We started the New Year jumping in the ocean in Monterey. We hiked to see elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park during their birthing/mating season. And the next day I was sick with Covid. We spent the next few weeks testing and quarantining.  My kids ate a lot of McDonalds, since I had to bribe them to get their noses swiped.  Finally everyone went back to school and work.

Hyrum and I spent a week at "JFAOC"-- which was a training course for his new career path as a foreign area officer, with spouses. 

I ran an 11-mile race in Big Sur. The training runs along the coastal trail were as beautiful as the run itself and I was proud for pushing my body that far, while managing plantar fasciitis pain and recovering from a sprained ankle. 

The kids spent every afternoon at the playground with neighbor friends. We were so spoiled and didn't take it for granted. That involved nerf guns, laser tag, sports, pokemon cards, and sword fights. They started walking home from school independently (1 mile) and each practiced the piano 5 minutes a day.

In March they finally got to take their masks off in school. That felt like a turning point. Tiago finished the year in his Spanish school and was happy to be done. Mila and Siena participated in their school play, Aristocats.

Enzo had his first visit to the E.R. for croup. While waiting for him to be seen by the doctor I was reading on my phone about how Russia just invaded Ukraine.

The girls had an Encanto-themed bday party, which was only appropriate given how much we listened to the soundtrack.

We visited Utah in March for a family reunion, which involved lots of hot tubbing, ping pong and foosball. Everything is better with cousins. 

Hyrum graduated from Defense Language Institute in French, with a great speaking score. He went from not even knowing "au revoir" the year before to being completely fluent. 

I spent January through May worrying about our upcoming move, and it proved every bit as stress-worthy as I feared.  We only had plane tickets a few weeks before leaving. (They subsequently changed about a dozen times.) My biggest concern was finding housing for 6 people within our budget. And navigating a city with 4 kids and no car. I escaped the worry for a weekend going to San Francisco with friends. We rode segways down Lombard Street at dusk.  

The day before moving out of our house Tiago and I went to pick up pizza and stopped at the beach spontaneously on the way home. Out on the horizon we spotted a few whales surfacing and blowing out water. It was incredible, and was a perfect send-off from our beautiful home. 

We went to visit family in Utah for 5 days, and ended up staying 2.5 months waiting for our visas to be approved. It was a wonderful, weird summer that didn't go as planned.

As a result we got to go camping with cousins, learn to swim and go off the high dive, eat chips and salsa from grandma's food storage (until it ran out quickly), reap the benefits of Grandma's garden, visit splash pads & lakes and attend the temple frequently.  Hyrum spent a week in the Alps in Germany for work. 

Mid-August we received our visas and headed to Paris, just in time to adjust to the time zone and have the kids start school. We packed WAY too many tourist things into the end of summer.  Eiffel Tower, Saint Chapelle, Sacre Coeur, Arc de Triomph, Louvre, Luxembourg and Tuileries, Pere Lachaise cemetery, etc. 

We spent nearly a month in a hotel trying to get an apartment lined up. We learned to grocery shop nearly daily and carry our stuff home in reusable bags. Groceries always include at least one baguette. And figuring out grocery delivery nearly changed my life. 

The kids absolutely love their English-speaking Catholic school. It's a small community that's incredibly nurturing.  I spent 3 weeks trying to navigate french bureaucracy trying to get Enzo enrolled in french maternelle (kindergarten for 3-yr olds). My level of annoyance enrolling him matches his loathing for being forced to leave the house daily and attend school in french.  But it's keeping me sane.

We spent a weekend in Normandy with family, but Hyrum has been the primary traveler; he is focused on traveling around Europe and learning about the region he will be assigned to for the next decade.  Tough gig.  Most of his trips have been cold-- it was -30 f when he went to Kazakhstan.  Hopefully we will join him for a few trips in 2023.

It feels like we've been plagued with sicknesses throughout the year.  Covid in January. Stomach bugs through the summer.  Siena tested positive again for Covid the first week of school.  And Enzo has had more fevers this fall than I can count on one hand, plus ear infections, and what appeared to be RSV.  Half of us were hit with sickness Christmas morning, which only felt fitting for 2022. 

For Thanksgiving we spent two days at Disneyland Paris.  The kids had a big sense of, "Oh, THIS is what Disneyland is."  They laughed and they cried. Overall, very happy.

We took a quick Christmas trip to Colmar, one of the most Christmas-y towns in France, on the border of Germany. It's full of timbered houses, fun colors, and shuttered windows.  Christmas decorations everywhere. We (mostly me) also visited most of the Christmas markets around Paris, eating plenty of tartiflette, churros, apple cider and crepes. 

It feels like a dream that we've been able to live in both Monterey, CA and Paris, France.  (Very un-Army, if you know anything about their normal duty stations!)  We traded the natural  beauty of the coast for urban life in one of the most iconic cities in the world. Plenty of challenges along the way, but a very rewarding year!

 

Children's responsibilities

 I give up on writing here with any regularity.  But I wanted to record some little changes we've made as a result of some of my reading lately.  I've read Coddling of the American Mind, Free-range Parenting, and the Gift of Failure.  All of them encourage kids to have a level of autonomy, and do for themselves all the things they're able to do for themselves.  I am certainly guilty of just doing things myself because it's easier.  When it comes to milestones, I generally take a lazy approach of figuring they'll do something eventually on their own.

But the books got me thinking about what things I could proactively have my kids do to feel independent, and to learn about risk taking and reward.  My kids are fortunate to be able to play outside with neighbors without my supervision.  When we first moved here (they were ages 3 and 4) we let them play outside, but either supervised from our front porch or checked on them every 20 minutes.  We've reached a point where they need to tell us where they'll be, but they can play in their friends' front or back yards and occasionally inside. 

Back to the new skills.  Tiago and I brainstormed things he could do on his own.  I suggested ordering food at a restaurant for himself, and he was adamantly against it.  But I told him that I'd give each of the kids money and let them order ice cream at Braums whenever they felt ready.  We practiced several times.  He memorized "frozen yogurt" and "swirl".  Mila and Siena were less resistant, but also super motivated by the idea of getting free ice cream.  During practice, Tiago always ordered a large ice cream.  So the day we finally went to Braums they each went up to the counter and gave their order.  Then paid.  The employee was great, and really encouraged them.  They had some trouble shuffling the change while holding their ice cream, but walked away thinking it wasn't so hard.  And Tiago really did order a large.  

We did the exercise a second time, and Mila jumped on board with ordering large, too.  One of them didn't speak loud enough, and ended up getting the wrong size.  But that's exactly the point of the book about failure-- by experience kids learn.  If they don't get what they want, they'll speak louder next time.  If we, as parents, always step in and do it for them so it's "correct" they'll miss the learning.  And miss the confidence that comes with it.

A second thing I knew I could hand over to them was walking home from school without me.  We have literally walked the same 0.2 miles to the school hundreds of times over the last 3 years.  Talk about muscle memory.  If there was ever a situation they could handle on their own, it's this.  Again, Tiago was resistant.  (I definitely see a pattern with him!) Mila and Siena were on board.  Maybe in part because they always know Tiago will be there with him? Anyway, I messaged their teachers, letting them know the kids could be released when the bell rang. They thought it was a great idea.  On day one, they walked across the cross-walk and met me.  The next day I met them a little further away.  And at that point they said they definitely didn't need my help and I should just stay home.  haha.  That didn't take long!  It seems so obvious.  And yet... I see kids in 3rd and 4th grade getting walked home. And it makes me wonder why we as parents do this??  Because we find it enjoyable? Because we feel like it's our job?  Because we really worry for our kids' safety?  I'm glad we finally took the leap.

The last thing we've started is teaching Tiago to cook a little.  He showed interest, and always likes helping in the kitchen.  A few months ago we started with fried eggs, one of his favorites.  On his first try, he burned his hand on the pan because he tried to push it over and didn't realize how hot it was.  But again-- lesson learned through failure.  He took a few weeks break because he was annoyed about the burn. But he got back at it. And now he definitely knows better and hasn't made that mistake again.  He wrote down all the instructions while I taught him (pictures included.)  And he is so proud of himself when he realizes he can meet his own need.  

So now I need to be asking myself, "What next?"  Tasks like laundry should definitely be high on the list, but I still have an element of control I need to relinquish. I like certain things done my way.

Mila and Siena turn 6!

 The thing I'll remember most about the girls' sixth birthday is how many people wanted to celebrate them!

They brought treat bags to share with their classmates, and their teacher send me a picture of them at school with birthday certificates.

When I picked them up from school a bunch of other kids were coming up telling them happy birthday.

After school we met up with some church friends to ride bikes and eat cupcakes.  They had a blast, and received a few little gifts which all the kids gathered around to play with.  

Driving home, we passed some friends on our street, so the kids asked to get out of the car and play with them.  One had presents ready for them.

Throughout the day they received calls and messages from family members.

And a few nights after their birthday another neighbor friend rang on the doorbell while we were finishing dinner.  He had brought them each their own Bakugon (a toy they're all obsessed with) and a whole bunch of cupcakes to share.  So we spent the rest of the evening out on the grass playing with friends until the sun went down.  

I wondered if so many people knew about their birthday because there is two of them to spread the news.  But I also think they've just endeared themselves to a lot of people!  They're surrounded by friends.

We chose not to do an official party this year, because of covid awkwardness.  But they ended up having a great day.  Hyrum took the day off work, and we pulled them out of school for lunch.  They chose happy meals that we took to the playground for a picnic.  Then, I took both of them ice skating for the first time.  They've been asking to do it for a few years, since they saw Tiago go.  They both had fun, and were glad to have buckets to hold onto.  But about 15 minutes into our 75 minute time slot Siena asked, "Can we leave now?" I guess she'd had her fill!  I made her stay a while longer.  

For dinner I had asked the girls what they wanted me to make.  Siena first said chikfila.  When I said something I made at home she said 'oatmeal'.  I told her something else, so she said 'ramen noodles?'  I told her that wasn't actual cooking, so she asked for frozen chicken nuggets. I told her she no longer had any input, and concluded that she definitely doesn't appreciate my cooking.  Mila requested breakfast for dinner, so we had pancakes, fruit and eggs.

By that point I think everyone was tired.  No one wanted cake (even though I worked hard on a 3-layer cake!) and they just wanted to race through opening their presents, not acting super excited about them.  Some leaned on the side of practical, but I thought they were still fun!  The next day they seemed more excited.  (They got a watercolor course with supplies, hiking backpacks, hats with their initials, Book of Mormons they can color in, LOL dolls, a game, and headbands.  Actually, the thing they were probably most excited about was a bunch of Sunny D from Costco and mini-muffins. Go figure.)

Tiago put together a candybar poster card and gave it to them first thing in the morning.  That was the best reaction of the day.  They thought it was amazing and he was beaming. 

Sno-vid 2021

The third week of February a snow storm and cold front basically shut down Texas.  In the middle of the previous week temperatures started cooling down, and were freezing by Friday.  Snow was predicted to start on Saturday afternoon (although it ended up being overnight.)  Schools anticipated teaching virtually that week.  (Maybe naively?  No one realized how crazy it was about to get.)

It's unusual to have more than a day of freezing temperatures, so it never occurred to me (or most people) to prep for winter.  In fact, two weeks before I was filling up the water table outside with the hose.  So I had to hurry and unscrew all the hoses and get Styrofoam covers for the faucets.  

The first 'storm' wasn't terrible-- just regular snow fall.  Sunday morning we had a light dusting of snow, but it continued throughout the day and we ended up with about 3".  (Obviously church was cancelled, even before the snow started falling.)  Over the weekend we had the mattress topper in the family room.  The kids had a sleepover and we watched shows on it.

[I should mention we had ice the previous Thursday, which froze, and they cancelled work for Hyrum.  There was an awful accident on one of the highways that morning between Dallas and Fort Worth that still give me nightmares just thinking about it.  There were about 100 cars involved over several miles, leaving 6 people dead.  Surprisingly it wasn't more.  There was a cell-phone video of a semi truck headed straight towards it but he couldn't slow down.  Oh man!)

On Sunday and Monday I had terrible anxiety about pipes freezing.  I didn't actually know where our water shut off valves were, and kept asking friends about their situations and what they were doing. (In short, no one was doing anything.)  Several neighbors had frozen pipes.  We were dripping water all week, and fortunately have most of our water sources on the house's interior.  On Monday I finally called Matt and got some more educated information.  But it didn't resolve my anxiety, only made it worse.  He basically told me we were all screwed.  But he was helpful, and told us to shut off our external water meter, which we have to do at the street because I'm pretty sure there isn't a secondary valve.  (We even contacted the landlord, who was completely unhelpful.)  We borrowed the tool we needed from a neighbor and shut it off.  After that, I was much less anxious, because even if something broke we wouldn't have water everywhere.  (I am pretty sure I know where our inside shut-off valve is.)  I also found out we are one of the only houses in our neighborhood with two separate water meters, which explained why no one else was turning theirs off.  

So instead of waking up at 2 am and laying in bed listening to every little house noise for two hours, completely alert, I got a little better sleep as the week progressed.  It was like we did what we could and it was out of our hands.

Starting early Monday morning a LOT of people lost electricity throughout the state.  In short, Texas has its own power grid. They didn't plan for so many cold days and were short on electricity, compounded by the fact that gas lines froze, solar sources were obviously not generating electricity, and wind turbines were frozen. They said they'd be doing rolling outages, but by the end of Monday they said if your electricity was out, plan on it being out for a long time.  (It ended up being until Thursday, which was sooner than I thought it would be.)  But that's a long time to be without electricity when it was only a few degrees at night.  Our power never went out.  No idea why.  Some people had rolling outages, but for most it was either on, or off.  Very unfortunate!

Gloria, a man in our ward, was without electricity and ended up at our house.  He basically camped in the living room.  Enzo gets along well with him, which was fun to watch.  We were grateful he was able to entertain himself (mostly on his computer, or talking on the phone in french) but after several days it felt a little cramped because the kids were not using the family room at all.  

Despite Hyrum having the entire week off work, it was stressful and we did absolutely nothing productive.  It seemed like a missed opportunity, but in a sense also just felt like survival.  I was so looking forwards to Saturday when the temperature was supposed to FINALLY get above freezing.

The kids enjoyed the snow a little.  The first day, friends were all outside playing in it.  Then people were mostly just cold.  I was able to bring some warm food to a family down the street without power.  We went sledding one day, and nearly froze our butts off.  We obviously don't have sleds, and just grabbed whatever we could find -- cookie sheets and storage containers.  

Friday afternoon the sun came out and things started to melt.  It was like a faucet was on with everything dripping.  

(It was bizarre, because the snow came on Sunday, and just sat. Everyone was asked to stay at home because there's no infrastructure for clearing snow.  Our street was completely snowed over until Saturday.  The main roads got ice, but the city was basically on pause during the whole freeze.) 

Saturday the roads were all clear, and everything was wet.  It felt glorious to go outside and see things come back to life.  We ended up without pipe damage.  Hallelujah.  Several neighbors had frozen pipes, and I saw an insurance person surveying the house next door so they must have had some damage inside.  

By the beginning of the next week we were at the park with weather in the 70's.  Texas is so strange.

They said this is a once-in-a-lifetime storm.  They haven't had weather this cold in over 30 years.  Not glad we were here for it.

The bad aftermath for us was the inability to find milk!  I fortunately bought groceries on Saturday before snow started, but 8 days later we needed more milk.  My walmart pickup order was cancelled, so I went to the stores looking for milk.  Aldi was out.  Target was out.  I finally went inside walmart and found a few gallons left, thank goodness.  No eggs, no meat.  Very empty shelves.  It took several days for food to get back to normal.  

Kids lately

These are things I want to remember about the stage everyone is in.

Enzo is SO particular.  He it always reaching for lids to put them back on.  (OJ container, toothbrush, laundry soap, everything!) He likes to haul things around.  Last week he saw the leaf blower and had a blast with it, until the battery ran out.  So I plugged in the battery, and hid the leaf blower on a high shelf.  Two days later he found it, and about lost his mind. He was furious it didn't work.  When I put the battery in, the whole cycle repeated itself.  He also attached himself to an empty bottle of clorox2, and a blue shovel.  He is obsessed with brushing his teeth, mostly the toothpaste.  He goes in and brushes on his own anytime the other kids are in the bathroom.  

Before naptime I give him a bottle, then rock him for a few minutes and give him a kiss.  Then I ask, "Ready to take a nap?"  Initially he said "yes" but for the last few weeks he's just smiled really big and said, 'no!'--like he's ready to keep playing. Speaking of naps, he's obsessed with drinking his bottle.  He calls it "tete" (short for tetero).  If you ask him, "Tete?" he knows it's time and he runs to the fridge as fast as he can to grab a bottle of milk.  

In the morning he likes to go into Tiago's room and lay on his head while he tries to wake up.  Doesn't seem like a great way to be woken up.  But Tiago wouldn't like to wake up, regardless of the method. 

Hyrum has developed an elaborate bedtime routine, not unlike what he did with the other kids at this age.  Enzo gets a bottle, then brushes his teeth, then reads a book, then turns off the kitchen light, closes the door, points to the picture of Jesus, and then turns off the other lights before going into the crib.  (After brushing his teeth he makes the rounds through the kids bedrooms to blow them a kiss and say goodnight.)

The funniest thing right now about Mila and Siena is they've decided they love sleeping in the same bed.  We told them if they get ready in the morning without any crying, they can sleep together.  So maybe half of the time they do.  It looks incredibly crowded and hot, but they mostly love it. It makes it convenient when guests come over, because Tiago easily takes the top bunk.

There is SO much outdoor play with the bigger kids.  On our street they play with James and Jasper, although they're not always home. It's not unusual for them to knock on our door to show a new toy, and they continue to talk about it until I gently close the door.  Ainsley is a little older but is always outside, and plays well with the girls.  Giselle and Zoey are usually at their grandma's house after school and play outside.  My girls love when they see Zoey at school.  (I think she's in 3rd grade.)  Ethan lives across the street and is always bringing things out of his house to play with -- scooters, bike, table, bucket, etc.  Sophie, Joe, and Thomas live 2 houses away.  The kids love playing in their backyard because they have a big play set and swing.  Sometimes they all sit outside and read together.  Nora and Sloan live in the neighborhood, although not super close.  Sometimes they walk over to play.  And Graham, from Tiago's class, lives a street over and sometimes comes over, too. Having friends around has been the best part of living in Texas.

Yesterday Nora looked around and said, "Where's Tiago?"  I said he was probably at home reading, because Graham had gone home.  Nora, who is in his class at school, said, "Yeah, he really likes sharks and dinosaurs."  It made me laugh that he had such a reputation at school.  She's not wrong.  To that list I would add geology, space, animals, history, and exploration.

We use the library here to the fullest.  My system is to just max out the two library cards we have (I had Tiago get his own, so we could check out 100 books on each.)  When books are due, I grab those plus whatever else fits in my bag and return them, and check out an equal number.  Books get renewed many times. And I usually request a bunch of books so they're waiting on the shelf for me when I get there.  Good news for Enzo, who usually makes as much  noise as he can from the stroller while I gather up books and check out.  I found on the library's website where I can see how many books I've checked out-- 2241 on my older card, and almost 500 on the card I got for Tiago at the beginning of the pandemic.  I would have gotten cards for my girls but we don't have any more space on our bookshelves.  After I get books from the library, the kids spend about an hour after school pouring through them all. 

Each of the big kids now has their own Book of Mormon.  We read with them at night, Tiago separately and the girls together (because they share a room.)  Tiago is almost done with 2nd Nephi and the girls just recently started.  I've been impressed at how quickly the girls picked up reading and are eager to read each night.  Tiago goes through phases of only wanting to read a verse to flying through an entire chapter before I even get into his room.

Tiago loves eating fried eggs lately.  Although he's picky and doesn't always eat a lot, when he decides he's hungry he has an endless stomach.  He drinks so many glasses of milk and loves it. He can make himself oatmeal, and learned how to make fried eggs. (Although he needs practice breaking the egg into the pan without breaking the yoke. He's worried about burning his hand, with good reason; he burned his hand the first time I tried to teach him pancakes.)  I still get frustrated that some nights he will declare my dinner to be the best thing he's ever eaten, and the next time I make it, he won't touch it.

The most reliable dinner I make is "Dennys".  Basically, pancakes, and whatever else -- eggs, bacon, sausage, OJ, toast...  They're always happy to eat.

Hyrum is almost done teaching the girls to read in Spanish.  They probably don't get quite as much one-on-one time doing it as Tiago did, but they're doing great.

Mila and Siena randomly started talking about "Nanny."  I was so confused for about a week and then they explained it was a made-up person.  They talk about it constantly.  I'm still so confused.  

At school Mila has a bit of a boyfriend.  There are twins in their class -- River and Able.  Mila and River used to sit at the same table.  They 'were are in love' and talked about getting engaged.  Apparently River went home and told his parents, and they convinced him to wait until he was in college. (It's hilarious to talk to their mom about it, and hear that side of things.)  But they (the 5-yr-olds) decided they just wanted to be in love, not kiss or anything.  But they were sure they wanted to get married.  Now River and Siena are at the same table, and Mila sits with Able.  What a funny pairing.

Enzo - 18 months

Enzo is one of the big kids now, definitely not a baby.  At 18 months he is opinionated and strong-willed.  He communicates well and is very active.

He says way more than any of my previous kids. Mama, Papa.  He calls Tiago "Tada" and hilariously he calls both Mila and Siena "Yapa."  If we tell him, "Say Mila" he points to her and says "Yapa."  Then will turn around and do the same with Siena.  Who knows!  He's been saying "Grandpa" for about a month, and makes a sound like "Jaja" for Aunt Jenna.

As far as food is concerned, he learned the signs for "more" and "all done" early on.  Now when he wants more of something, he'll either point, or do the sign.  When he's done, he'll do the sign and say "no mas".  

After grocery shopping last week, there was a bag of grapes left sitting on the counter; he walked into the kitchen and started yelling 'uvas'.  Go figure... he wanted uvas.  I didn't realize he knew that word.

Agua was one of his first few words.  He calls his bottle (tetero) a 'tete' and every night at bed time he runs to the fridge saying 'tete'.  He also says things like 'up' and 'down.'  (Especially if he wants me to pick him up.)

Enzo is definitely a social laugher.  When everyone else around him is laughing, he makes sure to join in loudly.  

Recently he was introduced to hot chocolate and looooved it  He kept repeating 'chocolate'.  

Basically, he'll repeat whatever people tell him to say.  He generally seems to understand me.  Like if I tell him to lay on his stomach, he will do it.  

He likes to go into Tiago's room in the morning and jump on his head.  He loves playing on our king-size bed, and climbing over the big pillows to point at the pictures on the wall of his siblings.  

He's both independent and clingy.  When we walk around he refuses to hold my hand and doesn't particularly want to stay close.  But when there are strangers around he clings to me like a barnacle.  I took him to a doctor appointment last week for some bad eczema and when I tried to set him on the scale you'd have thought I was selling him to a new mother.  He was furious and screamed his head off for about 15 minutes.   He's definitely a product of a covid quarantine year.  He rarely interacts with other adults, and it kind of makes me sad that he may never get to go to nursery, which is where all my other kids had to rip the band-aid off.  (Admittedly, my girls were always thrilled to go off with other people, like nursery or the gym daycare.)

Avocados, yogurt, goldfish, and raisins are Enzo's favorite foods.  He also likes 'nanas' (bananas) and 'pan' (bread) and salad.

I thought we were making progress the last month with better wake-up times (occasionally he slept til 7, usually 6:20) but this morning he woke up at 5:55.  !!  It doesn't matter what time he goes to bed, whether it's 7 or 7:45, he still wakes up at the same time.  And I have to wake him up from naps after 2 hours or else he wakes in the morning even earlier.  By far my 'worst' sleeper.

He has 4 teeth on top, 3 on bottom (I'm wondering if he's missing a tooth down there, like Mila and Siena) and two molars recently came in.  

He weighs about 25 lbs, and easily is wearing all of Tiago's old 2t hand-me-down clothes.  He wears things at 18 months that Tiago wore at 2.5/3 yrs old!  

If he's mad he throws his whole body on the floor and will slam his head down. 

'This little piggy' and 'Itsy bitsy spider' are on repeat.  He likes when I touch his nose and say 'boink'.  He loves to read books, although he's picky about what we read.  He prefers what he's familiar with, and only rarely will take to a library book I check out.  

 

Christmas 2020

These are things from Christmas I don't want to forget.

A few nights before Christmas we celebrated our second Bethlehem Dinner.  (We did this a few years ago when Kayla and Matt were visiting.)  It's basically a charcuterie board that we eat on the floor.  And I have no fancy serving boards, so it's all hodge-podge.  Still delicious, though.  I bought several types of cheese from Trader Joes, and had some fruit, nuts, crackers, meat and dips.  We were smart to do it after Enzo was in bed, and the older kids all loved it.  Tiago kept repeating, "This is the best meal I've ever had."  And it's nice to be on the floor because it makes laying down really easy once you're really stuffed.  I think the winning flavors this year were a smelly french cheese paired with cranberry jelly and a dried apricot.

Jenna came to town on Monday and left Saturday, the 26th.  I had fun chatting with her, but my girls!  They couldn't get enough.  At almost any moment they could be found sitting on her lap or hugging her.  She spent hours doing crafts and activities with them, and the lived for it.  She cut their hair, sang songs with them, and did bedtime every night, including extra singing together.  That meant that Tiago and Enzo were also able to get a lot of extra attention.

We had some amazing food.  In addition to our giant charcuterie board, we made a lot of treats-- english toffee, sugar cookies, fudge, and cinnamon rice krispie treats.  The adults went downtown for lunch -- everything at Pecan Lodge was amazing-- the brisket, pork, sweet potato, mac and cheese, banana pudding.  The weather was beautiful so we could eat outside.  Jenna and I went to get fancy tacos at Velvet Taco -- indian , cuban, bbq, and grilled salmon.  And maybe the most satisfying was making beef bourguinon on Christmas eve.  We had a french theme, with several (trader joes) appetizers, shrimp, cheese, and bread.  I added a french salad because I felt obligated to include at least one vegetable.  But it was amazing.  (And my funny kids didn't want anything but the bread, of course.)

On Christmas Eve the kids exchanged gifts with each other.  They drew names this year, for the first time.  Siena was SO excited to give Mila colored hair clip-ins.  She has really enjoyed wearing them herself.  Tiago got beyblades from Enzo, but needed a launcher he didn't have.  The girls each got something L.O.L. related.  Enzo got a super-cute bouncy donkey from Mila.  He was picking it up and hauling it all over.  From the start of opening presents, Enzo would match the excitement of whoever was opening, throwing his arms in the air and saying, 'Wow' even though he didn't really understand what was going on. 

Tiago was very anxious to open presents, trying to rush every one and get to his next gift.  We realized on Christmas morning the secret is to keep him occupied with something, like an interesting book.

On Monday before Christmas, we drove around looking at Christmas lights.  We found a neighborhood that was recommended.  It wasn't a huge deal, so there were not crowds, but they host a decorating competition so there was plenty to see.  One amazing street had a song theme, every house decorated to a new song.  We realized after our first drive-through that a radio station was programed to play the exact song, based on your location.  So we drove through a second time listening to the music change from "Feliz Navidad" to "Baby it's Cold Outside," etc.  Very impressive.

We took a trip to Crayola Factory.  And then two of those crayons ended up going through the wash and causing a big head ache and a lot of waste.  

For our Christmas Eve 'program' I had the kids draw pictures of different parts of the nativity.  They took turns holding their pictures and reading the story.  We sang a few songs mixed in.  And the kids each 'performed' --Siena and Tiago on the piano and Mila singing Angels we have heard on high.  Maybe in the future we'll go back to acting out the nativity, but I didn't actually miss it.  

We had no presents under our tree until after the kids were in bed.  I knew if I brought any out, Enzo would rip into them.  So there was a big transformation on Christmas morning.  Once the presents were all opened, it looked normal again, instead of just looking empty.

The kids all LOVED their Santa gifts.  Tiago got a giant nerf fun, which 'shoots 90 feet'.  The neighbor boys all love running around with these big guns doing battles (not even with bullets, just pretend.)  The girls got L.O.L. dolls, which is all they really asked for.  I don't get the hype, but they were pleased.  Siena got a fuzzy headband in her stocking which she's been wearing non-stop.  

All morning, Mila was just happy with everything.  I think she would have been content if we stopped 10 minutes into it.  Tiago, as mentioned, was anxious to open everything, and loved it all.  He got a Titanic model he was so excited to build, and a stomp rocket, book, space robot building thing, Legos, and a science kit.  That kid certainly has a niche, and is easy to buy for.

The girls also got princess Legos, although Siena ended up letting Tiago put hers together... They got sparkly sequin skirts, purses (which they use to bring snacks to church) and a lot of crafts -- window art, beads for bracelets, etc.  My mom gave them a package of a few dozen rings, which they went around sharing with neighbor girls.  Plenty for everyone.  

Enzo got a board book filled with family pictures.  And was none the wiser that -- being the 4th-- he was kind of neglected.

After opening presents, and eating breakfast (which included candied bacon) the kids played, then went outside for a bit to play with neighbor kids.  Over the next few days Tiago spent a dozen hours putting together the Titanic and was pleased to show it off to everyone over video chat.  

We watched a few movies (Home Alone, Muppet Christmas Carol) and the kids put together a gingerbread house with Aunt Jenna.  Bless the people who invented the ready-to-go kits at Costco. 

The nights leading up to Christmas we were pretty good about doing the "Novena"-- a Colombian tradition we've adopted and adapted.  We do a short spiritual thought, hang an ornament on the tree, and sing "villancicos" -- spanish Christmas songs.  The kids learned a few really well this year.  We sang "Campanas de Belen" and "Burrito Sabanero" many, many times.  It's cute to watch them sing, and be able to read the words on the TV.  (We just searched YouTube videos.)

For the kids 'last presents' to open on Christmas morning I did a little scavenger hunt for them.  Tiago got to the end of his, and it said, "Go to the black trashcan."  (It's on our back patio, where we store outdoor toys.)  I was waiting out there to see his reaction.  He walked out and went straight to the trash can, looking around, confused that he couldn't find anything.  After about 30 seconds he turned around and saw the new bike he had walked right past.  He acted surprised and confused.  If only I'd pressed the right button to catch it on video, but glad I got to enjoy the moment of his confusion.

The girls' hunt led them to 16" squishmallows (stuffed animals).  They were thrilled, because they asked for them, but expected 6" versions.  Costco pulled through.  

Hyrum received some new shoes, chocolate, socks, a fancy water bottle, and I guess technically a bike that we bought last month but still haven't put together.

As a family we got some new pots and pans from Mom, a gift certificate from Dad, and artwork from the Blomfields.  I had Hyrum gift me some nice leather sneakers that I've been eyeing.  

The day after Christmas we took the kids over to the school playground to play with some of the toys in the field.  Tiago would launch his stomp rocket and Hyrum would try to shoot it with the nerf gun.  It looked a lot like shooting clay pigeons.  We were playing around with slow motion videos and got some great clips.  It was warm enough the kids all took off their coats.

Hyrum took off work the entire week of Christmas.  He worked with the girls every day helping them learn how to ride bikes.  They're not quite there, but getting closer!  (bending over, holding onto the back of the bike... really makes us appreciate that Tiago taught himself.)

Santa and the reindeer enjoyed the treats we left.  We used all the carrots in the beef bourgoinon, so we left a bell pepper.  Someone took quite a violent bite out of it.  I imagine it was quite loud.

My kids spent the whole week taking sips of Jenna's diet coke.  Enzo spent the week mostly avoiding her, although he, too, tried to steal coke.  I was holding Enzo about a foot away from Jenna.  He was watching out of the corner of his eye, but wouldn't make eye contact.  So I rotated my body towards her, and in equal measure, his head rotated away.  After a few days, he warmed up, and even chose to have her hold him, instead of his own mother, when she offered him a cookie.  

We sent out Christmas cards.  I didn't have any specific plan, so the Sunday after Thanksgiving I made the family dress in Christmas colors and sit in the back yard while I propped up the camera on a bunch of stuff.  When I looked though them later, we had few 'usable' shots, but we found this one cute one of everyone looking a little goofy and a very serious Enzo.  We decided it would be perfect for a bit of comedy, so I created all these speech bubbles in Powerpoint, then pasted it into the card website.  It wasn't perfect or professional, but it was well-received.  (On the opposite side, I put a drawing that Mila did in church one Sunday.  It was so cute!  And completely spontaneous.  I just had to use Paint -- yes, very professional -- to squish some of the text and picture closer together.)

The best gift of Christmas was that Hyrum let me sleep in... the entire week.  He woke up at 5:30 with Enzo, which shifted gradually to 6:15.  And I slept as long as I wanted.  Initially my body woke me up around 7, but by the end I slept happily till 8:30.  I can't remember the last time I was able to sleep in like that for more than a day at a time.  Priceless.