Andrew is 10

 Our darling Christmas-time baby is now two whole hands old.

Andrew loves Star Wars, so when I saw a Baby Yoda on sale on Amazon months ago, I ordered it. JB saw one at Costco and bought it about the same time. We returned one, thinking one would be enough.

Spoiler alert .... it wasn't enough. Who knew Millie, with her strong opinions of boy toys and girl toys, would fall so deeply in love with this green child? She insisted on being in the picture with him after he opened it.

And ever since his birthday, she has clung tightly to it and has to be bribed and cajoled to let Andrew have a turn with his toy. 

Andrew gets turns with it, thankfully, and loves to read to it and make up adventure stories. 

He also got an RC car from Nona and Papa.....and spoiler alert...James has been trying to take it over as long as he can. I took them up to the church gym, and James wanted to run the car only himself. I have video of Andrew getting a turn, and I'm glad he is so easy-going and patient with those two younger siblings. But he also deserves to enjoy his toys, and we are trying to help him.

Here's his cake!

Christmas Prep

We put up our tree on Thanksgiving and JB put up the outside lights when the weather was nice and I must say I just love all the cheer.

Nona and Papa sent the Christmas Eve PJs early and these kids wear them all the time, they are so comfortable and cozy.

Well, except Millie. She likes to wear the bare minimum of clothing and strips as soon as she is inside the house. Then when she is cold she just snuggles in her blanket.

The little boys have been wrapping a couple of things for their siblings, and begged to have them under the tree so I agreed -- as long as they didn't whine and cry or try to peek early. 

I love some of the new ornaments we have this year, from home-made ones to gifts.  I'm in the primary presidency, and we put together a bag for each child with treats and a Hear Him ornament. We included our testimonies on how we hear heavenly guidance and promptings. We've been trying to do something once a month and drop it off at their homes. I hope and pray our primary teachers will be able to do more for their classes in the New Year, until the kids are finally able to meet in-person. 

We didn't do our yearly Christmas smoked pork this year for neighbors. There seems to be a reluctance to have any treats here because of the pandemic. I guess it's good not to have a full counter full of sugary things. 

There are still plenty of Christmas family traditions we've been able to do, like driving to see the lights, and reading our special books and watching holiday movies together. I'm trying to remember to play  more music -- I remember certain records playing a lot when I was young, like the Tabernacle Choir and Muppets Christmas and Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby.  

Here's one of the amazing houses we saw.

I know there are people who are sad and struggling right now, and the Christmas season may not feel so cheery for them. I pray a lot in my heart and out loud for things to improve. I forget sometimes to not get discouraged....but I am grateful for reminders to lean in to faith and hope in Christ. 

A new teenager

Benjamin John is 13! I started this blog when he was 2 months old and he was the CUTEST baby.  These are the first two pictures I posted of him in early 2008.

I'm pretty sure I took those photos with a flip phone. 

He's growing into such a tall, fun, kind, smart young man.

New Chiefs sweatshirt and a bike. I hope for a New Year's present they let him go back to school! At least small groups or something. Ben and Max are all alone downstairs in front of their computers. He diligently attends every class, even playing the violin in front of a camera.

Max and Ben also diligently go to Church early and stay after every Sunday to help with the sacrament. We had to get Max new pants and give his church pants to Ben -- both boys were showing a lot of sock!

He is able to play now on his basketball team again, after a halt to that. But only JB can go because he helps coach. So I haven't seen Ben play in months and months (also some games are late so I have to sleep, but still -- I'd like the opportunity).

He likes to bake and cook and wants to learn how to do more. He is really good at science and math. He was assigned to read "The Goose Girl" in English class and it was fun to talk to him about one of my favorite books. He adores Star Wars and knows the whole canon. When you are not allowed to go to school or anywhere else, you watch a lot of TV, so he's seen Star Wars Rebels and Clone Wars a few times and helps me see the deeper layers of The Mandalorian. 

He can't help but tease Millie and get her riled up at bedtime when I'm trying to get her settled. He loves to play chase or hide and seek with her and hear her laugh. The brothers' relationship isn't as lighthearted sometimes (ie they can squabble like bear cubs) but he is often looking to help out and be a peacemaker.

Christmas Movie Recommendations

Traditional

JB and I watched It's a Wonderful Life together last weekend, and I cried and laughed in all the right places again. I get something new from this movie in every stage of my life. People have often quoted it to me, because the girl's name is Mary ("Of course I like her, she's a peach!"). 

White Christmas. I have to watch this again soon, I can feel it in my bones. From doing the "Sisters" song with my sister Rebekah when we were young, to laughing & quoting it with my friend Autumn in our single days, to trying to get my children to love it now....it's the best. 

The boys and I watched Elf on Sunday, it's another yearly quotable favorite. Max enjoys the Home Alone movies. JB likes to catch A Christmas Story when it plays on TV. The little boys like Arthur Christmas and the Grinch movies. 

I also recommend Christmas in Connecticut (Barbara Stanwyck) and Shop Around the Corner (Jimmy Stewart again), Holiday Inn (Bing Crosby again and my fav Fred Astaire -- speaking of peaches, "These are great on, uh, or even plain!") And Scrooge is one I watched every year with my mom ("That's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me!")

I never got into the Peanuts specials or Rudolph that much when I was young (DON'T BE MAD. I was too busy watching the other classics above)

While You Were Sleeping is one I've loved since 1994 ("Should have gotten a blue spruce, they're lighter"), and you could argue Princess Bride is a Christmas movie because I spied a Santa decoration in the boy's bedroom.

Netflix

Operation Christmas Drop was fun because it is military and it is in Guam. I loved the actual drop over the islands and atolls.

Knight Before Christmas was ok. Funny lines from the guy suddenly finding himself in the future. Probably won't watch again. Same with Princess Switch from last year. 

I hear good things about Christmas Chronicles and Holiday in the Wild.

I have not watched the Christmas Prince 3. I have to draw the line somewhere. And I heard Holidate starts with the worst of bad words, so it's out.

Hallmark

I've been watching Hallmark Christmas movies for weeks now. I have no shame in this. Most of the time it's on in the background on my phone while I do other things.

Of their new movies this year, I highly recommend One Royal Holiday. There are so many different mashups of this title or prince/princess theme, but this one has Broadway stars and it's just cute, there's no other way I can say it. 

Christmas by Starlight and Five Star Christmas this year also made me laugh. They felt different, with snappy dialogue even while kind of following the formula. 

Here are some others from past years that I enjoyed that are replaying in the rotation:

Check Inn to Christmas has the similar, "girl from big city goes back to home town" plot, but it was more well done than the others. It had lots of fun Christmas feels. Plus it was filmed in Utah.

Double Holiday was nice to learn more about Hannukah and see the importance of family. Christmas with Holly also shows brother bonds and was sweet.

Dashing Through the Snow combines a Christmas road trip with FBI intrigue (I love a good police drama), and though this was pretty hard to believe, it was still fun. 

A Veteran's Christmas, Homecoming for the Holidays, Holiday for Heroes, Operation Christmas, and The Christmas Card all deal with the troops and faith and I like that.  USS Christmas from this year is on a naval carrier, go Navy! But as I told JB, it wasn't realistic. The guy was way too tall to be a fighter pilot. (JB: you're saying a Hallmark movie isn't realistic? haha)

A lot of people love Nine Lives of Christmas. Maybe because the cats are co-stars.

Once Upon a Christmas Miracle and Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love are both based on true stories. Anything on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries is going to be a little deeper than regular Hallmark. 

My Christmas Love is over the top and campy but fun. Same with Holiday Date if you want pure escapism. 

Lifetime

Christmas Around the Corner and Christmas Pen Pals I saw last year, and they are worth watching if they come up in the rotation again. 

This year's offerings have been less than stellar from Lifetime, but A Sugar and Spice Holiday was really cute. And Once Upon a Main Street had some ok moments. 

I have no time to list all the duds from Hallmark and Lifetime. Best of luck, haha.