It was Merry and Bright!

We celebrated Christmas at Mama Leslie's and Grandpappy's. We were especially excited to be able to be there with my sister Deanna and her family and my Mama Judy! The cousins had a great time playing together. We watched movies, made a gingerbread house, baked goodies, delivered goodies, ate lots of goodies and enjoyed a special treat of chicken and sausage gumbo the day after Christmas! The guys did some shooting (my brother in law Chuck won the shootout), the girls did some shopping--it was a great time all the way around. We listened to Christmas music all day long each day and enjoyed being together to celebrate the birth of our Savior! Thanks again Mom and Dad for all you did to help us all have such a nice time!! Here are some highlights:


Sus, Sam, Nat. It looks like Sam's eyes are crossed in this picture.


Deanna, Chuck and Sophie were Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Our girls were the "host" of angels. My dad read from Luke and we sang Christmas carols together.


My girls were especially looking forward to playing "the game". My mom calls it the chinese gift exchange. Everyone draws a number then chooses a gift and unwraps the gift. The next person can steal from anyone's unwrapped gift or they can choose another one from the pile. We had to modify the rules for the kids because they did not like the idea that someone could take what they had. It is always fun to play this. The gifts are super fun--tools for the guys, gift cards, candles, cash. There was a "mystery gift" that could not be opened until the end. It had lots of "junk" in it like dish towels and note pads, oh, and a $100 bill!


My super crafty sister Deanna made these darling bath wraps for my girls!


Movies and popcorn.


We were able to take a 4 generation photo with Mama Judy, Mom, Deanna and me and our kids.

We had a birthday girl!

And boy! Susanna shares a birthday with her Grandpappy, but first, we celebrated with Sus. She wanted to take a couple of friends and her sisters to Build A Bear for her birthday, so that is what we did! She had been talking about doing this for months and already had the animal picked out that she wanted to make. We got to the mall early (I was nervous with it being the Saturday before Christmas) and got started on everyone's animals. The place where Santa sits is very near the bear place and the girls were pleasantly surprised when Santa popped in to the store to say hello to all the kids!

We celebrated again on Monday with Grandpappy. We had some cousins over to Mama Leslie's for cake and cupcakes. So fun for them to have the same birthday!

Susanna is a super sweet girl, very bright, kind, and super considerate! We love her so much and are so proud of the girl she is becoming. She is now 8 and is planning to be baptized this weekend.

Yesterday....

.....we were in Maui. It was 82 degrees, sunny and beautiful. We enjoyed a warm, gentle breeze, and watched whales right in front of our hotel.



This was the view from our lovely villa at The Westin:


Today, we are home. It is 27 degrees with a freezing rain. We are scrambling to find our gloves, hats and scarves. I have every season of clothing out in the laundry room--swimsuits, shorts, tees, long sleeved shirts, jeans, and fleece jackets. I am sorely wishing we were back in Maui! I will post more soon....we have a crazy week ahead!

Our Thanksgiving

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! We were very ready for a break and for the opportunity to spend precious time with family. Mama Leslie and Grandpappy were so gracious and accomodating as usual! We truly enjoyed our time together. The girls spent most of their time outside and got the opportunity to play with cousins that we don't get to see very often. We took shifts to go shopping on Black Friday, which is always quite the experience! Here are a few highlights of our holiday:


Enjoying time with grandparents. And eating great food, of course.


Taking time to hug my "babe". (I'll have to tell the story of how we came up with that term of endearment on another post sometime.) I am feeling especially grateful for Greg today, as he has helped me so much with things this week!


We rode 4 wheelers...Greg was prepared this time and took his phone just in case he had to call Pappy Joe for a rescue!


At Thanksgiving dinner Natalie said she was thankful for nature. She truly is! She loves all things nature. Especially animals. Look at that smile. No, we are still not getting a dog.


Samantha loves animals as well. Greg took these photos on his iphone. I just thought her smile was so cute!


We rode bikes....


We visited Dale's "petting zoo". I have to say, Dale is such a good sport! We took our cousin Katie with us, so you can imagine 4 little girls all wanting a turn to ride the horse, and he let them all do it! He gave them each a ride by themselves, then let them all get on the horse and led them around the corral.


I think they were pointing at one of the dogs in this picture....


Dale has lots of goats. There were several baby goats that were born on Thanksgiving, so just 1 day old when we were there. The girls loved seeing them! Nan is holding Frosty.
Fortunately for me, Humphrey the boa constrictor was not feeling too friendly that day, so he did not get to come out his cage. (I hate snakes!!!!!)


On our last day, the girls played again with Katie and enjoyed a picnic outside.

The hardest job

Is parenting. It is by far the most rewarding thing I have ever done, but it is also the hardest thing I have ever done. I openly admit that I don't always know what to do,or how to handle each situation that comes up. We have had a very rough school year, and a particularly hard week--yes, it is only Tuesday! I am grateful to be able to turn to the scriptures, and for the counsel of our church leaders on parenting issues. I am also grateful that I can pray to a loving Father in Heaven who loves me and my family. We are experiencing some of the "occasional cloud cover" that life sometimes brings and are looking forward to a "sunny" day soon!

On a side note, I got pulled over for speeding today. I was going about 60 in a 45. I couldn't pretend I didn't know I was going too fast, but the officer just told me to slow down and let me go! I didn't even have to cry to get out of it!

Campout

Last weekend was our ward campout. It was actually very nice weather for camping. The girls look so forward to it each year. They love to roam around and get VERY dirty! I am not a big fan of camping to say the least, but I did go up for part of the evening. I do enjoy sitting around the campfire and making/eating smores. Sus and I left just before 10--she had a soccer game at 8 the next morning. Greg, Sam and Nan had a great time!!

Halloween+Visits=Great fun!

Is it just me or did the month of October just fly by? Seems like every year October through December goes by faster and faster! We had a great October, but it would be nice if the weather were just a bit cooler! Our Halloween was fun, and we had a visit from Greg's dad that made it extra special this year.


The girls trick or treated down a few streets in the neighborhood, but after a while said they wanted to go home.


Every year after trick or treating the girls like to come home and eat their candy by the fire. Yes, it was 85 on Halloween. I had to turn the AC down and turn on all the fans! Not sure how that tradition got started (maybe it was actually cold on Halloween a few years ago??) but the girls really look forward to it. So, we have a fire and drink hot chocolate whether it is 85 or 40 outside. This year the girls invited a friend over to watch a Scooby Doo movie as well.


We really enjoyed our visit with Papa Chris! He is such a good sport with the girls--played Webkinz, games and everything they like to do!