Sledding

It started snowing Christmas Eve as we were driving around looking at lights, and Christmas morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. SO beautiful! The day after Christmas we went sledding and had a blast. Jared had to work, but our nephews, niece, and Jared's sister helped the kids up and down the hill. We even rigged a rope to help climb up because it was so powdery and hard to climb up at the very top.

Anderson is hard core and never cried. Instead he just kept going and going.  He even tried to go down by himself.

Briggs is also fearless. Once he rolled and was completely covered from head to toe. To lighten the mood and applauded him on his "ninja roll" and then that was all he wanted to do.

Maddie absolutely loved it. She liked to ride with someone, but was up for anything other than that. Stomach, back, backward, trains, etc.

Emma is ever cautious. She was careful about who she rode down with and where they went down. She was the most grateful for the rope to climb back up as she was dramatically slipping and sliding without it. She said her toes were cold, otherwise she didn't want to leave.

Jesus is Real

One of my favorite parts of Christmas this year is that each of the kids picked out a picture of Jesus they liked. That was their very first gift on Christmas morning. Then they opened their gift for Jesus. It was sweet. These pictures blew me away because they look like Jesus with Emma, Maddie, Briggs and a baby Anderson. The kids really think it's them with Him.

Madelyn gave a talk in primary yesterday with pictures of Jesus and His life and basically bore testimony of Him. "I know He was born, I know He was baptized, etc." She included the picture of Jesus with the children and said, "I know He is real." I didn't expect that but it was a tender moment from our little analyzer who often doubts things like the Holy Ghost and answers to prayers. It was a big deal to her.

Polar Bearing

While I was wrapping gifts with my friend Jill, our kids played in their hot tub. They would sit in the snow and then run and jump into the hot tub. A couple of them even got brave enough to do snow angels. I think they are crazy. Jill said she did that at her aunt's house when she was younger and they called it polar bearing. I just might have to try it...

Buddies

As I was looking at pictures I noticed these two end up in pictures together frequently lately. And this morning I reminded Maddie she can't leave her breakfast dishes on the table when she is done. She said, "Mom, I know, but when the baby wakes up I'm just so excited that I forget everything else!"

Tender Mercies

I know my Heavenly Father loves me.  I have always known that.  I know a great deal about what He is like because of my own father's love, care and concern for me.  I've always been grateful for that.  I know He loves me because He created this world, this life, this family for me.  But I REALLY know He loves me as I see Him in the details of my life.  I have spent my whole life seeing things like a rainbow and thinking, "He knows me!  He knew I needed that today!" 

An anonymous sister from my ward shared an experience at a relief society activity last year.  She said that a lady in the ward stopped by with a plate of cookies and said, "I don't know why, but I'm supposed to bring these to you today."  This sister was almost offended, wondering why she thought she needed them.  She just KNEW the sister was confused and didn't know her well enough to know that she was just fine.  Then she realized that this was Heavenly Father's way of saying, "Hey, I was just thinking about you today and wanted you to know that."

I have come to understand and call those moments "tender mercies."

Elder Bednar says "tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurance, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ."

Wow.  So pretty much EVERYTHING.  I have made pages of tender mercies journals before.  There are truly too many to list.  

I wanted to share one.  As we entered the Christmas season, I was feeling pretty calm.  I had done most of my shopping weeks(even months) before and had very little to worry about.  But the one thing I felt I had not done as well as I wanted to was prepare some special ways for my family to really focus on Christ this year.  The day that realization hit me that I had probably already dropped the ball because there were only 12 days left until Christmas, I was feeling so disappointed.  As we got home from Grandma's one night, I noticed something on our doorstep.  We got the kids inside through the garage and I went to check the front doorstep, anticipating a treat from a neighbor.  Instead, I was greeted by a small wrapped package and a note.  It informed us that we would be receiving the 12 days of Christmas!  And what were the gifts?  Pieces of a nativity set, accompanied by a scripture and/or quote about that piece.  In that moment I KNEW that was a tender mercy, extended from heaven through a friend who was listening and willing to serve us.  It made this Christmas more special, and it really helped keep us thinking of Him.

Family Christmas Letter 2014

Dear Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas!  We hope this letter finds you and your family doing well! 2014 has been a great year for our family- we wanted to share some of it with you.

We have entered into a new stage as Emma(5) started Kindergarten this fall.  She enjoys school, but does not appreciate waking up in the morning.  She loves to learn about art and animals.  She often shares little tidbits with us like “bats use echo location to know where they are going” and “starfish have the ability to re-grow their arms.”  She has worked so hard in speech therapy this year and is so proud of her crisp “s”!  This is a great example of her determination, as she practices and works to accomplish anything she sets her mind to.  Her favorite things to do are color, dance, swim and learn new songs on the piano.

Madelyn(4) has fun playing with her little brothers most of the day while Emma is at school.  She likes to be the boss in our home and has figured out that the boys will let her!  They play house, horses and much more.  She is also sweet and gentle as she helps mother them, especially when they are sad or frustrated.  At pre-school, she loves creating things and learning about the way things work.  She is very thoughtful, always delivering notes to friends and family.  Cooking, riding horses, dancing and playing soccer are some of her favorite things to do.

Our third little ball of energy, Briggs(3),  never stops moving.  He spends a lot of time with his cousins who have taught him to wrestle, hike a ball, swing a bat and dribble a basketball.  He has a hard time choosing which he likes the most, but today it is basketball.  He is definitely the comedian of our family (intentionally or not), and keeps us all laughing all day long.  He is also so tender hearted and looks out for others, especially his little brother.  He considers himself an expert on all things Batman, Superman and Spiderman.

This year, Anderson(18 months), has become what we lovingly call “Hurricane Anderson”.  There is always a path to be found behind him as he plays with not only toys, but shoes, clothes, pillows, kitchen utensils and anything else within reach.  He just loves to learn and explore, right?!  When he slows down, he can be found cuddling with mom or sitting in the middle of a pile of books, flipping through pages.  His absolute favorite thing to do is follow his big brother and sisters on their adventures.

Melody can usually be found driving the kids to or from school, teaching a piano lesson, folding a mountain of laundry, following behind Hurricane Anderson, wrestling with Briggs, cooking with Maddie, reading with Emma or having a dance party in the kitchen while dinner is cooking.  In her “free” time, she likes to run, bike, read or take a nap if she is really lucky. 

Jared has been a Facility Engineer at ON Semiconductor for 3 years and enjoys his work there and the new skills he is developing in that capacity.  Outside of work and church, he spends his time playing weekly basketball with friends, reading, playing with the kids and building things for the house- he always has the next project in mind!

“As we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ this season, let us also celebrate all that His birth symbolizes, especially the love. When we see shepherds, may we remember to be humble. When we see wise men, may we remember to be generous. When we see the star, may we remember the Light of Christ, which gives life and light to all things. When we see a tiny baby, may we remember to love unconditionally, with tenderness and compassion. May we open the doors of our hearts and reach out to those around us who are lonely, forgotten, or poor in spirit. As we contemplate the example and infinite sacrifice of the Savior, may we also consider how we can be more Christlike in our associations with family and friends, not just during this season but throughout the year.”              -Bonnie L. Oscarson

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a great 2015! 

Love, The Daniels Family

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

Our neighbors ended up not being able to use their four tickets to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert tonight, so we spontaneously a quick trip to SLC. It was so fun! The Sesame Street characters were a part of it and the girls were in awe of it all. Emma was singing and dancing and grinning and clapping the whole time. It was magical.

Kyle happened to be at a Jazz game close by so we met up for a little bit.

The other highlight of our night was the escalators. They could ride up and down them all night.

I am grateful for friends who shared their tickets, family who dropped everything to help us out and watch our kids and Jared who was such a good sport about taking us.

My favorite moments of the night were Maddie's cuddles, Emma's fear of automatic flushing toilets, the time with Jared, Maddie's serious, focused face while she watched in wonder and the huge smiles and pure joy on Emma's face.

We love to see the temple!

On the way home from Thanksgiving at my parent's house, we made a stop at the Idaho Falls temple and visitor's center. It was beautiful and a perfect way addition to our great weekend. The kids just kept saying how much they wished that Jesus was real so they could really hug Him and talk to Him. Emma was very attentive to the testimony off a sister missionary there, and has been talking a lot about what she taught. Her favorite line was,  "Jesus doesn't just want us to love our family, He wants us to love everyone around us."

Tis the season

We decorated a little bit last night. We put up the symbol ornaments and read the book. Then we re-watched the video He Is the Gift that the church made. It is beautiful. We then all wrote down what our gift to the Savior will be this year. I am going to focus on slowing down and being intentional. I am also studying more about Christ and trying to be more like Him. I am learning that studying his teachings and life makes acting more like Him come more naturally.

Jared secured the tree with fishing line, and of course the kids took turn "fishing" before we put the fishing rod away.

This picture doesn't do this justice, but this is the view out my kitchen window.  A neighbor on the hill above us.  They must have known that we would feel like these are just for us!

Bigs (the calf)

Friday night, my Dad was going to the farm to put a new calf away. Emma and I skipped dinner with everyone else to go help him. It was dark and windy and chilly, but fun to spend a little extra time with him.

Emma was over the moon about the whole thing. We swung the gate for him as he drove in and out of the corral. Emma panicked as he was driving out, though, and darted away and almost directly into his path. Luckily she was fast.

We helped give him his shots, squirted iodine on his umbilical cord and feed him his first bottle. He was stubborn and wanted to stand while he ate. He was an exceptional eater, and I told Emma that was how Briggs was when he was a brand new baby. Stubborn and hungry. ;) So she named him Bigs after Briggs.

The next day she had to go back for a picture and to show Maddie and Briggs her buddy. He must have remembered her because he cozied right up to her and would hardly stand still for the others. This was her "share sack" for school today.