during the ten days of november 21st-30th

Sunday- Presidency meeting after a great day at church.  Chilling with family the rest of the day.  I love Sundays for so many reasons, but mostly because we get to be together without thinking about work.  That's our only rule on Sunday.  Spend it together, relax, and don't do anything too taxing.  Love it. 
Monday-Work day.  That evening Zac had a Christmas party for Cricket in Meridian but it was freezing and it was a crazy day, so the boys and I opted for staying home.  Since Zac was gone I thought we would just not have FHE, but then I remembered that we'd made a commitment and I'd better stick to it, so the boys and I had a family home evening about the importance of families.  We each told something we loved about each member of our family and then I bore my testimony of how much Heavenly Father, Jesus, and Zac and myself love each of the boys.  It was pretty tender and I'm so grateful I didn't use the excuse of being by myself to get out of it.

Tuesday- Spent the day visiting at my folks trying to be helpful with wedding preparations.  Mom watched the boys so Zac and I could run errands in Ontario together which was so nice.
Wednesday- After Zac got home from work we went to Cleaver's to hang out.  Spent the evening playing & hanging out with them and Chels & Chris & baby Lyla.  Grayson of course built another fort & was in Heaven. After we got home I took the boys over to say hi to my aunt Sandi, uncle Gary, and their six kids who'd come from Utah for the holiday & the wedding.  Grayson was totally enamored with their girls Abbey & Sadie & we ended up bringing them home for the night.  Grayson couldn't imagine letting them go.  They are so good with him and of course Beckham was loved on too.  Talon came over to play xbox with Zac for a while and the girls & Grayson watched a movie & went to bed.

Thursday-We spent the day with my family at my mom's parents house.  I don't think I held Beckham the entire day.  He was constantly wanted by one of Sandi's four teenage boys which I thought was so cute.  All their kids were so great with my boys and it was fun seeing them get to know each other.  Lunch was yummy and it was fun just chilling and visiting with everyone.  Grayson had a couple meltdowns, but he's two & I kept reminding myself of that fact.  We took a picture of the grandkids with Grandpa Mike (minus Brett's kids & Lance & Taylor & spouses...Zac wouldn't get in the dang picture).  All the kids had fun playing games on our phones and Zac spent a long time explaining electronic stuff to Sandi.  I just took all the sounds in & soaked it up.  It was the first holiday in my entire life that I didn't feel too focused on food.  Felt pretty freeing & I enjoyed it.  That night we hung out at Mom's & I worked on Taylor's guestbook.  The girls came to spend the night again too & I could tell Grayson was going to have a hard time when they left for Utah again.

 

Friday- This morning Abbey & Sadie babysat Grayson for me while I ran with Beckham into the church to help set up for Taylor's reception.  It was so much fun!  Devin, Logan, Kaden, & Canon are a blast to be with and just made me laugh.  Our job was lighting the trees & we were pretty amazing at it.  It was fun to just joke around with Gary & Sandi too.  Love those guys.  Mom-of course-outdid herself with this reception.  Everything was coming together beautifully.  Beckham was passed around to each boy at different times and is seriously the most portable child!  He is so easy going and happy to just be loved on or just to play on the floor.  He even naps whenever he needs to wherever he is...even on Canon's lap.  So cute!  We headed home around noon to get ready for Thanksgiving with Zac's family.

We had another great lunch with Z's family and again realized how grateful we are to have both families so close.  The boys did the dishes-what great guys, eh?  I realized again how blessed I am to really truly adore my in-laws.  Every single one of them.  We just all get along so well and enjoy laughing, eating, playing, and talking with each other. It was such a great day.  Z's sisters and I sat around the table talking in the evening for a couple hours and got laughing so hard we were crying-such a great time!  The kids were again so good & loved playing with cousins & being loved on by everyone.  Bex just slept in the middle of the commotion and was his usual happy self.  Zac stayed late for the BSU game {which they sadly lost} and I took the boys home for bed.  They were both out on the way home in the car from such a busy fun couple days.  I am grateful for the abundance of blessings that are mine!

 

Saturday- Of course today was the worst snow we've had so far...which unnerved me a bit for the drive to the temple, but the car/tires/driver did great and we made it safely.  The boys waited in the waiting room with all the kids & were totally happy about that arrangement and Zac and I went up for the sealing.  Taylor and Talon are so cute & they were radiating happiness.  I loved being there and seeing my little sister get married.  I teared up a few times, especially when Grandpa Farrel came in in his wheelchair, and enjoyed remembering our wedding day so much.  They had an incredible showing of support-around 70 people-and I know they realized what a blessing that was.  Afterward it was snowing pretty hard, so we just got a couple pictures by Amber & a group/family shot & then we headed out. Grayson was throwing a huge fit at this time and I was pretty upset.  He and Beckham both fell asleep about the time we hit the freeway and Zac and I had a long discussion about parenting & discipline.  He talked & I listened and cried a little bit.  He is seriously one of the most wise men I know.  He doesn't give himself enough credit and often tells me he wishes he were more book smart.  First of all, he is book smart & remembers everything he ever learns, and then applies it too!, but secondly, he is incredibly talented at listening to the spirit and applying the things he is taught.  I felt so validated after listening to him tell me that I am a good mom despite what I sometimes think, and I so appreciated his ideas on things we could do together to address some of the issues I feel are happening right now with Grayson.  I am so grateful to have him as my husband and best friend and that he is such a tender & loving dad.  He is amazingly slow to anger and works hard to handle tough situations with love and consistency.  I hope my boys fully realize someday how much he adores them and how lucky they are to have such an amazing man as their dad.

We got home and left Zac so he could lift & get a nap since he'd been up so late the past two nights & the boys and I went to my folks.  They were still sleeping so they napped in the car for another hour while I "helped" Sandi make more mini muffins for the reception.  We totally burned the first batch & again we laughed a lot and when the boys woke up I didn't see them for a couple hours.  Took the girls home to get ready for the reception and headed in on the snowy roads around 4.  Got there for family pictures which went quickly & then helped get everything ready.  It was so nice having it from 5-7 because more people came out and we had it all cleaned up by 8!  It was a great night.  Saw lots of people we don't see often, visited a ton, laughed & danced, ate yummy food, and enjoyed seeing T&T so happy.  Got home and crashed with the three people I adore most in this world. A great ending to a great week full of people we love.

 

 

 

Sunday- Today church felt really chill.  My counselor's were both gone, but primary went smoothly and I just adore the kids.  Nursery especially went well and Grayson absolutely loves his teachers which is such a relief.  After church we hung out at Mom and Dad Pete's & T&T opened their gifts.  We joked that we were just going to load them up into our car on our way out.  They headed out on their honeymoon to spend a few days alone together.  We just like them so much. (:  And, a big great thing: Jaeger has decided he likes me.  He just climbed up onto my lap and let me love him for a long time!  And, it isn't the only time it's happened!  I am totally loving this & had to acknowledge it.
We went home around 6 so we could "deck our halls."  We turned on Josh Groban's Christmas CD, set up the tree, decorated the house, and laughed a lot.  This year has been so fun because Grayson is so involved and understands so much more what's going on.  I struggled at first because I wanted a perfect Christmas tree that was decorated super trendy/cute.  Zac said the best trees are the ones that look like a kid decorated them...and Grayson obviously wanted to help.  So, I decided the boys were right & it was more important to make great memories than have a perfect looking tree.  And I LOVE how it turned out.  Surprise surprise, right?!  Grayson did a great job with all our ornaments from our childhoods & I strung beads.  Zac helped Grayson hang the star & it all turned out beautifully.  I wouldn't have it any other way now {although I did take several of the ornaments from the bottom branches & distributed them more evenly throughout the tree after Gray was in bed}. And, Grayson kept sneaking decorations into his "house" inside the gate that surrounds the wood stove (we haven't started burning wood yet & he often plays in there and pretends it's his house) and Zac commented how he was like his mom in that way.  It was cute watching him set up shop.  About 9:00 both boys had had enough and all heck broke loose, but Zac and I just started laughing and got them in bed.  So grateful for this season & new traditions with kids.

Monday- Today was a good day.  We both worked from home which sometimes lends to a sense of insanity on both our parts, but actually went rather smoothly.  The boys did well & I think Beckham's starting to get more teeth because he's chewing on EVERYTHING!  Zac went in the garage to lift in the late afternoon and Grayson went out to help him.  I looked out a while later and he had stacked all the boxes that I'd set out for the garbage & made-what else?-a fort!  He is pretty creative!  For FHE tonight we had "Free play" after a prayer & story about the nativity and jammed up the Christmas tunes & had a family dance party.  It was seriously fun.  The boys were laughing so hard and Zac and I even got to dance together for a while.  These are seriously the things I want to crystallize in my mind & remember forever.  Wish sometimes that we had a constant video camera on us capturing these daily moments that seem so inconsequential while doing them but add up in the long run to be the most important things. 
Tuesday- Crazy weather today.  Like tons of snow.  Major snow day.  Snowed all day long.  I had a meeting in Ontario for TSFL in the evening and so Zac offered to drive & go with me.  The boys got to have a fun playnight at Lance & Kelsey's house and we headed out.  I'm so glad Zac was willing to drive me because the roads were pretty yucky.  It ended up being quite a fun little impromptu date night too.  Of course no one showed up to the meeting-who else but us would brave the treacherous roads?-but that's okay.  We spent an hour in Walmart doing a little Christmas shopping and that was a blast.  Picked up the boys after having a little snuggle time with my new best friend Jaeger and watched the end of the Biggest Loser before going to bed.