Merry Christmas! 2016

Well, Christmas was three days ago, and I am finally writing about it. Ah, well; I did need some recovery time, right? Because this year Christmas time was pretty hectic––more than usual.

Ryan made this chest for himself in his woodworking class. He and Bruce are just putting the hinges on it so we can use it as our Christmas tree stand this year.

We don't have enough space to put up our 7 1/2 foot tree, so we only put up half of it. Can you see the nice cherry-wood chest under all the decorations?

Every year the kids draw names and make home-made gifts for each other; this year we did the name-drawing in September––or maybe it was August, before Jason and Lindsey went to school. They usually make some really cool gifts for each other, and it's been the favorite, most anticipated part of Christmas for us the last five years.Anyway, despite drawing names so early, none of the projects really got worked on until the last two weeks or so before Christmas. Here's why:

From September through December 14 we spent most of our spare cash and time getting Brandon ready to leave on his mission. With a shopping list of two or three suits, a dozen shirts, several ties and socks, two pairs of sturdy dress shoes, two to four pairs of slacks...  And that's just the formal stuff. He also needed clothes he could wear while doing service projects, p.j.s, personal items... A lot of stuff; I don't remember it all. Fortunately we had help from family to get the things he needed. But we still spent a lot of time shopping (we went to Salt Lake two or three times to get most of his stuff). That did slow down the Christmas projects this year.

The next deterrent in starting the Christmas gifts was a sewing project that I was commissioned to do for a friend. Allen Steckler was so happy with the shirt I made for his character (Tumbleweeds) that his wife decided to buy it for him for a Christmas present. Then she asked if I could make her a matching shirt to go with it. I knew I couldn't start on it until after we took Brandon to the MTC, but I said I'd do it. And, frankly, it turned out pretty fantastic. Rana (Allen's wife) was sure that this would be the favorite Christmas present for her hubby. :-) (I'll add a picture when I get one from Rana.)

I finished the cowboy shirt on December 20. Then the home-made Christmas projects began in earnest. Some had already been started, and (obviously) Brandon had made his gift before he left, and Ryan's gift to Brandon was finished and packed into his suitcase before he left, but there was still a lot of work to do in only five days. Despite the craziness of creating six home-made gifts in less than five days (plus some shopping and a lot of wrapping to do), the presents turned out awesome, and Christmas was pretty fantastic.

On Christmas Eve we finally baked a few walls for our traditional gingerbread house, but having had only four hours sleep the previous night, I was a little cranky about the whole thing. And when I realized we'd have to make more dough and bake it, we abandoned the gingerbread house. Maybe we'll still make one for the new year, since I do have all the candy for decorating it.

We did  have a nice Christmas Eve dinner, and tasty snacks. And we sang Christmas songs around the piano with the Ray family; our two families separated to do our own thing around 10:30 or so. We Norths played a game of Mormon Bridge; the best part of the game was when Bruce and Jessica decided to swap cards so they could each win (or lose) a hand and so win the bid they'd made. It's kind of a family thing for us to try to get away with cheating at games occasionally. Mostly at Scrabble. But Bruce has never cheated at cards––until a few nights ago, on Christmas Eve. Unlike Kaylie, or me––or Jessica, for that matter––Bruce is not very good at cheating. He was laughing so hard, and turned so red I thought he'd burst a blood vessel. He was super funny!

After our very funny card game, we watched a video of the Christmas story from the Bible (from the LDS Church's new-ish Bible videos). Well, most of the family watched; I fell asleep on the floor. At 1:50 a.m. the children were tucked up in their beds, probably not fast asleep, and Bruce and I went to finish wrapping a few forgotten presents, and help Santa fill the stockings. We finally got to be around 3 a.m. on Christmas morning. Then Kaylie knocked on our bedroom door at 6 a.m.  She is just like me.

Jessica's awake, but it looks like Lindsey is still trying to wake up.

We put the traditional breakfast into the oven, and then started on the presents:

Look at Rachel's happy face! She found a set of buttons from  her favorite show, RWBY, in her stocking.

Bruce got a didgeridoo.

Jason got a new hat–which he immediately put on, and wore for most of the day.

The entire family got new pillows.

Everyone got some nice stuff, but the home-made gifts––and trying to guess who made what––are always the favorite part:

Brandon made a pair of pajamas and a sword for Jessica.
Jessica started brandishing her sword as soon as she unwrapped it.

Rachel made Jason a tie-rack, and a hand-painted snake tie.

Lindsey made Michael a set of pillowcases with the Overwatch (a video game) symbol on them. She also made him some candied pecans, which I covet. (Bruce is just silly.)

Kaylie carved the pages out of an old book to make a box for Lindsey.

Jason made Rachel some p.j.'s, and a body-pillow with the RWBY rose symbol appliquéd on it. (Rachel was in RWBY heaven this Christmas.)

Jessica made a wallet for Kaylie.

Michael made a blanket for Ryan; the design is Toothless (the night-fury) peeking through some leaves.

And here's Brandon, showing his gifts! Ryan made him the journal (which is open, and is being used as a background for his other presents). 

And, as a surprise, Bruce and I both got home-made gifts too!

Ryan made this beautiful chess box for Bruce.

And I got what felt like an empty little box, but it had a picture of the beautiful cherry-wood chest in it. Ryan gave it to me!

Everyone was really happy with what they got, and happy with what they gave each other too, which is even better.

Breakfast finished cooking just as we finished looking at our presents. Blueberry-stuffed French toast, a breakfast quiche, and yogurt with berries and whipped cream. Yum!

After breakfast we all got ready for church––Bruce is the choir director, I am the choir pianist, and the North and Ray families make up about 1/3 to 1/2 of the ward choir. We had a nice meeting, and then the rest of the day to spend together at home. (Although I spent about three hours napping.)

Brandon and his companion, Elder Suggs

Brandon called us at 4:45, and we got to talk to him for half an hour. Yay! He is doing well; he is happy; he is learning Hungarian (they only speak Hungarian in the classroom); and he told us how to say "I am Elder North." (I don't remember the word for "I am," and probably couldn't spell it anyway. But it is backwards to what we say: "North Elder I am." Cool.) He shared a sweet testimony with us before we said goodbye.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out together, playing games, and talking. We had a very nice Christmas.

And now, even though it's three days late, I say Merry Christmas! to you too. I hope it was as good as ours was. And much happiness for the coming New Year.

On His Way!

It's been a pretty busy month. Not just because of Christmas... In fact, I've done most of my Christmas shopping online.

No, we've been busy getting Brandon ready to leave on his mission. Shopping, shopping, and more last-minute shopping. Visiting family; having family here to visit us...  Lots of stuff! It's been a weird combination of running around like crazy people, and just waiting.

Last Sunday, December 11, Brandon spoke in church. We were afraid that we wouldn't have any family here because of the weather and the three-hour drive up from Salt Lake. But Bruce's sister Marilyn and her husband James came out, and Grandpa North came up with Michael, and Scott and Emma (cousins). They came to church with us to hear Brandon talk, then we had lunch together and visited. We were really happy to see them! Of course we were so busy being happy that we forgot to take any pictures. :-/

Oh! We actually we did get a picture of Brandon and Michael together before everyone left. :-) (Because Michael thought of it.)

Then we were on the final, final countdown. On Monday Brandon brought the suitcases up from the basement and we started packing. And realizing that we had more stuff to buy. On Tuesday I finished packing his bags for him; that's the last time I'll be doing that for at least two years—maybe the last time ever. And, on Tuesday morning, I also finished wrapping all of Brandon's Christmas presents so they could get packed into his bags too. Only Brandon will know if he is nice enough to wait until Christmas morning, or if he is naughty enough to open them ahead of time. ;-)

The Van Picture
We take a shot like this almost every time we go on a major trip.
It looks so empty with no Michael, Jason, or Lindsey there!

On Tuesday, at 4:30, we all went to the stake president's office so that he could set Brandon apart as a missionary. President McClellan gave him some counsel, and a blessing, and then Brandon was officially a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

me, Bruce, Elder Brandon North, President McClellan, and Bishop Goodrich

Then we all went back home, Brandon and changed into driving clothes, and the kids said their goodbyes.

These two brothers have shared a room since Ryan was a baby.
Will Ryan miss Brandon, or will he be thrilled
to have his own room?

hugs from Kaylie, Jessica, and Rachel

Brandon had to report to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo on Wednesday, December 14. That's about a 3 1/2 hour drive for us. And we still needed to pick up a couple more things for him that we couldn't find in Vernal. So we decided to spend Tuesday night in Salt Lake at Bruce's Dad's house. Did we think to take a picture of Brandon with Grandpa while we were there? No. Of course not. :-/  (Sometimes we are kind of dorks about the whole photo thing.)

Wednesday morning I cooked the last breakfast that I will make for Brandon for two years. Not that I cooked him breakfast all that often (he was just as likely to cook breakfast for me). But the last home-cooked meal idea did cross my mind that morning.

Then Bruce and I watched him open a Christmas present—we wanted him to have this one available right away.

because if you're leaving home for the first time—and going to Budapest, no less—you should have a camera!

Brandon will have the companion picture to this one—a photo of Bruce taking a picture of Brandon taking a picture of him taking a picture...

We got Brandon's bags back into the car and went to buy his shoulder-bag and his passport carrier. And then we had an hour to kill. So we went to my mom's house, but no one answered the door or the phone. So we went to see some friends in West Valley, but we didn't have much luck there either. So we went back to my mom's house, and this time she was available—and she was glad we stopped by. And we were too!

This kind of looks like I did a bad Photoshop job,
but Grandma really is that little next to Brandon.

Then we met up with Bruce's dad (who took us to lunch) and missed another photo opportunity. And finally we drove down to Provo. When we got there we were met by a nice young missionary (whose name I've already forgotten), who helped us unload Brandon's stuff and who would guide him where he needed to go.

Nice Elder... ?
Maybe Bruce will remember his name.

A hug for Mom...

A hug for Dad...

And then he walked away, and we won't see him again for two years.

I did surprisingly well. I teared up a little, and that was it. Probably because from Provo we were headed to Ephraim (a 1 1/2 hour drive) to pick Jason and Lindsey up from school for Christmas break. (Um, didn't take pictures of them either.) And from there we made the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Vernal. And then I went to a tap class that night. So I was too busy to be too sad.

But yesterday (Thursday) I did kind of mope around all day and didn't get much done. And I was very sad to go to Ryan and Kaylie's Christmas choir concert last night and not have Brandon there. (And looking at all these pictures is making me a little sad too.) It is hard to send one of your kids away for the first time, even when you're glad for what they are doing.

But we got our first email from him last night! (With "I live!" as the subject line.) That was a super nice surprise! Here's what he said:

"Um, hi. I am at a loss of what to say. I was just made District Leader and Senior Companion. I don't really know what that means, but that is what is going on. It is super fun, hard, and frustrating, in that order and decreasing in potency with each one. I love you, can't really think of what to say.

Sorry that this is short, but this is all.
Love you
Brandon."

So he's doing all right; he's busy, and he's mostly enjoying it so far. Yay! I'm proud of Brandon! And it will be exciting to hear how things go for him.

Family Photo Collection—Fall 2016

So, my latest big project has been sewing for my Family Photo Collection, which came out this fall. ;-)

Last year Kaylie asked me to make her this design from my portfolio (or maybe it was I who thought she'd look cute in it. I don't remember now.)

I started sewing the dress, and I'd bought the fabric for the jacket, and while I worked on them I thought that it would be great to make a collection of clothes for the whole family and get family pictures done. (I've been wanting new family pics since before Jason went on his mission in October 2013.)

Anyway, after I'd gotten Kaylie's dress—just the dress (not the jacket)—mostly done I was suddenly swamped with about a million other projects and the whole thing was put on hold. Now Brandon is getting ready to leave on his mission (in seventeen days!), and I needed my to get family pictures done while everyone was together. (Chances are that when Brandon gets back, Ryan will be gone on his mission. And maybe some of my older kids will even be married.) So I spent the last two to three weeks finishing Kaylie's outfit, and sewing clothes for the rest of the girls and myself. My coolness did not extend to sewing for the boys. Five new outfits in two-and-a-half weeks was enough.

Testing colors for the final outfit. I liked the middle ensemble, but didn't have enough of that blue to make the design the way I wanted it.

At last, over Thanksgiving break, we went to Temple Square and had our pictures taken. Yay! We planned to meet my sister-in-law's sister, Rachel Montgomery, there and have her take the photos. But we got there early and we had our nephew, Scott, with us, so he took some pics while we waited.

Here is the "We are tourists at Temple Square" picture that I was trying to avoid. But it is a great shot of the dress that started it all.

And we had to have a picture under the 10.
(Have I ever mentioned that ten is my favorite number?Always has been. Can you guess why?)

my boys, trying not to fall down

my girls, twirling
(I really wanted a picture of them twirling their skirts.)

Rachel, looking out at the waterfall in the Conference Center.

all my kids, and a really big plant

I really like this picture. Too bad it's so blurry and the light is so weird.

I got me a good-looking husband!

Michael

Jason

Lindsey

Brandon
(We actually bought this orange shirt last year,
when I first thought of doing family pics.
Brandon really does have other shirts.)

Ryan

Kaylie

Rachel

Jessica

Not only do I have a good-looking husband, but we have awfully attractive kids, too! (By the way, it took a lot longer to make the collection of kids than it did to make the fashion collection...in case you were wondering. But we did a great job; they are pretty fantastic. ;-))

North Family, November 2016

Thanks to Rachel Montgomery and Scott North for helping us with the photos. Altogether we shot 278 pictures—that's a lot to sort through! And I am pretty happy with them.