Just Call Him "Master"!!

In December Brian received his Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Northern AZ University. Mark and I joined Brian and his family and attended graduation. We couldn't have been more proud of Brian and his accomplishment. Some of the pictures are a bit dark....the lighting in the walk-up skydome isn't good....but I think you can pick Brian out of the crowd. There were several of his cohorts who also graduated, so there are also some photos of them.
It had showed a bit the week before we left, so there was still some snow on the ground. And then it snowed more while we were in the graduation ceremony. We had some fun the next morning throwing some snowballs in the hotel parking lot.

Peanut Butter Balls

Every year, as per tradition, we make peanut butter balls as one of our family's favorite Christmas goody. I started making them probably 30 years ago and we've had them every Christmas (and a few other times) since then. They were especially good to send to the boys when they were on their missions, as they packed and shipped well. In the past few years, Erin's girls have assumed the role of my helper whenever I make them. So Ellie and Hattie (along with Erin and Ruby) came by on 'the day' and helped me. They're a great help and they really do know what do to!!

Gingerbread Houses

It's an annual tradition in our family to make gingerbread houses. In years past, I've bought a kit and assembled the houses and the grandkids decorated them. This year I was lucky enough to find (at Costco) pre-assembled houses. So the only thing left to do was to let the grandkids decorate them. And decorate they did!!! They all had a ball. I was surprised at how intense some of them got as to their attention to every small detail. And it wasn't the older kids who did that. It was the younger ones. Funny. Anyway, here are their end results (and some shots of them in the process).

7gypsies Christmas projects

The 7gypsies artists were given an assignment the end of November to do two Christmas projects using 7gypsies products. Here are my two results. The first is a banner of sorts. I used a variety of 7gypsies tags, chipboard letters, a couple of rubbings, some crystal dangles and some chips to attach it all to a length of tinsel garland. To display it in my home, I tied the two ends to the ends of my curtain rods over the valance. It looked great!
The second project was a pile of tags. For the base, I used an old cardboard box. The more messy/distressed the better! I then used some of the Savannah flocked papers, the Christmas stamp set, ribbons, a glass vial and other odd ephemera. They were so fun to do. I especially like the one/s that look like they're an envelope with a flap. That was part of the inside of the box....where the two ends were glued together.
And as it turned out, they never got used/posted on the 7g blog. Everyone was too busy to create a post. I would have loved to see what everyone else on the team did. Oh, well. Maybe next time.

New Post

Tomorrow is the day (I hope!). I will be updating this blog....finally! I got pictures downloaded, so I should be ready.
Here's to a new blog post tomorrow! Are you waiting on pins and needles? Me too!!

A Christmas Celebration!!

Last night was our annual Relief Society Christmas Dinner. It was wonderful....lots of work, but well worth it. I wish I'd taken pictures, but I was too busy doing other things, so I didn't. So sorry. Yesterday we spent the afternoon decorating. Each round table had a white tablecloth and a gold lame topper. Then each table had a centerpiece....each different and unique. The ladies on the committee provided the table decor. I did two tables. One was done with a white felted tree sprinkled with mica flakes. I then tied small embellished bulbs on the branches. I had a gold snowflake tree topper and a gold bow ties at the top with streamers woven through the branches. The base was made from garland, red berries, more red and green ornaments embellished in gold and small poinsetta blossoms. The second table I did was a vintage pedestal bowl filled with vintage glass ornaments. I put a wire tree in the center of the bowl for height. The base was another garland with more vintage ornaments tucked here and there. The other tables had beautiful decorations on them. Around two walls of the cultural hall we'd set up 8 long tables and covered them with white cloths, then gold lame arranged down the center. There was more garland arranged to allow for individual nativities to be placed between the branches. Ladies from the ward had signed up to bring nativities to share. There were so many. All of the tables were filled. Some of them were arranged on mirrors, others on raised pedestals. It was lovely. It was fun to see what sorts of nativities others use each year. No two were alike. For dinner we had Swedish meatballs with gravy over rice, green beans, a roll and an Asian salad. Yum! For dessert we had a choice of either gingerbread or chocolate trifle. We had asked ten of our wards' fine, old High Priests (and Tyler Adams!) to come and help serve the meal. We got the salads dished out and they were wanting to do more to help. They shooed us out of the kitchen and they took over. They did everything!!! We were able to join the other ladies for dinner and we even got to enjoy the program. Those men filled water glasses, served the meal, portioned perfectly, and then proceeded to clean the kitchen while we enjoyed the program!! I will be forever grateful for their service. It was wonderful! The program consisted of a string duet, a vocal duet , a vocal solo, and three sweet stories. It was perfect!! Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way to make the evening memorable. I just wish I'd taken pictures...dumb me.