December 24, 2011

Just a quick note about today. We've been busy trying to get all of our last minute wrapping and making and what not completed in time for a quiet evening. Last night was our family Christams party and I think it was successful. It's always good to have everyone together where we focus on the family and the meaning of Christmas and less on what the world would have us focus on. The little ones are always a hit. They bring such joy with their cute little smiles and happy little faces. Both sets of parents were able to join us and that ws also a pretty big deal.

Dinner consisted of Prime Rib, Funeral potatoes, brocolli, rolls and a yummy dessert. It was a very good dinner followed by some festive themed minute to win it games and the granparents exchangeing gifts. .






This picture of the christmas tree has my favorite little rocker sitting in front of the Christmas tree. Dad says his  his grandma owned it. I knew that because she gave it to me when I was pregnant with Tyler. Wayne and I refinished it and we've had it ever since.

A Few Special Christmas Memories

The Touch of the Master's Hand
A gift from a very dear friend Margo Miles

"They Called His Name Jesus" by Dan Freed
Dan's father "Brother Freed" lives in my ward. He is such a kind man. One
day while I was visiting him and he was telling me about his family ,
he showed me some of his son's art. He ask me if I would like a print. I was
so excited that I promptly had it matted and framed. I took it back to Bro. Freed to show
him how beautiful it looked. I later gave Dan Freed's work to each of my three children at
Christmas. I think they enjoy theirs as much as we do.
Christmas Socks were bought on our trip to Finland

This wooden sleigh was made by dad about 10 years ago - before
this nasty Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) Disease has taken
away his ability to do the many talents he loved so much.

My Nativity. The creche' was made by Wayne for me. I've had other
nativity sets before but I really love this one. I could leave
this out all year long. It brings me peace as I enter the room.

My Christmas cactus. This is more of a fun story and will leave a fun
memory for me this year. The plant is from my friends in my office at Logan Regional.
I had surgery 3 weeks ago and this along with an inside joke
makes a lasting Christmas memory. Thanks everyone!

There are actually 6 things in this picture. 1st there is a poinsettia. Wayne and I celebrated out 30th wedding anniversary on December 11th. For as long as I can remember we have skipped roses or other flowers to decorate the house with beautiful poinsettia's for our anniversary.  Front and center is Santa. My dad and I cut these out and I painted these one year. I painted one for him and my mom and one for me. He promptly made a nice stand for his so he could display it and it wouldn't tip over. That was probably 15 or more years ago. Wayne made me a stand for mine this year so it no longer needs to lean against the fireplace or in a corner. Santa is standing next to my grandma Larsen's rocking chair from when she was a little girl. Grandma gave me the rocker when I was pregnant with Tyler and we refinished it and it's special to see my grandkids sit and rock in it. The curio cabinet is number 4 and it was made by my dad about 20 years ago. I always display beautiful Christmas keepsakes in it.#5 is the wooden Santa on the left shelf. It was hand carved in Russia and we bought it while visiting there in 2008.

Christmas is a Feeling

Spooktacular Halloween

We had a totally awesome Halloween with great weather and excited grandkids. Wayne always enjoys Halloween much more than I do so he had his scary ghost set up at the front door. He also made certain that we gave out the full size candy bars before we moved to the little candy bars. I actually dressed up (sort of) for the first time in probably 30 or more years. I decided that I would take on the "witch" or mean reputation that I may have within my role at work, and play that up. So I dressed up as a witch and then denied that I was dressed up. It was kind of fun for all of us and it made for a great day. Sydnee and Savannah were so excited about the amount of candy that they were able to gather. It brought back great memories of when I was a kid and used to go out trick or treating. I would eat the "good stuff" like the candy bars and pixi sticks and I really didn't eat a lot of the candy. Too bad they didn't hand out cinnamon bears and twizzler bites when I was a kid ;-)
I'm pretty glad now that as an adult I can buy candies that I don't really crave so when there are leftovers I'm not that tempted to eat them all. Wayne thinks I'm funny cuz I like to keep them in the candy jar.
We had soup and bread tonight before we took the kids out for their final houses of trick or treating. Jocelyn made a yummy baked potato soup and we made the Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana soup. It was all so yummy.

Healthsouth Halloween Party

The staff at the surgical center had a family halloween party for the doc's and their kids so after work Wayne drove home from Salt Lake long enough to pick me up along with the grandkids and we drove back to Salt Lake. Sydnee and Savannah wore their costumes from last year because their costumes aren't ready for this year. Since I didn't know we were going ahead of time, I didn't have time to get Emma's costume. The staff went to a lot of work to have a spook alley and lots of cute games for the kids. They all dressed up and interacted with the kids. Afterwards there was hotdogs and sloppy joes along with yummy cookies and and homemade rootbeer. IT was really nice of them to go to all of that hard work. Bryant and his two boys were there. Henry made friends with Savannah and the 4 of them went back several times to play more games and to gather extra candy. By the time we left both girls had full bags of candy. It was another great night with the grandkids!

Conference Weekend

 Emma is sitting in the rocking chair that used to belong to my Grandma Larsen. She gave it to me to refinish when I was pregnant with Tyler almost 30 years ago. My grandma was born in 1907 so you know the chair is just a few years old. It is so special to me to have it in my home and to see my grandkids enjoy it.

 We took the two littlest ones for a walk during the second session on Sunday so that their parents could enjoy some quiet during the session. Wayne and I were able to record it so we watched it after the kids left. Walking around the streets in Mantua during conference was like walking around a ghost town, it was so quiet! It was an awesome time to spend together chatting and watching these two little ones.

 After conference we took advantage of the beautiful weather and the last of the autumn time flowers and snapped a few pictures of my girls. I can hardly believe how grown up my little Sydney kidney has gotten! She has lost that little girl look and is looking more and more like a young lady every day. She is so beautiful both inside and out. You can see the sparkle in her daddy's eye when he interacts with her. I think he realizes what we've been warning him about - how quickly the time goes by!

My little Savannah banana! She too is growing like a weed. We had a great weeked with Savannah her Aunt Joce made conference a little more enjoyable even for her with some fun coloring activities. This little one is loaded with personality and she can be a little pistol sometimes. Other times she's the most loving little girl you'll ever chance to meet. Today she met my parents with a big hug and a kiss and specifically ask my mom how she was feeling and if her hip was all better. "Are you able to go for walks again grandma because I know how much you like to go for walks?"

My conference weekend consisted of having all 3 of my kids come up to the house and enjoy conference with us. Zachary got to order the lunch menu so we had Chicken Parmesan and it was good I guess or so I am told. My parents came up to join us and that was nice. They don't get out too often and it's always nice to have them come and be with the family. They enjoy being around the great-grandkids so much and it really makes my mom smile. What was especially funny on this particular day was Nash. He kept reaching out for my dad as they were leaving and wanting my dad to hold him. Once he was in the car, Nash wanted in the car with them so I let him in for a minute. He gave my dad a big kiss and when I went to take him away from my dad so they could leave, he started to cry. I think that put a little grin on my parents face - not to see Nash cry but to know that they are still wanted and needed, especially by the little ones. It made for a nice ending to a nice weekend. I couldn't really ask for anything more.

Girls Night!

I've mentioned before how lucky I am to work with such great people and these couple of ladies are 2 of those said great people. Mattie is Susan's daughter and has become our second daughter. We are grateful she will have us and even more grateful that she thinks we're cool enough to hang out wth on a Friday night. Whatever the reason we were all blessed to have a great Friday night togther making various different pasta dishes and eating them. Dr. Keyser shared some of his great Italian recipes with us so we put them to use by making about 5 of them tonight. I just wanted to make a few comments about these two great ladies. It is such a blessing to work with such awesome ladies. Both of these ladies live their lives in accordance with gospel principles. They have such a kind heart and it is impossible to have bad day with these two around. Mary is going to retire in Janurary and that will leave Susan and I in the office. It's hard to imagine what it will be like when it's no longer "the three of us". Somethings can change but our friendship will not. Thanks ladies! Our dinner was awesome and your company even better.