And the stockings were hung

Can you fall asleep while repeatedly listening to “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer?”  He must have pushed that button over and over for at least fifteen minutes.  I was doing dishes.  When the song finally stopped I came out to check on him and this is what I found.

 

   

 

Our halls, decked.

 

I call this my Silver and Gold table.

 

My friend, Ashley, and I made these wreaths one day early in the month.  I love having a wreath to hang since I have never had one of any kind!

 

 

Windows are decked too.

 

 

I made this sign (thanks to Scott’s Aunt Paula for the vinyl lettering!)…maybe I got a leetle carried away with the glitter and I am not sure I love the huge size and general “loudness” of the whole thing  but it does the job.  Obviously the stockings are homemade.  My favorite thing about them is their small size.  It makes it easy for Santa to fill them!

 

Our “Santa Shelf.”  The Tupperware plate and mug on the left will be put to use tonight.  That is the set my family used when we were all little to leave Santa his treats.  Somehow last year it came into my possession.  No, I didn’t steal it, my Mom gave it to me.  I love that I have this and it is a very kid friendly set!

 

Our sad little tree…before you are confused, let me explain that it is four feet tall and at probably 20 years old.  It is currently perched on top of an end table, squished between our couches.  That is why it looks like a million gifts are there but really they are just piled up because there is not really room on that table.  There is a whole sections of lights on the bottom that don’t light up anymore.  I think Santa may swap out the lights tonight so the tree is all sparkly in the morning.  This situation reminds me of something…

“Santy Claus, why,

“Why, are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?

But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick

He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!

“Why, my sweet little tot,” the fake Santy Claus lied,

“There’s a light on this tree that won’t light on one side.

“So I’m taking it home to my workshop, my dear.

“I’ll fix it up there.  Then I’ll bring it back here.”

I hope when Santy Claus brings the tree back it is suddenly 6-7 feet tall, pre-lit and has a magnificent star tree topper.  Maybe?

Merry Christmas!

Family Pictures

I am one lucky girl!  I entered a blog giveaway and won a free family photo session from an adorable girl named Kelsea Elwood!  Her photography business is called Simply You Photography and she has done some really cute work.  She has already worked on a few of our family photos and shared them on facebook – I LOVE how they turned out!  Thank you Kelsea!

Uhhhh, Thanksgiving and a Surprise Visit

Who has time to blog anymore?  Anyone? Anyone?  Obviously, not me.  Here I am just getting to Thanksgiving!

We had a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving.  Just for the day, our little family went up to Safford to enjoy turkey with his Grandma and Grandpa Thatcher and the rest of his mom’s family.  We had a fun time reconnecting with everyone up there.

The most notable part of that week was my little sister, Chery’s visit.  She is attending BYU and had fed my family a story that she was unable to find a ride home for Thanksgiving.  About a week before Thanksgiving she called me and let me in on the secret that she had at least five different people that she could come home with and that she was going to surprise our family.  She showed up on the doorstep on Monday night – the surprise was a huge success – tears from Mom and Celsea and huge grins from my Dad.  We got to have her around for a whole week and it was so much fun!  (I am counting down the days until she and my brother, Allen, come home for Christmas break).  The boys had a great time reconnecting with their lesser-known aunt.

Chery, Boston, and the stuffed beagle practicing their music.  (Chery is a dual music/education major – yeah, she is talented)

 

Both people in this picture are adorable!

 

We also did some “Black Friday” shopping in the afternoon, though we refused to wait in the two hour long line at Kohl’s. You can see that Celsea is still going strong in this picture, but my boys are DONE!

 

Temple Groundbreaking Ceremony

Clear back in November I had the opportunity to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gilbert, Arizona Temple.  It was a very hot and sunny day.  The next day at church, you could tell who was present at the ceremony by the burned left ear and neck!  I went with my sister, Celsea, and my Dad.  My mom was singing in the choir.  Scott and the boys dropped us off right at the entrance so we didn’t have to worry about parking.  It was a formal and yet kind of informal affair.  Thousands (at least five thousand) of people were milling around everywhere.  You could walk right up to the front and snap pictures next to the artist rendering of what the temple would look like.  There were news cameras and helicopters around too.  It was a cool experience to be there though the heat was really distracting.

The big empty dirt field.


Celsea and I – self portrait near the spot where they broke ground.


Can you see off to the left?  That is the painting of what the temple is supposed to look like.


Here is a better picture of the temple.


My cute Mommy on the stand.

Sunday

I tripped over the microphone cord while conducting Junior Primary today.  I fell hard onto my knees.  Church carpeting is not luxurious or soft.  In fact, I would much sooner compare it to sand paper.  Of course, I had to play it cool and responded to the concerned questions “are you okay?” with “yeah!” and a big forced smile.  (Watering eyes and shaking hands.)  I avoided looking at my smarting knee for a few minutes hoping that nobody would see my weakness.  Finally I peeked a glance:

 Sorry for the gross white leg picture.

Then, to add insult to injury, I was asked to speak in church the Sunday after Christmas.  Scott won’t be speaking with me, I am speaking in my Primary President capacity. 

 

Sigh, at least I didn’t fall in front of Senior Primary.  They would have laughed at me.  As it was, most of Junior probably didn’t even notice what happened.