Chapman

Happy New Year to you all! We’ve had a great Christmas vacation and are excited to go back to BYU tomorrow to start Winter semester. We came down to St. George on the 23rd of December to see my Grandma—Nanni—who had flown in from Kentucky to spend a few days with the family. It was soooo fun to see her after not seeing her for almost 10 years! We had a great time singing songs, telling stories, and playing games. She left that night. We were so anxious to see Nanni that we worked like mad-men to get everything accomplished by the 23rd—Trevor and I each had 5 finals, we had to get everything squared away with Trevor’s work, get Trevor ready for Europe, and on top of that, have our own mini Christmas, and then get Christmas presents for everyone else. It was chaotic to say the least! But, we were able to get it all done, and see Nanni, and do it all with a newborn—PHEW! So, after Nanni left it was up to the Suttners, Collings family, and us to party it up! It was so fun to have the whole family together! We must have played 30 games of “Ticket to Ride” and I must have attempted 30 times to get Lia and Justin to play “Munchkin” but every attempt was a brutal failure. I have faith that in time they will see the error of their ways!
The Sommervilles (our neighbors) were out of town and lent their big house to the Collings family and us so we were more than comfortable! However, once they got back, things got CRAMMED! We had Dad, Mom, Jini, Kinsi, Davy, Chari, Gabe, Boe, Justin, Lia, Julia, Eli, Caci, Trevor, and Jace—15 people—staying in a 3 bedroom house. People were draped on every couch, laying in front of every door, packed 2 deep on every bed—the things a family will do to stay in touch!
Christmas was so much fun and everyone got a lot of really neat things—Trevor got a trip to Europe! On December 28th my dad and I dropped Trevor off at the Las Vegas airport. It was super super sad, but he was super excited to make a film series all over Europe called “Forgotten Planet” which he will air on PBS stations. Our sadness was intermingled with excitement, but after 5 days being apart, there was not an ounce of excitement mingling with that sadness—the sadness had eaten it all up! So Trevor tried to but on a happy face for the camera as he toured Rome, Venice, Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam, and a plethora of other places. It got so bad, in fact, that his film crew told him they would not film another shot unless he put on a convincing smile. We were able to Skype (video chat) almost every day, so that was good. But, the woe is over because HE COMES HOME TODAY!!! HOORAY!!! Jace and I leave for the airport in 2 hours!
It was been really sad having him gone, but it has been a lot of fun playing with my family! All the kids love Jace to death and no one seems to be able to get enough holding time. I especially have to battle Davy over him, because he always wants to snuggle and kiss him; it’s really cute. It was super fun to see Beth and Laura last night! Laura with her 8 month old, and Beth with her tiny 18 week tummy—it is amazing to see how things change!
Jace and I will be heading out to get Trevor, like I said, in 2 hours, and then we will be in Provo tomorrow! And I promise I will quit being so negligent in our Blog keeping—I was doing so well before Fall semester started, you have to give me credit for that! I am now just a stay at home mom—how wonderful!