Great Grandma's Quilts and the Christmas Sleigh Ride

Great Grandma Ruby has made a quilt for each one of our children (not to mention hundreds of others). Even though her hands hurt, she pushes through it so she can give them all this wonderful gift. I thought it might be nice to let her see the kids all snuggly in their quilts. She displays this picture proudly in her living room.

Papa Sharp treated us ALL (there are a lot of us) to a christmas sleigh ride and dinner with entertainment.  We sipped hot apple cider as we awaited our turn on the horse-drawn sleighs. Some of us sat by the blazing fire outside and others stayed indoors by the huge christmas tree. When the horses arrived we bundled up tight and climbed aboard the sleighs. The horses pranced through the snow, bells jingling. We raced past scores of light displays seated at the feet of the towering Teton Mountains. It was magical! Jacob loved the horses. I mean he LOVED them. He wouldn't take his bright eyes off them. He risked frostbite to point at them the entire ride. I kept trying to put his hands under the blanket but he would promptly take them out again and point at the horses behind our sleigh. Afterwards I took him up close to them. Surprisingly, as much as he loved them, he was scared of them. He wouldn't touch them. The girls thoroughly enjoyed being with their cousins all night.

The group. 

Aaron and Jacob

Nana and Macey

Treyton and Jocelyn

Joci

Olivia and Makell

Jocelyn sipping cider

Liv and Nana

Jacob and I

What I see when I look outside.

 These are just some of the things I see when I look out the window. Winter has it's own beauty but I sure can't wait until Spring!

Jacob and the cowboy boots/ Peanut butter play-dough

One of Jake's favorite things to do lately is to carry around Papa's boots. He'll carry them from place to place. He can only manage one at a time. They're pretty heavy for a 1 year old! He will try to get into them as well but he's found that that's no fun because then he can't go anywhere! He has to fall over to get back out again. 

After we made peanut butter play-dough, the girls made these creations. You can't tell by looking at them but they are all cow sculptures in honor of Papa's cows. Then they gobbled them up! Even a peanut butter cow tastes good, although I'd still rather have a steak!

just a little memory...

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. ~Anatole France

I found this quote today and it brought to me a memory. I recall over the course of my life, leaving many stages of it to enter a new one. I don't know that I agree that we 'must die to one life before we can enter another' I think that we carry with us parts of ourselves, but I understand the statement. I remember the day that Aaron and I drove away from my parents' house. We had been married for one day. We needed to return there to pick up all of our gifts from the reception that was held there the night before. My parents had long since returned to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. They had had to have permission to attend our wedding. So in a sense, that part of my life, my loving and caring parents had already left me. But I still had my own leaving to do. We packed up our gifts. It was a warm September day. Aaron was driving and I had my window rolled down. There was just a hint of sweet fall in the air. It rushed in and surrounded us as we slowly rolled down the driveway. My sister, Allyson, came to the lawn's edge to say goodbye. I waved emphatically. Purposefully and intensely. I held back the tears that wanted to roll down my cheeks, to comfort me somehow. I ached as I died to that life. The childhood and dependence in me yearned stay, and yet, I was in love. Passionately so. Profoundly so. I wanted to be with my new husband more than anything else. I watched and waved until Allyson was gone from sight. I continued to look earnestly at my old home, my old life. Then, resolutely, turned in my seat and have never once longed for that life since. Now Aaron and I have OUR life together, and oh, what a beautiful life it has been!

Typical day.

On any given (week) day...

When the girls get home we do homework. Makell normally has one page of work and Olivia has 2-3. We do that first. I know if we don't do it as soon as they get home, then they will certainly find other fun things to do and homework will then be forgotten. As soon as they get that done, then it's time for reading. Olivia's required to do 15 min. while Makell feels sorry for herself because she has to read for 20. Usually one of them will go and practice the piano while the other reads. Then they change places. Once all the reading and piano are done they 'get' to do their chores. We alternate weeks of dishwasher and all it entails and the kitchen floor and all that comes with it. Then I tell them to clean their room they share. I rarely check on that to make sure it's done. Therefore it hardly ever does. But they have at least learned to bring up their dirty clothes so I can wash them. They play for awhile with their siblings and then it's dinner time, scripture/prayer time and bedtime. Not much time for playing with friends or for getting into trouble. That's how I prefer it. I try to keep them busy. Weekends are a lot more fun for them and for me! I miss them when they're gone to school. I worry about them when they're away from me. So weekends are just for spending time together. We've had an occasional slumber-party as a family. We do hand shadows on the ceiling with flashlights, watch movies, eat popcorn and then sleep. That means that Aaron and I wait for them to fall asleep then we go to our bed so we will sleep well.

 It's so nice that the bus comes directly to the house! I love that!

Jacob has been found imitating his sisters. I couldn't be more pleased with that!

Halloween 2010

The kids got all dressed up and Nana came and took them to see Papa at Cal Ranch. They went trick-or-treating around the office then they went to see Great Grandma Sharp aka Cookie Grandma. They got some candy there, too. It was a preview for Halloween night.

The cowardly lion. 

The two witches.

 

 Cinderella and Belle

The next night, on Halloween Aaron dressed up as the Brawny-Man and I, his trusty roll of paper towels. 

I told Aaron that he needed to stay by my side all night at the trunk-or-treat at the church or no one would know who we were. Well, he left a few times and I got some pretty strange looks coming my way. As for him, he just looks like a regular Idahoan. I don't think half the people there even knew he was dressed in a costume! 

A Macey-bite and Jacob loves food!

I think that Macey must be starving when she wakes up. She plunges her spoon into her cereal and heaps it on as much as she can. She opens her mouth as big as possible and has to shovel it in using her had as a barricade to make sure she doesn't lose even one Marshmallow Matey. It's one of the funniest things I've seen.

Jacob's eating habits also make me laugh. He's found the baking drawer. He loves those butterscotch chips, just like his mommy! He fills those little cheeks so full it looks like he's preparing for winter. 

He learned this dandy little trick, too. He's fascinated that Cheerios stick to snot! This kid cracks me up!

Just a little snuggle with his favorite man on EARTH! I hope he turns out to be just like him....

Yes, I joined them shortly after. :)