Merry Chrisum!

I don't think I've ever been so exhausted in my entire life but we had a great Christmas in the Cottrell household. The days leading up to it were a little stressful not knowing if Robert would have to work or not. The post office asked for 4 volunteers to work delivering express packages Christmas morning for those lazy bums who wait until the last minute to mail their stuff. Only 2 had volunteered as of the week of Christmas so with Robert being low man on the seniority ladder, he was going to have to be on call. We were of course very upset about this because it was the first year Emily actually knew what was going on and after working 11 hours a day, six days a week for a month he really just wanted one day off. Christmas Eve came and he got a call from his supervisor while out on his route. She said that someone had come to her and asked that if Robert needed to be called in, to call him instead. It was a Festivus Day miracle! I cried when he told me that. It really made me feel the Christmas spirit. Thanks Stan!

Despite this great news, Robert still had to work so late on Christmas Eve that he missed the majority of the get together with his family. We had a yummy ham dinner, watched a movie, and opened presents. The movie was hysterical. Not the movie itself as it was about the birth of Christ but just the whole scene. Diane was in the other room with Kylie, Sharon was worried about everyone else, Robert called me the second it started so I was on the phone, and Haley was furious because she had already seen it and didn't want to watch it again. The only person who watched the whole thing was Emily! It was pretty funny. We ended the night with the traditional Christmas pajamas.

Me, Chase, Haley, Emily, Diane, and Kylie

Emily and Haley modeling their princess jammies


Christmas morning we invited my mom and brother Derek over to watch Emily open presents. We got more stuff than we know what to do with! And boy were the kids spoiled. Santa brought Emily a kitchen and a block train for Chase. I got a lot of cooking and baking stuff (maybe a hint?) and Robert got DVD's, a coat, tie, etc.


Santa even brought stockings for Derek and grandma




How Chase spent the morning....



After a long day of family visits and presents we were all ready for a nap! I love Christmas but I'm not going to lie, I'm glad it's over. We hope you all had a Merry Chrisum (as Emily would say)!

Baby Kylie got a brand new 'do

Date Night

I love date night. Robert and I try to have at least one date night a month. With his crazy work schedule it's really a necessity for both of us. We had planned Saturday night to go out. Unfortunately Emily got really sick last week so we ended up staying home. I was pretty bummed because after 4 days of cleaning up barf and wiping boogers, I was in need of a break. But I guess that's the way it goes when you are parents. It's no longer about you. So anyway, I think Robert could sense my desperation. He was sweet and decided we could do a gingerbread house together after the kids were asleep. Here's our beauty:

It's always nice to be reminded how much we enjoy spending time together. I know we get distracted sometimes with all the day to day tasks and the kids so it's nice to remember that we still really like each other. He's my BFF!

Christmas Cheer

I have been trying to get this post to post for about a week now. For some reason it didn't want to upload the pictures. I think blogger thought the post was lame. It kind of is, especially since it was intended to be posted last week. :) Oh well, here it is anyway.

We finally got all the Christmas stuff up last week. Emily really loves all the lights and thankfully understands not to touch. Although I guess she learned that lesson a little too late since we've already ended up with 6 broken ornaments!

Our tree...a little crooked but hey, it works.


Our broken ornaments. Rudolph's head and the ballerina's hand are still missing. And one green ball was broken so badly we just had to throw it away.


Village with our own mailman



This is my most prized Christmas possesion. Maybe my most prized possesion period. I have always wanted a nice, larger sized nativity. We had a little one that I got in college that had seen better days (Baby Jesus' head was even detatched from his body at one point). I had been on the look out for a great one like the one my grandma had growing up. I guess my grandpa found out about my love of their nativity and offered it to me last Christmas. He decided to give away all their Christmas stuff last year. I guess it became too much for him. But I love this thing. Not only because I think it's the perfect nativity but it reminds me of my grandma. She passed away a few days before Emily was born. I loved her so much and now I'm grateful to have this reminder of her during the holidays.

My fear this year was that it would get broken. Before I even took the pieces out of the box I sat Emily down and explained to her what it was. I told her that if it got broken mommy would be VERY sad so she shouldn't touch. Apparently my sterness worked because she hasn't touched it. Once she was walking past the table and grabbed the edge. She bumped the cow and it moved about half an inch. She looked at me with this look of terror like she feared I was going to beat her or something. Maybe I was a little too stern but whatever works right?!

Stop already!

And still snowing.....

The perils of low blood sugar

Yesterday afternoon Robert received a call from his part time mortuary job. He met the funeral director and they headed to a home. While talking with the family he felt like he should sit down. He took one or two steps before he hit the floor. He passed out in their living room and fell face first on their hardwood floor. He claims to remember hearing a THUD and thinking "what was that?" but didn't realize it was actually him! After he came to, he realized he was on the floor and had passed out. Unfortunately I was in church and didn't have my phone with me. He was able to get ahold of our home teacher, who called a bishopric member who happened to be in YW with me. He told me I needed to call my husband because he had fallen and hit his head. First I thought he was joking. Robert had gotten ahold of his parents in the mean time and they were on their way to pick him up. I met them at our house and took Robert to the ER while they stayed with the kids. At the ER they did numerous blood tests, urinalysis, EKG, etc to determine the reason for him fainting.

Unfortunately there was a stabbing they had to deal with and we ended up waiting 5 hours at the ER. Luckily we have great parents who shared shifts watching our kids. None of the tests showed anything to be concerned about and the doctor attributed it to stress, fatigue, and low blood sugar. I'm always hounding Robert to eat more because he's so skinny and works so hard so it was nice to have it confirmed by a doctor! All is well and he even got a day off work! He's pretty sore today with two slightly black eyes and a bruised and swollen nose (but luckily not broken). I tried to get a good picture of his injuries but the black eyes don't show up too well.

Fall Fun

Fall is my favorite time of year. Too bad it lasts for about 4 days in Utah. But I still love it. Emily has discovered that she loves it too. She has absolutely loved playing in the leaves every chance she gets. We have a massive maple tree in our front yard so we have had numerous raking/playing opportunities. She's not really a fan of the raking part and thinks it's funny to take arm fulls of leaves and make her own pile in the flower beds. Such a good helper!


Our last pile of leaves is still waiting to be bagged and then it will unfortunately be on to winter.