Season of Gifts

So far, this Christmas has been filled with fun and joy!

We were able to be at the Bishop's house for Christmas Eve. What a great gift! We sat around the tree after dinner and shared thoughts and testimonies of Christ and His birth. I love talking about what the scripture people must have been thinking and feeling when they recieved witnesses that our Savior was born. It is so exciting to know about the greatest Christmas gift- Christ himself!

Another great gift was that Aubrey, our cousin, gave us matching pajamas!! We've never had matching clothes like that before! Jeremy said "Hey, SarahLynn, now you can wear your own clothes and still feel like you are wearing mine!"

One more noteworthy gift was an awesome poem book that our brother Matt (age 13) made at school. Here are two poems that he wrote about us.

Recipe of Being a Good Brother
By The Matt

1 Cup of Sports
3 Cups of Laughter
1/100 tsp. of beating up your little bro
2 Cups of Caring
5 Cups of Fun
2 TBsp of Video Games
A Bushel of Love
1 Cup of Creativity

Mix it all together and roll it in 10 cups of Memories. Place 1/2 in. apart ona BIG cookie sheet for 13 years. Recipe should make BILLIONS of good times!

To The Beach
by The Matt

Above the first floor apartments,
Along the rails of the staricase,
Across the intersections of Huntington Beach,
Between walking pedestrians and other riders,
Along the beach we ride,
Until we reach the right spot,
Off of our bikes,
Onto the beach we walk,
Down to the lukwarm water,
Through the rest of the day we play.

Little of This - Little of That

1. We got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Robertson and aunt&uncle Tina and Dave a couple weeks ago. We were able to catch a dinner with them before they went on their cruiz that left from Long Beach. We visited, ate, and visited. Grandpa was a hoot! It was great to see him looking so good and making lots of jokes with us. I really admire Grandma for all the patience and love that she has for Grandpa. They are so lucky to have each other! And we felt very lucky to be with them.

2. I had my first formal teaching observation on Tuesday. I wasn't nervous about actually teaching, it was just getting the lesson together perfectly that was the stressful part. The lesson turned out really well, and my boss gave me awesome ratings. But the best part was that while I was teaching, the kids made all the discoveries that I wanted them to--on their own! It was very exciting for me.

3. I organized the first school-wide Sing-In this past week. Every grade sang a winter song and the teachers sang a song, too. It was really festive and fun. I love being a music teacher because of events like these!!

4. We saw the movie Avatar on Friday, which was really good. It was a blend of Pocahontas and Fern Gully, only in 22nd century mode. We've got lots of movie tickets from my students that we are excited to use. Any suggestions of good ones that you've seen??

5. The Balboa Boat Parade was gorgious again this year!! Jeremy dropped off Ashlea and I next to a bridge to start watching the boats that are all lit up. The lights were beautiful and the weather was great- 68 degrees at night. By the time Jeremy found a place to park and catch up with us, the parade was over! Poor guy.

6. So here's a follow up from the previous post titled Couch Potato- Last night I dreamed that I ran into Mrs. Duggar, the mom on 18 Kids and Counting. I told her how much I loved her family and the show. Then I started telling her how much she would love the restored gospel, and I taught her all about our church, the Book of Mormon, and families being together forever. She seemed really interested. But when I told her about Joseph's vision, she just laughed in my face and walked away. I was really, really sad about that. Then I woke up and realized that maybe this couch potato business is getting a little out of hand!

7. We have our tree up! It kind of looks like a leaning tower of lights. We will be enjoying Christmas Eve and Day at our place here in HB. Then on the 26th, we fly down to Puerta Vallarta to meet up with my parents and sisters. We will get to spend the whole week together and scuba dive!! Woohoo!

8. We went to a professional soccer game. It was a fun cultural experience! Even Jeremy admitted there is a lot to professional soccer that he simply does not understand, but it was fun to be there and experience it all.

Couch Potato

Mom was right. I have grown into a huge couch potato.

Everyday when I get home from work, whether it's 6:30pm or 11:30pm, it's the same ritual. I drop my purse next to the door and drape my jacket over the kitchen chair. My shoes get flung into the general direction of the hallway--because it would take too much time to walk the 5 steps to put them in the hallway closet. Then with great anticipation, I plop onto the ever sinking well of cushions on the right side of our couch and begin watching a saga of all my favorite TV shows.

When we bought Tivo, we gave into the illusion that it would save us time watching TV. True, we don't waste time browsing through channels or sitting through commercials, but we still spend plenty of time watching the boob tube. With our flashy fast forward button, we can cram in 2 episodes of Seinfeld, 1 episode of the Office, 2 episodes of Spice up my Kitchen and all of ESPN's top plays in just one hour! Which of course means that we can spend the rest of the night doing something productive... like watching Mythbusters, 18 Kids and Counting, 2 episodes of Cake Boss, and a little bit of Dirty Jobs before it's too late to keep our eyes open.

I know what you're thinking. How pathetic! Especially with all the household chores that need to get done and the other busy things going on in our lives, how could we ever justify using all our spare time for TV?

In all honesty, I think being a couch potato is a pretty good way to spend my time these days. First off, watching TV helps me forget about all the stresses at work. It gives me a chance to recoup from some very exhausting days. Plus, I usually get to cuddle up with Jeremy while watching the tube. Who can resist that?

I've actually been surprised at how bonding of an experience watching TV with Jeremy has become. The pause button is another great Tivo feature that has allowed us to laugh, comment, discuss, agree, debate, and learn about what we are watching. It has also allowed us to learn from each other's interests. You'd be pretty impressed with how much I know about football and baseball now and how much Jeremy knows about redecorating houses. All thanks to our beloved Tele.

Another great thing about watching with Tivo is that we don't have to put up with any mucky shows or commercials. We're able to get plenty of uplifting shows like one of my favorites: 18 Kids and Counting. After each episode, I'm super motivated to be more family oriented, to share the gospel and to be grateful for Jeremy and my family. We love watching Mythbusters and Planet Earth 'cuz we actually learn so much about science and nature. We even started making homemade cakes to keep our mouths from watering during new episodes of Cake Boss.

Sure, there might be many more productive things we could be doing during the week. But sometimes there isn't anything quite as enjoying after a hard day of work as getting bundled up on the sofa with my spouse, a bowl of popcorn, and that trusty remote control. Ooh! Turn it up, the Colbert Report is on!