December and Christmas

It is the middle of January as I write this post and I'm actually still waiting for Christmas.  December seemed to whoosh in and out in no time at all.  I remember all the preparation, work and stress.  I remember the endless hours of shopping and places I had to be.  But "Christmas" just didn't seem to happen for me this year.  I missed the Christmas magic.

Maybe it is because there hasn't been a lot of snow.  It was still a white Christmas with all the frost on the trees - but no snow to go sledding down, or snowmen to make, or snowballs to throw.  It has definitely been a very strange season weather wise.  (I'm not one for a lot of snow or cold weather - but even I am starting to freak out a little about having such an unusually dry and mild winter.)

Maybe it was spending too much time preparing for Christmas and too many things on my to do list.  I don't think I was ever just "in the moment" during this month.  I also really wanted Christmas to be about Christ.  This year there was no "Giving Tree" at church.  No service given by me or my family to another in need.  I didn't even listen to the Christmas Devotional (until today - almost 6 weeks after the fact).  We did try to read a scripture about Jesus all month - but mostly I would forget to do it.

Maybe my kids are just getting too big.  Yes, there is still excitement - but no curiosity, no wonder in their eyes, no questions about Santa or his reindeer.  We had the usual family traditions - the Caviness Family Christmas Eve Dinner and Program, Christmas Eve pajamas, and breakfast lasagna the next morning.  But I was still left feeling empty.  I'm still not sure exactly what I was expecting - I just know it didn't happen.  So I am hoping that next Christmas will fill me up and I can enjoy each moment a little bit more.  And if I blog about it - then maybe I will remember that Christmas did indeed happen.


Wrestling

The first week of December was the end of Chad's busy wrestling schedule.  It culminated in the big Spok-a-loo Tournament - which only the best on the team were selected to go to.  Chad was one of the first matches to wrestle and he ended it fairly quickly with yet another win.  His second match had him against a seeded wrestler and after working real hard - he lost by points.  He took it pretty hard at first as this was his very first loss of the season.  His third match brought him face to face with another wrestler from Chase.  Chad thought he could beat him - and he did with another pin.  Chad's fourth and final match was a battle for 5th(winner) and 6th (loser) place.  He wrestled hard and almost got the win - but during the last seconds of the third round the other kid scored 3 points and won the match.  Chad was very disappointed - but knew he had done a great job all day.  Not bad to come in 6th place!!!  He may have finally had two losses - but he can still claim that he was never pinned during the entire wrestling season.

Chad trying to get a pin.  (Match #3)

Ready for another round.

My photographer (aka Sean) - trying to keep warm in mom's coat.

Church

We had the opportunity to have the sister missionaries for dinner (all three of them).  We don't get the opportunity very often as I never get to sign up and our dinner times are pretty erratic with every one's activities going on.  I'm so glad for their work and efforts and the spirituality they bring to our home.  I always pray that our children can feel of the spirit and have a desire to serve missions too.

For our ward Christmas party this year it was dinner and a radio broadcast.  It was a pretty packed cultural hall as it was for families this year.  For the "radio broadcast" they did Ebenezer Scrooge.  Chad got to play the part of the first ghost - he did a fantastic job.  All the readers were fantastic - it really felt like a live broadcast.

Music

Halle and Sean have both been involved with the Adams Choir this year.  They got to have their first performance at Moran Vista, a retirement home.  They sang a lot of Christmas, winter, and Hanukkah songs.  Afterwards they talked and mingled with the residents along with having punch and cookies.  It was a great concert and it was great for my kids to get out into the community.

Chase had their winter concert on December 18th.  It consisted of the choir, band, jazz band, and orchestra.  It was a rather phenomenal program!  Chad looked professional in his tuxedo.   All the kids got their pictures taken (which I still haven't received yet).   And I got to accompany the orchestra on several of their songs.

The following Saturday I had my piano recital.  I have 11 students this year (plus one adult that sometimes shows up).  I really pushed some of them this year with their music and had them play 3 pieces each.  I have some great new students this year which I am truly grateful for.  I'm glad to see my own children progressing and glad I can share this talent with them.  I just wish I would remember to take pictures and video my own children during the recital - but with being the teacher - I just forget as I am trying to make sure everything goes okay.

Our church choir performed four songs for the Christmas program during sacrament.  It might have been my last performance as choir pianist - as it seems some change in the air - but I don't know all the details yet.

Halle and Sean with the Adams Choir at Moran Vista.  (Mrs. McNally at the piano.)

Chad looking mighty fine in his tuxedo and bow tie with the rest of the Chase Chamber Orchestra.

I'm behind the piano.

Mrs. Smith conducts the orchestra.

Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve was spent at Jeff and Linda's house this year.  We had a delicious Mexican dinner!!!!  We followed that by our traditional family program.  Chad and Sean played the piano and Halle played the clarinet this year. Chris and I did a visual poem about Christmas.  Mike wasn't able to to join us in person this year but we did see him through Skype and we were all still able to play the "It's a Wonderful Life" trivia game.

At home the kids opened their Christmas Eve sacks for pajamas, music and Yellowstone ornaments.  They wrote notes to Santa, laid out some cookies, carrots, and milk and were ready to for bed (ha, ha, ha).  Another Christmas eve tradition is that they all get to sleep together in the same room.  It makes for some fun noise and conversation during the night and early in the morning!  They did still remember not to come and wake us up until 7:00am!  (I'm so glad we set that rule years ago!!!!)

Chad plays a jazzy version of Jingle Bells.

Sean has We Wish You a Merry Christmas memorized.

Halle plays What Child is This on the Clarinet.

Back at home and in their Christmas Jammie's.

Chad - basketball.  Sean - minecraft.  Halle - party owls.

Christmas Day
Every year on Christmas morning the kids must remain downstairs until 7:00am.  Then they line up by our bedroom and wait to see what Santa and brought them.  They do this one at a time.  This year it was Halle's turn to go first.  She was delighted to see clothes, and designing crafts.  One of her gifts was too big for Santa to put in the family room - so she had to hunt it down.  She finally found a new, purple bike -- just what she wanted.

Then it was Sean's turn.  As soon as he saw his new 3DS there was nothing else to see or do.  Chad got to come in last this year and also received a 3DS.  The boys got right to work loading on their games and getting down to some serious gaming.

After everyone had examined their abundance of gifts I started with making our traditional "Breakfast Lasagna."  It is the best breakfast in the world - and everyone looks forward to it.  The kids even try to sneak it in during the rest of the year by requesting it for their birthdays.

After breakfast we went down to the piano room and unwrapped our gifts from under the tree.

Halle had special owl wrapping paper.  (She really likes owls!!!)

Sean has a really big gift!  What can it be?

Chad is ready and has all his gifts in a pile ready to go.

Dad's turn to open a present.

Sean's gift from nanny and grandpa.

Loving that he got new hex bugs.

A new dress.  (Too bad it was too small!!!!)

Halle with new shoes.

Chad wonders what is inside.

Ski goggles.

Certificate for ski lessons with Grandpa Hansen.

Later that evening we had dinner and Grandma and Bompa's house.  Then it was time for round three of Christmas - which meant opening more gifts.

Gifts from Bompa and Grandma.  Halle - oodles of clothes (of course).  Sean - Skylanders (video game).  Chad - GPS watch (for the awesome runner boy).

My parents arrived the next evening.  We didn't see much of them the first couple of days as my mom was sick and my dad took Chad skiing.  Finally, a couple of days later we were finally all able to watch them open up their gifts from us.

Nanny and Grandpa finally get to open their Christmas presents from us.

We had a special "English" Christmas dinner on the Sunday after my parents arrived.  I attempted prime rib (yet again) and had mashed potatoes, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding.  Dinner was followed by a yummy berry trifle.

I'm pouring Black Current sparkling juice.  The Christmas crackers are ready to be pulled.

Time to eat!

 New Year's Eve

For the past 6 years we have held a Five Crowns Tournament on New Year's Eve.  It has been a super fun way to start the new year and have our friends over for great laughs, food, and serious competition.  A big thank you to all our friends who come over every year!!!!!  We will keep doing it as long as you keep coming!

KariAnn was our grand Five Crown's Champion!  Congratulations!

Our Five Crown's group for the 2013 New Year's Eve party.

Skiing

Chad's Christmas gift from his Nanny and Grandpa this year was skiing lessons.  His Grandpa took him up to Mt. Spokane for three lessons during the Christmas break.  He did well for his first real time of skiing and graduated from the bunny hill.  Thank you Grandpa!!!

Grandpa and Chad ready to get skiing!

Chad getting a private lesson - on the lift with his instructor heading for a bigger run.

Ready to conquer a bigger hill!

Hanging out at the lodge and eating food - another favorite activity for Chad.

So long 2013.  You were a good year!!!!

November Gratitude

November brought us many exciting memories.  November is always one of my favorite months.  It is a great birthday month (Chris and I both have our birthdays), big turkey day, and the peace before the storm of the holiday season.  It is also a great month because it is the one time I truly try to focus on my many blessings and feel gratitude for all that Heavenly Father has given me.

November started out with Chad having his first concert with his Chamber Orchestra at Chase Middle School.  They performed at the food court at the Riverfront Mall downtown.  It was originally supposed to be a Halloween concert - but things changed.  I was amazed to hear how well these 7th and 8th graders played!  (I also contributed by accompanying two of the songs on the keyboard.)   After the concert we went and got food from Panda Express - where Alyssa was working.

Chad ready to play the bass.  All in their concert T-shirts.

Chad has been hard at work with merit badges for scouting.  One of the badges he was working on was that of Weather.  Part of his requirement was to visit a weather station.  So on a very cold and blustery day we went to the National Weather Station.  We learned all about what they do there, how they get readings and determine weather, and saw all their computers and equipment.  Then we got to watch them launch a weather balloon.  It was awesome.  The balloon was huge!  And they said it would increase in size by 700% by the time it hit maximum altitude.  It was kind of scary because it was very windy and there were power line right in the balloon's path.  Our weather people knew what they were doing and the balloon was off and away very quickly (just passing over the power lines)

Getting ready to launch.

It went up quickly!!!!

And away it goes.

Chad started wrestling season at Chase.  He had tried wrestling for the first time just last year and seemed to really like it.  If Chad thought he was nervous - he should have asked how mom and grandma felt during a match!!!!  This mama had sweaty palms and a sick stomach at every single match.

Chad's first opponent and wrestling match at Glover Middle School.  No action shot as I was taking video.  But just so you know - he won!

Chad also worked on his Space Exploration merit badge.  For this merit badge he had to make and launch his own rocket.  It was a very fun experience!

Chad with his rocket already to launch.

Making sure the wires are connected just right.

A successful launch.

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Chris turned the big 50 this year!  So we partied hard.  First we had a family party a few days before (Sunday the 10th)- when family could get together.  We enjoyed razzing him, telling fun stories about him, and sharing what we liked best about him.  His mom then presented him with a beautiful memory box with mission pictures and all his mission letters.  It was a very touching and a very precious gift.

On Tuesday (his actual birthday) he was busy with school work and then he disappeared for the rest of the evening by attending two stake meetings!!!!  The kids had not seen him all day and couldn't wait for him to get home.  They got to stay up extra late that night so that we could finally sing happy birthday, have some blueberry cheesecake, and open presents.

Then a few days later (on Friday) I threw him a big and embarrassing party with all his friends.  We started out with a huge and yummy dinner at Outback Steakhouse. We later went to the Hainsworth home for games and dessert.  Our friends now know 50 years worth of Chris trivia and all about the year 1963!  I hope he enjoyed his party - I loved being able to give him one.

One of Chris' presents was tickets to see Vocal Point the very next night.  They are a BYU acapella group.  They were amazing!  I was so wishing the kids could have been there - they would have loved it.  Thank you Andrea and Jason - it was a great night!!!!

The girls and Chris at the family get together.

Happy to be turning 50 (or happy to soon be eating "better than anything" cake.)

Making a special wish.

A special message to dad from the kids.

The fun and yummy cookies sent to Chris for his big day from Sherri, Jeff, and Mike.

Enjoying the treats at his birthday party

Happy 50th to Chris!

Chad had a wrestling meet on his father's birthday.  So of course he won for his old man.  (Even though Chris couldn't be there.)

Chad's 2nd match at Mt. Side.

Chad had another meet a couple of day later - and won again.  (He started getting that pin thing down rather quickly - although we had to wait a couple of hours just to see him wrestle for his 30 seconds!)

Chad's 3rd meet  - Sacajawea

The referee ready to declare Chad the winner.

For my birthday I only turned 42 so it was very low key.  So low key in fact that there are no pictures.  I did celebrate by making my favorite soup (french onion - which made me cry on my birthday).  Chad also wrestled and won for my birthday!  (His first win by default - no pin.) 

When you get older your birthday is just another day.  I had a lot of errands and other mommy jobs that I had to get done that day.  The one fun thing that I did do was to stop by Damon Orthodontics for their Friends and Family Open House.  They had scrumptious appetizers, desserts, and gourmet hot chocolate.  They also had a bunch of fun raffles - so I entered them all.  Guess what?!  I was the big grand prize winner.  I found out a couple of days later that I had won $500 off of orthodontic treatment.  That was such a great surprise!!!!  Must have been my birthday luck.

Chad's 4th match - Chase.  (Notice photographer in background - this is the moment of Chad's shot.)

Ready to rumble.

Chad worked hard at this match.

Lots of almost pins - but couldn't quite hold him down.

Come on Chad!

Scoring lots of points

Enough already.  Chad wins 18 to 2.

Warming up.  Can you spot Chad?

Throwing his friend, Cyrus.

Match #5 - Chase.  (Halle being my videographer so I can take pictures.)

Chad going for the pin.

Chad is declared the winner!

Chad then got to hit the ref when it was time.

Match #6 at Salk.

Another pin for Chad.

For thanksgiving we spent a nice quite day at home.  We invited our friend Liz Sachse, and her daughter to join us.  I love big turkey day!!!!!  All my favorite foods.

For the evening meal we had two more turkeys.  A vegetable turkey and a fruit turkey.  It was fun snacking after a big heavy meal.

My only thanksgiving picture for 2013.  Snacking on fruit turkey and vegetable turkey.

The big grand finale of November was Sean finally getting his pets.  He chose rats!!!!  They are as cute as can be (although at first not too friendly).  They now love Sean and play time with him in the bathtub.

The white rat is "Jake."

Playing with Sean.

The black and white one is "Jimmy."