Christmas in Utah Part 2

CHRISTMAS EVE

Ben's family had planned to all go skiing on Christmas Eve, so I made plans to go down to Provo and eat lunch with my mom. When I arrived, however, my poor mom was so sick and had no energy to get out of bed. I was a little bummed that my plans with my mom had fallen through, but luckily I was able to con my dad into taking me to lunch (he went willingly :) ). We headed to Kneader's because there is no Kneader's in Oregon and, oh, is it delicious.

My dad is a really great man. He is so patient, wise, loving, funny, and kind. It was really fun to take a minute with just him a me- an opportunity that doesn't present itself very often. We had a great time chatting. It was also wonderful that the kids got to spend time with him. This trip was the first time he had met Teddy. As you can see from the following picture, Teddy was quite taken with him.

I then drove back to Salt Lake to meet Ben at Jane's house for some festivities. It had kind of been a bust day for me with many plans falling through, so by the time Ben arrived we had to have a good discussion about how Christmas Eve should be a day for our family to be together. All I know is that I sent Ben an irritated text earlier in the day and he wrote back, "I'm sorry you're having a bad day. I should have stayed home with you. How can I fix this?" He's a winner, I tell you.

We had a delicious dinner and then celebrated the evening with Gary's family and kids. Of course we had to have a nativity.

Ben and Teddy. Ben was the innkeeper and Teddy was the baby Jesus.

Nayeli was a shepherd

Later that night we did a little photo shoot with the kids in their Christmas pajamas.

She smothers him with love. Usually he tolerates it, but sometimes...

We have a pair of pajamas that Ben wore when he was a baby. They say "Merry Christmas" on them and we have tried to get a picture of all the kids wearing them at Christmas time.

December 2012- Nayeli in Ben's Christmas pajamas

This year it was Teddy's turn

One day he'll be big enough to pummel her, but until then she's definitely got the upper hand

Before bedtime we had to follow the Petersen tradition of reading the Polar Express. We then left out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer and the kids went to bed.

It was then time for Santa to work to work his magic. We set the stockings up on a ski pole between the piano and the couch so we could have our own area to open gifts.

We had brought a few gifts with us from Oregon, but the big family gift for this year was a inflatable kayak that we purchased in Utah. Ben grew up riding down the Weber River on rafts like this, so he has been wanting to get one for years. We're planning on taking it on the rivers near our house- we live by quite a few. It's going to be really fun and we can't wait.

Santa came!

CHRISTMAS DAY

Christmas morning we awoke to snow! Santa had left a blanket of beautiful snow on the front lawn for us to play in. We couldn't wait. But first we had to open presents...

He was so quiet and then I saw he found the sugar...

Teddy trying out the raft

They were pretty excited about the "boat" (as Nayeli calls it).

We had delicious Christmas breakfast and then, of course, we headed out into the snow! Nayeli LOVES to eat snow and can not be deterred. Isn't that some sort of essential childhood experience anyway?

Teddy with Grandma Jane

We had planned to drive to Provo that day but due to the snow and my mom's illness we decided to stay at Jane's. It was wonderful to relax, eat good food, and enjoy our gifts. It turned out to be a very relaxing Christmas Day. It was the first day of our trip that we didn't drive anywhere.

The 26th the weather had improved and so we drove down to Laura and Gordon's house. Ben had not seen the addition on their house yet and Tina ended up driving down too. We all sat in Laura's beautiful living room and looked out on their snowy yard while we chatted. It was so fun to be together.

Matthew pulling Nayeli, Bridie and Eleanor on a sled. They had so much fun playing together in the snow.

We stayed the afternoon, then said goodbye so we could meet up with Ben's dad for dinner. We met at a Cafe Rio in Salt Lake because a trip to Utah MUST include a trip to Cafe Rio. Of course. Anyway, we had a great time chatting with Grandpa Dave and were so glad we got to see him one more time on our trip.

I know this isn't the greatest picture of Ben's dad, but I had to include it because it shows how Teddy grabs at people's faces and shows no mercy. In this case he was pretty taken with Dave's mustache.

The 27th was Saturday and the day we were to head home. We had driven up and down the Wasatch Front more times than we could count, but my mom was finally well so we drove back down to Provo to spend the morning with her. Sam and Laura came up and we all visited while my mom laid on the couch. I realized this trip that my family loves to visit and Ben's family loves to play. It's a good mix to hang out with both families on our trips.

The other thing I realized about my family is that we love houses and we love to see each other's houses. Why? I love to see the way my sister's and sister-in-laws decorate, plus we're all just a little house obsessed. Ben jokingly says it is strange, but as different as we all are, it's something that we all have in common.

That's why Saturday called for a quick visit to Christina and Julia's homes. I wanted to see the color Tina had painted her living room, and it was fun to see some other updates she had done after one of their bathrooms flooded. Then on our way out of town we stopped in Perry, Utah to see Julia's new house. She and Terry have designed much of it and are doing a lot of the finish work themselves. It is gorgeous and she has done such a good job making it look stellar. Julia and I have always joked that I may be book smart but she is street smart. It was extremely evident in the way she has been able to manage the building of their house.

We then headed toward Boise, trying to beat a snow storm. We hit it just before we pulled off the freeway, and worried the rest of the night if we'd be able to make it home the next day. When we awoke Sunday morning, it was clear it was going to be snowy roads much of the way home. We debated whether or not we wanted to go to church, then decided that we needed to put the Lord first and ask for his help on the ride home.

We attended a 9am Sacrament meeting near Mark's house and headed west on the snowy roads. It ended up being a long, long drive with some harrowing moments going over the Blue mountains, but we really felt like the Lord protected us and helped us along the way. The kids also did great, and we stopped at Emily and Darren's to have a few minutes break for dinner. We arrived home that night after spending a total of 16 hours in the car on the way home, 29 hours round trip.

Bottom line: it was a long, long trip, but so worth it. Being with our families over the holidays was wonderful and our time with them was irreplaceable. I don't think however that we'll ever drive it again. It'll be airline tickets next time for sure. But we made great memories and that's all we'll remember.

Me: Nayeli, why did you draw on your face with marker? Nayeli: It's supposed to be cool Mom!

ajdjd

Christmas in Utah Part 1

This year we decided to visit Utah for Christmas. We hadn't been home since February and it was about time to go back and connect with our families. Besides, most of my family, including my dad, hadn't met Teddy yet. So we packed up the car and headed the 13 hours to Utah.

The wonderful thing about the drive is that I have family almost the entire route. We left Friday the 19th in the morning and stopped for lunch with my sister Emily in Hermiston. We then camped for the night with my brother Mark in Boise. Saturday we woke up early and made the rest of the drive. The kids did okay; not fantastic but not terrible. Teddy struggled more than Nayeli. In the end, they watched a lot of movies. You do what you gotta do, you know?

When we got into Utah we stopped in South Weber to visit Zach Taylor, one of Ben's friends from high school. We then drove into Kaysville to attend my cousin Circe's DeBry party. It is every year and all my DeBry cousins get together. It had been so long since I had seen so many of them and so it was great to catch up.

Teddy with my sister-in-law Marilyn and Owen (the blur). She is one of the most amazing people I know.

Nayeli with Adaline

Teddy was not excited about Santa this year (Matthew is holding him)

Nayeli and Santa aka my nephew Parker. She was very explicit in telling me that she did not want to sit on his lap. Maybe she wasn't too convinced about his costume (see below).

Parker got roped into being Santa, only to discover that the beard to the costume was missing. Nothing a little cotton and glue couldn't fix! The result was that he looked a little like a diseased Santa, but the kids didn't really seem to notice so it didn't really matter.

After the DeBry party we went to my brother David's new house in Kaysville. He and his wife Marilyn with their 9 kids just moved to Utah after living in Tennessee for 13 years. He was ready for a career change so he now works for the church. It was so fun to see their nice home and enjoy time with them. We hadn't seen them in over a year! I wish we lived closer but we really enjoyed the time we got with them while we were there.

Sunday morning we went to the Rock Canyon ward in Provo- the ward I grew up in. The chapel is still on Mojave Lane in Indian Hills. Although the ward has changed, there are still many of the same people who I love. It was so wonderful to see many of my youth leaders who shaped who I am as an individual. I sure love that ward.

That night my immediate family had their party at my Mom and Dad's house. We ate a delicious dinner, exchanged gifts, and chatted. I love my family so much. It was so fun to be together.

Ben's brother Sam has lived with my parents twice (while attending BYU) so he is practically a part of the family. Of course he was invited to the party.

My wonderful parents. I sure love them.

Wonderful chaos. Only Emily's family wasn't there. That made 49 of us all together.

Monday morning Ben packed up to go skiing with his dad, Sam, and Chelsea at Snowbird where Dave is ski instructing for the season. Unfortunately, at about half day poor Chelsea caught an edge and face planted. She got a concussion and dislocated her shoulder, earning her a toboggan ride down the mountain and an ambulance ride to the hospital. Poor Ben called me worried and said, "She didn't remember who I was when they loaded her into the ambulance!" Luckily everything looked okay on the x-rays and she didn't have to stay at the hospital long.

I was going to meet all of them at the resort so we could go snowshoeing, but after Chelsea's accident I drove with the kids up to see Ben's grandparents in Ogden. We got to spend most of the day with Kent, Nyla, Aunt Leslie and Grandpa Dave and we had so much fun. The Petersens always make us feel so welcome and we had a great time chatting and eating together. Grandpa Dave had even picked out some really great gifts for the kids that they love. It was a wonderful day together.

Poor Chelsea post-accident. She was pretty dazed from her concussion.

Teddy with Grandma Nyla

Tuesday we spent the day with Grandma Jane. For months Nayeli had been sooooo excited to swim in her pool, so armed with goggles and her swimsuit she was ready.

Ben took Nayeli down to the pool and when I walked in to take some pictures I saw this. No, this picture is not staged. I believe he was yelling something like, "I'm the king of the POOL!!!" Ben is a total kid at heart and so he invented some competitive game to play with Gary's granddaughters. Of course he felt super manly beating a bunch of 10 year old girls :) I kid, honey, I kid :)

Later in the afternoon we took Nayeli to the Alta ski resort to go down the bunny hill. We borrowed some ski equipment and before we knew it Nayeli was getting a ski lesson from Ben and Grandma Jane, with Uncle Sam in tow filming it all. As we started Jane said, "You know this is more for us than for her, right?" A truer statement could not have been spoken. Ben was SO excited to have his daughter skiing that I just rolled with it, and so did she, until she got cold. We made it down the hill only two times before she had had it, so we then headed back to the car to reward her with a bag of promised Cheetos.

Tio Sam and Yeli

Jane was having Nayeli pretend to ride a horse so that she would spread her legs apart. The conversation then went something like this:

Nayeli: What color is my horse?
Jane: Uh... blue.
Nayeli: No, it's pink. What color is your horse?
Jane: Uh...purple.
Nayeli: Okay.

After the horses had been colored she was ready to ski again. At the least the girl has a very detailed imagination, right?

Look at that beautiful canyon. Utah is gorgeous.

When I later asked her what her favorite part of skiing was, she responded, "The Cheetos". Glad to know all the effort was worth it :)

Nayeli reading a bedtime story with Grandma Jane. We relaxed the rest of the day with anticipation for Christmas Eve the next day.

Going Private

Family and Friends,

Ever since I began printing this blog as a family journal, I have wanted to get more in depth with names and information, as well as be more personal in my writing. This has prompted me to want to make this blog private. If you would like to continue following our adventures, leave a comment with your email below or you can email me at athena17debry@gmail.com.

Thank you!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Since Ben had the whole weekend off, we tried to plan fun activities for each day. It went something like this:

Friday morning we had breakfast with a new family in our ward, the Leland's. The food was delicious and it was fun to get to know them better. We then went to cut down our Christmas tree. There are multiple tree farms in our area, but we went to the same one we went to last year. Turns out it's owned by a Mormon family in a neighboring ward. It was kind of a fun connection to make.

My woodsman. He loves this.

We opted for a small tree to put up high out of Teddy's reach.  We then loaded it into the trunk of the car and headed for home. As we drove, however, we saw that a antique store/farm was open. Of course we had to go. What better thing to do on Black Friday? :)

The woman who owned the farm had turned all the old buildings into part of her shop. This was once a potting shed.

Then as luck would have it, it turned out the woman also bred and raised miniature donkeys. Nayeli was ecstatic. In fact, she asked for a donkey as a pet for a few days after.

Arent' they adorable? I'll admit I was smitten as well.

Later we drove home to put up the tree and begin to decorate the house. It was a gloriously relaxing Black Friday. Just the kind we like.

Saturday we took Nayeli to another farm nearby that was also giving tours of it's animals. She is really into animals right now- even more so than dolls or princesses. She has asked multiple times for a dog or cat but I keep telling her we'll talk about it when we get a house. Maybe the phase will have passed by then, right? :)

In the afternoon we did a little shopping for some necessary family items. Then that night we met our friends the Clarks at a bouldering gym. It's a great place for kids- they have walls that you can climb up and then get down on a slide. Nayeli was in heaven. Plus she was with her best friend Audra. They are two peas in a pod. It's so fun to see them play together.

Audra and Nayeli

Ben was loving it as well.

Sunday we relaxed, went to church, and then finished decorating the Christmas tree. We also made paper snowflakes. Ben taught me to make them from coffee filters, which is much easier. It was such a great time to reconnect as a family and have some downtime. There is nobody I would rather be with than Ben and my kids. They are wonderful.

Our tree, complete with ornaments from my childhood and some purchased on trips we've taken as a couple. We've also started the tradition of getting an ornament for each child each year.

Let Christmas arrive!

Thanksgiving Day in Oregon

This year we decided to stay in Oregon for Thanksgiving. We are heading to Utah for Christmas and so it seemed like a great idea to enjoy the holiday with just our little family. We even had friends invite us to have dinner with them, however we graciously declined and planned a fun menu. Besides, last year we did Christmas alone and it was so wonderful that we couldn't pass up another opportunity to do something like that again. 

Ben peeling apples for the pie with Nayeli. Note the fort in the background.

Ben was so helpful with the kids all of Thursday. I did some of the cooking on Wednesday, but most I had to do the day of in our little kitchen. When I say little, I mean that it's so small it doesn't fit two cooks. I even measured it one day so that I can one day say, "Remember when our kitchen was four by seven feet and we couldn't open the refrigerator and dishwasher at the same time?" Anyway, I digress. The bottom line is that he really couldn't help in kitchen so he had a blast with the kids instead.

My plan was to combine each of our favorite dishes from our families and make the best meal ever. First on the list- Ben's Grandma Nyla's buttermilk rolls. Nayeli helped me cut them out and butter them. It's so fun that she's getting to the age that she can actually help and participate.

Ben got out our good camera and took some pictures while we did the rolls. It was my first time making homemade rolls so I was a little nervous.

Ready to rise!

The final product! They weren't perfect, but much better than I anticipated.

This picture kind of sums up my life right now- unshowered (I do shower... but not as early in the day as I'd like), with baby Teddy on my hip, focusing on a recipe or some other project. I love it. And I love Teddy's face. Classic.

We also did an apple pie together- it was my first pie ever. I also baked/heated up a ham. So much easier than the 25 pound turkey I did for Christmas last year.

Finally showered and ready to eat. And yes, both kids wore their pajamas to Thanksgiving dinner. That's the joy of not going anywhere on a holiday.

Ben is amazing. He went and picked these beautiful berries from a bush out in front of our apartment to put as a centerpiece on the table.

The final product. We had ham, mashed potatoes, butternut squash souffle, rolls, Stove Top stuffing (Ben insisted), green beans, Martinelli's, Simply Lemonade and apple pie for dessert. Delicious. Ben did the place settings. When I acted surprised that they were so cute he said, "Honey, I've picked up a thing or two from you in the five years we've been married." He's a keeper.

In the afternoon we rested and then went for a drive in the surrounding farm country. We talked about our dreams of owning a house and some land. Driving in the country does that to us. 

I missed my family a bit during the day since all my siblings but me were at my parent's house. However Ben was so upbeat and optimistic and all the food we cooked turned out delicious. It was a great day, and the weekend only got better.

Such is the Life

Yesterday was kind of bad. I don't really have to get into any details- just imagine the quinticential difficult day of a mother of two small children and you've pretty much got the idea.

As I was getting into bed last night I turned to Ben and dramatically said, "Today was awful". He optimistically responded, "Good thing you had such a good day yesterday."

"Yesterday?" I replied. "What was yesterday?"

He looked at me incredulously. "Uh, the day you wrote a blog post about being so happy?"

And such is the life of a mother.

Happy

Tonight I felt an intense moment of happiness.

For family home evening we decorated gingerbread houses and as I was putting the houses on the shelf to display, I had a moment where time stood still. I saw something my family had created and it struck a chord in my soul. I didn't hear Teddy crying or Nayeli running around or even Ben cleaning up. Everything stopped and I just felt so... happy. At peace. Complete. That I am the happiest I've ever been in my whole life. What a feeling.

That seems so funny to say, considering that I've had my fair share of debbie-downer days lately and even longed for the days when I was single and lived for myself. Those were the days when I wasn't getting up 2-3 times a night with a baby. They were the days when my life didn't revolve around nap times, play dates and feedings. I did what I wanted when I wanted, and I can't lie and say that that doesn't sound appealing when my kids are both having meltdowns as I check out at the grocery store (not like that happened today or anything :) ). But they were also the days when I was selfish. Yes, I occasionally looked outward, but everything I did was about me.

Being a mother is morphing me. Everything I do now is about someone else. When I sleep, what I eat, where I go, all I do is determined by these two little children that I love so much. Even now, when everyone else is asleep and I finally have a moment to myself I'm writing a post about them. My husband. My children. My everything. What irony, huh?

It brings such meaning to the scripture in Matthew 16 that says, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." (v.24-25)

I am losing my life (and sometimes my mind- I kid, I kid) but I am finding it in something else. My family. At this point, nothing matters more. In fact, when we first moved here I (more often than I'd like to admit) bemoaned the size of our apartment, our income, my wardrobe, blah blah blah. And now I am just so grateful. Grateful for a husband who is kind and hard-working. Grateful for food on our table. Grateful for money to pay our bills. Grateful for two healthy and adorable children. Grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will always look back on this time of my life as a time when God taught me to be grateful. Tonight, in that moment of stillness, that is what he was teaching me.

Teaching me that I have everything that matters. And no matter how little it may seem to be, it will always be enough.

Making gingerbread houses

Nayeli and her house- I put the frosting on but she did all the candy herself