A Cope Christmas

If I could sum up our Christmas in one word, it would be:


JOY!

Family Christmas traditions make this time of year wonderful. Here are some of our traditions:
CHRISTMAS CARDS. We love mailing out annual Christmas cards. Thank goodness for digital photo cards, computer-printed labels, and lots of little helpers to stick on stamps and labels and seal envelopes. We have this down to a system, and we had all 200 cards ready to mail in no time!



We enjoyed reading cards from many friends and family members. Thank you all for your merry wishes! We feel blessed to know you!
(If you didn't receive our card, I apologize...I probably didn't have your current address. Email me and I'll get one out to you right away!)
SCRIPTURES. Each year we read about "Christmas in Zarahemla" from the Book of Mormon. This year we studied this for morning scripture study in December and finished it during the Family Night before Christmas...what miraculous "signs and wonders" happened in the Americas so long ago! Then we enjoy the Bible Christmas story on Christmas Eve.
SERVICE. We draw names each December for our "Secret Santa" family service. We do anonymous favors for our secret pal every day and then give him or her a special card or gift on Christmas, revealing our name.
We also do an outside service project (we do one service project each month throughout the year, but we try to do something special for Christmas). We usually help a family in need by giving Christmas gifts and food. This always reminds us how blessed we are and teaches us so much about giving.

GOODIE PLATES AND CAROLING.

We had fun baking and decorating gingerbread cookies for Family Home Evening. Then, on Christmas Eve, we bundled up and set out by foot to carol to the neighbors on our icy lane. We also drove to a few other nearby friends to sing and deliver treats. We love sharing the spirit of Christmas through music. And this year it was especially festive hiking through snow and ice with our goodies and songs. We loved it! We practiced singing Christmas hymns every day in December, and even the little ones joined in for the caroling (you should hear Eliza's angelic "Glo-o-o-o-ria")...sublime!
LIVE NATIVITY. Christmas Eve is also for acting out the Nativity story. The cast donned costumes from the dress-up chest (accented with random items from other corners of the house), and Dad narrated the scene by reading the sweet story of the birth of the Savior from the Bible. We felt such a beautiful spirit as we thought about the real meaning behind all the excitement of our special night.



CHRISTMAS EVE PJ'S. Another tradition is Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve (which I did NOT sew this year...we're hooked on Carter's fleece jammies...cute, so soft, and snuggly WARM)!
CHRISTMAS MORNING FESTIVITIES. We met at 6:30 am to see what Santa brought. What fun it is to feel the JOY of gift giving. I love to watch every eye light up with anticipation and satisfaction as they unwrap their Christmas surprises.

Eliza loved the candy more than the gifts.

Sam loves his new bunny!



And what made Christmas morning the most meaningful for me this year was seeing them LOVE the handmade gifts I worked so hard to create for them.
I sewed sock monkeys for the boys and Hannah.

I made these Waldorf-style dolls for Eliza and Sarah. I used google and online tutorials to learn how to make these. I love how they turned out! The nubby chenille, soft wool, and patterned cotton and knit give them the whimsical, unique look I was hoping for. I cut up old sweaters and shirts from our closets to use for their limbs, so they are made from worn out Cope bits and pieces.

" ......a handcrafted doll is one of a kind, an individual which carries the spirit of the maker in its stitches and absorbs the spirit of the child who loves it". (anonymous)

On handcrafted gifts and the value of CREATION

We were inspired last Christmas by the Dallas Children's Theatre production of "A Little House Christmas." We love the simplicity of the Little House books and reading about the principle-centered living of the Ingalls family. In the play we saw a year ago, a big storm sweeps across the prairie on Christmas Eve, so the family doesn't expect a visit from Santa. The girls decide to stay up all night and use old household goods and clothes and transform them into meaningful handmade gifts for their parents. They learn that giving is even better than receiving...and have a wonderful Christmas afterall.

I have pondered this principle all year, in anticipation of another Christmas and another big "giving" opportunity. I felt like we could learn the same lesson about giving by using our hands and our time and talents to make our gifts this year. So, we decided as a family to give handmade gifts this year (interspersed with store bought goods). And this has been our favorite Christmas ever! (despite the stomach virus we caught this season...)
Here's what we made last week:
We all gathered in my bedroom (aka craft/sewing spot) and worked on these "Wee Felt Folk" to send to our assigned gift-exchange Cope cousins Addy and McKinley in South Carolina. We bought this book (thanks to my friend Tina for the great idea!) and began forming pipe cleaner and wrapping it in embroidery floss. This craft seemed tedious and too detailed at first, and we wondered what we had gotten ourselves into... but once we got the hang of it, we felt really excited about the little people we were creating out of such ordinary things. The boys made these almost all on their own, and I helped Hannah make the cute pink fairy. They learned how to stitch by hand and by the end of the day, even designed and sewed the little wool felt clothing without my assistance. I was amazed at their creativity, ingenuity and patience as they personalized their gifts and worked hard to finish every detail and make them great.




I quickly made this pouch so that our little friends would have a home.


We made our first sock monkey to give to Addy. The kids stuffed her to perfection, and I sewed her up and gave her eyes and ears. We called her "Rose." Isn't she sweet? The kids are all begging for their own sock monkey for Christmas...guess what I've been working on THIS week?

And this is my first handmade doll, made for little McKinley. I patterned her after one I saw on etsy.com (a great site full of amazing artists with beautiful handmade goods...never bought anything from there, but I love perusing the shops for cool things and then making them myself! I'm such a copycat! :). We named her "Noel" because of her Christmas duds and happy little face.

We also sent a few handmade items for the mom and dad.
We learned so many great lessons in making these gifts. One of the hardest was being able to give them up when they were all finished!!! It's hard to pour your time, effort, and heart into a project, see it completed, and then give it up. I loved having conversations about this with the kids...even the little ones. All realized in the end that this is true giving. It's giving of oneself. And we enjoyed it better than buying gifts. We feel like the love we put into these gifts was sent along with our Christmas package to South Carolina.
I have learned that making things is not only satisfying, but it's a part of the divinity within each of us. In Psalm19 the first three verses read:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Isn't that beautiful? This earth...and us...we are the Lord's handiwork. He created all of this, and it all testifies of Him.


I have had new thoughts and feelings about "creating" whirling around inside me since I listened to President Uchdorf's talk at our annual General Relief Society (the largest women's organization in the world) Meeting. You can read it here. He spoke of having true happiness, God's happiness, in our lives. I especially loved the section entitled "The Work of Creation." In it, he said:

Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty.

We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy. Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.

This was powerful to me. When I am creating something...working on a project, or even thinking about a project I'd like to be working on, I feel happy. I get excited. Sometimes I can't even sleep because I can't wait to get started. I feel real happiness when I create.
And I loved this part:

Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.”

The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.

Powerful! I think as women, and especially as mothers, we can find more joy and fulfillment during our daily tasks if we focus on creating beauty. This principle has made motherhood wonderful for me.
I love to create! Whether it's beautifying a space in my home or yard, sewing dresses, trying a new recipe, or making toys for my kids... I see this world as a more beautiful place when I'm busy using its materials and space to create something that's my own handiwork. And I hope the handiwork created in and around my home will be passed on through the generations to tell my story...to speak of my faith in God and who I am as a person...and inspire others to find happiness in creating beauty as well.

BRRRRRR...

it's cold out there!
The weather has been dipping down into the teens, and the HIGH for Saturday is 17 degrees with a low of 7.
I trudged through the snow out back and scaled the fence to install a heat lamp in the chicken coop, so we don't end up with frozen birds. I took my turn shoveling the driveway (made me appreciate capable big Cope boys who usually have this COLD job!). In my book, the snow, cold and ice have officially turned from "festive" to "nuisance."
Of course, it DOES look beautiful out my window...(this was taken out my front door--that's the driveway, walkway and street...all buried and waiting to be shoveled!)

And these two cuties DO look darling bundled up in their long wool coats!


Our fireplace is lit and toasty all day long. And I've never been more thankful for a warm home. It is cozy and charming, and I love it...the sights, smells, sounds; the people that fill it and make it a happy place to be; the memories we're making here, and the way it feels like HOME. I'm thankful to have found it and thankful that it's ours.
The COLD outside doesn't seem quite so bad from in here.

Jolly Old St. Nick

made an appearance at our ward party Saturday morning. The kids were anxious for their turn to sit on his lap and profess their Christmas wishes (even though they knew it wasn't the REAL Santa Clause...it can't hurt to get the word out, right?).




Eliza practiced all morning, and bravely but quietly told Santa that she wanted a "rockin' horsey" and a "purple kitchen." This girl is the cutest thing there is. She has really gotten the Christmas spirit this year. She calls Corn Flakes "snowflakes." And when the kids play the don't touch the floor game (you know...the carpet is hot lava, and you can't step on it?), she calls the hot lava "hot chocolate." Sweet thing! If Santa's been watching the Cope house at all, he'll be sure to bring Eliza that horsey and kitchen...she is myangel and deserves it all!

Don't it make your brown eyes blue...

My brown-eyed fireball has been feeling under the weather. She has a sick tummy and sad eyes...








Feel better soon, baby Sarah!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas! Hooray!!!

I found this photo (today's view out the kitchen window) on my camera. (Romney? Was that you again? Great shot, bud! Maybe Santa needs to bring him is very own camera for Christmas...)
With yesterday's snowfall, it feels like Christmastime!


And it feels festive inside the house as well...
We finally finished decking our halls today.

A peek at our "day of rest"

Sundays are wonderful.
I love to gather with my family and fellow members of the Church in the Chapel to worship the Savior...for the peace and joy it brings to my soul each week. I feel God speak to my heart through the quiet voice of the Holy Ghost, and I feel uplifted and spiritually ready to begin a new week.
I love to see my littles all dressed up for Church each week. They seem more responsible and sit so (relatively) still during the long meetings (except for sweet but saucy Sarah, whose LOUD voice echoes through the chapel and beyond...really, don't you think Sacrament Meeting (the first hour) must be like a week long in kid time?!) So, great job, little Cope crew, for your Sunday meeting behavior. Thank you for trying your best to be reverent.

We spend Sunday afternoons studying scriptures as a family, reading, journaling, making crafts, playing "quiet" games (which aren't always played quietly), watching "Sunday" movies like "Saturday's Warrior" (classic), researching ancestors, and preparing the evening meal. We try to do Sunday "interviews" with Dad and Mom (although we haven't been as consistent with these lately). These give each child time to report on how he or she is doing, discuss any concerns, and just talk heart to heart about whatever is on his or her mind. We also help the child set goals for the week and print out a new "goal sheet" for each child during the interviews. This sheet includes academic goals, music practice, chores, etc., with a place to check off what they accomplish.
We often have dinner guests, and last Sunday we enjoyed getting to know a cute newly married couple in our ward. Dad always asks lots of great questions about missions, travels, education, career, childhood, and more, and we try (key word here...TRY) to help the kids practice good manners and sit quietly and listen to the conversations at the dinner table.
Sunday dinner is also for reciting the scriptures and poems we've memorized, and discussing other things we've learned during the week and at church that day.
After the kids are in bed, Brandon and I have our weekly "Family Executive Committee Meeting." We begin with a prayer, and invite the Lord to be part of the leading of this family. We schedule the week, discuss any problems or concerns and brainstorm solutions, and discuss each child (needs, struggles, opportunities, talents, relationships, stewardships, etc.). Generally the more tired we are, the shorter the meeting. (Last Sunday night, we skipped the meeting altogether, and I fell into bed at 8:30!) Our weeks go much better if we hold this meeting and make it a prayerful and meaningful time together.
I truly love being with my family on the Sabbath, but often wonder how to make it more of a "day of rest" for a busy mom with a house full of busy little ones. It's reassuring to know that there is a time and a season for everything. Does that include peace and quiet?




One tradition I have is to make the girls new matching Christmas dresses each year. They have been wearing previous years' Christmas dresses each week (the dresses are getting shorter and tighter, and being handed down to a younger sister for next year)!

A busy beginning

to a super busy holiday season!
Here's how the first week of December went in the Cope house:

Monday is lesson day. We all pile into the car at 1:35 and head to Sandy for Romney's cello lesson. It lasts 30 minutes, and the rest of us usually wait in the car, unless it's a nice day. Last week, we played at a nearby park and enjoyed the 60 something degree weather...are you kidding me? Isn't this Utah? Isn't it supposed to be COLD on December first?!!!

After Romney's lesson, we drop Taylor and Sam off for an hour of violin lessons. I discovered a Whole Foods market up the street, so we do a weekly shop during their lessons. Romney is a great shopping companion and is super helpful with the little girls.
After lessons, we race home so the kids can play outside for an hour while I start dinner. They come in and the boys shower while the little girls take a bath. Then we eat, and then have Family Home Evening.
Last Tuesday and Wednesday were spent by Mom working on a Christmas project, and by the kids bearing with her! A few of them caught a little bug...the kind where you lay around and feel tired but otherwise okay, so it actually gave me some quiet time to get the project done. I created a photo memory book about Brandon's Grandma Cleo, who's 97th birthday is this Christmas. I had her kids and grandkids upload photos to shutterfly.com, and send me letters to Cleo, and then I arranged them into a book, with the gracious help of my talented mother-in-law. We rushed like crazy to finish it by Wednesday night in order to get in on a sale and free ship deal. We worked hard, and we literally finished at midnight Wednesday...phew!!! (Then had to revamp a few errors Thurs. morning, but they still gave us the sale prices.)



I have loved getting to know Cleo this week. She is an amazing Christian woman who has lived a long life of faith, sacrifice and service. It was an honor to put together this small gift to her from the Cope family. Each of Brandon's siblings ordered a copy for their family also, and I am thrilled to have this special piece of family history on my bookshelf to enjoy and share with my children (and their children!).
The only interruptions to my project work (besides those of the needy toddler/baby/kid variety, which happen every few minutes) were the kids' gym class on Tuesday (a welcome outlet, time to visit with my homeschool mom friends for an hour), and a First Hope meeting Tuesday night. (It's a non-profit organization I'm working with who helps raise money for orphans in Nepal...more on that later. It's always great to get out of the house ALONE to do something I am interested in and passionate about!)
With the kids not feeling quite normal, we postponed this week's Liberty Girls meeting (at our house) until next Wednesday. A blessing in the end since the project took me so much longer than I had anticipated. (Don't they always?!) But of course all of the boys felt well enough to go to their first Utah Jazz game Wednesday night...oh how they raved about the plays, players, crowd, etc. Like father, like sons.
Thursday, we went to gym class and then tried to get our housecleaning caught up. When I do a huge project, my house resembles a hurricane path. So the kids swept, mopped, vacuumed, and picked up, while I cleaned up the kitchen (full of child-made meal messes and crusty old dishes). When I went to start the overloaded dishwasher, it didn't work. Well okay, it ran perfectly, except without any water coming into or going out of it! And there was a huge leak out of the bottom onto my new wood floor! Uggh! Fortunately, its repair is covered under our home warranty, but of course the dishwasher fix-it people are backed up and who knows when they'll come to my rescue! In the mean time, paper plates, everyone!
Hannah lost her fist tooth on Thursday also. Boy was she excited!

Friday (our newly established "family project day") was spent Christmas tree hunting. Brandon refused the work and mess of a live tree this year, so we finally went artificial (sniff, sniff). After (the kids and I) purchasing one pre-lit tree, and then coming home, hauling it out of the car, unwrapping it, setting it up, and discovering its pre-lit lights didn't light up, we took it down and packed it back up (torture), and made a second trip to Tai-Pan (LOVE that place at Christmastime) to complain and get a better tree! By the time I brought the new tree out to the car, my poor BORED boys were literally shaking the new suburban (yes, I AM spoiled...we traded in the huge Copemobile 12 passenger van for a shiny new ride to handle the upcoming snowy winter). They were wrestling and laughing and pounding each other (sure hope they didn't break anything...on the car, not their bodies, that is)! What a long shopping day, all for a tree I didn't even want! And if Brandon thinks this is less work than a REAL tree,...
We set up the tree last night and decorated it a bit, then finished it this morning (almost...it needs a few more "me" finishing touches). And now I think it looks beautiful! And it wasn't nearly as hard to set up the second time! And no lights to string on! And we're saving the forrests!...)

Basketball season started this week. Taylor had a practice last night, and played in his first game tonight. He scored 16 out of his team's 29 points. His team lost, but he was happy that he did well in his first game. We all had a great time watching, but our favorite part was shooting around during the time outs (even yours truly joined in the fun...although more than a bit rusty)!

Sarah enjoyed yelling and clapping each time the crowd cheered!
The rest of today (Saturday) was spent by the boys raking up our massive amount of fallen leaves. A few extra rakes and a leaf shredding machine were borrowed from the neighbor, which helped, but Brandon's back hurts...I've never seen so many leaves on one piece of property...really! The girls played outside, helped me get Christmas cards ready to mail on Monday, and ran errands with me.
We went as a family to clean our Church building at one o'clock. The boys vacuumed and collected garbage with Dad, while the girls washed windows with me. Sarah wanted to help, so as soon as we wiped a window clean, she wiped her cute slobbery face and hands all over it. A kind passerby said, "Don't you worry, the blessings won't be negated just because the work gets undone."
Thank you kind passerby...for simply but profoundly reminding me that I am blessed because of my daily work as mother of my home. Even though the work at home ALWAYS gets undone, I am being shaped and molded into someone better than I was before, BECAUSE of the work.

This Thanksgiving

I was thankful for...

...a holiday feast in my own home.


...a family to cook for and food to prepare.

...two ovens.
...one convection oven, which roasted the turkey in an hour and a half, and all four pies evenly at once (with flaky crust and no burning)!

...a juicy turkey (even though I tried a new recipe and used a brine this year).

...finding a Whole Foods Market and a yummy uncured natural ham to roast.

...the skills of a generous neighbor, who fixed my garbage disposal on a holiday so that I could clean up the kitchen!

...my good brother Todd, who joined us for the feast and stayed to visit a while, despite the constant chaos at the Cope house.

...the six darling causes of the aforementioned chaos...who, while still learning about table manners, are teaching me daily how to be more like the Savior.

...a kitchen window's view to the backyard, through which I watched my handsome, soft-hearted husband coach the Cope Turkey Bowl game, play quarterback with a baby in arms, and make his teammates feel like Heisman trophy candidates with his signature compliments and cheers.

...that same handsome husband's warm compliments on the holiday meal...and every meal I make (even those experimental not-so-tasty ones). I love that man!


...far away family, missed dearly.

...good health, and angel friends and family members who care for me when it is lacking.

...trials that teach and refine. "We don't succeed in spite of our trials, we succeed because of them." --Richard Paul Evans

...freedom, and those heroes past who bought it for me and you with their lives. And brave statesmen, who sacrifice to preserve that liberty today.

...masterpieces in art, literature, and music and the beauty they bring to this world.

...the education I am seeking for myself and my children, and the sense of mission which drives me to do so.

...a desire to become better every day...and a knowledge of the great atonement of the Savior of the world, which gives me the power to do so.

...a loving Father who sent His Son to redeem me...and you. For the tender mercies He sends so often to this daughter who needs them.

And for a life full of countless other blessings, far too numerous to list here.