2010 A Look Back

It's the end of a year. A lot has happened to our little family and our extended families this year. We tried making a list:

Logan was born
Sarah and Tyson got engaged
Calgary Temple Groundbreaking ceremony
Baby Sarah was born
Trevor and Becca got married
Baby Luke was born
Uncle Jason graduated
Janeen Graduated
Uncle Barrett graduated
Lucy graduated from preschool
Kari and Barrett moved to Lloydminster
Sarah and Tyson got married
Lucy started Kindergarten
Janeen moved to Provo and started BYU
Trevor and Becca announced they were expecting
Mike and Tammy announced they were expecting...on the same day as Trevor and Becca
Lucy broke her leg
Max graduated from Nursery
We announced that we will be moving to Kingston, Ontario.

There have been a lot of ups and downs this year. I struggled with depression a lot. We had a lot of changes. Happy and sad. The biggest thing for me has been the ability to look back and remember the happiness, triumph, joy, laughter, tears, and to have known I have grown this year. I have definitely grown. I am not naive enough to say that it's over, because I know it doesn't work that way, but I am grateful for the growth I have received this year. I most especially grateful for 3 very important things:
-My kids are wonderful and forgiving of a mother who is far from perfect
-My husband supports me through EVERYTHING. I may never know all the reasons why I was supposed to marry him, but I definitely know a lot of them. He is my partner and my support. He is my go-to and the only mortal person I trust with everything.
-Heavenly Father answers prayers. He has heard my cries of despair and grief, many times over and has comforted me. It's a lot easier for me to hear the answers to my prayers when I'm praying in faith, rather than frustration. And when I tried everything else I could think of to make my own situation better, he taught me that nothing else works except relying on Him. I began reading the Book of Mormon a few months after Logan was born. After struggling through months and months of not handling my situation, I finally consigned myself to doing what I've been taught to do my entire life. I started praying, and I started reading. Everyday. The light and life that has come back into my life is indescribable. Nothing else worked. I guess this kind of revelation and growth makes struggle worth it, right? I pray that Heavenly Father will bless me with a memory that allows me to not have to relearn those lessons again and that they will stick with me forever.

So now onto 2011. I hope this year brings a lot of growth and exciting news and tons more joy.

Boxing Day...and Since Then

Since Christmas morning we've spent most of our time playing with all the fun things we got for Christmas and eating leftovers. Through the course of tidying up after Christmas I discovered presents that I forgot to wrap. I guess in the chaos of skiing, broken legs and Christmas, I just forgot. I had spent all my spare moments when the kids were occupied or sleeping working on this project for Max. And if anyone knows how little spare time a mom gets when she has three kids, you know this project took a long time...how I forgot about it, I'll never know. Actually, I do. I'm a mom of three kids. My brain is fried.
Anyway, I made an apron for Max because he loves helping me in the kitchen but isn't too fond of wearing Lucy's pink-heart apron, or her red lady-bug apron. So I determined that I would make him a boy apron for Christmas. A few days late, but he still loved it. I also purchased a pretty pink dress for Lucy weeks and weeks ago, but forgot to give it to her for Christmas as well. I'm going to reassure myself that kids prefer to have the gifts spread out over a few days, rather than all in one, right?

On Wednesday, we headed to the movie theatre to watch Tangled. It was an awesome movie. Lucy has her wheel chair now and loved using it at the theatre. She turned to me a number of times and whispered, "This movie is so fun!"

Christmas 2010

How is it that even when you get a good night's sleep before Christmas Day, that you still feel so sleepy on Christmas morning and it lasts until bedtime that night? Too much adrenaline I guess. Our morning started out fairly usual with Tyler and I sitting in bed feeding Logan his bottle while the other two slept. At about 8:30am we finally decided it was time to be up and at it, so we let Logan wake the other two. Then it was down the hallway to discover what kind of loot was left for us all. As we drove home from Grandma B's last night, we noticed a red light in the sky that we hadn't ever seen before. Lucy concluded that it must be Santa, and he must be getting close, so we had better hurry and get to sleep. The kid's first stop was at their stocking, as per tradition. Max found a totally awesome Iron Man mask with his stocking, while Lucy was surprised by a Littlest Pet Shop kitty cat. The question of the day was, "How did Santa know I like....?" What a genius that Santa is. They were very excited to discover a note left by the empty plate of cookies we had left out for Santa. He wished the kids a Merry Christmas and thanked them for the treats and for being so good. Then he signed it with his fancy signature, which the kids thought was pretty awesome. Lucy was also quick to deduce that the wrapping paper she recognized (green and white) was ours, but all the red wrapping paper must be gifts from Santa, because she didn't recognize the paper. Tyler winked at me and thanked me for my seemingly over-the-top efforts to keep the red paper and sparkly silver gift tags hidden from the kids. They're no dummies!
Max's next discovery was a whoopie cushion in his stocking. When Tyler showed him how it worked and what it did, he giggled in the way only a 3-year-old boy would giggle when talking about toots. He had to test it out for himself right away. Then, he tested it out on everyone else in the family at different moments throughout the day. Even the Elders, who stopped by for a Christmas visit, got a dose of whoopie cushion. At one point he exclaimed, "How does Santa know I love toots?!"
Logan was mostly content to play with his stocking and the wrapping paper tossed aside by the other kids.
Lucy received 3 stuffed kittens from mom and dad, which she was elated about. Kittens are her favorite. They were each wrapped separately and in cleverly disguised boxes. At one point she unwrapped a ziploc box and was mostly disappointed at the discovery. "Ziplocs?!"
Grandma, Papa, and Janeen came down to join us eventually and Auntie Janeen noticed that Lucy had a new signature on her cast that no one had realized previously. Somehow Santa had managed to sign Lucy's cast while she was sleeping and she didn't even notice! The best part was, it HAD to be Santa, because the signature on her cast matched the signature on the note he had left by the cookie plate. Whenever anyone asks her about her cast or about what she got for Christmas, she is sure to point out Santa's signature right away. And, when she heard that she might get a new cast in a few weeks, she got very teary and said she didn't want a new one, because she wants to keep the one with Santa's signature on it. It was a pretty awesome surprise.
One of the best parts of Christmas is watching the kids make an effort to think of something really special that they want to get for each other and then watching them open those special gifts. This year, Max and Logan got Lucy a special tote box full of nailpolishes and perfumes. 4 different colors. She was elated and has since painted her toenails all different colors. Lucy and Logan got Max the Optimus Prime transformer that completes his set. Last year for Christmas he received Bumblebee and Megatron, but had to wait a whole year for Optimus Prime. He snuck away immediately to have a bout playing with all of his transformers.
Dad got to go on a treasure hunt to find his last gift from mom. A 10-gun safe hidden outside in the back of the big red truck. It was quite a surprise and quite a large and heavy gift for me to hide from him for such a long time. Totally worth it. I guess this means I'm giving in to the fact that my husband is a hunter. Something I never thought would happen.
I was especially excited about my new Rachel Ray cookware. I've only used one pot so far to warm up a can of soup, but I loved it, just the same.




Once all the presents at our house were opened, we headed up to Grandma and Papa's to eat some breakfast and open more presents. The rest of the day was spent playing with all the cool new things that we got, eating good food and visiting with family. Jacob got a Thomas the Train set which kept the boys pretty occupied for hours and Lucy loved playing Tyson's new hunting game on the big screen. It was a fabulously exhausting day.

Christmas Eve

I won't go into a lot of detail of all the events of Christmas Eve, except to say that we spent the whole day at my parents house playing, and celebrating together. Sam has a few new games for the Wii (Just Dance and Just Dance 2), which we all had a blast playing. So much so, that Tyler went out to Future Shop and bought them to add to the kid's stockings. The kids enjoyed coloring decorations, making icicles and playing together. Lucy was grateful that the activities were more low-key, so she was able to participate and not feel left out.



After a delicious Christmas dinner, we had a performance of The Twelve Days of Christmas by Cy and Jillian and all the grandkids participated in The Nativity.


Max was a shepherd and Lucy and Logan were Wise Men.


Then we exchanged presents galore...the paper was flying, which was Logan's favorite part. Max got a Cars suitcase and Lucy got some beads. All the grandkids got Christmas jammies too.

The Leg - Skiing Day 3 & 4

Wednesday morning was a bit more exciting as the kids had been asleep when their cousins Jacob and Sarah arrived, so they were pleasantly surprised to see them when they woke up. There were hugs all around and the playing commenced quickly. Coloring, crafts (Auntie Kari came very well prepared), slot cars, and snacks. It was a grandkid heaven. The adults went out skiing first again, and then came back for the kids. Max and Jacob were excited at the prospect of skiing with each other, so we had high hopes. But Jacob was none too impressed when he got separated from Max, and his skiing adventure ended pretty quickly after that. He was more content to stay at the cabin and watch Backyardigans.
Lucy, however, was improving quite quickly, and came back to the cabin (in tears) with quite a story to tell. She had been skiing down the hill with Papa close behind when her ski caught on a tuft of snow and she tripped, split and fell over her skis. Papa had to move quickly and do a quick somersault overtop of Lucy to avoid running over her. She caught a ski in the eye and was a little worse for the wear after that trip. Dad carried her home in tears and it was straight to the couch. She complained that her left leg was hurting and she couldn't stand up. Oh boy!
She spent the afternoon icing it and watching Backyardigans as well. A co-worker of Tyler's happened to be staying in the cabin across from us. He came over and took a look and told us to keep icing it and if she couldn't weight bear by dinner, we should take her to the hospital in Pincher Creek. So this is what we did.
She was a little upset at the prospect of having a broken leg (as was I, but I put on a brave face for my girl) but when we got to the hospital she had a grand time playing in a wheel chair and having mom and dad's attention all to herself. We passed the time by playing the ABC animal game...one of her favorites. I'm sure the nurses thought she was perfectly fine, since she was so pleasant, but a view of the x-ray showed that her leg was definitely broken.
Clean through the Tibia right above her ski-boot. The nurses found her a pair of hospital pants to put on so we didn't have to ruin the pants she was wearing and then it was time for a cast. We had told her there was a chance she would get a cool color of cast, but unfortunately, Pincher Creek only had white, which she was a bit disappointed in. I photographed almost every second of the process, because one day she'll feel really cool to look back at it, even if she's a bit nervous now. We stopped at Tim Horton's on the way home to get her some timbits to share with her family. We got home about 9pm and fed Lucy some late lasagna and got the kids into bed. She woke shortly after 11pm in a lot of pain, so we decided to move her into the bed Tyler and I were sleeping in so we could easily attend to her through the night. It was pretty restless until about 2am when she was finally able to get into some deep sleep. Needless to say I didn't get much rest that night either. Lucy likes to punch and kick in her sleep, whether she's well or not.
She insisted on keeping her broken leg a secret from people because she wanted to surprise them in person. Sarah and Tyson arrived at about 1am and Lucy made us promise not to tell them what had happened. In the morning, she was pleased to let everyone take a gander and take their turn signing the cast. That white cast was filled with color fairly quickly!

We decided to cut our trip short and packed up that morning to leave for home. Lucy's leg was a bit achy and we thought a night in our own beds before the craze of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day hit us, would be a good idea.
Some people have wondered and questioned why this would happen. I am sure that there will be life lessons learned from this experience. Some for Lucy, although in the long run, she may not remember the details of the experience very long. Hopefully it will teach her things like patience and endurance and will help her to appreciate a physical body that isn't in pain. It is helping Max to be the big-boy helper, since Lucy is no longer able to assist me in the many ways she usually does. And for me, well, I have been praying for weeks now to know how I can find opportunities to 'mother' my big-girl. So much of my time is spent mothering her little brothers who need more of my time and attention, and she has become the girl that assists me in doing those things. So I felt like I was missing the opportunity to mother her, but was struggling to find where she would need it, since she is so capable of doing a lot of things on her own. As soon as she was brought home with a hurt leg, the thought popped into my mind that I had been searching for ways to mother her. Now I have my opportunity, and I will take advantage of it. You could say to be careful what you pray for, but I prefer to be thankful that prayers are answered. So even though it is a struggle to have to carry her around, and assist her in going to the bathroom, or scratching an itch, or having to lay in bed with her some nights when the pain is more than she can handle...I just remind myself every time that this is an opportunity and it too will pass quickly, so take advantage of the moments I have while I have them.

What a Trip - Skiing Day 1 & 2

So as per tradition, the Williamson family set out on a family vacation the week before Christmas. Last year it was the week after Christmas, but the tradition still remains. A little R&R and fun away from the city to help us reconnect and unwind. Personally I find it easier to wind down the week AFTER Christmas, but hey, skiing prices go WAY up that week, and my pocketbook rules. So we loaded up our gear and made the trek down to Castle Mountain just outside of Pincher Creek. We had never been there before, so we didn't know what to expect, or even how long the trip would take. When you're driving with a 10-month old who hates driving, the trip is always too long. We got there just as mom and baby were on the brink of a meltdown, and loaded ourselves into our cozy cabin at the base of the mountain. What a beautiful view. This will be easy to look at for a few days. The rest of the family joined us in shortly after that...Kari and Barrett within an hour, Scott, Janie and Janeen a few after that. Jason and Ali the next night (Tuesday) and Sarah and Tyson on Wednesday night. Monday evening was spent getting settled in and playing a few games. On Tuesday morning, the skiing would start. (For those who ski).
I, of course, was nervous about how well our kids (mostly Logan) would sleep in these new accommodations, so that first night was a bit of a toss-and-turn session for me as I listened to all the little noises the house made and each cough my son made. "Is he waking up?" Fortunately, he made it through. Breakfast was had, and stretchy skiing pants were put on.
Tyler, Scott and Janeen went out for the morning and checked out the hill, organized rentals and just got to know the area...after lunch it was time for the kids to have a try...something Max had been waiting for for a LONG time, and Lucy was a bit nervous to venture out on. But they did awesome!

Max came scooting down the bunny hill with Papa, waving to me the whole way (which caused him to loose his balance, but he did pretty great for a first run). "Mom, see that green thing?! (the chair lift) That's my favorite part! I'm going to do the blue one next!"
Me: "Maybe you should stick to the bunny hill for a bit." And they did. Racing down the hill with squeals and laughter. Lucy was a bit more timid and wanted to stop after her first try, but we convinced her to go again and she got the hang of it and really enjoyed it.

Her squeals came shortly after. Logan wasn't too keen on being outside, so he spent most of his time in the cabin with mom and Grandma.
The kids came home for some warm-up Apple Cider while the big kids went back out for the last few runs of the day. It was a great way to start the ski week.
We spent the evening doing crafts with the kids, watching TV, playing games, and hanging out. Uncle Barrett was brilliant enough to bring his slot cars with him, which Max REALLY loved. (I could feel an "I told you so" coming from Tyler, since this is what he wanted to get Max for Christmas - but to his credit it never came).
After the kids were settled into bed, the grown-ups settled in to watch Ocean's 11, a movie Janie had never seen. (I know, I can't believe it either!) Just after 11pm, there was a quiet tap at our door and we were pleasantly surprised to see Jason and Ali and their kids. We quietly helped them unload and get settled in, without disturbing anyone else, and then it was time to finish the movie and head to bed. I was so exhausted from my not-so-great previous night's sleep, that I slept quite soundly.