Christmas Letter 2013

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s that time of year again! We wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! This year has been a year of difficult trials and incredible blessings. Most of our greatest joy comes from watching our little family learn and grow each day. 

In June we purchased our first home and said good-bye to our sweet little rental home with the cozy kitchen and creaky stairs. We still look back to our renting days with fond memories. We are enjoying the extra space, basement and fenced back yard. By the middle of next year we will have an even number of kids in each room! We found out we were expecting in October and are looking forward to the arrival of baby number four.

Joseph is now a whole year old! He has recently started walking, pointing and babbling. He loves to interact with his older siblings and get their attention. He is such a happy baby. The best part of his day though is when Daddy walks through the door from work!

Hyrum is two and busier than ever. He talks very well for two and comes up with the funniest things. Some of his highlights this year include dumping a jug of peanut oil all over the kitchen floor, shredding his good jeans with a pair of scissors, and throwing things in the toilet! Though he keeps us on our toes, we adore him and our life wouldn’t be complete without him!

Camilla is four and has a love for learning. She can write and recognize almost all of her letters and loves doing dot to dot and maze books. She is so good at taking care of her little brothers and sometimes even gets breakfast if they are up too early. She is a total social butterfly and loves to make friends and be out and about. She also has a few favorite teddies that seem to go everywhere with us. Camilla has also started learning piano from her Mom and is making great progress in her first book. She has a desire to practice each day and is really catching onto note reading and rhythm.

Addie has been busy at home, still loving her job! The children keep her on her toes, but she wouldn’t trade it for the world! It is such a joy to watch them grow. One of her highlights this year was being able to spend a week in Hawaii with Mike sans kiddos to celebrate Mike’s completion of the articling process.  While they were in Hawaii they ate great food, enjoyed sunsets on the beach, and tried some snorkeling. Addie was also able to cross surfing off her bucket list and enter her favorite LDS temple. Her parents were kind enough to keep all three of the littles for the week and they loved visiting the acreage!

Mike has been working hard at KPMG. They have treated him really well and we feel very fortunate that he has such great employment. He took the summer off work to study for his UFE exam to become a Chartered Accountant. He put a lot of difficult hours into studying and preparing for the three day exam. Though he spent majority of his summer working hard he was able to take some time to spend a week out East with his brother and catch up with his Dad. At the end of November results for his exam were finally released and we were excited to learn that all of his hard work had paid off! He spent a whole day celebrating with the firm. He is now part way through his first year of indepth tax training and continues to succeed in dividing his time between family, church and work. 

It is our hope that we can all remember the real meaning of Christmas and cherish the time that we get to spend with our loved ones and friends! Merry Christmas!

Love,

Tree Decorating

The flu has hit us just before Christmas. This is the second time in the last two weeks that we've had this nasty bug! Being sick while pregnant is the worst! Luckily, I'm at home and the few who are healthy are great at keeping an eye on the kiddos. We didn't get around to decorating until late this afternoon, and some of us were still feeling yucky and sidelined it. Luckily we had these two to save Christmas!

We still had some good times and some great laughs!

Hyrum picked out his shirt today and it read "tough like my dad". Mike read it and then had a cute little conversation with Camilla.

"Camilla, are you tough?"

"Likely. I CAN pick up my brother."

(lifts Hyrum up off the floor)

"Oh wow! You are strong!"

"Yeah, but my heart tells me to be careful, so I listen to my heart."

Merry Christmas!


Tree Hunting

The littles slept in until passed nine this morning (all except Joe that is). Mr. Stannix woke up at nine and had to check if Hyrum was still breathing. He has never slept that long in his entire life. The drive out was great, although it was late at night. Near the end Camilla was super helpful and said some pretty funny things.  

"Mom, we have two problems. Joe really wants my teddie, aaaand he's still hungry."

"Would you like some more baby treats for Joe?"

"I thought you'd NEVER ask!..."

Man, am I ever glad to be home! It's been far too long. Almost six months since Mr. Stannix was out here with me. The snow is beautiful, the air fresh, and the company good. 

Today we broke trail through the snow to cut down an unwanted pine in the yard to use for Christmas. We didn't have to go far at all! Hyrum and I were practically last to join the crew. We carefully navigated our way down the winding path, trying to keep our footing while following previous footprints. Just before we got to the end Mr. Stannix lovingly tackled me into the snow (and poor Hyrum who was holding my hand for balance). Boys are crazy.

Then we did some group shots with our soon-to-be Christmas tree.

One of the youngmen from my parent's home ward was out and lent a hand!

 Oh how these kids love their aunt and uncle! They also had to bring their little ponies out to play in the snow. The weather was just perfect!

 Victory! Mr. Stannix and Arland took turns cutting it down.

The two boys took the bottom and Mr. Stannix helped them out by pulling on the top. I love that guy!

Auntie snagged a picture with Cami girl. Both beauties.

 My siblings and I also grabbed some Winter portraits. Who can resist beautiful weather, sparkly snow and warm sunlight!? I am so grateful for these two!

Joe and Daddy also had some special time together. Daddy is a hit! The kids are loving having him around. Every morning Camilla will ask, "Daddy, today you don't have to go to your workshop right?" I'm not sure why it's become his workshop, but it's so sweet.

Wash and Dry

I just wanted to give a shout out to my amazing little four year old today. She has been so helpful during this pregnancy, with out even being asked! One of her favorite jobs to help with is the laundry. She is pro at listening for the buzzer and transfering the wash into the dryer. On this particular day she was waiting for a special stuffed animal to wash. After getting the boys down for their naps I came down to find her fast asleep infront of the washer. Oh how I love her and her sensitivity to what is going on around her!



Dynamic Duo

These two boys make quite the pair! The two of them have been keeping me on my toes lately. Somehow they managed to dump a whole container of sprinkles on the floor after we decorated the sugar cookies. Hyrum gladly vacuumed it up for me while Joseph stuffed as many as he could in his mouth. Ignore Hyrum's awesome leggings, he likes to wear his sisters things sometimes.

Uh-Oh Spaghetti-o

 Last night we had spaghetti for dinner which means the baby gets to eat with just a diaper, make a mess, and take a bath immediately after!

Indoor Play

 This Winter has brought us LOADS of snow! The older two like to go out and play when it's not too cold out. Our backyard is quite the place to adventure now. But after being stuck inside for a while, the littles and I have been in need of some good play time!

Today after we ran all of our morning errands we popped by an indoor play place for a while. Going on a weekday is the best thing ever. We were practically the ONLY ones there. I could actually hear my kids and keep an eye on them because there was no crowds. It was great to just spend some time playing without any distractions (such as house work, e-mails, internet etc.). We had SO much fun!

 Hyrum only got scared a few times when he felt "stuck", but his sister was always quick to the rescue!

 This super fast slide was a favorite!

 Joe mostly liked wandering around and would giggle so hard when I chased him!

 While we waited for our lunch we did some gaming and won enough tickets for a few treats at the end. The kids had a blast and Camilla has already asked repeatedly if we can go back soon! 

An Even Number

The other day I was remembering back to when Joseph was just a few months old. I had just placed him in his crib after his midnight snack only to have my heart skip a beat as I scanned the room checking out all of my other sleeping babes. Someone is missing! I panicked. It took me a good thirty seconds to remember that we only had three and everyone was snug in their bed and accounted for. I sighed a breath of relief and cozied back into my bed for the night. This wasn't the only time that this someone-is-missing panic happened, but each time it happened I got quicker at slowing down my heart rate and laughing at myself. Though we had both decided a bigger gap between Joe and the next one would be nice, we both felt strongly impressed that someone was missing. 

At the beginning of October we found out that our little family will be growing come June. We are totally thrilled! Around the same time we were blessed with many tender mercies such as Joseph learning to sleep through the night so that I could get the sleep I needed and a very helpful four year old. Instead of being really sick at first, I was mostly just REALLY tired. I managed to get all three of the littles to nap a few afternoons a week and turned off the ringer on the phone just so I could catch up on my rest. Growing a human is hard work, especially when you have three other ones to care for! Gradually the morning sickness also set it (mostly just when I would go to bed too late). I have spent a lot of time cozied up on the playroom floor while the children play around me, but I'm starting to feel a lot better!

I have had two doctors appointments so far, and both times we only got to hear the heartbeat for a very short time. I am now 15 weeks along and time seems to be flying by! I am cherishing my time with little Joe before he's not the baby anymore. I am also loving when both the boys nap and I get to spend some one on one with Camilla. It won't be long before the older two spend afternoons together while the younger ones nap. I have also spent some time thinking about how to rearrange Camilla's room to fit the crib. Things will come together though, they always do.

 

Harry Potter Exhibit

Tonight we went to the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Telus World of Science. Mr. Stannix has been into Harry Potter since the beginning and made me read the books with him after we were married. We had a fun time reading aloud to each other and I have also grown to love the series (though I probably still don't appreciate it as much as Mr. Stannix). We got to enjoy the night with Mike's brother and girl friend! We started out by getting our photo taken in front of the green screen, and since they don't allow photo's anywhere else, I had to have a copy to remember the night! We then went with our group and a few of us got to try on the sorting hat and get put into houses. It was neat to see the real costumes and props from the movie. They had the Great Hall, Hagrids hut and the Gryffindor common room. Mike was excited to see the real life wands. We also got to see the Quidditch uniforms and toss a "Quaffle". They also had an area where you could pull out a Mandrake and listen to the horrible screeching. It was really fun to see everything and do the audio tour. Big shout out to my little brother for watching our crazies while we had a date. It was sure nice to get out and enjoy some time with Mr. Stannix!

A Tender Moment

Lately I have been praying to find joy in the normal hum drum of every day life, and ya know what?It's working. Even between moments of, "please stop dragging your brother around!" "Hyrum, please stop poking her!" "Joseph, stay out of the cupboards!" "Camilla, for the 100th time, can you PLEASE make your bed?" "Can you PLEASE PLEASE eat your dinner?!"...

Yes, even amidst the chaos of running a household with three littles, we are still finding joy. I am grateful for this prayer in my heart each day as it causes me to focus more on the children and less on the piles and piles of dishes. I learn to see life through their little blue eyes. I feel such an overwhelming love for them all that I want to squeeze them tight and kiss their chubby cheeks over and over. I am always grateful when I pause to soak in those moments. Take yesterday for example. After reminding Hyrum to go pee for what seemed like the 200th time, he finally made his way to the bathroom,just a few seconds too late... I walked in on a puddle of pee just short of his potty. I could have cried, I felt so frustrated. And let's face it, who likes cleaning that up? I quietly took him up to the bath and ran some warm water. He played and played. Out of necessity I stuck Joe in the crib so that I could clean the floor without worrying about him. He fussed for a few minutes, until his big sister came to the rescue. When I had finished cleaning the floor and drying Hyrum off, I walked into the boys room and happened upon the sweetest little scene.

Camilla had pulled her rocking chair just inside the door and placed it next to the crib so that she could help her brother be happy. She sweetly read him a story, guessing the words from the pictures. We had read the book enough that she pretty much caught the jist of it. My heart completely melted and tears of joy welled up in my eyes. I was so grateful to have witnessed that tender little moment.

 I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for these special little people and the things that they teach me each day.