CHRISTMAS: day 1

 Decorating the Christmas tree is not just the application of ornaments when we are putting up the "family tree".  It is like opening up a scrapbook of our adventures.  We have all the handcrafted ornaments that the kiddos have made since they were old enough to hold a pair of scissors or squeeze a glue bottle,  We have the wreaths made of puzzle pieces that capture how young they were at the time.  Reindeers made from their hand impressions and various paper mached items.  Then we have the ornaments that we have gotten on various trips or vacations: cruise ships, mermaids, pieces of Yellowstone or Yosemite.  My favorite is when we start putting up the ornaments that Steve and I have given to each other.  Sometimes they are just cute holiday ornaments and others represent something we did that year.  For example this year Steve gave me an ornament that looks like a purse to represent my new "business" venture.  I made him one with a picture of Suzy Bogguss and a little guitar because he got to meet her this year after her concert. 

  Once it is all done, the ornaments are on, the angel is atop the tree and the pretty red bows have been attached to various limbs.  I love to step back and bask in all we have done in our 16 years of marriage.  A reminder of our good life and how much we are blessed.

DECEMBER DAILY: Day 10

For the last 5 years, one of the highlights of the season is the Duve's Christmas Party. We have been blessed to have this couple as friends for 6 years. We play games and go to movies with throughout the year, but this is by far my favorite thing to do with them. They invite other friends from the neighborhood and the ward to their home for an evening of conversation and good food. But the highlight of the evening by far is the White Elephant exchange portion bring to the of the evening. The $5.00 gift we bring to this party, we look for throughout the year. Some of the gifts are usually silly, gross, or just plain HILARIOUS. This year was not a disappointment. We saw a Tupperware container with goldfish, a pair of "Booty-Pop" underwear, a "Bump-It" hair accessory, 2 "Hill Billy Handbags", a talking Christmas wreath, a 7X pair of men's tightie whities, poop made into a bird "sculpture", a t-shirt with one couple's picture on and they autographed it, a pair of Jazz Tickets for the game that was being played while we were at the party, a Grinch stuffed animal, a Santa Mr. Potato Head, a bottle of Martinelli's with a flask, a large bag of gummie bears, and so much more. But by far the FUNNIEST thing I have ever seen was a set of antlers mounted with different Christmas ornaments hang off of them. Oh that's not all...two of the ornaments, when squeezed, "tooted" Christmas songs.









Steve and I went home with the Mr. Potato Head and the Martinellis with the Flask. The action we took in acquiring "the spud" did bring a little controversy. It has been given the name "the Weber" if an item is stolen from a person, then said person steals from their spouse so that their spouse can reacquire the originally stolen item. We feel so HONORED to now have a been awarded such a prestigious accolade. As usually, the party was fabulous, GOOD FRIENDS, GREAT CONVERSATION and MUCH LAUGHING!!

DECEMBER DAILY: Day 5

The kids and I had a pretty mellow day. It was fast Sunday, so we did not have breakfast. We put on Harry Potter movies which were being shown all weekend on ABC Family while we waited for 11:00 am to arrive so we could leave for church. The lesson in Relief Society was quite moving. Jenn Hays led the lesson and shared a few memories of Christmases past. Then she had invited other sisters in the ward to share their memories with us. It was so moving. The spirit was definitely palpable in that room. Sacrament meeting was also fabulous. After we received the sacrament, the testimony meeting began. Zack was the 1st one to go up to the podium. He bore his testimony. It amazes me sometimes that I am raising this young man. His testimony is so much stronger and purer than anything I have ever experienced. I learn so much from him about what "faith" looks like. There was also another cute testimony. A little boy in our ward got up and bore his testimony about tithing. He stated a "truth" that is found in the scriptures, but said it so a matter of factly, I think it surprised many adults and we all giggled. I guess he was quite embarrassed that people had laughed at him. I feel horrible about that. I wish their was a way to convey to him that I am grateful that he shared that with us. It inspired Becky to base her Family Home Evening lesson on what he said and it was a great lesson. Not sure our lesson would have been so good if he had not been brave enough to bear his testimony and share his faith with us...thank you Jakob.

After a pretty simple supper when Steve got home, I retired to my scrap room and tried to finish up the ornaments for the exchange party I was invited to. While I worked, I turned on the First Presidencies Christmas Devotional. Last year we had been luck enough to have tickets to watch it live, this year, not so much. I did enjoy being in my jammies and crafting while I listened to the messages that were given. I have to admit, I just ADORE President Dieter F. Uchtdorf . His style of speaking, is so easy for me to understand. His talk began by telling us that there are quotes that we hear during this time of the year and he quoted scriptural references to the birth of the Savior and then moved on and quoted the GRINCH. I loved it. He talked about how we get wrapped up the hustle and bustle of the season and can become "grinch-like". That it is important to remember the true meaning of the spirit. You can hear his entire talk through the link above.
The meeting ended with the message from our Prophet Thomas S. Monson . Which is always wonderful to listen to. He talked about what he reads: The Mansion by Thomas Van Dyke, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and 2 Luke in the New Testament. Then he related a story about a man that was living in Frankfort Germany during the 1940's...definitely a moving story about the true meaning of Christmas.

I have enjoyed, in the past few years, this first Sunday and listening to the leaders of the church share the messages of the season with us. I hope we got the opportunity to attend it live again some day.

DECEMBER DAILY: Day 4

Mom and I got up and dressed and went out to do some Christmas shopping. We don't get the opportunity to go out just the two of us. We hit TaiPan, then worked our way over to ShopKo, then HobbyLobby and finally stopped at South Jordan Christmas Boutique . There was lots of cute stuff. I had never been to that gift show, but was pleasantly surprised. It reminded my of the one that happens at the South Towne Center in November, but not nearly as large. So grateful I had Saturday to spend with mom, Definitely hope we have the opportunity to do again, SOON. The kids and I finished out our day by going to the Ward Christmas. It was pretty low key. It was held at the Stake Center. Pot luck dinner and then the Kearns High School Madrigals came and performed for us. Most of the program was just a standard choir singing, but towards the end they performed an interesting rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas. Unfortunately I will be unable to do it justice if I were to explain it, but I will tell you my kids have "performed" it several times since the event. Steve even stopped by and had some dinner after getting out of work. It was nice to be there together as a family, even if it were only for a few moments.

DECEMBER DAILY: Day 3

I received a Facebook message from one of my friends in Maine. She expressed her surprise in not having received a Christmas card from me yet. I am sure that for many friends that have known me for YEARS, this was quite surprising. I usually have those cards in the mail the day after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I came down with a yucky cold during Thanksgiving and EVERYTHING in my life fell behind a week and those cards also fell victim, but Friday morning I got up and addressed all the envelopes to the people in my address book and slid the cards I had ordered from Pear Tree Greetings, placed the stamps on and they off to their intended recipients. This year I chose to order my cards from online. For years I have done a full page letter and have even made our cards, but this year I decided I wanted to simplify the process a little. I LOVE the CHRISTMAS CARD portion of the holidays and am not willing to go entirely cyber. I hope my friends are not too disappointed in the evolution of my Christmas cards.
Mom and Pop drove up from Ferron. We went to Festival of Trees which was being held at the South Towne Center. I think it is a fun way to start off the holiday. There are hundreds of trees decorated in various color schemes, themes, materials...many of which are dedicated to someone's loved one. The stories behind the trees are so moving. The trees are bid on in a silent auction and the proceeds are donated to Primary Children's Hospital. Such an incredible event. It is breathtaking to walk into the room and see the sea of trees, wreaths, and gingerbread houses.





So happy that my parents live close enough that we get to have these moments together.

DECEMBER DAILY: Day 2

Steve and I went to the performance of "SKULLDUGGERY at SANTA'S PLACE" that Zack's 2nd period Theater class put on. This is Zack's first year taking drama. I was very excited to watch him. He played the Head Elf at Santa's workshop and was so cute. There was one dance scene when the elves "get their groove on". It may have been my very favorite part of the play.


Later in the day, I hosted the monthly bookclub meeting. We discussed the book, HOUSE RULES by Jodi Picoult. She may be my favorite modern author. Her writing style is awesome. This book's main character has Aspergers Syndrome, which I found fascinating to read about. I saw so many similarities to Zack, but also realized just how "high functioning" Zack is compared to this character which is thought to be high functioning. I enjoy having the opportunity to get together with the other ladies of the book club. Discussing the bookclub is wonderful, but the side conversations are even better. I count this group of women and my monthly visit with the one of the best things about our neighborhood.

DECEMBER DAILY: Day 1

I ended the 1st day of December decorating "my" tree. This is the tree that Steve gave me for Christmas. Since our 1st Christmas I had wanted a tree that would have all coordinated ornaments. So a few years ago, Steve bought me the tree and I have acquired these bright colored ornaments during the after Christmas sales. So since Steve was at work, Zack and Belle were at Mutual, so the girls and I turned on Christmas music and I decorated the tree. It is always fun to pull out those new ornaments that I bought in Januray and am finally getting to use.
I enjoy setting up this tree. A few nights before we did the "family" tree which is also fun. That trees has the ornaments we have collected over the years from the places we have visited. Steve and I also give eachother ornaments each year. This year we also gave the kiddos ornaments. Last year we had given Zack and oboe ornament and then this year we got Belle a piano ornament and Katie a Black kitty ornament. But my favorite is the Hallmark "countdown" ornament. Becky has a white board in her bedroom and has countdown all the big events of the year, so it seemed only right to give her that ornament.

SING-A-LONG

Monday night we went to our friend's the Rhees to participate in a sing-a-long. Our family joined a few other families from the neighborhood in the Rhees' living room gathered around their beautiful Christmas tree as Sandra played any Christmas song that the group requested. We sang Jingle Belles, Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer, Still Still Still, 12 Days of Christmas, I'm Gettin' Nuttin' for Christmas and so many others.
The children were armed with bells to ring, which they used through each and every song. Sandra's 5 year old son Jeremy, who had informed her earlier that week that he wants to stop taking piano lessons to take conductor lessons, with chopstick in hand led us through the songs. It was a fun way to spend the evening. The only ting that could have made it better would have been for Steve to be there singing along with me.

Old Friends and New Ones

I have had a couple of opportunities to hang out with some of my friend, Sandra, friends from her old neighborhood. When they scrapbooked a few weeks ago they were kind enough to include me in their gift exchange/lunch. We met up at Paradise Bakery with our exchange gift.

This is a cool group of women. We had some great conversation, a few laughs and of course lots of photos were taken. I feel quite blessed to include Sandra as a friend. She is such an incredibly nice person. I have enjoyed getting to know he friends and appreciate the friendships I have made with them.

COOKIES

From the time I was a little girl Christmas Cookies has been a integral part of the holiday.

I remember my mom making the dough and rolling out cookies. As I got a little older I discovered cook books and that there were so many more cookies than sugar and chocolate chip that people could make. I would try anything that looked festive and different.

Since I have become a mother a huge part of my holiday is waking up at 4:00 am and sneaking downstairs to work on a batch of cookies. My love for creating these yummy goodies has rub off on my girls and they can't wait until they get to make their own Christmas cookies.

So this year has been not different.

The girls are off track for the entire month of December, so we have tried to come up with some fun activities that they can do. And what is better than making sugar cookies.

The giggles and conversation as they produced their cookies was fun to listen to.

I spent Friday morning and most of the day knocking out a couple batches of cookies.

Saturday afternoon our area was hit with quite a bit of snow, so to keep everyone from getting a little stir crazy being in the house we decided to decorate those yummy sugar cookies that the girls had a made a few days earlier.

It was funny to watch everyone creativity blossom. Becky mixed her green and red frosting and ended up with a beautiful grey which she frosted her candy candy cookies and then dubbed them "moldy candy canes". Hmmm...not very appetizing. Steve transformed his cookies into things such topo maps on Acadia National Park, the state of California, and he and I canoeing on a lake complete with our reflection in the water. I am a traditionalist and my cookies looked like that they were suppose to be. I guess I am just a little boring.
I did learn to not critique Steve's creations.


And of course the best part of making all the cookies is to taste them to make sure the are PERFECT.

It was such a good time. Lots of laughing and talking. The part I will remember the most is that we were all together. I just love my little family.

FESTIVAL of TREES

Saturday I took the kids to South Towne Center to visit the Festival of Trees.

There were hundreds of beautifully decorated trees in different themes.

Many of the trees are decorated in remembrance of a child or adult that has passed away. Next to some of the trees would be there photo and there were people who stood near the trees that could tell you the stories behind the trees.

There was a sweet spirit there with those trees.

It was a little piece of heaven for me. There were many brightly decorated trees that I fell in love with. There were a couple of trees that were "girlie themed" with purses and shoes. Those were also some of my favorites. Another one that caught my eye was the tree that was decorated with PEZ candy dispensers. Very clever. The kids enjoyed the trees too.

It was an excellent way to spend a chilly Saturday afternoon