Rolled Oats for Christmas

As all parents do, we worry about how our children will react on Christmas. We wonder if we are spoiling them or if they aren't grateful for their countless blessings. This year Matthew was un-wrapping some play-doh that was hidden in a old can of Rolled Oats. As he ripped open the paper and he read the label on the can, he proclaimed: "I love this Oatmeal!" With continued enthusiasm he really showed he was truly grateful for all that he was given...even Rolled Oats. Later that night after we put Matthew to bed he crept back into our bedroom to Thank us for the wonderful Christmas. This Christmas will always be special for me and I won't be able to look at a can of rolled oats the same way again.

Merry Christmas!

Once again the time has come for a year in review. This year has been a great year for our family, full of fun and adventure.

Matthew, age six, started kindergarten and is loving it. He has a great teacher and loves going to school. Matthew was also involved with his first soccer team. Although it was more bunch ball than soccer he now loves soccer and actively follows Real Salt Lake. Matthew loves Legos, Star Wars, and reading.

Ryan, age four, started preschool and goes for the toys! Ryan loves dirt and rocks and likes to collect said items. If you are missing some rocks, I’m sure we have them at our house. Ryan also loves Legos, superheroes, cars, and trains. Ryan is starting to sound out words and enjoys disagreeing with everything Matthew states. Ryan loves to sing and this year he started to make up his bedtime songs.

Zach, age two, is built like a linebacker, and needs to be to protect himself from his older brothers. (Sometimes we have to protect his older brothers from Zach). Zach started nursery this year and at first was apprehensive, but now he lets us know when sacrament meeting is running long (his internal clock is incredibly accurate) and it is time for class to start. Zach loves anything his brothers are playing with and has requested his own lightsaber.

Amy, age withheld, stays busy keeping up with three active boys. She sped through some independent study courses at the beginning of the year to renew her teaching certificate. She is very grateful for our wonderful neighbors and the time she gets to spend with others of the X chromosome. Amy spent half the year teaching CTR 9 and the Activity Girls, but was recently called to be a counselor in the Relief Society in our ward. Amy is also very busy making preparations for our fourth little boy due in March of 2011.

Kevin, age unknown, is still the Director of Web Architecture and loves working with the Internet. He is thrilled to have a garage, a short commute, a basement, a garden, and a backyard. He also survived the family’s first camping trip that started at 6pm and ended before 6am the next morning. After teaching CTR 9 with Amy for a few months, he was called to be the Elders Quorum secretary.

Overall, we can’t adequately express our gratitude for this past year. We have felt the Savior’s involvement in our daily life and we have been blessed. Our family echoes President Uchtdorf’s counsel stating: “I pray that during this season and always, we will see the purity of the story of the Savior’s birth and feel sincere gratitude for His life, teachings, and saving sacrifice for us. May this gratitude cause us to renew our determination to follow Him. May it also lead us to draw closer to our family, our church, and our fellowmen. And may we look steadfastly forward to that blessed day when the resurrected Christ will walk the earth again as our Lord, our King, and our blessed Savior.”

Merry Christmas!

The Tams Family

Temple Square

The boys got an extra special treat over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we got to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Tuft at Temple Square. They were so excited to see the lights this year. For some reason Ryan was especially interested in everything. He talked very loudly and excitedly about every color and size of tree he saw. They loved the "activities" (nativities) and the view of the Salt Lake Temple with the floating bubbles on the water (sorry, no picture). On the way back to the car, we saw some horse-drawn carriages waiting on the side of the road. Ryan didn't believe the horses were real until he actually saw one driving down the road. He was very pleased to see a real horse. The boys were also very excited to go out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a lot of fun and reminded us of how close Christmas really is!




And yes, that is Matthew, a six-year-old, in the stroller. Although he did walk for some of it, he thought it would be great to be pushed around during certain parts. I don't know if you could call it lazy or just brilliant.

Temple Square

We went to see the lights this weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Tuft and the Andrew cousins. It was pretty cold, but we had a great time (aside from getting separated once or twice).

The temple looked so pretty with the lights and a small covering of fog.



Matthew said his favorite part was the Nativity and the Christus statue.

Ryan liked everything. When asked what color of lights was his favorite he responded, "Blue, green , red, pink, purple, orange...." Glad he liked it!

Zachary wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole thing. I think he would have liked to get down and run around, but he was too bundled up to move.

Afterward we went to IHOP for some hot chocolate and pancakes. The kids had a great time with their cousins, but I didn't bring the camera in, so no pictures. It is finally starting to feel like Christmas. Are there really only 5 days to go?

Firsts

We've had a lot of firsts lately. The big news is we spent the first night in our new home recently! After selling our first home we finally found a new place to live. We are still trying to get things organized and put away, but we are making progress. It has been fun to put together a brand new place and the boys have LOVED exploring.

Our first time at church had some new moments as well. While in sacrament meeting Matthew leaned over to me and told me he was nervous about the new church. I asked him why and he said he was expecting orange lights to be along the sides of the chapel. (?) I told him there was nothing to worry about and that he was going to have fun in his new Primary class. I could tell I wasn't convincing him, so I tried to think of something else to say. I happened to glance up at the pulpit and knew I had my answer. "Matthew," I whispered, "there may not be any orange lights, but there are pink seats on the stand." He looked up and with a huge grin on his face said, "Pink is my favorite color." I knew we would be okay.

A little later on we sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Ryan had the hymn book open and was singing along in his own little way. All of a sudden he perked up and said, "Hey, that's the Charlie Brown song!" That's the first time Charlie Brown has been mentioned at church. I knew Ryan was going to like it here too. But I think we may need to work a little more on the meanings behind the songs.

We are excited for all new things that will come our way, especially our first Christmas! Here is a picture of the boys with the Christmas tree and our first fireplace. (Ornaments soon to come!) I think it is adorable, but of course I'm extremely biased.

We also want to send out a special thank you to everyone who helped us move. We have been very blessed by your service. Thank you.

Christmas Lights and Santa

For Family Home Evening, we went to the "Fantasy at the Bay" Christmas display in Willard. We were able to drive around in our warm car and see the fun Christmas displays. The lights were nice and the kids loved it - especially the ones that looked like dinosaurs. After the lights we got in line to see Santa...and waited for two minutes...awesome! Santa was very kind and unlike last year our kids were excited to see him.

Santa asked Matthew if he listened to his parents, if he went to bed on time and if he was good. Matthew said yes (mostly true). Matthew told Santa that he wanted Lego Star Wars and Lego Space Police.
Santa asked Ryan if he was good...he said yes. Ryan asked for some cars games and some toys.
Zach, wasn't quite sure what to think of Santa.In the end, Zach wasn't a fan of Santa. Look at that sad face.
After visiting with Santa, candy canes were eaten, the Christmas spirit was felt, and an amazing battle on the Lego Star Wars video game was played! Isn't Christmas Fun!

We need a little Christmas!

So Thanksgiving, black Friday, and cyber Monday have come and gone and we still haven't blogged anything about our adventures. We spent Thanksgiving with Amy's parents in West Jordan. It was a lot of fun for Matthew and Ryan to play with their cousins Makenna, Dillon, and Mylie. It was great to see them all. Matthew enjoyed the olives...who doesn't? Ryan really got into the post turkey tryptophan-induced lounging. The real challenge came in preventing our two little boys from destroying their grandparents' home.

It seems that our boys have this "ability" to get into trouble.
And like all superheros when the two get together there is no human possible way to stop them. I'm not quite sure if I want to classify them as superheros or diabolical masterminds. Ryan, believe it or not, tends to be the initiator. If Matthew gets put into timeout Ryan is right behind trying to get him out and into more trouble.

As the boys were putting up the Christmas tree we were reminded why we only decorate the bottom half. But we also came upon a new discovery: a three-year-old has the same tendency to pull things off the tree as his one-year-old brother. Matthew also has the firm belief that ornaments can only hang on the lights.

Ryan is starting to say more words (of course we are the only ones who can understand what he is saying). He now says, Wow, Thank you, (Day Do) Mom, Milk (Mah), Matthew (Ma Ma), Dad (Da), Good night (Oo ni), woof (boof), hot dog (ha da), and moo (boo).

Matthew is also fun as ever. This is part of his prayer from FHE last night, "Grateful to have Family Home Evening and bless that we will have a REALLY BIG treat." I guess that demonstrates Matthew's motivation for attendance. He also told us that when he gets big he will go to school on the bus and Ryan will be sad, but he will come back from school to do his homework and Ryan will be happy again. Dreaming about homework? I'm sure that comes from Amy.