Christmas 2009

Christmas Eve is full of Heumann family traditions. We got to Grandma and Papa's in the afternoon for yummy food, great conversation, the nativity scene, and of course the presents. This year as Aunt Lithia was getting the kids ready for the nativity she asked Elese who she wanted to be and she said, "I want to be the babies Mama!" So here she is as Mary. Max loved playing a sheep and crawling around the floor while everyone else didn't much enjoy tripping over him. Laurie's (Steven's sister) boyfriend Jake had been warned about the cryfest that happens once presents start getting opened but to our surprise the kids were great so I'm not sure if Jake can really be considered officially part of the family yet.

When we got home we opened our PJ's from under the tree, bathed the kids, read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, and left out cookies for Santa. Those are our own little families traditions. Plus we made the cookies together earlier in the morning.

Elese woke up around 3:30am because she was scared. When I took her back to bed Max was WIDE awake and he told me that he heard Santa in the house when the clock said 2 and that he was so excited that he couldn't fall back asleep...fortunately he did. Around 6:20 the kids came running into our room ready for Christmas to start.


Elese ran right out and said, "It's a doll house!!!" Max was also excited about his Robot Dog that he REALLY wanted however once he turned it on he was a little bit afraid of it. Tekno (the dog) is really very active so I think his enthusiasm kind of freaked Max out. Max also got a green Lantern ring in his stocking. Steven and I were surprised to see that Santa had brought us a gift this year! That has never happened before. We were given an HD TV. Santa must have known that Blake and his cable would be moving out soon and that I HATE our converter box.

Steven got some Tupperware because I threw our old stuff away years ago and bought some others that he hated. I have never lived it down. I'm sure that was his favorite gift. :) He also got a tie, pants, garments, the green lantern rings (from Santa), and a few DVD's & Blu-rays. I got several things as well but the thing I got that I didn't know I wanted was a day planner. What a great idea! I'm always making notes on any scrape of paper I can find. I'm very excited to get using it but first I want to get a pen that has several different colors so I can color code all of our activities. I know, I'm a geek. I'm also excited about the book Heat Wave from the TV show Castle.

Then we had Breakfast at the Heumanns and came home for a nap. I was awaken from my nap by what sounded like a cat dieing but it was just my mom screaming with excitement when she answered the door to find my brother Evan and his family here all the way from Arizona. We ate and opened gifts and Steven and I got a Blu-Ray player and were surprised to also get $100 cash! Steven immediately planned to go buy Star Trek on Blu-ray because it was the only thing he wanted that he didn't get. I planned to trade one of my two blenders in for a nice stainless steal 4 bread toaster. Wow this is long...anyone still reading?

More important than the gifts was spending time with my family. It was so great to have Evan, Crystal and the girls here...it seems that when they are here the family seems more complete and more fun is to be had. We all just hung out and went and walked through Blakes new house that is currently being build.

Then we had the traditional Christmas dinner with Stevens family that night.

OK...here is a summary of the following days.

Dec. 26th

• Elese woke up at 1:20 throwing up
• I wasn't feeling too hot either
• Max was coughing and sneazing with a light fever
• Steven was perfectly fine and went to see Avatar with his brother
  
• Steven and I went to see Sherlock Holmes and went to dinner at the Olive Garden with his friend Mike. By the end I was exhausted and in dire need of a good nights sleep.

Dec. 27th

• Elese woke up just after midnight throwing up
• She slept in our room again
• Steven and I didn't sleep much
• My cold progressed and I felt pretty crappy
• Max had a fever
• The kids and I stayed home from Church and Steven went to teach Sunday School
• Max, Elese & I napped

December 28th

• Elese woke up at 1:20am again throwing up
• my sinuses were completely clogged
• Max's eye was all red and puffy
• Steven went to work
  
• I sat around thinking that I really wanted to clean my house
• I cleaned a little.
• Ate 5 guys for dinner
• Played Wii with Trevor, Blake, mom, and my family for family night
• felt exhausted after playin Wii
  

December 29th

• Elese didn't throw up! but she did wake up several times
• Me still sick
• Max's eye WAY worse than yesturday and he had hives on his trunk
  
• Watched hairspray with Elese
• Pawned Max off on my mom
• Laid on the couch and watched as Steven cleaned up Christmas

December 30th

• Elese only woke up once and NOT to throw up
• I woke up to done dishes and Christmas toys all put in their place and kids bedroom spick and span! BEST HUSBAND EVER!
• Still not feeling great until I took a shower.
• Curently feeling at about 75% health...way better than 20%...and so I blog.

New Years...
Steven and I are going to celebrate at home...nothing too exciting but the most exciting thing about it is that he proposed (Depending on who you ask) just after midnight on New Years 10 years ago. If I was feeling more healthy we would maybe go out or something but we are both content with some delivered Pizza, a mock New Years Eve with the kids and a little Checkers and Ron Burgundy.

Birthday Girl

Although we have been celebrating off and on for almost a week...today is Elese's official birthday! Last night we had cake and ice cream at Heumanns and this morning we opened her gifts upstairs with my mom so she could open her gift from my mom at the same time. We spent most of the morning exchanging gifts that didn't fit or were duplicates of things she already had. Most of all Elese Loves her Dora sweats from Grandma Heumann and her Aeriel barbie doll from Grandma Hale. She has been wearing her sweats and playing with Aeriel all day. Tonight we are going to go out to dinner at Wingers to celebrate her birth.

At the age of three Elese...

Loves Singing
Is learning to be more polite and less demanding
Plays very well by herself and not so well with her brother (depending on the moment)

hmmm....honestly I did this not that long ago so to see more about what she's been up to in her 3rd year click here.

I love this girl SO much! She is constantly making me smile. Elese has brought so much joy into our home. Life without her would be very boring and Max would be very spoiled. I love you Ellie Bell! Happy Birthday!

The Sunday before Christmas

Elese got to wear her Christmas dress to church this morning and Steven took some cute pictures of the kids before church.

I put her hair in curlers last night and it didn't turn out too bad. Just before sacrament meeting ended Elese fell asleep on Steven and then...while asleep...she peed all over him. It was a memorable Christmas Sunday.

Dora Party

Yesterday was Elese's first birthday party with her friends.

The party started with Steven reading the kids "Dora Birthday Dance Party: Daisy's Fiesta de Quinceaera". Just after he finished reading the story Swipper AKA Max stole the books and took them to Elese's party! Fortunately Elese's trusty backpack & map were close by. Map told us how to find the party. First we climbed the blue mountain and passed the red barn. Once we got to the rainforst we needed something to help keep us dry. Lucky for us backpack had an umbrella. After making it through the rain forest we made it to Elese's party where we danced the Mambo.



After our dance party Elese opened her presents. The first present she opened was from her friend Grace Egbert. Grace gave it to her and said, "I think it is a fish puzzle!" After Elese opened it and discovered that it was in fact a fish puzzle Sarah Peters said, "You were right Grace! How did you know?!" Following the gifts we had cake and ice cream. While we waited for the parents to come we played Dora, Dora, Swipper...better known as Duck, Duck, Goose.

For the sake of remembering, because I forgot to take a picture of all the kids together, here is a list of who came to Elese's first birthday party:

Grace Egbert
Sarah Peters
Logan, Noah & Violet Hale (and Uncle Spencer & Aunt DeAnn)
Ethan Perry & his cousin Breanna
Mommy, Daddy & Max
Grandma Hale
Grandma & Papa Heumann

Oh and PS...I bought balloons for the party and realized after the party that one of them said, "Happy Birthday, Birthday Boy!"...silly me.

An eventful day

The day started off with Max crying at breakfast because it hurt to eat with his loose tooth. Then we watched cartoons and felt something "crunchy" in his mouth and spit it out thinking it was a piece of his toast. When he went to tell Steven goodbye before he left for work Steven said, "Max, you lost your tooth!" Max ran right in and found it. (I'm not sure how I feel about Max spitting random things onto the front room floor...) He was SO excited and a little bit freaked out by the whole thing but I think he was thrilled to realize that it didn't even hurt when it fell out.


Max has been asking to make a Gingerbread house for several weeks now and I saw a kit at Costco the other day. It was only $10, not bad. So today we put it together. I did all the frosting and let me tell you that it was the worst frosting to decorate with because it was SO stiff...it was the consistency of glue and trying to get that out of a pastry bad in a beautiful fashion was not easy. The kids watched near by and would eat any little drip of frosting. Then they helped put the candy on it...mostly they just ate the candy.

The kids were surprised tonight by a visit from Santa Clause! We were sitting in the front room and Daddy was about to read them a story when we heard foot steps and bells! Max ran to the door and was VERY unsure about what was going on. Eventually Max got very excited and Elese got very nervous and clingy until Santa pulled out a sucker for Max. Max recently wrote a letter to Santa and Santa brought it with him so Max would know that he got it. Thanks to the letter Santa already knew that Max wants a Robot Dog for Christmas. Then it was Elese's turn and she was more than happy to sit on Santa's lap now that she knew he had suckers. When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she said, "A sucker!" Grandma and Blake heard the commotion and came downstairs.


Max asked for a Robot Dog. Elese asked for a Sucker...and then a Barbie. I asked for a house. Daddy asked for an action figure. Grandma asked for a hug from Santa. Blake asked for a wife...or even just a girlfriend.

Max got an action figure with a boat. Elese got a little dress up princess. I got a box of chocolates. Steven got some beef jerky and Grandma and Blake got suckers. I'm hoping the Robot Dog, Barbie, HOUSE, action figure and wife/girlfriend show up on Christmas morning.

The kids were SO happy that they went right to sleep because I convinced them that Santa would be so proud if they didn't get out of bed.

Elese and Max on Marriage

The other day Elese was spouting off all the people that she loves-Grandma, mommy, daddy, Max, Violet, Logan...Then Ethan...Ethan was the only non-family member and really her only friend. So we all laughed and said, "You love Ethan?" Then Max said "Are you going to marry him?" And that brings us to today....

This was Max and Elese's conversation that came out of no where.

Elese: "Maybe Ethan will kiss me!" giggle, giggle, giggle. "Maybe Ethan will Marry me! Maybe Ethan with cuddle me!" giggle, giggle, giggle. Max who are you going to marry Grace L?" (Actually Max's crush is on Grace G.)

Max: "I'll figure that out when I'm a grown up."

Where in the world is Junction Utah?

I still don't know even though I've been there. :) Really it's just in the middle of no where, kind of near Richfield. Steven had a shoot there last weekend and we tagged along. I was forced to relax which was hard for the first little while and then I would just get annoyed because the kids would want to play and I was already in relaxation mode. We stayed at the old court house which was REALLY cool...literally. The first night we slept in a room with a bunch of bunk beds and we were FREEZING! Steven and I hardly slept, but the kids did OK. The next day we followed James' example and slept in the great room. It was MUCH warmer in there. Steven would come and go from shoot to shoot and the kids and I would just hang out and watch movies or play air hockey. Before we left Sunday they went and shot another set of wraps and Max got to go a long on the ATV and help host the show. He only said one thing but I'm still very excited to see it when it airs sometime in January.



The court house was BEAUTIFUL! It even had the old judges stand. There were vaults everywhere and one of them was even full of bunk beds. By far the funnest part was filming the open to the new years special where we all got the throw snowballs at each other.

Bell Canyon

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving I was going to go to the gym and Steven was going to watch the kids. Steven decided to take the kids hiking and I decided that would be more fun than going to the gym. Elese made me carry her most of the way, but hey, that gave me a better work out. Once we got to the end of the hike we stopped and had a picnic of fish crackers and fruit snacks. There was a partially frozen lake at the top and Max loved walking on the ice and trying to break the ice with rocks. Once we headed back I let Steven carry Elese. It was a very enjoyable day as a family and I can't wait for the spring so we can do it again.

We wish you...

...a stress-LESS Christmas.

Is it just me or does Christmas just seem stressful? I feel like I have so many things to do. I finished my shopping early so I could just relax and enjoy the holidays but then I decided to make bread for our neighbors and that also means making it for my mom to give to her friends. I know I don't have to do it but I enjoy doing it...until it feels like it consumes my life. Then there were the good deals on photo books that I try to do yearly for my kids but I haven't done them in 2 years...so another project. I haven't even factored in all the parties and treats to make for the parties, plus Elese's birthday. Don't get me wrong...I sort of love when things are crazy but suddenly my responsibilities like doing laundry, church callings and getting the kids dressed before the very last possible moment seem to all fall to the way side. So even though I'm feeling a bit over whelemed I've decided to do my best to focus on the things that bring me joy...my family.

Steven gave me a nice massge this morning to help me calm the heck down.

Then Elese walked around with her photo book from two years ago saying..."This book has songs in it." (It doesn't), then she was singing "When I was a baby...I love you when you a baby!" Then she asked, "Mommym can I sing this on the piano?" So that brought enough joy to me that right now, as she is crying and screaming, I only want to scream just a little, rather than alot.

Then there is Max and his love of creating blue prints to our future home on his etch-sketch. Although it does get me a little down when I realize that we could never afford a bat cave for our home it is still very fun to see him taking an interest in grown up things. And that is what got me through the last hour of helping him with a school worksheet.

Fortunately Steven has a shoot coming up that should be very enjoyable for everyone but him...because he will be working...but at least we'll have some time together without the stresses of home.

So it is my wish to all of you that you can find joy in the small things during this stressful time of year.

Christmas Tree Hunt

Yesterday we had the opportunity to go hunt a Christmas tree on a shoot for Steven's work. Before heading out we had our annual ward brunch which is always a blast and then we were on our way.

As we were driving to the office to meet the rest of the crew & talent I realized that I hadn't changed my shoes since the ward brunch, and they were not tree hunting shoes, I didn't even have socks on. I suggested we turn around but we would have been late and Steven said there wouldn't be any snow. The drive started out fine until we hit I-80 (heading toward Tooele). First off Steven, James (a friend from Guys and Dolls who now works with Steven), me and the kids where in the company Jimmy while Chad (Steven's boss), Corby (Chads wife), and their two teenage girls were in the company suburban. Anyway, it started snowing but very lightly...we barely needed the windshield wipers. Suddenly we started sliding, Steven gained control and we maneuvered around the cars in front of us to find a truck tipped on its side in the middle of the fast lane with a guy crawling out the passenger side window. After that I suggested we say a prayer. I prayed that we would not get in an accident and that the man in the accident we just saw would be OK. Not long after that the guy in front of Chad started fish tailing. Steven drove around him on the right and Chad tried to pass him on the left. The other car kept sliding around, first toward us then toward chad and so on...it ended up that Chad hit him. The Suburban had no damage but the other guys car was pretty damaged. The guy got out and told Chad it was OK and that he wanted to just keep going. (Yeah, I think he was transporting drugs too). A few miles later he got pulled over because that was the 2nd accident he had caused in the last few miles! About every 1/4 of a mile we would see a bad accident. At one point on the other side of the road there was a 10 car pile up with cars all over the road and a man getting put into an ambulance. We also saw the after math of someone rear ending a cement truck. Max and Elese were very worried so I did my best to keep them calm but it really just made Max ask questions about when Justen died and our accident 3 years ago.

We finally got to Tooele and the roads were fine! No snow anywhere but what we did see and hear was sirens headed toward the freeway about every minute or two. Eventually we got to our destination...private property to cut down an Christmas tree for Chad and Corby. It was great escaping the stress of the drive. We did some jeeping in the Jimmy to get to the trees. Once we got out we started searching for the perfect tree...Max loved hiding behind and in the trees.
After a while the freezing temperatures started getting to me and my sock-less feet but we were still having a good time. Finally we heard Chad yell that they had found their tree. Max thought it was pretty great trying to drag the tree to the car and he even stood on top of the Suburban with Steven.
By the time we had gotten to the tree we were just as close to Lehi as we were to Tooele and we could see a dark cloud hanging over I-80 so we went home from the south and had no problems. Max, the boy who was SO worried about all the "damaged" cars said to me, "Mommy, where are the damaged cars? I want to see more damaged cars." We need to get that kid to a demolition derby!

We made it home just in time to get the kids in their PJ's for Grandma and head out to Orem to go out with some friends. It was a really fun night with Derek and Jennie...it always is, just wish we could get together more often.

If you want to see more about our adventure check out At Your Leisure Sunday the 20th at 9am on ABC 4 and 10 pm on CW30 or you can watch it in HD online starting Thursday night at 10pm.