The BrehiThomas Family Blog: December 2017

We Broke Texas

Ya'll. It snowed in Texas. It was not a lot of snow, but it's Texas. I was out and about so I texted Lehi to wake Maverick up (he was soundly sleeping) and show him, since his days in the snow of Rexburg were most likely past his remembrance. Lehi texted me back and said, "He was not impressed."

Apparently it took Lehi a good while to wake Maverick and he pretty much just blinked when brought outside, despite Lehi's excitement.

The Christmas Spirit

We were shopping for some ingredients needed to make Christmas treats on weekend. Lehi noticed a lady trying to reach something at the top of a shelf and offered to help her. While his help may have included a little jumping himself, he was able to get all the cans she needed. She thanked Lehi for his help and Maverick very enthusiastically yelled back, "Merry Christmas! If you need help again my Dad can help! Merry Christmas!"

The Magic Touch

Our magical little Elf was named when Maverick was 3...not quite understanding the concept, he proudly called him "Shelf." Well...he remembered what he named that elf this year, and so the name "Shelf" has stuck. Shelf surprised Maverick early in the month with pajamas with his (Shelf's) picture on them. Maverick was so excited for this fun gift. One morning while wearing them, he told me, "Touch my pajamas, Mom." I did so and he fell over and dramatically sprawled out on the floor. He then declared, "I lost my magic!"

Christmas Parties

We attended some pretty awesome Christmas parties. The USAA party had Joan Jett and the Heartbreakers and Gary Allen come and play. We basically waited the whole night to hear Joan's "I Love Rock and Roll" and wondered around the huge rented building eating way more food than we should have with the Westensee and Wolf families.

Our ward Christmas had a traditional dinner and "Grinch" theme. They did an awesome job decorating and putting on a short Grinch "play" for the kiddos. At the end, there was a special visit from Santa himself! By the time we got Maverick to the front of the gym, there was a pretty big line to see him. So, Lehi asked, "Maverick, would you rather stand in line to see Santa or go see Parker?" Maverick yelled, "Parker!!" and the long wait was avoided.

The Clark's also hosted a pretty epic White Elephant party. Lehi and I were pretty proud of our contributions to the exchange--fish & chips (with live Gold Fish) and a flask full of eggnog. We ended up with a boxer brief, complete with buttocks and a "cookie jug" that had a long origin story. There was a lot of random and very creative gifts which produced a lot of laughs. It was an awesome night!

Christmas Cookies, Sugar

Tasha brought the cousins over to help make sugar cookies. It ended up being a bit of shift work--having 2 kids come cut cookies at a time while the other baked. I think they enjoyed it and it is certainly a tradition we want to continue.

Have a Super Christmas

This year, we decided to have a little bit of fun with our Christmas cards. After much planning, shopping, and Amazon priming, we were able to find some pretty awesome superhero pjs for the whole family. Although Lehi and my onesies are a little warm for Texas, their epic-ness makes up for it. We also had way too much fun trying to have Maverick "run in place" and then "freeze!!" for a picture. I am pretty sure we took over 50 pictures of him alone, trying to get a good shot. Eventually, we said "Put your arms up like you are running and hold them still" but he would still pump those little arms up and down. It was funny and frustrating all in the same moment--but we ended up with some pretty great "action shots" of him.

Matt Damon & the Last Jedi

Lehi and I went to the opening night of the Last Jedi. The theater was packed and more than a little crazy. Amidst the chaoz, Lehi and I ended up separated while he went to get tickets and I waited in the lobby. When he came back he told me "Someone just told me I looked just like Matt Damon. I laughed and said, "I get that fairly often."" He (a middle age man) then held up his phone and nodded his head excitedly. I said, "Sure!" and took a selfie with him.

Christmas Eve & Day

The boys (but mainly Lincoln) was so excited to have Santa come to the house. We read the story of Christ's birth, opened one present each, and put cookies and milk out for Santa. Lehi and I warned Maverick that he couldn't go downstairs without us in the morning. He kept his promise and came bounding into our room to wake us up. We got Lincoln and headed downstairs to experience more Christmas magic. It took us a few hours to get through Christmas, because they boys would not want to open any more presents so they could stop and play with their new toy. Lehi surprised me with a Roomba, food processor, and steam mop. I surprised him with a sign Dawkin's helmet--we were not sure who surprised who more! Maverick played with the X-wing (from Great Grandma Thomas) for hours and Lincoln loved his ride-on motorcycle from the Thomas Grandparents. Here are some of the highlight Maverick quotes:

Maverick talking about a present he made in nursery:

"No it says, "Don't let your parents open it. Sister Bahr."

"Ohhhh another cereal box!" (I like to slip everything in clean, nice boxes for pretty presents).

"This be such a cool present!" (He hadn't opened it yet)

"Mom! Your Roomba hit the table! Bad Roomba!!"

"Ok googoo. What time is it?"