Erichsen-Webster 2013 Final Exam

Some of you received a hard copy of this in snail mail, but for those who did not (and because I want a copy of it saved in this blog), here is our Christmas letter this year:

Erichsen-Webster Family 2013 Final Exam

Directions - Part I: Please respond to the following questions by circling the letter of the correct answer:

1. Eli will return from two years of service in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission in

1. Mid-March
2. Mid-April
3. Mid-May
4. Mid-June

2. Shulamith’s husband Mathew graduated this month (Dec. 2013) from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in

1. English
2. Accounting
3. Nursing

     d. Mass Communications

3. Isaiah will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from

1. The University of Utah
2. Westminster College
3. Willamette University
4. The University of Montana

4. Baby Swen will become a big brother when a new baby joins the Webster-Monson Family in early

1. May
2. June
3. July
4. August

5. If you want to know more details about the Erichsen-Websters, you can

1. Add Terrianne or Gerald as a friend on Facebook
2. Email terrianne.webster@gmail.com or erichsen@warpmail.net
3. Follow Terrianne’s blog at itslegs.blogspot.com
4. All of the above

6. Seth loves music and plays the following instruments:

1. Cello and flute
2. Piano and trombone
3. Violin and harp
4. Clarinet and piano

7. Gerald’s About.com, Spanish-language website is now in its

1. 14^th year
2. 15^th year
3. 16^th year
4. 17^th year

8. Terrianne enjoys being mostly an at-home mom but also teaches a couple classes at

1. LDS Business College
2. Salt Lake Community College
3. BYU Salt Lake Center
4. Stevens-Henager College

9. Seth is a student at Union Middle School in the

1. 6^th grade
2. 7^th grade
3. 8^th grade
4. 9^th grade

10. The Webster-Monson family still lives downstairs in our daylight basement apartment, and Terrianne hopes they move out

1. In one year
2. In five years
3. In ten years
4. Never

11. The Erichsen-Valentine Family still lives in Indiana, where Luke is doing an internship for his fifth and final year of a PhD program at Indiana University in

a. English

b. Education Psychology

c. Marine Biology

d. Engineering

12. Luke and Désirée's daughter Evelyn is in

a. Preschool

b. Kindergarten

c. 1^st grade

d. 2^nd grade

Part II - Please indicate whether the following statements are true or false:

1. Eli doesn’t want his mission to be over, but we here at home are counting down the days until he comes home.

1. True
2. False

2. This time around, Terrianne plans to gain the same 10 sympathy pounds she gained during Shulamith’s first pregnancy (and had to lose afterward).

1. True
2. False

3. Terrianne thought up this idea for a Christmas letter all by herself, without her friend Trudy’s help.

1. True
2. False
   
   
   
   

4. Seth serves as the Deacons’ Quorum president in our ward and is finishing up his Star rank in Scouts and his Deacon Duty to God certificate.

1. True
2. False

5. Shulamith loves being a stay-at-home mom with Swen, enjoying every single moment of his growth and development.

a. True

b. False

6. Terrianne, Gerald, Isaiah, Eli, Seth, Shulamith, Mathew, Swen, Luke, Désirée, and Evelyn all wish you a joyous holiday season as we celebrate the Savior's birth and look forward to 2014 with renewed hope.

a. True

b. False

Answer Key: 1-A, 2-D, 3-B, 4-C, 5-D, 6-B, 7-C, 8-A, 9-C, 10-D, 11-B, 12-C 1-A, 2-B, 3-B, 4-A, 5-A, 6-A

Remember that one time when Seth got a Wii-U for Christmas?

Oh wait, that was actually just yesterday. Back story: he asked for a Wii-U last year, but we opted for other gifts instead. Once again this year, the first item on his Christmas list was the Wii-U, and my decision to get it was rather impulsive. In October, I had a bit of money left after paying the bills (a rare occurrence), and I said to Gerald, "I'm going to go buy Seth a Wii-U unless you talk me out of it in the next five minutes." He didn't. Off I went. And that was that. Next came the dilemma of how/when/where to give it to him in order that it would be a TOTAL surprise. I know some parents tell their kids what they are getting for Christmas, or least don't worry too much if they find out. I even know moms who take their kids with them to pick out their presents and then wrap them up anyway, even though the kids know exactly what they are. No judgement here; all families are different. But in my world, Christmas presents must be complete, full on surprises or they don't count as Christmas presents.

So Shulamith and I began plotting how we might handle this surprise, but every time we had an idea, it seemed like Seth was one step ahead of us. Maybe we would give it to him as his one Christmas Eve gift, which is typically something small like candy or a blanket. About the time we thought of that idea, Seth popped up entirely out of the blue with "What if you decided to give me my best present on Christmas Eve?" What??? Maybe we would write a note and put it in the toe of his stocking. We do stockings last, so it would be his very last gift. "Remember that year you put video-games in my stocking? I love it when the best surprises are in my stocking." Are you freakin' kidding me, Seth?

Aaaaarrrrruuuuuggggghhhh!!!

We had to do better. And ultimately, we did, but let's take a look at the day from start to finish. We told everyone we would start at 9:00 a.m., and he should stay in bed until then. But at 9:00, the only people awake were Gerald, Shulamith, Swen, and I. We took our traditional pictures in matching jammies and waited for Isaiah, Seth and Matt.

It didn't take too long, and soon we were all up and gathered around the tree. Seth was delighted with his "Santa" gifts: a bungee chair, Mt. Dew Code Red, and Pringles.

 We open gifts slowly, one at a time, so it takes a while. Here are some highlights:

 Mathew's new clippers

Isaiah's computer speaker

My drug of choice

Boots for Shulamith

And her Petunia Picklebottom diaper bag

Laptop for Gerald

Baby Swen's Lego

And they bought each other the same thing!

And all too soon, though I'm pretty sure Mathew would disagree, the gifts were unwrapped, and the tree was bare once again. I guess one advantage of celebrating Christmas one day late is that stores are open everywhere, and somewhere in the middle of our marathon gift opening, Matt slipped out to do some last-minute shopping of his own. And what do you suppose he brought back? Guess away.

Just as I thought we might relax, eat some delicious holiday food, listen to some chill Christmas music, possibly take a nap, ALL CHAOS BROKE LOOSE IN MY HOUSE! It was like a war zone. Shulamith came in my room to warn me: "Stay in here. It's dangerous out there!" Mathew had bought Isaiah and Seth rubber bows and arrows. No, I'm not kidding. He really did. And the result of that was the two of them chasing each other all around the house, jumping over things, shooting each other, arrows flying everywhere. Lovely.

By this point, I was ready to leave, which was actually great timing because Shulamith and I were about to take Swen to his first movie. The guys had all seen their Christmas movie the day before, so we were off to see Frozen. Now I want you to know just how politically incorrect this is going to be, but well, honesty trumps political correctness, and when have I worried about that anyway? I really, strongly, emphatically dislike animated movies. All of them. I didn't even like them when I was a kid, and I strategically worked it out so I hardly had to watch any with my own chidren. When Luke and Shulamith were little, my mom took them to all the kids' movies. When Isaiah and Eli were little, I paid Luke and Shulamith to take them. When Seth was little, I paid Isaiah and Eli. And it occurred to me to pay Seth to watch Frozen with Swen so Shulamith and I could see a good movie, but Seth was fully involved chasing Isaiah around the house with a bow and arrow, so I didn't even ask.

Armed with popcorn and (most importantly) large, ice-cold Diet Cokes, we sat down in the theatre. Swen was mesmerized by the giant movie screen. He lasted clear until the final 15 minutes, when he wanted to get up and move around, which was amazing considering I was ready to get up and move around after about two minutes. Seriously, it was the longest 90-minute movie ever. For the life of me, I don't see what people find appealing about cartoons. Anyway, I know how much everyone else loved this movie, so I'm obviously in a tiny minority, and what else is new? Here we are to document Swen's first movie experience:

So that was a huge digression, complete with pictures and commentary, but let me return to the original story. Remember that one time when Seth got a Wii-U for Christmas?

The plan was set in motion. Gerald would have the Wii-U, and the game we got to go with it, in the car with him at work. When he was about to leave to come home (around midnight), he would call Shulamith and me, so we'd wake up and be waiting. Then when he got home, he'd wait outside the front door and text Seth, asking him to come let him in. When Seth opened the door, he would find Gerald with gifts in arms. The plan went flawlessly, well except for the part where I nearly forgot to get the Wii-U and game out from under my bed and into the car. Someone remembered in time, but I couldn't use the front door because Seth was sitting in the living room, so I had to carry everything out the back and down the ice-covered, very slippery, steep spiral stairway that leads from our deck down to Shulamith and Matt's patio. I really thought I wasn't going to make it without falling, but fate was on my side.

And late last night, Seth received his last present, his brand new Wii-U. He was one happy kid.

And I'm pretty sure Isaiah was at least as happy as he was.

And there you have it, another great Christmas in the history of the Erichsen-Websters.

Relax, Seth. I'm pretty sure they'll all still be there tomorrow...

It's quiet here today. Really quiet. We chose to postpone our Christmas celebration one day this year, so for us, it's not really Christmas yet; it's Christmas Eve! Last night, after last-minute shopping, Shulamith and Swen and I rode Trax downtown to walk through the lights on Temple Square. Swen pretty much hated Trax, but he loved the lights. I did too!

Then, early this morning, 6:00 a.m. to be exact, Shulamith texted "Rise and Shine!" Swen was awake, so she brought him up in order to let Matt sleep, and she and I ate chocolate eclairs and watched Hostages. Possibly a new tradition?

I do love tradition. In fact, that's the reason we decided to celebrate tomorrow. Our Christmas traditions take the whole day. So today, Shulamith can be with the Monson Family, and tomorrow she can be here. Our traditions actually start Christmas Eve, when we eat something yummy, read the Christmas story from the scriptures, open one gift each, and frost cookies for Santa. That will all happen tonight. Then in the morning, let the fun begin! Recently on Facebook, I saw this question: All at once or one at a time? (meaning does your family open their gifts all at once, or one person at a time?) We most definitely fall into the latter category. One. At. A. Time. And S-L-O-W-L-Y! I control the speed by handing out the presents myself. Bahahaha! I want to see every single person open every single gift. And I do. And it take hours. Literally. And I love it. The longer the better. But I think poor Mathew nearly rescinded his marriage proposal the first time he experienced this four years ago. He doesn't particularly enjoy Christmas to begin with, and our marathon morning celebration was a bit more than he bargained for, like three or four hours more! We are SO glad he decided to marry Shulamith anyway; we love him.

Sometime in the middle of gift opening, we take a break for breakfast and then carry on. Then in the afternoon, we prepare lots of appetizers, finger foods, and sweet treats. We don't do a formal dinner on Christmas, just easy stuff, so we don't spend Christmas in the kitchen. By then most of the males in the family are fully involved playing their new video-games and wouldn't stop for something as insignificant as Christmas dinner anyway, so it's easier just to snack. In the late afternoon or evening we go to the movies. We used to struggle to find just the right movie that would appeal to everyone, but we finally gave up on that, and now we often find ourselves watching different movies in the same theatre. You can't talk in movies anyway, right?

But this year, Gerald has to work tomorrow night and won't be here for the movie tradition, so just now he and Isaiah and Seth left to go see The Hobbit. Having zero interest in The Hobbit, I am here alone. It's weird. With seven of us living here, I am never alone in the house. It's quiet. Really quiet. I wondered how I might feel about that, being all alone for a few hours on Christmas Day. Would it make me sad, even knowing that our real Christmas is tomorrow? So far, though, I feel just fine about it. I'm listening to Celine Dion sing "O Holy Night." I'm sipping a cold Diet Coke. Kitty is basking in the sunshine that streams through our front window. I'm blogging in peace. It's all good. And it's gonna get even better around 3:00 when I log onto Skype and see the face and hear the voice of my favorite missionary. By then, Shulamith will be home, and the guys will be back from the movie. We will all be here to love on Eli for a full 40 minutes. I cannot even wait! 

As you might expect, Seth was less than enthusiastic about waiting a day to celebrate and has made his feelings known multiple times in the past 24 hours. Sorry, Seth! I know it's not your favorite plan, but it's the best option this year.

And all those presents?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they'll all still be there tomorrow.

'Tis the Season for Bits and Pieces of Joy

I sit wrapped in a blanket, essays on my lap. My semester grades are due tomorrow, and I have just a few papers left to read before I can click "submit" in my grading program and be totally done. But exhaustion has taken over, and no longer can I offer students a "fair read," so I'll stop and finish in the morning.

Thoughts of the season surround me. It has come quickly, too quickly, perhaps because Thanksgiving was so late this year? Every day has felt rushed. I haven't had the time I usually do to relax and take in the sights and sounds of the season. Maybe now that I'm completely done with school and nearly done with shopping I might find that time? I can hope.

Despite non-stop activity from the time I step out of bed in the morning until I fall back in at night, a few bits and pieces of joy, a few beautiful "Christmas season 2013" memories have resulted, and others not so beautiful, but still worth recording. A couple weeks ago I got this bee in my bonnet that I needed to make Eli a paper Christmas tree complete with paper ornaments with personal messages and pictures from all his friends. Frankly, I often feel terribly inadequate as a missionary mom. You should see what these other moms do. One mom hand sewed an Advent calendar with an embroidered scripture messages for each day. Another one sent 12 individually-wrapped gifts, so her elder would have a new gift to open on each of the 12 days of Christmas. Another mom wrapped her missionary's Christmas box with pictures of him from all 20 Christmases of his life. Another one sent a fully-decorated tree for her elder's apartment, along with a variety of other festive decorations. And here I thought I was doing great just to get Eli's gifts packed up in a brown box and delivered to the UPS office in enough time that they guaranteed delivery by Christmas.

But back to the paper tree. Okay, may I speak freely here? You are my friends, right? And you know me. Some of you know me well. Some of you have known me for a long, long time. The next time I get some crazy idea to do a craft project, I need you to intervene. I need you to tell me straight up: "Terrianne. You cannot do this. You can do many things, but you CANNOT do THIS!" I am counting on you. Don't forget.

So I posted on Facebook, on Eli's wall and on mine, that I needed personal messages and permission to steal FB photos from anyone who wanted to participate. That was the easy part, and the response was incredible. Eli is loved by many. But then I had to actually make the tree. Help! I bought green butcher paper, and before literally butchering it, I attempted to draw the shape of a Christmas tree. I tried on one side and then the other, then again on the original side, but nothing looked even remotely like a tree. Finally, Shulamith took over and drew me a tree, and I cut it out. Done. Then, putting aside my personal hatred for all things sticky, I glued the photos onto the ornaments (red stockings), and Shulamith wrote the greetings on the back.

Then, one by one, I taped all the photo ornaments onto the tree and thought, "Wow, I did it!"

And I felt incredible joy for about three seconds until I realized there would be no practical way to mail this thing in its current form. It would not roll up; it would not fold up. The stocking ornaments were not flexible enough. In that moment I mostly wanted to give the entire thing to Swen to tear up into tiny pieces and then throw each piece into his favorite toy on earth: the garbage can. And I came just this close to doing exactly that except I felt sad for all the friends who so willingly contributed. Tears streaming down my face, I carefully un-taped each stocking photo ornament from the tree, and then drove to the store and stuffed the whole thing, folded up tree and ornaments alike, into a mailer and sent it off. I was not happy with this. I'm still not.

Fortunately, not every day was this frustrating. One bit of joy came when Seth and I (with intermittent help from Shulamith) decorated our Christmas tree. I have some advice for all those who want it. If you're going to have a capstone child seven years after your other four, make sure you have one as kind and delightful and overall wonderful as Seth Webster Erichsen. Just sayin'. I sat with my feet up, Christmas music playing in the background, and unwrapped our precious family ornaments. Seth took them, one by one, and as we discussed the history of each, placed them strategically on the tree. Once he finished, we dimmed the lights and sat frozen in time for a few seconds admiring the beauty before us. Bits and pieces of joy.

Last Sunday, I had the privilege to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the Restoration, a perfect topic for a missionary mom and also for someone who spends many hours out helping the sister missionaries. The few days leading up to Sunday, I decided to invite a couple of our investigators to church. Of course the sisters already do that every week, but I extended a special invitation since I would be speaking. Both agreed to come. One actually did! What a thrill to be seated up on the stand and to see him walk in with our Ward Mission Leader. Bits and pieces of joy.

Another occurred just a couple days ago when the first real storm of the season came our way. I struggle mightily with the air quality (or lack thereof) here in the valley. My allergies react terribly to something called the "inversion." I don't fully understand the science of it, but I sure do know when it's happening, and it's been awful this fall. I cough and cough and cough. My sinuses ache. My throat tightens. And of course my anxiety tells me I'm dying of some exotic disease. But somehow precipitation clears out this crappy air, and Thursday morning I walked outside to a classic winter wonderland, took a deep breath, and felt miraculously better. Bits and pieces of joy.

Then just yesterday, Shulamith and I took our sons to visit Santa.We weren't sure what Swen would think of the guy in the red suit, but Seth was willing to help in any way he could. Theirs is a blessed relationship, Seth and Swen. I didn't know how Seth would react to new baby in the family, having been the "baby" himself for 12 years. But he fell in love with Swen right from the start, and the feeling is completely mutual. They are tight for sure. In fact, Seth holds the record for getting Swen to sleep in the shortest amount of time, just 10 minutes. "How do you do it?" we ask, we who have spent 40, 50, 60 and more minutes in that room trying to convince Swen to go to sleep. "I just stand by his crib and sing him 'ba, ba, ba,' and he lies down and goes to sleep." Well of course you do! Shulamith, why haven't we ever thought of that? Ha! Swen wasn't at all impressed with Santa, but we still got this great picture.

With just over four days to wait, may we  all slow down just a bit, long enough to focus our eyes on the manger and the birth of him who would forever change the world, one heart at a time. May we look past the hustle of last-minute shopping, holiday food prep, and countless other Christmas tasks, that we may have time to discover the bits and pieces of joy.

A Mother's Arms are Filled with Many Things

Around 10:00 on Thanksgiving morning, just as I finished watching the Macy's Parade and dreaming of the day Shulamith and I can visit New York City and see it in person, I headed out to the convenience store down the street to get a newspaper for the Black Friday ads and Diet Cokes on ice for Shulamith and me. For the record, we generally wait until later in the day to drink Diet Coke; in the morning we really try to drink water. But holidays are exceptions, right? Right. It would not have occurred to me to take Shulamith's baby with me on this little jaunt, except that for some reason, he really wanted to go. He wanted to go so much that he literally followed me down the stairs, sliding on his tummy like toddlers do, and then attempted to follow me out the door, waving bye-bye to everyone in the house. Well what could I do if it was that important to him? I picked him up and put him in the car.

Inside the store, I put him down to fill our drinks and grab the newspaper, and as I was paying, I wondered just how difficult it might be to get back out to my car with two large Diet Cokes, a giant newspaper filled with Black Friday ads, and Swen! Just as I decided I would need to make two trips, a kind man behind me said, "I'll carry those drinks out for you," and he picked them right up. On our way out to my car, he continued, "A mother's arms are filled with many things."

Indeed they are. In this case, he meant that literally, and it's true literally; it's often so very true. Our arms are filled with dishes and laundry and irons and toys and homework and backpacks and lunch boxes and missing socks and, of course, babies! But it also occurred to me that this man's statement is also true figuratively. A mother's arms are filled with many things:

Sometimes, they are filled with worry. Yesterday was the first real storm of the season, and we awoke to a blanket of beautiful white snow but also treacherous driving conditions. I immediately thought about Isaiah, whose car doesn't handle all that well in the snow, driving to school and work and wherever else he needed to go. I texted him. I did. I try really, really hard not to bother my adult children with texts and calls. I rarely initiate contact with any of them; I figure they'll get in touch with me if they want to. But in this case, I deviated from that standard and texted Isaiah. Because I was worried. He texted right back saying he was indeed out and, yes, road conditions were awful, but he was being careful. A mother's arms are sometimes filled with worry.

Other times they are filled with angst. It's not exactly the same as worry. It's that feeling of dread just before our children are about to perform in a recital or play in a soccer game or cheer at a state tournament or dance in The Nutcracker. We so desperately want them to do well, to excel in their chosen activity, and most importantly to feel good about it. We say a silent prayer for them, and we sit frozen on the edge of our seats. I experienced this feeling just last night at Seth's holiday piano recital. He had worked so hard on his two pieces, and I wanted that effort to be rewarded with his best performance. It was. He played beautifully. But as always, I sat with my hands clinched together, praying for every single note to be correct. A mother's arms are sometimes filled with angst.

Other times they are filled with pride and joy. Whether its our kindergartner dressed as a shepherd in the Christmas pageant, our 3rd grader playing Ebenezer Scrooge in his class production of A Christmas Carol, our 8th grader representing his school at the state spelling bee, or our senior in high school singing a solo in his high school's production of Brigadoon, nothing fully describes the joy that fills our bodies from head to toe as we watch our children do whatever it is they do. Even when we don't get to watch in person, the feeling is the same. Just the other day, a church member from Tennessee, whose friend is taking the missionary discussions, posted a picture of Eli at church with this gentleman, and included these words: "I'm so grateful I can trust my friends Elders Webster and Hadlock to teach my friend, Tom, the truths of the restored gospel." Yes, sometimes a mother's hands are filled with pride and joy.

Other times they are filled with sorrow. As the saying goes, "A mother is only ever as happy as her saddest child." If we could, we would shield them from all of it. All the pain. All the disappointment. All the fear. All the judgment. All the danger. We would gladly take it all ourselves if we could only protect them. But of course that's not possible, so instead we live it right along with them. We hurt when they hurt. We cry when they cry. We are their advocates always, their soft place to fall, their forever friends.

Always, our hands are filled with gratitude. Though it is the hardest job we will ever do, much harder than we ever imagined, motherhood is the best job, the very best, and every day we give thanks for the opportunity to raise these precious children. And always, our hands are filled with hope because no one sees more clearly the potential in these beautiful little people than we, their moms. And always, our hands are filled with love, a love like no other, a love we never before thought ourselves capable of. For sure, it's the closest thing in life to understanding God.

A mother's hands are filled with many things.