Ho Ho Ho! Santa Came to our House!

Christmas Morning came at 7 am. Jason and Sharon stayed the night Christmas Eve. We enjoyed great food and a game of Phase 10 and Brady won - woo hoo! I love being with my family on Christmas Eve. Our tradition is rolls, meat and cheese trays. relish trays, crackers and cheese balls, Christmas goody trays... yum! sooo much food, atmosphere - but most of all family.

One present was opened on Christmas Eve - New pajama's of course. A tradition.

Our Christmas tree on Christmas morning - loaded with presents and stuffed stockings.

Sharon and Jason opening Christmas presents. This year they gave me a long list of what they wanted. I love lists better then trying to come up with something they need or want. I could have spent a bunch of money trying to purchase all their wants - but I made a dent before the budget ran out. I didn't want to go into this Christmas with any debt and I succeeded - cash for everything!

Brady kept in his laying down position - wrapped in a blanket. I just kept handing him presents. This was a lot better then last year. He was happy and cheerful this year. .. last year he was a grumpy teenager who we made get up to early *giggle. I'm glad he wasn't that way this year.

Jason got 3 t-shirts this year. This particular one I didn't want to get him - I didn't like it and told him no.... It was a surprise for him that he got it. I'm just tooooooooo nice!

Jason and Sharon wanted the Beatles Rock Band for their X-box. It was second on their list.

The first item on their list was a computer chair. I found a pretty good deal on a chair that mass-ss-ssages.                  

I think they were happy to get a good chair for their computer. Jason also got an x-box game Halo Wars.

Sharon's items on her list that I was able to get them was:  a hand mixer, baking dishes - muffin pan, cake pan and cookie sheets, a set of matching silverware, mixing bowls. She also wanted a BSU Bronco white hoodie.

Brady's list was the Nickelodeon cartoon Avatar DVD's (there are 3 sets/seasons), an electric razor, Cooking Mama DS game, Gardening Mama DS game, Rockband additional songs game, A Sims game, a sit-up bar that holds your feet and tucks under a door. His Dad got him new shoes and an iTunes gift card.

He was very happy with all of his presents - it was a great Christmas (quoting Brady - you did a good job Mom).

This Christmas I have been blissfully happy. It was a wonderful day!

Oh I didn't put down what I got. My Mom sent me a beautiful picture for my wall. When I get it hung I'll post a picture. My list for Jason and Sharon was new fry pans and a cookie scoop. Brady came up with a great plan all on his own. At the ward Christmas party my friend Trina told me a of a new book set she was reading (vampires) called "The Mortal Instruments" it's a 3 book set, the books are "City of Bones", "City of Ashes" and "City of Glass". Stephanie Meyers review was: "The Mortal Instruments series is a story world that I love to live in. Beautiful!". Trina was loving them.... Brady is very clever to get them for me. I'm excited to dive in and read them.

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. We have been very blessed! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Decorations

I love decorating my home for holidays and for Christmas I always get carried away. I love the feelings of peace and happiness it brings when our "halls are decked". I love seeing the many nativities around the house as we reflect on our Saviors birth.

Everything is glittery with a bling bling appeal.

The light accents provide a peaceful glow each evening as we light the fire and enjoy our time at home.

My favorite is the Christmas tree. I was excited that Brady helped A LOT this year and it wasn't just a Mom job. Brady was great this year in helping with the decorations. He was filled with the Christmas spirit - Yeah!

Two nativity sets on the piano. Yes...... you will see baby Jesus every where.

In my job I am in lots of houses. I believe only one house out of all my customers put out a nativity set. For me, there is a different feeling in the houses without recognizing the reason for the season - Jesus Christ our Savior and the celebration of his birth.

A large Nativity on the side of the piano and below it is Santa bowing to baby Jesus.

I change pictures on the walls or accent them with Christmas greenery. The Elf, Santa and Reindeer were Christmas presents from Richard and Rhonda - one per year. They cut them out and painted them. They are very cute! Since I don't have a mantel on my fireplace yet - they have to be hung on the side of the rock on the fireplace. (ooooh to dream of a mantel one day).

Here are our advent calendars. Brady didn't put one ornament on the advent Christmas tree. I guess he has out grown it - this year I counted down the advent calendar. One the Santa I put things to do from a church magazine "The Friend" for a count down. I love little extra loving touches these types of count downs bring to the season.

This is the winter scene in my kitchen window. It stays up through January too.

Nutcrackers on top of the fridge. My Primary class loved these.

This is on the end of our island/breakfast bar in the kitchen. I've had that Santa and sled for many many years - before Jason was born and I still love it.

The nativity on my kitchen table.

I put old world Santa's in my plant window with my Snow girl (remember the bride from the temple - yup... I dream about the winter girl).

This is a shelf in my kitchen by the table. I painted all the ornaments on the bottom self... and more Santa's on top of the shelf.

This year I didn't put up my Christmas Village. Maybe next year :-D.

Merry Christmas from our house to yours.

Christmas Spirit

Christmas Season Rush

Sunday night I really enjoyed the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. I enjoyed the music and taking the time to think about the reason for the season - Our Savior, Lord and the Prince of Peace - Jesus Christ.

It's wonderful to celebrate his birth during this season. 

This morning while Brady and I were reading our scriptures, I read this scripture (or sang it):

2 Nephi 19:6 (Compare to Isaiah 9:6)

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

If you watched the Devotional on Sunday, you will understand why I sang it. I love that I found this while reading my scriptures this morning.

Christmas time is always busy. I wish I had my lights and tree up before Thanksgiving because it has set me really behind this year. Next year - mental note: put up decorations before Thanksgiving so you can relax and enjoy everything.

Friday night we had our ward (church) Christmas party. I signed up to bring Cheesy Potatoes which were yummy. It was a nice party and Santa Claus even came.

Saturday morning 10am was the Meridian Winterland parade. It was toooo could and we left half way through it. Brrrrrrrrr

I worked very hard at getting the final decorations put up and all of the boxes put away on Saturday so I could enjoy Sunday in peace.

Plus, Saturday I had to run over to one of my Primary children who was getting baptized and give him is white towel, memory book and Baptism stories book (from Friend articles).

I attended his baptism at 4pm and he was the last to be baptized so it was after 5pm by the time I got home.

At 5:30pm the festivities started for the lighting of the Meridian Christmas tree. Such a busy day. Plus I prepared my Primary lesson for Sunday during the day.

Sunday we attended church of course. In Primary we had 14 children in our class and some were missing - Wow!

Jason and Sharon came over for Sunday dinner...

At 6pm we watched the Christmas devotional on the BYU Channel.

Monday it snowed!!

This is not the picture of my house this year -- I cheated and used one from last year... The sadness of this picture is that my Christmas lights are up. Unfortunately I don't have them up yet... SHOCK!! This may be the year I don't have time to get them up. Monday I worked then cleaned Compton's that night - on a snowy day.

Tuesday, yesterday... Came home at 3:15 pm and there was a message that Brady's bus was late so he was walking home... Brrrrrr it was like 8 degrees and very cold. I jumped into the car and sent to find him but we missed each other.

Came home and he had piano lessons at 4pm. I did some shopping for the Primary Christmas party I am having on Wednesday night (tonight).

Then I made dinner and baked cookies and frosted them until 10:30 pm.

Tonight is my Primary Christmas party - last one for this class... And then I get a new class in January. I sure hope I get to stay with CTR 8 year olds (Baptism year).

Also tonight Brady is going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.

Thursday is Stephanie's party - the Cookie exchanged. My favorite party for the year. I have to make more cookies tonight after the party.

Yes it is the Christmas Season rush... I'm really trying to enjoy each moment and keep Jesus Christ Birth in the front of the picture.

Playing Games

When our family is together we enjoy playing games. This Thanksgiving was no exception, we enjoyed playing many games together.

(Shawn, Kevin and Autumn)

Here we are in the formal living room of my mom's house playing Apples to Apples. Shawn is up and is working on picking a winner for this hand. 

(Brady, Brandon on the couch, Zoey Michelle, Rhonda, Grandma with Kate on the chair, Shawn and Kevin)

We had a blast! I won so it was great for me - he he!

I played scrabble with my oldest sister Christine and her husband Kurt. Let me say that they are very intense players. They play all the time and also on the computer. They come up with the weirdest words - that I didn't think were words (or maybe they cheat - LOL) - the board above is a great example of the words they came up with. They also made these boxes of words to get 3 words in one play. It was difficult playing with the masters because I'm just a humble scrabble player - but I did keep up with them and wasn't completely in the dust. The 2nd game (they helped me with an "XI" word that gave me 50 points) I won... LUCKY!

We also played Phase 10 - which is our standard "no brain" game where we can laugh, tease and talk. We had 6 players and it was difficult to have that many players... You just don't see wild cards enough. I totally lost on this game. I was on phase 2 forever which means I was only able to lay down phase 1 during the whole game while they were on phase 8... It's not much fun to totally - TOTALLY be at the bottom loser of the game...

OK.... it is safe to say that I like to win... giggle!

Music - the Joy of the Season!

Last night the young men and young women of our ward were scheduled to go Christmas Caroling.

I made Brady wear a coat (teens these days) and took him over to the church for the activity. (And to my surprise Brady's coat is too small - the arms almost touch his elbows. I guess I never knew how little it was because he never wears it.)

I digress...

I never get carolers at my door because I don't live in the subdivisions where our members live. I live  in the old downtown of Meridian with no other members around (almost like the mission field-LOL).

However, to my great surprise I had a knock at the door and singing. The older boys and girls were there singing. I have to say they were wonderful. They harmonized and I could tell they take choir at school - because they were very professional.

It was a surprise to have such great singing... usually it is singing in pain and "do we have to do this" attitude.

I hit the mother load with the older kids. It brings a spirit of joy to listen to music and it brightened my night. I wish they could come every night :-D.

The Christmas season has started. I've made a dent in my decorations - but there is still much to do. I love this time of year!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving was wonderful and yummy.

The food was awesome and there was more then enough for all of us.

We had 21 members of our family there.

My oldest sister who lives in Boise was here. Christine. Husband Kurt, sons -  Shawn and Kevin. Her 3rd son, Justin had to work and ended up cooking his own Thanksgiving dinner.

My oldest brother Lyle and his 3 children, Jenny, Taylor and Grant. Jenny brought her 2 children and her boyfriend. Grant brought his girlfriend and Taylor the youngest was there with us.

There was Richard, Rhonda, Autumn, Tymber and Hope,

Me and Brady. Jason and Sharon stayed home because they had to work.

My other sister who lives in Pocatello didn't join us and stayed home with her children. That kinda made me sad that not all of us were there. We did get together and visit - even though we didn't eat together.

In my mother's new home she has two full kitchens - one on each floor. We ended up having our dinner in the basement where the great room / family room was. There was more room downstairs for all of us. It's nice that her house is big enough for all of us. Plus to cook in two kitchens is great!

Mom, Chris and Richard getting dinner ready to set out.

The kids table, Brady, Kylie, Hope, Tymber and Autumn.

The middle adult table. Mom in red, Grant (Lyle's son) and his girlfriend - which I can't remember her name. Taylor and Jenny (Lyle's daughters), Nate Jenny's boyfriend, Lyle, Richard, Rhonda and me.

I didn't get a picture of the 3rd table - which was Chris, Kurt, Shawn and Kevin.

It was one of our better Thanksgiving holiday. More people came to this year because of Richard's and Rhonda's temple marriage. I wish it was like this every year. It was nice enjoying the time we spent together, playing games and getting in touch with what is going on in our lives. I truly belong to a wonderful family!

Motivational Monday - "Forever Family"

Families are ordained of God and are the most important social unit in time and eternity. Our Heavenly Father’s divine plan of happiness allows family relationships to endure beyond the grave.

The family is the fundamental unit of society and the primary setting in which children develop virtue. God has placed families at the center of His eternal plan for the happiness of His children.

In a family, children learn about love, trust, loyalty, cooperation, and service. They learn how to behave in a community and develop the attributes of good citizenship. The health of any society lies in the strength of its families. Thus, strengthening families will strengthen communities and nations. Home should be a haven, free from the conflicts of the outside world—a place where everyone feels safe, respected, and accepted. Ways to facilitate this feeling of harmony in your home include:

• Loving and serving one another. The Savior Jesus Christ demonstrated perfect love in His unfailing service throughout His life on Earth. Serving others teaches humility, builds self-discipline, creates unity, strengthens work ethics, and leads to greater love and compassion. 

• Spending quality time together.

• Instituting and maintaining family home evening once a week. Family home evening nights should be centered on building and maintaining family relationships. Activities can include games, songs, discussions, treats, short lessons, family stories, and so forth.

• Adopting a family hobby.

• Spending time in wholesome recreational activities.

• Communicating effectively. Good communication skills can help your family express love and respect for one another and develop feelings of confidence and self-worth.

• Consistently building unity with your spouse. The partnership of marriage and the resulting family are central focal points in God’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

• Establishing limits for use of electronic equipment in the home. Agreeing on reasonable time limits for television, computer, video games, and other electronic equipment will facilitate stronger family communication.

• Teaching children about Jesus Christ and helping them follow His example. Children need help in learning to recognize the Holy Ghost. Teaching them how to know what they are feeling is from God will help them to understand right and wrong and will aid them in making good decisions throughout their lives.

• Participating in children’s schoolwork and activities by volunteering to coach, lead, or chaperone; attending sporting events, performances, and any other activities whenever possible; getting to know teachers and coaches; finding out about long-term projects or assignments and assisting with goal setting and planning.

• Taking family vacations.

• Preparing and eating meals together can stimulate conversation.

Information obtained from http://www.mormon.org/. You can also know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (The Mormons) from this link.

Cross Country End of Season Banquet

Last Thursday November 26th, we enjoyed a night together with Brady's cross country team. They brought in pizzas as the main course. I was shocked because we were assigned side dishes. I brought baked beans (which was the only side dish)... People also brought lots and lots of desserts. It was a great evening to enjoy the success of the team this year.

They played a video of highlights through the season. We didn't get one - which was kind of sad. Then the coach presented the certificates to JV teams and school letters for to the varsity team. I hope next year Brady will get a "letter".

Here is a quick video of what the coach said about Brady and "me"... it's funny and a little embarrassing. ha ha.

Motivational Monday - Thankful For My Family

Sometimes, not often enough,

We reflect upon the good things

And those thoughts always center

Around those we love.

And I think about those people ---

Who mean so much to me ---

....and for years

Have made me so very happy.

And I count the times I have forgotten

To say

"thank-you"

And just how much I love them.

It's the Holidays and I'm Busy!

Sunday Brady and I went over to Jason and Sharon's new apartment and played "Life Twists and Turns". It was a blast being together in their new apartment and playing games. I didn't bring my camera - so there are not any pictures. (They are all shouting for joy).

I'm excited to say that we finally watched "UP" this past weekend. I loved it... It is my favorite Walt Disney show right now. I was a cry baby within the first 1/2 hour... and I never cry. It is very heart warming and funny... Of course I own it now.

Tomorrow is the Cross country team's banquet to end the season. Awards will be given, lots of good food, and presents to the coaches. Last year they made up a DVD with highlights during the season. I hope we get one this year too. I've hurried and put together a baked bean dish to take to the pot luck tomorrow. I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

Whenever there is a holiday in the month, my work load increases. This coming Thanksgiving season is no exception. I wish I could wave my magic wand and the work would be easier and done sooner.

Unfortunately it increases. My customers want extras done to get ready for the company they are expecting for Thanksgiving. Plus next week I want to leave town Wednesday afternoon as soon as school gets out for early release. That means I need to get 5 days of work done in 2 1/2... Yup, I'm working my tail end off - trying to get it all done before the holiday - because I am taking 4 days off (unheard of when you work by yourself and it's a holiday and customers want clean houses).

In the midst of all the extra work to get out of town for Thanksgiving ... I really have got to get my Christmas shopping done before I leave for my extended family. I was able to put a dent in it tonight, but will have to tackle it again this weekend.

On top of that.... I feel a soar throat coming on. I need to medicate myself and head to bed. If you don't hear from me for a couple of weeks... know that I am lurking and busy ... but around.