The Holidays

I hate when I wait this long to update my blog because I know I'll forget things I would have wanted to write down. But, it also means we've had a busy, fun couple of months!

I will write down a few highlights and let the pictures do most of the talking.

November:
Regular day-to-day, another round of swim lessons, and Thanksgiving spent with both families. Layla and I went and saw The Nutcracker and I was pleased that she loved it! Mitch took me star gazing with his telescope up Big Cottonwood canyon, but it was kind of a bust because the moon was too bright. But I love him for humoring me and my love of the stars ... now if he would only take me to see the northern lights, ha! My brother Jordan and his family came in town for Thanksgiving and it was great to see them. Things have improved immensely with Tenley, so that was a plus! Tennesey is cute and it was the best to see all the cousins playing together.

Nutcracker ballet.

December:
It was my birthday. It's sad that only a month later I can't remember much about it! Oh yeah, I got a pair of new glasses that I love and totally splurged on. Mitch made my day by having a coworker bring back Lou Malnati's pizzas from Chicago for me ... the yummiest pizza ever! We also went and saw the comedian Jim Gaffigan and laughed our faces off! It was a great birthday! The bad side was that Kathy fell and had emergency hip surgery a couple of days before my birthday; that poor lady can't catch a break, I swear! I sure hope she gets better soon!!!

An update on Layla's Refelctions contest poem: she is now on to the Regionals level! She and one other boy were the only two from the entire school to advance to Regionals. I am so proud of her! To be completely honest, when we went to the event to see if she had won at the district level, I gave her a little pep talk and said, "Most kids don't go past the school level, let alone the district level! I'm just happy you entered; I never cared if you won or not, I just wanted you to have fun doing it. I'm so proud of you and if you don't win, don't worry, it's awesome you made it this far!" and so on. Imagine my surprise when we walk in the room and find her entry with a big "Winner!" ribbon on it! She was shocked, and proud, all while staying so humble, which made me even more proud of her, ha, ha! We should find out this month if she was a winner at the regional level or not. If she is, she'll go on to state!

Winner at the school level and district level!

I have enjoyed being  part of the PTA this year. I am on a committee with two other women and we help with the school reading challenges and a book club for the 5th and 6th graders. I love it! Here are some pics of the decorations we made for the latest reading challenge. I was pretty proud of us and our creativity!

 

Another piano recital. She played Ecossaise and did well.

Oakley got baptized and she asked Layla to sing a song with her (When I Am Baptized) as part of the program. It was SO sweet and I was very proud of both girls. We love Oakley and were very happy for her. I hope these two stay friends for life and really are college roommates like we always tell them they should be! ;)

Marcus got his first professional hair cut and it was incredibly hard to get a good picture of him afterwards. Good thing he's so handsome! It was getting too hard for my mom to cut because he was pretty wiggly and whiny, so I took him to a hair place just for kids and he did much better. When he's older I'll have my mom cut it again. :)

We enjoyed the Chinese exhibit at the Children's museum over Thanksgiving break!

 

Layla is always making party invitations. This one made me laugh!

I bet you can guess who's this is! :)

The kids still LOVE sleeping over at Mammey and Grandpa Miles's house and beg me to have a sleepover often. I love that they have so much fun there, and as an added bonus, my mom sometimes sends us hilarious pics like these when the kids are away!

 

The count down for Christmas was on! We had chocolate calendars, a paper chain, and books to help us count down. My mom was so cute and rented 24 Christmas themed library books from the library, wrapped them all up individually, and then the kids opened one a day. That was a really fun tradition that we looked forward to each day.

Reading our countdown book.

I truly enjoyed helping in Layla's class Christmas party this year! I was in charge of a game and we played "snowman bowling," which was a hit. I love seeing Layla in her class with her cute friends!

Mitch took two weeks off of work which was amazing! The Wednesday before Christmas we drove down to St. George and stayed with my grandpa until Friday. It was an excellent way to pass the time while waiting for Christmas. We went to the dinosaur museum, went on a little hike, ate delicious pie from a famous pie shop in Veyo, and played lots of ping pong. It was great to visit with Grandpa and Zing and they were incredibly gracious hosts.

I was originally holding the dinos hand to keep it from tipping over, but then I forgot to let go!

This is how I will always remember my grandpa:

out in nature, bending over to show me something and teach me all about it.

The downside to the trip was that Marcus got sick. He took a two hour nap on Thursday after lunch in Veyo, and he NEVER takes naps anymore, so we thought he was getting sick. He didn't eat dinner that night or breakfast the next morning. We packed up the car to head out and he said his tummy hurt, so I grabbed a few plastic bags. He threw up 3 times on the way home. I felt like we handled it well and were very calm and patient, especially considering at one point we were pulled over on the side of the freeway, changing his clothes in the freezing cold. The poor little guy only shed a couple of tears (literally) and was so sweet and calm the whole time, and he was the one who was sick! Layla definitely cried way more than he did, ha, ha!

Since the next day was Christmas Eve, we decided to cancel our plans with the Botts, which was a bummer. But the next day Marcus was just fine, and didn't throw up at all. The Botts still didn't want us to come over just in case, so we had dinner at my mom's for my uncle's birthday (he was in town with his new girlfriend, Lily, whom I'm REALLY hoping he will marry because we loved her!). I was glad we still got out of the house and had fun on Christmas Eve.

That night, 23 hours after throwing up the day before, Marcus threw up again! Bummer! And it got all over his bed this time! Double bummer! He was SO sweet about it though and kept saying, "I sowy I make a big mess, Dad. I sowy you hafta do waundwy, Mom." Melt our hearts! He is the sweetest, even when he's sick! We didn't want to get anyone else sick, so we didn't go to my grandma's on Christmas morning, which was definitely weird and made us feel like we were missing out! Thankfully Marcus felt pretty good Christmas morning and we had a blast opening presents!

Santa came to the Miles Christmas party!

The kids were both brave and sat on his lap.

Marcus had no hesitation telling him a list of things he wanted.

Layla was more reserved, but did request a couple of things.

The kids were beyond excited and they were very sweet and grateful for their gifts. They gave lots of hugs and said lots of thank yous. It was a great parenting moment to see their excited faces and hear their cute little voices! They both got bikes and sleds and way too many toys. Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, and we weren't at my grandma's, we went to church. I love going to church on Christmas Sunday. Nothing brings the spirit more than the beautiful music and the gratitude for the birth of our Savior. As we were sitting there, I thought, "If Marcus was sick for no other reason than to make us come to church today, then it was all worth it." I was actually grateful for the several days of vomiting, so that I could be sitting in church on that day, soaking in the beautiful spirit I felt. And of course we sang Silent Night and I cried, just like I do every time that song is sung. It is my favorite Christmas hymn.

After church my parents, grandma, and Kent and Lily came over for a while. It was fun to see them again and show them our gifts. Of course the house was wrecked from the aftermass of Christmas, but I told Mitch that this year I would not be such a Nazi about it and would let the mess remain as long as everyone was having fun. I lasted 3 days, which is a miracle for me! Then I got grumpy and made everyone clean up, ha!

Harvey loves the kitty castle Santa brought him.

Since we cancelled all our original Christmas plans, we spread the events out over the next week. On Monday we went to Grandma Ruth's and opened gifts, then to Brock and Natalie's for more gifts, then to lunch, then we took Lily sledding with us while Kent skied, then out to dinner with my parents, grandma, and Kent and Lily. It was a long, super fun day.

I was so happy that the kids both loved sledding as much as they did. I honestly expected Layla to be scared, but she wasn't at all and giggled the whole time. I was so proud of her! This was my first time sledding since I was 12 and broke my arm tubing down a much-too-steep hill. I conquered my fears and had a blast!

On Tuesday we did the Bott Christmas dinner, poems, and gift celebration. It was great fun! The kids were so excited and spoiled rotten and it was fun to have baby Vivian with us.

Playing together on Christmas morning.

On Wednesday I ended up taking Marcus to the pediatrician because he had a nasty sinus infection. I always take him when I don't need to ... it was just a viral infection, kind of a waste of my time and money. At least he got better fast.

Other highlights of Christmas break:
We discovered that Layla had head lice. Boo! We treated it and finished a couple of days ago. Fingers crossed that we killed all the little buggers!

Layla lost her first top tooth on New Year's Eve. It was pretty darn loose, so Mitch said he'd pull it out. Her look of shock and surprise was classic when she realized it was out of her mouth and in the paper towel! Now she looks cute with one tooth missing, and I'm sure the other one will be out by the end of this week.

Mitch and I hosted a game night with some of our friends from the neighborhood for New Year's. Well, we actually had them over the night before. It was fun to celebrate without the kiddos and my cheeks hurt by the night's end from laughing. We had a little party with just the four of us on New Year's. We watched a movie, ate homemade pizza and ice cream, then did our annoying blowers and noise makers and then put the kids to bed at their normal time and didn't feel bad about it. They didn't know the difference and they have the rest of their lives to stay up late. Mitch and I made it to 11 pm before we konked out, only to be awoken at midnight by the neighbor's fireworks.

This week it was back to school and work. Layla's school started two hours late today because of the snow storm, so we made French toast and painted her fingernails. I almost let her stay home from school to hang out with us, but she seemed excited to go, so I sent her.

Now it's 2017 and I'm ready for a new year! I am going to babysit our niece, Vivian, twice a week, starting on Monday, and I am looking forward to that. I think this year will be great and I'm very happy that I get to spend it with my favorite three people in the world!

October 2016

More exciting news! Just days after writing my last blog post our nephew, Carson , was born! Brock and Natalie's baby boy, and Evelyn's little brother is adorable and we are so excited to have him in our family!

Halloween was great! Mitch made Marcus the best Bumblebee Transformer costume. It really transforms and Marcus was obsessed with it. I wish it was easier to put a video on here of how it transforms; it really is awesome. The headlights really turn on too. Mitch is amazing, I tell ya. Marcus got all the attention at my mom's work and at the ward Halloween party. I was proud of Layla for supporting him and being proud of him when he was getting all the attention. That can be hard to do and she did it gracefully. Layla decided to be an Indian. We went to the store together, she picked everything out, and we made her costume together. She was pleased with it, which is saying a lot for my specific little girl. I helped in her class Halloween party again this year. I always love seeing her with her little friends and her happy smile.

Hay ride to pick pumpkins.

The kids didn't trick-or-treat for as long as I thought they would. We had Marcus dress up as a Ninja Turtle so he could actually walk around. They had fun though and got lots of candy. We struck a deal with them where they could keep 12 pieces of candy and we would pay them $10 to buy whatever toy they wanted the next day. The took the deal and were proud as peacocks walking into the store each holding their crisp, $10 bill. They haven't complained once about not having more candy, and they actually haven't eaten their 12 pieces yet. I should note that we decided to offer this deal because Layla had her first cavity, boo! Mitch and I have very good teeth, Mitch has 1 cavity and I have 2, both of which I developed while on my mission, so I was counting on my kids having good teeth. *fingers crossed*

We were able to go to Goblin Valley with our friends, The Mudrows, over fall break. It was a great little getaway and we love our friends! We spent half a day in Goblin Valley, which we LOVE and also hiked the slot canyons at Little Wild Horse Canyon. We stayed in Ghetto, I mean Green River and it was the saddest little town. Ever. But we had a blast anyways. On the way home we stopped in Castle Dale to visit my friend from high school, Brandi. While we are good at keeping in touch, I have never been to her home there since she got married two years ago. It was about time I saw it! It's always fun to see her and it seems like we're still in high school when we're together. Good times. I also hadn't seen Jonathan in years, literally, so it was good to see him again.

 

 

Both kids did another round of swim lessons in October. Layla loved it, but didn't pass her class by one skill: tread water for 1 minute. She'll get there, and again, she was the youngest in her class by one to two years. I'm proud of her swimming ability and glad she loves it so much! She has one more class to pass and then she can try out for the swim team. She's still saying she wants to do that, so we'll see! Marcus loved his class, which made me happy. I am pleased with how much he's grown to like the water considering his first mommy/child swim class was a fail. His teacher wrote on his skills card after this class to "keep your imagination," which is so fitting for Marcus. As Mitch put it, "Everything is a little more fun in Marcus's world." I love it because it makes my world more fun too. :)

Layla had parent teacher conferences last week and it was nothing but praise from both teachers. She was off the charts for her reading skills, aced her math tests, is well behaved, always the first one done and then helps other kids, is a good friend, etc. I am so proud of her and the wonderful person she is becoming! I'm starting to see more of her personality develop, and she reminds me more of me each day; she's becoming more introverted and would spend the entire day reading books if I let her. ;)

1st Grade school picture.

I gave Layla the option to enter one of two contests at her school this year: The Martin Luther King Jr speech contest or Reflections. She tried to memorize part of a speech, but we got busy and so she ended up writing a poem for Reflections. Her poem makes me smile! It was chosen to advance to the district level for her age group and she got to go to an awards ceremony and received a certificate. I love that girl!
Here's here poem:

“What is your story?” I asked my mom,

And she told me a story that couldn’t be wrong.

She told me a story so tall & so wide,

It was such a big story it burst out of it’s sides.

She told me the story in the month of October,

When the leaves fall down and I have to rake them all over.

I rake them so much that I make a big pile,

I jump and I jump and I jump for a while.

Then we go and eat our dinner inside.

And that’s when she tells me the story so tall and so wide.

Then I tell her my story which is very funny,

It’s about a mummy child and her mummy mommy.

And that was the end of our fun fun day,

Which I hope you enjoyed the story today.

By: Layla bott

Speaking of the arts, I made a goal to take my kids (Marcus when he gets older) to one art related event a quarter. Last quarter we went to a piano concert where the pianist covered a Russian composer, whose name I should remember but don't, and it was incredible. I live for things like this, but I wanted Layla to form her own opinion, so I told her it was okay if she doesn't like it, but I wanted her to see it and then decide. When it was over she said she would like to go to another one sometime, so I guess she liked it and I have a partner for my concert fancies. :) We are going to The Nutcracker ballet this week and I think she will love it!

Marcus is enjoying preschool and being his usual funny self. His imagination really is something. At dinner he calls his fork "Mr. Frokie" (not Forkie, but Frokie) and it "attacks" or "versus" his hand in battles. He's pretty funny.

We are finally all healthy after having a nasty virus hit each one of us last week. It wasn't strep, but it caused us to have high fevers and sore throats for several days. Boo. Marcus spent two days on the couch napping and Layla missed church and one day of school. Weeks like that make me grateful for good health!

Marcus like to hold my hand while we "snuggle"

and it makes me so happy.

Mitch is busy at work, but not like before. He is still dedicated to school and is working hard at it. It will be the happiest day when he graduates! I can't wait to call him Dr. Bott, lol!

I have been busy lately with my photography. I did a couple more family sessions that turned out great! I learned a lot the last two months and wish it wasn't getting cold so I could do more pictures! I really want to get my little business going, but then I have to remind myself to wait until Marcus is in school so I can have time to edit during the day or until Mitch is done with school so I can use the computer at night. Someday, someday.

Well, I better go. It's Sunday, we're home from church, baked cookies, ate dinner, and now we have to run back to church for tithing settlement. It's not so bad when you have an awesome Bishop and wonderful ward members. I really look up to some of them so much! Our neighbors across the street are having a hard time right now. The husband, Jake Sherriff, has bile duct cancer and needs a liver transplant, a whipple procedure, and chemo. Another neighbor asked a few of us who know them well to donate money, sky miles, hotel points, etc to help them out since everything will be done in Florida. We gave them enough sky miles for two round trip tickets to Florida (we have a lot since Mitch travels to much), but they ended up using only enough for two one way tickets. They're not sure when they go back yet, but I'm glad we were able to help them out. My heart aches for them, and it also overflows with gratitude when I see the goodness of the friends and neighbors in our neighborhood. I feel like we truly are surrounded by the best of the best in our little Zion!