our crazy christmas week

We had a whirlwind of a week (and there are more festivities to come)! Last minute preparations of shopping, sewing, cooking, and baking, (as well as a few unexpected events) consumed the days leading up to Christmas and after....

Saturday 12/20- Paul, his brother Chris, and my brother Robert (a.k.a. "Bubba") all worked hard to put together the HUGE trampoline that we got for the backyard. Even though we took every precaution to prevent Avery from seeing it (putting it together behind the house, covering the deck banisters with blankets, closing all the blinds, and trying to keep the girls in no view rooms) she still figured out what was going on. She came to me after finding a little hole on the deck that wasn’t covered by blankets, had me get down to her level so she could quietly whisper to me, “I think they are building a bounce house.” I tried to play it off as best I could, but the cover didn’t last long. She came to the conclusion that mommy and daddy got her the trampoline. At least we got to take the credit! We ended up letting her use it a few times before Christmas- in between the rain storms.

Sunday 12/21- Paul’s older brother Chris was ordained an Elder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This was a very special event for the whole family as Chris has come back to full activity in the church this past year after a 30+ year period.


Monday 12/22- I finished up my mom's gifts (I made her a family tree and filled a set of wall frames with photos) and wrapped them before she got here. My mom came into town to help with preparations and to spend a little extra time with the girls.

Paul's brother Tim and his family also made it in from Utah. We also had an unexpected visitor....

'Twas three nights before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring EXCEPT for a mouse! I kept hearing something scratching around in the middle of the night and woke Paul up to check it out. The sound would disappear as soon as he turned on the light. We went back to bed, but the scratching resumed. Finally around 4 a.m., Paul emptied all the clothes out of my dresser (haphazardly making a COMPLETE mess that I would later have to deal with), pulled the drawers out and found a little mouse inside the dresser. Paul tried to catch him in a tupperware container, but the little bugger hopped out of the dresser and under a pillow. Paul trapped him and the little guy didn't survive. I was just happy to go back to sleep (for a very brief time) sans scratching noises.


Tuesday 12/23- Despite my exhaustion from the lack of sleep the night before, and with my mom's help, I got most of the sewing projects done that I had planned for gifts. The aprons I made for my girls and all the nieces turned out great. I got the inspiration HERE. I LOVED theirs, but did not have $28 to spend on an apron for each girl, so I tried to recreate them myself. They are not perfect, but for a total of about $6 per apron I think they turned out pretty good.

Wednesday 12/24 (Christmas Eve)- We took the girls out to see Santa (at the Mission in downtown SLO) so they could give him their last-minute requests. Avery told us ahead of time that she would stand next to Santa for a picture, but she would not sit on his lap. I had to get in the picture too, but there was no screaming or crying involved which was a dramatic improvement over years past. Then we also took a ride on the carousel, which Avery LOVED and Finley wanted absolutely NO part of- she had fun watching Avery from the side-lines.

Paul's parents reserved their community clubhouse for Christmas Eve dinner and festivities. When we got there, there was no electricity! The power came back on just about the time that we pushed all the tables together under the emergency flood lights to eat our pizza and salad. We ended up having a wonderful time all together exchanging gifts and letting the kids run around (Avery, Audrey and Finley running around screaming while the older girls sat back and watched).

We got home late, let the girls open one present (pjs and slippers), put them down for bed, and set up to do the last of the wrapping. We didn't get far before Finley woke up screaming. We tried letting her cry it out, but after 30 minutes (and a house full of people trying to sleep) it was obvious she was not going to go back to sleep on her own. Nothing would calm her down- I offered her food, held her, rocked her, read a book, took her into our bed and turned on a movie- with no avail. Finally I had Paul drive her around to look at Christmas lights so I could get the rest of the wrapping done. She ended up falling asleep in the car and I was able to transfer her to our bed (I did not want to risk another screaming fit in the middle of the night) without further problem.

Thursday 12/25 (Christmas Day)- We got up, (not too early since Finley was tired from her crying fit) and opened presents with our family, my mom, Larry, and Bubba (my brother Robert). The girls had fun- Avery really got the present opening thing this time around. She just wanted to open more and more asking constantly, "what can I open next?!"

We had a nice relaxed morning, until....
the crazy wind gusts threw our brand new trampoline into the side of the house, broke an exterior light fixture, and busted the trampoline and enclosure completely. Paul and Larry had to go outside in the heavy wind, pouring rain, and muddy mess of a yard to try to tame the beast before it did more damage. They ended up taking off the enclosure and turning the trampoline upside down so that it wouldn't be able to take flight again. You can only imagine how happy Paul was during all of this. The brand new trampoline that he, just 5 days earlier, spent several hours putting together just broke- before we were really even able to enjoy it! Plus, he was wet, cold, and muddy to boot. I didn't hear any profanities while inside so I thought he was doing pretty good, but he assured me that he did let a few escape his lips during the ordeal. I was pretty upset myself- the idea of spending that $ again to replace something we just bought made me absolutely sick to my stomach. We are going to try taking it apart and take it back to Walmart to see what they will do- I am pretty sure they will take it back?! I hope! But, that just means that Paul will have to take it apart and put a new one together! All we can do now is laugh and do what needs to be done.

My mom and I prepared our Christmas dinner and the troops all gathered at our house that evening. The main topic of conversation of the night was names for baby girl #3- everyone was giving suggestions (except Paul of course). I don't know if we are any closer to narrowing it down, but we got a few good ideas to add to the list.

Friday 12/26- My mom and I resumed sewing as well as finished up baking cookies and making treats that we didn't get a chance to make before Christmas before she and Larry left to go home and we packed up to drive to L.A. for the night.

Saturday 12/27- The girls and I hung out at the hotel, watching the airplanes land and watching movies while Paul went with ALL his siblings, mom and dad to the L.A. temple. Chris was going through the temple for the first time. What a momentous occasion! Lee and Harvey had all their children in the temple with them! I would have loved to be there, but I am so happy that they had that opportunity and were all able to support Chris in this exciting event.

We then gathered with the extended White family to visit with Paul's grandma- Grandma GG, who recently moved back down to Glendale from her senior living center here in San Luis Obispo. I got to meet Paul's cousins that I have never met in the 8 years we have been married. We also got to meet the "other" Avery that we had heard so much about. One of Paul's cousins had a little girl they named Avery, just 2 months after our Avery was born. All the kids were tired, but we got a few pictures before we loaded up in the car and headed home!

Whew! What a week! And the fun continues...tomorrow the other side of Paul's extended family are coming to visit for the day. We will be having a big lunch gathering at our house, after the boys get back from their golf excursion. We are also gearing up for my dad, my brother David, and his girlfriend Mary to get here tomorrow evening. They will be here for the week, which will also be full of activity- watching the Oregon Ducks in their bowl game, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day (watching football- blah) another round of gift exchanging, and hanging out. Plus, I have a couple of photoshoots scheduled! Busy, busy, busy!