One Christmas Neil tore his Achilles tendon.  He couldn't take the outdoor lights down and I wouldn't.  So they hung on the house all year long.  The following Christmas season we turned on those lights for the first time.  Neil stayed up until about 3:00 a.m. that night and they were there when he turned them off.  When we awoke the next morning, someone had stolen them.  The children were so funny but we tried to not laugh or make a big deal of it.  They kept running all over the back yard looking for other things that they might have taken.  They were all crying, "They did this and this thing is missing!"  It strikes us a comical that those lights had been up all year long and nobody had touched them.

    One year Chani brought home this Christmas Riddle and we played a family game where we called out the correct answer.  The titles below are the opposite in meaning as the real title.

    One year while preparing for a small gathering at Christmas time, I asked Ben to but some cinnamon sticks in a pot of water to boil and make the air smell wonderful.  It was smelling really wonderful!  A few people who entered the house had to step back a moment to get used to it.
    I looked into the pot and instead of the 3-5 sticks I was mentally thinking of there were about five handfuls of sticks boiling away.  My whole year's supply of cinnamon sticks!  Some of my guests had seen the pot before me and wondered why there had been so many.
    I laughed and moaned at Ben until the poor boy just said, "I didn't know, maybe you should have done it yourself." He said it very sheepishly and was quite polite.
    I left those sticks on the stove for a week as I couldn't bring myself to toss them out.  I am always learning that if I don't give clear and precise directions to the men in my life I should expect something different then what I expect.

    We have a special Christmas breakfast instead of a Christmas dinner.  That way we can relax the day away.  We serve a couple of different exotic juices, waffles with different flavors of syrup, bacon, fruit and anything else somebody wants to make.  We have deli sandwiches for dinner and call it a great day.

    Whenever Christmas falls on a Sunday, we celebrate the secular traditions such as the presents, Santa and our Special Breakfast on the Saturday before.  Then Christmas Sunday we focus on the Savior and His birth.  My children love that because they get presents a whole day early.  I like it because we don't feel the importance of our Savior's birth is overshadowed.  Also, the children aren't climbing the walls from Christmas junk-food at church.  On the years that Christmas isn't Sunday, we do the same thing except in Reverse focusing on the Birth either the Sunday before or after the real celebration day.

    There is a series of Family Home Evening activities that prepare us for Christmas.  Some are for the secular celebrations and some are for the Lord's day.  We spend one evening driving around to the special places that have elaborate Christmas lights.  We eat our family treat in the car and the younger children are all dressed for bed.
    Another week we act out the Nativity Story.  One week we plan, prepare and then take treats to people.  We either pixie them by leaving the treat tray, ringing the bell and running, or we sing carols for the family.  One year we dropped cookies off at the home of a family we had just gotten to know.  They were not used to such attention and the mother, in her creative manner, thought somebody had put a bomb on her doorstep!
    Another thing we do is read the story of The Other Wiseman or watch the movie version.  One year we read The Christmas Box instead but The Other Wiseman remains my favorite.

    When we only had small children, we didn't put the tree up until Christmas Eve after they were asleep.  When the children came out in the morning the tree was up and lit and the change in the living room was wondrous.

    Each child receives a certain amount of money so that they can purchase gifts for each of their siblings.  We talk about gifts and that it represents the gift of eternal life that Jesus Christ has given us.  They all enjoy the shopping and wrapping of the gifts to each other.  Their gifts to each other consist almost the total gifts given.  As the number of children grew they decided that they wanted to draw two names instead of giving to each one.  This allowed more thought to be put into the gifts as well as an increase in the allotted dollars per recipient.
    We sometimes get gifts from Santa.  We teach the Santa story in this way.  Somebody loves you and has given you a gift.  They didn't want you to know who it was because it is fun and good to give without being seen.  So they ask Santa to deliver it.  The children know that Santa is a game the parents play.  Children understand very well the concept of 'being' somebody different in play as they do it all of the time.  None of my children have ever felt threatened, betrayed or lied to because of our playing any of the fantasy roles of tradition.

    The number one toy that gets played with year after year is My Little Pony. 
(The Bestest, Mostest Perfectest Commercial Toy in My Home ) The ponies get used by all the children and almost at all ages.  A family can't have just one pony though.  I think we have over twenty by now because we add to them each year.  The thing about that soft plastic is that it doesn't die or break easily.
    Dress-up items are always a great gift.  That is something else that the children will play with for years to come.
    We try to keep away from any thing with lots of pieces.  For instance with the Ponies I would take them out of the package and wrap them separately, leaving only the pieces I was willing to pick up or supervise picking up.  I would throw away the little stuff before the children even saw them.
    We had a friend who would get a box of their children's favorite cereal.  Some brand that a mother would never, ever admit to actually buying and then wrap it for Christmas.

    One year we were taking our children and a friend's three girls around to see Christmas lights when we were returning to Utah from San Diego.  We were singing Christmas songs when Neil started in with these lines from an old rock song, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog.  He was a good friend of mine.  I never understood a single thing he said but I helped him drink the wine.  He always had some mighty fine wine."  I was singing right along with him.
    Then Neil said, "This is the Christmas part: Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me."
    He and I then started in on the second verse.  We got to a line and suddenly remembered that it was not appropriate for little children to be singing.  Just before the first word of that line came out, we both sputtered, stammered, looked at each other.  We then hummed a few bars and started singing the Joy to the world part again.
    The children all were quite confused.  I said, "I forgot that part," and Chamrie wanted to know what it said. Neil and I almost in unison said, "You'll never know it from us."  Then we started singing other songs unrelated to Christmas.

    We celebrate the secular traditions of Easter on the Saturday before Easter.  This way we can again enjoy the fun without it detracting from the sacredness of Easter.
    Once Neil's mother boiled the eggs for the children's egg hunt.  What a surprise to find she had not boiled them long enough and they ran a messy gold when cracked!
    Years ago just before Easter, my sister asked my children if they had their egg rocks.  She told them that every year some eggs were dropped by the bunny outside as he was hopping around.  They were never found so they turned into rocks.
    The children were to gather only one rock each.  It should be as smooth and round as possible, clean it up and put it under their pillow so that it would get warm.  Then on bunny morning, the rock opens up and disappears leaving behind bunny candy.
    I learned from sad experience that bunny candy absolutely must not be chocolate.  Chocolate has this habit of melting!
    Every year the children run around finding just the right rock.  When we moved to Utah, I had to call Ryan's friends' mothers to tell them why their children were bringing rocks into their home and trying to wash them for Bunny Day.
    We once had a family stay the night before Bunny Day and they helped us hide all the candy.  We turned off the ceiling fan at the wall switch and put candy on the blades.  When the children came down and turned on the fan it rained jelly beans and other candy.  The children from both families were delighted.  We have had the same candy rain every year since.
    Unlike Christmas the children do not have to wait for sleeping parents to begin their egg search.  They know the only rule is that all candy needs to be evenly divided so they work together really well.

    When Chani was little, her friend, an only child, lost her tooth and was given a dollar.  Chani was so thrilled when she lost her tooth knowing what the neighborhood rate was and I couldn't resist the Keeping Up With the Neighbors game.  So she got one whole dollar.  Of course, this set the amount for every tooth and every child to follow.  Now, being reasonable and rational it is easier to tithe on one dollar than on a quarter.
    Once Chani misplaced her tooth before the fairy arrived and she was so upset.  I told her that if she wrote a letter to the tooth fairy and I witnessed it then the fairy would probably leave her the money.  She did and got richer.
    The next time she lost her tooth I found folded up with the tooth a letter explaining how hard it was to loose that tooth and could she please have $2.  The fairy wrote a nice letter back but no extra money. In the letter the fairy said she loved Chani and was always nearby but lived in a room Chani didn't use much.  This kept her entranced for a while.  She wrote a few letters asking when the fairy lived and couldn't she please show herself. Each time the fairy answered her with love.  The mystery didn't last too long, though, as my children are like their dad and not very gullible.  My children love that Neil and I play these make-believe games at times.
    Sometimes the fairy forgets for a few days and the children always remind us.  We sometimes ask if they just want to get the money out of my purse or do they want to play the game.  Usually, unless there is an immediate trip planned to the store, they want us to play.

    Grossmont Ward had a yearly Fourth of July breakfast that my children loved to attend.  Some say it was their favorite celebration besides Christmas.  As is normal for this Logan clan, we would always arrive late but there was always plenty of food to eat.  Ham, pancakes, fruit, eggs, milk and juice in enough quantities to satisfy everybody.  There were games and relays and lots of companionable conversation.  Later that night we would watch fireworks which made for a delightful albeit long day.

    After moving to Utah, we had our first experience with fireworks.  Utah has a long July celebration because of Pioneer day at the end of the month.  Fireworks can be sold and used durring this time.  We went to friends' home and lived on the edge of danger by setting off the safest possible fireworks.  I would sit, holding the baby and yelling an occasional, "Don't!"

    Neil and I really dislike Halloween so we don't do anything to prepare for it.  This makes my children come up with and help each other with their own costumes.   The rule is strict.  It is that they may not portray anything wicked or gruesome.  It has been a great for learning experience for the children and it takes about two weeks of school time for them to plan and create the costumes.
    One year Cheyanne (18 months) was a tiger.  Ryan (3 1/2) was a cowboy.  Nathan (6 1/2) was a friendly ghost.  Chiya (8 1/2) was a Queen of the Ocean.  Chamrie (10 1/2) was Queen of something in Nature.  Ben (12) was a detective and Chani (14) was a fair maiden.
    Chani, Chamrie and Chiya made everyone's costumes.  This included three wreaths for the girls' heads.  One was made from shells and the other two from dried flowers.  Ben used a magnifying glass made from paper, and a dead sheet was used for Nathan.  Ryan and Cheyanne borrowed things from next door and they were the ones to do the polite asking.  The only thing I ever do is the make-up.
    They get candy but they also are expected to be sure that all get an even amount.  The gum collected is put up and chewed only when they are off playing someplace else.  Neil and I go through the younger children's candy and take anything that might choke them.  For young children I much prefer candy that is eaten quickly rather then something chewy. They are able to eat all of the candy they want that night and the next morning.  After that, I put all leftover candy in one bowl and I have control of it.  Sometimes I just keep possession of their sacks and allow it to be eaten at appropriate times.  It is strict but it works well with many children.
    When Cheyanne was 18 months old, she could say Momma, Daddy, Up, Doggy, Go and Tickle Tickle.  Following Halloween she could also say with great emotion Candy!
    When we moved to Utah, we found that Halloween was a big deal there.  People went to great lengths to decorate their homes and yards.  In San Diego Neil had one patient who did extravagant decorating at both Halloween and Christmas.  We loved to visit her and attend her parties.  It was a highlight of both seasons for our children.
    One year Ben had been sick which resulted in an abscess on his neck so his throat was bandaged right at Halloween time.  It was the only time we allowed a gruesome figure to be part of our children's Halloween as we wrapped him in additional bandages so he felt comfortable out in public.
    One Halloween we found ourselves in Mexico and rather than celebrate the traditional way we dressed our children in pretty costumes.  We had bought several giant Mexican paper flowers and surprised people at a hospital by visiting them and giving them a flower each to brighten their room.  Now, that was my most memorable Halloween.

    We can only describe birthdays at our home as easy craziness.  I have never felt right about inviting one child in a family where all of the children associate with my various aged children and so we invite all of them.  As a result each birthday party has about thirty children showing up.
    They arrive and play.  The play time is about an hour and other then normal supervision I do not participate in that activity.  They I serve cake, ice cream and water.  Gifts are opened after the song is sung and while I am cutting the cake and dishing the ice cream.  The rest of the time is spent in play.
    I have never stressed over party games.  I simply don't do it.  I find the children just want to play with each other and are very creative in so doing.
    I have the party child hand out candy as their guests are walking out the door as a nice way of saying farewell and thank you for coming.  We invite them over for a two-hour party but really don't expect to have all the children gone till about three hours has passed.  I am very comfortable with children coming early and staying late when the parents need the break.  When they need discipline, and they have needed it a few times, we just do brief time out.
    Plan on wanting to go out to dinner with as a couple that night.  These parties are good for a day and a morning of cleaning from your children to be redeemed before the party starts.
    One year between Christmas and New Year's Eve I decided to give the parents a break and have a Children's Day Party at our home.  There were close to sixty children here for four hours of play. We only had one broken window as a result.  When Neil walked in the door after work, I grabbed his arm and my purse and told my children to have scripture study before bed and we fled for an evening out.  However, my children remember it with delight and it was not as much a headache as I tease it to be.
    When my children reach eight years old, I let them choose between a normal birthday party or a slumber party.  At the slumber party we have between 15-20 children over.  Mostly the girls opt for slumber parties.  Ben had one once and I decided that if he ever did again it would be a tent party!
    With slumber parties we plan a video that either has a G rating or has been pre approved by all parents.  After that, we send the girls to the room in which they will be sleeping.  There they play and are expected to keep gospel standards in stories and activities.  They wander up once in a while to snack on food.  Eventually, Neil goes to bed.  I go in and tell them it is time to get into their bags and quietly talk.  The room light goes off and the bathroom light goes on.  In that quiet light they soon fall asleep.
    I have learned that I must stay awake till they are all asleep to avoid prank-playing.  Once I gave up and went to bed while some girls were still awake.  As a result many guests awoke with permanent marker drawings all over their face, arms and legs.  I was furious.  I called all the girls into the livingroom and lectured about never doing anything to somebody's body without their permission and that what happened was invasive and abusive.  Then I told them all to sit there and work it out.
    I left the room and listened as slowly the girls began to talk about how they felt.  The apologies and forgiveness that flowed calmed a tense morning.

    Since we home school, and because Neil's work schedule allowed us family days in the middle of the week, we have had several family outings.  I do not like crowds so I really enjoy being with my husband and children at the various public places on the less busy days of the week.
    We try to get year passes for the places we most prefer.  That way we can feel relaxed about leaving when the children start acting tired or stop obeying safety rules.   We never have to get angry because of the cost of a single visit and the feeling that we need to get our money's worth.
    When we lived in San Diego, we had zoo passes.  That place is incredible and my favorite place to slowly wander around.  We also had passes to Sea World which my children absolutely loved.  It was cooler and some shows were fascinating.
    Once while at Sea World I was nine months pregnant with Cheyanne.  I was walking very slowly and had fallen a bit behind Neil and the six children.  We were entering the Sea Lion show and it was nearly full of guests and ready to start.
    A mime was down in front entertaining the crowd.  He sneaked up behind Neil and the six stair-stepped children and made comic faces at the crowd expressing amazement at the number of children following this man.  He did not see me come right up behind him.  I was following his antics with my finger meaningly pointing at my swollen belly.  The crowd roared so loud he knew something was up and turned around in shock at my presence.
    When we were prepared to move from San Diego to Utah, I wanted to spend a day at the fair before taking off.  We got two hotel rooms at the Double Tree Hotel and then left for the fairgrounds.
    By the time we had returned to the hotel it was only minutes before nine and the restaurant closed right at nine.  I was not comfortable bringing the entire crew in almost at the closing hour so Neil went in to check with the staff.  He asked if they were still open for dinner.  He was assured that they still were.  Neil then said that there were ten of us.  The poor gentleman swallowed and smiled and said, "Certainly, Sir." That hotel was a wonderful experience as we were leaving our familiar town for a new adventure.

 From my 1995 Journal:

    We just returned from San Diego last night.  It was a great vacation.  Originally, we planned on being gone for three weeks.  Then when the ten of us arrived at the Coleman's home, we realized over the next two days how difficult it was to their routine.  There were seven of them.  We more than doubled what their household was used to.  The most obvious stress we gave them as guests concerned bedtime.  They went to bed by eight and nine o'clock each night!
    I pulled Ruth aside and told her that I had made an error in my planning, somehow skipping a week while looking at the calendar and that we could only stay two weeks.  We would only stay the week of our Thanksgiving party and the week following.  I suspect she was greatly relieved.  I also handed her $200 for food.  Surprise!  It turned out she had less than a dollar left for food.  Her husband works for the government and that week the government had financially shut down and they didn't know when we would get paid.  She was shocked and felt it was an answer to prayer.  I thought it was a normal thing to help with the food that ten people might eat.
    Then we divided up who was going to cook which meal.  She likes to cook about as much as I do but she does it every day.  I again found the great benefit of having a giant freezer or two and wished I was a millionaire so I could surprise her with one.  However, this lady was an expert at squeezing things into her little freezer.  I was in awe.
    Then of course our children helped with all of the housework and to their credit they did it happily.
    We had so much fun.  It was a wonderful time.  About a week after we arrived, Ruth came and told me she had been dreaming of us, been having a wonderful time and could we please stay longer?  Maybe we could even stay till Christmas?  Perhaps we might consider moving in with them?
    I was very surprised, deeply touched and a great deal relieved.  We had begun to realize that we could never get done all we needed to do in the remaining week.  Neil was seeing some patients, and had brought in just enough money to pay for the entire vacation and all of the extras that we ended up doing.
    By the time we left their home Ruth and Jeff were staying up till midnight or later each night and still seeming to have energy the next day.  I suspect though, that after we left, they just went to bed and slept for a straight thirty hours just to recover.
    What a wonderful gift to us when on the last day of our visit I overheard Jeff whispering, "Did you ask them to stay longer? Go ask them..."  Perhaps he was holding his breath in fearful anticipation?  Seriously though, I believe they enjoyed the experience as much as we did.
    We all went to go see Christmas Lights together for Family Home Evening.  We had decided to buy donuts before the outing.  So the four adults and thirteen children piled into the bakery.  I had each child choose two donuts and after choosing they then went to sit in a chair.
    By the time we were finished we rounded it off the purchase to three dozen donuts.  The lady who owned the bakery then started adding in lots and lots of extras.
    Chamrie had been sitting with the children and saying, "Shh....if you are quiet you will win!"  She didn't say what they would win but it sure did motivate them to keep quiet.
    One day I was just a touch bored.  We had nothing planned.  So I decided to make dinner.  It was Ruth's day but I was sure she wouldn't mind.  I pulled out the ground meat and looked at it and this very natural thought came to my mind: why waste my time with only two pounds of meat?  So I pulled out four pounds.  Now, that is not much in the way of meat.
    I started by making only one dish.  I learned an important lesson.  Never go stay at somebody's house without written recipes.  I had to recall how to make the planned meals!
    This one dish used two pounds of cooked ground meat.  Then I added all the extra tomato sauce from the #10 can I had used for spaghetti a few days earlier.  After adding all the sauce, I remembered that it didn't call for tomato sauce but for chopped canned tomatoes, undrained.  So I got out two large cans of that and added it as well.
    By then I had to divide it into two large pans.  When it came time to add the macaroni, I kept adding, and adding, and adding.  Suddenly I had two complete meals.  Ruth started to laugh.  She was watching this process in amazement.
    That finished, I still had two more pounds of cooked meat.  I started to make another dish.  I made enough for two there as well.
    This second dish called for rice.  Now, all of the pots and pans that I have are giant in size while Ruth's were all normal.  When it came time to cook the rice I thought, "Twelve cups water and six cups of rice is not so very much."  After I got the rice mixed into the water I thought, "Why did I do that?"  I went out laughing again.  "Ruth, I did it again, I made lots!"
    About then another family of seven, mutual friends, stopped by to visit us.  Ruth in surprise said, "That must be why you made so much rice."  Still...she had no true idea exactly how much rice I had made.  When it was finished, I was nursing the baby and so she went in to check the finished pot.  When she took off the lid, she started in with near hysterical laughter.
 I looked into the kitchen.  It appeared that when she took off the lid the rice inside instantly poofed and almost begun to overspill.  I guess that poor pot was ready to burst before she got there.  I kept apologizing for making so much.  However, she was totally enjoying it, no cooking for her for four days!
    The whole reason we were there was Thanksgiving.  It is my favorite holiday.  Each year for the past several we had everybody over to our home.  Ruth and her family were a part of our Thanksgiving family.  She knew we were going to miss that holiday when we moved away.  So she had made us promise to come and stay with them and she would have it at her home.  What a shock when she realized that it meant 48 people with four more arriving later!  Everything went great.  It turned out much easier then she suspected.  I suspect that after having 48 people over for a meal my little addition of 10 people seemed like child's play.
    We are already hoping to be able to take them up on their offer of repeating the Thanksgiving experience again in 1996.

    We have enjoyed some vacations camping in the mountains.  I love being among the beautiful trees.  When we have camped, we have had sacrament service with our small group.  There has been a dozen adults and nearly thirty children at this special service.  It is a beautiful and uplifting experience.  Once it rained and we all squeezed into a tent for the service.
    Neil took the children hiking on one camping trip.  They were on a wide trail when he realized that he was out of film for the camera.  It was so beautiful and I was missing it because of staying back with a new baby.  He wanted the pictures so he had Chani continue leading the younger children while he returned to the van for the film.
    By the time he had caught up with our children, they were walking along this very narrow trail whose edge fell sharply down the mountain crevice.  He broke out in a sweat in fear of a young child slipping over the edge.
    When they returned from the hike the first thing the children said was that I wouldn't want to know where they had been!

    We spend time each day enjoying some sort of activity together.  It may be active such as playing ball, wrestling or working.  It may be passive such as listening while I read a book, sharing an article from a magazine, watching videos or listening to a story or music tape.  These things build our family character and create memories that all of us will carry throughout eternity.
    We enjoy our friends tremendously.  Doing things with our children consistently,  creates that sense of friendship that is familiar and joyful.  We hope these ties last beyond their years in our home.  We especially hope this prepares them for finding joy in the families they will someday create with Christ.

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