Christmas

Christmas Eve came with the traditional pizza and new jammies at Nona and Papa's house with the cousins who were in town.

Bigs

Middles

Littles

James has been counting down til Christmas for weeks. He caught sight of a package of dinosaurs I had hidden for him (I found a whole bunch at Savers thrift store), and I must confess I started to use them to try to bribe him into better behavior. It was touch and go almost hourly.

Millie's Christmas cost $2.50 (DI and Savers and a neighbor) and she was in heaven with new girlie toys.

I think we did well with selecting the other boys' presents. They seemed very pleased.

 

And we didn't get one of me with my presents.

But you can kind of see me below.

My phone camera was wonky but I did capture the hours spent with Lego building

And the joy of these teenagers at heart with Max's new longboard

Christmas activities

While the boys are out of school and I have been staying to fill-in host the noon news, JB took the kids downtown to see the Christmas decorations.

They went to the Grand America...

And the next day to Temple Square.

What a good dad, trying to stay sane. Snow may be pretty, but it is hard for boys to get the wiggles out inside the house.

Andrew's 8th birthday

Andrew Rockwell turned 8 years old the week before Christmas! 

I went into labor the night the Provo Tabernacle burned down, I slept at the hospital with the epidural, and he came the next morning. And they brought him back to us after his bath in a stocking.

For his birthday dinner, we went to Chick-Fil-A and he got a kids meal as a special treat. James howled at the injustice of it, and insisted he have his birthday right then and there, too.

Here's our kissing picture, taken by Max.

Then we had cake at our house with Nona and Papa.

Andrew is a joy. He gets attacked by a jealous James, bossed around by two older brothers, and Millie has him always doing her bidding. But he remains cheerful and optimistic. Except when he's a puddle of tears over something that seems inconsequential to me.

I had a bad mom moment when on a typical Saturday, when I was hollering for him to hurry up and finish his chores and FOR THE LOVE get dressed, and he started to cry. Then I had a good mom moment and stopped everything and sat and held him and apologized for yelling.

Release

Someone asked me today, "Has it been a slow 5 1/2 years, or fast?"  And I think it was slow in the middle of it all, but fast here at the end.

My dear, sweet, hard-working, faithful, kind and good husband was released today as Bishop of our ward. And it was an emotional day.

(Over the summer holding Millie in the Bishop's office while I taught)

He was called when Max was 7, Ben was 5 1/2 Andrew was 2 1/2, and James was a new baby.  Now Max is 13 1/2, Ben 11,  Andrew 7, James 5 1/2, and Millie 2 1/2.  Our youngest three have only ever known their dad sitting on the stand, gone all day Sunday, gone Wednesday nights, and quick to head out to help anyone in distress.

I burst into tears when I found out last week, even though I knew it would be pretty soon. It was a weird reaction, you'd think I'd shout hallelujah. It was like all the rewards and challenges of these years overwhelmed me at once.  And I cried for the new bishop's wife, because she also has young kids. 

Max cried when we told him; he has really been blessed by this. The others it may not sink in until JB is sitting by us next Sunday. Andrew will miss his friend Roger, who has sat by him this whole time. Roger is a new counselor.

Today I was asked to share a few words in Sacrament meeting. I hope I got across how grateful I am for the ward members' prayers and support for JB and for our family. 

I talked about how many times JB would get a text or phone call, and put on a white shirt and tie and leave to go help someone. And I started to feel a little down about it. But then my brother called from the hospital, to say their baby was coming too soon. And I didn't know how to help him. So I called his bishop. And I know he did all he could to help. I am so grateful for that.

I came across Moroni 6:4 this week. I am adding italics to the words that jumped out at me:

And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

I think that speaks so much as to why we are in wards and why we go to church. To be remembered, and to learn to rely on Christ.

Bishop Richards remembered everyone in the ward. Bishop Harrington will do it now, because they are on Christ's errand. Christ remembers everyone. We are engraven on his hands and feet. I know He lives and loves us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Andrew the joy

JB and I both got the chance recently to take Andrew to a sporting event by himself for the first time.

What a joy. He just chatted and chatted away and thought everything was the best.

JB's friend gave him suite tickets to a game in November, and Andrew was just in awe. He called it their hotel room, and ate and ate and ate.

In October I took him down to a BYU game. He definitely leans toward the Utes, but didn't mind wearing a Y sweatshirt and learning the fight song for me.

He couldn't get over how big the Cougar statute was. On third downs for the other team, he quickly caught on to the crowd noise: "We have to be annoying, right mom?"

My brother Joe and his wife Susan were there ("Yeay sports, do the thing!" she says)

Then last week, Andrew's 2nd grade class had their Informance. This is where they dance and sing about a science topic. I think it was rocks and geology this time. (Millie should have been napping)

I told him I wanted to take a picture with some friends, and many quickly gathered round. Andrew makes friends easily and just loves people. He loves making them laugh and laughing in return.

Ben turns 11

Here's our traditional kissing picture. 

Ben requested Chuck-a-Rama for his birthday dinner, and he ate all his favorites.

On his birthday, Millie and I took treats to his class, where his 5th grade teacher helped him lead the others in his birthday song. He's taller than her.

Tonight he invited some friends over for a late-over. These kids are fun together and good boys.

He was with these same boys for weeks after school for practice for the school musical, the Grunch. Their performances were last week.

Ben played a reporter and he had a line: "Excuse me, what can you tell me about being in the school musical?"

The night before his birthday, he got his Arrow of Light award at scouts.

Last month, he earned his Webelos badge, and requested that I paint his face a certain way.

For his birthday, JB and I accidentally gave him a Lego Star Wars set he already had (he bought it with his own savings). We felt bad, and he felt bad -- but seemed to be more worried about how WE felt about the mistake. What a kind heart.  He got online and chose a replacement that should be here soon. He also got new athletic tights and sweatshirt, his preferred clothing.

Ben is sensitive, kind, funny, creative (you should see all the cardboard inventions and engineering doo-dads he builds). He recently made a stuffed shark with my help.

(James took the paper pattern and colored an eye for himself)

He loves the Cougars and was very sad when they lost to the Utes a couple weeks ago. We watched together while Max and JB were at the game. We needed cheering up, so we watched Studio C together after and I taught him how to snap a towel. Then when the car pulled up outside, we quickly turned off the lights and ran giggling to our rooms to throw the covers over our heads and pretend we were asleep so we wouldn't have to face them.

Family pictures part three

We took individual shots first, so these young kids wouldn't melt down later when being urged to SMILE!

Millie Grace at almost two years old. 

She is spunky, squeally, sassy, sweet, opinionated and girly. She loves pink, Pinkalicious, her baby dolls, her silkies, and lately refuses to wear clothes. She wants the boys to all do her bidding, and insists on her favorite books being read to her on repeat. She has started pulling out her pigtails and bows but her front hair is still short enough to not get into her eyes. Uses a binkie still. Must have certain things placed in her crib a certain way.

James Byron at 5 years old

James is still obsessed with dinosaurs. He pretends to be a TRex when sad/angry/shy. He is quick to anger but craves tight hugs. He would only eat chicken nuggets, bananas, yogurt and cereal if allowed. He is so close to reading! His favorite way to spend time with me lately is by having me draw for him. Cartooning 4 Kids YouTube channel has a lot of superheros and dinosaurs to draw. He lately likes Kong on Netflix and The Land Before Time.

  

Andrew Rockwell at 7 1/2

His teeth have grown back in now, but I feel like James could be taller than him soon. He still loves Star Wars, but we are really enjoying reading Harry Potter together at night. He has a good memory for all the characters and details. He often gets out of bed at night to build Legos or read Diary of a Wimpy Kid by the nightlight. He and James love/hate each other, and we have long talks about how they are meant to be friends for life.

Benjamin John at 10 1/2

He loves playing basketball and watching basketball. He cheers for BYU with me. He sang a duet for the primary program and felt sheepish until the compliments rolled in all day, then he felt super proud. He is big on making sure he has lots of friends. He is involved in the school play and walking a dog every day and learning the violin but tries to get some time at the end of the day for a Studio C skit or two to escape.

Maxwell David at almost 13

His braces should be off in just a few months. He is growing taller every day. He is busy with two basketball teams (and learning how to handle nerves). He wanted to do the school musical but it will take too much time. He is getting all As in Honors/ELP classes and learning how to handle stress. He had two bad migraines recently and it was super sad for the whole family. He is such an example to the younger kids.

Family pictures part two

We tucked these kids onto the hillsides and on rocks and among the trees and asked them to smile like it was a natural thing for them to just hang out in nature together.

Then they were able to get goofy.

Here are the boys.

And the girls.

She is looking at her dad in those pictures.