Our Christmas Fun

For Christmas this year, we went out to Utah. We thought that Laura, my sister, would be returning home from her mission, so the boys and I flew out to Utah four days before Michael so we could be there before she got home. Unfortunately for us, she decided to extend another six weeks, so we went out early for fun--and fun we did have; however, flying by myself with three kids is a little bit intimidating and not all that fun, especially with the stomach flu that I didn't know I had until I was throwing up in the barf bags so conveniently provided by the airline. Fortunately, my kids are fabulous travelers and great at finding barf bags for their mom to puke into (what a great way to start out my blog and my trip for that matter--huh?).





Like we usually do when we fly to Utah, we flew into Las Vegas (we flew one-way for $7.77 on Spirit Airlines--they have incredible deals if you're patient). Despite the fact that we used to live in Las Vegas just over a year ago, Alden was very puzzled with the Strip area. From the back of the van, I heard him say, "Duh? Duh?" When I turned around to see what the trouble was, he exclaimed, "Mom! This is what the world would look like if silly man made the world!" Alden often asks us questions like, "What if the world was all green?" or "What if the world was all grass?" or "What if the world was all superheros?" (I think you get the picture). Anyway, this was definitely my favorite world observation he's made. He has quite the imagination and a lot of silly comments!



My sister, Diane, and her husband, Doug, picked us up at the airport and took us home to their house. The boys were so, so, so excited to see their cousins. The next day, Alden went to school with Davin, while Thobe had a blast playing with James and Bridger. I'm not sure how much fun Bridger had because Thobe was constantly telling him not to do things, but I think they had a great time. While we were there, Thobe tipped over in a bar stool and gave himself a gigantic goose egg on the back of his head and cut his chin open. He had to have 5 stitches, but was so brave and calm about the whole thing. His biggest frustration was when we took his macaroni and cheese away from him in an attempt to stop the gushing blood. He kept saying, "But I'm hungry!" He actually fell asleep just prior to getting the stitches and giggled like crazy when they took them out. What a silly boy! I suppose the funniest part about all of it is that when I told Michael, who was still in Ohio when it happened, he was very concerned when he heard that Thobe had an injury on his face. "Maybe you should take him to a plastic surgeon to prevent scarring, Melissa." However, when he saw where it was, he was much less concerned and told me, "If there is a scar, people will just think he had a chin strap injury from playing football... COOL!" Despite his silly comments, Michael is very good about putting Vitamin E on it every night so there will be no scar. What a great DAD!

Christmas was so much fun. My parents had 22 people in their house, eating, sleeping, giving Christmas presents--it was crazy and a lot of fun, at least for everyone except Hyrum. He is definitely his Grandpa Humphries' grandson is adverse to big groups of people. He was fine if Michael or I had him, but he didn't like being separated from either one of us. Even with us near, he was still a bit apprehensive (fortunately, by the end of the trip, he had warmed up to Grandpa and Grandma and was having the time of his life!). Despite his nervousness, we had wonderful Christmas celebrations! We had a very fun Christmas party with my dad and two of his brothers and their families on Saturday. On Sunday we all went to church and had a nice relaxing Sabbath (I guess as relaxing as you can have with 22 people in a house).


On Monday, Christmas Eve, we had kids bouncing off the walls. With 9 of the 22 people age 7 and under, there was a lot of excitement in the air. That night I dressed all the kids up as characters from the first Christmas. My dad read the account from Luke 2, and the kids entered and exited when we told them to. We all changed into our new pajamas that my mom gave everyone and then piled into the front room where my mom gave us her very special Christmas gift. For the past 15 or so years, my mom has given us a gift from her heart on Christmas Eve. She gives us a special gift and then also tells us of her love for each of us and her love for the Savior. It is a very sacred and special time for our family. My dad also adds his insights, expresses his love, and bears his testimony of the Savior to us as well. It's such a special tradition--my favorite one that I have with my family. We then lit a candle and sang "Silent Night," a tradition that Michael's family does every year, as we remembered family that were not with us there in Enterprise. We then shuffled over to the computer to look at Norad.com to see where Santa was, and then nine excited kids scurried off to bed.




Christmas day was very fun and magical. We felt so abundantly blessed and had so much fun watching the kids open their presents. I think the hit presents were the boys' Spiderman costumes, a doctor kit that my sister Kristi gave to Alden, and a little basketball toy that Santa brought Thobe. We had a wonderful time with family as we reflected on and celebrated the birth of our Savior.

The day after Christmas, Hyrum began taking his first significant steps. He walked about 5 or 6 steps back and forward between Michael and me. He was very, very proud of himself, and no walk was complete without a round of applause from everyone in the room, including Hyrum! When Hyrum walks, I can't help but think of Steve Martin in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" when he pretends that he is walking for the first time. It always makes me laugh.