Holiday Cheer

It was the most wonderful time of the year!!!  December is jam packed with fun.  So much fun that it almost isn't fun, if you catch my drift.  We definitely love the Christmas festivities and traditions, more so than any other time of the year, but sometimes it is hard to enjoy it with the chaos and craziness and stress of life.  Looking back at our pictures of these events in December, we definitely had some fun.  A few highlights were: 

Going to see Santa at Scheels-and riding the Ferris Wheel afterwords.  The older kids had "better offers" so they didn't join in.  We had to pass along a message to the man in red as to what they have requested for gift suggestions.  Harrison was worried we would forget to tell Santa, but we followed through! 

Holiday music and arts were covered with Grant's choir concert-

His school choir is SO good!!  Mr Noyes is an incredible teacher and Grant has loved singing in junior high, which definitely makes this momma heart happy.  

Piano recital by the best piano students in town..

I got to go to the MoTab choir concert (amazing as always!!!) And rounding out our Christmas cultural experience were a couple of dance recitals...

tap for Katelee

And the Wizard of Oz ballet for Brenna.  She was obviously one of the munchkins...

We still tried to find time to do our annual nights out- caroling with neighbors...Harrison wore this beard from my Halloween gnome costume.  The residents at the Rehab I'm sure got a good kick out of it.  

Visiting downtown for the lights, dinner at City Creek,

 

(ok, this was actually the week after-Grant convinced Dave to stick his business card in a bowl to win free pizzas, and he tried to tell Grant there was no way.  Look who won free pizzas and went back for a second Pizza Studio dinner!)

 the Road Home donation, 

the Grand America ginger bread house

Dave wanted to try out Luminaria this year.  Unfortunately, Harrison got sick  and he and I stayed home, but it looked like it was a lot of fun! 

They all said it was pretty cool.  Maybe next year we will all go. 

While the entire month seems to go by in a blur, it can be tough for a little kid who has to be on his toes because someone knows if he is naughty or nice.  

Harrison got another visit from Santa-prob because it was necessary, but this time at preschool.  

We had to keep reminding him about being on the good list.  It's interesting that Santa has that effect on children.  I kept trying to emphasize Jesus and it would always be important to be good because Jesus always knows our hearts and what we are doing.  Harrison maybe mumbled under his breath (I don't care about Jesus)  Of course, I gave him a look of surprise and was taken back.  I asked him what he said and he looked me in the eye and told me, " You didn't hear anything."  I think he changed his ways and repented over the week because when we were taking the sacrament he drank his little water cup and then said to me, "Can you taste His blood, oh I can."  I think it's really sinking in!  Ha!  

After all the programs and plays and parties and gatherings were done, ready or not, Christmas Eve was here.  We were a little sad because Blake and Suzanne and Grace and Caitlyn are moving up to Idaho, so we realized it's our last Christmas Eve altogether.  We still had a great time with the nativity, dinner and games.  Grant's dreams came true when he opened his onesie.  He asked for one, but started laughing when he noticed his was lime green and had a little tail.  Good thing Emmalee got one too, they could look amazing together.  

Christmas morning had all of it's magic of every year past.  Harrison's whole existence right now is centered on football, so the mini helmets his siblings each gave him (from the Dollar Store coin machines) were a huge hit.  He got a bike he does not want and will refuse to ride I'm sure for a long time and football guys that are amazing to him.  

Katelee's highlights were a ukulele, a foot spa and some vans.  Grant loved his poster of a snowboarder and an air soft gun and Brenna was happy with some Barbies, doll accessories and headphones.  

  Perhaps the gift that received the most attention was an amazing little cross Harry bought me.  He explained to me it's all about Jesus-Christmas and the cross.  It really must have been on his mind this month.  When he was acting out a different time, I asked him if he should act like that.  And his random response was, "No, I have a book about Jesus."  I started to chuckle and he said, "I really do-it tells us all the things we should do."

While Jesus was really on Harrison's brain, I guess it is a matter of moving it from the book or brain to the heart and to the way of life.  It really is that way for all of us.  We often feel like we know what is true, what is right, what is moral.  When placed in the situations of life that challenge those beliefs, we all will have to see if we have what it takes to keep Jesus in our mind and in our hearts and remember what 'the book' tells us to do.  We have to remember that and DO IT.  Hopefully this year is a year of not only knowing, but doing.  

Turkey in the Desert

The holiday season can't be beat, and what a better way to kick off some seasonal fun than some hoops, right?  Grant and Harrison got to combine their BYU basketball experience and bring Cameron along for the ride.

Face paint, ice cream in a helmet, cheering fans-what could be better?  After the football season, Harrison became a die hard BYU fan, so seeing them in action on the court just added to his intensity.   We are loving his passion for things.  He still gets somewhat scary.  I maybe lost it on Harrison when he was freaking out the other day.  He then hid in my skirt I was wearing, wrapping it around his face.  I kept telling him to get out and asking him why HE was crying, I felt like crying!!  He responded with-'it was your voice and your attitude.'  Well, I guess he is not the only one that gets intense! 

Dave and I had a date night to see Come From Away.  It is a musical about a little town that took people in that had been in the air when the 9/11 terrorist attacks took place.  Their flights had to be grounded and they were housed in Canada and stuck there for days.  The residents were kind and they all grew to love and see the value and goodness in humanity.  It was a beautiful show and even Dave stayed awake!!!  

We had our chalkboard of blessings this year and boy did we need it.  Sometimes you have to look around for blessings when everything doesn't seem to be going your way or life feels a bit crushing.  When we open our eyes we see that gifts and miracles are all around, albeit in tiny or subtle ways.  Harrison had a gratitude celebration at preschool, but he did not partake of all the food-haha!

Brenna had to miss her Thanksgiving Feast because we had a flight to catch-to Arizona!!  It was a McArthur year for Thanksgiving, so since half of the 8 siblings are now in a close proximity along with grandma and grandpa, of course we had to head to the heat!  It actually felt like a perfect time to visit.  Some people even ran a 5k one morning.  This race was  a special one to commemorate Uncle Brian being cancer free!  Yay!

Our days were spent staying up way too late, hanging with cousins -here are this arcade/laser tag/ropes course place...

Brenna and Kloee, Karly and Katelee can't ever get enough time together.  We are so excited Kloee will be coming up our way to Utah to live!!   There may have been a Steve Young sighting (stalking) as we were out playing.  Someone in the family may or may not have been waiting outside the bathroom doors for him to get a picture.  Yea, apparently we are that family.

We also got to celebrate Grandma's birthday while we were there!  

Of course, the main event was Thanksgiving itself.   I'm not sure our stomachs could stretch a centimeter more after all the food we had.  Aunt Anna and Uncle Curt came in from Georgia, too, so not only was everything delicious, everything looked fun and festive.  Anna always steps up the aesthetics! 

We went to a movie (Wreck it Ralph Breaks the Internet) and had a game night where Brenna took home the Bingo win. 

 We even got to hike the last morning before we caught a flight home.  

Cactus and dirt and rocks to climb-a grand adventure.  Max let us know that he finds hiking to be pointless, 'why would you walk somewhere for no reason just to walk back.'  He was cracking us up.  But, he trudged along as all good sports do when they have to engage in family activities their parents force them to participate in.  We definitely know how that goes around here.  

The kids had such a great time and it was so nice to be able to see so many family members in one visit!  Turkey in the Desert may have to be a regular experience, every other year at least! 

Spooks and Scares and Fresh Fall Air

I love Fall.  I love the smell of Autumn, crisp cool air.  I love that we live by some breathtaking mountains that perfectly display the beauty of the season.

The last couple of years, Brenna's solo date with Dave during the October time frame has been to Park City, more specifically the Alpine Slide.  

This year she just had to choose the same experience, so they hopped the ski lift chairs and rode down the mountain!I think she has convinced at least one of the kids that this needs to be a regular occurrence.  I have a feeling Dave would ride the brake a little too much for my liking! 

While she looks forward to their alpine escapade, there are few things Dave looks forward to more than college football games.  He loves them and while BYU's season was far from exciting, the company and experience are always top notch.  

Grant finished his fall soccer season, the last pic we will have of these boys.  They have played together for many years and have had the absolute best coaches anyone could ask for.  They made the game fun, stress free, build relationships and skills.  We couldn't have asked for a better fit for Grant and his soccer journey.  He has emphatically made it clear the spring will be the last time he ever steps foot on the field, so we had to eat up every minute. 

The biggest highlights of the month were Halloween festivities.  We have always taken the kids to Gardner Village to search for the Witches.  We thought we'd try something else this year and head south.  We went to the Scarecrow Festival, which is a good time.  Of course, I didn't take any pictures, but imagine awesome scarecrows.  We grabbed dinner and then went on what we thought would be a spooky Halloween cruise in Provo.  Wow.  It was something.   We were packed like sardines on a boat that went a few yards down the river and they had some carved pumpkins lining the bank.  We had a very special pirate captain who attempted some pirate stories/ and jokes that I tried my darndest to give him a courtesy laugh or two.  There was one amazing moment where we thought we saw something jump from the water.  That 10 min cruise will go down as a once in a lifetime experience.  Hahaha!  But, we did get a tootsie roll out of it and a resolve to head back to the Witches next Halloween.  

The kids had fun activities.  Harrison's preschool is the best.  He had a weekend with Sammy the shark and here he is hiding from the frightful spooks of the season.

Katelee joined the villains as a flying monkey in the Wizard of Oz with Riverton Arts.  She hopped around the stage like the animal and had amazing ooh-ooh aah-aah monkey sounds! 

We had a neighborhood Trunk or Treat

and got ready for the big night.  

Halloween actually becomes one of the craziest days.  You start early with the elementary school parade

Who says you can't use  your dance costumes again? Ha! We ordered an astronaut helmet that ended up being a plushy poof ball of fun and Brenna was set.  Katelee was ready to rope and ride 

and dance to Thriller.  I happened to sit in the perfect spot to catch her while they turned on Thriller for all the 6th graders.  She loved it and I didn't embarrass her at all-wink wink. Grant didn't wear a costume to school, but we keep his PBJ outfit ready for the moment it is needed.  Two class parties with 3rd and 6th grade, run  home for lunch and it was time for preschool!

 Miss Amy had the kids sing some spooktacular preschool numbers for parents. 

Harrison has lots of cute friends in school, but he told me that I am 'his bestie.' I am so glad I don't have to worry about someone out ranking me...for now.  

Then, it was time to get ready for our annual neighborhood eat before you treat tradition.  Plenty of kids... 

Lots of parents...

Delicious food...

It's pretty much the best.  

Of course, then it was on to Trick or Treating.  It was Dave's  honor this year to take the littles around.  Harrison had his game face on 

Brenna was worried he couldn't keep up , and he didn't the entire time.  He was dropped off a little early, but the candy stash was definitely sufficient for everyone.  

Dave lived the thug life and I was a pleasant garden gnome.  When we had the trunk or treat at the church, the Laurels had a gnome theme, so naturally, I needed to fit in.  That beard did not taste good.  It was not meant for consumption, but hair was ingested nonetheless! 

While I didn't take many photos of Grant, he was present on Halloween!  He wore his PBJ for a minute and in that small window, an older lady told him he was "Yummy" so...the costume quickly came off.  HAHAHAHA! He spent the evening with buddies, one of which he accidentally knocked out their tooth.  It was quite the night for him.  Katelee was living large with a flock of 6th graders being hooligans on the street.  They prob could fit right in the tough crowd with DMAC up there.  

The candy never gets eaten all the way.  Of course, all the delicious candy bars and eaten first, favorite sweets are traded for someone else's favorite.  But, the bags of goodies become good bargaining chips, so it's not all bad.  I have held bags over the garbage can as kids screamed in protest and as I took piece by piece and tossed it, I feel like I have power...finally! It doesn't always work, though.  I told Harrison the other night he would not get dessert but Grant would unless he ate his dinner.  He exclaimed, "What?  You love Grant more than me!?"  Candy/dessert must equal love.  So, while October is filled with freaks and frights, I guess it must be filled with love. I mean  Harrison did tell me when he was eating a treat, "When I eat this, it's like you are hugging me." HA!  I guess Halloween night is just one gigantic HUG!  No wonder we love it! 

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

All who know Harrison are aware that when he loves something, he REALLY loves something.  He lives it, eats it, breathes it, becomes it.  This was the case with Captain America, Pirates and for the summer of 2018 SPIDERMAN.  

Throughout the hot months, you would not see our little Harry, but Peter Parker in full costume.  He would fly through the air, try to climb walls and watch every single Spidey movie he could, even Spider-Man three, which is terrible.  In fact, we had to watch that one half the time.  The best part is when he would walk around like creepy Toby Macguire with slick back hair (he really did wet it in the bathroom) and do the strut across the room clicking his fingers shaped as a gun at anyone watching.    

Naturally, for his birthday, we needed to celebrate in Spider-Man style.  Harrison chose to go to Chuck E Cheese with the family instead of a friend party.  To be honest, it may not have lived up to his expectations.  It didn't live up to mine either! Ha!  Gone are the days with the giant puppets putting on a concert.  Drats!  We did rack up some serious tickets, but the prizes were so lame.  Good thing his family party focused on his love of the Spider-Man.

 The love runs so deep that when a spider was crawling around our basement, Harrison ran up to tell me, but did so as he knocked his fist against his head.  Clearly he was torn.  He told me about the arachnid and that I should go get it, but he really needed it to bite him so he could become Spider-Man.  Not sure it was radioactive, so I went ahead and got rid of that bug!

 We love Harrison so much!  He has the best sense of humor and belly laugh.  He cracks up at so many things and it just ripples through all of us.  He has a sweet/sensitive side too.  I had a particularly hard day, facing some pretty tough stuff and ended up on my bed crying a bit.  Harrison saw me like that, and was so concerned.  He grabbed a blanket, wrapped me up and laid his head on me.  Later that day he said, "remember when I wrapped you in a blanket?  I felt all  Jesus-y" Haha!  He is a little gift to us...but he is super scary with his temper at times.  Since it is his birthday post, I won't mention specifics right now!     

Harrison's birthday always falls right when school is starting for the year.    Here are the kiddos' first day photos....

Harrison Pre-K (yes it is a Spider-man backpack)

 Grant 8th grade (I lost a lot of pictures, so this had to be retrieved from our family's Cluster site.  Pretty sad.)  Notice Dave's photo bomb.   We really are looking over Grant's shoulder more often than he would like, but we do it because we love him so darn much.

Here is Katelee's first day of 6th grade-finally ruling the elementary school.  She pretty much could have been in my 6th grade class-overalls and crimped hair, she would have fit right in!  She has Mrs. Chang who we heard is great, so should be an awesome year!

Brenna has Mrs. Brooks for 3rd grade, who is a new teacher this year.  Brenna is thrilled because Mrs. Brooks is so beautiful and is having a baby.  She's going to rock 3rd grade!

So, they begin a new journey, a new chapter.  I think our whole family does.  Ages, decisions, experiences take us to new places we didn't anticipate visiting or being a part of.  Some are amazing some are terribly difficult, but either way, they are shaping who we are becoming, and hopefully that is in a positive way.  What we do know is that we can draw off of good days, fun memories (like the day at the zoo I forgot to add to the last post...)

 Or our last summer fling to Bear Lake with a couple of neighbor families.   We went glamping (because that's the closest thing to camping we could get Dave to do)

 Most of my pictures were deleted-the ones of us at the lake and in our amazing tent (that actually had electricity and a bathroom, so not sure how much it is camping at all).  Our friends stayed in the covered wagons.  We enjoyed biking, the game tent, shakes 

 smores and mostly playing all day at the lake.  We rented a wave runner for a couple of hours, kayaks, paddle board, and a water trampoline.  It was so great.  

 The beginning of September is always Snowbird week.  We have been keeping a secret from the kids that we got our very own time share.  All leading up to our stay there, the kids would keep asking which condo we would sleep in but we would put them off or tell them we would figure it out when we got there.  So, when I brought up some of the kids and I grabbed our key the first night (Brenna came late because of a birthday party).  Katelee let out a scream of joy!  It was such a fun surprise.  No pictures, but it was a fun Snowbird week as always.  

So, we've got a lot of good times ahead.  We have beautiful views like this from our glamping tent to draw from, but we also have many memories and happiness to come.  Sometimes being stuck in the middle of something hard makes you look down, but we need to look up and all around because the joy is there!