Christmas 2008

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I absolutely love it. I love the music, the feelings and the time I get to spend with my family. This year I was blessed to be able to have my family (my parents, sister and brother in law and brother) spend Christmas at my house. We had a lot of fun. It is always great to be able to get together with family and create memories.

Some of the traditions that we have is to have a nice meal (Jordan ALWAYS cooks the dinners because he is REALLY good at it), open a present (pajamas), play games and remember the true meaning of Christmas. This year we had a wonderful dinner of Pasta Carbonera, played a couple of Christmas games and watched the "Joy to the World" and wrote letters to Jesus.

Some of the games we played are the Christmas unwrapping game. The object of the game is to unwrap a present that has been wrapped 15 to 16 times (thanks Lindsay for wrapping the prize). The catch is that you have to roll dice and whenever you get doubles of any number you get a chance to unwrap the gift. But, you don't get to use just your hands, you have to put on a winter hat, a scarf and gloves before taking on the task of unwrapping the present. But, when the next person gets doubles, you have to take of the gear and hand it to the next person. It is a lot of fun and the kids LOVE it. Lucas was the winner of this game. He got a $10 gift certificate to Walmart. He was REALLY excited to put the card in his wallet and go into the store and pick out a football and pay for it like a grown up. It was all he talked about for days.

Here some photos of the game...



Luke trying to get on the gloves, hat and scarf before he can try to open up the present.



Grandpa Marvin trying his best to be the winner.



Grandma Marcia moving as fast as she can to put on the gear and unwrap.

The next game we played was the Santa Beard game. You divide into 2 teams. The object of this game is to put Vaseline on your face (where a beard would be) and then a run up to a bowl of cotton balls and stick your face in the bowl and see how many cotton balls you can stick on your face. You can't use any hands to help you and you have to run back to the starting point trying not to let any cotton balls fall. The team that has the most cotton balls wins.

Here are pictures of the game....



Aunt Lindsay with a beard of cotton balls


Grandpa Marvin and Dylan dueling for the most cotton balls on their face



Uncle Tyler running to the finish line



Jordan really going for it... He doesn't mess around when he plays a game.



Dylan doing a fabulous job and walking very carefully to the finish line.



Luke with a white 5 o'clock shadow



Luke and Jordan counting up their cotton balls. Their team won the game!!!

We also played the LEFT and RIGHT Christmas game. I read a story that had a lot of LEFTS and RIGHTs words it in and the players will pass the wrapped present whatever direction the story tells them to go. By the end of the story whoever has the wrapped present in their hand wins. Dylan won this game. (With a little help from Mom who read the story)

We then watched the video "Joy to the World" to remind myself as well as my children why we celebrate Christmas. It is a great video that really testifies of the amazing story of our Savior's birth and the essential mission he had here on earth.

We all then wrote a letter to Jesus telling him what gift we are going to give him this year. This is the 2nd time we have done this and we were able to read our previous letter (this is all confidential) and see how we did on our previous commitments to Christ. I wish I could say that I gave Christ everything that I told I would give him in 2008, but I didn't. So, I wrote a new letter with new hopes and goals for this year. I pray that I will do better in 2009.

We ended the night by putting the boys to bed and getting Christmas set up. It was a great Christmas Eve and I am blessed to have such wonderful family to share it with.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day started out with everyone waking up and seeing what Santa brought them. Santa brought Luke some Heely's , Dylan some transformers and Mason a Tonka truck. Santa also blessed with a brand new fish tank with 3 goldfish. (On a side note, those fish lasted about 2 days and they all died. We then proceeded to buy 3 more and they died the next day. We haven't had a lot of luck with fish)

They also received some fun stocking stuffers and played with them for a half hour or so. We then proceeded to have Christmas breakfast. After breakfast we started to open up the presents. The boys were spoiled again and received way to much stuff.

I always tell myself that I am not going to get them a ton of stuff but it always turns out we do. We gave ourselves a budget for each boy and we stayed close to that budget but still it was way to much stuff. They would have been absolutely content on 2 to 3 presents, but we feel we have to get them more. I don't know why we do it but we do. It is just more junk that sits in their toy bins that they don't play with. I swear next year will be different!!!

Jordan really spoiled me. He gave me Oprah tickets. Jordan and my dad spent a lot of time figuring out how they could send us to Oprah. They figured out a way for my mom and I to go to Chicago in September. They told us by giving us a letter and in the letter were some clues.

These were the clues:

A picture of a harp + O = (Harpo)
A picture of a bowl of stew + My grandfather's name (Dee) + O = (Studio)
A picture of a chic + A + a picture of a green light = (Chicago)

It took my mom and I a couple of minutes to put the clues together. When we got it, we screamed and were very excited. It will be a once in a lifetime experience. To be honest, I am not a real fan of Oprah herself. She kind of bugs me but I really do like her show. I hope the show we go to is a good one. Even if it isn't, I know we will have a great time. Harpo Studios here we come!!!!

Jordan got a truck for Christmas. Before you start to assume anything, let me just clarify. I gave him some money to go towards a truck. He has wanted a truck for such a long time. I finally told him if he could pay for the payments on a truck, he could get one. So, he found himself a part time job. He works at Wee Care Pediatrics in Layton one night a week. He found a truck that was well used and thought he would fix it up. He had it for about 2 months and he just sold it. He figures if he is going to work, he might as well get a nicer truck. So, he is in the market again for a truck. Stay tuned I am sure he will have another truck in a month or so.

Besides that, we all were very blessed this Christmas. I can't express how grateful for everything that I have. I feel guilty many times because I have been given so much and I know there are so many people out there that don't have much. I don't understand why I have been given so much, but I am deeply humble and grateful for everything in my life.

Here are just a few pictures of my family on Christmas morning...



The boys got new skateboards



Grandpa Marvin got Seinfeld Scene It game. We played it and my brother Tyler kicked our butts!



The boys got some costumes for Christmas



You can't have a Christmas without some new light sabers



Uncle Pat sporting his new hoodie

Can I Shave Yet?

Lucas has always wanted to be older than he is. He has wanted to wear cologne, wear deodarant, be completely responsible for his hair and clothes, and shave by age 2. Being 6 years old, he thinks he is entitled to do many of the things an adult would do. One of those things is shaving.

For example, last Saturday we were getting ready to go to a baptism. Luke was all dressed up and went to the bathroom to perform his favorite ritual, doing this hair. Ten to fifteen minutes later, he came out of the bathroom with his hair done and looking suspicious. I looked at him and he immediately looked away. I didn't think anything about it at the time. that but it kept happening. I would look at Luke and he would look away. It finally got to the point where I knew something wasn't right. He was hiding something from me and I wanted to know what it was.

So I asked him to look at me. With great hesitation, he slowly turned his head and gave me a very guilty look. At first, I could quite place what looked wrong. His expression was a little different but I couldn't figure out why. Then I saw it. He had shaved off one of his eyebrows. O.K. not the entire thing, but about 80% of one and 30% of the other.

With horror, I said "Lucas Tyler Rowell what have you done?" He looked at me and just started bawling. He knew that he made a stupid decision and he was going to live with it for a while. To make a bigger impact on him, I took pictures of his eyebrow and had him show people what he had done. He was embarrased to show people and talk about his shaving experience but I still think he would do it again.

Here is the best picture that I could get of his eyebrow. The biggest chunk was taken off of his right eyebrow.

Halloween!!

This year the Halloween season was a little different in the Rowell household. Jordan was out of town on business for 23 days. He left on the 16th of October and gets back on November 7th. So, we were fatherless during the Halloween season. It was not only hard for me, but very hard for the boys. So, I tried to do a couple of fun things the boys would enjoy. Here are some pictures of what we did for the past couple of weeks.

To kick off the Halloween season, we went on a hayride and picked out some pumpkins. We have a local farm that plants hundreds of pumpkins and you get to go and pick out your pumpkin from their fields. The boys had such a great time. They tried to pick out the biggest pumpkin that they could find. Dylan couldn't even pick his up and Luke struggled to bring his to the trailer which was pulled by a tractor.

Here are some pictures.

This is a picture of us before we went to the field of pumpkins.

This is a small section of the pumpkin patch we went to.

Luke and Dylan with the 3 pumpkins we picked out.

Dylan and Luke with one of the pumpkins that they carved.

"Witches Night Out"

Another activity we did was attend Gardner Village's "Witches night out". We went with Aunt Lindsay and Uncle Pat (whom the boys ADORE). Honestly, it really wasn't too kid friendly (it was more of a girls night out), but I think it was cool for my boys to see 400 plus women dressed up as witches. At this event, their was a petting zoo. That was the biggest hit with the boys. Mason thought the little goats were pretty cool. Luke was scared to death of all the animals and Dylan was hugging and petting every animal he could get his hands on.

Mason was laughing and smiling as he got to pet the little goats. He kept saying "nice" as he pet them. We are trying to teach him the different between being nice and hitting someone. He did a great job and being "nice" to the goats. There were a few goats that were larger than him and that did make him nervous, but the billy goats were his friends.

Dylan loves all animals. Unfortunately, he is allergic to their hair. So, he left the petting zoo with red eyes and was all congested. But, in his eyes, it was worth the sacrifice.



The only animal that Luke wasn't scared of at the petting zoo... DUCKS!

Uncle Pat at "Witches Night Out" carrying Dylan through the sea of witches and warlocks.

Here are their Halloween costumes for 2008

Lucas is Iron Man and Dylan is Bumblebee transformer. They couldn't wear their masks to the Halloween carnival or trunk or treat so we colored their hair instead.

Superheros looking intimidating!!

Mason was a crocodile. He usually doesn't have chubby cheeks but in this costume he was all cheek!

Happy Halloween!!!

Learning how to use a spoon!

I know that many people give their kids utensils to use while eating before 18 months, but I guess I am a little slow or a little scared. I hate cleaning up big messes. When I think of my baby using a spoon, I picture food splattered everywhere and a big mess for me to clean up. But, I decided that Mason is old enough to start learning how to use a spoon.

So, I decided to give it a try. The minute I put a spoon in Mason's hand he thought he was Hot Stuff and started talking (of course gibberish) and laughing. He held the spoon for a moment and then he looked down at the pudding container. He studied it for a minute and then put 2 and 2 together. He slowly lowered the spoon into the pudding and scooped out a big blob of pudding. With a big smile on his face, he raised it to his mouth and did the best he could to put it in his mouth. He got most of it in his mouth but of course some didn't make it. But, he thought the whole process was cool and for the next 15 minutes he went to town eating his pudding.

Here are some pictures...

A SnowMan in October????

I wasn't expecting snow in October, but when it came it was cool! The minute the boys saw the snow outside, they had their snow clothes on and were heading out the door. They played outside in the snow for over an hour (which never happens, even when it is sunny outside). While they were outside, Luke started rolling the snow and making the body of their snowman. Jordan and Dylan jumped into the action and with 10 minutes they had a snowman.

Here is their masterpiece...



Here are some pictures of the boys playing in the snow...

Enough with the MotorCycles!!!

This past weekend, Jordan's good friend Kevin came from Texas to visit us. The real reason for his visit is because he bought a chopper motorcycle from Ebay and had to pick it up in Boise. His plan was that he was going to drive it from Boise to Texas. The one thing he didn't plan was a snow storm in October. Because it was blizzarding, he had to rent a UHAUL and drive to our house for a pit stop.

Well, the minute Jordan saw the bike he eyes were glazed over and the drool couldn't be contained. He loved it! He took it for a spin and was VERY impressed. But, again we will NOT be getting a motorcycle for a long time. Thank goodness he has friends with bikes who can satisfy his craving until he gets his own.

Here are some pictures of the boys and the chopper...

Motherhood on one foot!

We all know that motherhood is one of the most challenging roles in life. For me, it is the most difficult thing I have ever done. I struggle on a daily basis with motherhood and try every moment not to let it overwhelm me. But motherhood with one foot is completely different. I know I have taken having two functional feet for granted. Only having one foot makes everything much more difficult. I have to let some things slide (like doing a lot of cleaning, chasing after Mason, going up and down the stairs for different reasons, taking showers and doing errands) because it either hurts to much or is to difficult to do. Now, motherhood and running a household is harder than ever. But, I am so blessed because I know that in a matter of weeks it will all be over. For others, they have to deal with physical limitations for the rest of their lives. My respect and admiration goes out to those people.

What did I do? Well, it has been 6 weeks since my stupid incident. It was a Sunday evening on the Labor Day weekend and my sister and her husband were stopping by our house on their way home from Yellow Stone. We were all in our garage and Mason needed to go to bed. So I ran into the house to put Mason down for the evening. After I put him in bed, I turned around and started walking toward the garage. I opened the door from the house to the garage and quickly come down the cement stairs. My left food hit the ground to the garage when I heard a crack inside my body and then felt a flood of the most excruciating pain I have ever felt in my life. Somehow I landed wrong on my foot and I fractured my foot and sprained my ankle.

I have never felt that kind of pain before. I am such a wuss when it comes to pain. I have never broken a bone or sprained an ankle, received stitches, or have had really anything bad happen to me physically. The worst thing I have every experienced occurred in January when I hit the door frame with my head (it hasn’t been a banner year for me).
The minute I hit the ground and felt the pain I was screaming and crying and carrying on like I had been shot in the leg. As I said, I don’t handle pain very well. I started going into shock because I was freaking out because it hurt so much. About an hour later (and 1000 mg of ibuprofen) I calmed down. Don’t get me wrong, it still hurt, but not the sharp, horrible pain that it had previously been.

Unfortunately, Insta Care was closed so I waited until the next day to go. They took some X-Rays and a CT-Scan to determine that I fractured my foot and sprained my ankle. They gave me a medical boot to wear first and then when I came back for my 2 week check-up, I got a hard cast on. The reason why I got a hard cast was because I wasn’t wearing my removable medical boot as often as I should. I thought it felt very uncomfortable. I didn’t realize how comfortable it was until I got a permanent cast on. I wore the permanent cast for a week when I came to the conclusion that the cast had to go. It hurt, it stinks (literally) and it is creating blisters and sores on my toes and leg. So, I asked Jordan to cut it off. He was a little hesitant at first, but being the handyman he is, he agreed to my proposal. To be honest, I think he thought it would be cool to do because he has never cut off someone’s cast before. So, he got out his Die Grinder and started grinding away. It took about 20 minutes to remove the beast, but I am happy to report that I am cast free or their wasn’t any blood shed. I am now wearing my hard boot and will for the next 3 weeks. I haven’t told my doctor but it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Here is a picture of the mangled cast..

Here is what I am wearing today and probably will for the next month or so...

Who is that Half-Naked Doggy in the Window?

Mason loves taking baths. After I give him a bath, he always wants me to wrap him up in a towel and then he prancing around the house with his towel. Honestly, if I would let him, he would walk around all day with nothing on but a towel. I think he is adorable, so I took some pictures.

Here is a pictue of him in with his doggy towel....