The Star

We finally got to the Mesa Temple tonight to see the Christmas lights before the end of this wonderful holiday season. It was still pretty crowded for being the 30th of December. Carter was a bit grumpy, but I just knew the boys were going to love all the lights. Boy was I WRONG….at least about Andrew. Carter was fine and was pretty good in the stroller, but Andrew was not thrilled at all! He was a little timid and nervous at first, but as we approached the nativity scene with the large, beautiful star up high Andrew was trying to sink back into the stroller to get as far away from the star as possible. The child was afraid of the star…not just any star…. “the star”. Oh I love my son – sweet little Andrew….but, it did not end there. He liked the water and the lights by the flowers, but we couldn’t leave without seeing the camels – they are a highlight of the Mesa Temple lights. We told him we were going to see the camels and he was excited and kept saying “camel, camel.” Buuuuut of course, he was not a big fan of these either! We had the missionaries snap a picture of us by the camels, but we had to make it fast because heaven forbid we get within 50 feet of the camels! It was a fun night though and I am glad we went! Maybe next year the boys will like the lights better!Andrew was still talking about the star when we got home. “Star….scared…” Nice – my son is scared of a Christmas star. Good thing he is cute and I love him!

Plan of Happiness

We have been trying to do an extended FHE the first Monday of each month. In the past four months or so we have gotten to do it twice – not too bad. Well, I was in charge of the lesson last night. It is quite a tricky task to do a lesson for children ages as young as 3 all the way to adults. I did my best and it was a bit crazy…but all in all I hope the general idea of the lesson was passed along. I did have a little more that I did not get to share that I found to be quite thought provoking and profound.

The topic of the lesson was “Heavenly Father loves me and has a plan for me.” This year we are going to try and do the lesson for the following Sunday for FHE so the kids have a review at church rather than just hearing these things for the first time there. We had some little activities and games, but there was a talk that I read in my Eternal Marriage Student Manual that really hit home for me.

“The Family” by Elder Henry B. Eyring in 1995. “We must have the goal not just in our minds, but in our hearts. What we want is eternal life in families. We don’t just want it if that is what works out, nor do we want something approaching eternal life. We want eternal life, whatever its cost in effort, pain, and sacrifice. Whenever we are tempted to make eternal life our hope instead of our determination…There is only one place where there will be families – the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. That is where we will want to be.” It really hit home when he talked about making eternal life with families our determination instead of our hope. We need to be active in our righteousness and doing things to draw us closer to our eternal family to live with Him again.

“Benefits”

As a teacher Bry gets pretty good benefits, but I am loving the benefit he has of getting two weeks off for Christmas break! It has been SOO nice to have him home and I know the boys are loving having their daddy around a lot more as well. A few highlights and moments it was nice to have Bry around for….

We have gotten to go on a walk as a family at a new park area.

Bry took care of Carter so I could take Andrew to the Urgent Care…poor boy has double ear infections! Ouch!!!

Bry spontaneously cleaned our bathroom – too bad our bathroom sink is clogged.  A definite phone call I need to make tomorrow.

He was able to take pictures of Carter while getting a bath in the sink.

Having Shell and Rich over to hang out and getting my nails done by Shell while watching the The Legend of Bagger Vance. Sitting on the couch Sunday afternoon while the kids took naps and watching the Ultimate Gift. My parents got all of us kids that movie for Christmas – we both loved it! I highly recommend it to anyone. It is nice to have an extra hand when getting the kids ready for the day, meal times, and ready for bed. It was too cute to watch daddy read books to his babies. Carter loves Andrew’s bottle, but still does not drink out of one. He just likes to hold it and chew on it. Silly kid!

Needless to say, I LOVE my hubby!!! It is so nice to have him home and to actually be able to spend time together, whether we are out and about or just sitting together on the couch….or even just knowing he is in the house with me but in the other room!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve day and Christmas Day. We did not do very much during the day of Christmas Eve, aside from braving the crowds at the grocery store. Bry was feeling a bit under the weather so I took the little boys and ventured off on my own. All in all, it really was not bad. We went around 4:00 and it wasn’t too crowded and everyone was very nice. Bry even had the house all vacuumed when I got home – wonderful husband!

We went to the Baker Christmas Eve party in the evening and got to chase Andrew around the house amidst visiting with a smorgasbord of brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc… We had a fun time and snuck out around 8 to get the kids home and do our family Christmas Eve festivities. We bathed the boys, read Twas the Night Before Christmas, read Luke 2 and put the kids down for the night….well, kinda.  Carter decided he wanted to stay up for another hour or two – his schedule has been  off these past couple days. He even was so sweet as to spit up a significant amount on me and all over his new Christmas jammies. It was imperative he wear them for Christmas morning so I made sure to do a load of laundry that night as well, added to the sweet potatoes to prepare, the french toast casserole to get in the fridge, and the kitchen and front room to clean up before hitting the pillow well after midnight!

Santa came and oh boy did he have some fun stuff to bring!

The boys scored big time. They opened Disney movies, a train set (Andrew’s favorite!), shake n’ go cars, USC shirts, teethers, ABC alphabet pal, and new loofas for the bath! Poor Carter was so tired during the opening of presents and was ready for his morning nap. What a trooper! We had stuffed french toast casserole with blueberries and homemade syrup for breakfast and oh boy was it divine!!!!!

Later in the morning we headed to my mom and dad’s for more breakfast and to spend the day. Breakfast was all ready when we got there and it was quite the feast. Following, we opened gifts, which is always fun. Dad and Mom are so thoughtful and I so appreciate all they do and give!!! 

Every year we get an ornament from Dad and Mom – it is always fun to see what kind it will be and every year they are so different. I LOVE the ones they did this year. Bry took a great shot of the one we got. 

Carter got a very soft blankie that he snuggled right up in. Is he not just a dream to look it – what a beautiful boy!!

 

 

Following the gifts we all sat down to watch Horton Hears a Who – I got to see most of the movie when I was not referee for the children and I really liked it.  It is a very cute movie with a great message!!! We then all went for a walk to get out of the house. It was so nice and cool, but the sprinkling of rain hurried the walk right along and we got back to get ready for dinner. 

We had quite the feast of ham, gravy, rolls, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and corn, jell-o, grapes, fruit dip, and sparkling cider. Yum-a-Lum!!!!! Of course, my sweet Andrew and the anti-food child that he is had some ever so nutritious jell-o followed by key lime pie yogurt.

No Osmun dinner is complete without a little food flinging. Rich was threatening a spoonful of sweet potatoes at Shelley. She got tired of anticipating the flying food so she flung a deviled egg at him and got him good. The potatoes kind of sprayed when they were flying through the air, but successfully splattered all over Shell. It was pretty fun to watch!

  Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

A Day to Remember

I cannot believe December 17th came and went before I even realized….this is such a special day for our family. Two years ago on December 17th we were blessed to be able to bring home our sweet Andrew. It seems like it was so long ago, but yet it feels like it was just yesterday. He has changed so much and grown up faster than I would like, but oh how we love this little boy more than words can express. I am so grateful for the Lord’s hand in guiding us to our little Drewbie!!!

 

December 17th, 2008

 

 

 

December 17th, 2007

 

 

 

December 17th, 2006

The Forgotten Carols

I just love this play! I don’t remember how many times I have seen it now, but it is so wonderful and brings such a wonderful spirit and is a great reminder of the true meaning of Christmas. This year I bought tickets early and on the first day….and we got front row seats!!!! My Mom, Dad, Julia, Jason, Jayce, Shelley, Rich, Bryan, Carter, and I all went together. I had the most wonderful woman watch Andrew for us, but that is a whole other story and blessing.  Anyhow – the play was wonderful, although I do have to see I have seen Constance played better before, but she was good nonetheless.  (Katie Thompson was the best one I have seen play the part thus far – she is AMAZING!)

They were VERY adamant about keeping the baby quiet during the play and taking him out of he was disruptive at all. I got to see the first half, all but about 10 minutes when Carter started to coo. It actually fit quite well with the play because it was the part about baby Jesus. Even thought he was being cute I had to take him out and I finally got him asleep and could watch the end. It was so nice to get out and see the play with my family. I LOVE this time of year with all the Christmas music and time to spend with family!!!

Jon Schmidt

For Christmas my parents took Me, Bry, Shell, Rich, Julia, and Jason to a Jon Schmidt concert on Friday last week. We got a sitter for Andrewbie and took Carter with us. It was a wonderful concert and very entertaining. The man can play! It really made me want to take piano lessons again – very inspiring. And he did play backwards, upside down, and yes…even with his toes! At the end of the concert be brought a family up on stage with four children and a mom. Come to find out their father/husband had been deployed in Iraq for the past six months and was coming home on Christmas. Well, this was planned ahead of time with the mom and they brought the father out on stage. What an amazing reunion to witness. I am so grateful for those who are off serving our country. We are so blessed!

Pay back

Remember back in November when Andrew took  a little nibble of Carter’s toes…..recall incident here…..well, Carter got him back for it!

A couple days ago Andrew and Carter were in the front room and I here Andrew say “ ow, ow, ow!” I came in to see what was wrong and I could see that his feet were near little Carter’s face. Andrew said “bite!!!” I couldn’t help but begin to laugh and I asked if Carter bit his toes and Andrew said yes. I know it had to hurt because the kid has quite the little chompers! I guess what goes around comes around and I don’t think Andrew will put his toes near Carter’s mouth again.

Never Fails

Sunday is a day of rest and I am all for naps. Sometimes I take one and sometimes I don’t, but I am sure to time it so that I take one while the little boys are sleeping….not the case for my sweet Bryan. He can nap whenever since I will always tend to the children. Now, there is no malice in my tone when I say this, I really do find it quite entertaining (although this was not always the case). In this fine Sabbath day he has been diligently working on scanning in his mom’s old slides all afternoon…the boys took their naps and have been up for a bit…and then Bry is no where to be found….

And then, I found him…at 4:15 pm all snuggled up in bed napping ever so soundly. He does this often on Sunday…naps after the boys have already taken their naps. I ran and grabbed the camera to catch a shot of sleeping beauty. He makes me smile! I am glad he is able to rest and relax these next couple days – he works so hard and deserves a break! –I do hope he is rested enough to give me a hand as well – it will be nice to have him around during the day!!!

Tis the Season

to be cheerful, joyful, and just plain happy.     

I couldn’t ask for happier, cheerful, or more wonderful children. I couldn’t help but spread the joy…they are just too cute!! These are all smiles from the month of December ‘08! I hope they made you smile….they make me smile every day!!

Christmas Program Meltdown

Andrew has his first Christmas program at preschool today. Grammy came - we had the cameras charged and ready - Andrew had practiced jingle bells every night and boy was I excited. He even bows at the end and says “thank you” – SO adorable! I made to dress him in winter-wear with Carter matching.

Well….we got there and Grammy and I sat down in the tiny chairs in the back. I had told my mom that the teacher said the other children took care of Andrew because he is littler than them. I imagined him just younger, but really he is A LOT littler then them. My mom couldn’t find him amidst the group of oh so tall preschoolers and there he was in the middle in all his tiny glory. He sure looked cute! No wonder the other kids like to take care of him. Who wouldn’t?!

All was well until Andrew spotted us. He left his spot in the group and came back to see Grammy. Then…..he saw the cars. A sibling of another child had brought in a handful of toy cars and Andrew wanted them. He started crying and crawled under the table. There was no convincing him to participate. He also has a cold so he was not feeling well. None of the aids could get him to go sing…not even for jingle bells. Ah – what do you do. I made sure to video the other children singing and Andrew crying under the table. We left before storytime started and took him home. Maybe next year, right!?

I am sad to say I didn’t get any pictures of him in his class so I had him hold some bells at home and took his picture. Good thing he is cute!!!

 

 

Photos by Savanna

So I want to make sure credit is given where credit is due. We have some amazing friends here in Arizona that used to live in Utah when we were there and we are so glad they live here now – amazing how life works out! They took our family pictures when we adopted Andrew and have since done Carter’s newborn pictures, my whole group family pictures, and then just recently did our family again with 6 month shots of Carter and 3 year of Andrew.  Here are some of the ones they have done. Click the picture above and you can see more! If you live nearby and need a good photographer I highly recommend them!!