Christmas Gifts 2009

I am not posting all the gifts our family got. That is not my point in doing this post. It is fun to look back at the things you gave and received especially as a kid but I am not going to document that this year.

Let me just say that I am very happy and proud to be in the family that I am. We had perfect Christmas' as kids and teens in our opinions and my parents made them special with all the wonderful traditions we had and with the house done up with all my mom's homely decorations. The homemade caramels and english toffee, the bread balls, and the smell of our real Christmas tree added to that. My mom had the Christmas music we grew up on playing every hour of the day from Halloween to New Years. We had great Christmas'!

Now two of us are married and carrying on while starting new traditions, trying to make early memories for our own children. I long for the time when it was just my parents and siblings way too often, but know that it is my responsibility to give my kids what my parents gave to me. It's my job now to bake the goodies, and to put the Christmas music on. It's my job to make the old and new traditions happen and to make Christmas the most wonderful time of year for my kids.

I know I have to be the parent now, and that was my choice and let me just say that I am loving every minute of it. I also am a very sentimental person. I am nostalgic and I am holding onto my childhood kicking and screaming and not wanting to let go. I am trying to find a way to keep it while building my own boys' childhood. I figure that's the equation of a parent who tries to live through their children......and I'm okay with that.

I just want to say that it's been hard for me in this phase and season of my life. It's something I've done and tried to enjoy and make the most of because I know young adulthood and babies and all will be missed one day. I just keep plugging away every day, every month, each year and I'm getting older. Why do I still feel like I'm 12? Maybe I'll never know but I don't think I have to loose that. It's hard feeling attached like that and missing my parents, and my siblings, and living together, dinner together, waking up together, going to sleep together, laughing together, playing games together, arguing together, getting ready for the day together, driving together, doing EVERYTHING together. I miss that. That was what I knew. That is what was comfortable for me. I still feel like I'm getting used to my own house, my own little family doing things together.....and I guess all I want to say is thank you to my parents who let me raise my kids the way I will, but who still treat me like their kid. Even though I'm married they still seem to take care of me and include me with the un-marrieds. They let me depend on them. They don't forget about us once we've moved out. It's not easy being the married ones and feeling separated from our siblings who are still at home. I know the hardest things I've ever done in my life and there are 3 of them that come to mind and this thing, this phase of my life, this season is one of those 3 hardest things. I do want to say that these feelings I've written don't take anything away from my little family. They in no way diminish the love I have for my husband and my boys. I'm grateful for that. I love my marriage and I love being a mom and it only gets better from here. All that doesn't mean you aren't going to miss things in life, and it doesn't mean you can't look back in deep gratitude for what you had.

What brought me to think of all this was that my mom made quilts for all of us girls for Christmas. All of them were different and especially for us. That's why I'm thanking my parents, because they treat us all the same, the marrieds and moved out, and the singles and still at home. I'm thankful for that, that my mom made me a quilt too. I guess it was a gift that made me think a little deeper. I tend to do that.

I want to say that my family is very creative and we make homemade gifts the majority. I'm very proud of that. It's a much better Christmas when you know a lot of hard work went into a gift you've received. Some of the gifts I'm posting were store bought but a lot were homemade. Here are some highlights of some gifts we received this Christmas.

I don't have a picture of it yet but my sister Michaela made us all necklaces that were personalized. Each had a colored bead and a charm with a round piece that had "Shulte" engraved on it. "Shulte" is kind of an inside thing with our family and it means sisterly love. My bead was red and my charm was a drum set. They were all different and special but they all had the "Shulte". It was definitely a favorite among us all.


This is the quilt that my mom made for me. All the quilts were different and you could definitely tell whose was whose. Mine unmistakeably had an 80's retro vibe to it. It reminded me of the clothes I used to wear as a small girl. The green fabric in the above picture is my favorite piece and reminds me of a robe I had and loved as a small girl.

I knew what these were when they were wrapped but it still didn't take away the ooh and aah I felt when I saw them. They are ornaments from Connie of the boys profiles and they will be treasured my whole life. (.........and I hope she makes some of all my future kids as well so I have one of them all.......)

Marcelus

Phoenix These I bought for Sharrid. I have realized recently I kind of have a tie fetish and wish I could wear them myself. Sharrid got this in our family gift exchange from Tibi. It smells good! My mom has made pillowcases for all the grand kids now and Phoenix got his this year! It's the only pillowcases I will use for my kids so I hope grandma keeps making them! The cutest part is they always have their names on them. My kids have the neatest grandma. I hope they come to know that. I'm going to try my hardest to help them. Connie gave me some book labels and sheet music. I love that she gives me things I talk about but never expect. Michaela took this picture herself and made this for Sharrid. We hung it in our hallway right under the light where everyone can see it from the front room. I am glad we now have a picture of my favorite temple and the temple we were married in. Thank you to Michaela. My mom made me a table topper and I love it. I'm glad that my mom makes me these things because I can't sew and maybe I will when my eyes are fixed but until then, she gives our home a better feel with what she makes. I love adding her gifts to my home. My mom made this for our home as well. I need to get a ribbon for the side but I like the saying a lot. It sits on my bar now. My mom made us all Pomegranate Jelly and Syrup! We have already dived into this......isn't my mom so great! She makes everything! Connie had my name for the gift exchange and was so excited! Now I know why! She got the perfect gift for me, a brownie pan that gives every piece an edge. She knows corner pieces are my favorite and with this pan, some pieces even have 3 sides instead of just 2! I'm also excited about it because it makes less it seems than a regular pan of brownies. My little family can't eat a whole pan, so less is more with corner pieces! My mom bought this for me. It's an oil burner and it makes my house smell really good! I love this thing. My mom made pajamas for all the grand kids. She made a robe for Marcelus too, which was one of my favorite gifts he got. It looks so warm and cozy! Marce got Thomas pj's and Phoenix got Cars. Marce and Phoenix got these TV chairs from Santa. Phoenix has been throwing a stink about napping in his crib lately. He prefers his chair or my bed....as long as he gets a good nap in, I don't care.... My sister Kira is probably the greatest artist I will ever be able to be really close with. She is good at anything artistic: drawing, painting, make up, hair, penmanship including calligraphy, custom finishing furniture, and she is now starting to sew. She can do anything, and when I saw that she had personalized a pair of white Vans using Crayola fabric markers for herself and my sister Michaela, I had to have some. One of my favorite gifts from a past Christmas is my charm bracelet because it represents who I am through many different little things and by looking at the bracelet you can really get an idea of who I am. It's like wearing your personality on your wrist and having a real tangible symbol of who you are. My charm bracelet is still a work in progress and I still need some more charms but I requested a pair of these shoes from my sister back in the Spring and gave her a deadline of Christmas. Of course she waited til December to start them but they were finished and they are nothing short of BRILLIANT! Let me show you through pictures...

For the books that made me a reader, the Harry Potter Hogwarts crest.

My favorite word, Believe. For my love of the game Basketball, the NBA logo. This one is very special to me right now. It is for my journey to receive treatment in China. It's the Chinese symbol for Hope. For my favorite band, the Jackson Five. I love so many artists and groups but the reason I say that they are my favorite is because they sang, danced, played instruments, and wrote their own music (when finally they were allowed) all at the same time and in one stage show. Not many groups did that back then and I don't know if there are any who do it today. Usually a group or artist will do one or the other or maybe a couple but they sang, danced and played their instruments while writing their own stuff. They did it all. For my favorite male and female artists, Michael Jackson and Annie Lennox.For my home away from home, my love of the beach and the place, Carlsbad California. There's a different feeling in the air there. It's inspiring and it's a sentimental place for me. I often day dream of being in Carlsbad.

Piano keys for my musical talents and overall love of music.

Thank you to my family members who made this Christmas so great. Your gifts make it so special and they are things we treasure as our most prized possesions for life, not just the upcoming year. I'm a gift person, so it really means a lot to me to recieve gifts like this. I just hope to be able to give gifts that mean this much to others, as these mean to me. I'm excited to see what talents might open up when my eyes are fixed, and what talents might develop more if given the chance, because my family members sure do use their talents with their gift giving and it's inspiring and I'd like to do more of it too.