Week

I feel like sharing what has been a crazy week. A good week but a stressful one none the less for me. As many of you know we leave for Kauai tomorrow for the next 7 days. We are very excited as I think any two people that are ready for a relaxing get away can be. But before we left we needed to see our parents and do the exchange of gifts and holiday events a bit ahead of time. Last sunday I mentioned we went to my moms for the combined Birthday event and dinner. Tuesday night Jonathans parents came and met us downtown to have a nice casual dinner and take in the lights at temple square. Now that being said I have to pause here. See I want to start traditions of Christmas with my own family. So part of the holiday traditions that I have done in the past and want to continue : ice skating, lights at temple square, the christmas tree decorating, gingerbread houses, candy making, neighborhood presents, charity donations...etc etc. So when I suggested to Jonathan that this was the last week we had to see lights before Christmas we got his parents to join us. Now seeing them was great. Visiting with them, eating, walking etc was all fun. Its Elijiah that was difficult. I could blame it on the long day, the anticipation, taking a 5 year old after a long day at school and expect him to behave perfectly on an outing with adults is a stretch, but I was hoping. However it wasnt to be. He started to fade quickly after dinner ended. The lights were pretty, the weather warm enough to enjoy the night but both Jonathan and I had enough by the time we got home. I am grateful for the effort his parents put in to meet us though...its not easy to do that during the week regardless. We got some great gifts( THANK YOU!) and I hope they liked what we gave them.
My dad came over last night to have dinner with us and see Elijiah. Again I cant say that Elijiah is all that well behaved as of late. He seems to have developed this degree of know it all'ness and Im not sure how to deal. He tries and corrects me and indicates that he is right and I am wrong. Now Elijiah is incredibly sensitive and his feelings get hurt quite easily- so when I start to get mad or try and explain why he is incorect or just that he needs to listen he either gets very angry or cries. I dont know how else to get through to him. (sigh) I digress, dinner was nice, Dad is doing a bit better with some possibilities on the horizon( he just went through a painful divorce and lost his job- great timing for the season eh?) So I was glad to see some spark in him again. I worry about him a lot as any one would. But he went above and beyond in thinking about the gifts he gave us and because I know where he is at its all the more appreciated. Im sure trying to do things for your children and grandchildren with such limited funds at the moment is hard. Elijiah didnt give adequate thanks in my opinion, but in case my dad is reading this- Elijiah read your books in the bath and at bedtime last night. He really loves them. Thanks again.

I guess Im rambling but really work, laundry, cooking, and packing on top of everything else this week, I cannot wait to be outta here!

I do want to mention something regarding Jonathans school. He switched to IT like many of you know, and its been going well. However he had his first programming class and it was supposed to be a concepts class. Well his teacher the lamo, was incredibly unhelpful and Jonathan spent 5 weeks basically trying to teach himself to program. While this wouldnt be an issue for some, Jonathan is beginning these concepts and needed a bit of help. After a grueling 5 weeks and him studying typically 4-5 hours each night and every weekend he pulled a B+( which is the lowest grade he has gotten thus far) out of the class. Im so proud of him. However he has decided to retake the class as he just doesnt feel like he got enough out of it to continue on with the classes that are coming. I admire his determination to not just get good grades but actually learning the material so he understands it. I wouldnt have been able to do the same I think....I would have just continued to struggle along, but he has shown me that he is willing to step up to the plate time and time again and really do his best. Its a wonderful quality to have in a spouse- to have them work hard, and a knowledge that he will give his best -in school or his employment.

I have decided that I wont fixate on not being with Elijiah for a week, to enjoy quite possibly our last couples vacation in a long time, and relax. I hope everyone has a great Christmas and Ill post pictures when we are back!!!