. . . nine days . . .

. . . a week to put it all up . . .

. . . two days to take it all down . . .

{done ~ hooray!}

. . . that's a pretty big chunk of december . . .

{the outside lights are all that's left ~ gotta look festive for the new year}

. . . you know what they say . . .

"if i would've known how fun grandkids are, 

i would've had them first!"

{don't they know how ridiculous/preposterous that is?}

. . . it is hard, though . . .

. . . to remember christmases 

before these fun kids 

came into our lives . . .

. . . addi ~ 7 1/2 . . .

{on the phone, drew told her she sounds like a woman now}

. . . halleigh ~ 6 . . .

{keeps us laughing}

. . . tate ~ 3 1/2 . . .

{was really excited about his old man pjs}

. . . tagg ~ 19 months . . .

{mostly likes eating}

. . . elliott ~ 13 months . . . 

{loves candy from papa}

. . . as cute as they are on their own . . .

. . . it's not as easy as it looks 

to get a good photo of all five . . .

. . . a different angle . . .

. . . you may ask . . .

. . . what's going on here? . . .

. . . i'll tell you . . .

. . . there's some awesome teaching going on here . . .

. . . i hope these laurels and priests realize how lucky they are

to have brother romney 

give them a lesson once a month . . .

. . . in yesterday's lesson, 

for instance, 

we learned that 

obedience can be summed up 

in two words . . . 

. . . tiger woods . . .

. . . priorities . . .

. . . at the tender age of six . . .

. . . halleigh's way more organized than i am . . .

. . . take for instance ~ the list she prepared

on a fuzzy post•it note 

before visions of sugar plums 

started dancing in her head 

on christmas eve . . .

{except there was never any "dancing". 

she was awake literally the entire night ~

extreme excitement.}

. . . anyhow ~ back to the list . . . 

translation:

tomorrow's to do list:

1. help mom clean house

2. eat breakfast

3. get ready

4. open my presents

5. have quiet time

6. go to grandma's house

7. go to heather's house

. . . and, finally . . .

8. go to sleep

awesome 

Awesome!

. . . really? number four? . . .

. . . open my presents? . . .

. . . gotta have those ducks in a row . . .

. . . love that little girl! . . .

. . . grinched by a maytag . . .

. . . the date? 23 december 2009 . . .

. . . the time? 11:40 p.m. . . .

. . . the scene? me wrapping gifts in the family room . . .

 . . . the smell? burning plastic . . .

. . . the action? try to locate melting tupperware in the dishwasher . . . 

. . . the finding? nothing . . .

. . . the diagnosis? electrical wires fried . . . 

. . . the thought? oh, <never mind>! . . .

. . . many dishes hand-washed on christmas eve and christmas day . . .

{fast forward to 26 december 2009}

. . . the destination? lowe's appliance department. . .

. . . the mission? obvious . . .

. . . meanwhile, back at the ranch ~ tyler began bailing . . .

. . . chris arrived . . .

. . . dismantling commenced . . .

. . . followed by removal . . .

. . . meet chris ~ one man show . . .

although multiple people were available/willing to help

{he looks a little punch drunk. stuff is heavy!}

. . . there was drilling . . .

. . . and twisting . . .

. . . and clamping . . .

. . . but we got stumped when it came to wiring . . .

. . . which necessitated yet another trip to lowe's . . .

. . . followed shortly by success . . .

. . . r.i.p. little maytag . . .

. . . you served us well for lo! these many years . . .

. . . but you've been replaced by a bosch . . .

. . . rumor has it ~ you get a fresh loaf of bread 

with every clean load of dishes . . .

. . . from our house to yours . . .

. . . we wish you the merriest! . . .

{tagg, addi, tate, halleigh & elliott ~ last night}

. . . with lots of love from the romney family . . .

{elder drew, hansens, rasmussens & johnsons, too!}

. . . hallelujah! . . .

. . . we're calling mexico tonight! . . .

. . . attention! last minute shoppers . . .

. . . take a deep breath . . .

. . . there's plenty of time left . . .

. . . to shop for all the babies on your list . . .

. . . at a discount . . .

. . . remember? $2 off each oops! . . .

. . . call {or email} me . . .

{i have a few red/white and plenty of pink & blue,

but the kitchen towels are gone ~ sorry}

. . . rhyming again . . .

. . . once a year . . .

{at the most}

. . . i write a poem . . .

. . . here's 2009's offering . . .

. . . most likely a literary classic . . .

. . . so, here ~ for you ~ my blog neighbors . . .

. . . is your virtual chips and salsa . . .

. . . enjoy . . .

. . . my fourth brother . . .

. . . friday 17 december 1971 . . .

. . . a day i will always remember . . .

. . . the last day of ninth grade

before christmas vacation . . .

. . . i had a new red outfit . . .

. . . there was going to be

a school dance that afternoon. . .

. . . i didn't go . . .

. . . my seven-week-old baby brother

never woke up that morning . . .

. . . today it's known as sids . . .

. . . but thirty-eight years ago,

it was called crib death . . .

. . . at the tender age of thirteen,

i thought my world was coming to an end . . .

. . . today, as a parent myself,

i try to imagine the pain and anguish

my parents felt then/still feel

at the loss of a child . . .

. . . and i can't even begin to fathom it . . .

. . . i remember police officers coming to our house . . .

. . . an investigation and autopsy {accidental death} . . .

. . . i remember the never-ending outpouring

of love and support for our family . . .

. . . dad was our bishop . . .

. . . i still remember the chicken enchiladas

that minnie brought . . .

. . . not your usual pot-luck chicken enchiladas . . .

. . . no ~ these were made from scratch

{and lots of love}

with great big chicken chunks . . .

. . . i remember my mom and dad

forcing themselves

to put one foot in front of the other ~

making arrangements for

a next-day graveside service . . .

. . . a tiny white casket . . .

. . . the pink dress i wore . . .

. . . the cold december cemetery . . .

. . . i remember a new piece of christmas music

{published one year earlier}

~ mary's lullaby . . .

. . . but the wounds were too fresh . . .

{i still can't listen to it without tears}

. . . and yet, i feel hope and gratitude

for my knowledge and testimony

of the plan of salvation . . .

. . . because heavenly father wants us to be happy . . .

. . . and we will be happy if we're obedient . . .

. . . we'll be happy with our family forever . . .

{we just need to live the commandments}

. . . i know i'll see my baby brother, kyle, again . . .

{and if by some sad chance i don't

~ it'll be all my fault ~

not his}

. . . he was already good enough . . .

. . . he's just waiting for the rest of us

to prove ourselves . . .