A crazy busy December

 December was a blur. It's my favorite month of the year, but it is so busy...especially when you are a mom.

 

To start off, Scarlett's preschool did a cooking class and invited parents over for lunch. We had homemade pizzas and fruit salad. Scarlett piled on the cheese!

 

Our church had a Christmas party and a wonderful program "The Forgotten Carols". The party was an ugly sweater party, so everyone was dressed pretty crazy.

 

Lydia's school had a Christmas program and each grade performed 3 musical numbers. I didn't get any great pics to share, but I remember her and her best friend Sari were front and center! Claire's school didn't have a Christmas program, but her Kindergarten teacher put together a show just for her class. They performed at least 10 songs! All the parents were amazed at how well these kids learned the songs.

 

 

As Christmas got closer, it was time to make treats in the kitchen. We made salsas for some and cookies for others.

I wish we had time to do more, but unfortunately a great loss occurred in our family and Josh & I were travelling to Kansas for Debbie. My mom was kind enough to fly up to Billings to look after the kids for their last few days of school. She went to Scarlett's Christmas party and Lydia's Christmas party. I wish I could have been there, but I'm so glad they at least had grandma there.

 

 

 

And when grandma's here, that means trips to McDonald's.

 

 

Josh and I were back in town just before Christmas Eve, and our dear friends the Thomas's invited us over. We had a lovely dinner, then dressed up and acted out the Nativity story - complete with stable animals :)

 

This was a month to remind us how blessed we are to have good friends and good family to help us through difficult times, and to reflect on the greatest gift - that of our Savior Jesus Christ and His great Plan of Salvation.

Snow fun

 

The temperatures finally got above freezing, and the snow started to melt, which means - sledding! It also means "Mom, I'm too hot in my coat"

 

One of the parks nearby has some fun hills for our skill level. That said, we did hit one post, one park bench, and twice jumped the embankment and landed in the street. I don't have any pics of Scarlett because I was always at the bottom of the hill to slow her down. But I was proud of my brave 3 yr old who raced down that hill on her own. She even got brave enough to try a jump the next day.

 

On days like these, I love living in Billings.

Deck the halls

This year we decorated pretty early for Christmas. We knew we were travelling for Thanksgiving, and then hosting a Relief Society party the week we got back. I loved it. I love Christmas decorations and I love this time of year.

 

 

The girls helped me decorate the tree; at least the bottom half of it. Because our ceiling is so high we couldn't resist the urge to buy a tall tree. But then we couldn't get the star on unless we used our largest set of kitchen tongs.

Hadley can't crawl yet, but she ALWAYS found a way to roll right under the tree and play with the lights and presents.

 

Lydia's paper: The Time I Went to Kansas

Yes it was -20

 

I'm not made for this. I am from Midland Texas, where our summers had record-breaking heat. Let me describe what its like at -20F (-30 Celsius)

 

- When you go outside the snot in your nose freezes. It's such a weird feeling. I constantly wanted to pick.

- Your car battery will die. Unless it's fired up regularly, and parks in a garage. Our minivan was parked in the garage, but we weren't driving it because of the snow. It died.

- It's so cold there is no ice on the road, just fluffy snow that's never melted. Its like driving through piles of sifted flour. It's really quite beautiful

- Speaking of driving, we haven't seen the pavement in over a week. It's white everywhere, you don't know where the road ends and the sidewalk begins. Just follow the car in front of you.

- You can't hold any conversations outside, because your whole face is numb and its a labor to speak. And you probably have frozen snot on your face.

- Every storm drain around town has steam rising from it. Eww

- I'm pretty sure steam escapes my front door when I open it.

- When I open the door to watch the kids go to the bus stop, my extremities start to go numb just standing in the doorway.

- Oh yeah...and Billings NEVER CANCELS SCHOOL. Not even a delay. So my kids were out there at the bus stop.

BUT

- The night before, Billings Public Schools will call you to remind you to dress your kids warm and to tell you to walk to a different bus stop if you are somewhere hilly.

 

 

Whatever. The kids didn't mind too much. I guess they aren't as Texan as their mother ;)

 

Kansas

We have taken a couple of trips to Kansas in the last month to be with our Viets family. About a year ago Josh's mom was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. It's been difficult. It's not my place to publicize all the details, but in these last months we have witnessed the strength that comes through

Family

 

We are so blessed to be a part of this Viets family. We have wonderful brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. There is so much love in that home. And at the center of all of it are the most resilient and brave Mimi and Papa

 

 

Carolyn got a great pic of the 5 sons together at Thanksgiving

November was a fun month for my girls who got to spend a lot of time with their Viets cousins, who they adore. Lydia was in tears when it was time to say goodbye

 

 

 

The girls spent lots of quality time with our Aunt Becky, and with Grandpa Paul and Grandma Sharon. We are so thankful for all they do.

And Hadley was Hadley. Not too excited about anything, and never upset about anything. She was often entertained by her cousin Greta, who is just 3 days older!

 

Thanks for the good times! Our hearts and prayers are in Kansas.

Our family 2013

 

 

And we're thankful for our friends the Thomas's who came to the park to take our pictures! They turned out great!

Fall Fun 2013

Billings has a great corn maze on the west side of town that everyone makes at least one visit to this time of year. They had plenty of activities for kids, though they were pretty redneck, but the girls loved it.

 

 We rode two different tractor-trains that pulled us around the cornfield. We played carnival-type games, played on playgrounds, and we went through some mini-mazes. We didn't attempt the full corn maze because we heard it took 45 minutes to get through...which translates to an hour and a half with this group.

 

 

 

 Then it was time for Halloween! We went to 5 Halloween Parties. Yep. We looked the same in all of them so I won't post all the pics. The girls were fairies, Josh and I recycled our Toy Story costumes, and Hadley was a dalmation (I went as Cruella DeVille to our church party with her).


Handing out candy at the Trunk Or Treat



The Johnson's Halloween Bash

 And the three Cutest Fairies EVER!

 

Happy Hadley

I feel a little bit of "mommy-guilt" for not documenting the life of my 4th child the way I did my older ones. Hadley is now 7 months old! Holy cow soon she'll be walking, eating at the table, and my days with a baby will be gone for good.

 

After having 4 babies I must honestly say that Hadley is the Best. Baby. Ever. No joke. I thought Lydia was a good baby, I thought Scarlett was my easiest, but so far Hadley just blows away the competition. Here are some truths to support my case.

 

- Hadley was sleeping through the night at one week old. After the first week we just moved her to her own room. She's been solid ever since.

- Hadley never, well rarely, cries. If she does there is always the same solution: food.

- She lets her sisters manhandle carry her anytime. No complaints

- She's gone camping, boating, hiking, swimming, and on long roadtrips with the family. She is never ever a problem. She just rolls with it and never makes a peep.

- She eats well, she naps well, and she's never sick.

 

 

 But what makes me happiest is that she is happy in our family and happy with her sisters. She lights up when she sees Lydia walking home from the bus. She laughs and dances with Scarlett. She giggles when Claire tickles her, and she smiles when daddy smothers her with kisses. And all I have to do is smile at her and I see that cute little gummy grin smiling back at me. We are really enjoying Miss Hadley Sue.

 

The big storm

In Billings we've fully experienced what the term "microburst" means. In late summer there were some storms that came through that were violent. We've had bad storms in Texas for sure, but our neighborhood got caught in a microburst that really tore up a lot, with 75mph winds. It was so scary to watch, we didn't dare go outside. We lost our playset, as it toppled over and the roof flew off. The trampoline just took flight, jumped a few fences and ended up in a tree down the street.

 This from a crazy hail storm the day before the big storm.

 

We felt sorry for ourselves for a little bit...then we heard about all the problems some of our neighbors were having. LOTS of basements flooded when the hail and other debris broke through the windows. Cars were flooded, trees and other backyard equipment were ruined. So we felt very fortunate. In the end the things we lost were just things, and weren't essential to our happiness, and no one was hurt. We could fix or replace everything in time, and it would all be fine :)