Yearly Christmas Book

The elves delivered the yearly Christmas book tonight. They, of course, couldn't wait to read it so they read it without the rest of the family. The book is the Christmas Train by President Monson. I can't wait to read it with the family.

Zipline

These elves just love to climb and be up high! They strung a rope from the stairs into the family room and built themselves an actual working zipline. Taylor thought it was great fun to continue playing with them when he woke up- he kept running them up the zipline and letting them fly down it; I guess it's good that they aren't afraid of heights. Taylor told me that he wished that he could ride the zipline too.

Psuedo Vacay!

After last night's loss of magic, the elves decided that they needed a vacay! I guess a printed picture and elf sized beach towels would have to do. Makes me laugh that they used the pineapple we got from a neighbor as their palm tree. I guess you have to be creative around here when you're using your imagination.

Losing Magic

The kids have had a hard time being nice the last couple of days. Unfortunately that means that Marty and Belle have lost their magic. Hopefully, the kids can be nicer tomorrow so that the elves can play!

Fly Away With Me

Marty and Belle had a good time flying paper airplanes last night. The biggest problem was that they flew them from atop the lights in the kitchen and family room, not to mention the mess that they made. I wish they weren't such amazing climbers!

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Marty and Belle found my dry erase markers and went crazy all over the kids mirror in their bathroom. They were quite creative and it must have taken quite awhile for them to finish their art project.

 I love that both elves wrote that they love each other on the mirror. They are definitely newlyweds!!

It made me laugh to see that Taylor made the naughty and nice list... I am wondering why Ryan and I made the naughty list! We better get our act together!!

They also drew a lovely picture of Taylor and a Christmas tree.

Infinity

Last night Marty and Belle decided to expand their horizons and play the new Disney Infinity game that Jessica got for her b-day. They looked like they were having fun and it was an all nighter game night.

Puzzled

Friday night the elves were into puzzles. They brought a new super hero puzzle and had it partially put together before the kids found them. Taylor then promptly put the elves to bed and finished the puzzle for them.

Decorating for Jessica's Birthday

Jessica turns 12 tomorrow . We are taking her and some friends to see Frozen for her b-day party. The elves must have overheard us talking about it because they decided to make it snow for her birthday decorations. They hung snowflakes from the ceiling and put blue and white balloons all over. I love their sign that says, "Happy Frozen Birthday". Hopefully Jessica thinks it's amazing because I'm sure that it took those elves a looooong time to pull it off.

Hanging Out With Friends

Marty and Belle were found hanging out in the Christmas tree with Mickey and Minnie. I'm not completely sure why they were hanging out together- I am just really hoping that they aren't making any devious plans together! They did look pretty cute sitting up in the Disney tree together.

Messing With Time...

I think that Marty and Belle are a little bit excited for Christmas- they keep messing with the kids advent calenders! Tonight they opened every opening on our wood advent countdown and hung up all the toys in Santa's workshop. Belle obviously thinks that it's pretty funny- I can just see her laughing out loud as they provided this mischief.

Olaf the Snowman

Today Jessica and Taylor were drawing pics of Olaf the snowman from the new Disney film Frozen. Marty and Belle must have found their pics and decided to try their hand at a snowman as well. Of course, being mischievous elves, they drew their snowman with post it notes out of Ryan's school bag. I have to say that their snowman looks a lot more like Frosty- but then they probably know him personally.

Chocolate Advent Countdown

I think that our elves were very hungry after their trip to the North Pole last night. Unfortunately, they remembered the chocolate advent countdowns that they gave the kids- they ate all of it, every last bit of chocolate! I think that their tummies hurt after but they seemed very happy and full... until they meet the wrath of Taylor!!

Gifts from the Big Man

Tonight Marty and Belle decided to take a trip to the North Pole. They needed to report on how the kids have been behaving and stock up on some candy. Santa asked them to bring back some of the gifts that are wrapped and ready- he is trying to lighten his load this year because it has already been super cold in Utah and he doesn't want to spend too much time with lots of gifts in his sleigh. Marty and Belle were very happy to play Santa and they brought us a bag of wrapped gifts. Funny thing about these gifts though, they have no names on them... I'm sure Santa will sort it all out on Christmas Eve.

Baby Jesus

Last night our family went to see the live Nativity in Alpine. It was really amazing- freezing, but amazing. There were real camels, donkeys and sheep. We were able to walk through the town of Bethlehem and see different people working at their craft of metal working, yarn spinning and bread making. At the end, after following the star, we were ushered in to view the baby Jesus- played by a real baby. I really felt like it was a great way to start the holidays and remember why we even celebrate Christmas. It really isn't all about the gifts, decorations or even the elves... It's all about the birth of our Savior- something that we all must remember as we get busy with the holidays.

Our elves must have realized what a special experience this was for our family and they wanted to be involved so they created their own live nativity. Marty and Belle played the parts of Mary and Joseph. Taylor even commented that he should have taken his elves last night so that they could have seen the "real baby Jesus" (this mom wouldn't let him take the elves, he tried!)

Looking for Candy???

We aren't really sure what Marty and Belle were doing last night but Taylor thinks they were "looking for extra candy!" I can't say that I blame them, I hear that elves live on candy and there really isn't much candy in our home- they might be getting desperate and felt that old Christmas candy was better than no candy. Maybe we should stock some sugar just for the elves.

Dreaming of Disney

Marty and Belle were caught Dreaming of Disneyland tonight. Belle had out our "Christmas in Disneyland" autograph book from a few years ago and was avidly starring at the pages. Marty found our Disney Stache change jar and got stuck in it while stuffing it with money for a Disney trip. If only their play money was real... we would definitely be headed south and away from the snow. I guess dreaming never hurt anyone, even elves.

An Elf Sized Bed For Two

Taylor has been faithfully tucking Marty and Belle into Marty's old elf twin bed every night since they arrived. It has been a super tight squeeze and Taylor thinks it's pretty funny... Tonight, Marty and Belle decided to remedy this issue; they now have an elf king sized bed! It was also funny to see that the old small bed made it's way to the garbage can. Now if we could just figure out how to get our elves to clean up after themselves-- coarse, I still haven't figured out how to get children to do that!

P.S.- Taylor pulled the old elf bed out of the trash- "In case their friends come to visit!"

Repelling and candy canes...

I have been slowly putting up the Christmas decorations in all of my excessively extra free time. I think that Marty and Belle decided that I was not working quickly enough so they decide to climb up to the shelf and hang candy canes. We caught them in the middle of repelling down from the shelf. Thankfully, this shelf is really high and Taylor will hopefully leave the decorations alone...

Oh and the answer is yes, there is a full size Christmas tree in our entryway... we have a rather large entry way and a small living room. The tree looked and fit much better in the entryway.

Welcome Mischiefs

We took the kids to see Frozen (it's amazing by the way) and when we came home our elf Marty Mischief had come to stay. He brought along a little surprise... his wife Jingle Belle. According to the letter that came with them, they were married this last year and Jingle Belle doesn't like to be called Jingle, so we are sticking to Belle. It seems that we will be welcoming the Mishiefs to our home again this Christmas Season- it will be fun to see what two elves can come up with... we are hoping that marriage has calmed Marty's mischief a bit!

 The elves arrive with a letter announcing their arrival and marriage.

Taylor was so excited- he has written Santa everyday for weeks asking for his elf back. Here he is posing with the elves.

The first night they were here, Marty and Belle left chocolate advent calendars for the kids. Of course they ate the chocolate for the day that had already passed.

Memories of Derek...

I know that it has been a really long time since I posted... sorry!

This last weekend, one of our long time friends, Derek Johnson, was killed in the line of duty as a police officer. This has has a great effect on our family, especially since my dad has been a firefighter my entire life and the possibility of him losing his life while on duty has always been a concern at the back of my mind. 

This morning as I was driving to the gym, I listened as Devin Johnson and his wife talked about Derek and how the community could help Shante and their son Ben. One of the things that Devin asked was for people that have known Derek to share their memories of him with the family. As I sat in the gym parking lot literally crying, I was impressed that I needed to write down the memories that our family has of Derek. The following is the letter that I have written for the Sidwell and Johnson families; it has been a very personal and difficult letter to write but it is my hope that it will help with the healing process... not only for the families directly impacted but also for those that were in the Draper 1st ward with Derek and Shante. I hope that our memories will bring a smile to you and that we can all heal over time and with the help of our loving Heavenly Father.


-->

This last week has been a rough one for many with the loss of Derek. My younger brother, Aaron, just happened to be visiting from Nashville on Sunday when we found out that Derek had lost his life. It came as a shock and left our hearts aching for Shante and Ben as well as the Sidwell and Johnson families. Our family has known both families for well over 20 years; when Derek and his family moved to Draper from Sandy, Derek and my brother Aaron become the best of friends, if you found one of them, the other was not far behind. I can remember both of them causing me endless grief and teasing.

            On Sunday evening as we gathered as a family to say a special prayer for the Johnson and Sidwell families, we began to share the many memories that we have of Derek. Many people are recalling memories of Sgt. Johnson and what a good man that he was. Our memories are of Derek are as a teenage boy that brought many smiles to our home and caused a lot of havoc in between. I thought that a few of these memories might bring a smile to those whose hearts are broken at this time.

            Aaron recounted many stories of the trouble that he and Derek caused. The summer before their 9^th grade year, it was a goal for them to sneak out of the house every Saturday night during the summer… and apparently they did just that! Aaron remembers them wandering the newer neighborhoods in Draper and going into homes that were under construction to practice SWAT team moves because Derek had every intention of one day joining the force. He also recalls them breaking a window in my parent’s home with a slingshot full of rocks and then staging it to look like it had been caused by a football… My dad chuckled a bit at this memory and just said that he was too busy raising boys to become good men to worry about how the window had been broken.

            One of my favorite memories of Derek and Aaron was right after they had met. Aaron had gone the 1^st 12 years of his life being called by his middle name of Scott. After meeting Derek, the two of them got it into their heads that my brother should switch over to being called Aaron instead of Scott. I remember the two of them sitting in the living room when I asked Aaron why the need to change his name after so many years… The reply that I got was that he and Derek had decided that Aaron was a much more romantic name and that he would have better luck with the girls if he went by Aaron. The boys were very insistent and the name was changed, every time I have recalled that conversation, I can’t help but laugh a little over the antics of two teenage boys.

            My husband and older brother shared memories of coaching Derek in the Deacon’s basketball team, taking him along to help DJ church dances- because he was a tough kid and could lift the heavy speakers, and of him crashing into and denting my husband’s beloved truck, just to name a few.

            Aaron is also insistent that he gets credit for first introducing Derek and Shante. Derek was new to the ward and Aaron was showing him around when they ran into Shante. As they often say, the rest is history. None of us can really have memories of Derek without mentioning Shante; they were always together. I can remember teasing Derek about it and telling him that it was just a crush that would pass. Derek would always become insistent that it was real love that would never go away and it never has. It has hit very close to home for my husband and I to realize that we share a similar story to Derek and Shante. There were 4 couples from the Draper 1^st ward that met as teenagers and later married; Derek and Shante are one as are my husband and I. Of the four couples that married, two have now been separated by the death of their spouse. It makes me so thankful to know that we have the knowledge of life after death and that this is by no means the end. It really gives me a new appreciation of Eternal Marriage and the bond that is created through that ordinance.

            Our family has many fond memories of Derek and his love of life. As a Registered Nurse, it is very difficult for me personally to deal with death because I have chosen to help people heal as my life’s work. I have had to stop many times in writing this to wipe the tears from my eyes, as my heart is hurting for the Sidwell and Johnson families. It is my hope that these memories will bring some sort of healing to those whose hearts are broken and need to be healed. We truly believe that this healing is possible through our loving Heavenly Father- He has a plan for all of us and I know that He is carrying Shante and Benson at this point in their lives and He will continue to heal them through His loving power. We deeply express our grief and sorrow for your family and we have felt a true loss at Derek’s passing. Please know that you are in our hearts, thoughts and prayers and we look forward to the day that we will be able to see Derek again.

All of Our Love,

Ryan and Stephanie Greenwood

Photo shoot of Harmony (my newest niece)

A few weeks ago, my mom and I flew to Nashville to see the newest addition to our family and her parents. We had a great time and it was fun to see some of the sites around Nashville (pics later). While there, I did a photo shoot of my newest niece, Harmony. Needless to say, this post is really for Aaron, Amethyst and my mom.