Happy New Year!

May 2009 meet all of your expectations and may you find joy and happiness in the new year!

Happy Day!

Today was a great day. Yesterday we took down Christmas and packed it away until next year, so when we got up today, it was done! That's a great feeling. I love Christmas and the decorations, etc., but after Christmas is over, I'm ready for it all to be down and the house clean and tidy again. It always seems like a monstrous job, and this year was no different. Even though we used far fewer decorations than in years' past, it still took several hours to get it all packed away. It feels good. Our first task today was to take some things to Erin's. Nothing major, but things that have been hanging out on our table waiting to go "home". Then we met Brian as he was taking Luke for his scheduled immunizations. He got two shots, one in each arm. Poor Lukie!! He's a trooper, but by this evening he wasn't feeling well. He spent a while throwing up, but after he'd done that, he was feeling a bit better. Abigail lost TWO teeth yesterday, thanks to Dallin. They both were very loose, but she's not wanting anyone touching them or wiggling them for fear it might hurt when they came out. But she and Dallin were playing and he accidently knocked out the first one and later, in the car, he popped out the second one, which is lost somewhere in the car. Luckily they wrote a note for the tooth fairy, and she was rewarded for both teeth! After I get the picture downloaded, I'll post it here.
Later today Mark and I spent one of our Christmas gift cards. We went to the movies and saw Valkyrie. It was a great movie. It's based on a true story about the efforts of some members of the German Resistance Army to assassinate Hitler. It's too bad it didn't work out! Bad me, I know, but he was such an evil man. It was a story that provoked much discussion and makes me want to learn more.
We got a new puzzle for tomorrow....our New Year's Eve activity!! And we're going to use another gift card....the one for Cheesecake Factory! Should be a fun day.

Christmas Day events

I'm a day late posting about Christmas day, but I have good reasons. Yesterday was a fun, fun day, but it was LONG! And I was tired. And today I forced myself to pull together my Relief Society lesson for Sunday before I "allowed" myself to blog! I'm teaching the TFOT lesson and using President Eyring's talk "Our Hearts Knit as One" from October's general conference. It's a great talk!!
Our Christmas day didn't start real early since we don't have little ones eager to see what Santa left. We were a little lazy in the morning. After we got up and going, Mark and I exchanged gifts. We both were ver practical this year (as always!). He got socks, ties, razors, new dress pants and a new white shirt. I got new tennis shoes, socks, UV lens covers, a circular polarizing lens and a new purse from Mark and Erin. The kids gave us movie passes, a Cheesecake Factory gift card, a book, some serving dishes, Mark a new jacket and after shave and me some Scentsy bars. It was a wonderful Christmas.
Our first stop was Dad's and Aunt Dovetta's. I know that probably sounds funny, but a while after Mom died, Dad married our Aunt Dovetta. She's Mom's brother's wife. Uncle Mancel (Aunt Dovetta's first husband and Mom's brother) passed away about a year before Mom. Aunt Dovetta and Dad married about three years ago. And it's been wonderful blessing for all of us. But I know it sounds funny since she's my Aunt and my step-mom. But that's how our family is!! Anyway, we (along with Erin, Brian and their girls) went there for lunch.






We visited for a while and then the Trimbles came to our house to celebrate Christmas with us. The girls had a great time opening their gifts. BT got a Nike gift card, Erin got new clothes, Eliza got new clothes, Libby got games, Ellie got a new bedspread and a sweat suit and Hattie got a church bag and a quiet book. It was so funny....the older girls had opened various clothing items and they immediately wanted to put them on. Well, when Hattie opened her quiet book, since it was made of fabric, she immediately thought it was clothes. So she quickly took off her pants and wanted to try it on!!! Funny girl. They stayed around for the afternoon and we played games (Libby's), Eliza wrote a story about going to the snow and everyone nibbled on various cheeses, dips, crackers, beef sticks and chocolates. We had a great day.
We had celebrated with Dan and his family on Monday. I'd post pictures of that celebration, but I didn't take any. I'm waiting for Dan and/or Chris to send me some of theirs. Bad mom, I am!





We celebrated with Brian, Kamille and their family on Christmas Eve. That was fun, too. Kamille worked that day, we so we started with a pizza dinner. Then we opened gifts. Abby got some Barbie items she wants, Dallin got a Hot Wheel track and cars and a transformer, Luke got an Elmo garage, cars and a little stuffed Elmo. We gave Brian and Kamille a Home Depot gift card. It was what they wanted, but I almost felt guilty giving them something that meant they had to work!!
Today Mark and I made one return (my socks) and we had Dallin's RideMakerZ car repaired. We made a stop at Seagull Book, Mystic Paper (one of my favorite places!) and DI...another great place to go junkin'!!
Mark's at Great Skate working. And I've spent this evening working on my lesson. It's done! Yea! Now we can have a fun, relaxing day tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

My Dream

Warning....this is a long post!

Last night I had a dream. Here's what I dreamed...
I dreamed that we had our annual Christmas candlelight dinner. I dreamed that all of our kids and grandkids came, along with Dad and Aunt Dovetta. I dreamed that everyone brought the YUMMIEST foods to share. Also in my dream, everyone was happy, glad to see each other, cooperative and loving. As we prepared dinner, everything went smoothly and there were no major glitches. Everyone arrived safely and in due time. All of the candles (battery-type) worked and they all stayed on during the entire dinner. The grandkids got along nicely and didn't argue about who was sitting where. Nobody spilled anything. Everyone LOVED the meal. After the meal, Mark and the boys tidied up the kitchen while the grandkids, their moms and I got them prepared for our Nativity play. I also dreamed that they would all WANT to be different characters and that nobody would get their feelings hurt if they didn't get the part they wanted. In my dream, the costumes all worked and they each played their assigned part well and to their best ability. I dreamed that they wouldn't get silly with it and that they would show appropriate reverence for the Christmas story. After the play, I dreamed that the grandkids would sit patiently and wait until everyone had their early Christmas gift (PJ pants and corn bags) before tearing into them. After that, I dreamed that the ornament exchange would go off without a hitch and that everyone would be pleased with their gift. Then we would sing Christmas carols together and everyone would participate and do it with a smile! In my dream, the grandkids would want to go caroling again this year to Sister Clem's house because they had so much fun going there last year. But this year they were in such a hurry that the parents were still trying to get across the street before they started in their singing! And finally, I dreamed that everyone would have a wonderful time and be sad to say goodbye to each other. That truly was my dream as I tried to sleep last night, and I have to say that all but one thing in my dream was real and true and was my dream come true. Here's what didn't happen....all of the candles stayed lit during the entire dinner. Sorry to say, one of them pooped out and was a dud! Other than that, my 2008 Christmas dream has already come true. Life can go on and I'll be happy. It was a wonderful evening and one I know that I'll never forget. I am so very grateful for my children and grandchildren and their love for one another. I'm also grateful that their love is genuine and that they make my life so happy every day. They are my greatest joy. Thank you, family.

And now to pictures of the evening....

Sorry, but I didn't get a shot of the table when nobody was eating something. But this was our LONG table set for 12.

Six of the grandkids at their special table....Matthew has "graduated" to the adult table...he's getting too tall for the short table! Welcome, Matthew!

Emma and Abby were our angels.

Luke was one of our shepherds. He made a cute shepherd, but the shepherd's crook was deadly in his hands!!

Libby was also a shepherd. She especially loved holding the baby lamb.

Eliza was our shepherd/narrator.

Dallin and Matthew were our wise men following the star. I wish I had a better picture of them together, but it didn't happen.

Ellie and her daddy, Brian, were our Mary and Joseph. I guess we don't have enough "little" boys to cover all of the parts! Thanks for being a good sport, Brian. Dan played the innkeeper, but he managed to avoid the camera!

And Ellie made a sweet little Mary.

This is the best we got for a group photo!

Dallin, Eliza and Abigail were the brave ones who performed for us, "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". They did a great job!!

Patient kids waiting until just the right time to start opening their gifts! They all seemed pleased with two new pairs of PJ pants and a corn bag all their own!









Some happy expressions during the ornament exchange.

Hattie enjoying some of Emma's birthday cake.

Dallin being....well, Dallin!

Yesterday was Emma's sixth birthday and she's blowing out her birthday candles.

Libby lost two teeth over the weekend and managed to keep them both a secret until her mom noticed them missing! Luckily, the tooth fairy came for a visit for both missing teeth!

Caroling at Sister Clem's house....luckily, I managed to get a quick photo before they finished! They were so excited to go, they forgot to wait for the adult slowpokes!!
It was one of my best days so far. Thanks again, family, for making my Christmas dream come true!!

'Twas the Week Before Christmas...

A week from tonight Santa comes! How exciting!!! I love Christmas, what it means, the anticipation, family gatherings, decorations and all the good stuff. But I have to get through the not so good stuff in the next few days....wrapping gifts! The first few are fun to wrap and decorate, but after a while, it gets....well, tiring. But that's on my agenda tomorrow and Friday (if I don't finish tomorrow). On Sunday we're having our family Christmas dinner. It's something we've done for as long as I can remember. It's always been a candlelight dinner, and in years past, we used real candles clipped to each person's dinner plate. Fun, but tricky to not catch your sleeve on fire as you reach for something across the table. Since we've had grandkids, we've gone to battery candles. It's much safer. The grandkids totally look forward to the candlelight part of the dinner. Every year they ask if it's time for the candles. We use real dishes (no paper for this meal!), cloth napkins and stemware. Of course, the grandkids have their own special dinnerware. I even have Christmas silverware. Many years ago I found some made by Debbie Mumm with Santas and snowmen on the handles. We always have ham and various side dishes. This year is no different. The best part now that the kids are all grown is that they contribute by bringing the side dishes. Everyone chooses something they're really good at, so we get the best of each family. This year there will be 19 of us. Dad and Aunt Dovetta will join us again this year. The kids always request that Aunt Dovetta bring her yummy broccoli salad and spiced nuts. Dan usually makes the traditional green jello salad. Brian and Kamille are bringing potatoes....my guess is that it will be funeral potatoes...Brian's favorite. Erin's making dilled carrots. Yum! And for "dessert" we're having our favorite Christmas candies...peanut butter balls and 7-layer bars. Christmas dinner is always a big deal, even if it's not always on Christmas day. This year we're trying something new. We're going to have a Nativity play. We have the costumes and props ready and the grandkids will play the parts. We decided (so there aren't any hard feelings) that we'd let the kids pick their part "from a hat" and we'd do the play as many times as we need to so that everyone gets to play their "favorite" part. I hope it works out well.
Sunday is Emma's 6th birthday. It's hard to believe she's six already.
Since it's her birthday and they'll be here already for dinner, she'll be having her sleepover that night. We're excited! I don't know yet what she'll choose to do or what she'll choose for her gift, but I know it will be a lot of FUN!! Happy birthday, Emma!
Mark had a fun day today with Eliza. Her class at school was making gingerbread houses from graham crackers. Each child could choose one family member to invite to school to help build and decorate their house. She chose her grandpa! They even made special invitations for their honored guests. Mark couldn't turn down that kind of offer, so he arranged his schedule and went to Eliza's school this afternoon. Their house turned out cute and it held together well. I think her favorite part was that she got to ride home in his DARE truck! What a fun treat!
My excitement today was a change of hair color. I used to color my hair all the time, but for the past several months I've tried the au naturalle look. It's been okay, but I don't like the texture of my gray hair....it's too wirey, if that makes any sense. So today, Amber colored my hair again. It's more on the red side than before, but it still has the blonde highlights. She said the color value is the same as before, but the tone is different. It seems much darker to me, but that could be because I've been used to boring, dull gray. I'll get used to it...and I hope everyone else does, too. The texture is WAY better now. And if my hair is happy, so am I!
Finally, Mark and I have been listening to another book on CD. It's called Mary and Joseph by Robert Marcum. We tried listening to it this past summer, but for some reason neither of us could connect with the book. So we set it aside and tried again this month. I'm so glad we waited. It was a wonderful fictional version of the story of Mary and Joseph (and of Christ as a child). I would definitely recommend it. We finished it tonight and we were both sorry to have it end.

Christmas Decorations Day 7

Today is Saturday. We made a trip to Deb's this morning to pick up the embroidery machine. I/we only use it once in a blue moon, and today was that day. And if I never see that machine again, I could be very happy! It's so darned frustrating to use for being such an expensive machine. Anyway, I got done what I needed to and it's soon to return to Deb's for continued storage. Out of sight, out of mind!

Here's my last session of Christmas decorations for this year....

This is a cute wooden nativity. The artwork is done by Julie F. Young, an artist frequently seen in The Friend magazine. I love her simple, clean lines and happy people.


The porcelain and gold nativity was one we got the day Emma was born. We had Matthew with us and we saw it and decided it needed to come home with us. The colorful one was one we got at the Kierland Home store many years ago. I just liked the colors on this one.

Two years ago, Skyler had my name for the ornament exchange. Deb helped him and made this adorable decoration. It’s so “Deb”! I love it a lot! Thanks, Sky. There was supposed to be a small, vintage glass bulb sitting on the white button, but I dropped it and it broke. I have since replaced it and it looks beautiful.







These are photos of various decorations that we've acquired over the years. The porcelain one-piece nativity was a gift from Dan and Chris to us the first year they were married. As you can see, we like a variety of styles in our Christmas decor. Each year I enjoy getting out our decorations and reminiscing about when we got them, who made them or gave them to us and things that we associate with those people and Christmas. It's a ritual I don't ever want to give up.

Tonight we're doing our final gingerbread house for 2008 with Abby, Dallin and Luke. It will be Luke's first time, so we'll see what happens! We're going to look at a few Christmas lights in the neighborhood with them, too. It should be fun.

Later...