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I wish I had a picture of the kids reaction when they found out what the surprise was! Look what we got to do!!!
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A helicopter flight over Boise!!!
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Four people rode in the back, and one in the front with the pilot, which was supposed to be an adult, but Chip did what he does best, and somehow weaseled Taylor up there! She didn't want to, but later said she had the best spot - she got to wear head phones and talk to the pilot the whole time!

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Since there are six of us and only five could go at at time, I stayed on the ground and videoed, which was perfectly fine with me! But when everyone came back, Chip said I absolutely have to experience it for myself, so he found a family of four, and once again, did some good weaseling and I went with them!

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And I'm super glad he did! Who knew how awesome that could be?! Besides the feeling of hovering that isn't like an airplane at all, the sights were the best part! We flew right over the State Capitol Building...

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Chip's work - the Qwest Building downtown,
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and the best one - not only did we see the "smurf turf" at Boise State, but the football team was actually practicing when we flew over! That was probably about the time that Jack stopped trembling in fear over the "take off'." It was SO cool!!!

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I don't know if we will ever have this kind of opportunity again. It was amazing.
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It was so great to see Taylor, Aubrey, and Jack treat Hannah the way they did - they focused on her that day, knowing we were there because of her.
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In a conversation later that day, Hannah told Chip, "But dad, nobody there looked like they had epilepsy!" That made us wonder if she thinks she looks different to other people! She also said, "I had no idea other people had epilepsy!" It never occurred to me that she might think she is the only one. We talked a lot that day.
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I am so grateful to the Epilepsy Foundation of Idaho. I think Hannah feels very comforted in a way she might not have before.
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Hannah is amazing. She has routine blood tests next week. When I told her she said, "Yes! I LOVE the band aids they have there!"

Lucky Aunt

Just about every day, Anela chooses a puzzle to do together before nap time. Today was better than most though, because we did ALL the puzzles in the house! It was a fun, wonderful, and special hour and a half with an apple and peanut butter break in the middle.

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She was so proud of herself when we completed the last one.

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I said "Let's take a picture!" To which she said, "Yeah! Put it on the pooter!" So here I am, putting it on the pooter. :)

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I'm such a lucky Auntie!! Love you Nellie!

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PERFECT(ly annoying)

Yes, I am still way behind. But before I get on with my next scheduled post... I just thought I'd share this peice of paper that was hanging around after Chip hung the stockings this year...
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Actually, this is one of the three peices of paper he used.

I just know that Santa did a double take..... surely he had never seen stockings spaced as perfectly as ours were!

TELL me my husband isn't the only one.... okay, who am I kidding... I know he is.

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We all have to live with annoying traits. Over the years, I have learned how to be thankful for this one. I mean it could be a lot worse! As annoying as it may be, I must say I am thankful for my perfectly measured and placed pictures on our walls too. Only one nail hole... I usually make six - at least.
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I love my husband -

TONS!

Our Baby is Seven?

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When we started moving into our new home the first week of December, our number one goal was to have it feel as much like a home as possible for the kids for Christmas. But we didn't want Jackson's birthday to be lost in the middle of it - so our new number one goal was to have the first night in our new home be December 11th, so Jackson could wake up to a birthday couch, and have things be as normal as possible! Well, not so sure things were "normal", but Jack did get his birthday couch, and it didn't disappoint!
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I will never forget December of 2001 - and all the emotions that came along with it. Our country was trying to heal from 9/11 that was still so fresh to everyone. I was 64 months pregnant (or so it felt) with number four. We had 3 girls who we thoroughly enjoyed, and although we thought another girl would have been wonderful, perhaps deep inside, we secretly hoped for a baby boy to join our family.

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So clearly in my mind, I can see my doctor, who right after delivering Jackson, spread open his legs and put his "boy parts" in front of Chip's face as if to say, "You have a son, You finally have a son!"

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I remember thinking even through the pain and discomfort, how truly special it was to be so pregnant at Christmastime, a time we talk and think about Mary so much. I remember holding our baby boy and thinking of Mary as she held her baby boy too. I remember crying... a lot.

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I remember that even though other emotions got in the way, the strongest was love. Love for our Jackson Lane who seven years ago, made our family feel whole. Not just because he was a boy, just because he was Jackson.

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Jackson was, and still is, the best Christmas present we have ever received.

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We love you "Jackman"!