The True Christmas Spirit.

We invited a couple of families, who like us, do not have family in town, to help us celebrate Christmas Eve with our traditional “shepherd’s dinner.” I also decided this year to buy dollar store gifts for all the children to play the game where you choose a gift and unwrap it and then the next person can take that gift from you or choose another one. I’ve been picking up things here and there for the last couple of weeks, but needed to run to the dollar store tonight to get a few more items.

I found some great things and headed to check out. I chatted with the salesperson and the man next to me as I swiped my debit card to pay for my items. The credit card machine was taking a bit longer than usual, and I started to feel my stomach drop as I remembered that my debit card actually expired in September. For some reason, the bank sent Scott a new debit card and not me. I rarely use my debit card and only found out a couple of weeks ago that it was expired. (Scott emailed and called the bank asking them to send me a new card. I still haven’t received one yet.) And although it is expired, it has still been working randomly at different stores. I realized it was not going to work tonight at the dollar store as it declined my card.

The dollar store does not accept American Express, which was the only other card I had and I didn’t even have cash. I embarrassingly told my plight to the lady, explaining that I could run to get some cash and be back quickly. At that moment, the man next to me pulled out ten dollars and paid for my items. I was speechless for a moment, and then I quickly told him I would be okay, that I could get the money and come back to the store. He assured me that “$10 was no big deal.” I told him it was a big deal to me. At that moment the checkout lady realized that we didn’t know each other, and she too was speechless. I profusely thanked the man for his kindness and he shook my hand and wished me a merry Christmas. I told him I’d find a way to repay his kindness to another.

I left the dollar store with tears in my eyes for the kindness and example of a stranger. I wasn’t destitute, and I certainly didn’t need any of those items. I could have put all the items back or ran to the bank to get money. But those things didn’t matter to him; he was willing to help me in the moment with no thought of return. He showed the true spirit of Christmas.

I admit that I was, and am still a bit embarrassed, but mostly my heart was touched. I hope I would have done the same thing. I will now. I put some cash in my wallet when I got home (some for emergencies) and other to keep until I find someone I can help in the moment as well.

My mom told me that last night at a family Christmas celebration she asked the children what gift they could give Jesus this year. My niece Livy responded, “always remember Him.” We remember the Savior when we do as He would. I am grateful to have been a part of such pure humanity. Despite all the negative news stories we are bombarded with, this world is a good place, full of good people who want to do what is right.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

Santa came to our ward party this year. Jared was thrilled beyond belief. He knew Santa was expected to visit so was asking every five minutes when Santa was coming.

After Jared sat on Santa's lap he came running over to me laughing. He said, "Mom, Santa was teasing me. I told him I wanted a remote control race car and he gave me a bag with an orange in it!" Jared thought that was hilarious.

I promise Santa had a face...these pictures were taken by someone from the ward who realized after awhile that she should be taking the pictures on the other side so you could see Santa too. I'm just grateful she had her camera to catch these cute kids.

Tent Rocks

When my parents were here for Thanksgiving we also went to Tent Rocks which was about an hour away. We loved it! We hiked through slot canyons all the way to the top. The kids were amazing troopers.

The kids all said this tree was one of their favorite things. Look at those massive exposed roots!

Santa Fe

For Thanksgiving this year my parents and Caleb and Abby came to visit. It is always so much fun to have them here. I especially love to play Taboo with my dad...it is hilarious. We visited Santa Fe. There are lots of art galleries that I would never attempt bringing my four kids in as I'm sure I'd be paying for an extremely expensive piece of broken or damaged art in the end. But we did find some fun art outside that the kids loved.

Ellie was mesmerized by these bronze statues of little kids. She wanted them to play with her.

This is the San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the United States. The kids are holding smashed souvenir pennies with pictures of the church on them. They thought grandpa was so cool to get those for them.

The best part of the old church for the kids was banging the big bell.

Halloween in December

I never posted these cute Halloween pictures.

Upon much insistence from the kids, we decorated our pumpkins with candy again this year.

It may look like Ellie is delighted in this picture....she is not. She screamed every time she saw our pumpkins because she wanted the candy. Little by little, pieces of the faces mysteriously disappeared. Strangely, Ellie was always close to the crime scene.

Don't mess with this Mr. Incredible!

Bird Denominations

Today we decided to stop by the Albuquerque Temple and walk around the Temple grounds as a family. While we were walking Scott noticed several small birds chirping and flying from one tree to another. He commented to the kids, “Don’t you think if you were a bird you would live on the Temple grounds too?” There was a pause, and then Brynn responded, “well… maybe if I was a Mormon bird.”

Let's Go!

Jared recently learned to ride his bike without training wheels. He's just barely 3 1/2 years old and very proud of himself.

Scott put together a little video of this event. The clip needed a little extra footage so he added some pictures of us this past Spring at White Sands as a bonus feature.

Enjoy!

Quotable Quotes

Last Sunday was Ward Conference. The chapel was hot...very hot. The air in the chapel has been turned off for several weeks, but it's still warm in Albuquerque... With blazing red cheeks Jared exclaimed in his not-so-quiet voice (as much as Jared tries, he really only has one volume and it is not quiet) "Mom, church is so boring to listen to!" There were smiles and quiet chuckles from the people sitting in several of the surrounding benches.

The other day Jared couldn't find something he was looking for. He exclaimed, "This is very strange and mysterious!"

And his obsession for weapons continues yet again. A few weeks ago as I was putting Jared to bed he said, "Mom, Rowdy (his little preschool friend) has like 100 swords. He has one with blue fire on it, and it is so powerful. Maybe I could have a powerful sword like Rowdy."

Mistaken Identity

Have you ever seen one of these?

Last week as we were saying good-bye to our garden for the season and pulling it out Kaitlyn and Brynn each found one of these really cool bright green caterpillars...or so we thought. They put their "pets" in a jar and were hoping to keep them until they turned into butterflies.

It wasn't until a few days later when I was describing our caterpillar to some friends that they said, "It sound's like a tomato-horn worm." And so it is. A nasty predator of the garden able to annihilate our tomato and pepper plants. And we're housing it as a pet!

When I told the girls the news Brynn responded, "Oh, gross! I can't believe I ever touched that thing!" Kaitlyn is remaining true and loyal to her plump green friend...but instead of its place in her room her jar has been moved outside.

What This World Really Needs

KAITLYN ESPLIN FOR VICE PRESIDENT!

Kaitlyn's second grade class held their own election. Kaitlyn ran for Vice President. She made a poster in class with the help of two campaign managers, and then she had to give a speech. She wrote the following speech by herself:

Hi my name is Kaitlyn. If I were vice president,
I would keep people on track.
I would help people if they were hurt.
I would be kind to every one.
And if people were scared I would help them not to be.

What a sweet little girl. She ran against two other little girls and one boy. The boy won (I'm pretty sure from the numbers that he got all the boy votes and the girls split the girl votes) but it didn't seem to phase Kaitlyn. She said she'd run again in January when they re-elect officers. Way to go Kaitlyn!

Some Good Catches

The girls are obsessed with bug and creature catching. Brynn slowly paces the sides of the field during Kaitlyn's soccer practice with her head down and fingers ready to pounce any grasshopper she can find--and she's usually rewarded with several after the hour is up. Kaitlyn and Brynn made a little contraption of two Cool Whip containers connected with a toilet-paper roll for the grasshopper's home. They cut a large hole in the lids and then coverd the holes with saran wrap so they can see their discoveries better but they can't escape. It's quite inventive..but really, grasshoppers? I have a better appreciation for "A Bugs Life" which is one of Jared's favorites. They made that ugly Hopper look exactly like the real thing!

Can you tell what Kaitlyn caught here? A huge praying mantis! Those big-eyed things give me the creeps...I don't like to make eye-contact with any bugs!

The same day they caught the praying mantis they caught a little baby lizard. Kaitlyn is so quick with the baby lizards and doesn't even flinch when she gets hold of them. The kids got a big bucket that we've used for other lizard finds and put both the lizard and praying mantis together. The lizard buried itself in the sand at the bottom of the bucket and the praying matis perched on the twig and leaves the kids got for it.

The only problem? A couple days later I learned something the hard way. Did you know praying mantis are carniverous insects! They don't like the leaves we put in there for it, instead they like to feed on beetles, spiders, grashoppers and small vertebrates like you guessed it...baby lizards! I didn't believe Kaitlyn when she told me the praying mantis ate the lizard, but the dead remains were proof to us all. Oops! It was a simple mistake. When it was all said and done, Brynn commented that she had been worried about having both the praying mantis and the lizard in the bucket together, but she was more worried for the safety of the praying mantis.

Brynn Rocks!

Brynn "rocks"...and so does everything else she thinks is cool, neat or fun. Lately she's pulled a line from some movie (I'm not even sure which one) and asks, "What am I, chopped liver?" when things don't go her way.

Brynn lost her first tooth last Monday. A few weeks ago she complained that her gums hurt when she clenched her teeth. When I looked in her mouth and told her her front bottom two teeth were loose Brynn was ecstatic. She started wiggling her teeth non-stop from that moment on. She also voiced her wish that she'd lose her tooth at school because you get to go to the nurses office and she gives you a cute little tooth box to take your tooth home in.

Last Sunday Brynn's tooth was barely hanging on. She didn't want to pull it, and she didn't want us to help her either. But, the next day at school during calendar time (the first thing they do each morning) Brynn made her wish come true by pulling her tooth out and going to the nurses office. Sure enough, she had a small plastic tooth-shaped box with a flip top lid when I picked her up that afternoon. Here's a picture of Brynn with her teeny-tiny tooth--it was so small in fact that when Brynn first saw it she thought she'd only pulled out half of it!

Brynn started Kindergarten this year...a dream come true for her. She has been ready to start school since Kaitlyn began two years ago. She started reading this summer and loves it. She loves to do arts and crafts and is a great artist. She has been writing stories and Halloween poems lately. With the amount of paper we go through in a day, I'm sure we're responsible for the demise of several rainforest's...sorry!

Brynn's teacher told me that she loves Brynn's sense of humor. Apparently, Brynn is the only one who laughs at the jokes her teacher makes and then Brynn usually has a funny retort to give back. Brynn truly is a funny girl. I marvel at her sharp mind, and I love it when I'm reading out loud to her and she starts laughing loudly when something funny happens in the book.

Brynn got her hair cut a month or two ago...isn't it cute. She loves it, especially because now she thinks she looks like Kit, from the American Girl series of books we've been reading. Of course, now she wants an American Girl doll!

Brynn loves soccer and is quite the player. She usually scores most of her teams goals--it helps that she tends to be one of the tallest players in the league and most of the little girls stay out of her way.

We love this cute girl and are so glad she's part of our family!

Why I Love Albuquerque

We've lived in Albuquerque for 2 1/2 years now. Wow--that's almost a record for us! The first time Scott mentioned a job opening for Honeywell in New Mexico I laughed. Are you serious? Do people really live in New Mexico? I was praying that moving to Albuquerque was not the right decision...I knew it couldn't be the right decision the first time we flew into the drab airport (it has since been remodeled and looks much more up-to-date). Despite my disdain for turquoise, southwest decorating, vigas, (round logs used as ceiling beams or support beams right in the middle of the house!) and flat roof homes (which we now own) I couldn't deny moving here was indeed the right thing for us. And we love it. We love the mountains. We love the weather. We love that Albuquerque is a little behind the times. Some may think that last one is a disadvantage...not me. I love that few are hip on the latest fashion styles like you find in some areas; it makes me feel right at home.

But the best thing about Albuquerque is the annual Balloon Fiesta. What an amazing ten days!

This year 625 balloons participated. There's nothing like seeing so many balloons in the sky...you can't help but smile and be happy!


We watched these two balloons inflate and take off from the playground at the girls school.

And then I drove home and saw this balloon fly right over our house. I love when they're close enough to wave to the pilots!

We went to a balloon glow at night where the balloons inflate, and then when it gets dark they all light up. It's impressive. The best part is that most of the balloonists have trading cards like baseball cards with the stats and pictures of their balloons. The girls and I ran from balloon to balloon trying to get as many cards as we could. Scott shakes his head in embarrassment at the sight of us, but I just can't help it!

The kids had Friday off from school so we spent the morning chasing the balloons around in the car. I think this is the most exciting part of Balloon Fiesta. We watched the above balloon from Orlando, FL land and got to help put it away!

Then we raced in our car to hurry and watch the "Silver Star" from Bountiful, UT land. I discovered roads I never knew existed as I followed the balloon to see where it would land.

We helped hold down the tarp here.

And ended the morning with a picture in the basket...how perfect!

Messy Memories

I have been touched by a story of a young mother with four kids, almost the ages of mine, who was in a plane crash and has been in critical condition for several months with over 80% of her body burned. She had been keeping a blog for several years and had quite a following of people she didn't even know because of her positive attitude on life and especially on motherhood.

Reading some of her posts has made me reflect on some things I want to do better with my own children. I have felt the need to try harder to help create fun memories with my kids. It is far too easy to get into the rut of our daily routine, and I've often felt too exhausted to even try an attempt at something more.

I geared myself up, and on Conference Sunday (twice a year the leaders from our church speak to its worldwide members http://www.lds.org/) we spent every non-Conference part of the day making the messiest but most fun treat...sugar cookies! My kids love the entire process...cutting out the cookies, frosting and decorating. Because of the mess and work of it all I rarely instigate this project.

Before the first session of Conference we had all the cookies cut (we had almost 70!) and baked. I was already tired and grateful for President Monson's talk encouraging us to enjoy our moments with our young children...it gave me an extra boost to move onto part 2--frosting and sprinkles!! Sprinkles drowned cookies as children tend to do and orange and green frosting clumps clung to chairs and walls...but the kids loved every minute of it.

The best part? After our masterpieces were all decorated we piled up plates of cookies and brought them around to the neighbors. And then the excitement catapulted as we drove to some houses of friends in the ward and the kids sneakily crept to their front doors, rang the bell and ran with all their might back to the van as to not get caught. We were the "Cookie Phantoms" and I think the kids could have done that all night. It was fun for Scott and I to watch the three older kids race with such glee---Ellie almost gave us away screaming and whining because she wanted to be in the run as well. Jared was in heaven being included with the girls and was sure he could run just as fast as them since he has big muscles.

At the end of the day there was a lot of mess to clean up...but it was definitely worth it!