Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas to our Family and Friends! December 2009

We hope this letter finds each of you doing well. As I sit here ready to type, I’m listening to the “Chipmunks Christmas” album for the 100^th time (at the children’s insistence), and wishing for a moment I could just turn on Handel’s “Messiah” and write something truly inspiring! Instead, I think I’ll just share some of the Finlayson’s daily life. The children are talking a lot and they reveal their thoughts and feelings more than ever before. This has been fun for me lately, so I jotted some of them down in my journal. I’m sure all of you who have children would agree that sometimes you wish others could be a “fly on the wall” of your home and laugh with you too! Here’s a sampling:

Today Joshua ate: dirt, rocks, Styrofoam, Play-doh, soap. Then he refused to eat his quesadilla at dinner and called it “yucky!”

James: Mom, I’m going to buy that pack of Pokémon cards when I get my allowance!

Mom: James, there are a lot of things that you’ve been saving your money for. Are you sure that’s what you want to spend it on?

James: Yes, Mom! Pokémon is my… second favorite thing in the whole world!

Mom: What is your first favorite thing?

James: Jesus!

Mom: Thanks for showing compassion to your brother, James.

James: Do I get a good point for that, Mom? (We had a points system for a while.)

Alexandra: I showed Joshua ca-passion, too!

Joshua: I’n not a passion!

James: (as he’s going to sleep) Mom, do you still love me even when I burp a lot?

Alexandra sang her prayers tonight. I kept a straight face until she crooned, “And pleeease, help me not to hiiiit (high note)!” I started giggling and so did she.

At church, Alexandra was quietly coloring while we sang the sacrament hymn. Suddenly, she looked up at me and I saw tears in her eyes. She whispered, “Sometimes songs about Jesus make me cry, Mom. Why do I cry?”

“Because the songs are beautiful and you feel the Spirit, honey.” I whispered back.

Yes, life is good with four little ones, in all their busyness and growing. Kaleb’s jabbering is not listed here, but it is certainly part of the cacophony of our home. He learned to walk in November at 13 months, and was quickly going up and down our big staircase like a pro. He enjoys tackling his older siblings, and gets himself in trouble when Joshua tackles him right back! He yells, and I retrieve him from where he is pinned under his brother, and then Kaleb laughs and goes after him again.

Joshua (almost 3) has learned to cut with scissors and leaves scraps of paper (and some things I don’t want to have cut) all over the house. He locks me out of my bedroom or bathroom and performs acts of mischief in there a few times every day. He is also the first to throw his arms around me and say, “I’m sorry, Mommy! I love you!” when he gets in trouble. Josh still loves everything Dora.

Alexandra (4 ½) insists that all things must be pink or princess these days. She is good to play with her little brothers, but more often wants to have over one of the many other little girls in our neighborhood. She loves coloring, painting, and music. She is the most independent of my children and won’t let me do anything for her that she can possibly (and sometimes impossibly) do for herself. She is learning to read and play the piano largely by herself!

James (7 ½) is so busy with school, homework, reading, friends, and piano that I wonder sometimes how I am going to manage when all four of these children are in school! He and I recently built a working candy dispenser for his 2^nd grade “invention” that was a real hit with all the other children. He adores Christmas and has already written four letters to Santa, even though I keep reminding him that Santa is on a budget!

Kurt is still busy as ever at Novell. He works from home once a week (sometimes more) which helps me tremendously. He still serves as secretary in the Elders Quorum (a calling which he has had in every ward we’ve lived in—I guess he’s good at it!), he kindly helps ward and family members alike with all their computer failures, and he still plays a mean game of basketball a few times a week.

I’ve been teaching preschool, serving as Primary Music Leader (I’ve discovered I’m quite good at drawing word pictures!) and caring for our busy home. I was blessed with visits from many members of my family this year, which was a real highlight for me, and I am grateful for their willingness to travel.

We want each of you to know at this time of year how much we love you. Life has its good and bad times, and we’re so grateful to know we’re surrounded with others who can laugh and cry with us through it all. We are also so grateful for the life of Jesus Christ, whose example inspires us to be better and whose grace gives us the power to do so. Our lives would not be the same without our faith in Him.

May your Christmas be merry and your New Year full of bright and wonderful potential!

Love, the Finlaysons

Kurt, Priscilla, James, Alexandra, Joshua, and Kaleb