Christmas Week

The week of Christmas was so fun and busy! Monday, December 22, I had to work a full day, and Tuesday, December 23, I had to work until 2:00. Not so fun having to work the week of Christmas! My kids did not want to be there! I actually had 8 kids absent on Tuesday.

After work on Tuesday, Matt and I hustled down to Salt Lake. We stopped at Shivers on the way, of course! Matt and Lance were helping Diet put on all his trim and update his finish electrical in the basement. I didn't really have anything to do, and really they didn't have room for another person, so I called my dad to see if he wanted to see a movie. Luckily, he wasn't busy, so he picked me up and we went over to Jordan Commons to see "Night at the Museum 3." While we were waiting for the movie to start, we talked about seeing the movie "Exodus." There happened to be a showing at the theater right after our movie ended, so we made it a double feature! The first movie was cute, but the second movie was terrible! I didn't get home until after 1 AM and Matt and his dad were still working on the basement!

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, Matt and I slept in and when we got up, Lance and Kendra were already there with the kids. Matt went back to work on the basement and I hung out with Myrna and Kendra, Kailee and Clayton. Soon Tim and Kamie came over with their girls, and not too long after that, Randy and Jenny were there with their kids. It sure is a full house when everyone is there with all 7 kids! We had a good time hanging out, Kamie did a drink run, and the kids were entertained making candy cane reindeer, reading books, playing with toys, and destroying the toy room. Around 2:30ish, we were ready to open some presents! Randy and Jenny had to leave early this year, so we did presents early so they could be there. Before we opened presents, Diet read the Christmas story from the bible, and Brad read another version of the Christmas story from one of Myrna's books. The kids were all huddled around Brad while he was reading, and Reagan was snuggling right up to him! Then, right when the story is almost over, Reagan randomly shouts, "I have a belt!" I almost died laughing! After the story, Diet was talking to the kids about what Christmas is really about and asked, "Whose birthday are we celebrating on Christmas?" and again, Reagan shouts, "Mine!" Oh my gosh, I love that girl! Then it was time to open presents! We don't do sibling gifts anymore, so all the gifts were for the kids and Diet and Myrna. It was crazy but so fun. One kid would open a gift and we were all working to keep the others entertained until it was their turn again. I had Harrison in my lap the entire time, fending off dinosaur attacks from his new dinosaur toys! After presents, Randy and Jenny left and Myrna started making dinner. She made a big German dinner this year, which Matt really liked. Then we played the present game and everyone packed up to go! We didn't go bowling this year, but it was really fun to spend so much time together!

After leaving Diet and Myrna's house, we went out to my mom and Jeff's. My mom wanted to go see the Tree of Life light display in Draper, so we got in the car and drove over there to see it! It was really cool to see, but it was super windy so we didn't stay too long. We got back after midnight, so all I wanted to do was go to bed!

On Christmas morning, Matt and I woke up fairly early, trying not to keep everyone from opening presents. However, Alex still wasn't there, so we ended up waiting for her and getting breakfast ready. Usually we open presents and then eat breakfast, but this year we did the opposite. My mom's Swedish pancakes are always delicious! After breakfast, we opened presents. This is much calmer with my family than with the Fischers! I love how thoughtful everyone always is with their gifts. Our big present this year was chairs that we can take to football games that sit on the bleachers! We have wanted these for a while, but haven't bought any, so it was a perfect gift!

After opening presents with mom, we got ready and went out to see dad and Laurie. All of the Hightowers were there this year, and it was fun to see all the kids! We found out that Kelly and Ashley are getting married and that Melanie and Jordan are having a baby! So excited for everyone! My dad had already given out most of the gifts to everyone else, so when we got there, we got to open our gifts. My dad gives cash now, since there are so many of us, but he is always looking for a clever way to give it to us. This year, Matt opened a big wad of $1 bills. We are saving to buy a snow blower, so this was great! We had fun spending our $1 bills last year and getting weird looks from people when you hand them a big stack of singles! After gifts, my dad and Laurie did a little devotional and then we left. Christmas is a little crazier when you have a lot of family to visit, but always very special!

We had dinner at my mom's house with grandma and papa, Janet, Toby and their family, and Scott and Mandy. We got to Skype with Sue and John and a couple of their girls, which was way fun! By that time, it was starting to snow, so Matt and I decided not to stay for games so we could get on the road. It was pretty snowy, but we made it home fine. We stopped at Randy and Jenny's house on the way home to see the kids and their presents! Tim and Kamie were there with the girls, and Nate and Jenni were there with their kids too, and it was a kid's fantasy land in the basement with toys EVERYWHERE! They started the tradition of having Christmas dinner with friends and then letting the kids keep all their toys out all night so they could play, and it is sure fun for the kids and nice for the adults!

On Friday, Matt didn't have to work, so we spent the day together! We met Kenzy and Devin for breakfast/lunch at Village Inn, then did some random shopping. Later we met up with them again and saw the movie "Unbroken" which was good, but long.

On Saturday, we went to lunch at Cafe Rio (we got a gift card for Christmas from Molly and Andrew) and went and did some more random shopping. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. We got a movie from RedBox and made it a date night!

We had such a fun week over Christmas this year! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family members in our lives. I am so lucky that I married into such an amazing family and that we all get along so well. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas!

Phone Pic Update

Matt, Randy, and Brad all drew out for the swan hunt this year. Since Nate shot his swan last year, they have all been way excited. Nate is getting the boys really excited about duck hunting, so this was just a bonus to have a swan tag. They went hunting four or five different times, and only Brad was able to fill his tag! I think everyone was just as excited had they shot the swans themselves! Way to go Brad!

A couple weeks ago Jenny and I were texting and then she sent me this picture of Harrison, saying that when he saw my picture on her phone, he told her that I needed to see him! Love that kid!

Matt and I were out to dinner one night and my mom sent me a random picture of Jeff with some random person in the background. I didn't really understand what the picture was so Matt and I recreated the picture to send back to her. Totally random.

Matt was really sad that he didn't get a chance to hunt with all his brothers and dad this year. He was the only one who bought a deer tag up in Cache Valley, so he was hunting alone. He set up the tent, and borrowed Tim's truck and Randy's four-wheeler and scouted for a couple days. He ended up shooting his deer on the first day of the deer hunt. He was more interested in shooting a deer from the road (he was still recovering from his surgery) than in shooting a big deer, so he was happy. He took all the meat out to some guy in Idaho and had him make jerky.

Randy decided that he needed to buy a duck boat on behalf of all his brothers. Matt got a call saying that he owed Randy money for this boat. The boat didn't even have a motor! Matt of course had to run over to check out the boat.  He and Harrison were making sure everything was comfortable. Randy ended up selling the boat. Apparently, it wasn't the one he wanted!

Matt is the best husband ever. I told him that I wanted a crown moulding shelf for my picture wall and he created this amazing shelf! It took me longer to paint it than it took him to build it, but I think it turned out pretty amazing!

One afternoon, I came into my classroom and found this on my desk. My principal is the best! He could tell that I had been working a lot and gave me this gift. Matt and I enjoyed paying $12 for dinner at Texas Roadhouse that night!

The beginning of the month is always a little tight with money, especially since Matt didn't work for three months. On the first Monday in December, I got my mail, and this was inside. It is a prepaid VISA debit card loaded with $200 from Comcast. I didn't know if it really was money, or if it was some scam that if you used it you would be signed up for something. I called Matt and he said, "There's no such thing as free money." So I called Comcast to find out what it was. Turns out, we qualified for a promotion when we signed up for our Comcast service and it was real! Thank heavens! I was so excited to buy groceries!

Another random act of kindness... I found this card on my desk one afternoon. It is from one of my student's grandmothers saying thank you for teaching her granddaughter. The note was so nice, and the cash was a bonus. What a nice thing to do for a teacher! I loved the appreciation as much as the money!

Best Christmas gift ever from a student! This little girl's mom works at the Sinclair by my school. I stop in there a lot to get drinks, so she gave me this refill card for 10 prepaid refills and the delicious cookie! Seriously, such a thoughtful gift!

The Month of December

I have been very bad at taking pictures lately, so this post will be mostly text, so if you are bored, I understand! We have been sooooo busy this month. We really haven't had two minutes to relax!

• We went to my work Christmas party, which was dinner at Sizzler. Yes, you are all jealous. After dinner, Kenzy and Devin went with Matt and I to get ice cream at Charlie's.
• I just got called to be an Achievement Days leader with the 9-year-olds in our ward. I got to host the girls at our house. We played a get-to-know-you game, then read a Christmas story and had some treats, then put together little M&M bags about the true meaning of Christmas. It was a really fun night, and was so fun to plan! I'm really looking forward to this calling!
• All the Fischer siblings actually found a night that we weren't all busy so we could all go out together for our annual Christmas date night! We ate dinner at Ruby River in Ogden. The food was good, but no one got what they ordered originally because there were a couple parties going on and they ate all the food! After dinner, we all went to get ice cream at Farr's. I love that place! It was so good. What a fun night! I love this tradition!
• We got to go to Salt Lake for my mom's birthday. Every year, we go get a Christmas tree and dinner, then go home and decorate the tree. This year, Matt and I got stuck in traffic and missed picking out the tree, but met for dinner at Costa Vida. We went back to my mom's house to set up the tree. I am always in charge of putting lights on the tree and this year I ran out of lights! My mom decided she didn't feel like decorating, so we just went to bed. She took the lights off the next day and did all the decorating by herself. Matt and I had to go home because Matt was going duck hunting. We didn't spend much time in Salt Lake, but this is another of my favorite traditions!
• The next weekend, we went down to Salt Lake again. On Friday night we met up with Alex to see her new apartment and then drove up to Park City for the Hightower/Norton Christmas party. Before the party, we walked around and shopped in Park City, then stopped for dinner at a pizza place. It was so much fun! After dinner we tried to find the condo where we were having the party, but we had some terrible directions and couldn't find it. When we finally found the condo, it was after 9:00 and my dad and Laurie still weren't there. When they got there, Laurie had to put together some food because a lot of people hadn't eaten yet. Around 10:00, we started playing a present game with some very funny presents! Matt and I left after the game was over around 11:00, and got to my mom's house at 12:30. It was a late night! The next day, we went and saw Big Hero 6 and stopped by Cabelas, which was a mad house! Never go there on a Saturday in December! Then we met up with my dad and Laurie for dinner at Training Table and then went over to see the Forgotten Carols! As always, it was a great show and a fun night! We went home the next morning.
• Kenzy and Devin were able to find out the gender of their baby! They had a gender reveal party with their families, and it was fun to go! They are having a boy! We are so excited for them! We also found out that Molly and Andrew are having a baby girl! So excited!
• I did find some time to put up my Christmas decorations!

Growing up, we had a huge basket of Christmas books that we got out and read every year. My mom is slowly building her collection again, and so am I! I love finding cute new books to add! The kids always love to read them when they come over.

This picture was taken near the end of the tree's life, but it was a great tree! So fun to get a big tree and still be able to put my star on top! Thank you vaulted ceiling!

My Santa picture that Matt hates.

I made Matt put outlets everywhere because I knew I wanted to put lighted garland everywhere at Christmas time!

We always get a ton of Christmas treats from friends, neighbors and students! I love putting out my decorations so I can display all of our treats!

When we got married, I bought two stockings. Then I realized how stupid that was because I was never going to find matching stockings! Last year, when we were living with Randy and Jenny, I found four matching stockings! I wanted to get stockings that were all different, but also went together, so I was so happy to find these! I figured I'd buy enough to last us if we end up having four kids. For now, they are just decorations that I love!

And all that was in the weeks leading up to Christmas! Such a fun month, but so busy!