Christmas Break

The last few weeks have been very busy!  I know the holiday season is busy for most families, and we are no exception, especially because we had to travel.  Here's a little run-down of the end of December!

Dec 17 - I've been concerned about Asher's speech for awhile so I finally got him evaluated.  The program in Utah is called Kids on the Move, although every state has a similar program.  He qualified for therapy so that will start this month.  They will have a nurse come by this Wednesday to check his hearing and his other physical development.  I have to say, I'm not super excited about this.  But since we're so poor, it isn't going to cost us anything!

Dec 19 - My Mom came to visit!  She got some tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert and she also wanted to see our new place, so she made the drive down here and we had a girls night out.  I miss living by my family so it was so great to have her come to us and be the first person to stay with us!  I had so much fun talking and laughing with her, getting stuck in traffic, and enjoying the concert.  She stayed with us Saturday night and was able to see...

Dec 20 - Our ward Christmas program!  I accompanied the choir on my violin for one song, David played a solo and he also got roped into singing with the choir.  He had only been through the songs once with them, but he really is such a great musician that he picked up on them really fast.  Asher loves loves loves his grandma and had a lot of fun sitting with her during church while we were performing.

Dec 23 - We were a little worried about the weather, but decided to make a break for it and packed all 4 of us (David, Abby, Asher, and Millie) into our car and drove to Idaho.  The drive wasn't too bad for the most part.  Asher was soooo excited when we got to Grandma's house and soon after we got there some cousins showed up and it got very crazy.

Dec 23-26 - There wasn't any big things going on, just lots of hanging out and letting the kids wear each other out!  Asher loves seeing all his cousins, but he doesn't love sleeping in a bed that isn't his own.  Needless to say, he and I didn't get very much sleep while we were there.  But we had fun all the same!  On Christmas my parents paid for all of us adults to go to the new Star Wars movie and they would babysit.  I love going to Idaho because my parents always insist on babysitting so we can go out and do stuff.  I loved the movie!  I'm a sci-fi nerd so that was right up my alley. 

Dec 27 - My parents have 1:00 church, which I really hate taking a toddler to.  So when we to go Rexburg I usually go to my sisters ward, which meets at 8:30.  My sister-in-law thought that sounded like a better idea as well (she has a toddler too) and my mom just wanted to come watch the craziness, so we all went to Joni's ward!  It was quite the party, especially during Relief Society when they ended up bringing all 3 toddlers back to us at one point or another.  Later that night we had dinner and played a lot of games.  It's very chill at my parents house and we all enjoy being able to just hang out with each other.

Dec 28 - I finally got to order my new phone!  David was trying to convince me to get a $100 phone, but I didn't want to spend that much.  When we got there, we found out it was half off!  So my mom and I ended up both getting that phone.  And I was able to pass my old phone on to Joni, whose toddler had sent her phone through the wash.  A couple hours later, in the brisk 10 degree heat, we attempted to do family pictures.  My mom likes to have recent family photos so she hired a photographer to take pictures of all 5 families.  Asher hated it and all the kids were freezing and had red noses the whole time, but I think it went as well as it could have.  At the end my mom wanted a picture with her and my dad and all the grandkids.  All the children were done by that point so it ended up being a picture of lots of crying toddlers and babies and my mom laughing really hard.  I'm excited to see how it turned out! 

Dec 29 - We packed ourselves up and made it home in one piece!  Asher and I slept almost the entire 4 hours, we were both so exhausted.  It was nice to be able to sleep in our own beds again.  But I do miss being able to go to lunch or have Sunday dinner with everyone!

Today David went back to school (which he was not excited about having to wake up at 6am again) and Asher, Millie, and I are getting back into our routine.  Asher is much happier now that he is getting more sleep.  I want everyone in Rexburg to know that Asher really isn't as grumpy as he seems when we're on vacation!  Most of the time he's in a really good mood!  He just loves being able to sleep in his own bed and have a "home base".  I don't know when we'll be back in Rexburg or visiting any other family again, but I always love it when we get a chance.  Maybe I'll have to start doing dessert nights and have Brian and Brittany over once in awhile.  They do live right down the street so it wouldn't be too difficult...but I love having that strong family connection!  Maybe I'll make that one of my resolutions.  Right after my first resolution, which is to not move at all this year!  Here's to another year! 

David is Asher's favorite person in the world right now!  He likes to climb up on David and get this close to his face and tell him fantastic stories.  It makes me laugh really hard.

Asher's Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell!  He loves it.  I'm shocked we were able to fit it in our car.

He's a cutie.

Grandma left a toy for Asher after she left.  He thinks it hilarious when I clip it in his hair.

Millie loves the snow.  And chasing David around in the snow.  And eating the snow.

We all got microwavable heat packs from my parents for Christmas.  I'm teaching Asher how awesome they are.

Asher's buddies!  He loves chasing Ledger around and tries really hard to say London's name whenever we see her.  Now they just need to come visit us!