All Benjamin

 Callum holding a very sleepy Benjamin.

 "Cheese"

 Brienna & Ben

 Peek-a-boo!

 Are you talking to me?

One of Benjamin's favorite things to do is take pictures with the camera.  And a lot of the time he does a pretty decent job.  Here is the world as Benjamin sees it:

Christmas Call from our Elder!

Christmas afternoon we waited for the much-anticipated phone call from Ethan.

Brienna answered the phone, and we put it on speaker phone so we could all talk & hear the same conversation.

It was great to hear Ethan's voice.  I feel fortunate that I am able to e-mail him each week--and a lot of the times we are on-line at the same time so we can e-mail back & forth numerous times.

We talked for about 10-15 minutes when our cordless phone warned us of "low battery".

And a minute later, the battery died.  Luckily we had picked up the other phone (corded) phone & we were able to talk to him for about another hour.

He sounded great--he had been sick a couple of times, but said he was finally feeling better.  I videoed the first 10 minutes that we were on speaker phone.  I can't remember a lot of what we talked about, but it was great that all the kids were able to talk to him.  We did decide that before the next phone call on Mother's Day, we will be buying a new phone with speaker-phone--and I want to take a few notes about our conversation so I can remember more.

After we talked, everyone finished packing for our trip.  I was so very tired (from staying up waiting for Santa, talking to Ethan & busy days the past week) & I guess things finally caught up to me.  So I told Rusty I just needed to lay down for about 30 minutes (it was 6:15) & then I could finish getting things ready for our trip.  

I vaguely remember the kids coming in one time, but the next thing I knew--it was 5:30 AM!  Yes--I had slept 11 hours!  The last time I had slept that long was--BC (before children).  I really must of needed that rest & sleep.  I thought it was a little early to get up, so I laid there until about 6:30 & then got up to finish getting things gathered for the trip.  I also pakced food for lunch.  We finally had everything loaded & ready to go at 8:45 am.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning

We ate our "traditional" Christmas meal on Christmas Eve (ham, homemade rolls, potato salad, deviled eggs, & celery stuffed w/cheese & peanut butter).  I try to find a day in the week before Christmas that isn't too busy so I can make the dinner without feeling "stressed" & having the mess to clean up.

After driving (Brienna drove) around town looking at the Christmas lights, the kids opened their sibling gifts on Christmas Eve.  I loved how all of them were excited about what they received and what they gave.

 And I also love that they only have the 1 present to enjoy for the evening.

 We also required that all the gifts needed to be homemade.  Then we watched "Mr. Kruger's Christmas" & the kids all camped out in one bedroom.  They were all in bed by 10 pm!

 Our Christmas stockings all filled & Santa left us some presents.

 Christmas morning--the boys set their alarm & got up at 4.  They watched a movie & then about 7, we all got up and watched "The Nativity" (about 3 minutes) & I listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas songs (all on the "Mr. Kruger's Christmas dvd) while we opened presents.

Emmalee's gift from Santa.

We were only going to open our Santa gift(s) & go through our stockings before we ate our breakfast (Rusty makes omlettes every Christmas morning)--but it was early enough that we ended up opening all of the presesnts.

 Ben was thrilled--a Scooby-Doo puzzle from Santa!

 And Callum now has enough spy gear to be a detective!

 Santa's gift to the family.

 Although this pictures is blurry, I had to include it because you can't beat the happiness on Ben's face--all because he found a "huge" piece of wrapping paper!  While we were opening presents, Ben would go around and gather all the wrapping paper to stuff in a garbage bag--and we didn't even have to ask him. So when we were done opening presents, there wasn't much of a mess (at least from wrapping paper).

 We ate the delicious omlettes Rusty made us, then went to chruch at 10 am.  I played the organ & "sang" in the choir (as I played the piano).  It was a good day at church.  Then we headed home to actually see everything that everyone received for Christmas & to pack for our trip to Wyoming on Monday.

Callum showing off his long skinny johns.

And Benjamin had to show off his new jammies also.

Christmas Newsletter

Now that Christmas is over, I thought I would post our Christmas newsletter.

Brienna typed it up for us, and I put the pictures in.

(You need to click on each page in order to see both columns.)

Benjamin is doing great today--back to his normal self by the afternoon.  He wanted to be held a lot this morning.  Thanks for your prayers and thoughts!  And his teeth look awesome, and no complaints from him!

It's a good thing I have a sense of humor--while we were in town today (Rusty and I went to the temple and got our last-minute Christmas things along with a few groceries), Brienna cleaned the house (swept & vacuumed).  But when we got home, she said the vacuum wasn't picking up very well, and "stuff" had actually fell out into a nice (not) pile on the carpet.  So I turned it on to check it out & is smelled like burning rubber.  JOY!

But thanks for cleaning, Brienna--the house looked great.  Rusty said he's look at it tomorrow--and hopes its a just a belt.  We have extra belts and he can change those.  So cross your fingers!

I really would like to clean up the mess of "dirt/dust bunnies/stuff" that fell out of the vacuum--plus the kids at popcorn while we watched "A Walton's Homecoming--A Christmas Story" & I am certain more popcorn found it's way to the floor that found it's way to their mouths!

Brienna has been awesome today--not only did she sweep, vacuum & clean the bathroom, but while I was reading to the 2 little ones & putting the to bed, I fell asleep (surprise, surprise!) and so she went ahead and washed, dried and put away the dishes from today!  What a great Christmas present!  I knew I probably wouldn't be able to stay awake very easily tonight when I was dozing during the movie, and I could hardly keep my eyes opened when reading the books.  I had to stop half-way through the last book because I kept dropping the book.  

That must mean that it's time for me to finish up and  head to bed.  Good night!

When it Rains, It Pours

I told Rusty we need to one or all of the following:  build an ark, buy flood insurance and/or always carry an umbrella with us.

Because now our dishwasher is not working--(sad face).  Last night I started a load of dishes, then went to read/put the 2 youngest to bed.  I planned on putting the dishes away last night & then starting another load before I went to bed.  We had a lot of dishes because I had been baking a lot, and the kids had decorated/frosted cookies & put the on a few pans & containers.  Plus we had bowls from frosting and frying pans from dinner.

So Rusty took the door apart to see if he could figure out the problem.  After an hour, he decided that it had been a long enough day, and he would look some things up on the internet to see what else he could check.  So no "quick" fix for the dishwasher!

Brienna had already washed a load of dishes earlier, so I finished washing & had 4 dish-drainer loads & then put the rest of the pans on the stove to dry.  At least my hands are nice & clean!

As I was washing the dishes, I was thinking that I should be grouchier/grumpier than I am because of all the challenges that have come our way--but I'm not.  I guess I am taking them with a grain of salt & looking at the bigger picture--at everything I am blessed with.  I was reminded of the article in the Dec. 2011 Ensign magazine about "Choosing to be GRATEFUL" and I realized I truly AM grateful.  

So if we (well, Rusty) can't fix the dishwasher, such is life & we'll live through washing dishes a couple times a day (my parents never had & still don't have a dishwasher).  

I believe that we really are "spoiled" and have some many "luxuries" that I need to be grateful that all of our "needs" are so fully covered.  We have a warm home, good health, & plenty of food in our food storage & freezers.  Everything else is just a bonus!

Benjamin's Dental Day Surgery

Benjamin has "inherited" the Carter side of "bad" teeth.  

 He had 10 (or more?) teeth worked on on Thursday, Dec. 22nd.  Which also happened to be my Dad's birthday!  Happy Birthday, Dad!

He was a bit apprehensive when we first arrived at the hospital & did not want to be weighed and measured.  So Rusty had to be weighed & then weighed again holding Benjamin.  Ben is 31 pounds and 31 inches tall.

 He was able to take his own blanket, pillow & stuffed animal with him.  We settled into a room to wait for anesthesia to come talk to us & wait until the dentist was almost done with the patient before us. 

 

 He was happy--for the time being.  He was able to watch a bit of "Sponge Bob" & then he was lucky enough to watch some of "Toy Story".  And in all of his excitement, he pushed the "nurse" call button on the remote--oops!

 He was so cute in the way, way too big hospital gown, pants & slipper socks.  

He also got a new teddy bear--orange to match his coat & our school colors. 

 He was such a good boy--the whole time.  Usually he doesn't take medicine very well, unless it is the chewable bubble gum Tylenol, but he surprised us all & took it like a pro!  He did say he was hungry once, so he maybe that is why he took the medicine so well.  Once he took the medicine, he was able to drink 1 teaspoon of water--he thought that was a treat! 

 He is just adorable!

 Here he is getting wheeled to the surgery holding room.  Usually they only let 1 family member in the room (there were about 6 other patients in there)

 but they said we both could go.  So we turned the "Toy Story" movie back on for a few minutes.

 The medicine he took earlier didn't have much of an effect on him!  After signing a ton of paperwork & permission papers and a handful of nurses asking us if we had any questions, the anesthesiologist came & started playing with Ben.  He told us he would just take him to the operating room before they gave he any more medicine, and if he started crying they wouldn't stop to let us comfort him.  

But as soon as the nurse & anesthesiologist started playing with his stuffed animals & talking "Toy Story", he was all smiles and headed off to surgery.

 He went into surgery just before 11 am (we arrived at the hospital at 9 & his surgery was scheduled for 10:30) & they told us he would be in for about 2 1/2 hours.  After we were settled in at the surgery waiting room, Rusty ran a couple of errands.  He picked up his banjo strings, bought the heating element for the dryer (YAY!), & found a hinge for our pantry door.  Then he bought us Subway sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria (yummy!).

One of the nurses called a little before 1pm and said that everything was going great & Dr. Baker expected to be another 1/2 hour.

 At 1:30, Dr. Baker talked to us about what he had done (3 crowns, 5 fillings, and some other work on all of his front teeth) & said that Ben would probably be sore from having his mouth opened for so long, be tired from being under so long, and that his gums would probably be sore.  We were to feed him liquids and soft food for the rest of the day, and then back to normal on Friday.

 So at 1:45 we were able to be with Ben.  He had woken up a bit in recovery, so they brought him back to his room, but he went right back to sleep.  The nurses said that is was okay, but when he woke up, we needed to try to get him to drink some.  

 He still had an IV in his hand & an oxygen monitor taped onto his big toe.  His lips were swollen & dry, and when he first woke up, he had that "glazed" look.  They said he might be nauseous.  But all he did was burp a few times, and then wanted to be held. 

 So I gathered the IV tubes & the oxygen monitor cord & held him for about an hour.  He finally decided he wanted to drink some apple juice that they brought in a cute sippy cup.  After he drank the first one & was awake for a while, the nurse came with discharge papers.

We got him dressed and gathered all of our things.

 And then he was able to ride in the wagon to the van.

 He was tired once we got in the van...

 and was asleep within 10 minutes of leaving the hospital.  He slept the whole way home.

Everyone was glad to see him when he was home, and Emmalee made a comfortable place for him on the couch.  They let him pick a movie to watch & then took care of him.

He finally got his appetite around 6:30.  He ate 3 pieces of toast with peanut butter, a little mashed potatoes & gravy, and some of a smoothie.  He drank another 2 cups of apple juice too.

Brienna, Zane & Callum went to the basketball games (both boys teams won, girls lost--against North Gem) while Rusty fixed the dryer.  I am thankful that Rusty is able to repair so many things that break down--otherwise I think we would be going without a lot of things!