We had a good Christmas, but we had several sickies. We planned on going up to Nashville on Sat, the 22nd of Dec (Kyle's birthday). Kayti woke up that morning sick to her stomach. We had planned on leaving around 1:00 or 2:00, so we were hoping that would give her time to feel better. She got up and showered and said that she felt better, so we headed out. We got almost to Nashville, and had to make an emergency stop on the side of the interstate! We tried to chalk it up to car-sickness, which she experiences every time she takes long trips, but that was not the case. We made it over to the Opry Mills Mall, but never made it to the Hotel. Thankfully Kayti slept all the way home, but by the time she crawled into bed, she was running a fever. Poor kid! I felt so bad for her.
On Sunday, Dec. 23, Kyle was ordained a Deacon, and Josh was ordained a Teacher. I was so proud of both of them. Thanks to all of the Mayfield clan that were able to make it. My mom and dad were headed down, but dad then got sick, so they were not able to make it. Kayti woke up that morning feeling great (amazingly!), so she was able to be there as well. It's so hard for me to believe that I now have 2 Aaronic Priesthood holders in my family, and only one child left in Primary!! The Primary kids had to get up and sing during Sacrament Meeting that Sunday as part of the Christmas program, and Kyle was so happy that he didn't have to go up!
Barry had to work for part of the day on Christmas Eve. I took him to work that morning, and we grabbed some breakfast together. Then I had plans to come home, bake a bunch of goodies, take them to Barry's work, grab a few more last minute gifts, then bring Barry home from work. You know that saying about best laid plans? Well, I should have known things would not run that smoothly. Megan woke up that morning sick to her stomach. She seemed to feel much worse than Kayti, and stayed in bed all day. Barry called much earlier than expected to say he was ready to come home, so I didn't have the goodies ready to take to his work. We also had plans to go out to Granny and Grandpa Mayfield's, then visit our friends, the Sparkmans, that night. We had to call and cancel those plans as well. This is the first Christmas Eve that we have been home in years. We made the most of it... I finished up the baking, we made popcorn, and watched movies. Megan came down so the kids could open up their Christmas Eve gifts... new pajamas. She felt so bad that she really didn't even want to do that. This year was the first year that I wrapped all of the Santa gifts and put them under the tree before Christmas Eve, so really all that had to be done this year was put together the stockings. That didn't take too long, and I was actually in bed before 10:00!
Mrs. Claus brings the kids a new book every Christmas morning. Barry made a rule long ago that the kids had to stay in bed (or in their rooms) until 7:00 AM, so Mrs. Claus helps them pass the time by giving them something to do. The books are always wrapped, so at least they get to rip open something! As soon as the clock struck 7:00 the kids were all in our room, ready to pounce on their dad. Megan felt great, and thankfully no one else woke up sick that morning. After the kids finally convinced Barry to wake up, we read the Christmas Story from Luke and every ran downstairs. The kids were thrilled with their gifts. Kayti got some new black boots that she has been begging for, the 5th Harry Potter movie, and a gift card for Build-a-Bear. I tease her that at her age she shouldn't still want Teddy Bears, but she is such a big kid at heart still that she can't help herself! Josh and Kyle have been eyeing these Nerf Blasters for several months, and they both got Maverick Blasters, and the Nerf Dart Tag set. We have all had so much fun playing with those stupid guns! Josh and I had a huge battle last week, and of course I won!! Kyle also got a polo and an Avatar game for their Gamecube. Josh got a watch and the Pirates 3 movie. Megan also got a BaB gift card, a scrapbooking kit, and a new outfit. The kids draw names for each other every year, and have a $5 limit they can spend. Kayti got Megan some black leggings; Josh got Kyle a huge bag of Cocoa-Dynobites ( I refuse to buy chocolate cereal, so he though this was great!); Kyle got Kayti a snow-globe (he picked this out when his class went to the Chattanooga Aquarium a few weeks ago); Megan got Josh a Halo book. We got Barry a new Nerf Steelers football, some tools, CDs, and a Marvel comic book vault... a book full of history and sketches from Marvel comic books. Barry and the kids got me a MP3 player! After we opened gifts, we got ready and headed up to my parent's. We decided that this year we would not exchange gifts, and we wouldn't feel guilty about it. We would just enjoy Christmas dinner together. It was very nice! Kris and Kurt came over for a little while, but Kurt was not feeling well, so they didn't stay long. Carol came down, and Troy and his family were there. The food was yummy, and the company was even better.
About 3 weeks ago I sat down and made out a list of everything that I still needed to get done, gifts that still needed to be bought, and places that we needed go between then and now. The list was 2 pages long, and I had to realize that what got done, got done, and what didn't, wouldn't kill me. A lot of you know that I have made our family Chirstmas card for the past 14 or 15 years now, and this year was no different. The big difference this year is that I didn't get most of them sent out! Please don't take it personally if you didn't get one, just realize that I thought about you enough to make one, but was too stressed out to get it sent! Here is a picture of what it looked like this year:
Megan stayed with mom and dad for a few days. She LOVES to be on the farm, helping her Grandpa with the cows. Dad was given a couple of registered Tennessee Walking Horses, and they are both broken. Megan fell in love with them, and had a ball riding.
The rest of the kids and I took goodies to Barry's work on Wedensday, and we saw his new "office". He now has the "corner" cubicle!
Kyle headed out Thursday morning for a back-packing trip with the scouts. Josh went on this trip last year and had a great time, so Kyle was excited to go this year. The guys had to pack all of their food and gear on their backs, and hike in about 5 miles to their campsite. It rained one of the days that they were there. We actually had tornado warnings all around us, so I was a little worried about them. They were all fine, of course, and Kyle had a great time. I didn't embarrass him by taking my camera with me to see him off, so I don't have any pictures to share. :(
Barry took Kayti to get her permit Thursday morning. She has to have it before Driver's Ed starts, which is the first day of school. She was so nervous, but she passed! Now I am the one who is so nervous!!
Josh and Kayti participated in a Winter Youth Conference last weekend. Our stake hosted, and invited the Franklin, Tn. Stake to join us. They had a dance on Friday night (Josh's first!) and I chaperoned it. I guess I should say here that I loved youth dances as a kid. I loved to dance, and couldn't stand to sit still! My friend and I realized that if we wanted to dance, we had to ask the guys because most of them wouldn't ask the girls, and we had no problem asking. (In fact, the first time that Barry and I actually talked was when I asked him to dance at a stake dance. It was a fast song, and he replied, "I don't fast dance. Come back on a slow song." So, I did, and we danced!) My children so far seem to take after their dad. Josh was more content to sit and read. Kayti wanted to be out in the hall with her friends. I'm holding out hope that Kyle and Megan will take after me! Josh was approached by 3 cute girls from Franklin Stake, who introduced themselves, and ask him what his name was. One of them came back and asked him to dance later on. I finally got Kayti to stay put in the gym, and she danced as well. The next day they had workshops, and a testimony meeting. They both said that they really enjoyed it.
I started getting sick Friday night... a nasty cold that has since settled in my chest. I lost my voice Sunday morning. I went on to church, saw and Kyle pass the Sacrament for the first time, but then started feeling really bad so we came back home after Sacrament Meeting.
I took the girls to Build-a-Bear Workshop the other day. I couldn't help but laugh at both of them. Kayti was really too funny to watch! It was pretty busy, and most of the customers were little kids, but that didn't seem to phase her. Megan picked out a monkey and named her Maggie. She also picked out some cute "diva" glasses for Maggie. Kayti picked out a cute teddy bear that was a lot cheaper than the monkey, so she had money left over to get a complete outfit. She first picked out a "knight in shining armor" suit, but then she saw a wizard outfit and had to have that. She named her bear Nathaniel T. Cummings, but is calling him "Nat" for short. I don't know where she comes up with these things!
Barry had to work last night, so the kids and I planned on going over to Jared and Debbie's to ring in the new year. I felt awful, so we just hung out here. We all stayed up to see the new year in, munching on snacks and watching Spiderman 3. Barry got home around 6 this morning, and by the time he got up this afternoon, the kids had helped me take down the Christmas tree and all of the decorations. They really did more than I did... I directed from the couch, and they did a great job!! It always depresses me when we take the tree down. It hasn't helped that it's really cold today. We have all pretty much stayed in our jammies today, being completely lazy. I can't believe it's almost time to start dinner!! I realized that I never posted a picture of our tree, so here is one:
Tomorrow we get Josh ready to head out on a ski trip with his Teachers Quorum. They are headed to North Carolina early Thursday morning. I head back to work Thursday as well, so at least I don't have to worry about Josh picking on Kyle and Megan while I am not here! I just have to worry about him freezing to death, and breaking his neck!
The kids head back to school on Monday, so life will pretty much be back to normal. We, as a family, are sitting down on Monday night during FHE to go over our personal and family goals for the year. I don't have my complete list yet, but I do know that I would like to attend the temple more this year. One thing that I have learned since I started working is that when things are important, you find a way to get them done. I need to make this more of a priority.
Well, I guess that's all for this post. I need to be better about keeping on top of things! I guess I can list that as one of my goals for the new year ;)
2 comments:
Ok - This is a first for me. I have never posted anything on anyones blog before, so if I break some protocol of some sort, please forgive me!
It's amazing how much I feel I have been able to catch up with you and your family just by reading a few of your recent postings. Thanks for the Christmas card - it sounds as though I was one of the lucky ones. Our New Years Card is on its way and should find your mailbox sometime in the next few days.
I understand your husband works at a credit union - so do I. Only I went for something a little less stable and work as a Mortgage Loan Officer there! Yes, things in the mortgage world are slow here in Idaho too. I have been in the mortgage business going on 3 years now and it just seems to get worse. Oh well.
How is your job at school? I imagine you enjoy being around all of the children there. That sounds like fun!
Sorry I missed you being out here some time ago - that would have been nice to reminisce on the old days together. Our family has been in the same house now for 10 years out in South Nampa and really don't see ourselves leaving anytime soon. We have 2 boys and 2 girls and they keep us plenty busy (as you will see from our New Years card.) Life is good as we just keep getting older and older. My extended family is all located here in the Treasure Valley with there familes (my youngest sister Sheri is the only one that has not married yet. She served a mission to Venezuela and graduated from BYU and is currently living at home with my parents in Caldwell.) It makes it nice for family get-togethers to all be so close. Very little traveling during the holidays to see family members. My wife (Holly) has family all over the US, so we do not get to seem them as often.
I suppose I had better get back to work. Thanks for letting me know about your blog. Hope all is well with your family and I look forward to hearing from you. I tried to paste a current picture of our family onto this comment but it was not allowed. You'll just have to wait for the card in the mail!
See ya!
It's about time! haha j/k I hope you guys are all feeling better! and don't worry I didn't get Christmas cards sent out to everyone either... much less take time to MAKE my own cards!
I'm with you-- I hope my kids like to dance! They just don't know what they're missing!
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