The Best Christmas Gift.

Christmas this year was very low key, and very enjoyable! Christmas eve we went to the park to play flag football with some people in our ward. Ellie had a ton of fun playing on the slide and chasing geese, even though it was super cold.






The picture below is one of many to be filed under Ellie's "I don't have time for pictures, I'm too busy exploring" pile.




Christmas Eve night we went to dinner with some of Paul's co-workers/friends at a local steakhouse, then came home and opened Christmas jammies, Christmas story, eggnog, etc...

I didn't remember to take many pictures Christmas morning, but here are a few.








A few weeks ago, I had several unpleasant encounters with strangers that left a bad taste in my mouth. On four separate occasions I was left feeling hurt, sad, and confused as to how people could act so mean. I chalked it up to holiday stress and tried to put it in the back of my brain to be forgotten.

... And then today, my own Christmas miracle happened.

This morning I made the journey over the Carson City Costco with Ellie to stock up on food for company we are having this week. I started feeling really sick in the store, but decided we had come too far to go home now. We got everything on our list and made our way to the loooong checkout lines.
Ellie started getting fidgety and I could tell a melt down was close at hand. Finally, we started checking out and I handed the cashier the credit card Paul had asked me to use. He quickly informed me Costco doesn't accept anything other than American Express.
---Meanwhile, Ellie starts crying----
Okay, not a problem, I opened my wallet to grab my debit card. I looked, and looked... and it is GONE. I'm thinking "okay this IS a problem, but I have to take care of the crisis at hand first".
I told the cashier my debit card was missing and started digging for ANY mode of payment. I found the debit card for the back account we use for the car loan.

---People behind me in line are starting to glare---

I quickly pulled it out, swiped it... only to realize I don't have the pin number memorized (because I NEVER use it)!

---Ellie is now in FULL tantrum mode---

Searching through my wallet I found some Christmas cash, although I knew it wouldn't cover the full amount. At this point, the people behind me in line were rolling their eyes. I turned around to say I was sorry for holding up the line. I handed the money to the cashier and asked him if he would please count it for me while I decided which items to put back. I was about ready to start crying or puking (I would deal with whichever came first).

And then out of the corner of my eye I saw the cashier reach into his pocket. A few seconds later he handed me my receipt and said "Merry Christmas". I was so confused, I didn't know what to say because ALL my items were still in my cart and the total had not changed. Right at that moment, his replacement cashier showed up and he smiled and hurried off towards the break room.

I quickly realized that he had paid for the difference with his own money. After he walked away, I asked the other cashier his name, as I had every intention of getting that money back to him. Ellie and I made our way to the parking lot. As I was loading everything into the Mazda I heard "Excuse me, Miss?" and I turned to see the man who had saved not only my sanity, but my faith in humanity. With a warm smile he simply said "Don't pay it back, pay it forward", then turned and walked away. I yelled "thank you!" after him, but there was no way to express in such small words how much gratitude I really felt.
This cashier at Costco did not know me. He didn't know my hobbies, my religion, my income, my likes or dislikes. What he DID know was that I was a mommy having a very rough morning... and that was all he needed to know.
I'm crying as I type this. Partly because my heart is full from this random and wonderful encounter, and partly because I pray that I will be aware of someone else's need when an opportunity arises for me to pay this debt forward.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

P.S. The story has a double happy ending: I found my debit card when I got home (phew!!)

Last month when Ellie had her 2 year appointment, the Doctor asked if she knew at least 30 words...Joni laughed. It's amazing how much kids grow and learn, Ellie has been soaking in everything she sees us do, you can just see her in the backseat of the car staring out the window but at the same time contemplating which political party she should join. I swear she understands every word we say now.

Last night Joni and I were laughing out loud for 30 minutes because Ellie came up to me to give me a big hug and I smelled the mess in her pants immediately. I said "Ellie did you poop your pants?", to which she replied, "Are you KIDDING me?" as clear as a bell. I've never heard her say that before but I've heard myself say it a few times.

A few 2 year old highlights:
She knows her ABCs and can read all the letters, numbers and a few small words
She counts to ten in English and Spanish
She can say almost every word from Dora the Explorer
She laughs in the middle of the night, don't know if she is sleeping or just having a good time
She lines up all her toys in a perfect row, then lines them up somewhere else.
She loves hugs, kisses, and doing "the scorpion". She lays on top of me on the ground and then bends her legs back until her toes touch the back of her head while screaming as loud as she can in my ear
Whenever she forgets a word, she always resorts to "Ducka Ducka Ducka Ducka"
She always says "Thank you, your welcome", but always at the same time

We will miss having family with us on Christmas this year, we hope you all have a wonderful and Merry Christmas. There will be no snow for us here this year but we are looking forward to some relaxing time with our little fam. Love you all!

We thought we were going to have a lonely Thanksgiving, turned out not to be so. Joel and Erin surprised us by accepting our invitation, and our friends the Millward's joined us as well. It was a fun few days but we didn't take a lot of pictures, isn't that how it always goes? The good thing about sharing Thanksgiving is sharing the workload...Joel is a handy dish washer to have around.

Joel and I played tackle football for a couple of hours Thanksgiving morning, which was pretty fun except for the tackling part...and except that we played on a team with a family of brothers that only threw the ball to each other. We got some sun and exercise at least.

On Friday we celebrated Erin's birthday with a treasure hunt, then we went up to the lake to look around. There are so many beautiful places nearby, we stopped by Inspiration Point just as the sun was going down. It was freezing so we snapped some pictures and took off. Then we walked around the resorts and sat by an outdoor fire as the Gondola went up and down the mountain. Saturday Joel and I went golfing in Genoa, it is a fun course because of the amount of wildlife that hangs around and aren't afraid of people at all.

We had a great time and didn't want those guys to leave, we played games, watched the Broncos in a smoky casino and went out to eat a couple of times. Ellie was an angel the whole time. She loved playing with Joel, and waking up Erin in the morning.

Sunday we visited nearby Genoa and stopped by some shops and the oldest bar in Nevada (ironic that Mormon station is across the street from it). Genoa is a fun little town with a lot of character.

We love our home and we are happy that we got to share it with more family. We'll have to take some pictures of town and all the Christmas decorations soon.