merry christmas

The new Frederickson Family Christmas ice skating party was a big success! It was a really fun way to start Christmas and was a venue that can accomodate our ever growing group. After Ice skating we had a yummy soup lunch at the church and then put together kits for homeless people.






Christmas Eve was at Dustin and Kimberly's house sans Kimberly who is doing a great job keeping the Riplets inside and growing. One of the good things about Kimberly in the hospital meant that we got to have Corbin spend the week with us. He continues to be very entertaining. One afternoon Marcos was having a crying fit because he couldn't get candy at the store. When I asked him if crying EVER works with me, Corbin interjected and said, "yeah Marcos, crying only works with some people like my Grandma." The highlight of Christmas Eve was talking to Mom and Dad on Skype. They got to watch all the kids open the gifts they had sent--Chinese dresses and tshirts. The kids loved them and will be well dressed for the Chinese New Year.


We spent Christmas Eve at Dustin's house. Kimberly is in the hospital trying to keep the Riplets from



I wish every year Christmas could be on Sunday. It was so nice to have Santa gifts, gingerbread waffles for breakfast and then a less than one hour church. Our sacrament meeting was beautiful. After church we came home and opened gifts. I think this year was the first time the kids all gave gifts to each other and were really excited about what they gave. That night we had Book of Mormon Christmas and invited our friend Paul over for Tamales. It was a wonderful relaxing day.

band concert and lost teeth

Max finally lost his two front teeth. I have never seen such a cute kid without teeth. He loves to make sucking noises through the space in his mouth that drives his siblings crazy. Too bad they weren't singing "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!" at the band concert. Eliza was very proud to play her clarinet, Max was a wonderful "Bell #7", Marcos looked very spiffy during his performance and Wilson played the bells in the high school band. Good lundberg representation once again.

gingerbread train is a comin'

winterfest

Marcos turns 5!

Comfort from Ether

It's been a rough couple of weeks with our number one son Wilson. He quit wrestling, stopped going to church and seminary and was failing all of his classes except math and PE. He slept all the time, was angry and obsessed with the pretend world of video games. Tony and I have been beside ourselves wondering what to do. We scheduled appointments with the psychologist, adjusted medication, revoked privelidges, increased love, and sought advice from family members and trusted friends. The young men's president and quorum even took a special trip out to St John to "rescue the one." Grandma and Grandpa have sent letters, and Aunts, Uncles and cousins have been praying and joined in a special fast on his behalf. It is a very humbling experience.

Today while reading in Ether the story of the Jaredites took on a whole new meaning. The Jaredites were in a storm. The Lundbergs are in a storm. Neither of us realizes that Heavenly Father is the one creating the storm with the purpose of getting us to a promised land. Sometimes we are in the depths and sometimes we got a break and came to the surface. (Sometimes Wilson isn't angry and his heart softens). When the ship came to the surface, the Jaredites spent a lot of time in gratitude. During the breaks I can sing praises like crazy, instead of obsessing about the next drop. The Jaredite ships were tight, didn't leak or couldn't be hurt by monsters or whales. During Wilson's angry times, Tony and I have been united (tight) and focus on protecting the other members of our family. We find relief in doing the routines we know keep us safe, scriptures, prayer, FHE and temple. We both have light during the whole storm. I know Heavenly Father directs us and facilitates situations to help. The Jaredites eventually were brought to the promised land and set their feet on dry, solid ground. Eventually, Wilson will plant his feet on solid ground and the storms of teenagerness will pass. I'm thankful for the comfort I found in the scriptures today.

thanksgiving

The highlight of the Lundberg family Novemeber was our 9th annual trip to the Oregon Coast with our friends the Hainsworths and Hughes. Our group consists of 6 adults and 15 kids and together we look like the United Nations, with heavy emphasis on China. Some of the highlights included our annual pilgrimage to Tillamook where we always sample the cheese and indulge in double scoops of ice cream. Thanksgiving Eve we have the "Hungry Pilgrim Feast," a celebration of pie. We have everything from chicken pot pie to banana cream, French Silk and cranberry apple pie.

A new tradition this year was a Thanksgiving morning Turkey Trot. Registration and concession proceeds from the race went toward purchasing a well in Africa through the church humanitarian organization. The Turkey Trot was organized by Savannah Hughes as one of her Young Women projects and she was very successful. Everyone participated in the 1/2 mile, 3K or 5K run despite the rainy day.

We had one day of beautiful weather which allowed us time to play football on the beach, build sand castles and play "crack the whip" with long seaweed ropes. We also spent a day climbing the dunes at Pacific beach and the bravest among us jumped the freezing cold waves. The tide was too high during the day, so one night the older kids took flashlights out to the beach and found starfish, crabs and anemones. When the weather was crummy we had puzzle contests, played M & M Bingo, and had hula hoop competitions. And believe me-- there was a fair amount of video gaming and movie watching.

Eliza, who broke her foot earlier this month and is on crutches, learned a good lesson about "sneaker waves." She and her friend Lily were playing in the sand when a rogue wave came crashing up the beach. They heard a warning from James Hughes standing high above the shore and ran (crawled) to safety just in time. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to grab Eliza's crutches which were quickly consumed by the sea. Crutches can be replaced ($6.99 at the Goodwill) but Eliza could not, so we had something extra to be thankful for. Plus we got a lot of mileage out of the obvious gospel analogy of listening to a prophet's voice of warning to escape the dangers of Satan's waves. Feel free to use the story in your next FHE.

On our way home we passed the dreaded Shell station where Max spent some quality time alone last year. The post traumatic stress seems to have dissipated because Max reported fondly, "remember when that nice man at the Shell station gave me Skittles!"

We are all excited for Christmas. We put up our tree and have our first Christmas party on Friday. Oh yes, and tithing settlement starts Sunday.

Remember, Stacey challenged us to give homemade gifts this year for Christmas. As always, gifts are optional with no guilt strings attached. Especially if you are in the middle of a remodel, building a new home, or growing three babies.

We love you and are thankful for this great newsletter every month.

las vegas weddings

a haunting we will go

apples apples apples

It was a small apple year, a mere 3600 lbs. Sadly, in order to preserve marital bliss there was no cider this year as well. Tony and I really enjoyed a day together to go get the apples. We added a new apple variety this year, "honeycrisp," and they made excellent sauce. I spent a good day making applesauce with Jill. She has an awesome applesauce machine and we were able to pump out 5 dozen quarts for the "Riplets." The kids come home every day from school now and ask for "hot applesauce." i remember doing the same thing when I was little. It's been such a beautiful Fall that I've enjoyed every canning day, especially the ones with friends.