Listed: With No Regard for Grammatical Agreement

December, as it pops into my head:

-Primary! It's a little crazy. So many things to do at the end of the year: planning and meetings and planning, new binders with oh so many lists to update, end-of-year treats for teachers and kids, callings to fill and release and rearrange. Plus, I conducted for the month and had sharing time to plan.

-Parties: ornament party, Bunco, birthday parties, neighborhood FHE, family Christmas party, Zumba party, ward party, friends party that we'll probably miss.

-Shows: Peter Pan play with Paige (Leif was home with sick Gavin and tired Dax), nieces dance recital, My Big Fat Southern Utah Christmas at community center.

-Volunteer/Childcare: volunteer in Gavin's class every Thursday and watch another room mom's kid occasionally on Tuesdays, Tatum at our house once or twice a week while her parents work.

-Matt and Natalie here from Virginia

-Family pictures

-Visiting teaching

-Exercise: teach TurboKick Wednesday nights, ran Santa Stampede 5k and got beat by two 11-year-olds and Leif, cheer for Kaelee and Megan at Baker's Dozen half marathon, run whenever I can, which sometimes falls in the cold and darkness of early morning, Monday family run, team workout with Matt.

-Christmas! So many things to plan and buy and wrap and decorate when you're a mom at Christmas time. It's such an effort to keep the true spirit of Christmas in your home, but I seriously love it. I think the effort to remember and to teach the kids to remember isolates the season as the most spiritual of the year. Wish I gave that much effort year-round.

-Leif: so busy with work, totaled his truck, searched seemingly endlessly for a new truck, drove to California to pick up a pretty blue Tacoma, went home teaching, never shirked dad duty or honey-dos.

-Mom life: If I could get Gavin to school every day without tears and screaming and bribery, keep Paige from sitting on the couch all day asking to watch a show, and save Dax from the danger he gets himself in to now that he's equal parts curious and mobile, all while maintaining any semblance of home cleanliness and laundry done-ness will be a Christmas MIRACLE!