Library Christmas Celebrations

Once again our library has had some fun activites and events for the kids to participate in.  Terrific Tuesdays for the month of December have been "hush-hush" as the kids have been working on something for the parents, but there have been drawings, special story times and other fun things I have been able to see!

Britton, Rinlee and Jackson were the lucky ones who were picked for the drawing prizes, they got a load of stuff!

They did a special Christmas Story time in the evening and Jackson was asked to be one of the readers.  He chose Olaf's Night Before Christmas and so he dressed the part.

It was a fun and enjoyable evening with Christmas carols and stories.

Brtton was very intriguing for this little boy, it was funny to watch how the little boy was curious and would get right up to Brittons face...Britton was also his normal self with being kind to littles and allowed the curiousity.

The special guest of the night was Santa.  The kids got to visit with him and then got a goody bag!

Rinlee and Axel were at swim practice but they did get a goody bag too, thanks to te wonderful library staff who are very generous and kids to our family.

The normal Wednesday toddler time story time also had the same special visitor and London was a little more willing to visit with him the second time.  She also receive another goody bag and the little stuffed reindeer was her favorite.

We love our library and truly are so blessed by the things they allow us to be a part of and the holiday spirit they help bring!

An Early December Utah Trip

We usually head to Utah around Christmas or New Year's but this year we also got to go out at the beginning of December for Jacob and Caitlyn's wedding on December 7th.  Unfortunately Dad had to work and so the kids and I made the trip without him.

We were able to leave Wednesday after the early out of school and Jackson's recycling pick up.  We made good time and had really good roads until just after Evanston.  Thankfully it was only a small section of bad roads and once we hit Echo the roads were clear again.  We arrived aroun 1 am Utah time.

Thursday morning Jamee and her family arrved by plane and it didn't take long for the kids to head outside and play in the snow.  It asn't really rollable snow but they managed to pack and build a snowman and eevn have some snow fights.  Jackson was able to get a picture.  They used grandpa's shovel as the arms and even gave the snowman a snowball!  

When I found out the wedding date, I looked into different Christmas/seasonal performances and found one that was on Thursday night.  It was Laughing All the Way with Hank Smith, Meg Johnson, and John Bytheway as the headliners.  It also had Carmen Rasmussen Herbet as the musical performer.

Jamee, Ezra, Grandma and Grandpa joined us for the evening.  It was a long night with the drvie down to Provo and then it was a 3 hour performance.  There were times where the kids struggled (to be honest I thing the adults did too!) but for the most part they did really good and were entertained.

Hank Smith spoke first and he talked ablout keeping things simple and Christ centered Christmas.  Meg Johnson spoke second and her message was about seeing the good in what God has for you.  Her story of insirational speaking started when she was bouldering in southern Utah and went to jump from one boulder o the next but it was a mirage and she fell 40 feet.  She is paralyzed from the chest down.  I realy liked her message but felt she didn't need the 45 minutes alloted to deliver it.

Carmen Hebert was on American Idol and then the MC of the night also helped with some of the musical entertainment.  He played the bells which all the kids loved.

There was an intermission (also something they could have eliminated to make it not such a long event) and after they did some singing along and tossed out prizes to the crowd.  Axel was able to catch a beanie.

John Bytheway was the final speaker and along with some guitar playing and singing of funny lyric songs, his message was about the 3 levels of Chrismas;

1-Santa

2-Christ the Child

3-Christ the Man

After it was all done, the kids chose to stay with me and wait to see if they could meet John while the other headed home.

We were fortunate enough to have John come out and for the kids to get his signature.  It was really nice of him to take time to come out.

It was a busy house with hanging out with cousins and playing during down times.  The kids even put on a play of dragons and knights saving the princess.

Friday I decided to take the girls over to great clips in Brickyard and get their haircut...Rinlee's didn't get cut as short as I wanted but it did get the major part of the dead/dry swimmers hair off.

That afternoon/early evening we had a bridal shower out at Jared and Adriana's then we headed to the airport to welcome home Sami from her mission.

The wedding was Saturday.  The sealing was at 11:40 and then pictures at the temple as we waited to welcome to new couple out onto the temple grounds.  After Jamee's and Grandma and Grandpa and us went over to the city center food court to get lunch and then on our way back to the car we stopped at the Giving Maching at the Memorial Building.  I let the kinds pick in item to donate and then they even got to hold te cards as there were some sister missionaries restocking the machine next to the one we used.

We donated glasses, polio vaccines, chickens, farm to table meals and a few other things.

The reception was that evening and the kids enjoyed the waffle and hot cocoa bar along with all the cousin time!

We are so excited for Jacob and Caitlyn and we were glad we had good weather that allowed us to drive safely there and back home.  We love being able to see family and were glad many others were also able to make the trip.  Family really is important and the kids and I were sad that we didn't get to stay and talk and dance until they closed the reception hall but I needed to get packed up and a good night sleep for the early drive out the next morning.

Thankfully we get to come back and see some of them at the end of the month!

Christmas Concerts

We have had several Christmas concerts to attend this year.  We started off with Axel and the Central Starz.  They got to perform at the Christmas concert with the McCook Community Choir.  They did a great job and it was a nice way to start our December.

Britton was bright eyed at the start (he actually took the picture of himself) but by the end both he and London were very calm and quiet!

Rinlee and the second grade performed on Monday the 9th.  They had a snow day theme and the kids all did a great job.

Rinlee and James were able to be in the same group to perform (they split the entire grade into 2 groups so there isn't such a big group and so that all the parents can fit in the commons area)

Rinlee had a one line speaking part. 

 

They finished with singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Jackson's winter band concert was the next night. 

Jason had a meeting but Grandma Blomstedt had come down for the concert the night before and she stayed the night and then supported Jackson too at his concert.

I'm not sure what my brain is doing lately but I didn't get any good pictures, just snaps here and there and hurried ones at that.  

The 6th grade band was first to perform and they did good.  I know Jackson isn't loving band (mostly because he doesn't like playing trumpet with his braces) but hopefully he recognizes the fun in learning to play songs and be a part of a band group. 

It helps to build the excitement of the season with all the wonderful events that the kids are involved in .  It is also fun to see them improve and develop talents.

Our Light the World

We are trying to help Light the World this Christmas season.  We used some of the ideas from the Church's website to make our calendar but modified and added some of our own.

I would love to be able to capture each day in picture, but some of them will go by without being captured...which is better than if they go by without getting done.

Our Thanksgiving Week

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I decided I would help the kids make cookies and we would deliver some treats.  The kids had colored some turkeys I had cut out while at church...it was our quiet activity for the meeting.

We were able to deliver half of the cookies but unfortunately the weather turned bad and the cookies that were undelivered started to get a little mangled.  The kids were supposed to have school just on Monday and Tuesday but the snow made for an early Thanksgiving break and by Monday night they had already notified us that there would be no school on Tuesday.  

Tuesday morning wasn't bad but the snow started around 10 and it didn't really stop all day.

I decided it was a good day to do some major cleaning of the girls room.

I didn't think to get a before picture, but here is a panorama of it after.

We did a very thorough cleaning and it took us about 6 hours (with a few interruptions since all the kids were home and I couldn't totally neglect them while cleaning with Rinlee and London.) 

The kids did sled on Tuesday but since I was cleaning, London had to stay home with me.  But Wednesday I took her over with the other kids and we did sled for a bit.  You can see in the boat just how much snow had accumulated (I was cleaning the snow off the cover and snapped the comparison before finishing.)  I think the final report was around 9 inches.

The walk over to the hill was almost the best place to sled as the sidewalk was cleaned off and the large side walls kept the kids sleds in the channel.

Thursday the weather was still cold and chilly so our annual Turkey trot was canceled.  The men/boys did get together for some basketball before lunch but I wasn't feeling very good (it was the start of what has now been a 2 week cold) so I stayed at grandma and grandpas to help get ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Joseph's, Justin's, Duttons, and us were are able to make it to grandma and grandpa Blomstedts.  Unfortunately JoLynn's and Jordan's had to change their plans to come with the weather and ended up staying at their homes.

Even though it was cold the kids managed to have some fun outside for a bit or more fun inside playing with cousins and many games!

Friday the kids and I hit the free movie, The Grinch, at the theater at 10:30, did the animal chores, and then after lunch, headed to the Y for some family fun.  I was thinking we would do a whole day and variety of fun but with the Husker game that afternoon, it ended up being swimming at 2:30 then volleyball from 4 till about 6.  Then supper at our house.

It was great to spend more time with family.

Saturday we decided to start getting the house ready for Christmas.  It was again another not so nice day outside so we didn't do any outside decorating and we didn't really go anywhere.

Putting things together

and all set up inside!

It is wonderful to feel the spirit of Christmas and I hope that as we count down each day we can feel the spirit even stronger and truly feel the Spirit of Christ.

November Randoms

London LOVES puzzles.  

She does one almost every day, even though we only have a few, she does them over and over anyway and many times talking to herself the whole time.

When I saw this picture of her at school and she had done this big floor puzzle, I wondered if she talked to herself then too!

-----------

Jason and I were able to attend a benefit concert for the Hospital.  The main performer was Ashley McBride.  She did a good job and it was a nice night for the 2 of us to be together.

It was a few days after the concert that Ashley McBride was named the new artist of the year at the CMA's!

-----------------

We had a special Relief Society activity about making Christmas Christ centered.  It was a nice afternoon chatting and crafting, even though I may have only made one of the crafts and many others  were able to make 2 or all 3.

Mine is on the right and Sherry's is on the left, but there were more then just the 2 of us who made one, I just happened to only take a finished picture when ours were sitting together while we cleaned up.

Junior High Times

Jackson is learning to navigate the Junior High, there are some things he likes and many other things that I am thinking he would rather do without.  The social "clicks" are something he notices and since boys and girls don't seem to be able to be friends as freely.  He is making some good friends but knowing that he also had several friends that were girls at central I was glad when he got an invite to attend Bailee's birthday party.  They did a little Cupcake Wars.  There were 4 teams, Jackson was on Team Alpha (Eric, Bailee's Dad helped name the team).  They made vanilla with marshmallow cream and sugar glass candy topping.

Bailee's grandpa dressed himself like one of the TV characters on a food show.  He played the part really well.  Him along with Eric, and then an Aunt and Grandma and Grandma's sister were the judges.

Team Alpha may not have had the prettiest cupcakes but in the end they got the winning vote.

He had a lot of fun and I'm glad we were able to make it back from the swim competition in time for him to be able to go.

Jackson had a school project where he made a newspaper page and he wanted me to take a picture of it before he turned it in.

So we did and this will be a keeper :)

Swim Season is in Full swing

Saturday the 16th was the first swim meet the kids could attend.  After 2 months of practicing it was great to be able to compete.  They each swam 6 events, 4 individual and 2 relay.

Unfortunately the 24 hour stomach seemed to hit our house this last week and so Axel and London missed school on Wednesday being sick and then Thursday into Friday, Jackson, Rinlee and I all got sick.  Jason didn't feel the best but he wasn't wiped out like the 3 of us were.  Britton did get a little sick on Wednesday but like Jason it didn't hit him as hard.  With that said I wasn't sure how Rinlee and Jackson would feel come Saturday but our goal was to warm-up and then take the day one race at a time.  Really after the warm-up I never thought again about the kids being sick.

Rinlee in the 8 and under group swam:

100 medley Relay-She was the fly stroke and the team was DQ'd (disqualified) for a stroke error by one of the group.

25 Free-27.15 (10th)

50 Free-1:06.03 (12th)

25 Breast 30.19 (3rd)

25 Fly-DQ'd

100 Free Relay-2:00 (4th)

Axel swam:

200 Medley Relay-He was the back stroke and team was DQ'd

50 Free-47.84 (8th)

50 Back-55.18 (4th)

50 Breast-1:04.47 (5th)

100 IM-2:06.59 (4th)

200 Free Relay-3:52.95 (3rd)

Jackson swam:

200 Medley Relay-He swam the Breast stroke-2:55.84 (2nd)

50 Free- 37.14 (8th)

50 Back-50.59 (9th)

50 Breast-52.18 (8th)

100 Breast-1:47.28 (5th)

200 Free Relay-2:46.14 (3rd)

Jackson is right about where he was in February of the past season, so if he can continue to improve times that will be great.  Rinlee has improved her breaststroke quite a bit and is also able to attempt the Fly stroke.  She is so close to doing an IM.  Her freestyle times are slow right now but some of that might have been the sickness or just practicing more strokes.

It will be fun to see how they improve as they compete a little more regularly.  Unfortunately this will be another season in which we will have to travel without the team since December's meet is while we will be in Utah for the wedding, then January and February's meet for our team are both on Sunday.  Thankfully we will be able to travel to other meets and with 3 doing swim it makes it even more worth it.

Flashing our Feathers!

November 2nd was a fun run in North Platte.  Jason and Jackson went hunting with Jeff, as Pheasant season just opened, but Rinlee, Axel and I ran the race. Britton and London cheered us on.

It was a wear your favorite sports team, so we all chose some BYU or Nebraska gear to wear.

While we waited for the after run stuff the kids and I enjoyed a pizza courtesy of Pals (a restaurant that was the host site of the run.)

I finished first in the 40-49 age group and 3rd female overall.  My time was a minute off what I was hoping for (21:58) and I think I'm going to blame it on all the extra Halloween candy.  Rinlee just edged out Axel crossing at 37:40 and 37:41.  It was a chilly run and I'm glad they stuck with it and finished the run and that they wanted to do it in the first place...I'm not sure what will happen if they ever stop wanting to do the runs with me.

Before heading home we did a little shopping.  We will have 2 more runs this year, one on Thanksgiving and then the Reindeer run.  There are a couple others but we will miss them because of swim meets and traveling, so that gives me 2 more opportunities to try and break the 21 mark!

School Music Performances

Jackson is doing choir in school and they had their first concert a few weeks ago.  It was combined with the junior high and the high school choir group, so we were able to also see some of our fellow church members and cousins also perform.

Jackson is also playing the trumpet in band and they had their fall concert a week later.  It too was combined with the 7th/8th grade band and the high school band.

It wasn't as long as the choir concert and we arrived a little earlier and got closer seats.  And, once again we were able to support some of our friends'/fellow saints as they also performed.

For Veteran's day the elementary put on a program to honor Veteran's.  Each of the grades sang a song and then the high school band was also there to perform as was Central Starz (the 4th and 5th grades select choir, that Axel is part of.)

This is done every year but this was the first year I have attended.  It was really nice and a wonderful tribute to the Veteran's.  We even had 3 members from the branch there as Veteran's.  Isaac Dutton was even able to have a special part for the 3rd graders.

This was the Central Starz part of the program.

We are truly blessed to live in a free country and to have many who have fought and died and many who continue to fight for that freedom.  We are blessed to have school teachers who are willing to teach and improve the talents of my children and to help them show love and appreciation to others.