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

Snow!

The boys had been clamoring to get out in the snow ever since we got a pretty good snow storm. We had a snow ball fight with friends one day and the next day we spent some time making snow angels and building snow men. It was a lot of fun to play together. Zachary was asleep during this time, but he did get some moments to shovel the snow and dig around in it later.

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.

Thanksgiving

As always, I am late on posting things. Someday I will be on the ball, but I figure that may take awhile. So don't hold your breath. :)

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Tams for the weekend. There was lots of eating, playing, and all around good times. We spent some time looking at the Black Friday ads (and buying everything online instead of heading to the store!).

We built some Legos with Grandpa

And made the annual gingerbread houses

It was a very fun weekend and of course went by very quickly. We were very grateful to be with family and reflect upon the many, many blessings we have received from our Heavenly Father.