Petersons Never Give Up: December Fun

These photos are in backwards progression of Brett getting his braces on. It was a very long process and he was a huge trooper. He sat in the chair for 3 hours while they put in the expander and the top and bottom brackets. He requested to watch Bluey while in the chair which warmed all our hearts. He was so sweet and had such fun comments. At one point while holding my hand the orthodontist came over and said how priceless it was to get to hold your sons hand for 3 hours. I said Brett is a sweetheart and I am lucky because he still snuggles with me. Then Brett piped in that he was the lucky one to have me =) He is such a wonderful kid!

This tooth shampoo stuff removed all the oils on his teeth so the brackets would stick better.

We planned our annual gingerbread house party for the night that Brett got his braces, I wish we hadn't done that. He was hurting and a wire was poking him really bad. We couldn't get the wax to stick and the orthodontist couldn't stay late to clip the wire. We finally figured out to put gauze in the back of his mouth which worked really well until we were able to get to the orthodontist Monday afternoon and have a new wire put in.

This year we invited some neighbors to join us for the party. It was fun and crowded and we all had a really fun time. Brett did okay, but ended up just getting overwhelmed and needing to hang out in his room for most of it. His friend Levi was there though and did go hang out with him for awhile.

The Crowshaw's from our ward made this awesome baseball diamond!

We showed off all our pets:

The next day was Cemetery Day. Sean was feeling super overwhelmed with the 3 hours of notes and labs he had and the kids were all needing some down time. I went to the Cemetery with my parents and Aunt and Uncle. It was really beautiful and a wonderful way to remember my grandparents and all those whose graves we didn't visit but whom I miss very much. I asked my parents and Aunt and Uncle to get together for a picture and my mom asked if I wanted her to pose by her plot which is right by my grandparents, lol! I told her "NO!"

Later that night, all the Zaelit's that were in town gathered at my parents for classic Grandma Z rigatoni, salad, and brownies. It was yummy and there were so many people there. My sister was there last year when we got together and it was hard to not have her there this year, why is Oregon sooo far away!? We combined this party with an ornament party that my Aunt and Uncle's family always do. My parents gave us and each of the grandkids an ornament and then Steve and Linda gave each of their kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids ornaments. It was fun to see what ornaments were chosen and hear why.

My dad got the kids an Oreo train and the kids put it together at Mimi's house one Sunday.

Sean has been playing so much beautiful Christmas music this season and it has been so enjoyable. He felt some words to a poem come to him during a Sacrament meeting a few months ago and then in the coming weeks he was inspired with some beautiful music to go with it. The song is called "I Call You Wonderful"and our choir sang it for Christmas. It is a beautiful song about Mary and Joseph and how they must have felt to have Baby Jesus and know that He was their Savior.

Lizzie woke up with pink eye one morning. She was devastated to miss school.

We had planned to have the kids sleep over at my parents and then Sean and I were going to go to the Melting Pot to celebrate our birthday. My parents got sick and Lizzie got pink eye, so we postponed and the kids had a fun sleepover in our family room instead. Sean and I went to the cheesecake factory the following week and we will go to Melting Pot in January.

Fun notes in preparation for Santa:

Lizzie made a Mary and Baby Jesus our of paper =)

Mom and Dad Z got Stitch some new clothes. They also got me a cute goofy in a starwars baking outfit.

Fun picture Alana drew of all our pets.

We brought home cheescake for the kids and us.

Alana baked us a birthday cake and Brett decorated it!

We've been doing the 25 days of Christ advent calendar again and we all love it. It is so meaningful to go through some of the highlights of Christ's life as we await Christmas. Its also given us a fun preview for New Testament next year.

The girls helped me a little with Christmas cards.

Elvin and his pet elephant Jingles came to the kids school and caused some mischief.

I got to help Lizzie class make some gingerbread houses one day.

Lizzie helped me make some Oreo truffles.

Brett was interviewed as part of student council and his quotes were published in the city newspaper.

I got a bonus at The Minky Corner and decided to take the plunge and highlight my hair and I really like it. One of my first grade students asked me "why do you look new?"

I took the kids and the neighbors to 5 below to do some Christmas shopping and I found Oreo a sweater =) He actually likes it!

Happy Birthday Sean and Jennie!

The kids had dental cleaning and I thought the xray was interesting with the braces on. No cavities!

Lemon and Pirate enjoyed some warm baths.

I was working during the parent Christmas singing program so I snuck into the school one the next day when I wasn't teaching groups. It was so cute and so fun to see all the kids all together in their pajamas.

Brett was hiding in his blankets with these things on his hands one night to scare me.

Eric sent Sean a cool Mandalorian shirt for his birthday. Sam sent him a cool Zelda one and the kids got him a Nintendo one.

Our best friend Grace was in a production of the Nutcracker this year. The girls and I got tickets and they did such a great job sitting through a 2 hour production. Lizzie got a little tired during the super long Sugar Plum solos at the end. I got myself a little nutcracker ornament. It felt really special to me to take my girls to a ballet. Sean and Brett stayed home and played with Nick, Eli, and Graham.