December: Family Comes, and Arden is Sealed

One day this fall, Ever said something to me about Tutu and Papa's coming for Christmas. I explained that I didn't think Tutu and Papa were coming this year; we try to go to Hawai'i every other year, but Tutu and Papa don't necessarily come to us when we don't go to them. Plus Christian and Shandra were going to Hawai'i this year. I told Mamo and Pod about that conversation with Ever, and it inspired a revelation - Mamo and Pod could come for Christmas and go back just before Christian and Shandra arrived on the Big Island on New Year's Eve. Perfect! So we lucked out and got the parents for Christmas.

Meanwhile Coco and Dun Dun decided to do a whirlwind tour (about two days in each place) to visit all the Hastings siblings before spending Christmas with his family because 1) Coco is amazing about trying to see family and 2) they know they're going to be tied down soon with Tiny Homer. On the California leg, they hit Ventura first and then drove down to Oceanside the night of Wednesday, December 21.

Mamo and Pod flew in Thursday morning, December 22. We fetched them and just hung out that day. In the evening, the men decided to see if they could remove the coverings from the cushions on which Ever had barfed (see birthday post) since they still really stank. It was quite the team effort - and entertaining to watch.

At least one man was sweaty when they finally succeeded, but succeed they did. I was ready to get rid of the whole couch and had made arrangements for a substitute (Derrick Karner has one in his office we could take), so I wasn't afraid of ruining the covers in the laundry. Turns out they can totally be washed and dried, though, so the couch lives on in a vastly improved state.

Bags requested that we do our traditional caroling that night since it was the only night they overlapped Mamo and Pod. That's always jolly time:

Friday was Arden's sealing. It hadn't occurred to me before Jim read the church handbook on surrogacy that because I didn't give birth to Arden, she wasn't born in the covenant. That is the case, however, so we got to go to the temple and add her to our eternal fam. 

The day seemed rather divinely orchestrated. When it was determined that Mamo and Pod would come for Christmas, we decided we should wait until then to do Arden's baby blessing, and we could do her sealing then, too. In November, Pod was called to be a sealer in the Kona temple. We were chatting one night, and I said maybe he could do the sealing. He thought that was a great idea. So Jim and I worked with the stake president to request permission for Arden's sealing, and Pod submitted his request to perform a sealing for family in a different temple than the one in which he was called to serve. Pod's permission came through first; then we got our letter from the Office of the First Presidency granting us permission. (The end of our letter said something like, "Please give our love to the Kringel family." Jim and I were both touched. We really felt the love.) It all came through the week before the sealing. The icing on the cake was that Coco and Dustin were going to overlap Mamo and Pod, so we could do the sealing while they were here, too. It all worked out just right.

Ever is highly interested in the temple. One time we were on the temple grounds, and she really wanted to go inside. I was going to see if I could take her into the foyer, but it was closed for renovations. We've had more than one family home evening lesson on the temple and looked at interior pictures. So one of the best things about the sealing was being able to take Ever inside. 

When we arrived, we took the girls into the youth center. (I had no idea that temples have a little child care area, complete with snacks, toys, etc.) When we walked into the youth center, a woman came up to me and gave me a hug. She said I probably didn't remember her; she was Judy Whittaker when she lived in Kona. She's remarried now, with a different name, but she was a friend of Mamo's while I was young. I told her Mamo was there, and after we got the girls settled, I sent Mamo in to say hi. 

Throughout the temple, we continued to see people we knew or who knew us. The woman who went over some paperwork with Jim and me seemed to know Pod. She was Polynesian and asked if my dad had been the stake president or in the stake presidency. Then when we went up to the sealing room, we found Bea Steere's daughter. (Bea Steere and her sister were in our ward when I was growing up.) It seemed as if everybody had seen our name on the temple schedule and looked forward to our coming. 

When it was time, the temple workers brought our girls upstairs in the elevator. Jim and I were there to meet them when the elevator doors opened. I cried seeing our three little angels emerge in their white dresses and bows. (Judy and the other youth center worker had changed the girls into matching white dresses and had put bows in their hair.) Besides the parentals and the Cocos, it was just Jeremy and Trish in the sealing - nice and intimate. Tyna, who never cries, had just fallen asleep before the temple workers brought her up, so she cried through the sealing. Mamo held her, and Coco took Wrenzy. It was really special to have family there and to have Pod do the sealing. 

Pod lingered on the way out talking to all the temple workers about the various connections we had to them. He's such a cute socializer. 

Outside, Coco busted out her camera and took some nice pictures. Unfortunately Tyna isn't featured in the first couple:

The whole gang, with Jeremy and Trish somewhat ostracized:

The family:

Team Baby:

The sweetest baby getting loved on by Daddy:

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Coco and Dun Dun at the temple, and they headed straight to the airport. (I'm telling you, the fact that the timing worked out for all this was amazing.) 

The rest of us changed clothes and headed to BJ's for some grub. (Jim changed in the BJ's parking lot. Not in the car. Just in the parking lot. Someday the bishop from the Oceanside 4th Ward is going to get arrested for indecent exposure.) 

We made a Baskin Robbins stop. Mississippi Mud is a new favorite. Wish they had it all year round.

Then we went back to the temple to enjoy the Christmas lights.

'Twas a lovely day.

December: Ever's Birthday

Ever's fifth birthday was on Saturday, December 17. I said no party this year. She asked if Nathan could come over for a piñata, and I agreed. Ever also requested that we play baseball (which just means a grown-up throws the ball to her, and she tries to hit it). Seemed like a good idea. She subsequently wanted to add Luc and Amelie Oddou, which was nice. Then Aven Dalton. I figured they would just play outside, and we'd do a piñata and cupcakes and hit the ball around and that was it. When I tried to plan activities for her birthday at the park last year, it seemed as if the kids would've preferred free play. As for the birthday treat, I was interested in trying a recipe for chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting, and Ever thought that sounded good.

Other plans for the day included going to the park with Nathan, Trader Joe's frozen mac and cheese for lunch, In-N-Out burgers for dinner, and a Mommy-and-Ever movie night/sleepover. We had recently finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so we decided to watch that, eat treats, stay up late, and sleep on the couch. It sounded wonderful to me, and we were both really excited.

We kicked off the day with Trader Joe's chocolate croissants:

Things deteriorated after that. Aven had another birthday party to go to, so she got to our house right at 11 since she had to leave at 11:30. Candice asked if Dax could come, too. She said after Legoland, Dax thought he and Ever were friends, and he was really excited about her birthday party even though he wasn't invited. Very cute. Nathan was over at our place by the time the Dalton kids came, I think. Susan ended up running late, however, so Luc and Amelie didn't arrive until after Aven was already supposed to have left. And the kids didn't just play as I thought they would. Aven asked at one point whether there were any activities. There was some hitting of the ball, but that wasn't a group activity. We mainly just waited for Luc and Amelie so we could do the piñata and get Aven to her other party. As soon as Luc and Amelie arrived, it was piñata time. Even the piñata was not without difficulties. Nathan tried to get hit (see video), and there were tears at some point over something. This is all I got:

We gave Aven and Dax cupcakes to go. The rest of us sang and ate cupcakes, and that was pretty much it. The cupcakes tasted like chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip cookie dough frosting, but nobody but Wren liked them:

Ever wouldn't even try one (until the next day). That was sad. 

So the friend portion of the day was a giant bust. Then after lunch the kids went down for naps. (I figured Ever had to nap if she was going to stay up late.) We ended up having to nix going to the park with Nathan. We did In-N-Out for dinner, which took forever because man, can those girls draw out a meal. We dropped Jim and the littles at home, and I took Ever to Target to spend her birthday money. Cikaneks (Nathan) gave her this whole Frozen set - hat, bag, wallet, etc. Ever took the wallet in the bag to Target and wore the hat. It was quite the ensemble:

After extensive deliberations, during which she tried to force me to make her decision for her, she finally settled on a Barbie. 

We didn't get the movie started until late. Ever was exhausted, but she forced herself to stay awake for the whole thing. We had popcorn and treats. After the movie, she wanted to stay up and read, but she ended up puking on the couch. She was on the chaise portion, and the vomit hit the chaise and went down the crack and onto the adjacent cushions. It was disgusting. Jim cleaned it up the best he could, but the stench was unstoppable. Ever eventually passed out while we were cleaning. 

Since a portion of the couch was out of commission, I slept on the air mattress next to the couch, and Ever took the dry part of the couch. Needless to say, it was not the slumber party we'd been dreaming about.

Sunday evening (the next day) the Wilsons came over for dessert. We sang again:

Ever finally tried one of the cupcakes I had made, and she did not like them. We also had what we call "thrusters" - chocolate chip cookies baked in muffin tins with peanut butter cups pushed into the centers. She much preferred those. At least we had something she could eat. 

Ever had told Auntie Trisha that she wanted a remote-controlled helicopter (because Nathan had one). Trish made that dream come true. Nanny and Papa were also generous.

Ever loves playing around with Uncle Jeremy, who is always a hoot:

Once again, the Wilson portion of the birthday was the highlight. 

We had birthday balloons around the house for some time. If it weren't for Nathan's taking and/or popping them, they never would've gone away. I do enjoy this picture of the girls in the birthday-balloon aftermath:

December: Before Christmas

Each month I think this will be the month I catch up, but I remain three months behind. If I can't catch up soon, I'm going to have to throw in the towel on this whole blog thing. In the meantime, I will forge ahead and begin December.

One day I bathed Bear Bear and then let her entertain herself in the play room. She began coloring quietly, and I thought to myself how great it was that she wasn't getting into trouble. When I went to check on her, I found her with pen all over her face (and elsewhere):

I count myself lucky that these girls get into a lot less trouble than many kids I know.

Ever sported shades during the beginning of the First Presidency's Christmas devotional:

Tyna looking like a cute little boy:

On one of our Monday-afternoon play dates, Susan took Ever (with Luc, Amelie, and the Zundel kids) to feed horses somewhere on Camp Pendleton. Apparently Ever was really afraid of the horses, but she seemed pleased in the picture Susan sent:

After that, Susan took Ever back to her house, where they made snow globes and Christmas gifts. They hit the dollar store to buy Christmas gifts, too, before Susan brought her home. It was quite the day. 

Back at the house, Wrenzy likes beans;

More Wrenzy speak:

Ever decided she loves chicken enchiladas. Nothing pleases me more than when the girls eat and like a dinner I make:

Bear Bear likes to get into my alphabetically arranged spice drawer and look cute doing it:

Tyna on tummy time:

Missy kept insisting on wearing these onesie jammies she inherited that were way too hot. One night she put them on but then took them mostly off and taught a very interesting Primary lesson on "the article of faith":

My babies:

We love when Wrenzy sings "Let It Go":

Candice Dalton in the ward invited Ever to go with her, Aven, and Dax to Legoland because they had extra free tickets (Zoa, their eldest, was working there). It was the most amazing day of Ever's life. Candice sent me updates and photos through the day.

Jim was spending every spare second studying for his pediatric boards, which meant Saturdays were no fun for anyone. He finally took the exam in December (and did great, by the way). Once that was over, we got a tree and prepared the house for Christmas. I always envision a lovely family decorating party like unto the Rob and Anna's traditional festivities, but Jim always ends up decorating the tree by himself while I deal with the house and children. Someday ...

Ever took this terrifying selfie, straight out of The Ring:

Jim looked tired with Tyna:

Ever moved her bed out into the hall so she could listen to Jim and me downstairs:

We baked, and the girls licked:

Ever was in a little nativity play at church:

She posed with Santa (who appeared to doze off) at the ward Christmas party. The party didn't start until the littles' bedtime, so I stayed home and put them to bed. Jim took the obligatory photo of Ever:

Jim and I took Ever to the toddler-friendly matinee performance of the Nutcracker on a Wednesday afternoon. Susan and Luc Oddou came with us. The kid show is a great idea. The show was cut down to an hour, which is a good length, and it's OK if your kids aren't silent. (The noise level in the theater rose as kids got restless.) The only (huge) bummer was that they cut the Russian dancers. Boo! Before the show:

There were red-carpet photo opportunities with some of the dancers before and after the show. We didn't get there in time for the before photos but took a couple afterward. Ever with Clara:

The line for the Sugar Plum Fairy was way too long, so Ever agreed to pose with this dancer instead (Sugar Plum Fairy in the background):

Ever and Luc, the latter of whom would not stay still for a picture: