25 December 2022
VOLUME 10 – NUMBER 484
Well, all our kids got for Christmas was their two front teeth! Last month we took the kids in for the dentist appointments, only to find out that they have a ridiculous amount of cavities. This week we had that all fixed. Emma and Mac went under sedation and a lot of money later, their teeth were fixed.
Because of that and all of our house renovations we took Christmas easy, and Santa was able to stay under budget making his toys from the dollar store and five below department. Christmas Eve is our annual Smith Hayride; we go around Nate’s grandparents neighborhood singing to all of their friends off a flat bed trailer loaded with hay and it is always a good time.
The kids love taking treats to people and singing to them. That night our kids started to look a little sick and sure enough Christmas morning we all woke up with raging fevers and had to cancel all of our plans of visiting family. It was not ideal, but it was also nice not having to run around. Instead, we stayed home and watched some movies. The kids were too sick to play with their toys, but it was a good reminder to slow down and just enjoy our family time.
It’s Christmas! I love seeing people’s reactions to what I got them, I got Funko Pop figures for everyone at home, I painted a picture for Ashton, I got Dad a mug, and I got Kai a Lego set.
I got some pretty awesome presents. I got a pair of socks from Yarima, a wand and a cool patronus jar from Veidi, and a new pair of football gloves from London. Then we played a lot of Overcooked!
On Monday we played Volleyball with the fam, and any friends that we invited. I invited Aiden, Elizabeth, Hazel, and Herbert. We had so much fun, and I found out I’m really good at the net.
The days leading up to Christmas, Endia and I were very sick. We decided to hide at home and do a Harry Potter marathon. Fortunately, Christmas let us spend time with so many people we love. We spent Christmas Eve with the Pope family playing Lotería. We all bought and wrapped a few cheap fun gifts for everyone to win, and we all left with at least three gifts. Seeing all the little nieces and nephews together is very cute!
I loved going to a Spanish-speaking ward (5th Ward) for Christmas, it brought back very sweet memories from when I was a full time missionary. We spent Christmas evening laughing way too hard and staying up way too late.
Going home for Christmas is always a special experience, and this year it felt so good to spend time with the family. My work surprised all of us with a Christmas gift of seven additional paid holidays—from Dec 19 to Jan 2. This made it really easy to just have fun and relax with the family.
However, I was sick all week and ended up staying at my apartment by myself until I got better. I finally made it up to the padres on Christmas Eve morning. I have been feeling extremely grateful for my savior leading up to Christmas, and I am so happy that we get to spend not just one day but an entire season celebrating and remembering him.
I feel like the biggest blessing he has given me recently is just peace that He is in charge. There are a lot of things happening in my life, in the lives of the people I love, and in the world in general that I don't understand. Really difficult things that I don't see being resolved.
However, I have felt comfort knowing that I don't have to understand everything, because God has a perfect love for each of us, and he will help things to work out.
It reminds me of the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants Section 122 that says, "Know thou, my [daughter], that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." I trust God and I believe that he is taking care of all of us. Trusting in him helps the hopelessness to be replaced with peace.
Christmas was really awesome and a ton of fun. I’m assuming all the kids will fill you in on the adventures of the weekend! One highlight of the week was making cookies until 2:00am with London for all the English teachers on Christmas Eve.
I volunteered to work on Christmas Eve, and I decided it would be nice to get them all some of Dads famous, “Not Your Mom’s Cookies” (the name we gave Dad’s cookies at stake scout camp in 2017) and they were a hit! It was really fun to see their reactions.
On a more spiritual note, it was really cool to see the missionaries on Christmas Eve. When they focus on Christ and his role and birth, it seems to give them deeper understanding of their calling as a missionary. It was special to hear their testimonies and experiences. What is really awesome is that we still have the next two weeks off of school, which gives more time to party!
I love Christmas. I got two Star Wars Lego sets. I also got a bobble head Funko Pop, and some super nice chopsticks. I also got a homemade beanie from Endia, which was really nice, because I knew she spent so much time making it.
We got tons of treats, and I got to play some new video games that we had just bought. I love playing Nintendo Sports. I also had an amazing time building Legos with Monte and Troy.
Monday through Thursday we basically weren't even in Nacimiento. Monday, we had a zone activity and choir practice. On Tuesday we performed for the city hall in Los Angeles, and then on Wednesday we traveled again to L.A. for a day long zone conference.
Thursday, we traveled again to do a Christmas service project, where we made some cookies and went around to other missionaries’ areas singing and delivering cookies to people.
Then, on Friday we finally had a normal day. We spent Saturday night with a family and had a blast! On Sunday morning, we went to church and then spent the day in the house of some members. We sang a ton this whole week, and it was fun!
I love you all a ton! I miss you on Christmas, but I am happy to be where I’m at, doing what I am doing. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ. I'm grateful that God willfully chose to be born into this earth so that he, being without error or sin, could be killed and sacrificed for me and you. I'm grateful for Him, and I know that He lives! Now all that we have to do to have happiness is follow his example.
This week has been a little busy because Christmas is in a few more days. I really like how Dad is doing a game show called Fab-Fab Vocab. It helps us practice Spanish vocabulary. I really enjoy doing it because I am also learning more Spanish words—mostly church words that I do not know.
Dad had a work party that we all went to. It was way too fancy for me, but I really did love the steak we had. We also got a Switch game called Overcooked and I really like playing it.
I really like having the older siblings coming over I really enjoy playing games with them.
It’s really special to go to church on Christmas, especially since it doesn’t happen very often. We opened presents with Ellie and then got ready for sacrament meeting. Brooke bought matching Christmas dresses for the girls, and they looked so cute.
We also realized that the next time we’ll be going to church on Christmas it will be 2033—that’s because leap year 2028 causes Christmas day to skip from a Saturday to a Monday. In 2033 Ellie will be 13 and Charlie will be 11!
The day after Christmas, we continued our annual tradition of going down to Florida with Brooke’s side of the family. It was about a nine-hour drive, but both Ellie and Charlie did so well. We rode with Brooke’s parents, so I got to take care of Charlie while Brooke was with Ellie.
The water in Florida was not warm enough to enjoy swimming, but we still had a good time going to the beach and hanging out in the condo we were staying in.
It’s a little sad to think that this is probably the last year of the Florida Christmas tradition since Brooke’s parents are about to move back to Utah. This is a tradition that began when I surprised Brooke and flew to Florida to propose. Now it’s four years later, and we’re a small family of four! We’ll always look back with great memories of our Christmas Florida trips!
It’s really special to go to church on Christmas, especially since it doesn’t happen very often. We opened presents with Ellie and then got ready for sacrament meeting. Brooke bought matching Christmas dresses for the girls, and they looked so cute.
We also realized that the next time we’ll be going to church on Christmas it will be 2033—that’s because leap year 2028 causes Christmas day to skip from a Saturday to a Monday. In 2033 Ellie will be 13 and Charlie will be 11!
The day after Christmas, we continued our annual tradition of going down to Florida with Brooke’s side of the family. It was about a nine-hour drive, but both Ellie and Charlie did so well. We rode with Brooke’s parents, so I got to take care of Charlie while Brooke was with Ellie.
The water in Florida was not warm enough to enjoy swimming, but we still had a good time going to the beach and hanging out in the condo we were staying in.
It’s a little sad to think that this is probably the last year of the Florida Christmas tradition since Brooke’s parents are about to move back to Utah. This is a tradition that began when I surprised Brooke and flew to Florida to propose. Now it’s four years later, and we’re a small family of four! We’ll always look back with great memories of our Christmas Florida trips!
