Some Stuff Doesn't Change...

the cardboard sled at the bottom of the stairs among a pile of pillows

brothers...

rocking babies to sleep

the result being, I catch their colds and now I'm miserable...oh well. I got to hold them :)

can I play your iTouch?

asked constantly by little brothers, despite the fact there are 2 others in our house...

the smell of rain in Mesa

one of my favorite things in the whole world. WAY better than in Utah.

the close friends

I can leave for 5 months and things don't change between us

the de-wall-papered rooms that have yet to be plastered and painted

AKA my bedroom....

the 5+ tubs of ice cream in the freezer
for movie and ice cream night

my room

still just as I left it, with special things from people and school still sitting out

singing in 2 wards' Christmas programs on Sunday

the quirky 12th Ward I was raised in and the 61st ward my family lives in...

no sleeping in...

except for the first day. We were allowed one day to sleep in past 7:30. I took advantage of it......12:30....yeah.....

Tressie's insistence that it is in fact HER birthday

 whenever we celebrate anyone else's

Discovery Channel shows are better in the middle of the night

Troy still drags his tattered burp cloths around, sucking on his left index finger

Layton still cannot change diapers

no comment...

the big Christmas tree with all the non-breaky ornaments on the bottom 3 feet

with Grandma's star on top and the tree itself starting to die, but still smells like Christmas

my piano

that my dad built for me the Christmas I was 6. Yeah, I didn't know about that til last year...

waffles for breakfast and cereal for lunch on Sundays

my rather impressive parking skills :)

the Cox Family Nativity

with 700 shepherds, wisemen, sheep, and angels 12 and under :)

the love/chaos of a family with 40 (soon to be 41) first cousins

Grandma's porcelain Nativity

that I have super-glued back together too many times to count. This year, it was the cow

my brother-defense skills :)

Sunday night was epic. They forgot not to mess with me. :)

the welcoming hugs of wonderful people I haven't seen in 5+ months

no words necessary. Just knowing I'm loved. :)

Some things will always be the same. Kids grow. I miss out on a lot on inside jokes. Friends leave on missions. Furniture and routines get rearranged. But the important stuff stays. :)

Merry Christmas!