The Hobbit

For Christmas this year (2013), one of the family gifts that we gave was movie passes to the Hobbit. All the kids were eager and excited to see this movie, so it was a perfect gift for us to enjoy together as a family. We went two days after Christmas and watched the movie in 3D.

We had no idea how popular the movie might be so we arrived early to ensure that we got a good seat. As it turned out, there were very few people in the theater so we munched on our popcorn and drinks while we waited, visiting quietly among ourselves. I discovered a camera in my knitting bag, so I put to use!

We loved the movie. It was full of suspense and action. It was fun to have that experience together. But it is funny, because since that time 10 months ago, I remember relatively little about the movie. I do remember the dragon and some of the characters, but very little of the plot. My strongest memories of that day were of the enjoyment of being together for a much anticipated event with my husband and children. I remember waiting for the theater to open and browsing in the mall while we waited to go in. 

I wonder if life is much like watching a movie is for me. In those moments that our minds and hearts are not actively engaged in a purpose, we lose that time, in fact no real lasting memory is had for all the hours of television, video games or computer browsing that you do. It makes me think, "How much of my life do I just give away with nothing left to show or even remember that is of worth? I want to treasure each moment of life and make it count! This is living!!! And the best living I have ever done is with my husband and children, as well as extended family members! This kind of living brings an overflowing of joy to my heart! I am so grateful for my time spent loving and serving and being with my family.

Silent Night! Holy Night!

All is calm, All is bright...

Christmas dawned early for us with a visit from Shylah. We were thrilled to have her visit and spend a little time with us. We knew she wouldn't be able to come back for Christmas day so it gave us an opportunity to personally deliver her Christmas gifts to her.

You can tell, that the kids are absolutely delighted to have her here from the huge smiles on their faces and the big hugs she is flooded with. It was a wonderful day, and the perfect beginning to our Christmas celebration.

Christmas Eve we delivered our last box of cookies, enjoyed turkey dinner and then acted out the nativity story. The kids really enjoyed acting it out this year and added a few silly antics to their parts, but it was fun.

After we finished and put away the costumes, we each got to open a Christmas Eve gift of soft and cozy fleece pajama pants. These are everyone's favorites and they are perfect for the chilly winter nights.

We were all quite happy with what we got. It was a wonderful pre-Christmas celebration.

Christmas morning everyone awoke with eager anticipation. First they opened their stockings and then we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of waffles, whipped cream and strawberries and then we waited for Alisha to arrive. She had spent Christmas morning with Brandon and his family and was eager to show off some of the nice things she had received. She also came loaded with an very large and heavy gift for Myles.

Everyone is smiling as they anticipate opening their stockings...

Alisha's favorite gift (not counting Brandon's) was the scarf and hat Myles gave her. Of the two, she LOVED the hat!

Beth of course was thrilled to receive a book she had been wanting. Big smiles!

Breanna, who loves to cook, was thrilled with a cookbook which included cupcake liners. And let me just add that she has made us many tasty treats from that book!

Charity had an embroidery project she wanted to finish, so she was excited to receive a variety of colors of embroidery floss.

Dad loves popcorn, so he was tickled to pieces with his whirley-pop and popcorn buckets. Let me tell you, that it has been well used through out the year since then too!

Melodee was so excited to finally receive her pocket knife - exactly the kind she had wanted to get!

I received an art tool for encaustic wax. I wish life wasn't so busy, because I'd like to be able to do it more often!

Myles, being a teenage boy, is interested in building muscles so he was thrilled to discover a chin-up bar in one of his gifts.

Of course, thanks to Alisha, Myles got the largest gift this year. And if we were to measure weights, it would top all weight expectations! Inside this box was a punching bag and all the paraphernalia to go with it!

Naomi was also delighted by books, but she also found a good use for the now empty box that Myles punching bag came in.

Christmas was a fun family time. It was fun to share those moments together, strengthening family and enjoying our association with one another.

I love Christmas! I love the little gifts that the kids make for me from school. I also love the thought that is put into the gifts that are given by my grown children. Alisha gave me some beautiful things, but the gifts that surprised me the most, was the gifts Brandon sent down with her. He chose things that suit both Chad and I perfectly. I would have to say that he is either very observant or he had Alisha's help in choosing.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying one another's company. The kids put some of their toys away, and put others to use. To me there is no time quite like Christmas time. The whole day is filled with discovery and anticipation. With so many new gifts, it is hard to decide which to use first, and I love helping the kids figure their things out. Everyone is happy and that feeling of love emanates throughout the house. It is better that the fine smell of a turkey roasting. Christmas is love, felt, smelled, seen and heard. This is the influence of the Savior in our lives - may we seek to not only have it on Christmas day, but EVERY day of the year!

Preparing for Christmas 2013

Besides decorating, baking and house cleaning, we had some pretty exciting Christmas projects that we made this year. The most thrilling one was a book, made for our oldest daughter. I started it in October and worked through until the first week of December when it was finally ready to order. This was a project that required lots of scanning, editing of photos and saving them with the proper year and information. Also involved in the project, was the need to transcribe all my journals as well as Chad's in order to include the delightful growing up stories that had been recorded. You see, this book is a picture history - a life history during the childhood years. I loved the project so much that I hope to be able to do one for each of my children!!!

I spent so much time on Shylah's book that I didn't have a lot of time for much else, however, I did manage to make a book for my parents. Unfortunately, the order took longer than I had estimated and it didn't arrive until after the holiday.

The other large project I did for Christmas was an afghan special for my husband. Unfortunately, I never had time to finish it, so he received a half done afghan with the promise to finish it. I have been working on it too since that time, but alas it is not yet finished. This afghan represents our love, woven together in the calming and soothing colors of blue and green as well as the purity of white. We have faced the ripples of life together, and will yet face more, but we have felt the peace and calm of the love of the Savior helping us overcome, forgive, and become better. I guess, the fact that I have taken so long to make this afghan is also representative of the fact that we cannot be perfected or finished in a short period of time. It takes years, and rows and rows of experiences that purify us before we are ready to truly become sanctified.

I have found it difficult to crochet since I broke my shoulder. It makes my arm incredibly sore, but I have loved crocheting and I have been relieved of the challenge I developed a few years back where crocheting would cause my arms to break out in a bright red rash. I am grateful that that problem no longer exists. I will yet finish this project, for I love my husband too much to leave it undone. I am so grateful that he is a patient and an understanding man.

Aside from making piles of cookies to give away this year, Breanna did some of her own baking. This year she made cake pops.

We also made our traditional chocolates which were enjoyed very much during the Christmas season.

Candy Houses

Many years ago we started the tradition of making gingerbread houses just before Christmas. We have had some really good years and we have also had some really bad ones. One year everyone was sick through Christmas so we actually didn't do our houses until some time in January! However, we have always done them. For our 2012 year our cookies were not cooked hard enough - in other words, they were just moist enough that they wouldn't hold their shape and once we assembled the houses, the cookie would settle and pretty soon it would topple over. With that experience in mind, the following year (2013) we decided to do rice krispie treat houses or projects. Here is what we got...

These trains were a lot o fun to make and as you can see, well decorated! Everyone created their own version of a candy and rice krispie project. Of course the most successful ones incorporated a LOT of chocolate candy!!! ☺

For some reason I missed getting a picture of Myles, but he did one too. It is a joy to watch my children create things with different mediums. Melodee, Breanna and Naomi made a village decorating numerous houses and some of them even did trees and snow which of course was littered with chocolate candy... 

We are so blessed to have the bounty that allows us to make these delectable and imaginative treats. We felt so grateful that we decided we wanted to share our bounty with friends and neighbors... so we did something akin to the 12 days of Christmas. We selected 12 families and then made treat boxes filled with Christmas baking to take to these friends and family members. We would take one box out every night to a different family on each of the 12 evenings before Christmas... It was delightful to include so many people in our Christmas celebrations and yet, even then, the sacrifice was minimal for we still had many, many cookies to enjoy through the holidays.

On one of those evening deliveries, we were invited in for a visit. While there we were told the story of the Christmas train...

This cool little train was made by one of our good friends. He told us of how when he was a boy he had a similar train and each Christmas Eve he would find his train and place it under the tree and when he awoke the next morning it would be there shining and new looking with a fresh coat of paint ready for another year of use. That meant a lot to him, and as he started making his own, he realized the amount of work that would have gone into that project in order to have his train ready by morning. Because of that experience, he has made a train for each of his sons and now grandsons. What a treasure to have a tangible reminder of the love of a father and grandfather. I LOVE the gifts like this that come from the heart. If we never gave store bought gifts, I would not miss them, for it is so easy to purchase the hearts desire whenever one would want it, but it is NOT easy to find those treasured items that are products of the heart, made with love and tenderness, personalized specifically for the receiver. What a blessing it is to be able to give a little of ones self at Christmas time. I LOVE Christmas and the peace and joy that is associated with it!!!

Doing a Wedding

OK, so given how late this post is, you might think that I'm going to tell you about doing the wedding of my daughter, however, the first wedding I have done actually took place in December of 2013. We decorated with a winter theme with lots of blues and silvers and sparkles. It was beautiful. I loved the centerpieces...

We didn't have a huge area to decorate and the reception was a simple one so mostly we did centerpieces and a few tables with a greeting area for the receiving line. Daniel and Aubrey were the perfectly smiling bride and groom as they greeted their guests.

During the reception we took care of the food table. The kids dished ice cream and I and a few family friends helped keep the refreshments in good supply.

As the evening closed down we even found time to visit with some of the guests. It was such a pleasure to assist in a wedding. Weddings are such exciting times and it was fun to watch the family visit together and renew their associations one with another during the occasion. It is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life that sometimes family relationships are neglected, but what a comfort to watch a family come together again, greeting and loving each other as though no time had passed at all. One day, we will all cross the veil and renew relationships with family members that we haven't seen for a very long time, and I think that that reunion is going to be grand and glorious. Any petty differences that ever existed will drop away as we associate with one another welcoming love and unity into our hearts and souls.

Breaking Out

December came in fiercely in 2013. With Chad gone, helping his parents, and the kids at school, I was left on my own to dig out enough sidewalk to be able to get in and out of the house. We had so much snow - at least a foot deep and it was heavy and wet and in places drifted. Well, as weird as it may sound, I actually like shoveling snow. So I bundled up and began to dig into it...

I shoveled and shoveled and shoveled. I could feel heat building in my arms and face and neck, so I decided I'd better go in and rest a bit. You see, I tend to break out in hives when I work really hard, and I could feel it starting. Well, the door was locked. I knew I had the back door open, but there was piles of snow between me and it, so I put my shoulder to the task and cleared a walkway from the side of the house around to the back...

Oh, did I say the snow was deep and heavy?!!! That was an understatement! It was interesting, because as I worked the sensation of heat actually subsided and I felt good and invigorated! I made my way into the house and was shocked to discover in the mirror a very red rash covering my neck and face. It was nasty, BUT I was very blessed because it was not itchy. Usually it is so itchy I can hardly stand it. It was ironic because when I finally shoveled my way in the back door I discovered that I had the house keys in my coat pocket the whole time!!! Anyway...

Well, that's my allergy to exercise. I was very grateful to not be suffering from it. It took about 3/4 of an hour to go away and then I went to do more shoveling. ☺ I am sure that had anyone seen me shortly thereafter they would have been alarmed at my appearance. Sometimes our challenges are easy for others to see, but more often than not, they are not discernible to the naked eye. It takes a spiritual eye to detect suffering. Some people are digging themselves out of piles of snowdrift like challenges, others are just trudging through. I have my own spiritual snowdrifts to shovel away, but I am blessed with the selfless help of my Savior. I am grateful that He does not judge me based on the piles of snow that surround me, he simply helps me clear it away, until it melts from my heart leaving me free and liberated and warm with His love. I am so grateful that snow melts!!! 

Getting Ready for Christmas 2013

One thing we like to do each year is have a Christmas decorating party. We love to find excuses to invite our children to come home for a visit, and this is one of those times. This year, as it turned out, even Chad was unable to be here for our ushering in of the Christmas festivities in our home. He was taking care of his parents, who were returning home from Calgary after a lengthy recovery program following his dad's stroke.

That left us girls and Myles to usher in Christmas. We pulled out all the Christmas decorations as well as food and a puzzle and began. First we started with the tree. Each year, when we pull out the tree I am reminded of Shylah's thoughtfulness. I am so grateful to her for the timely gift of a pre-lit Christmas tree a number of years ago. I absolutely love this tree. It fits in my house so nicely and it is always so beautiful. It is a joy to see it decorated and gracing our home with the reminder of the Saviors birth.

The kids did a fabulous job decorating. It looks wonderful. We took pictures and sent them off to Chad so he could join with us as much as possible from a distance in our Christmas festivities.

Once everything was ready for Christmas we took a group picture to share with dad as well. I actually had to take about 10 photos, the kids were being so silly. You can see a hint of it even in this photo. I sure do love my kids. Their antics make me smile, and it is good to smile and laugh!

A few days later we added a few  more decorations to our home...

I loved what the turquoise ribbons did for our tree!

Well, we had so much fun decorating our own house, that we went together as a family a few days after that and decorated a friends house. We hung ornaments and ribbons on the stair rails, put out Christmas wreaths on every door and set up nativity scenes in key locations. The only thing we didn't do was the tree. That was something they would do with their own family a little closer to Christmas. 

Myles, Charity and Breanna wrapped gifts for them as well.

It looked so beautiful when it was all done. We finished the evening off with a meal and a Christmas movie. What a wonderful time of year to share with others. With all the preparations and frills we put into Christmas, it would really mean nothing without family. Family is what makes Christmas wonderful. My heart mourns for those whose families are divided, especially at this time of year, for it is difficult to feel the full joy of Christmas when individuals are absent. May heaven be like Christmas. Filled with family and joy with EVERYONE present for the celebration.