Christmas 2023...or should we say Feliz Navidad?

 Reporting on our December and January. They were pretty action packed. I already blogged about our basketball season, so this entry will include the other good stuff. The most exciting event was that Boston turned in his mission papers before Christmas and received his call in January. We are so proud of his decision and his preparation. 

Leslie had a rough several weeks because of hyperemesis (when you can't keep anything down during pregnancy). She had lost quite a bit of weight, was gagging on water and fluids even, and throwing up constantly. Finally the specialists recommended a feeding tube and a regimen of several types of anti-nauseas. Although the tube was painful and there was later an ambulance ride due to excessive mucus/airway blockage (she later coughed up a piece of medical tape...) the tube feeds and the new meds did the trick and she was able to calm her body down and get the nourishment it needed. Thankful for modern medicine.

We did a fun game with the gifts under the tree this year to challenge the teenagers a little. You know how kids often rattle the boxes and already know everything they are getting? Well, this year I labeled all the boxes, even my own, with codenames. I would drop a clue every few days, usually to Luke because he really wanted to figure it out. The last couple days before Christmas I was more systematic with my clues (all inside jokes, etc.) and it was super entertaining to me to hear everyone's theories about who was who. 

Duke and Natalie and kiddos came to visit. It was funny for the boys to see how much they had grown in comparison to my little bro.

Natalie and Jackie with four of my mom's seven granddaughters. Pretty girls!

Christmas morning came! Beautiful and happy and cozy and wonderful and full of love like our Savior.

Also, a bug gun. 

Leslie and Cole love thrifting. They spotted this vintage(?) comic book that Leslie remembered Mark having as a souvenir from his mission in Paris and gave it to him for Christmas. Neither Leslie nor Cole speak French. Mark does. He broke the news to them that this book is in German, haha. 

Luke had fun shopping for football cards with some of his Amazon money.

I had to disguise the two basketballs well so as not to give away the code names.

Another fun thing I did was to decorate my entry table with all the cringy homemade photo ornaments from school that I've received over the years, as well as some of the handmade gifts from school. Luke was pretty proud to add to my collection. Yes, his is the best one. I may not even relegate it to the ugly table. 

Rosie is not the only one with bad hair days. I took this picture to show him how bad his hair looked and decided to keep the shot for blackmail's sake.

At the turn of the new year, Luke was ordained a deacon. He is such a naturally good kid. Now he gets to pass the sacrament and attend the temple. We also made him graduate from his lazy polo shirt outfits for church.

Rosie lost her first tooth! She has watched enough videos of the other kids (as in Luke) freaking out about the tooth loss that she was well prepared and only cried a little bit.

This cracked me up. Rosie needed some new shoes for school and we got her these little boots. They vaguely resemble the ones that I often wear. Rosie came to me, posing like this, and said she was going to be me for Halloween. Boots. Sunglasses. Purse. Ponytail. Yep, she's got my number.

Mark got certified to teach a couple of continuing ed classes for realtors, from the lender's perspective. It's been fun to go be his assistant. I'm always blown away by how comfortable he is talking to people and expertly teaching about his craft. He's always on the lookout for a few more great realtors to work with. 

The big day arrived! Boston received his mission call. He warned me that lots of his friends were coming to watch him find out where he was going. The house was packed. 

Spain Madrid South!

It was also cool to have some of his Young Mens leaders and mentors attend. These men have made a big difference for good in Boston's life and I am thankful for them.

Troy Garner, Michael Soelberg, Trey, Boston, Michael Paice, Gavin, Sheldon Menlove, Trace Groneman

Boston and his buddy won't be too far from each other. 

I love this picture. I was planning to get a big map of wherever Boston was called, and it turns out he's been looking at a map of his mission on the wall his whole life. This is an antique Natl Geographic map that belonged to my great-grandpa Harry (I think), or my grandma LaVonne, from 1948, and it has little post WWII occupied territory flags on it. When I got married I had it framed because Mark served in Paris. Boston's mission is pretty much the southern half of Spain.

I also love this picture of Cole showing Boston the ropes on his mission portal, learning about his mission and what to bring. Look at how excited Cole is, haha.