Christmas joys

1. Shopping online and avoiding the lines. (Not so joyous, the 2 shipments that are yet to be received.)
2. San Diego with the family. ( Evan wanted to go to the Poinsettia Bowl and bribed his girls with Disneyland if we tag along.
3. Disneyland at Christmas time. (We avoided the lines at the mall, but found them here…. 10 fold!)
4. Disney food, treats, holiday lights, music and snow. (Painful knees and hips to boot.)
5. Home in time for Christmas Eve Dinner, Sister In-Law as the great hostess. (A family tradition we refused to miss. We all got up at 4:30 AM to make an early flight home.)
6. Candlelight dinner. Remembering the Savior, highlighting the past year. (More traditions we look forward too!)
7. Home to prepare for Christmas day. (Traditional breakfast, another must.)
8. Sleeping until 9, waking up the family. (Lets get this party started!)
9. Family prayer before opening our gifts. (Chester finds joy in shredding the discarded wrapping paper.)
10. Christmas music in the background. (Hardly noticeable with the excitement of a few surprises.)
11. Family arrivals for dinner. (We moved the location from my parents home to our home for the first time this year. I still let mom do most of the work, I just put out the paper dishes and set a table or two.)
12. Gag gifts for nieces. (This time we threw Rachel and Becca in the mix with their Uncle Ev.)

Gadgets are a girls best friend

I am not a big “bling” kinda gal.
Multipack earrings from Claire’s are right down my alley.
When asked, I can never think of a want.
It is easy to understand why my family names me as
the person most difficult to gift.

We all shout for joy when a new (affordable) gadget
catches my eye and peaks my interest.
This year, was such a year.

Thanks to Kylee’s great editing skills,
she put together the great video from a
recent outing to see the lights at the SLC Temple,
where we had the opportunity to put this
great gadget to the test.

HERE is a link to her great video.
(Thanks to Neale for letting us tag along!)

50-25-40 something

What a whirlwind of events over the last 50 days…
Evan turned 50 in October.
We gave thanks with family in November.
A couple of days later, we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.
We could not imagine celebrating this milestone without our daughters.
Dinner at The Roof, overlooking the Temple where we were married.
Followed by lights on temple square until the extreme crowds
overpowered the Christmas spirit.
(Thank you Kylee for the photos!)





I celebrated my birthday with the same great crew, minus one.
Once again, dinner out... a small and quite affair.
(Miss you Tay!)
(Thanks again for the photo Ky.)


In a weeks time, we will all be together again,
preparing to celebrate a wonderful Christmas Season.
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family.
I cannot imagine life without them.
I love and cherish every celebration, event, MOMENT with them.