December 2018

This month has been full of fun and parties and celebrations. Here are some of the things we each did this month.

Camille- One of Camille's friends, Eden, had her birthday this month. Camille was invited to go to it, which meant our whole family was invited to go to it. We went to the SeaQuest aquarium located in the Layton Hills Mall. For being in a mall, it really is an awesome experience. We saw all sorts of fish and birds, sharks and lizards, turtles and stingray, and even a mermaid. We got a little manicure by some fish that eat the dead skin off of you, and got to touch the stingray.  It was so fun, and hopefully someday we can go back with Kevin. I think he would enjoy it.

Jason- Jason turned three this month, I can hardly believe it. He also got his first and biggest goose egg on his head this month. Camille and Jason were playing horse, and Jason was the horse. They were playing in the kitchen on the tile. Do you see where this is going? I wasn't in the kitchen so I am not exactly sure how his head banged into the floor, but 5 seconds later when he came over crying, there was a huge goose egg on his head. It didn't look too good. He is a tough boy and stopped crying shortly, but it was really big and looked like it hurt a lot.

Sadie- I thought for sure that Sadie would be fully crawling this month, but she isn't. She is army crawling though and can get pretty much anywhere, and pretty quickly too. She gets up on her hands and knees and is rocking a lot and trying to crawl, so I assume she will be crawling soon, but it didn't happen this month. She also got two teeth this month. Her two bottom teeth are poking through. I feel like it happened in just one hour that they poked through. I was at my parents house and my mom was feeding her a banana and we didn't see anything. Then we drove home and when I was getting her out of the car seat she had two teeth. Just as fast as that.

Kevin- This month Kevin had a nose surgery done to help him breath better. We went in earlier this month to get it done, but after Kevin got in the gown, they told him that they had to cancel the surgery because he had drake to closely to the surgery and ate that morning. It was kind of frustrating because the nurse that Kevin talked to on the phone told him he could drink clear liquid whenever and just had to stop eating at noon. But we got it rescheduled for the 31st of December because it had to be done in 2018 so that the insurance would cover it. We went in at 11 in the morning and kevin was back in surgery about 12:30. They said everything went really well. When he was coming out of the anesthesia it was so funny. I just couldn't stop laughing. Also, I have not felt so loved in a long time. Some funny things that Kevin said were these:

Kevin would wake up and look around with a confused look on his face until he would see me, and then he would smile the sweetest in love smile that I have ever seen. Shortly after he would get all concerned and ask if I was okay. After I said I was okay he would fall asleep again. I think we had this conversation about 10 times. Each time he would wake up the same thing would happen.

One time he woke up and said, "They said we had a boy!". He thought that someone had told him that I had a baby and that it was a boy. I think that might have been why he was so concerned about me before because he thought that I had just had a baby. I told him that we have a boy named Jason and he said, "Oh yeah, he is the sweetest."

He woke up one time and looked at Sadie and said, "who is that?" and I said Sadie, and he said, "but they said we had a boy?" He was just so confused on why I was holding a little girl.

Once he woke up and said, "why am I here?" I told him that he had surgery on his nose so that he could breath better. He said, "That doesn't sound right." Ha ha, It was so funny. The operating nurse also told me that when he first woke up in recovery he asked her if they put his finger back on. She said no and that they did surgery on his nose. And he also said that it didn't sound right.

One nurse asked him how he was doing and he gave a big thumbs up, then instantly fell back asleep, but kept his thumbs up going for a while.

Kevin was kind of out of it, but kind of awake and Sadie farted a little. Next thing I hear is Kevin in a low goofy voice slowly laughing. "Ha ha ha ha" It made me laugh.

When he was coming more coherent I asked him if he was okay, and he said, "No, my brain won't turn on." It was almost sad to see him working so hard to think and figure out what is going on, but his brain just not connecting his thoughts.

Lots of funny things happened while he was coming out of surgery, but now it is just sad because his nose is hurting him so much. Hopefully it heals quickly and makes it so he can sleep and breath better.

Another thing that Kevin did this month was ride a quarter machine with the kids. We were at the mall, and the kids were playing on the quarter machines. Kevin went and got a quarter and rode one of the rides with them. He is such a good and fun dad. Our kids are so lucky to have such a fun daddy.

Jenna- For Christmas this year Shantel, Melissa, and I bought my mom a pedicure. So we went out on the 29th and got one. It was so fun to be pampered a little bit and to be with my sisters and mom.  We got the queen pedicure so they scrubbed and cleaned and painted and did a healing mask and a wax treatment on my feat. It felt really nice and the ladies who did it were really kind. They were from Vietnam. It ended up being a successful day with my family.

A couple other things that happened this month was on the 1st of December we were going to head down to Lehi and go to a living nativity with Shantel and her family. We piled into the car and got going. Almost to Centerville we heard a big hissing sound. At first Kevin thought one of the windows had gotten opened a little bit, but I instantly knew that we had a flat tire. Kevin started fixing the tire (our jack is the worst) and thankfully a road side assistant guy came and had all the good tools to get our spare tire on. They got it on, and we headed home. We didn't get to go to the living nativity, but I was just glad we were safe and not too far from home when it happened.





















One other thing we did this month was go to the Forgotten Carols with Melissa and Blake. We had them for Christmas so we took them to the Forgotten Carols. It was so fun to spend some time with them and have a nice Christmas Date with Kevin. I love the music to the Forgotten Carols, and so it was really wonderful to me. I hope Melissa and Blake had fun as well.

Overall this month has been filled with magic and fun memories. Time spent with my family is so treasured to me and this month was full of it.

The Gift of Time

This year for Christmas I wanted to give the gift of time to the kids. Each day I have planned out an activity, that is usually free or cheap, for the kids and I to do. It has been so nice to spend some good time with them and have some fun. Each morning we are opening a little bag that has an ornament that represents part of Jesus Christ's life. It has been so nice to be able to learn about Jesus Christ each morning. After reading about Jesus Christ's life, we open a wrapped Christmas book. The kids have been loving it. We missed some of the days between traveling and such, but it was such a fun month. Here are some of the activities we have done this month.

1- December 1st Party. This was received so well. The kids loved it. I wrapped a big present with lots of little presents wrapped inside of it. I just wrapped up hot chocolate, and some candy boxes, and some Christmas pajamas. They unwrapped everything, and we got them in their new pajamas and we watched a movie with our popcorn and treats. The whole month they would tell everyone about how we had a party. It was sweet. I think we will do it again next year.

2- Watch the Christmas Devotional and Feed the Missionaries. On Sunday the 2nd of December we fed the missionaries and talked about serving others like Christ did. After the kids were in bed I watched the rest of the Christmas Devotional. It was a nice night.

3- Make and Ornament. I got some clear ornaments and we put several different color paints in the ornaments and let the kids move the paint around to paint the ornaments. They actually turned out pretty cute.

4- Make snowflakes. I think in a couple more years the kids will like this one more later, but it was still fun. I did most of the cutting, okay all of the cutting. But when we put them up on the wall it really added to our decorations. It was fun.

5- Christmas Cards- I wanted to have Camille put the stamps on the Christmas cards that we sent out, but I wasn't prepared enough. So I ended up doing most of these by myself when the kids were asleep. But Camille made her own Christmas cards and we sent them to all of her grandparents and great grandparents. They were sweet and she loved sending the letters to them.

6- Paper Christmas Tree Craft. I put up on butcher paper and drew a little Christmas tree on it. I let Camille and Jason decorate it with some felt and crayons.

7- Gingerbread House Decorating. This year I bought some gingerbread house molds so that we can do this every year. I learned a couple things while making it this year though so hopefully next year will be better. This year the roof kind of sunk in a little because it was soft when we put it together. But even though it might not have been a picturesque gingerbread house, the kids loved decorating it and snacking on some candy. I am already excited to do it next year.

8-Game Night. Before bed we played some Sneaky Snacky Squirrel game. The kids love it, and it is the only game we had. Jason really loves this game, and I enjoy it as well.

9- Read Christmas books by the fire. This year I got a lot of Christmas books from the library and we read a lot of them. Reading books is such a fun thing to do with the kids.

10- Neighbor gifts. For neighbor gifts this year we got little clam shells of blackberries and handed them out with little tags that said "We are BERRY grateful for friends like you. Merry Christmas!" It turned out good enough for this year I think.

11- Temple Square. You can read more about this on a different post. But it was fun and I am glad we were able to go.

12-Sibling Sleepover. I thought this year it would be fun to do a sibling sleepover out by the tree. We pulled out all the mattresses and watched a movie and read a book then tried to fall asleep. The kids didn't go to sleep too well, and the spare mattress I was on was so uncomfortable. It mostly ended up being a really bad night of sleeping, but I think the kids had fun. Hopefully next year the kids will be a little older and can do it by themselves if they want.

13- Drive around and see the lights. Layton City had a fun little display of lights that you could drive around. You could walk around it too, but I didn't know that and we didn't dress for walking around. We drank hot chocolate in the car and drove around and looked at all the many lights. Camille and Jason loved it. I hope wherever we are next year that we can do that again. It was so fun.

14- Time capsule. I had the kids answer a questions sheet and we made a time capsule to be opened in ten years. It was so fun. I really like making time capsules. And I really like opening them. I can't wait to see what happens in the next ten years.

15- Sing Christmas Songs. This is one of Kevin's family traditions so I am trying to make it one of our traditions. It would be better if we could play the piano as good as Kevin's parents, but it still was fun. I am excited to keep this tradition going.

Between these things and Christmas Eve, going to grandparents houses, and Jason's birthday, we did something pretty much everyday. I It took a lot of work planning this last month, but it  totally worth it. It was wonderful. I love spending time with my family.

Christmas 2018

Merry Christmas from The Haderlie Family. This Christmas was wonderful. Probably the best one we have had yet. Especially since Kevin couldn't work too much since they had restrictions for over sized trucks.

We started off the holidays by heading up to Idaho to visit Kevin's parents. We left on Friday the 21st. We got up to Idaho around dinner time. We had dinner then got the kids to bed. After that we helped Grandma Haderlie get her decorations ready for Uncle Elwin and Cara's wedding luncheon. The sister missionaries came over and helped as well. It was an enjoyable night.

The next morning we got ready and waited until it was time to go to the luncheon. The luncheon was beautiful and delicious. They had someone smoke brisket and pork and Kevin loved it. He had like five plate fulls. As we were talking with everyone who had come, Camille and Jason had found the  nursery room and there was a Paw Patrol Chase ride on toy. Jason thought it was the best thing. In fact when we tried to leave there were tears. But they took this toy and road it down a ramp. They thought it was so fun. I am glad that they found something fun to do during a wedding luncheon which is not the most fun thing to do as a 4 and 2.

After the luncheon we went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and played with Lainey. Liv was taking a nap. We love playing with our Haderlie cousins. It doesn't happen often enough, but when it does we love it.

We decided to stay until Sunday and it was a great decision. We were able to go to Shannon's ward and they did a great Christmas Program. Shannon sung in the choir and had a solo song. She did a wonderful job. We went back to the house and played and rested and we were just together as a family. Later that night Diane, Hannah and Mckyla came to stay. It was fun to see them for a couple hours before we had to leave to come home.

We were home for Christmas Eve and it was so nice. I woke up early to go to Walmart and get a couple things for the day, and as I was coming home I saw that Krispy Cream was making hot fresh doughnuts. So I came home and when the kids woke up we took them back to Walmart to buy snow cloths then went and got doughnuts for breakfast. Is there a better breakfast than doughnuts? Probably, but they were still delicious and it was a fun breakfast.

After breakfast we drove up to Morgan and had lunch with everyone who was there. Matt and Brooklyn were over from California, Blake and Melissa, and Jacob were all there. It was fun to see everyone, and have some lunch. After lunch we grabbed some of my dads sleds and went sledding. We convinced Shantel, Lydia, and Austin to come sledding with us. We drove up past Trappers Loop and found the perfect hill. It was steep enough for the kids to go down, but short enough that they could climb back by themselves. It was so much fun. I held Sadie in the car for the most part, but Kevin went out and played with the kids. They even made the cutest snowman.

After sledding we came back home and started our Christmas Eve. I am still trying to figure out what the Kevin and Jenna Haderlie Christmas Eve Traditions are. This was a good year though, so maybe that is what our traditions will look like from here on out. We got home and made some cookies for Santa. Then we ate dinner, which was Panda Express. The kids really like Panda express and so do Kevin and I so it worked out great. After dinner we had some sticker nativity sets and as Kevin read the Birth of Jesus Christ story in the Bible, we put the stickers on when we heard each name. I think it helped the kids know what was happening. After we were finished, we brought out the Christmas presents from our bedroom. The kids loved running back and forth from my room to the Christmas tree. We read some Christmas books and then put the kids to bed. It was such  a good memory for the kiddos.

After the kids went to bed, we pulled the little couch in front of the fire place. We opened some sparkling cider and read Calvin and Hobbs by the fireplace. It was pretty much perfect. I was so tired from waking up so early and going hard all day that I ended up falling asleep sitting up, but it was perfect.

Christmas morning was just as good. The kids slept in until 7, then when we came out they just came out to see what Santa left in their stockings. It was fun. Christmas is more fun from a parents point of view. This year they got creating stuffs from Santa. From us they got a marble run set, building blocks, and magnetic blocks. Also they got some Paw Patrol characters and PJ Masks characters. They were a big hit. Especially with Jason. After presents we made breakfast and headed to my parents house.

Once we got to my parents house we opened presents and had Christmas dinner. It was delicious and so nice to see family. My Grandpa and Grandma Knowles were there and my Grandpa Walker came down for presents and dinner too. It was so nice to see them. After presents the Walker Family Cup officially started. There was pickle ball (which we came in second place. Melissa and Blake rocked everyone). There was Pig (which we were hoping to do good in but Shantel pulled out her hidden basketball skills and rocked the court). There was Banagrams ( obviously Mom rocked everyone in this) and last but not least Bop it (which I came in first place!). After all was said and done there was a three way tie between Kevin and I, Melissa and Blake, and Jacob and Whitney. So we settled it the smartest way that we can with Rock Paper Scissors. In the end Melissa and Blake won the Walker Family Cup.

It was such a fun day. That night we just hung out eating and playing games. We played a bomb diffusal game that was on the computer. It was so fun. I really enjoyed it. And we learned how to play Canasta. It was surprisingly really fun, and the perfect old person game. Which means it is perfect for me because I am pretty much an old person.

The next day Melissa, Blake, Shantel, and David all had to leave. We decided to stay an extra day and play with Matthew, Brooklyn and Jacob. It was such a nice day of playing and hanging out with my family.

Overall I am just so grateful for my family. My Idaho family and Utah family. I am grateful to be a part of their family. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and I am grateful that we were able to celebrate his Birth and life. It was a beautiful month spent with family learning of Jesus Christ and coming closer together as a family.

Jason's Birthday

AHHHH!!! My little Jason is three years old! How did the past three years go so fast? Jason, I love having you in my life. Every single day you bring a smile to my face!

For Jason's birthday this year we celebrated by going to the Tree House Museum. It was the perfect place for Jason. We got in there and in one of the celebration rooms they were giving out free cookies. I asked Jason if he wanted a cookie and he said, "no." I was shocked! Jason is all about the food. But he was so excited to play at the museum that he didn't even want to stop for a cookie.

Jason really loved the fire truck, restaurant, and the forest areas. One of the sweetest things that happened at the museum was in the restaurant. Camille was sitting in a customer seat and Jason was behind the counter taking orders. Camille ordered a sandwich and then rattled off ten other things. Jason focused on making Camille a sandwich. He looked for all the food he needed. Bread and meat and cheese. I think the meat was a hamburger and the cheese might have been a slice of bologna, but he worked so hard to put it together to give to Camille. It just melted my heart.

The kids never would have been done at the museum, but it was after noon and it was lunch time and Sadie needed a nap. So we left the museum and went to pick up Kevin to go to lunch. There was a McDonalds not far from Kevin's work so we popped over there. WE ordered some lunch and while it was getting ready the kids played on the playplace. They loved it. It has a little section where you could jump on some "instruments" and they loved that. They tried to recruit all the other kids who were playing to be a part of their band.

After lunch we went home and made some cupcakes for after dinner. After we made the cupcakes I put on some Paw Patrol (one of Jason's favorite shows) for the kids to watch and I went and rested for while Sadie was sleeping. I was so tired!

For dinner my parents came over and we had some of Jason's favorite foods. Hot dogs and chips. Jason would eat either of those for days! Then we opened presents. Our Jason is so sweet. He was opening a present that was wrapped in bubble wrap and he didn't know that he was supposed to unwrap the bubble wrap and he said, "Oh, I love it!" and then went for the next present. He was so grateful just to get a ball of bubble wrap. He is so sweet. That same type of thing happened several times. He is just grateful for anything he got.

We love you Jason. You are the sweetest thing to me. I love you so much and I can't wait to see where life takes you! Happy Birthday little boy!

Temple Square

For the last 7 years, pretty much our whole marriage, I have wanted to go to the Salt Lake City Temple Square lights. We tried to go last year, but it didn't work out. This year we were finally able to go. Diane, Steve, Hannah and Mckyla came down from Pocatello and we met them down in Salt Lake.

Before we met them at Temple Square we went to Gygi's. It is a restaurant supply store that is open to the public. They have everything you might ever need. Even the plastic that looks like glass cups you use at restaurants. Kevin would love those cups. Maybe someday I will get some for him. We were looking for a three foot long potato masher for Uncle Elwin's wedding gift, but they were out. How many people need a three foot long potato masher? I could hardly believe they were out!

After Gygi's we met the Yerkas at the Church History Museum. It was so fun to go there. I think that when the kids are older it will be more enjoyable, just because they didn't want to really look at the history things, but there was a fun children's area and the kids loved it. The first thing Camille saw was this foam stuffed camel. She ran to it, sat on it, and propped her legs up on its neck. It brought back some good memories because I have a picture that is just like that when she is two years old. It made me giggle a little.

After the Church History Museum, we headed over to get some dinner. We went to the City Creek food court and it was CRAZY! Apparently we had come to see the lights on the same day the Tabernacle Choir was doing their Christmas Concert and it meant a ton of people were there. We couldn't find a table to sit at and the chick fil a line was at least a mile long. Okay, not that long, but pretty close. It was super long.

We ended up leaving. It was crazy. When we went outside we decided to try and skip through dinner, look at the lights, and pick something up on the way home. We went over to see the lights and it was beautiful. There were so many lights and so many different nativity sets. The kids quickly started to get cold and hungry. We ended up leaving a little early. It was nice to see the lights, and maybe when the kids are older we will take them again, or maybe next time we try and go to see the lights we will plan to just do the lights. No museum or anything like that. That way the kids will be fresh when we see the lights and not have any melt downs.

We left, picked up pizza and had dinner at our home. It was a good end to the day. Even though it wasn't exactly what I had imagined, it was nice to still go and spend time with our family.