Our Very Merry Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year! Each year, I make a comment like "this was the best Christmas ever..." But this one has definitely topped the cake! I really feel that it is because of the past few sermons Pastor Paul has preached. They were about "not missing Christmas"...getting so caught up in the hurry and worry and hustle and bustle of the season that we actually MISS why the season is so special in the first place! And that is the fact that our Savior was born!

Those sermons really spoke to me, because it is very easy for me to get caught up in everything - the shopping, the wrapping, the baking and the gatherings. But this year, each time I felt myself starting to get anxious and worried that I wouldn't get everything done, I stopped and thought about why we have Christmas, and reflecting on what was important always brought me back to reality. And, quite frankly, made me a lot more joyful!

Of course, something else made me very joyful, too... the fact that my sweet husband bought me a new wedding ring for Christmas! I couldn't stop crying :)

Coop's favorite present was his bike. He likes to sit on it and make motorcycle noises. AND - he asked us in a very stern tone, "Where is my helmet? I have to have a helmet when I ride my bike!" I guess we'll be buying him a helmet.

Hunter's favorite present was his PSP. We made him open it last, and everything he opened prior to that was like a huge let-down. We have lots of pictures of him holding things up with a disappointed look on his face, like this...check out the difference.

Boring...

Woo Hoo!

Dave's favorite present was his snowmobiling backpack. He showed it to me in his magazine right before Christmas, and thankfully I managed to order it in time.

Of course we got a ton of other stuff, too...especially at my parents house, but that deserves a whole blog to itself, so look for that in a couple of days. For now, I am filled with peace and joy knowing this wonderful celebration signifies something much greater...a chance for all of us to have eternal life with our Savior!

Our Two Handsome Sons

I took these pics of the boys today after we got home from church. They looked so cute in their "fancy clothes", I just had to share them with you all!

I realize I haven't put up a new blog in a couple of weeks, but we have been extremely busy...as I'm sure all of you have been, too! I've been trying to bake some goodies to put in the freezer for various get-togethers we'll be attending. So far, I've made more peppermint bark and peanut butter balls, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, peanut blossom cookies and gingersnaps.

Last week, I was at Hunter's school three days in a row: Wednesday I helped for a few hours in the evening at his book fair. He went with me and we had tons of fun! Then Thursday we went to his Christmas concert. It was VERY cute! The 1st graders were, by far, the loudest singers. :) Friday, Coop and I went to Hunter's Christmas party...more fun!

We are all really looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas. I have a little more wrapping and a little more baking to do, but I'm determined to get it all done in the next couple of days. I hope you all have a blessed Christmas with your loved ones!

Fun-Filled Saturday!

I was invited to my sweet sister-in-law's house for her 1st annual baking day with her sisters and her mom. We each brought recipes and ingredients for a Christmas treat and we all kind-of chipped in. Actually, now that I think about it, I didn't really help anyone else...hmmmmm. Anyway - I didn't get pictures of all of the treats, but I can attest to the fact that they were all very delicious! We split them up so we all could have some! Thank you, Jamie, for always including me in your fun family stuff! I had a blast!

Peanut Butter balls

Homemade almond roca! YUMMY!

My contribution was the Marbled Peppermint Bark. It actually turned out pretty good. My family wished I'd made more!

THEN....Saturday night was the Lighted Parade in Sunnyside. My dad and his co-workers had spent a great deal of time decorating their small dump truck for the event so we wanted to get a good spot. We took our truck down to the high school parking lot and parked it there around 3:00 PM. Then we came home really fast, ate some dinner, grabbed our blankets and Mr. Heater and shot back to the school. We sat in the bed of the truck and enjoyed the parade and were very toasty warm! James, Jamie and Taylor also joined us, as well as Jamie's sisters and their kids! It was so much fun!

The top pics are of my dad's float. It looked awesome!!

We all had a great time that night, and were thankful for our family and friends who joined in the fun!

Our Christmas Tree

Last Tuesday evening, we went across town to get our Christmas tree. The little man there always remembers us, and we look forward to getting our tree from him every year. He had a huge selection, as always, but a lot of them were way too tall and would never have fit in our living room! But Dave soon found one that we all agreed on, and I must say - it is perfect!

Hunter took these pics of me and Dave - he loves using my camera!

Coop hung all his ornaments in the same spot :)

And Hunter hung most of his in a spot really close to Coop's :)

And Mommy waited 'til they went to bed and moved some into different spots - no one noticed :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

I've been meaning to update my blog with all of the Thanksgiving photos, but it's been like a whirlwind around here the last few days, so FINALLY...The Thanksgiving Blog!

The drive there wasn't too bad because we split it up. We stayed in Boise Tuesday night - got to our hotel about 10:00 PMtheir time. The room was nice, but the guy upstairs had his TV on really loudly until about 3:00 AM! The boys slept really good, but Dave & I were very sleepy the next morning! I thought back to my previous post about being crabby after no sleep...and I must say, I did pretty good! Thank goodness :)

We got to Ash's the next day about 3:00. We met some of her friends at work and scoped out the new store. It was so quiet - not anything like the Costco's around here, that's for sure! And they had self-checkout!

Ash's apartment is very spacious and there was plenty of room for all of us - and our junk! It is amazing how much stuff we took - food, games, 3 suitcases of clothes, sleeping bags, air mattresses, pillows, and of course we had to bring the RockBand and the PS3!

It was so nice to just get up and hang out, not to have to go somewhere or get ready to go at lightning speed. We just took our time each morning and relaxed. Except for Friday, when I went with Mom and Dad to the local mall pretty early in the morning. I got a few good deals, but I wasn't in that shopping mode yet, I guess. (I'd better get there pretty soon, though, hadn't I ? ) We ate at a lot of fun places, including Chili's, Texas Roadhouse and Johnny Carino's! Plus, the Thanksgiving feast was delicious, of course! Mom did all the cooking, but Ash and I tried to help with the little stuff.

The boys were SOOOOOO good! I was pleasantly surprised by how well-behaved they were. They each had their moments, but for the most part, everyone got along famously. :) If they weren't playing the Playstation, they were coloring. And if they weren't coloring, they were begging someone to play Sorry or Sequence or Apples to Apples with them. Those boys LOVE to play games!

All in all it was a wonderful trip. We're very fortunate to be able to take trips like this throughout the year. They are always fun and prove to be good for our little family. Tune in later for another post about decorating for Christmas - we're getting there, but it has been a two-day ordeal! Love to you all!