It Really is a Wonderful Life

We watched this movie tonight as a family, and I have to say, the older I get, the more I love this movie. It's my dad's favorite movie, and I always think of him when I watch it this time of year. Now I join him in declaring that this movie is one of the best movies. Ever. Period. I dare you to disagree with me. If you do, you are cold and heartless and I would really need to question if we should be friends.


Does this picture not say "celebrate"? On Friday our little family officially finished reading the Book of Mormon for the first time. In the past our scripture study was always on and off, but we've really tried hard and our labors have paid off. Boyd and I told the boys we wanted to celebrate our big occasion and do something that we don't usually have the opportunity to do. We had planned to go to the roof for dinner on Friday but it was cold and snowy so we gave the boys a choice: The Roof or any other restaurant they could think of. And guess what, the White/Peterson gene prevails in my sons...they all unanimously wanted to go to....wait for it....wait for it.....Chuck-A-Rama. I know!? Crazy and true! So we went, saved a bunch of money (although that place is not cheap), and had the happiest boys in the universe. I haven't seen them that happy in a long time. I mean, icee's, hot chocolate, chocolate milk, apple beer, and chicken - and all you can eat of it. They were so happy, and guess what? It made me happy too.

With our Book of Mormon celebration over on Friday, we had a basketball game, template date, family pics and a ward party on Saturday and tickets for the Tabernacle Choir on Sunday morning. I had also agreed to substitute Primary. And as it goes with my family, during the wintertime, someone always gets the stomach flu. That someone happened to be Logan. Logan told me before I left for a quick errand Saturday evening that his stomach hurt and he was in his bed - which for those of you who have boys, they just don't randomly go lay in their beds. I asked if he went poop, he said he did, and I thought "oh, he'll be alright". I told the other two he wasn't feeling well and ran to Sam's. The next thing I know, I received a text from Spencer saying Logan just threw up. Oh no - our family always gets the stomach flu a few times in the winter and it's never a pretty sight. Luckily, he made it to the "barf bowl" - yes we have a bowl designated for barfing - and it even says "Barf Bowl" on the side. I keep it within easy reach underneath my bed for those late night barfing spells the boys seem to always get.
Boyd ended up taking the other two to the ward party, a long with our cheesy potatoes that Boyd forgot to put the sour cream in. I told him to tell the gal who was in charge, and is my good friend, that they didn't have sour cream so they need to be used last, and only if REALLY needed. But he didn't, so I should apologize to all those who got the White family sourcreamless cheesy potatoes. Unfortunatly, Boyd also decided to use a sharpie and write our name all over our dish so we couldn't get out of the gig unrecognized for our poor side dish. Oh well, the ward is probably not going to want me to bring food anymore, so maybe there is an up side to this.
With Logan sick, we had a slight change in plans. Luckily, he was able to play his basketball game and be okay for family pictures - it hit right after they were over.
My sweet sister Laurel did another awesome year of pictures for us. The shoot was fast, we're pretty sure we had them taken in front of a marijuana shed, and it ended with an impromptu snowball fight.













We had a great snowstorm today, with the biggest flakes I think I've ever seen!



So today, as I stayed home taking care of my 10 year old "baby", and watching the snowflakes fall, I got to comtemplate my many blessings. It really is a wonderful life, even if our cheesy potatoes don't have sour cream and my son is barfing, there's lots to be thankful for.