Christmas

We spent Christmas at home in Pennsylvania this year.  We were able to invite our dear friends Karina and Sebastian over to join our Christmas Eve traditions.

 The boys sang happy birthday to Jesus with this beautiful and delicious pineapple cake that Karina made.

 We made our cookies for Santa.  We ate a ham dinner with homemade au gratin potatoes and green beans.  Then we went to Allentown to see Lights in the Parkway.  As we were leaving our house it began to snow.  It was definitely a great present on our enjoyable Christmas Eve.

 When we got home from seeing all the lights Gavin had already fallen asleep.  Tim and Xavier had a mini snowball fight and scraped up enough snow to make our first snowman of the season.  Christmas was definitely complete when our corner of the Earth is covered in a blanket of white fresh snow.

 We opened our pajamas and read the Christmas story in the scriptures.

 Then Xavier was off to bed and we awaited the arrival of Santa Claus.

 Gavin's favorite word is "uhprise" which means surprise.  Boy were they SURPRISED when they came downstairs to see Santa's surprises.  

 The scooters were a hit and have been a great indoor activity during the cold days.

 Ninjago's and Legos have now invaded our home.

 Gavin was all giggles when he saw his buddy Elmo waiting for him.

 Light saber battling.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Richardson.

 Batman blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Schiffman.

 And T-Rex from Grandma and Grandpa Schiffman too.

 There is a wonderful feeling that comes when your children's faces light up at the magic Christmas morning brings.  But more importantly, no matter what we found under the tree this Christmas morning, we are forever grateful to our Savior who lived and died because of His love for each of us.  The season of giving is a season that brings happiness to many and I hope that we always remember Him who gave so much for each of us, so that we could have a life of joy and happiness.

 Our Christmas morning breakfast of pancakes, homemade blueberry syrup, all shaped into a happy breakfast face.

 My dear friend Conni hosted my family and my friend Kim's family for Christmas dinner.  We had a blast!  I feel so lucky to have met some women here in Pennsylvania I consider sister's.  They are amazing!

 The kiddos minus Gavin.  He wasn't feeling like smiling at the moment.

Kim, Conni, and I.  We totally didn't plan the matching red shirts.  But great minds think alike.  I told you we are like sisters!  

I will be sad when it's time to take down the decorations and life will go back to a normal routine.  But I do love these times in our lives when we can forget about the normal stresses of life and remember the people and the faith that makes it all worthwhile.

The 'Stache!

Is that a real mustache?

One of Tim's buddies at work wanted to institute Movember during the month of November at Mars.  Tim was on board with the idea.  He became part of the committee that planned the fundraising efforts and the banquet/award dinner at the end of the month.  It was all for a great cause, the employees that participated had a lot of fun, and Tim and I had a great date night attending the dinner.  

This is Tim's contribution to Movember. 

Most wives hated the month of November because they had to suffer with boyfriends and husbands having facial hair the entire month.  As for me, I'm used to it.  Tim had facial hair when we met and it was one thing that attracted me to him.  So for me, it was just another month with Tim.

 The boy's had to get in on the action as well.  I'm sure they'll be sporting fine mustache's of their own one day.  The genes are pretty much in their favor.

 As for me, I hope I never have a real unibrow

 or a mustache.

 Yikes!  

I mustache you a question.....is that for real?

Xavier gave a talk in church about Joseph Smith.  This is what he said:

This is Joseph Smith.  When Joseph Smith was 14 years old there were many churches that said they were the true church.  Joseph did not know which one was the real true church.  He was confused.  One night Joseph read a scripture in James 1:5.

This scripture means that if you have a question you can ask God and He will answer your question.  So, Joseph Smith decided to pray.  He went to a quiet place where he could be alone.  This place was called the Sacred Grove.  He knelt down and began to pray.  He asked Heavenly Father which church he should join. Joseph saw a bright light come down from the sky.  He saw Heavenly Father and Jesus.

They told him not to join any of the churches.  None of the churches were true.  Joseph prayed to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Father answered his prayer.  Joseph Smith helped bring the true church to the Earth.  He was a prophet.

I know Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus.  I know the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints is the true church.

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

He did such a great job reading his talk and sharing what he knew about Joseph Smith.  When we were preparing his talk we read the story in the scriptures and talked about what happened.  It was a great experience for me and Xavier to learn together and feel the Spirit testify that what we were reading and learning was true.  I'm so grateful for those teaching moments and that God is gracious enough to allow me to be a mom and teach Xavier and Gavin the gospel.

Xavier's First Wrestling Match

When we gave Xavier the choice to wrestle this winter or play basketball he immediately chose wrestling.  He has loved it so far.  He really seems to pick up on things pretty well.  The coaches really expect a lot from the kids even at age 5.  He has two practices a week that are 1 1/2 hours long.  They usually have competitions every Sunday.  We did have to talk to Xavier at the beginning of the season to explain that he would not be able to participate in the Sunday events.  He seemed okay with it and said, "Yeah, cause we don't do sporting events on Sundays."  I'm glad he knows how important it is to go to church each week, even if it means missing out on all the wrestling competitions.

Luckily the first meet had to be re-scheduled for a Saturday because of a scheduling conflict. (A huge blessing for us)

 Since I know nothing about wrestling and it wasn't a sport Tim ever played we have definitely been learning a lot along with Xavier.  

I think he looks awesome in his singlet, head gear, and wrestling shoes. 

Xavier got to wrestle two boys in the meet.  They do 3 rounds each.  Xavier's first one, you could tell he was a little nervous and not sure what to do at times.  The second time around Xavier was not messing around.  He gave it all he had.  I think it helped him to watch the other kids so that he realized he didn't have to hold back.  

His face said it all.  It looks like Tim's when Tim plays basketball.  Completely serious and in the zone.

Xavier won both rounds with this boy.  Here he went right for the legs.

This move caused the other boy to cry......

The boy was crying and didn't want to finish the third round.  Xavier definitely felt really bad about it too.  After his meet we asked him what he thought and all he could say was, "I'm not sure I had a good time.  I hurt that boy."  We had to reassure him that the boy was fine after they wrestled and he didn't cause any serious injuries.  

Great job on your first wrestling meet!!!

Saji came to support our little man.  Love this lady.

Xavier and his buddy Bradley.  Don't mess with these wrestlers.

Hard work is complete and his gatorade stache proves it. {Look close and you'll see a red ring around his lips.}

Go Forks Falcons.