Winter Scenes

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Fun 2011

 

December is always a crazy busy month so I give you a snapshot of our December.

Before the Christmas break, I took my sales staff to a Christmas lunch.  I love working with these girls!

My mom set a beautiful table for our Christmas dinner.  It was a lovely evening enjoyed by all.

Kylie had a school program and had a special part during the Kwanza song.  She was so insistent on having a red dress that we stopped by Wal-Mart on our way to school the morning of the program.  She was so excited about that $10 dress.

She is so pretty.

Kelsey had her Christmas choir concert as well.  We were pleased to see her perform in the girls choir and then again with Trouveres. And don’t worry Kelsey, I got his picture…..There may or may not be a picture of the boy she likes in one of these photos. But because she going to kill me for writing that much, I will not divulge any further. Wait, I guess I can share his name.  It’s Alexandria.  At least that is what her dad calls him. ;)

Kelsey sang a solo again and can I just say she has a beautiful voice!  I love that girl.

Back to the boy Kelsey likes……. He gave her this bouquet of flowers.  Awwwww

Now onto Christmas Eve.  We spent the evening with Kristi and her kids.  We opened ornaments and pajamas and ate lots of yummy food before we sent everyone off to bed.

  

Once I got Kaiden to sleep, Kenny and I enjoyed a nice relaxing evening that did not involve carrying a 350 lb box into the living room.

The aftermath

This year Christmas was on Sunday and I was so glad to have the opportunity to worship on the day of Christ’s birth.  I was touched by the spirit and felt the true reason for this holiday.  Kendall turned 14 a few days earlier so he was sustained and set apart as a Teacher. It was special to have mine and Kenny’s parents join us.  We took a family picture and it was somehow erased. So sad!

Here is a picture of Kaiden on our way to Grandma’s house to open presents.  I love the mask and his basket of angry birds.

I’m really excited about the sewing machine my husband bought me for Christmas (He also got me a pair of Uggs….♥ them!) I am hoping the sewing my mom taught me growing up will come back to me. My first project was a tutorial I found on Pinterest where you turn a large men’s tee shirt into a Dolman top.  It was really easy but I started with an XL shirt and taking it to a size small required me to go back a second time and bring the seam in tighter.  It turned out fine but the neckline was a little too big. Next time I will start with a smaller men’s shirt and it should turn out perfect. 

                            

I was really excited to get Kenny a snow cab for his riding snow blower.  It was actually the gift I wanted to get him last year but couldn’t quite swing it.  It was fun to watch him plow with it on.  Now he wont come in covered in snow and freezing.

 

A few days after Christmas I took the kids to Utah and met up with my sister Becky, Aunt Shanna, and their families.  We took the light rail train to down town Salt Lake City to spend the day.  We walked through the Family History building, Brigham Young Mansion, the Conference Center and Temple Square.  My favorite part of the trip was our dinner at Benihana’s.  I have never seen my kids so well behaved at a restaurant!  Kaiden was mesmerized by our chef who was cooking our dinner right in front of us. We had a lot of fun and I took some awesome pictures.  But somehow I deleted them all but a few. SAD!  I hate when I do that.  So here are the few random pictures I have of our trip to Utah.

 

 

December was a great month for us.  I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Every Day Happenings in December

Life is rushing by faster than ever.  I can’t believe we are winding down the last month of the year.  Days and weeks go by in a blink of an eye it seems.  Here is a snapshot of our lives the last few weeks.

I fell in love with this calendar Kaiden made and hung on the fridge. I’m not sure if that is a ghost or a turkey but I love it all the same.

Isn’t it amazing what comes out of a boys pockets?  These two pictures are from my 6 year old’s jeans, but I find that the same sort of stuff come in my13 year old and 37 year old’s pockets as well!! Boys never really grow up.

The kids found a few hours of entertainment making a fort out of blankets and empty Christmas decoration boxes, which then turned into a game with Kylie being a tiger in a cage.

Kelsey had Young Women in Excellence this month.  This is an evening where the girls show off the different goals and projects they have completed from their personal progress (a program encouraging the girls to set goals in areas of faith, virtue, knowledge, good works, etc.) There is a girl in the young women’s program named Siarra.  She is mentally handicapped and unable to set these goals and finish them herself.  The young women decided to complete Siarra’s personal progress by proxy and each girl chose several goals to pass off on behalf of Siarra. But in order for them to count for Siarra, they could not count these goals for their own progress. It was touching to listen as the girls shared their testimony of service and selflessness.  The girls made a scrapbook page for each goal they passed off and put them in a book for Siarra to keep.  I am so proud of Kelsey and love to watch her kindness towards Siarra.  There are many days in the week when I over hear Kelsey on the phone with Siarra.  Siarra loves Kelsey and calls her often to come over and play.  I don’t know many 15 year old girls who would spend their Saturday afternoon on a play date with a teenage girl who has the mental capacity of a child… Kelsey did this without hesitation.  She is amazing and I love her sweet spirit. 

I look forward to Friday nights each week.  Kenny and I have set this night aside for date night and have been pretty good about getting out each week.   I cherish these evening spent with my best friend and favorite person in the whole world.

Kelsey has been extremely busy with her Trouvere’s choir. They have had a performance almost every night.  Here is Kelsey with her dance partner at Wal-Mart.  They spent one evening walking around Wal-Mart singing and dancing. It was hilarious.

While Kelsey was singing at Wal-Mart, the kids and I walked up and down the toy aisle.  Here is a picture of Kaiden’s face after I told him I bought all those princess dresses for him for Christmas. HA HA HA!

Later in the week I was Christmas shopping for the younger two kids and had the teenagers with me. On our way home we stopped at Arby’s for dinner.  I was feeling a little silly and was having fun embarrassing Kelsey by dancing in my seat.  But believe me, these pictures are NOTHING compared to the dance routine I did on the way out.  As we were walking out, I busted out some dance moves.  Kelsey ran full speed out the door and stood by the car.  I danced my way to the window and impressed everyone with some sweet moves like the running man, cabbage patch kid and raise the roof.  I made sure the Kelsey could see me through the window as she stood freezing by the car.  Kendall was behind me cheering me on hiding until I was done.  I am sure the employees will never forget our visit to their restaurant.  I have to say embarrassing your teenagers is a lot of fun and good exercise too.

I enjoyed a lunch date with Kaiden before he went to school.  Love that kid.

I was really digging these bike helmets.  A gorilla, unicorn and kitten.

Our ward Christmas party was great this year. I love listening to the little ones sing.

During the Christmas dinner, Kaiden took it upon himself to educate the older folks sitting at our table all about Angry Birds.  First up is some guy I don’t know and next to him are my grandparents.  He just made his way around the table.

I am still loving Bountiful Baskets. This weeks basket was really good. All this for $15 plus I picked up a box of oranges for $14. Check it out at www.bountifulbaskets.org.

And lastly, nothing beats sitting in church and looking down to see what shoes your daughter put on as you were rushing out the door.