The two days before Christmas Eve, Erik had spent them working in St. George.  He come Friday night, then had to leave Christmas Eve morning at 5:30 am to work in Salt Lake.  The poor guy finally made it back that evening at about 6.  The boys and I all missed him, and were ready for Daddy to be home!! 

We had a big yummy Christmas Eve dinner, with our "guests" (that's what Sam kept calling them, all day, "When will our guests be here?!") Auntie C and Alex, and John and Guin.  Caroline helped me a ton with the dinner.  Samuel was ridiculously excited for the big turkey.  Ever since the day I brought it home, he asked over and over when we would eat it.  Owen enjoyed the bread.  We were distracted during dinner, and didn't notice it until he had a pile of about 7 slices of bread, all with the middle eaten out, and flour all over his face.  We all laughed because we thought it was so funny and cute, and that made O very embarrassed. 

John and Guin were so sweet to bring some presents for the boys.  Samuel got his very first Nerf gun.  Oh boy.  And Owen got his own Mater that he doesn't have to fight Sam for!  Then there were the obligatory Christmas Eve jammies.  And right before bed, we opened one last present, a star for the top of our tree. 

Samuel and Owen went to bed late, and then the little elves had to get busy preparing for Santa's arrival.  It ended up being a rough night, one of Emmett's worst, but we got through it, and after about 4 hours of sleep for us, it was Christmas morning!  We sent Daddy ahead to make sure Santa had come.  Oh had he!!  He left an almost empty bottle of cream soda and a bag of clementines that Rudolph had eaten one of, with a note telling the boys that it had been a tough call, but he decided to put everyone on the nice list this year.  Phew!  So we opened stockings and presents, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, ate way too much junk, and played in our jammies the rest of the day.

1: I am the only SAHM who lives in Utah County and doesn't know how to use a fancy camera. Or Photoshop.

2: Emmett can't sit on his own.

3: Owen can't sit still.

4: Samuel can't smile without looking like he's in pain.

And thusly, 5: It is impossible to get three children looking decent in one picture.

It sure was an adventure trying, though!

We almost might have gone with one of these, but that leads me to number 6: I'm too lazy.

Merry Christmas from the Briggs!

December was a hard month.  Not bad.  But hard.  I was having a rough time, Emmett was really having a rough time, Erik had a ton of work and several big projects, and whiney whine whine, poor me, this that and the other.  The month blasted by.  I just couldn't commit to one of the darling activity a day advents floating around Pinterest that everyone and their mom was doing.  I'm just not that cool, I guess.  But we were still able to do a few Christmas-y things to make the season memorable and special.  So here is that stuff, interspersed with everything else that did (or didn't) happen in December. 

Sometimes this one is cute . . . sometimes . . . so it does us well to remember when.

These two are cute, too.  Especially when one of them isn't screaming in pain, not eating, or not sleeping.  I don't mean Erik.

We had spent way too many days in the house doing nothing.  So one morning when I heard The Sweet Tooth Fairy would give a free cookie to the first 5 people into their shop who sang, "If all the raindrops were cupcakes and cakebites, oh what a rain that would be, I'd go outside with my mouth open wide, singing AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AAAAH" I packed the boys into the car and off we went.  Sam willingly and eagerly did the singing.  We got a cookie and the cute gal who was smitten by my boys gave them each a sucker, too.  Soooo that's why O is eating a sucker in this picture.  I don't usually just let them have candy.  I also don't usually comb their hair.  Obviously.  And that was a lot of explanation for 2 pictures of my boys doting on their baby brother.

That same day, at lunch time, these two were holding hands.  I have no idea why.  Owen rarely let's Sam hold his hand, and it makes Sam kind of sad.  So I thought this was really cute.  Especially since O ate a lot of his lunch that way, reaching over himself with his right hand.

Also at lunch time, Owen was riding the elevator up and down.  "Going up, beep, zoooom, going down, beep, zoooom," while he stood up and sat down.  Weirdo.  Sam had a box elder bug that he wanted to adopt as a pet.  Double weirdo.  He put it in the bin, gave it some grass and a twig, and named it Samuel, to which I interjected that that wasn't very original, so he said, "Ok, I'll name him Monster Truck."  Sam didn't let that thing out of his sight all day.  I had to do some serious convincing so Sam wouldn't take it to school with him.  Later that night, Monster Truck met his demise.  I'm thinking it had to do with the apple juice the boys tried to give him.  I noticed before Sam, and was so close to finding another box elder and switching them out.  We are just not pet people.

One night Erik was either working late or at a church meeting, I can't remember now.  I wanted to sit my fat butt on the sofa, which I did, but the boys weren't super excited about that, so I got out the Christmas tree ornaments and let them have at it.  They both got really into it.  Owen was frustrated at first because he couldn't figure out how to hang any of them.  But he realized he could put the hooks through a bell ornament.  So that's what he did.  I counted and he had hung 18 ornaments from that bell.

For FHE one night, we talked about building a strong foundation on the rock of our Redeemer.  We sang the wise man and the foolish man, read Helaman 5:12, and then built a gingerbread house.  It did not have a strong foundation.  It lasted about 30 minutes before it collapsed.  But the boys loved every second of it.  Especially our sugar fiend, Owen J, who was more interested in putting the candy in his mouth than on the house.

On Samuel's last school day before winter break, he got to bring gifts for a present exchange.  He picked out little yo-yos, and wrapped each one himself.  He was very proud of his work, and so eager to give them to his friends.  When he came home with lots of fun little gifts, I was very impressed with how willing he was to show and share with Owen.

We visited the Festival of Lights again in Spanish Fork.  The boys loved it.  Em slept through it.  No pictures, but I think two years in a row officially makes it a tradition. 

We did do one advent, these chocolate calendars.  I just happened to come across them at the party store back in November and knew I HAD to get them.  I remember doing these so many times as a kid.  The first day it was this intense wave of nostalgia when I got a whiff of those waxy chocolates.  So fun for me.  And the boys had a lot of fun with it, too.

Sam also had a countdown paper chain he made at school, and he loved taking a new one off each day of December.  And we had a really low-key mini advent paper chain with "activities" like find a picture of Jesus in your house, read a story from the Friend, be extra nice to someone in your family, tell someone a story about Jesus, stuff like that.  Samuel told Emmett the story of Jesus being born . . . "It was in a stable in Bethlehem, the shepherds came and there was a new star, and theeeeeen THE KING GOT REALLY MAD AND THE SOLDIERS KILLED ALL THE BABIES AND PEOPLE SCREAMED AH AH AH, AND EVERYONE DIED!!!!!!  And that's the end."  Yeah, I do not recommend the Living Scriptures Nativity video.  Horrible, awful, terrible, and a million other complaints.  If you want to hear a good rant, ask me about it sometime.  Anyway, I digress . . . There is our December, crazy, long, a bit tough, and yet pretty uneventful. 

Coming up next on my poor neglected blog: Our quiet, simple, wonderful Christmas at home. 

Warmest wishes to you and yours, from us and ours.

My camera has been missing for a while.  It turned up on top of the fridge.  Which surprisingly, is where I keep it.  I guess I should’ve thought to check there.  Anyway, a few old pictures I thought I’d blog for the sake of memory.  My memory.  Which is SHOT!  What is wrong with me?  I have no brain.  I sat for like a full minute yesterday trying to think of what the stupid toy in front of me was called.  DOG.  A big dumb fuzzy stuffed dog.  I was looking for the word DOG.  Sigh.  I digress . . .

December 7, 2010

Evening with Santa.  We were invited to a special event with fun games, donuts, prizes, and a meeting with Santa.  This was Samuel’s first time to meet Santa.  He was through the roof giddy.  With about 3 people in front of us left, he started bouncing.  When it was finally his turn, he literally jumped the whole way to Santa’s lap.  Samuel told him he was a very good boy and when asked, replied he wanted EVERYTHING for Christmas!  Then it was Owen’s turn.  We very specifically planned for Erik to do the hand off.  O definitely didn’t scream or cry.  But he still wasn’t very excited about it.  Afterwards, he had no problem smiling and waving to Santa.  And when we left, Owen had learned a new word.  “Bye bye Danta!!” 

December 15, 2010 

When gymnastics ended, we started going to the library with our friends on those mornings instead.  We would go for a 30 minute music time, then check out some books and read for 30 minutes, and then have 30 minute story time.  On the last day before the Christmas Break, I figured it was time to bring my camera.  (Mediocre point and shoot + Awful awful flourescent lighting = These pictures.)  We had been promised the week before there would be a special visitor from the North Pole, but it wasn’t Santa.  I’m going to be honest, the whole thing was a bit lame.  Sam was bored with it.  But he still wanted to wait in line for his candy cane.  Then he went back and got one for O.

Sometimes I let my child dress himself.  I usually regret it later.  Like when I look at pictures.

Buddies Gavin and Nathan.

December 22, 2010

Owen has started throwing some awesome tantrums.  He had a particularly nasty one that for some reason he felt needed to happen under the table.  I figured I could sit there and pull my hair out.  Or I could get out the camera.

December 26, 2010

Just helping himself to some cheese and crackers.  Funny kid.

Christmas seems like it was a lifetime ago.  I’ve been putting off this post.  The camera died so we took maybe 6 pictures total.  But it needs to be done.  Our Christmas was very mild and oh so low key.  It was just the 4 of us here at home.  And it was just what we needed.  We’d all been pretty sick (and most of us still are/are again) and just weren’t up for a big hooplah this year.  What we did do was intimate, cozy, and still very special.  So here is the rundown . . .

Christmas Eve is kind of the big day for me.  While Owen and I napped, Erik and Sam went to the dollar store to finish some shopping.  Sam picked out presents for both me and Owen.  (Naps and dollar store, sure sounds like a pretty big day!)  I planned to make a semi-traditional Danish dinner.  I started slowly in the morning with the intention that I could have it together by dinner time.  Almost.  I screwed up the cranberry salad, and never made it to the candied potatoes or rolls.  But we were all still happy and full after a pork roast and gravy, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, green beans, red cabbage, and a bottle of snow cold Martinellis.  All served in my most fancy dishes.  When it’s just the four of us, all sick, I have a hard time putting on a show.

We got out the Christmas jammies and the boys ran around crazy for a few minutes before calming down with the scripture story of Christ’s birth from the New Testament reader.  The boys each chose a gift to open.  We had to talk Sam out of choosing the giant bags that came from Colorado.  Then I put sick O to bed and the other two made some peanut butter cookies for Santa.  Sam came to the realization for the first time that we didn’t have a chimney, and he asked how Santa would get in.  We suggested we could leave the door open for him, but Samuel was very concerned about the cats getting in if we did that.  So he suggested we leave a note on the door that said, “Come in Santa, but please don’t let any cats in.”  Erik and I stayed up till about 10 getting everything finished up and waiting for Santa.  It was totally a record being done that early, but I was still just throwing things into boxes and slapping on a dumb bow by that point. 

So Christmas morning came early with O waking up crying at 6:20.  I gave him some milk and crossed my fingers he just might go back to sleep, but he didn’t.  So I brought him into bed with us and turned on the tv.  Erik was starting to get antsy by that point.  It was pretty cute.  I could hear the wheels in his brain cranking, deciding if he could go in and wake up Sam. 

Samuel came out on his own pretty soon, though, and by 7 we were all waiting behind the upstairs gate ready to go see if Santa had found our house.  The first thing Sam saw were the stockings, and he headed right over.  It took him a few minutes before he noticed the other stuff.  Classic moment. 

We spent the morning slowly opening presents and playing with them before moving on to the next gift.  I was pleased with how calm and mellow it all was.  The castle and dragons were a huge hit, and so was Owen’s policeman Helmet Hero.  (Samuel has the racecar driver, and the two fight over it like crazy.)  Grandpa W and Mormor totally scored major points with the Pillow Pets, since Erik and I had told Sam countless times that we would never buy him one, and as parents, we had the power to tell Santa not to bring one, too.  We had a mighty fine haul from Grandma and Grandpa B, too!  Santa was smart and labeled most of the gifts to Samuel AND Owen in hopes of alleviating too many Gimmes and Mines.  Erik got to build himself a brand new computer for his present a week or so earlier, I made him a desk calendar from Shutterfly, and Sam got him a huge plastic trumpet.  Because apparently, “Dad NEEDS one of these!  So he can go ‘Doo doo dooo’ and say ‘Saaaaaaaaaamuuuuuuuuuuuel’ really loud!”  Sam got me a stamp, and I also got a bigger and faster camera card.  After presents, we had a yummy breakfast of monkey bread, bacon, and sausage.  And a few apple slices for good measure.

The rest of the day was for eating, playing, resting, and watching movies.  We stayed in our pjs until after a dinner of leftovers.  Then we changed into clean pajamas.  And went to bed.  At least those were the highlights.  It was different to do Christmas completely and entirely by ourselves.  We missed being with family and other special traditions, but we also really enjoyed the quiet time at home.  Merry Christmas!

December 21, 2010

So after a busy day in the snow, we got ready for Samuel’s very first preschool program.  Samuel was very excited.  So was I.  It’s one of those things that makes me feel like a real parent.  I got to walk Sam over to where all the kids were meeting while Erik and Owen got us some second row seats.  After a few minutes, the kids came marching out, ready to share their usual morning songs and routine.  After that, they went off stage and came back marching in like toy soldiers.  They recited something from Babes in Toyland, and then sang several Christmas songs, including motions, actions, and a few props.  Samuel knew most of the stuff pretty well.  (I had been hearing him practice Jingle Bells and Up On the House Top for weeks.)  My favorite part was when he held his belly and leaned back for “Oh ho ho, who wouldn’t go?”  When all the songs were done, we had a surprise visit from Santa and Mrs Claus.  All of the preschool kids got to visit with them.  After that, we grabbed some cookies, looked around and collected Sam’s Christmas art pieces hanging on the wall, and brought home the present he had made and wrapped for us.  

I still don’t know how my Sam Baby got so grown up.  It was such a delight to watch him interact and perform.  In between each act, Sam was always chatting with someone, and at the end Erik wondered what Sam could possibly have to say, and say so much of!  I sure love this bright, cheery, outgoing little man of mine!

On Wednesday, I promised Sam we could decorate the Christmas tree later that day.  Then we had a fun little episode.  I happened to be taking pictures of something else when it first started.  I think I captured the moment quite well.  (Sam had put the bandaid on that morning because he and O bonked heads.  He left it on all day and proudly told anyone who cared, and lots of people who probably didn’t, what had happened.  Goobster.)

So, lots more nastiness later, Samuel was sent up to his room until he was ready to be kind and obedient again.  A while later, Sam came down dressed in his Christmas jammies from last year.  “Ok, Mom.  I’m done, and now I’m ready to be nice and decorate the tree.”  So we did.  O was mesmerized with a little snow globe ornament the entire time.  Sam found his spot on the tree and settled in.  He was so deliberate and precise.  I loved watching his intense concentration.

It’s starting to feel like Christmas around here!

We had one more adventure left during our Christmas vacation in Fullerton.  We left early Saturday morning for a day at the zoo!  It was cool, a bit cloudy, and not too many people were there at all.  Compared to our past experiences at Hogle Zoo, this zoo was HUGE!  I asked Sam if he remembered going to the zoo with Emma and Marianne after Thanksgiving, and then I told him that the zoo we were going to this time would be much bigger.  This was thrilling news to Samuel, “Yeah, I want to go to the bigger zoo and see DINOSAURS!”  Well, there weren’t any dinosaurs, but we still had a great time and every single one of us was completely and entirely pooped by the time we left. 

Samuel adoooores his cousins!

Sam’s favorite zoo finds: “Santa’s reindeer,” “A big silverback gorilla!” and “Russel’s snipe!”

Some pictures I stole from Rob.

The past several week all built up to this.  Christmas morning!  The grown ups had lots of fun staying up late wrapping presents and putting everything together.  I told Erik not to let Samuel out the next morning until I was there to watch his reaction, but he was too quick.  By the time I had thrown my clothes on, Sam had gone through his stocking and was ready for more.  The two big hits were a Micro Machine Hummer that folds out into a race track from Daddy, and a castle (knights, horses, cannons, and dragon included) from Grandma B.

The Christmas morning aftermath.

Once the initial Christmas buzz wore off, we just happened to find something that Santa had left outside.  (And I cannot even tell you how sick I am about the fact that I deleted the video we took of it.)

Sam spent the rest of our trip in California asking for more presents, snooping around the tree for more presents, where are the other presents, I need Santa to bring me presents again, etc etc.

And Owen pretty much slept through the whole thing.