First Day of Christmas Break

Sterling took a test Friday morning and we got a babysitter for that night! We had a grand time in Miami traffic (gr) and watched The Theory of Everything--which we loved, but was a little different than we had expected--and picking up a few last items that Santa's elves needed for stockings. We had Molly with us which would have been great if we could have gotten her to sleep BEFORE the movie, instead Sterling stood at the back of the theater and watched it while I sat. It's the first time we've ever attempted taking a baby to a theater, and it will probably be the last. But there is still something to be said for leaving your toddlers at home and getting out. Our poor babysitter called her mom in tears trying to put my kids to sleep (they are turning into mama's kids and I don't know how to prevent it since I'm the only one around all the time!) but we enjoyed our time! Poor girl. 

We have an incredibly awesome bishop in our ward who has an AMAZING wife that I am lucky enough to be in nursery with and to go visiting teaching to. He is in residency right now for opthalmology and they'll be in Miami roughly the same amount of time we are. They were headed to Georgia to visit a sibling for Christmas so we offered to play with the kids while they packed. We had the greatest time, got homesick for the Barney family, and Sterling has since asked three or four times when we get to play with them again. We really do miss our nieces and nephews so much and it is so lucky we have such great friends in Miami.

Are they not the cutest?! 

 These kids are pro bubble-blowers.

We had bubbles, chalk, buckets and shovels, and then we ran races. The kids were awesome and they are FAST! We did wheel barrow races, hopping, backwards, crab walks, etc. This is Ruthie and Claire  somersaulting. Seriously they were so adorable.

One guy at the park turned to me and asked me if they were ALL mine. Uh...no. Seven kids, nine and under would be quite the feat, haha. He seemed quite stunned that we were even watching that many. Oh, that is all at the park by our house that we can walk to, by the way, and we really like it now that there are fewer bugs and cooler temps!

After playing all day at the park, our kids dumped a bucket full of sand into the tub and we scrubbed them down for the ward Christmas party. Oh, Latin culture, you are so very different. We got there at six when it started, starving and expecting dinner first thing. There were quite a few people there and the tables were starting to have food put on them. We waited for almost an HOUR to hear them announce a PROGRAM before dinner. My kids were going crazy. The program was nice, dinner was, of course, rice and beans--although it was REALLY good. Then there was a live band. This was definitely the highlight. It was AWESOME! Sterling and I wanted to swing dance SOOOOOO bad but they weren't clearing tables away in any hurry. Finally, our kids were exhausted so we asked the elders quorum president if dancing would start soon. He said that they would probably keep this up for another couple of hours while all the white families left, then they might end up dancing, they'd party til two and then no one would show up to church tomorrow. HAAHAAHAAA. We gave up on the dancing idea (although now we are both dying to go swing dancing!) and took the kids home. We were so exhausted from the full day at the park--we must have played hard! Oh, I also made marshmallow brownies, which turned out perfectly (I'm so happy! That's the first time I haven't had SOMETHING go wrong with those things!) and were gone in a flash. I might become domesticated yet. Which reminds me, earlier Sterling brought up the idea that we could just pick up some cookies on our way, since we had played so long. I just looked at him. He mumbled "Yes, Lorie." I laughed for a minute straight.

That night I came into Ruth's room and this is how she was sleeping. Animals, much?

Christmas Sunday. We were running late because Sterling has to go to morning meetings now and can't quite get home fast enough to get us back to church on time, even if I have everything ready to go and waiting, so we're still working on juggling that. So I did not get a family photo or even a kids photo, but they were adorable, I tell ya!

 Photos courtesy of Ruthie photography.

Sterling didn't want to share my lipstick.

Christmas Sunday was really hilarious, actually. We got there and Ruth threw her fourth fit in the time it had taken us to load up, drive, and pull up to church. So she got in trouble and had to go sit in the van with dad. Right as they walked back in, the choir was singing, so she came in and Sterling walked right up in time to sing. Then he came back down and Will had gotten into a granola bar I didn't know was in my diaper bag, and somehow we didn't have wipes, so instead of sitting down, Sterling walked right out to grab them. When he walked in to hand me the wipes, they were singing again, so he walked right up to sing. Then the baby started fussing, so he picked her up on his way down and walked straight to the back to hold her. When the choir sang the third song, he just held the baby while singing, then came back to hand her to me and took Will in exchange because Will was being demon-ish. So he did not sit down at all for all of Sacrament Meeting. Haha. The couple sitting behind us were about our parents' age, and they thought it was hilarious to watch! Luckily, after sitting in the car at the very beginning, Ruth was so good and just colored the entire time. But our babies, whew! Sterling continued the whirlwind by preparing and giving a lesson the next two hours of church, but luckily we had a lot of people out of town so I got to take it easy in nursery. 

We came home to the most delicious ham dinner ever, thanks to a phone call the night before to my dad--we had never cooked our own ham before. It was perfection and we used some of the glaze on some cooked carrots which were also divine. So we got our Christmas dinner after all!