The Reason for the Season

I'd like to pay tribute to Flem's latest post. Beautiful picture--brings back such fond memories. Cris and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple and we're grateful for all that it means to us. We celebrate the birth of Christ at this time of year in many ways. It's a beautiful thing. . .all the lights, the decorations, the giving of gifts to loved ones, the music, remembering those in need in some way---make your own list. We enjoyed our Christmas sooooo much. Here's why:

Nick, Bella and Tasha came to visit. Score!!! Zhu Zhu pets!! Three days after Christmas Toys R Us got in a new shipment. We then had to make little pillows and blankets for our new babies.


Christmas dinner--just some of our peeps.


The prime rib roast before going in to the oven. Forgot to take a pictures after in came out but it was AWESOME.

Cris and I went house hopping Christmas morning sharing gifts and watching children's faces. Oh look!! Memzy got new knives!

Shed is impressed with his new iPhone car charger.

Memzy made us a "travel quilt" with embroidered patches of our travels. LOVE IT!

Riles and his new Wii game.

Jack got one too.

Camcorder. Skype, Skype, Skype. Excited.

Charlie yuvs his trio building set.

Clara loves FP Little People so gramma stalked eBay. Lost 4 bids--won 2.

Owen LOVES Legos
Liesl is very happy with another new Webkins.
And My Pretty Ponies
A Christmas angel.

Good times, good times. Thanks to our children, their spouses and our grand kids for making our life so full of joy.

How Well Do You Know These Boys?

Are they standing by the right Chipmonk?

Chistmas is Coming, the Goose is Getting Fat. . . (muppets singing)

Landee inspired some of us to post our decorations, so here they are. This beautiful snowflake glass ornament was purchased at Buchart Gardens gift shop, Vancouver Island, Canada. Oh yeah!!!

It looks prettier in real life. Most ornaments are collected from our travels.

Hurrah for outside lights. Next year I will be paying a scout to put them up. Non negotiable.

Love the red front door. Just love it.

Clara's stocking. I know---she's 1 1/2 years old. Better late than never.

Packages color coded. Green for Memzy's family. Red for Becca's family. Nick and Kevin's mailed long ago. Phew.

We are so PSYCHED!! Panera's is coming to town. Look out!!

We took Crackers out for breakfast last Saturday for his birthday. What an angel.

Can he get any cuter? I think not.

Tuesday was date day for these 4. We went to Barnes and Noble. . . . . .

And then to "Moo" for lunch and ice cream. My idea of holiday fun.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

A tribute to Shed and Memzy

I present to you (drum roll please) THE MAN OF THE HOUR!!! He may look a bit nerdy, goofy, silly, etc. But he has a heart of gold. I was struck with the stomach flu Sunday night at precisely 8:30 P.M. I am usually a very strong woman with a can-do attitude but when it comes to vomiting--I am a wimp/looser/reject. I simply hate it. I'm sure you all feel the same way.

At any rate, we needed help both in the form of Fenergen (anti nausea meds) and taking care of Cris. Memzy and Shed came to our rescue presto pronto. (Let it be known that Becca, Owen and Liesl were all experiencing the same thing having started only hours before. Yah, we spent part of Saturday together and probably all got it from the same source.)

Shed took care of Cris (this includes every possible activity you can think of) Sunday night and again on Monday night. He had no idea he was signing up for this kind of duty when he married Memzy. We just wanted to say THANK YOU. We think you're pretty terrific.


He took care of this guy.



Memzy brought Gatorade, lunch for Cris and much needed support. Love you both.

Gingerbread houses--round two

Jack and Charlie came over Saturday for their turn making gingerbread houses. We had a ball!!! It takes so little to make a 5 year old happy. And an almost 9 year old was a great helper and a good sport with said 5 year old. Sharing candy decorations was successful--lots of trading going on. Charlie never stopped talking (see video below) and Jack sang as he worked. Note the frosting on Charlie's face. . . . not bad really. . . .couldn't been worse. THIS is what Christmas is all about--my little sugar plums. Explanation: Jack did not want to be videoed. He said a nice picture would be just fine. Love that boy.

Some Thanksgiving Fun

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving. Here's the proof.

We made bows.


We did all sorts of crafts.
We lounged around.

And lounged some more. Please note that little Miss Clara was not to be left out and Owen didn't want to actually lay by the girls so found his perch at the top of the bed. Movie time.

Oh yeah. . .and we made gingerbread houses/trains/villages. (kits at Target are awesome)

Liesl was thrilled to have girl cousins in town.

Gratuitous picture of Clara.

Uncle John (Cris' brother) came from Virginia.

Nick and Family came from Henderson.

I do love my girls.

It was a perfect Thanksgiving (except we missed Memzy and family and Kevin and family. . . .but you can't have everything all the time. Right?

The Holiday's are coming. . . .fast.

Some people like to flaunt their driving skills. . . .aka. . Uncle Visor. We've been really cranking out the Christmas shopping (our goal is always to have it completed by Thanksgiving, which never happens) and must travel between Target, Walmart, Kohls, Best Buy, etc. All contiguous stores. I drive the car between places---Papa likes to drive his own 'car'. I drive beside him to intervene in case other cars don't see him and run him over. He basically ignores me and puts it on fast mode. It's basically his own style of fun.

While Memzy was frolicking with the SF7. Char and I had a play date. Gotta love that little boy.
And yes---a large group of us went to New Moon on Monday night and I did what I thought would never happen. I switched to team Jacob. I mean, really. He's the only good actor in the show. Don't get me wrong, I loved the movie but Bella and Edward need acting classes. Can't wait for Eclipse. And thanks to the SF7 for the yummy french bread from Boudine's. It was AWESOME.

Now. . . .get out there and get Christmas shopping people. . .times a wastin'.

Oregon Weekend---TaDa

We decided to drive to Medford to visit Kevin and family last weekend. The colors were unbelievable. Seriously.
This is their neighborhood. Beautiful.

The fun we had. . . . .this is just an example.

Luke and Seth. Handsome dudes.

"Everywhere that Papa went, Papa went, Papa went. Everywhere that Papa went, Ricky was sure to go". He kept singing interesting versions of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" with his own lyrics which included stuff about Papa's chair, etc. Hilarious.

Rachel and Ricky are good buddies. Can you tell Ricky just woke up?

We were able to watch Christine's dance class on Saturday but my pictures didn't turn out well through the glass observation window. So no pictures of Christine dancing. She's beautiful.

A beautiful family. We loved our visit so much. They always lift our spirits, make us laugh, entertain and love us. What's not to love about that?