I hope this isn't sacrilegious to quote a prayer, but tonight Simon outdid himself which is hard to do. He usually fights to be the one to pray, and when it's someone else's turn, he says indignantly "but I never!". I try to have others pray just enough so that he has a good model for what a prayer should sound like, but when it is his turn again, they are always so funny but sincere that we all secretly like hearing him pray.
Here's what tonight's sounded like...
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Please bless daddy to make money. Please bless mommy to make dinners. Please bless Emmy to not text at special times. And please bless Connor to not mess up in Minecraft (a video game)
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen."
I mean, COME ON! How can you not bust up laughing in the middle of the prayer??
12/29/11
12/28/11
Merry Christmas 2011
Usually Christmas Eve is a whirlwind of activity rushing from celebrating with my mom and then over to my in-laws all in one night. This year we decided to spread things out a little and do a lunch at my mom's instead to give us more time. It was so nice not to be rushed or feel the pressure of not eating too much at my mom's so we had room for the feast at my in-laws.
After eating, we had a cousin talent show in which Simon sang his favorite new song "Nephi's Courage", Emmy sang "Only Hope" from the movie "A Walk to Remember", Connor showed one of his latest video projects, Elle told a story, Haley recited a poem, Paige did a handstand and Christian performed a magic trick where he tickled Elle without even touching her. Amazing! We then sang a few Christmas carols to my horrible accompaniment (we need a Ben Mayfield on this side of the family). Haley was the designated reader of the illustrated Christmas book that goes back to my childhood.
The soon-to-be-teenager and brand-new-teenager cousins were a little teenager-ish in their attitudes...
We even had time to go home afterwards and play with our gift from Grandma - a Kinect! The kids were so excited and I even got into the action a bit.
The Sharples celebration included a lot of yummy appetizers - sushi, cheese plates, caprese, meatballs, spinach artichoke dip, rolls, etc. - and a surprise visit from Santa! I suspected but the kids had NO idea and Simon's reaction was awesome. He wasn't afraid at all - I think we are past those days. Santa had a little gift for everyone. This is the same Santa who used to visit Zach when he was a kid and he is awesome.
Never too big to sit on Santa's lap!
Or too little ... Baby Paul's first encounter with the man in red
Christmas Jammies
I got Simon his jammies in Alaska and have been waiting anxiously to give them to him. The bottom has a button up flap that says "bear bottom" on it. I was HOPING to unbutton them and get a real bear bottom shot but he refused. He says he hates his jammies because they have words on his bum.
Aunt Linda who lives in Alexandria is always so generous in her gifts even though she hardly ever gets to see any of us. This year she gave pillow pets to the littlest, cute flower ring/watches to the teenage girls, and money and candy to Connor. She may not see these kids often but she's dialed in on what kids these ages like. Thanks, Aunt Linda!
After leaving the Sharples, Simon was so beat that he fell asleep in the car on the short ride home so we didn't even have to go through the leaving-cookies-out-for-Santa ritual. It was kind of sad not to do it for the first time ever. And thanks to my pre-Christmas prep, I had all the stockings ready to go and presents wrapped, so we were all in bed by about 9:00. Luckily my sister Misty saved us from going to be early when she called us in a panic about a Santa gift for her 5-year-old that went wrong. She needed us to go out looking for any store that might be open for a wooden art table and chairs. That livened our night up quite a bit, especially when we had a sighting of a prostitute obviously coming from "work" getting dropped off at Toys R Us with a wad of cash in her hands. She had sores all over her face and arms and was pretty clearly a meth addict from what I've seen. At first we were kind of entertained by the sight, but then a little sobered as we thought about what she thought she had to do to go buy last minute Christmas presents for her kids at home. It made me feel really grateful for my stable circumstances in life.
Christmas morning... Simon slept until 8:00 (bless his heart!) and the older kids rolled out of bed a little reluctantly. Zach, on the other hand, had been up several times during the night so excited about some "secret gift" he had been taunting me with for days. He couldn't sleep because of it and I had to tell him to go back to bed until the kids woke up. A little bass-ackwards if you ask me! Santa had come and left the kids each one present. He surprised Connor and Emmy with video games they didn't even ask for because they didn't know they were getting a Kinect. Funny how he knows everything. Simon got his Lego Earth Dragon he has asked for.
Emmy and I now wear the same shoe size, so between the two of us, we have lots of new shoes to wear. Nice!
Whenever we are all down on the floor, no matter where in the house, Yoshi has to be right in the middle of us. It's cute at times like this, but when we are playing a board game, he usually sits right on the game board.
The only thing Zach asked for - a Lotus shirt. Shipping from England is not so cheap.
Connor got an upgraded iPhone. Not that exciting to me since he already had an iPhone but he was pretty happy about it.
Yoshi enjoying his traditional gift of Vienna Sausages. He has come to expect it, I think.
And I got......... an iPad! I never even asked for one so I didn't suspect a thing. This is a look of true surprise on my face.
After eating, we had a cousin talent show in which Simon sang his favorite new song "Nephi's Courage", Emmy sang "Only Hope" from the movie "A Walk to Remember", Connor showed one of his latest video projects, Elle told a story, Haley recited a poem, Paige did a handstand and Christian performed a magic trick where he tickled Elle without even touching her. Amazing! We then sang a few Christmas carols to my horrible accompaniment (we need a Ben Mayfield on this side of the family). Haley was the designated reader of the illustrated Christmas book that goes back to my childhood.
The soon-to-be-teenager and brand-new-teenager cousins were a little teenager-ish in their attitudes...
We even had time to go home afterwards and play with our gift from Grandma - a Kinect! The kids were so excited and I even got into the action a bit.
The Sharples celebration included a lot of yummy appetizers - sushi, cheese plates, caprese, meatballs, spinach artichoke dip, rolls, etc. - and a surprise visit from Santa! I suspected but the kids had NO idea and Simon's reaction was awesome. He wasn't afraid at all - I think we are past those days. Santa had a little gift for everyone. This is the same Santa who used to visit Zach when he was a kid and he is awesome.
Never too big to sit on Santa's lap!
Or too little ... Baby Paul's first encounter with the man in red
Christmas Jammies
I got Simon his jammies in Alaska and have been waiting anxiously to give them to him. The bottom has a button up flap that says "bear bottom" on it. I was HOPING to unbutton them and get a real bear bottom shot but he refused. He says he hates his jammies because they have words on his bum.
Aunt Linda who lives in Alexandria is always so generous in her gifts even though she hardly ever gets to see any of us. This year she gave pillow pets to the littlest, cute flower ring/watches to the teenage girls, and money and candy to Connor. She may not see these kids often but she's dialed in on what kids these ages like. Thanks, Aunt Linda!
After leaving the Sharples, Simon was so beat that he fell asleep in the car on the short ride home so we didn't even have to go through the leaving-cookies-out-for-Santa ritual. It was kind of sad not to do it for the first time ever. And thanks to my pre-Christmas prep, I had all the stockings ready to go and presents wrapped, so we were all in bed by about 9:00. Luckily my sister Misty saved us from going to be early when she called us in a panic about a Santa gift for her 5-year-old that went wrong. She needed us to go out looking for any store that might be open for a wooden art table and chairs. That livened our night up quite a bit, especially when we had a sighting of a prostitute obviously coming from "work" getting dropped off at Toys R Us with a wad of cash in her hands. She had sores all over her face and arms and was pretty clearly a meth addict from what I've seen. At first we were kind of entertained by the sight, but then a little sobered as we thought about what she thought she had to do to go buy last minute Christmas presents for her kids at home. It made me feel really grateful for my stable circumstances in life.
Christmas morning... Simon slept until 8:00 (bless his heart!) and the older kids rolled out of bed a little reluctantly. Zach, on the other hand, had been up several times during the night so excited about some "secret gift" he had been taunting me with for days. He couldn't sleep because of it and I had to tell him to go back to bed until the kids woke up. A little bass-ackwards if you ask me! Santa had come and left the kids each one present. He surprised Connor and Emmy with video games they didn't even ask for because they didn't know they were getting a Kinect. Funny how he knows everything. Simon got his Lego Earth Dragon he has asked for.
Emmy and I now wear the same shoe size, so between the two of us, we have lots of new shoes to wear. Nice!
Whenever we are all down on the floor, no matter where in the house, Yoshi has to be right in the middle of us. It's cute at times like this, but when we are playing a board game, he usually sits right on the game board.
The only thing Zach asked for - a Lotus shirt. Shipping from England is not so cheap.
Connor got an upgraded iPhone. Not that exciting to me since he already had an iPhone but he was pretty happy about it.
Yoshi enjoying his traditional gift of Vienna Sausages. He has come to expect it, I think.
And I got......... an iPad! I never even asked for one so I didn't suspect a thing. This is a look of true surprise on my face.
Best Christmas Gift EVER
Just a few days before Christmas, Zach's youngest sister Melissa delivered her first baby, a 7 lb. 20" little guy named Paul Robert Larkin. I was lucky enough to be invited into the delivery room along with Zach's mom and 3 other sisters, and of course Melissa's husband, Nick. We were one person over IMC's limit of 5 in the room, so we juggled around a little to give everyone some time in the room during a long day of labor. At the very end, the nurses were lenient and let us all be in the room and when he finally made his grand entrance, everyone was crying. It was such a beautiful thing to see two people who love each other so much experience childbirth together for the first time. There is nothing like it in the world. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, Baby Paul!
12/21/11
Emmy's Holiday Shin Dig
A few weeks ago, Emmy was trying to figure out a way to put together a last minute holiday party for her friends. In particular, a boy that she hasn't seen for a few years since they went to elementary together but just recently started talking on Facebook. Zach got that look on his face that told me he was brewing some great idea. Sure enough, the next day he came home from work with a stack of these printed in poster size...
She invited about 30 kids and surprisingly almost all of them came. I wondered with it being mid-December if people would have other plans. I didn't get pictures of all of them because they were all over the place. Zach and I stayed long enough to buy pizza and drinks and make sure they were behaving themselves, then we left them on their own for a few hours.
Now we get to plan a birthday party for her in a few weeks! I wonder what Zach will come up with, since he is our party planner.
She invited about 30 kids and surprisingly almost all of them came. I wondered with it being mid-December if people would have other plans. I didn't get pictures of all of them because they were all over the place. Zach and I stayed long enough to buy pizza and drinks and make sure they were behaving themselves, then we left them on their own for a few hours.
Now we get to plan a birthday party for her in a few weeks! I wonder what Zach will come up with, since he is our party planner.
12/20/11
The "S" Night
Sometimes Zach comes up with Silly ideas that I think are a waste of time, money and effort. But I go along with it because he seems to get such enjoyment out of it. This happened recently when we were writing down our ideas of activities to do during the holiday season. Among my obvious suggestions like Festival of Trees (check), Dickens Festival (check), decorate cookies (check), he submitted "Take your favorite Senior citizen to Sizzler". Wait - what? How is that Christmas related? The Senior citizen he had in mind was my mom (who is not a senior citizen mind you, at least not the Stereotypical one). When we proprosed the idea to her, she thought we were joking because to her, Sizzler is where old people eat. We had to really assure her that we go there from time to time so Zach can satisfy his semi-annual craving for their Malibu Chicken. She reluctantly went along, still thinking that we were joking. We weren't! After dinner, we drove around Sight-Seeing Christmas lights while Sipping hot chocolate from Starbucks. Thanks, Zach, for making me do Seemingly Silly Stuff which turns out Satisfying!
Partying at the Mayfields
My sister Misty has just moved into a beautifully redone older home with LOTS of space, which means that she gets to host every family party from here on out! Until I get a bigger pad, that is. The Farley Family Christmas party was last Sunday and was great except for the fact that we were missing my oldest sister Erin and her family who live in California now.
Zach has become a cheese connoisseur lately and brought a sampling of his favorite appetizers.
Caprese salad with the balsamic glaze he was so excited to find at the Dickens Festival.
So patiently waiting for the gift exchange game to begin
Simon recognized the shape and wrapping paper of a gift we brought - a giant rice krispy square and a huge Hershey's bar - and he picked that for himself on the first round. I had to explain to him that it would probably get stolen from him, a notion that doesn't usually go over very well with 4-year-olds. But when it actually was stolen, he took it really well. I was so proud of him for not having a melt down which I fully expected.
The hand-off to his cousin Paige (who didn't end up with it either!)
Both Connor and Christian were pretty relieved that they didn't choose the (super cute) bag.
Grandma opening her present while Emmy is being pestered to death by the boys. She secretly loves it.
I always do this - bring a white elephant that I secretly hope I get in the end. In this case, it was my favorite romantic movie from the 80's "Somewhere in Time". I totally indulged myself yesterday and watched it during the day while the kids were at school and I wrapped Christmas presents.
What a good dad! Mike stole this lip gloss set for his daughter, but it was stolen away from him. Sometimes I hate this game!
I love being with my sisters. It doesn't happen near enough. They are both such good examples to me and so much fun.
Quinn and Heather. Three of her kids and one of his were there although they didn't make it in any of my pictures.
Mom is the tie that binds us all together. If it weren't for her and my Dad, none of us would be here!
Zach has become a cheese connoisseur lately and brought a sampling of his favorite appetizers.
Caprese salad with the balsamic glaze he was so excited to find at the Dickens Festival.
So patiently waiting for the gift exchange game to begin
Simon recognized the shape and wrapping paper of a gift we brought - a giant rice krispy square and a huge Hershey's bar - and he picked that for himself on the first round. I had to explain to him that it would probably get stolen from him, a notion that doesn't usually go over very well with 4-year-olds. But when it actually was stolen, he took it really well. I was so proud of him for not having a melt down which I fully expected.
The hand-off to his cousin Paige (who didn't end up with it either!)
Both Connor and Christian were pretty relieved that they didn't choose the (super cute) bag.
Grandma opening her present while Emmy is being pestered to death by the boys. She secretly loves it.
I always do this - bring a white elephant that I secretly hope I get in the end. In this case, it was my favorite romantic movie from the 80's "Somewhere in Time". I totally indulged myself yesterday and watched it during the day while the kids were at school and I wrapped Christmas presents.
What a good dad! Mike stole this lip gloss set for his daughter, but it was stolen away from him. Sometimes I hate this game!
I love being with my sisters. It doesn't happen near enough. They are both such good examples to me and so much fun.
Quinn and Heather. Three of her kids and one of his were there although they didn't make it in any of my pictures.
Mom is the tie that binds us all together. If it weren't for her and my Dad, none of us would be here!
Clayton Christmas Concert 2011
Saturday night marked Emmy's final Clayton performance, at least as part of a singing/dancing performing group. She is going to continue in their Harmony a capella group to keep up on her vocal skills. After the concert, Emmy said goodbye to members of her group "Jammin", some of them hearing for the first time that she won't be going on tour with them to Branson, Missouri in June. So it was pretty sad and there were a few tears. I'm just glad to know she will still have a tie to this awesome performing studio through Harmony and that if she ever changes her mind, she can always go back.
The finale is always a song written by Kim Clayton and they are usually my favorite part of the night because they end the evening on a very touching and spiritual note. It's one of the things I love about this studio.
Speaking of things I love about Clayton (and I didn't get a picture of it) ... is their special needs group "Starstruck". My friend Julia Pehrson co-directs this group and they rocked the house with a gospel medley. There's only about 5 or 6 people in it, but I get emotional whenever they perform and they get the biggest applause of the night.
Saying goodbye to Kim...
Vanessa Lopez (Kim's daughter), Emmy's teacher for the last 2 years
Emmy with a few of the girls from her group.
Emmy's cute friend, Jo Juliano. He is a few years younger than her but they formed a friendship on their tour to LA last year. He was holding back the tears when she told him she wasn't coming back.
One thing I've learned from being involved in performing arts myself, watching my siblings, and now Emmy is that there is a lot of touchy/feely emotions between these kids. When I pick her up, she hugs everyone (teachers and boys included) and "I love you" is not uncommon to hear between both girls and boys. I love that they feel so free to express their emotions even at such a young age. I doubt that happens in sports at this age but I wouldn't know.
After we got home, there was only one thing I could think of doing to lift Emmy's somber mood....
and it took some guts....
I just HAD to try on her shiny costume! It totally worked and made us laugh until we peed. Luckily the pants were stretchy and probably damaged beyond wearability again. Good thing she doesn't need to wear them again. I, on the other hand, just might show up to Bonko or book club in them!
12/9/11
The Dickens Festival
Emmy performed last night at the Dickens Festival, an Olde England-themed Christmas boutique held at the Utah State fair grounds. I have memories of going to the Dickens Festival when I was a kid but it seemed so much more Dickens-ish than it does now. It spans 4 buildings so there are a lot of things to look at! I should have known that we couldn't get out of there without dropping a wad of cash. Zach couldn't resist the good balsalmic oil booth and Simon came away with a light up sword and an Angry Birds hat. Simon also talked to Father Christmas about what he is hoping to get this year. He had Zach pull up a picture of it on his phone so he could show Santa which got a laugh. I guess he was the first kid this year to do that.
Emmy has decided to quit Clayton Productions which makes me SO sad, so this is one of her last few performances. I tear up more and more as we get closer to the end of her Clayton days. To see her perform you wouldn't be able to tell that she has lost her love for it, but I know she has and I commend her for having just as much enthusiasm on stage even though she isn't really feeling it anymore. Zach and I tease her that she decided to quit because her group got the most obnoxious medley EVER (songs all about Frosty the Snowman) but she swears that isn't the reason.
Emmy has decided to quit Clayton Productions which makes me SO sad, so this is one of her last few performances. I tear up more and more as we get closer to the end of her Clayton days. To see her perform you wouldn't be able to tell that she has lost her love for it, but I know she has and I commend her for having just as much enthusiasm on stage even though she isn't really feeling it anymore. Zach and I tease her that she decided to quit because her group got the most obnoxious medley EVER (songs all about Frosty the Snowman) but she swears that isn't the reason.
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