Christmas 2014

 Christmas 2014 has come and gone all too quickly.  With thanksgiving being late this year and Mat and I being gone the first week of December we had to pack a lot of things into a short amount of time. It's ok though, it's not like we needed to have time for sickness or emergency surgeries or anything...

 Once Mat and I were back home from our trip I was excited to get some Christmas fun going!  I decided to attempt making gingerbread houses from scratch again...  The kids said the house smelled great!  I didn't notice as I spent 4 hours mixing the houses and baking them.  

 The kids had a blast putting them together.  I didn't notice as by the time we got 6 house built and the frosting workable I was exhausted and snuck away to the relief society party.

 I did get to see the finished products and they were pretty great.  I'm not sure if they were great enough not to come from a pre made kit next year but they were pretty great.

 As mentioned in my previous post we went to Salt Lake.  We watched Bailey rock it at her cheer comp competing on two teams.  We played with cousins and had an impromptu Christmas party.  We went on the Heber Creeper with first class tickets and enjoyed hot cocoa, cookies, and singing as the train literally crept along the mountainside.  

 I made fudge one Sunday and caramel another.  We hosted an ugly sweater party for friends.  I had a quick activity days party as well as put together a crazy teacher's Christmas lunch.

 We read multiple stories before bed. 

 Mat, Caleb and I all got sick.  Bailey had surgery.  Before we knew it, Christmas was here. 

Santa found us and the kids rejoiced.

Every gift anticipated for months had indeed arrived and smiles were seen all around. 

 Mat and my hearts melted to see our kids happiness.

 We were all truly blessed.  

With decorations, gifts, yuletide celebrations all around, we celebrated the birth of our Savior as we spent time loving and caring for one another and feeling peace as Mat read out of Luke Christmas Eve night.  Pretty incredible.

Bailey's Christmas...

When you go from one moment of doing jumps, tumbles, and stunts, and then a few hours later your lying in a hospital bed it's never fun.  Extra bummer when it's the week before Christmas.

Bailey competed for her first time as a level 4 with her team on the 14th.  They did incredible given that it was their first comp of the season AND that they've never had a level 4 team before.  They had a couple of slight imperfections in their routine and didn't end up placing but it was a very close division against very large gyms with seasoned teams. We were extremely proud of our baby girl. We enjoyed the weekend in Salt Lake.  We took our kids on the "Polar Express" aka the Heber Creeper and spent time playing with cousins.  Monday came and went as usual. The kids went to school and Bailey and Peyton went to cheer after.  Other than I had caught a cold and wasn't functioning that well all seemed normal.  About 3:00am Bailey came in saying that she hadn't slept and her stomach was hurting.  I was sick and didn't respond.  Mat told her to drink some sprite and get to bed.  When morning came Bailey said she didn't think she should go to school as she hadn't slept at all and the sprite didn't help.  Reluctantly we told her she could stay home.  Caleb had already been in our room earlier saying he was sick and was back in bed as well.  I just thought we were all coming down with a Christmas bug.  When Bailey finally emerged that morning again she looked very pale.  She had been vomiting quite a bit and her symptoms weren't similar at all to mine and Caleb's.  Then I happened to see her texts to her friends saying she had sharp pains in her stomach and thought "oh oh".  I calmly asked her where her pain was coming from and decided she needed to see the family doctor.  They were able to see us 45 minutes later.  

 The appointment began like any other visit.  We waited in the waiting room until her name was called. they measured her height and weighed her.  Took her blood pressure and everything seemed normal.  She gave her symptoms to the nurse and the nurse said "well, that sounds like the flu and it's going around".  I told the nurse that she didn't say that she had sharp pains in her right side and the appointment quickly changed.  The nurse said we should have came directly back and we saw the doctor pretty quick.  He said since Bailey wasn't running a fever that they wanted to run a few quick labs on her to decide if she needed to see a surgeon but keep her out of the ER.  The tests came back and they notified a surgeon.  We were told the surgeon wanted to make sure that Bailey was suffering from appendicitis and not a cyst which wouldn't be surgical.  We were sent to the hospital imaging center.  They gave Bailey an ultrasound.  The tech said she found Bailey's appendix which meant something was wrong as she typically can't seem them on ultrasounds so we headed up to surgery.

 A few hours later our little girl was appendix free.  Her pain was at a 10 as we arrived at the hospital.  I felt horrible that I had let her go all day in pain like that.  She's such a champ and never told us how much she was hurting.  After the surgery she was groggy but said she felt much better.  She asked for my phone to instagram a pic as soon as we saw her in recovery.  A little over an hour after the surgery was over we were able to take her home!  

 It was such a long crazy day.  I was incredibly grateful for modern medicine that easily relieved my little girl of a painful and serious infection.  I was grateful that our other kids were home and watched over.  I was grateful that she was able to come home with us that night and sleep in her own bed.  I'm grateful that she is recovering quickly!  A little too quickly as a few days post surgery she was caught back flipping on the trampoline...

Thanksgiving?

 Those couples that ditch their kids on holiday weekends to jet off to the Caribbean...YUP we are them!  We DID celebrate Thanksgiving traditionally on the 4th Thursday of November eating Turkey and playing kickball with our kids.  The day after however, we DID watch a couple of Easton's soccer games in the traditional Thanksgiving tournament, but shortly after caught a flight to Fort Lauderdale and snuck away for a week on a cruise.

 Of course the last vacation that was just Mat and I was when Peyton was less than a year old.  We were due for our own time together as well as it being MUCH needed time together.

 We visited Princess Cays in the Bahamas as well as the islands of Curacao and Aruba.  Not too shabby to be in the Caribbean during the first week of December.  When we finally were back in Port Everglades we began receiving all of our missed texts as well as new texts with many pics attached of SNOW!

Apparently it snowed not once but twice while we were away in good ol' Southern Utah and was snowing quite heavily as we were beginning our route home.  I had looked at temps for St. George after a quick stop at a wifi stop in Curacao and thought my phone and switched to Celsius readings because the temps were significantly less than when we left in fact I'd never seen temps that low in St. George.  We had a brief stop in Dallas on our way to Florida and Mat questioned me with concern as we were eating lunch in our shorts and t-shirts about having a stop on our way home.  Dallas had cancelled 2,500 flights!  Luckily we did in fact have a direct flight.

After hearing various reports of the gorge being unsafe to travel and finally hearing that it was closed we were thinking we would need to stay the night in Vegas.  We decided to fill the car up with gas and try our luck going over Utah Mountain.  It took us over 3 hours to finally get home to our kids and we came home to a complete winter wonderland!  I was shocked at how incredibly cold it was and that the snow stayed for weeks!  I felt guilty that we didn't get to watch Easton's team take the championship that weekend and that we didn't get to take the kids Christmas tree hunting.  I felt guilty that I didn't get to watch my kids delight as they watched the snow fall.  I felt guilty until I actually returned home and felt the frigid cold.  Then I couldn't figure why we didn't just have the kids flown to Florida to join us. :)

Caleb's First Geckathon

 Following in the footsteps of his big sister Caleb participated in the Lava Ridge Geckathon.  It's a mini triathlon for the students at the 6th and 7th grade center.  40 boys and 40 girls swim 300 meters, bike 4 miles, and run two miles.  It's such a fun event that the school hosts. 

 Caleb didn't exactly burst at the seams with excitement to compete in it but DID want a GoPro for Christmas and a hint or two that IF he wanted one he MAY want to compete...

He didn't beat his big sister's time but he did amazing!  He passed one of his super fast buddies on the bike portion and endured the race very well.  Both Mat and I are extremely grateful for Caleb as our son.  He is kind, giving, and thoughtful.  Caleb impresses us constantly with his talents in so many areas.  He will make an amazing husband and father someday.  Hopefully to someone who likes to bake....

Gratitude

Mixed in with the holiday season, the hustle and bustle of shopping, holiday parties, cheer comps, and more, gratitude seems to quietly grow overlooked more and more these days.  I am grateful however.  With EVERYTHING the past year has brought, despite hoping 2013 would be easier than 2012 and finding out that it may never get easier, I'm grateful.

 I have 4 healthy kids!  Sure they get scraped, bruised and sometimes broken, but they are healthy!  They are happy!  Their smiles light up my days.  

 As a parent it's difficult to watch your child struggle in any way.  Kids can be mean, siblings fight, some kids get things others don't.  My kids have been extremely blessed and I'm grateful.

 I'm grateful for transportation to take them to the many activities they are involved in.  I'm grateful they are able to participate in the activities they love.  I'm grateful for their abilities, their talents, and their desire.

 I'm grateful when they open our fridge there is food in it. I'm grateful that when they rest their heads at night they don't have to worry about the changing seasons outside their windows or worry that their home isn't safe.

 I'm grateful for the example they have in a father who has a strong work ethic and teaches them valuable life skills on a daily basis.

 I'm grateful that my kids get incredible education from amazing teachers and that their schools are close, clean, well maintained, and safe.

 I'm grateful I'm privileged to be their mom.

I'm grateful.

Halloween 2013

 October 31st has come and gone once more.  The kids were extra excited to go trick or treating since they were on a cruise ship last year for Halloween.  I personally preferred the cruise ship.  Halloween is always full of running around to get the kids class parties ready and costumes on and completed.  I kinda dropped the ball this year and made the older kids figure out their own costumes... Easton was an old man at school but decided to switch to the morph suit from last year to go trick or treating. Caleb was some sort of a zombie.  He had been looking up online how to make scars and such look real with makeup and did a pretty awesome job!

 Of course Peyton was easy to persuade to be what her mommy wanted.  Since I LOVE red.... Seriously so cute as little red riding hood and truthfully I feel like I get bonus points for being able to convince her she doesn't need to be a Disney princess EVERY year. ;)

Bailey was a zombie football player with apparently super long eye lashes.  She looked darling but refused to smile.  

The kids were all too cool to hang around for everyone to get a picture together much to my dismay.  For the first part of the night it was just Mat and I handing out candy to kids because even our youngest kids went with friends.  Are we really THAT old already???

Bailey's First Marathon....CHECK

It seems that every time we watch a race and cheer for runners at the finish line at least one of our kids thinks they want to run the next time.  Last fall when Bailey watched her dad run the St. George Marathon she asked if she could run it the following year.  Mat and I had decided a while ago that if our kids wanted to run the marathon when they turned fourteen that we would let them.  We asked Bailey if she would commit herself to training and commit to completing it. She said yes. Bailey said she also wanted to beat the course record for her age group.  After the first few attempts at getting her out to train she decided she didn't care about breaking any records.  After a few more attempts at getting her to train long distances she decided she didn't care if she even placed in her division.  After MANY attempts at getting her to train as the race grew nearer she flat out said she didn't want to run.

 We reminded her of her previous commitment and expressed that we had paid for both the entrance into the race as well as expensive running gear in preparation and that we expected her to keep her commitment.  She grudgingly agreed to run it.  Then, Mat got sick....

 Coughing and wheezing, sleeping all day, sick.  Of course Bailey wasn't going to run to train without her dad so everything came to a standstill.  As the week of the marathon approached we were trying everything (aside from antibiotics because apparently we are idiots and didn't think of that) to get Mat better.  We kept thinking it was just a cold and would go away.  He kept saying that he felt better but was clearly getting worse.  He considered trying to run two days before the race and couldn't get out of bed.  So....race day came...

I stayed up until 1:00 trying to make sure the runners had good treats, a good breakfast, all their gear in order, and good music for the run.  At 4:00 the runners awoke.  I sent them with various food and they went on their way.  At 6:00 I was able to calm myself back to sleep. At 7:00 I received a text update saying that the two runners had begun the race.  Excited I was able to get back to sleep shortly after receiving the update. When I received the update at 6 miles into the race less than an hour later I got excited! They were on pace to finish under four hours (which was crazy to me considering how little training they had done). I got dressed and told the kids that we would be going to watch them as soon as I go the next update at 13 miles.  I NEVER got that update.  So much worry weighed me down from not receiving the update I couldn't move.  I sat on the couch and stared straight ahead.  After 30 minutes I finally decided to see if runners were being recorded at the halfway mark or not.  I finally figured out that the sensor was recording!!! Soon after that I heard that they were spotted in Winchester so we made our way to the finish line. We decided we couldn't wait at the finish line that we needed to see them sooner.  We went to Diagonal and I can't fully express how incredible it was to see my little girl...smiling...looking strong...and beautiful!  Mat looked like he felt great.  In previous races he tends to look a tad sea sick at Diagonal so I was thrilled.  The two ended up crossing the finish line in 4:31!  Definitely a proud mommy moment.  It was then that Mat told me how sick he really was.  He wanted to get in the car and get home to rest.  He slept most of the day and really struggled to even walk.  Apparently he put on a happy face to keep Bailey going but later said it was the most difficult race he has ever done.  I'm so impressed by my sweet little family.  Now Caleb has been asking to run it next year...

Well golly gee, this is my first post ever.  May I first say thank you to you Jamie for the many hours she has put into our family blog posts.  They have been a fantastic family journal to look back on.  The books printed each year are a blessing.  

At this point in our little families life, I want to express my gratitude for the many blessing we have received from a loving Heavenly Father.  He has been so generous to us.  I feel his love and concern for our family so very often.

For todays post I would like to share one of the fun things I was able to do with Caleb and Easton a couple of months ago.  We packed up three back packs and made the 5.5 mile trek to horseshoe meadow, which is on top of Pine Valley Mountain.  The boys packs were each between 16 and 17 pounds.  Mine was a slightly heavier.  We started off at a good pace.  Grandpa Holt went a little over half way up the mountain with us and packed some drinks for us.  We found a patch of rasberries about half way up.  It was a refreshing break to eat them.  It took us about 4.5 hours to get to the top.  The boys did great.  We made a little shelter rough style for the first night.  The first morning we woke up to  see three 4 point mule deer eating in the meadow in front of our shelter.   We spent the day rolling rocks  , hiking, throwing knives, improving our shelter, playing games, attempting to build snares, and much more fun.  We had a great time together and plan to make it a yearly tradition.  I sure love these two boys and am so grateful to be a part of their lives.

Something From All Of Us

In an effort to include more variety and stories in our family books I've decided to add some new contributors. A new rule in our family is no electronics on Sunday unless family or church related. Needless to say the kiddos have some time on their hands today. Each of them are going to type a little bit of what's going on in their lives:

Caleb age 11

 I play tennis, and I am in sixth grade. I like to draw a lot. I also like to four wheeler, and make pottery. I love eating junk food. I like piano too.

Bailey age 14

I am doing cheerleading. I am on Raglan Coast Cheer. The levels i am doing are senior level 4 and junior level 3. I love to eat food and party it up with my friends. Madi Spray is my all time best friend. and i love my family and parker thompson. 

Peyton age 5

I like to do ballet.  I like to play with my friends. I like to spend time together.  I like to have fun and have a good time. I like to do mini team at cheer. My friends are Callie, Adria, Sadie, Gigi, Lyla, Karly, Rylee, and Alli.  I am learning to speak Chinese. I'm in Kindergarten.

Easton age 10

I am easton holt . I like to play soccer . I like pizza. I have lots of friends.

Back to School

 Four kids in three separate schools, each beginning and ending at four separate times, made for an eventful first day back to school for the Holt's.  Caleb was our first off this year beginning his turn at riding the bus to the intermediate school.  He has to be at the bus stop by 7:05 a.m. each morning but has been GREAT so far! He is already loving the six separate classes on his schedule and seeing all of his friends that attended different elementary schools everyday. Hopefully he will be a little less like his older sister and try to keep SOME friends from closer by.

 Bailey was our next to head out the door. She has to leave by 8:00 a.m. to walk to the middles school in time to make it to school.  Although she is technically a freshman, this will be her last year at Snow Canyon Middle before she heads up to the big school... If only we could send a mass bulletin out to all the high school aged boys that she JUST turned 14 and won't be dating until she's 16....

 Easton was the third out the door on the first day. Beginning his very last year of elementary school as a 5th grader he was up and at it early and excited for the new year. Easton doesn't need to leave for school until 8:40 to ride his bike in time but he leaves at 8:25 or earlier every morning. It's so strange to have him head out the door by himself each morning. 

 Peyton began her first year of kindergarten. She is participating in the Chinese Dual Immersion program our school offers. It was a difficult decision but one we are very glad we made! Most every one of her neighborhood friends are in the program. The only ones that aren't have moved in after the classes were already formed last spring. She still goes for regular kindergarten hours and she is in afternoon so she doesn't begin school until 12:45 p.m. each day.  She goes to her english specking class to learn reading and writing for an hour and a half then goes to her Chinese class for math as well as every other subject.  The only real difference is she doesn't learn her math in English and ONLY Chinese is spoken in her Chinese class. Parents are welcome to observe or help in the class but we are not allowed to speak any English if we are inside the classroom.  The teacher is from China but does speak English.  They just don't want the kids to hear her speak it. It's crazy!  She should be fluent in Mandarin Chinese before she leaves elementary school! When she graduates from high school she will graduate with a minor in Chinese. Once a child is accepted into the program (we were based on where we live) they are committed to stay in it until they graduate. Looks like we should start saving for a graduation gift because I can't imagine a trip to China will be very cheap. ;) I was very nervous about her starting a program like this but everything I have heard is amazing. 

I'm not one of the moms that gets weepy when the kids begin new school year's but rather I like having them actively involved in something everyday. I like being able to clean the house (if once a month a decided to) and not have it a disaster at least until they come home. I like to see them socialize with friends and  make new friends and have new experiences. I will miss the freedom of summer but I will never miss not having homework each night. ;)