Christmas Break Part 1

It was a wonderful, busy holiday season!  Dad arrived on Thursday, December 15.  His flight was an hour late so I had to change my plans a bit, but we still had time to go to lunch and run errands.  We stopped at JCPenney so I could return some things and then we went to AutoNation Honda so I could drop off my car for service. Andrew and Daniel picked us up and we went to lunch at Olive Garden. We did some shopping and I did some returns and then we picked up the car and came back home. When we read scriptures, Dad used Grandma Kathy's Bible, the King Joseph version. We were reading Malachi chapters 3 and 4 and the words were pretty similar. We talked about our day tomorrow and had prayer. We watched Young Sheldon. I had the boys help me bring the gifts down so we don't have to do that in the morning. Then Michael and I went to the gym.

 

December 16, Friday

We spent the morning wrapping presents.  Dad did most of the wrapping while I got everything organized.   We got everything done that we could and there are still a few more gifts that will arrive over the weekend. 

We had Panda Express for dinner, then we got ready for The Nutcracker. We were in our seats by 7:15 PM. 

It was a little slow in the beginning, but it got really good and I loved the music so much! I loved the second half even more than the first half. It's my favorite music and I loved the dancing. I asked the boys what their favorite part is and Jonathan said it was intermission. Daniel liked the rats and Andrew liked the dancing grandpa. Dad loved the music and the Russian dancers. Michael said he really liked it, too. He used to go every year when he was a kid. I especially liked the snowflake dance right before intermission. I also liked the part right after intermission where there were little angels and they seemed to be gliding but they were just walking. I also really liked the costumes, especially the three dancers who were dressed like a spinning top. And the two principal dancers that played the king and queen were amazing!  

December 17, Saturday

Nathaniel, Audrey, and Emily all made it here safely today. It was nice to be able to sleep in. Dad and Andrew went to go get Bosa donuts. We read the Come Follow Me lesson. The boys did their laundry and I washed all the bedding. Dad and Daniel went to pick up the cookie icing and then they went to the Casteel parking lot to practice driving for half an hour. Dad said Daniel did really well. I finally got the cookie dough made and then I did a bunch of chores on the computer. I ordered Barro's pizza for dinner. The kids arrived at 6 PM. We all had pizza together and then everyone watched the BYU bowl game. Well, Emily and Jonathan watched Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel. Daniel went to his friend Luke's party. When the bowl game was over, the kids played Mario Kart.

 

December 18, Sunday

We had a good day at church. We were able to get a row for the whole family. We almost didn't fit. After church, Michael stayed for a little bit to do tithing and the rest of us went home. We got out some food for lunch and waited for Michael to get home and then we took some pictures outside and inside. I'm so excited about my new tripod! It's got a remote on it and I can use it with my cell phone and it works great. 

After lunch we cleaned up and then I started making the sugar cookies. Dad helped a lot with putting them in and out of the oven and Emily helped as well. She rolled them out a couple of times. Once the cookies were baked, we set everything up to decorate cookies. I think the kids had fun. Everyone was taking it pretty seriously. We had one outline bag and three fill bags for each color, plus one outline and one fill of black. Everyone was pretty creative and had a fun time. 

Dad took Daniel driving again. They drove around Sossaman Middle School and through the neighborhood a little bit. Apparently, somebody honked at him for driving too slowly but Dad said he did a good job. I made the noodles and rolls and salad to go with the chicken noodle soup. After dinner, we had family home evening and Michael gave a lesson. We did all of our normal stuff and had a family prayer. Then the kids wanted to play Jackbox so we did that for a little bit. Then we took a break to do the dishes and the kids wanted to play more games but I suggested we play an actual board game. They brought some options down but then they asked about that Herd Mentality game that Toni had sent so we played that. It was pretty fun. You had to choose things in a category that you thought would match what other people would say. Michael won and then Emily won and then Daniel won. It was a great day!

 

December 19, Monday

I've been planning this day for over a month. I'm glad it went well. I spent the morning getting as many chores done as I could. I was busy all the way up until we left at 12:20 PM. We got to Game Show Battle Rooms right on time. We got checked in and he explained the game and everything. Then we went in and started the games. It was a really cool set that they had. I tried to take lots of pictures and videos. The teams were chosen at random and it was Nathaniel, Jonathan, Michael, and Emily and their team was called The Winners. The rest of us were called The Fantastic five. The first game we played was like Family Feud. We were up four to zero and then they started coming back. 

Next, we did the Wheel of Fortune game. There were a few puzzles that I knew the answer to but I never got the chance to solve it before Emily did. She did an awesome job and the host and producer were pretty impressed with how quickly we were getting the puzzles. At the end, Emily and I did a lightning round. The first one was the Las Vegas strip and I got that with only the L_S in Las. Then Emily got the next one which was A Charlie Brown Christmas Thanksgiving. And then the last one it was "keep the change ya filthy animal" and I got that one. 

Next, we played a game where you had to put the right price on the products. We only got three right the first time and the other team got three right the first time. Then we got a chance to switch them and the second time they got only two right and we still only got three right. There was another game where you had to roll the dice and then choose what place value you wanted that number in. That one was kind of tricky and we lost. 

The last thing was a Plinko game. Michael got 1000 points and so it was hard to catch up because we never got that and they ended up winning the game. It was pretty close. I think everybody had a really good time. 

We had lunch at Mimi's Café and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Then we went to Feed My Starving Children. Michael, Andrew, Nathaniel, and Audrey all wanted to do warehouse. The rest of us packed the food.  

After the session, I convinced everyone that it was a good night to go to the Mesa Temple since it was on the way home. I promised we would only take half an hour. We parked in the parking lot by the visitor's center and walked around for a little bit. Then we got a picture by the reflecting pool and walked around a little more and left. Jonathan said I didn't do half an hour because it was only 29 minutes, ha ha. 

On the way home, we all met up at Cold Stone Creamery. We had taken two cars. The kids played some video games for a little while.

 

December 20, Tuesday

Today was a long but wonderful day. I hurried and got ready so I could go to the gym. I had so much to do that I didn't leave until 10:30 AM but I was home by 11 AM. Emily wasn't quite ready so I had time to get changed and ready to go shopping with Dad and Audrey and Emily. We went to Ross first. We spent quite a while there and found some great stuff. Emily got a couple of dresses and sweaters. Audrey got two blazers and a sweater. I got two tops and a jacket. Dad insisted on paying for everything. We ran a few more errands and then went home. I didn't have a lot of time to do what I needed to do but somehow, I got it all done. Dad took Jonathan for a haircut and I tried to fix the digital frame but it still didn't work. Then we all started getting dressed and ready to go to dinner. We left a little after 4:15 PM and made it right on time for our reservation at Ruth’s Chris at 5 PM. They seated us in our own little room with a large table with nine chairs so that was perfect. I really liked that configuration so we could talk together. Once we made our order, I excused myself to use the bathroom and I stopped the server and asked him if the cakes were there and he said they were. His name was Chris and he and his partner server Lindsee seemed even more excited about the cakes than I was. They said they looked really good and couldn't wait to show me. They looked amazing! I was so glad I went through AJ's Fine Foods to get them. I told him the plan for the surprise. We all enjoyed our food so much! We had two orders of lobster mac & cheese brought to us as an appetizer. Dad and Daniel got a salad and Andrew wanted his potato with the appetizers. We also got an appetizer of calamari. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their steak. Dad got the cowboy ribeye, Jonathan and Emily got the filet and shrimp, Andrew got the T-bone, and Audrey got the filet. Michael, Nathaniel, Daniel, and I all got the ribeye. It was amazing, as usual! We had fun talking together. We talked a little bit about Europe. When he came and asked if anybody wanted dessert, nobody said anything. I paused for a bit and then I said, yes, we should get dessert because we're celebrating a couple of things. I told him that Audrey just graduated from college and that my dad is about to retire. I said to please bring us some dessert. It took them a little time but they brought the cakes out. They were amazing! Audrey and Dad were pretty shocked. None of the kids knew what I was doing either and they were all surprised. Audrey's cake was Harry Potter themed. 

Dad's cake had a little guy in a boat and it said Gone Fishing and Happy Retirement. 

They both looked awesome! I got lots of pictures and video. We got some great pictures of everyone. I also took plenty of pictures of the actual cakes. We decided we should cut up Dad's cake since he is leaving tomorrow and everybody got a piece of the vanilla cake with the cake batter the birthday cake filling. Everybody was pretty full already but they all ate it except for Andrew. Audrey and Dad liked their gifts, as well.  They were both very grateful for me doing that for them. I've been spending weeks planning this so I'm glad it worked out and everybody was happy. 

When we were done eating, we walked across the street to McCormick Stillman park to see the model train building and everyone really liked it. 

After that, we drove over to the Giving Machines. We all chose something to donate. 

When we got home, we put things away and then we exchanged gifts with dad. He was pretty happy with his Remember Everyone Deployed red T-shirt and his little sign that I had ordered from Etsy. It said: as great of a dad you as you are, it's even better that my kids get to call you Papa. I also got him a green sweater and a little coaster that said, "my gun identifies as a cordless hole punch." The kids got Band of Brothers for him. I sent him home with a calendar and some gifts for Debbie. Dad said good night to everyone and went upstairs to pack and go to bed. The kids roped me into playing Mario Kart with them.  I actually held my own pretty well this time. I even came in fourth place on the first race. It was a long, wonderful day.

December 21, Wednesday

I got up this morning at about 6:30 AM so that I could get ready for the day and get the beef stroganoff in the crockpot. At 7:30 AM, we had a family prayer and everybody said their goodbyes to Dad and I took him to the airport. I had a hair appointment at 9:30 AM but I was able to drop Dad off pretty quickly so I arrived at her neighborhood at 9 AM and it worked out perfectly for her that I came over a little early. I came back home and got a bunch of chores done. I did a load of laundry and all kinds of things I needed to do. The kids all helped get everything ready and set the table and everything for our dinner with the missionaries. Everyone enjoyed the dinner. I gave them their gift of a little temple picture on the wooden photo board. They seemed to like it. We took a picture and then they showed us the Christmas video from President Nelson. I've been wanting to show that to everybody for a while and I just keep thinking of it at the wrong time. We had a family prayer and cleaned up. Nathaniel wanted to watch the movie My Girl Friday with Cary Grant. We started it at about 9:30 PM but luckily it was only an hour and a half movie. I didn't love the movie but it was kind of fun to see it anyway. Then we all got ready for bed.