On Holiday

I know this post is really late, but I promise it's the first chance I've had to finish it. So, here's the story of our Christmas break:

The night before we left town, Mierae opened her big gifts since they wouldn't fit in the car to take with us to open on Christmas morning. Thanks to my sister Rosie, Mierae got a play kitchen which she adores, as well as a new bike, which she has been wanting for the last year.


It's nice that she can ride it in the apartment during the winter! She got on it the minute we got back from our trip.

We spent the holidays in Virginia with Eric's sister Sarah, and Eric's mom flew out from Utah to be with us as well!! There was a LOT going on during the Christmas break--my brother Devin was moving to Africa, my cousin was getting married and my family was flying out for that, and my sister Charlotte got engaged! We had a GREAT time seeing family and spending Christmas at Sarah's, even though we didn't sleep much the whole break. I wish our girls would learn what sleep is all about. But, they both got the stomach flu for Christmas, as did Eric and I. So, I guess being sick is a good excuse for having trouble sleeping. Jolie, as I've mentioned before, is NOT a cuddler. So this shot of her cuddling with me was the first sign that she was sick.

Jolie and Eric got the worst of it; I didn't ever throw up. It just wasn't very fun when Jolie woke up with diarrhea and then as soon as she's settled Mierae wakes up and throws up. Our kids have a hard enough time sleeping as it is. There were many nights when Jolie was asleep upstairs so we had to get Mierae to sleep downstairs. I'm surprised I caught Eric and Mierae asleep on the couch. Mierae usually moves around so much that it's impossible to sleep next to her.

I felt bad for my parents when we were in a hotel room with them for two nights and Jolie decided to scream for three hours the first night and stay up crying on and off until after 1:00 am the next. Mierae amazingly slept through it all!!! But, despite all of that, we enjoyed some great family time and carried on some traditions.

My brother and his family were off to Africa a couple days after we arrived in Virginia. We visited them in their extended-stay suite and had a lot of fun letting the kids run around and play together.



The night we were there they ordered pizza for dinner and then everyone went swimming (except for me and Jolie who was sleeping). We saw them off the next afternoon. I'm sure it was super stressful for them, but we were glad to be there and help out where we could.

My cousin's wedding was fabulous, as all the Parsons weddings are. It was great to see my parents, younger sisters, and family members who came out for the wedding. We were busy with wedding parties and dinners, but had the chance to visit with family a little as well. Mierae's favorite part was going down the slide in the playroom at the Parsons' house. She was entertained there both days we were in Maryland. Here's a fun family shot at a luncheon after the sealing in the Washington temple.

And here's my mom and Jolie getting in some good bonding time.

I just wish I had pics from the wedding to post!

One of the funnest things I remember from Christmastime the first couple years Eric and I were married is sitting at the counter in his mom's kitchen and watching her make her own mom's recipe for "cereal treat." It's just Rice Chex, Golden Grahams, coconut and almonds in a sugary syrup, but it's addicting! Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without cereal treat. When we came back to Sarah's after going to the wedding, we walked into the oven-warmed kitchen and it smelled like Christmas--cereal treat and nutty coconut brunch bread were cooling on the counter and a canister was filled with homemade hot chocolate mix. Christmas Eve we had spicy artichoke and seven-layer dips to honor the appetizers-for-dinner tradition. We even had the kids reinact the nativity, but that was a newly begun tradition. :)

Doesn't Mierae make a great shepherd?

Eric's mom said that just after Mierae got her costume on, the clothespin came off. Distraught, Mierae came up to Grandma Judy and said, "I broke my shepherd!" Thank goodness it was easily mended. :)

Here Mierae makes a beautiful angel (thanks to Sarah's great editing in Photoshop!).

We opened a gift on Christmas Eve, which is a tradition both Eric and I had in our families. The gift is usually pajamas, but we gave our girls their holiday pjs the day after Thanksgiving this year, so they got to open the Care Bears my sisters and I played with when we were little. I can't believe my mom still had them so I could pass them down!

Christmas morning was so fun because we were there with Sarah's kids as well as ours. Isn't Christmas just complete when there are small children there? Mierae liked opening gifts, but the highlight of her Christmas morning was eating the small box of Fruit Loops she found in her stocking. :)






Jolie was the most excited, lighting up with the most magical smile when she opened her first gift--a doll. It was so fun to watch her open the rest of her gifts, and enjoy chewing on the tags. :)




We had a great stay with Sarah's family. Sarah's husband Scott was in Indiana working on the Mitt Romney campaign and wasn't expected to be home for Christmas. But, the doorbell rang the Sunday night before Christmas and Sarah opened the door to see Scott on the doorstep! I thought that was the best surprise ever! How awesome. We got to do some fun things for the kids while we were there. Mabel had a performance with her preschool that Mierae and I went to. Mierae had a great time seeing all the kids singing Christmas songs and thoroughly enjoyed sitting at the little tables to eat her Christmas cookies afterward.


We went to a park called Clemyjontri that is huge and has SO much for the kids to do. Jolie slept through it (so we had shifts with Eric's mom sitting in the car with her) but Mierae was out and loved the freedom of being able to go down countless slides and running wherever she wanted to go. She got cold toward the end, but Daddy was there to cuddle her.



Jolie and Truman, who are only 11 days apart, got some time to get to know each other too.


Some of the funnest things were when we just stayed home. We made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers on Christmas Eve. Mierae loved licking the frosting off her fingers best.


We also loved rocking out to Sarah's Christmas favorites, including Michael Buble's "Let It Snow" and BNL's "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" which I sure took a liking to! :) Mierae was ready to dance at the first note of any music!


I'm sad I don't have a photo of her in the red dress-up dress she wouldn't take off. She wore it two days straight (as well as many other days), refusing to take it off even to go to sleep! But thanks to Sarah and Mabel, Mierae inherited the dress and now asks to wear it everyday at home. :) She loves "spinning" in it, and it is the perfect dress for a 2-year old to dance in.

Sarah is going to school (as a mother of four--what an inspiration!) in photography, so she took most of the pictures on this post. She even gave Mierae a personal sitting. Here are my favs from that.





Jolie wasn't keen on the formal sitting :), but here are some of my favs of Sarah's photos that she got of her throughout the holiday.



Thanks for all the BEAUTIFUL photos, Sarah!!

We were sad we couldn't stay for New Years, but we had to get back for me to sub on the organ in Church the Sunday before the 1st. We sure had a wonderful time during Christmas break! It was wonderful being with our families without having to visit all of them individually. A big thanks to Sarah and Mom Taylor and to all those who took care of us and showered us with gifts. We love you!