Holiday Break

Even though this was our first year not having a good 2-3 weeks off for Christmas break we did enjoy having Daddy home for a few days and we found some fun stuff to do around town.

Sacramento Zoo:  The Sacramento Zoo had a free day on Christmas Eve and we thought that would be a fun way to spend the morning.  It was a little chilly but we all bundled up and had a good time.  I have never been to a zoo when it wasn't blistering hot outside so it was fun to see most of the animals out and active (except for the hyenas, Lauren was really upset that they weren't out and wouldn't stop talking about it).

The giraffes were the first thing Lauren wanted to see and
they did not disappoint.

Rachel liked the giraffes too.

They had several kinds of "big cats" and the girls thought
they were really neat.

The flamingos were a big hit.  Pink birds, what could be cooler
than that?

Sacramento Children's Museum:  We did this the day after Christmas. The girls had a blast, I think they could have stayed there all day.

The craft room had a glass wall on one side that kids could paint.
When the wall got full they would hose it off and you could start
all over.  This was Lauren's favorite,  she painted for at least half an hour.

We love dress-ups

Next stop:  the moon!

Goggles :)

 

Labors of Love

I love giving and receiving handmade gifts.  Those for me are always the most special because you know that  a lot of time, effort, thought, and most importantly love was put into them.  They can also be the most difficult gifts sometimes because of all the time, effort, thought, and often cost that goes into them (I almost always underestimate all of these things). Some of my favorite Christmas memories have been the times that I have made things for gifts.  I remember long hours spent before and after school as well as during class in high school and college in the wood shop working on Christmas gifts for my parents.  In I refinished my mom's old hope chest and in college I made a wall clock for my parents.  I could hardly wait for Christmas to give these gifts because I knew they would be appreciated and I was certain my parents would recognize the love that went into them. 

  I have also been the recipient of many wonderful handmade gifts: quilts, a photo album Ryan started and gave to me when we were engaged, paintings, pottery, etc. I've always been surprised at the time, thought, and effort these people have put into these gifts, hopefully I showed how at the time how much I appreciated it. I hope I can get better at giving these kind of gifts.

Here are a few handmade gifts from this Christmas:

This was my big Christmas project this year.  I decided to make our family a Nativity Advent Calendar and figured it would be just as easy to make two and give the other one to my sister and her family. I found the general idea online and then changed it to make it how I wanted it.  It of course took way longer than planned (I hoped to have it done just after Thanksgiving, but didn't finish it until half way through December).  It was a great learning experience in the realm of sewing, but over all I think it turned out alright.

My sister is really good at these kinds of gifts, she always makes the girls really cute things.  This year for Christmas she made them a fishing game.  It included two fishing poles made of a dowel, ribbon and a magnet on the end, and a number of fabric fish with big button eyes and metal washers sewn on by their mouths so you could catch them; best of all everything fits inside a bag that zips closed.  Very cute and simple and the girls LOVE it.  They played with it for over an hour Christmas morning, which was a welcome relief from the noisy toy Ryan and I got them :)  They love pretending the couch is their boat and the blanket is the water and they catch all the fish and then throw them back and do it again.  Lauren told me this morning that I should save up all my monies so that I can buy me a fishing pole.

Best for last: This year for Christmas Ryan's mom made us the Woolsey Family Coat of Arms (the British version). It is exactly like the one that is hanging in their house that Ryan's grandma made a number of years ago.  Ryan has always loved it and asked for that to be his "inheritance" when they died. The entire thing is hand stitched and it has been in the works since March, taking in total about 9 months to complete. Just remaking the pattern alone took about a month. All the thread had to be special ordered online and some of it took several months to get. Ryan's parents counted how many stitches were in a square inch and estimated that the whole thing is composed of around 45,000 stitches! We actually knew that this is what we were getting for Christmas and surveyed our apartment for the perfect place to hang it.  We hung it up almost immediately after opening it.  We LOVE it and appreciate all the months and countless hours spent on it.

Tradition

Since the girls are getting older and we have been away from family a few times for Christmas, we are gradually starting a few of our own special traditions.

1. The Nativity Advent Calendar

How it looked just after I finished it.

How it looks with all the pieces up

This tradition is brand new this year.  In my family we always had an advent calendar growing up and every day of December one of the kids got to have a turn to move the mouse.  I thought it would be really cool to have a nativity one.  I saw several online where you put up a new piece to the nativity every day.  I figured the girls would think something like that was really neat.  I also figured I could make one cheaper than buying one (a false assumption). But after nearly two months and many sewing mishaps due to my lack of any sort of pattern and sewing skills I finally finished it around mid-December. Despite the fact that it was a project filled with learning opportunities in the realm of craftiness, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  The girls have also found it fun to take turns putting pieces up every day.

2.Our Tree

Our Tree

I really love our tree, it's filled with memories. Probably about half of the ornaments are old hand-me-down ones from when Ryan and I were younger, but we are starting to get a few new ones every year. Last year we decided to let the girls each pick one out, one that kind of describes them or their interests that year. This year Lauren of course chose a horse and I Rachel got a monkey (because that sums up her personality right now).  Ryan and I get one that represents something from the past year, for example we got a BYU one the year we graduated BYU, and we got an IU one last year while he was going to school there. I haven't found a good one representing California yet for this year (we are a little late on that).  We also usually get a few every year from family.  Ryan's aunt usually sends a couple and Ryan's dad got us some when he went to Germany a year or two ago.  I love looking at our tree and smiling as I think of where each ornament came from.

Lauren's ornament this year

Rachel's ornament this year

Our homemade angel, made from fabric and a
clothes pin,something one of my sisters had
when we were younger.

My most special ornament, an olive wood
ornament of Christ praying in Gethsemane.
My primary teacher, Anna Lou Kurtz
gave it to me one Christmas.
I was probably 6 or 7, and I treasured it
and always made sure it was the first ornament
I put on my little tree in my room.

3.  Reading Luke 2 and acting out the Nativity on Christmas Eve

This is getting better and better every year as the girls get older, actually I think last year may have been the first time we did it with the girls, but this year was definitely better. They are starting to understand the story a little bit more.  I love that I can ask Lauren what Christmas is and she will excitedly tell me that it is Jesus' birthday. I really felt the Spirit this year as we did it and I hope the girls did too.





4.  Christmas Eggs

This is one tradition that Ryan cannot live without :)  This is what he had growing up every Christmas morning.  In summary it is bread soaked in eggs, sausage, and cheese overnight, and then you pour cream of mushroom soup on top and more cheese just before you bake it.  I tried to recommend only doing a half batch since there is only four of us and the girls might not like it, but Ryan said he didn't care if the girls didn't like it because he would eat all of it,  he probably ate about half of it and enjoyed every second :)

A Very Merry Christmas

 We had a wonderful Christmas this year at home with our little family.  We spent the morning at the zoo taking advantage of their free day and then everyone had naps and we prepared our Christmas Eve dinner.

Our table ready for Christmas Eve dinner

After dinner we read and acted out the Nativity story from the Bible with the girls, which was really special, I think they are understanding more and more.  Lauren originally wanted to be Mary but then after thinking about it told me I should be Mary because I am a mommy (I didn't mention that it was also fitting since I am so very pregnant). She settled for the angel instead and Rachel was a shepherd.  Ryan was, as usual, every other character we didn't have: narrator, donkey, Joseph, etc. He's very versatile.

Our angel telling the shepherd that Baby Jesus
 has been born.

Our charming shepherd and her sheep

After acting out the Nativity we watched Luke 2  to help bring it all home for the girls.  Then we sang Christmas hymns, had dessert, set out cookies and a carrot for Rudolph (he's the favorite around here) and sent the girls to bed.  Then Santa of course made his visit a good deal before midnight. 

Right after Santa's visit

The next morning we actually had to wake the girls up because we were doing a video chat with family and they wanted to watch them open the gifts they had bought them. They of course didn't mind being woken up once we reminded them what day it was and what awaited them in the living room.

Lauren was super excited about these, she is REALLY into
ponies right now.

I love the next two pictures because their faces are totally saying "whoa what did you get?"

Thank you Uncle Bryce and Aunt Caitlin!

And I love these next two pictures because this is what Ryan and I got the girls.  We bought the barn second hand and I failed to realize that the batteries were still in it and actually worked.  I am nearly to the point of making the batteries "mysteriously" disappear.

They got a lot of really great things from family that they love.  It has been really nice the past few days because they have not ever been bored or run out of things to do. A big thank you from the girls to our families for spoiling them rotten :)

 Merry Christmas!!

A little song for your enjoyment :)

When it rains...

These pictures are from about 2-3 days of rain

It turns out that it does rain in Sacramento, it is called winter.  We more or less have no prayer of getting snow but it does rain... a lot.  And when it rains the side walk going around back to our apartment floods because the ground gets to wet and the water apparently has no where to go. If it rains for more than a day at a time we usually have two inches or more of water that pools up. I asked Grandma and Grandpa Merkley if they would get the girls rain boots for Christmas.  They did along with umbrellas, and then I asked if we could open them early since it was raining so much. The girls were so excited to open some gifts early!
Of course since it had been raining so much all the stores were out of rain boots in adult sizes, so I had to order mine online. It was a very happy day when they came, and then of course it didn't rain for a week.  But it has rained since and I like my rain boots very much. :)


These pictures were taken on a different rainy day.  You might notice that the sidewalk by our door has not flooded yet, but just around the corner it had.

Very happy with her brand new umbrella and boots

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Merkley for the early gift!!!

The girls now enjoy stomping in EVERY puddle from our door to the car. Usually the result is dry feet and soaking wet pants. But they have a great time doing it. Next time maybe we'll ask for full waders. :) All the same we love our boots and umbrellas and  I enjoy not having pick my way through the puddles while carrying girls to the car.