New Years Day Sledding

With below freezing temperatures we opted out of our plans to got shooting.  We were afraid of hitting unwanted targets because of shaky hands and frozen appendages.  However, the sun was out, the skies were clear and we had all been locked up after a two day blizzard.  So we went with option number two, bundled up, called some family and headed for the hills!

 Ice on the eye lashes:

 Rosey cheeks:

 Bright Smiles:

As long as we kept moving the cold was managable, but the Hot Cocoa at home was much apprecited!

This morning, upon waking for church, my body felt like it had been run over by a truck.  When Glen asked me why; I said, "Maybe because I threw myself down a hill repeatedly yesterday!".  Getting old is hard on a body, especially because it generally lets you damage it with little immediate consequence but calls in payment the following day.

All in all, it was great to get out and enjoy our last day of vacation!

Gingerbread Village

Our final present in the families 12 days of Christmas was a gingerbread village kit and extra goodies to decorate with and eat.  We each had a building in the village, with dad helping the youngest (although I think she was doing the work herself while dad ate treats).

So much fun to create and even more fun torturing the kids by not letting them eat them until after New Years! 



Christmas Day in Review

Christmas Eve night all the packages were wrapped and under the tree.  The children were safely sleeping in their warm beds wearing new pajamas from their grandparents, and peace and quiet reigned! 

It was a beautiful site!!

Then Christmas morning the children waited patiently (amazingly so) until dad sounded the train, then all came blazing down! 

The men folk wore these unnecessarily warm hats, what they'll do for fashion!

                                                                      After the useful gifts of clothes, books, and BYU collectibles, they got down to business with presents from Santa!  Talking dolls, flying helicopter, movies, and a flight simulator for the big man!

    

Merry Christmas!

The Best 15th Anniversary Gift!

December 22 was my 15th wedding anniversary!  Since we are on Christmas vacation from school I was enjoying a lazy day when my husband reminded me with sweet salutations what day it was. 

Work being what it is in the final quarter, bigger celebration plans are being postponed until January.

We did attend the temple and had a lovely dinner out at my new favorite restaurant, La Jolla Groves in Provo.

However, the best present of all came from the four wonderful children we have raised in those 15 years! They placed Hershey kisses in a heart on our bed and filled it with treats the neighbors have been dropping off as Christmas gifts.  They made a card and waited anxiously for our return.

Cute drawings and sentiment too! 

 The next morning (because they forgot on the actual day) they made us breakfast in bed.

Love the bowl of sausages with two forks!!

Fifteen years of marriage is amazing, adding four awesome kids is a priceless blessing.

Love My Family!!

What a Guy!

Glen and I have been married almost 15 years (6 days till the anniversary) and it is fun to see the ways we have grown together and developed as individuals and as a family.

Glen is my best friend and one of the things my friends know about me is that I love flowers!  I don't think there is a flower God created that I don't find fascinating, if not breath taking.

For years now Glen has been traveling for business and on his own he decided to bring me something after every overnight trip.  I can count on my hand the number of times he has neglected to do this and he usually rectifies the issue quickly. 

For the record, I love the flowers, but what I love most, is knowing he is thinking about me and what makes me smile!  I married a great man!!

Kid Date Night

Our kids are great (proud parent alert!) and they are constantly earning awards and special treats for their good behavior.  Unfortunately most of these certificates expire before they are put to use because even if one child gets a meal for free, we have three others to feed.  It seems crazy to some I'm sure, but we try to be frugal when it comes to eating out, hence the problem with "free" meals.

So I finally decided we don't spend enough time with our children individually. We have a full life and try to encourage supporting each other in their sports or dance when applicable.  Glen and I are very good at taking the time for a weekly "date" of our own. 

Now we are adding one more thing to the list, but I think it is a good thing!  Ben was the first to go out with mom and dad and use his award for "Student of the Week".  The food was great and the company excellent!

Charity Nativity

Last year around this time some neighbor friends of ours invited us to go to a local "Living Nativity" for Family Home Evening.  We arrived at the designated church parking lot where shuttles (actual buses or horse trailers with makeshift benches) were organized to take us up the hill to a family farm area that they converted into "Bethlehem".  Upon arrival we were greeted by Roman Soldiers on horseback and directed up a path that led to a barn housing people portraying villagers in ancient occupations.  Live animals, including sheep, horses, donkeys and camels completed the scene.  After leaving the main barn we followed a candle lit path to a second barn that was watched over by carolers singing reverent Christmas music.  This barn sheltered Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus and had the sweetest spirit imaginable.  After leaving the warm shelter of the barn we were treated to hot chocolate and a description of this events beginning and purpose.  They also left a sing-up sheet for anyone interested in helping the following year.  We were excited to sign-up and that brings us to today!

We were blessed with the opportunity to be a part of this special presentation.  We each dressed in costume and played a small part representing villagers of old.

Near the end of the evening I snuck away for a minute to visit the "Baby Jesus" in the other barn. The tenderness of that moment still touches my heart.  

I am grateful for this time of year where we are able to focus on the great birth of our Savior and the miracles that surround this event.

Let us remember the Reason for the Season!

For more imformation on this event check out their blog:

http://www.thelivingnativity.blogspot.com/

Snow Prints

Winter may not officially be here, but the snow is! 

On this cold snowy morning our little kitty took two steps out the front door and turned right back around!

Still Eating Turkey!

We were on our own for Thanksgiving this year, and although we missed our special time with dear friends, kickin' back in the pj's all day was appreciated by some.  I was in the kitchen much of the day, but I didn't mind. I love every traditional Thanksgiving food!  However my family does not, so I'm still eating the left overs.  I don't know if it is even safe at this point, but they are almost done, and I'm still alive. 

After the big meal, the kids and I played a fun game of Settlers.  A celebration of the early pioneers to this country and there efforts in settling the land for our enjoyment many years later.  The competition is getting better and I no longer win every game.

I'm grateful we have a holiday dedicated to the many blessing we enjoy, and Grateful I Am!!

Fall Clean-Up

I love an industrious Fall Saturday!

  We actually got the Fall clean-up done before the snow fell last night and for once I feel at peace about the seasons changing.  Usually I'm glad to see the snow because it means the weeds will die and be covered from view.  However, there's the companion feeling of guilt and worry for the things that didn't get quite done, like raking the leaves, trimming the hedges, and tilling the garden.  This year all those things can be checked off the list!  Yippee!!

 We were blessed this year by a great neighbor who assisted in our leaf raking adventure.  He owns this fantastic device called a "Cyclone Rake" that sucks up the leaves, mulches them and then fills a bin for transport. We filled it two and a half times, probably saving ourselves the trouble of filling at least 25 bags and then the disposal of them.  Instead we spread them in our garden and orchard areas, making good use of what we have. 

 It just isn't a real fall leaf raking day if someone doesn't get buried!

What a cutie I found!!



71 Trees!



 

11 Small Pines, 7 Quacking Aspens
15 Deciduous (Maples, Ashes, Flowering Cherry), 11 Fruit Trees (Peach, Apple, Pear, Cherry, Apricot, Plum, & Nectarine)
9 Medium Pines, 18 Large Pines!
In total we planted 70 trees in our backyard this summer, plus one medium pine in the front.

The kids had the daily chore of watering to keep them alive through the summer.  So far,so good!  We have only lost three, one small pine and two fruit trees, that we will replace in the spring.

What a project!

Perfect Fall Football

It's 8:30am on a Saturday morning and the relief that there are no plans beyond the weekly chores to fill your day are brought to abrupt halt by the ringing of the phone!  You have the option of answering and being drawn into someone elses plans for the day or turning over in your cozy bed and ignoring the world...
Well what would you do?

If you are me, you ignore the first two attempts made to burst your  bubble of solitude, but by the third attempt you cave and answer the call.

What a blessing it is to have persistent friends!  We were invited to a Brigham Young University football game complete with access to the fabulous tent set up outside full of food and treats to be enjoyed before, after, and during the game!

 We quickly dawned our blue apparel and headed for Provo, with a slight detour to the local FedEx as a  favor to the one person who would have truly enjoyed every part of our day, Glen.

Here is the ironic twist to our happy tale: Glen was out of town working, while his whole family enjoyed free t-shirts, fun treats, and a beautiful sunshiny day! 

To top if all off, BYU won 55 to 7!!

Carrots, Carrots, Carrots!

 Mid October the local irrigation water is shut off for the season so we began our Fall cleaning and shut down of the garden.  In our last harvest of the season we gathered peppers, eggplant, onions, beets, and CARROTS!

 We were slack in our harvesting this year and didn't keep up with everything so some of the carrots grew to outrageous proportions!! 

We did have fun extracting the carrots of various colors.  Reds, yellow, pink, white and some of the usual orange variety too.  When cooked they all seem to taste the same, but the yellow are the ones that grew the biggest.

In our efforts to live providently we made carrot soup.  It was alright, but not a favorite.  Next year we will have to stay on top of the harvesting so we don't have so many at onetime!

Where is Bugs Bunny when you need him?!

Halloween 2010

Theme: Southwest Travel

The choice went to the oldest, who wanted to be a pilot (he has always liked professions) and the rest of the crew played parts to support his choice. 

Pilot, Stewardess ("Peanut Girl"), Luggage, and The Crazy Tourist!

 Halloween 2010 was more like Halloween weekend! 

Friday was classroom party day, Saturday was neighborhood Trick-or Treating,

and Sunday was dinner with family.

They are a fun crew! 

I hope Southwest appreciates the free advertising! 

When Glen told them our Halloween plans they did send him home with

 a bag full of peanuts, luggage tags, cups, stir sticks, "wings", and a full pad for taking drink orders.

Next years plans are already in the works...

Autumn or Winter?

When the kids announced that it had snowed and was still snowing upon waking this morning, I thought a light dusting was probably getting them excited.  What a surprise when I looked out to see a couple inches on the ground, with more falling!

I love snow, but I prefer it during Winter, not Autumn.  I want to enjoy the beautiful fall colors as long as possible and I want to forestall shoveling the driveway and walks as well.  Hopefully this was just a preview and Halloween won't be white!

"Master Bedroom"

I took this picture the other day because I thought it was quite funny how one little kitty could ruin the perfection of Glen's nicely made bed.  In our marriage we have a rule that whoever gets out of bed last makes the bed. With the children on the early schedule this year I am usually up helping them and therefore out of bed first.  I love it when Glen make the bed because he is such a perfectionist that the covers are pulled extra tight and the pillows rest just so...

but a small kitty can change all of that in a flash!

Personally I think she is cute enough to get away with it, but the verdict is still out with Glen!

When I posted the picture I was reminded of another peacefully resting animal

 in the "Master Bedroom" by Andrew Wyeth. 

I'll take a cat over a dog on my bed any day!

Love the Dentist!

Here is our big girl missing her first tooth!  She is thrilled to make it on the all important chart at school and I'm thankful to have nature do the work, instead of the costly dentist.

She lost her tooth Oct 8th and that darned Tooth Fairy hasn't arrived yet! 

We have had some real issues with communication there!

On a more possitive note...

Today the children all went to the dentist for a cleaning and check-up and left with an A++, no cavities!!!!