Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!



'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

'Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!'

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
"HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD-NIGHT!"

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Gifts for the Beehives


I work with the Beehive girls in our ward. They are in 7Th, and 8Th grade. I have so much fun with them. I wanted to give them something for Christmas. Right now, we have 17 Beehives in our ward. I decided to go to the Dollar Store, and get frames. Then I found a quote by President Hinkley, and put it in the frame. I have to thank Sarah for assembling these. I got busy wrapping gifts today. :)

Friday, December 21, 2007

gingerbread


The kids are officially out of school for Christmas break! I am so happy! I love spending time with them. Tonight I decided it was a perfect night to make gingerbread. The kids, and their friends seemed to really enjoy it. What are some of your favorite goodies, that you like to make this time of the year?

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Steve's book...

Hard at work on another project, but you get the idea! :)

I am famous for waiting until the last minute to finish projects that I am working on. I work great under pressure. This is not a good thing! I have been working on a scrapbook of Steve's football career. I think Kinko's thought Sarah, and I had moved in on Saturday. We spent a good amount of time copying etc. I am so excited to give Steve his book. It will be a walk down memory lane for him. I am not finished as of yet. I am getting there though.

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Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas at Nanny & Bud's...

Dessie and Ben

Nate




Dessie, Jake, and I

Putting together the popcorn maker.

Nanny opening her gift!

I feel like I haven't posted in a while. We have been crazy busy over here. All good, and festive things that have been occupying our time. Last night we celebrated Christmas with Steve's Mom, sister, brother in law, nieces nephews, etc.We had a great time visiting with everyone, and just spending time together as family. My nieces, and nephew are starting to have darling children of their own. They are precious. We had a wonderful dinner, opened gifts, and even got in part of the movie Hairspray! Here are some photos f our night. I hope that everyone is doing great this last week before Christmas. I just got home from shopping etc. since 9:00 this morning! My feet were hurting! I guess boots aren't the smartest thing to wear when you have to walk the mall! :)

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Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Silhouettes



I ordered silhouettes of the kids a few weeks ago from http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/ I have been so excited for them to arrive. I ordered them on canvas. There is a couple of different way you can order them. I went, and got 4 frames, knobs, and black ribbon for the finishing touch. Here they are! :)

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Mesa Temple Christmas lights



Last night we decided to brave the weather, and continue on with our plans. We bundled up, and were on our way. We have a tradition to eat at El Charro, before we see the temple lights. We do eat there countless times during the year too. This is a restaurant that I have been going to since I was a baby. My kids have been going since they were babies. My Mom has gone since she was a young girl. This for sure is our family favorite!

We then headed to the temple. It was cold, and rainy. We still had a wonderful time. The lights were so beautiful. There is something so special about walking around the temple looking at the beautiful lights. Such a special feeling.

We ended our night by watching a movie Jake recommended in the Visitors Center. Jake had seen this movie with the Young Men from our ward a few months ago. I can't remember the name of it. It was such a sweet movie. We then decided it was time to go home, and get warm. It was a wonderful time. Desirae was the only one that couldn't join us. She had to work last night. We sure did miss her.

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Christmas cards...

Here is the santa that sits in our entry way! He's so cute! :)



Today I have been working on our Christmas cards. I got up early, and worked on them for a few hours. Then I headed to the mall to pick up a few more Christmas presents. It was so nice to go on a Monday! There were quite a few people, but nothing like a Saturday! Tonight we are going to see the Mesa temple to see the Christmas lights http://www.christmastemplelights.com for Family Home Evening! I always get so excited to see these beautiful lights! I feel so blessed to live so close to such a special place. I will take pictures of tonight! I can't wait! :)

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Christmas shopping..

Today was such a fun day! Steve, and I headed out to get some major Christmas shopping done. We got a lot done! It feels so good to have some of the things we needed to get bought. We had a lot of fun spending the day together. We ended our shopping trip with a stop at Aunt Annies pretzels. We bought mini pretzels in a bag with cream cheese, and a diet Coke to share. One of our stops today was Costco. We actually went to two differnt Costco's to get what we needed. We got our Chrstmas cards printed. I have to thank my cousin Ashley for all of her hard work. The new pictures on my blog were taken by her. She has some major talent! Thank you Ahley! You can find Ahley's blog on my sidebar.

Friday, December 7, 2007




I finished decorating the porch yesterday afternoon. Sarah, and I started on the ribbon, and bows night before last. I really like the way it turned out. I decided to hang large snowflakes, and ornaments from the ceiling of the porch. The one major decoration that I am keeping my fingers crossed that will appear tomorrow is...the Christmas lights! That is Steve, and the boys job! I love lights, and the magic they bring! I am loving this time of year, and all of the goodness it brings!

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Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Jacobs birthday celebration!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

Steve and I

The Birthday boy!

Steve, and Nate

The kiddos!

Last night was such a good time! I think Jake really enjoyed his 18th Birthday! We went to eat a Gordon Biersch for dinner. YUMMY food! I had the pecan chicken, and highly recommend it! YUM! We then walked over the the theater, and saw Fred Clause with Vince Vaughn in it. This is a very cute Christmas movie! We had a fun night being together!

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Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Happy 18th Birthday Jacob!

Happy 18th Birthday!!!

Today Jacob is the BIG 18!!!!!! We opened gifts this morning, and will celebrate tonight. I will post more pictures later. I can't believe that Jacob is of legal age now! I was just talking to him about being able to go vote together in November for the presidential election. We love you Jacob!

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Sunday, December 2, 2007

Sunday...

Miss Mollie in her Christmas dress. Missie wont wear cute clothes! :)

Missie with her jingle bells on!

Here are a few pictures taken today.

Yesterday we got the tree decorated! I love the feeling a Christmas tree adds to our home. I will post pictures later, the camera batteries aren't charged. Rather than that we have had a pretty low key weekend. We watched college football yesterday/last night. Fun times! Steve, and Nate totally get into this. Jake, Sarah, and I join along, but do other things too. I have a hard time sitting thru any game, let alone a football game on TV. I have to say the Oregon game was very exciting!!! I was sad that the Ducks lost at the last minute! I am off to get a few things ready for church. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sabbath.