January 11th and before including Christmas with the kids

Nathan wearing the glasses the kids gave him as a gag gift

We arrived home on the 27th of December in the afternoon.  After flying all night we had no desire except to sleep.  So we spent some of the time resting but we had to go shopping for some things for the kids who were coming on Sunday.  Nathan had already flown in the night before from Utah and Reed Johnson picked him up from the airport and brought him home.

Maggie wearing the glasses

Isaac in the van

Sunday we went to church and then the kids were able to come after 1:00 p.m.  They had arrived home late with Sara from having Christmas with her Dad in Missouri.  We had a good time opening gifts and showing each other what we had got on our other trips and such.  Nathan bought the kids more of something on an online game called Roblox and he also got them season passes to Splashtown a local water park here.  Because we had seen what fun good snorkeling equipment can make snorkeling and they have the pool at our apartment to practice in we decided to get the kids some good snorkeling equipment.

David in the Van

The next day we took Maggie to get her Christmas Present.  Because Nathan knows how natural Maggie is for dancing he bought her all the equipment for dance lessons and then is paying for the Dance lessons every week on Saturday.  That way both Sara and we can take her to dance lessons.  She was so excited.  She wanted to go that day but they didn't start the lessons for two weeks.  I let her wear her dance leotard when she got home and that seemed to satisfy her.

We had the kids for the rest of Christmas Vacation until after the New Year when they went back to school.  Unfortunately we had to work at the mission.  Because Sara stipulated that she wanted and Nathan agreed to it that he had to have someone who was a responsible adult to be with the kids at all times or ourselves in the divorce agreement, we had to find someone to be with Nathan each of the days while we were at the mission office.  Woodlake ward was really good to provide someone each of the days that we needed it.  Although about 5 of the days were the Relief Society President or her family members.  I felt bad for all of the time it was taking her away from her family.

Maggie in a selfie

On Monday after we went to dance lesson signups James Johnson came to stay.  I felt bad because while he was there Maggie threw up all over her leotard and some of the floor and he was good to clean it up.  Maggie did not have the stomach flu but seemed to be throwing up with flem each time she got too congested.  Sara had brought her to us that way and so it continued on after.  That was actually the only time she threw up while with us but Isaac started getting it the night before he went home and had a high fever.

Maggie the first time wearing the leotard.

Pizza on New Year's Eve

I was proud of Nathan.  He did most of the stuff with the kids and took good care of them.  They were a little disgruntled that he took away their electronics during the day but it was amazing how much better they played together and especially David acted happier and more caring to his brothers and sister.  They went to the fitness center a lot.  He took them out to eat several times.  One time they went to meet other Mother's at a play group at a restaurant.  They watched movies and played games. Maren's family had Nathan's family name for Christmas and she bought them the game of life zapped edition and they have really liked that.  They got the Dr. Who edition of Yahtzee and we gave them Uno but the Life game was played the most.  The Yathzee game came with a Tardis to put everything in when you store it and so we now have a Tardis to decorate our dinning room lol
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Laughing at America's Funniest Home Videos on New Years Eve

On New Year's Eve we bought pizza and all the trimmings for dinner and decided to have a family game night.  We played several games ending up with Life.  The kids wanted to stay up for dinner but by 11:30 Maggie was so grouchy that I laid down with her and got her to sleep.  Sammy fell asleep also in his dad's bed before that.  David and Isaac said that they were going to stay up until Midnight but we turned on the TV to see if we could see the apple drop in New York like we do in Utah but it was full of San Antonio celebrations and we were able to see the fireworks that they had in San Antonio but David and Isaac were asleep before they came on,  together on the couch.  So I took some pictures of them and we all went to bed.

Maggie sleeping on New Years Eve

On the third we went to the Northstar Mall to do several things.  Nathan got him a new phone because he thought that his was broken but later we figured out that the booster that we have for Sprint at our apartment was not working properly.  Someone had put the antenna behind the TV to get it out of the way and so it was not working.  We had to call Sprint to learn this.  Not only is Nathan's service on Sprint but our mission phones are also on Sprint so we had a few days where getting phone calls was a chore.  One time I just had to call the missionaries on my own phone that is through AT&T.  I don't know why Sprint is so weak here but it is. 

Isaac and David asleep on the couch

Sammy asleep in his dad's bed.

Sammy's haircut.

The kids also had some gift certificates to Build a Bear and to Lego Store.  Unfortunately they only had $10.00 so Nathan ended up having to supplement them to help them get what they and we thought was economical.  The have a thing that you can build three figures for $10.00 but we did not think that was very economical so we steered them towards getting a set.  While we were there Maggie built about $70.00 worth of people 21 to be exact and so I took a picture of all the people she built.  Isaac was able to get some shoes for Monkey Toes, his monkey that he has had since he was born but Nathan had to buy the skates he wanted to go with them at Build a Bear.  Nathan and I thought Maggie had a card so we let her look for something.  She actually found a small pink bear for $10.00 that was cute but Nathan had to pay to put the Frozen song,"Let it go" inside.  Sammy found a dog that he wanted that was regular size but it was $20.00 so Nathan just let him get the Dog, stuff it and get a birth certificate but we did not buy clothes for it.

Maggie's pony all redone

We also took the kids to get hair cuts.  I guess Sara was afraid that we would make them cut it shorter than she likes so she asked that we text her their picture.  David went to a place in the mall that he likes but they were so expensive that we just took Isaac and Sammy to WalMart.  We ate at the mall in the food court and then went home.  It was a long day but I got lots of activity points!

Maggie with all the characters she built at Lego Store

Isaac with his Lego creation

David's Haircut

David went home that evening because he had school the next day but we had the other kids until the 4th because they did not go back to school until the next day. Nathan wanted to take them all out to dinner before they left so we went to Applebee's.  While we were there Isaac got really sad and meloncholy I thought that maybe he was sad because David got to go home to Mom and he didn't but when we got home he said he didn't feel good so I gave him so Children's Advil after that he brightened up and Isaac, Maggie and Sammy and I played a game of Life when we got home, while Larry and Nathan took David home.  Later however Isaac got a high fever again but claimed he was fine and we ended up taking him to Sara that way.

Isaac with Monkey Toes and his new shoes and skates

Nathan's birthday is on the 7th of January.  He is 41 this year.  Because we had just taken the kids back a few days before he decided to wait until we saw the kids on the 8th to celebrate it with them.  We took Nathan with us to the office in the afternoon and then we went to dinner for birthday on the 7th.  He wanted to go to an East Indian restaurant and so we found one that was recommended called the Bombay Hall.  We liked the food there.  They had a buffet or you could order.  Nathan ordered and Larry and I had the buffet.  We liked it because it was more chicken and fish than lamb like some of the Indian restaurants in Utah.

Isaac's hair cut

That evening we went to the church to help Brother Turnbaugh with his family history.  We would have picked up the boys for scouts but Isaac was still sick.  It was fun to get to know Bro. Turnbaugh.  He comes to church alone so I thought he was single but his wife is bipolar and she has decided not to come.  We had a great time introducing him to the Family Search website and seeing for ourselves the new things that have been added there.  We were able to find him about 5 names that can be taken to the temple.

The scarf the kids gave me for Christmas

Birthday boy with Sammy

On Thursday night, the 8th of January we had the kids to celebrate Nathan's birthday. We went to an Italian restaurant called Papa Dantes in Converse.  They had really good Italian food.  The kids seemed to enjoy the place but Maggie was pretty grumpy because she had just woke up until they brought the food.  We told them it was Nathan's birthday and they brought him a huge slice of chocolate cake which was enough for all the kids and him.  Larry and I ordered turtle cheesecake.  We didn't have any candles but we sang Happy Birthday to him and he seemed to enjoy the night.

Nathan with Maggie

Larry at Papa Dante's Restaurant

Nathan has had several examples of the fact that he is getting happier.  He is also taking charge of his own life.  He is taking more responsibility for the children when they are here and he is working to overcome the challenges that he has been given.  I think that his mind is clearer and he is not getting so angry now.  He is trying to deal with more issues in his life.  He was releaved to have his Divorce Decree Signed by the Judge on Dec. 29th.

Plenty of food

Larry and I were trying to get caught up during all of this at the mission.  I had about 100 referrals to get put in and several of the old referrals had to be caught up in the new referral system.  I also had almost a whole month of Baptism and Confirmation certificates to put it.  Also it was MLC the first week when we got back and so I had to get orders ready for that.  Luckily I ordered the supplies before I left for Hawaii and so I had what I needed to get the orders out.  I got lots of activity points that week.  Larry had several car accidents that he had to get caught up on and work through the system.

Nathan with his birthday cake

We didn't have the kids on the 10th but Sara sent some pictures of Maggie starting her dance lessons.  She really liked it but has already decided that she does not like tapping.  I didn't think I would like not being able to see the kids each weekend but It gives Larry and I a chance to catch our breath and get some paperwork and housecleaning done and rest a little more and that is much needed sometimes.

Sunday's Sacrament subject was on making new year's resolutions.  Two friend of ours Andrea and Erik Alonzo spoke on the importance of making goals at this time of year.  Erik really cut his talk short but then we learned that his brother who is the Bishop asked him to because he wanted to introduce the ward mission goals:

Maggie's first dance lesson

1. Every member pray for guidance to know who of their friends or relatives they can invite to church, an activity or to meet the missionaries.
2. Every member or family bring one non-member friend or relative to church and one non-member friend or relative to ward activity.
3. Have Eight (8) convert baptisms throughout the year.
4. Host TWO (2) gospel-sharing focused devotionals or activities throughout the year.

I was excited to see this as there are many people in the Woodlake area that still need to hear the Good News of Christ.  I get a lot of referrals from Woodlake and I hope that some of them will listen to the missionaries so that they can have a happier life.  I have seen so many people change their life for the better and become happier that I know that the Gospel that Jesus offers through his true church is something that comes from God and is the truth.