Christmas '08

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! All that it means and all that we get to do as a family. I LOVE my family and am so blessed.

Okay, how many adults does it take to dress a dog? Megan got Sophie a little something to wear and Jen and Scott put it on her even though she was trying to nibble on Scott's fingers.

Scott gave Jared an ice fishing pole and the way he had wrapped it we were laughing because it looked like one of the first old cell phones that were HUGE! I made afghans for the grand kids this year and you can she Mikelles on Jared lap.

Save me Megan!

Mikelle disappeared and when I came out in the kitchen, she was under the table with her face on the bar of the chair. She was tired but as soon as I took her picture, she smiled and started to crawl away.

Santa brought her some baby dolls and so we got her this little stroller but she kept trying to set in it herself and was getting mad when it would roll backwards.

Preston was a riot this year. When he opened this up he said, "Oh thank you grandma! I have been wanting this all my life!"

Mikelle was so cute but you could tell she had had about enough.

Merry Christmas!

BBBBUUURRRRR!

Well, this is today and it is still snowing. We were only supposed to get a couple of inches and we got at least 6-7 of light fluffy snow. It is still snowing...........

This was after the snow storm yesterday. It was heavier snow and we got about 9 inches. This is what it looked like outside when the clouds broke and the sun was setting. It was absolutely beautiful! It gave everything a golden look to it.
There was such a contrast between the clouds and the blue sky with the golden hues. The temp really dropped and it got very cold last night.

They say that the storm on Christmas is supposed to be bigger than what we have gotten so far and they are suggesting not to travel anywhere on that day. The sledding will be great and it is really fun now that the park is finished across the street.

Family Christmas Party

The traditional family party is getting together for different yummy soups, white elephant gifts and then bowling. The kids love it and it is so much fun to get together with everyone. It is amazing to see how big the family has gotten and there were several that were not with us physically, but were in all of our hearts!

When we were leaving the church to go bowling, Preston pulled the fire alarm. When we were bowling, it just about killed him not to be touching the buttons. His new name should be "Dennis"! ;) He keeps us busy and we love him for it!

Mr. G.Q.

This is such a great picture of Renee, mom and dad.

If you ask him to smile, this is what you get. What a doll!

Dad would always do a cheek to cheek dance with all of the grand kids and now it is starting with the great-grandchildren. She was still tired from the flight and wasn't to sure of it, but she did let him dance with her.

This little man LOVES his tongue and was such a smiley guy!

Merry Christmas Family!

Our trees gave their all!

Saturday was our ward Christmas party and I was on the decorating committee. We used the boughs of our tree to put down the center of the tables and along the front of the stage. We added gingerbread men cookies and snowflakes. On the tables, there was also red ribbon to add some color and we put crayons on the tables, that were covered with paper, so that the children could color. It was great and it really kept the kids from running all over the place. My friend Leslie came up with the ideas and I just helped.

We always thought it would have been fun to put lights on those huge trees but it would have cost a small fortune. Well, they did get some lights in them along the stage. Someone came up after looking at everything when we were finished and said our trees never looked so beautiful! They did!

While I was decorating at the church, men from the ward were at our house for Super Service Saturday grinding up the stumps from the trees. There is a man that had some connections and he got the equipment for nothing. It was cold and it was snowing off and on. Thanks guys! The tree that you see on the right is the next one to go in the spring.

This is just one of the stumps. It doesn't look all that big but they were. The men dug around the base and around the biggest roots and used the grinder on them. Our yard looks so much bigger and empty now. I look at it as a blank canvas and when the curb and gutter gets put in next spring, we can start working on "painting" a beautiful yard.

Thank you again to all those men who braved the cold weather!

Thank you!

I was making candy and not even paying attention when Hunter came in the kitchen and looked out the back door. He just said "WOW, mom have you seen this? It's beautiful!" Thank you son for reminding me what is truly important and to take a few minutes to just look. And thank you Heavenly Father for loving us so much by blessing our lives by something as simple and yet as stunning as a sunset.

Mikelle primping

I am sure that Meg will post some of these pictures to, but these are some that I got. She just got her hair cut and Megan was fixing it. She sat really good for her until she turned on the faucet and got her feet wet. What a dolly!

Okay, you will need to click on this picture so you can see it even closer, but check out those eye lashes! WOW! They are sooooo long and thick!
I'M DONE!

No mommy, NO! I have had enough!

She wasn't there for more than 10 minutes, but I am sure in kids time, it was forever!

Hunter & Jordan's Tree

Hunter and his BFF ;) Jordan share a locker at school and they wanted to be festive, so they hung some battery operated lights up as well as some stockings and they put this little tree in their locker. Merry Christmas boys!

We pulled it off!

Well, we had our party on Saturday night and with the family's help, we got the house decorated and the kitchen put back together.

The entry way:

The shelf is fun to put things on and the quote on the wall is the same as on our blog at the top.