Remember December

December weather was lovely. We tried to blend in the the local folk and pretended it was cold. Sometimes we even wore sweaters.

Brooklyn was ready for potty training well before I was ready. She was so insistent that I couldn't say no. She still has a pullup for sleeping, but otherwise she is totally potty trained!

I found this guy in my kitchen. I can't tell you how MAD it made me. DIE REBEL SCUM!

Sadie and the Grinch

Sadie and I had been reading the Junie B. Jones series. We both think it is hilarious. We've read 20 or more of those books together. I was so excited to see that they were doing a Junie B. Jones play at the Tempe Children's Theater. It was so fun to go together and enjoy ourselves. We laughed like crazy ladies but it also had a good Christmas message. **Just a warning if you want to read this with your kids, Junie uses mean words like 'stupid' or 'dumb' a lot. Otherwise we LOVE the stories.

Boston had his preschool Christmas program. It was cuteness to the extreme. Boston was a wise man in the nativity.

They sang Ding Dong Christmas Bells Are Ringing and Away in a Manger.

Then they changed into reindeer antlers and got a red nose. They sang Rudolf and Jingle Bells.

Sadie was not doing well and we were leaving for California for a week, so I took her into the doc. She was wheezing and couldn't catch her breath. This was our first experience with a nebulizer. We had to do it every 4 hours for a few days. Even at night. The treatments helped a ton, but I am so glad we are done with that!

Next up will be our Christmas/California story.

Happy Birthday Boston!

It was a pretty low-key birthday, but we were VERY glad to spend it with some family. We all had been missing family, but Boston was particularly missing his Aunt Ashley and Uncle Nate.

Boston has to be the most appreciative kid I have ever seen when it comes to opening presents. He is always SO excited no matter what it is. His elation is just so genuine. The highlight of his birthday was when he opened these trucks. He was yelling in excitement and then proceeded to kiss EVERY car in the case. We were laughing days later about it.

Silly Ashely! This storm trooper head is actually a piggy bank!

Grandpa and Grandma and the birthday boy!

Boston has an ever present zest for life. He is always excited about the small things like going to the mailbox or coming home from preschool. He is constantly running or jumping about and he has pretty great coordination so he rarely gets hurt. Almost every evening before bed he wants to play catch while we wait for everyone else to get ready for prayers. He is constantly singing or humming. He loves to be silly and laughs all day long. He eats like a bird and sleeps like an old dog. He needs his naps or he is mr. grumpy pants. He always ready to show love an affection towards his family. He is such a joy in our home!

Thanksgiving Week

We had a fantastic week of fun for Thanksgiving. Aunt Ashley came for a week and Sadie had the whole week off of school. They have really missed having family close, so they were in heaven.

Uncle Nate came a few days later.

Ryan and Nate made authentic empanadas for Thanksgiving lunch.

They were SO delicious! We just may make a new tradition where we have a foreign food for lunch and a smaller version of Thanksgiving dinner in the evening. No gorging necessary for a memorable day. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Alkema came the night before Thanksgiving. Of course we had to play games.

The day after Thanksgiving, the weather was so great that we decided to swim at the hotel where Grandma and Grandpa were staying.

After swimming we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner.

We went to go see the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple. They had a few different nativity scenes around the property.

The following day we went on a hike. We thought it was going to be quite the adventure. The advertisement said "Take a short hike to the Clay Mine. Bring a jacket, water, and a flashlight. We will provide the hardhats." It made me think of Timpanogos Cave in Utah. Not even close! The "mine" was 45 feet long. No need for flashlights, jackets, or hard hats.

At least we had a lot of fun on the hike.

Here was our Thankful Tree by the end of the month.

Boston made this adorable Thanksgiving mat at preschool.

It was a great weekend.

Phoenix Temple

This gorgeous edifice has had great cause for celebration. It also called for a lot of work. It was such a privilege to be a part of the open house, cultural celebration, and dedication.

Ryan and I were able to take those not of our faith through this Holy House. Ryan took his coworker through after work one evening which then led to a 3 hour discussion of the church. Our whole family was able to attend the open house with our friends, the Garcias. Even with 5 small, tired children, we were able to feel the Spirit. Later, I was able to take a family that I visit teach whose husband isn't a member. We were very excited he was willing to come along. It was such a neat experience each time we went. There is simply no other place on earth like the Temple. It was quite crowded, and unfortunately we didn't get any family pictures when we were there. But this beautiful Christus was the perfect way to end the tour in the visitor's center.

I can't tell you how much it meant to me that I was able to be a part of the Youth Cultural Celebration a day prior to the Temple Dedication. It was A LOT of work! We had practices every Wednesday for 3 months as well as several Saturdays. The youth were such stellar examples of dedication. I was so proud of their willingness to put so much time into the production. I was the ward dance coordinator, so I learned all the dances from the Temple Celebration Committee and then taught it to our ward and the Santa Fe ward kids. We had 3 full dance numbers to learn, so needless to say they had to work hard to learn it all!

It took an amazing amount of coordination for the kids to get into their formations for each number. We had 220 youth in our stake and 700+ in our region. Plus each dance had more than one formation. It was nuts!!

The week before the big performance, they had a "Super Saturday" rehearsal from 7 am to 5 pm. It was a full dress rehearsal and the first time all 6 regions practiced together. They ended up having 4300 youth perform. The opening number really set the tone for the rest of the day. The song is called "Arise" and it talks about the good that can come when you step up to be a witness of God. There is something to be said about coming together as a huge group like this singing and dancing together. There was POWER. The feeling of unity was palpable. It was AMAZING. I had practiced this dance with our stake hundreds of times, but seeing it with everyone dressed was like seeing for the first time. There was not a leader on the sideline without tears in their eyes.

The night before the big performance, there was another rehearsal with the lighting and TV cameras. The performance was televised all over Arizona and streamed live on the internet. None of us knew they were putting a huge temple in the background. I couldn't get a good picture of it until morning.

Here are a few of the "Captains of 10" from our ward. Me, Karan, Melinda, and Savannah. Love these ladies! But boy were we roasting in the middle of November. It was 95 degrees out with no shade ALL. DAY. LONG.

Our region did a 50's dance and a military/flag dance. Their costumes were seriously darling!

Here is the entire group of kids and leaders at 6 am morning of the performance.

The actual performance was such a spiritual high! Elder Uchdorf and Elder Oaks came into the stadium first. The entire stadium of spectators as well as youth were nearly silent waiting... Waiting for our Prophet to arrive. Oh what JOY it was for all of us to have him present. Our ward/stake were in formation right in front of the First Presidency. At the end of the performance two youth from our ward got to high-five President Monson. I can't tell you how excited they were. Mostly it was amazing to feel that these youth are truly a light in a world of darkness. I sure love them and felt the love that Heavenly Father has for them. My heart was full.