Yesterday morning, we all slept in until 8:45 or so. We haven’t slept that late in a very long time! We had to wake Evan up, so we went into his room saying, Merry Christmas! It’s Christmas morning! Once he woke up a bit, he said, “Happy Christmas Tree!” I think he was a little confused, since we also heard throughout the course of the day, “Merry Christmas Muffins!” and “Happy Christmas Lights!” I’m pretty sure all of those really mean Merry Christmas, but however you say it, we pray you all had a blessed Christmas Day. We sure did! We started out the day with Monkey Bread:

After breakfast, we opened our stockings…

…sang Christmas songs and read the Christmas story…

…and opened presents!

Of course, the best part of the gift is the paper and the box:

Once all that was said and done, we talked to our families on the phone, and then got ready to spend the afternoon with over 30 other people at our friends’ home (thanks, K’s!). We had a great day full of fun, friends, and lots of good food! We truly felt humbled to celebrate our Savior’s birth with a house full of people who were celebrating Christmas for the very same reasons we were - OUR Savior was born long ago! Even more, we know that the story doesn’t end there.

Christmas is a special day as we remember why we are here working with GoodSeed. We long for people to know Jesus - who He is, and what He has done for us. We thank you, our friends and family, for enabling us to share the good news with others. Blessings to you in the New Year!

From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!

Have a blessed day. We’ll be back soon with a recap of our Christmas.

Today is winter solstice - the longest day of the year…as in the shortest amount of daylight and the longest amount of, well, night light. For us in the great white north, that means that the sunrise was at 8:43 this morning, and sunset will be at approximately 4:30 pm. No wonder I feel so tired at night! By the time 8 pm rolls around, it feels more like 10 or 11 pm to me! I love the long summer days here, but I feel like I’ll never get used to such short days in the winter! Oh well - for now I have more time in the evenings to enjoy the Christmas tree lights!

Yesterday was Joe’s birthday. And not just any birthday - he turned 30! The day was full of some of his favorite things…we started out with sausage balls for breakfast and then we went Christmas shopping (which is not his favorite, but it was the best time to go). I made his favorite meal for dinner, and then we ended the day with a surprise party with some of our favorite friends. We had his favorite kind of cupcakes, which I didn’t hesitate using as a clear reminder of how old he is:

Happy Birthday, Joe! We love you so much - gray hairs and all!

We’ve had a few request for the words to Joe’s song to encourage Evan to use the big boy potty. You can listen to the song in the post below.

*I’ll post a disclaimer first and say that if you do not want to read the words poo-poo or potty repeatedly, then do not, I repeat DO NOT read the lyrics or listen to the song. I warned you!

It’s poopy time. Can you go poo-poo in the potty?

It’s poopy time. Can you go poo-poo in the potty?

Can you go? Can you go? Can you go? Can you go…poo-poo?

It’s poopy time. Can you go poo-poo in the potty?

It’s poopy time. Can you go poo-poo in the potty?

Can you go? Can you go? I said now can you go? Can you go….poo-poo?

[Bridge]: (not included in recording) Can you push it out? Can you push it out? Can you push it into the potty? (repeat)

So, if you haven’t yet read it, read Suzanne’s previous post, A scene from our house. Here’s the song I was playing for Evan.

It’s Poopy Time (Press Play) It\’s Poopy Time

If you had come to our house yesterday, you might have seen this:

Joe made up a really pretty song to try to encourage the “digestion process” for Evan, IF you know what I mean. It didn’t work, but we all enjoyed the song anyway.

That’s what I am these days. We have about one month left until my due date of January 10th. We’re getting excited to meet this little girl that is currently enjoying kicking my organs.

Here I am doing one of the things I do best…drinking hot chocolate!

I’ll be posting a few more pictures on our Flickr soon.

I love a good questionnaire! This one’s for you, RD!

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? It’s what’s on the inside that counts

2. Real tree or Artificial? It’s real…uh, real pretty! Ours is artificial, which sounds a little nicer than “fake.” But it’s pre-lit which is SO nice.

3. When do you put up the tree? I don’t actually do it, Joe does…the weekend after Thanksgiving, usually.

4. When do you take the tree down? -Whenever we get around to it. I’ve considered leaving it up all year long, like lots of people do with their Christmas lights. I didn’t consider it for long, though.

5. Do you like egg nog? I like to avoid it like the plague.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I should take a lesson as a parent from myself because I hardly remember anything that I got for Christmas growing up, besides clothes and stocking stuffers. I better remember traditions and just being with family. Sincerely.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? We have one really small, wooden one, plus one on Evan’s stocking. That makes 2. Sort of.

8. Hardest person to buy for? my father-in-law

9. Easiest person to buy for? Evan

10.Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. Do you need my address?

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Going to the hospital on Christmas Day with a really high fever…I think I had the flu or pneumonia or something else very detrimental to the Christmas spirit.

2. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas, The Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Maybe, but not that I remember. We do have an ongoing tradition of recycling Christmas bags with Joe’s family. There’s one bag, in particular, that Joe and his dad have traded for the last several years.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? food! My mom, Joe’s mom, and I each have a special Christmas bread for breakfast, which I might look forward to more than Christmas dinner. I love all of the Christmas cookies, too. Hmm…you would think I like sweets or something!

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? It depends which one you put on your tree. Our tree came with white lights.

16. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This will be our 2nd year to stay home. If we lived closer to family, then we would probably travel…if I wasn’t expecting a baby and all.

18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeers? (Isn’t it just reindeer)? Sorry to break it to you, but “Santa” isn’t “real”. So his “reindeer” aren’t “either”. But for the record…Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, & Rudolph! And no, I didn’t google it.

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? on Christmas morn’

20. Most annoying thing about this time of year? the commercialization of it all

21 Favorite ornament theme or color? breakable ornaments on top, unbreakable on bottom - since Evan came along, anyway

22. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? yes

23. What do you want for Christmas this year? my two front teeth

24. Who is most likely to respond to this? question? ME!

25. Who is least likely to respond to this? complete strangers and people who don’t have internet

I can’t post this little video featuring my siblings and I directly on here, but click on the link and you will not be disappointed…

http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/3820995

Thanks, J, for creating it. That’s funny stuff.