Time marchs on....Happy New Year!... Hmmmmm

You know you aren't young anymore when on New Year's Eve you:

1. View New Year's Eve as dangerous.
2. Plan to go out before others do so you can be home before others get started.
3. Go out, have dinner, come home, look at the clock and are amazed that it is only 5:30.
4. Your husband rents a movie to watch only to fall asleep 5 minutes into it...and it's only 6:00.
5. By 7:00 you are sitting on the computer writing dumb stuff on your blog to help fill in the time.
6. Anticipating going to bed in a hour and being woke up at midnight by all the crazy neighbors who stay up to let off firecrackers and bang pots and pans....knowing you probably won't be able to get back to sleep.
7. Don't really care anymore about some silly ball falling thousands of miles away.
8. Look at your new calendar and wonder how it could possibly already be 10 years into the 'new millennium'.
9. Sigh and wonder how many more New Years you will see.
10. Yawn, consider going back to bed and hope everyone you love and care about had a safe evening.
11. Pray that this new year will be much better than the last.
12. Also pray you can go back to sleep!

Hmmm...does it sound like I've done this before?!?!? :-)

My Chuckle for the Day

This morning I woke up extra early...2:30am and could not get back to sleep. I decided to work on a project in my office/guest room of sorting through papers and 'stuff'. As I was doing so, I ran across a print out of an e-mail for a Hot Punch recipe Barbara McKown gave me that is suppose to be great for when you have a sore throat. At the bottom of the e-mail there was a little added zinger that made me smile as I painted a comical visual in my head.
Here it is:

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, " WOW, What a ride!" :-)

Surprise!

Late yesterday afternoon I just happened to look up and out the window to find that snow was falling. It wasn't expected at all but was a wonderful sight. It was just enough to make things pretty but not dangerous. It was the perfect snow for snowballs. What fun for the kids off on Christmas break!

Looking Ahead

Goals
Last night my mind kept referring back to the lessons we had on Sunday in church about the importance of setting goals. Someone mentioned how it is a way of making a plan for our dreams to come true. I like that thought. It was also stressed how important it is to write down our goals and place them in an area where we will see them daily to remind us of our ultimate desired destination. Last night I started to write down a few things I would like to accomplish. Some are long term goals, others short term. I intend to write out a plan for each before January 1st.
It was also stressed that we need to schedule in time, or allow time for serving others. I have found that when my mind is not as focused on myself but on serving others I am happier and able to accomplish much more. Life is more satisfying and I find that my desire for 'things' lessens. 'Things' tend to bog us down with more maintenance and anxiety. I find it interesting how as we start out in life we tend to acquire more and more. Yet, as we get older we find those things that use to seem important more of a burden than a blessing. To rid ourselves of clutter and simplify is to regain control of our lives so we can truly enjoy the rich blessings of the truly important things such as family, friends and values that enrich our quality of living.

Christmas Day

Jeremy & Andrea

We went to Andrea and Jeremy's for Christmas. We got there before the others so we could exchange gifts and then had a wonderful dinner of turkey and ham with all the trimmings.
Jeremy's parents, brother Aaron and wife Katie and their 4 children and Jeremy's sister Laurin
were also there for dinner. It was a good Christmas Day.

Jesus' Birthday Cake for the kids

Kaitlyn, Lauren, Audrey, Ally, Thomas, Rachel singing 'Happy Birthday'.

Christmas Eve at Mom's

George & I with Ally and Kaitlyn

This year our annual family gathering was at Mom's house.
It was good to be able to be together after the heavy snow that kept us from all from getting together last year.
As I was going through these pictures, I realized I didn't get a picture of Andrea and Jeremy together...darn!
Tomorrow we will be going to their house for dinner so I will make up for it.
Tonight we all enjoyed all the great food everyone brought, an ornament exchange and lively children that brought smiles and joy.

Ally and I

Kevin, Heather and Mya

My brother Steve

My sister Peggy and husband Ken

Peggy's eldest son Scott and his wife Molly

Mom with Scott & Molly's daughter Athena

Scott & Molly's son Oliver

Painting Fun

The girls stayed the night last night and then spent the day with grandma while mom went to a class for work.
Grandma was ready with some paint by number sets for the girls to enjoy.

I can do it myself!

As hard as I try, I never seem to be able to capture Mya's sweet smile. It will be there and then suddenly, when the camera finally takes the picture (after a delay) the smile is gone. Today I caught this smile as she was eating her breakfast of cereal and yogurt combination. I usually feed her, but today I actually got out the toddler chair and let her go at it. She was a happy girl! She didn't eat much but sure had fun playing in the food! The mess was worth the smile and fun.

No Touch!

Hmmmm, Should I or Shouldn't I?

Grandma said no

Our Nativity

A couple of years ago I started putting our nativity set under the Christmas tree along with the gifts to be given out. This is symbolic of the greatest gift ever given and to never forget the true meaning of Christmas.

Picture a Christmas

Today in Relief Society we sang a song from the Children's Primary Song Book that I don't recall ever singing before. Since I was not raised in the church , have never heard it when I have served in Primary, and am not muscially inclined to play it myself, it was fresh and new to me. The simple words impacted me as to how easy it is to enjoy Christmas if we only remember what it is all about.

Picture a stable in Judea.
Picture a sacred, silent night.
And can you hear
The Angels near
And see the star so bright?
Picture the little baby Jesus.
Think of his life and words so dear.
Sing praise to Him;
Remember him,
As you picture Christmas this year.

December Sunday Morning

Ally & Kaitlyn before church today

Originally Ally and Kaitlyn were going to go to church with us today. Our meetings start at 9:00. Because of icy conditions on the road, we made the decision to stay home for safety's sake. Andrea however, had a meeting to go to before her church block which starts at 11:00 so she braved the roads and brought the girls here. Later she picked them up and they went to church. I was able to get this picture of the girls in their Christmas dresses.

Patching the Past

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting my cousin Susan and her husband, Walter (previously mentioned a few posts ago) for lunch. What fun it was to be able to see her again after so many years. As we talked, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to when we were young girls and how different we were from each other, or so I thought. She was very lively and played with her brothers and the other boy cousins having fun while I was the quiet shy miss prissy sitting under the shade tree. What I didn't know then that I do now is how similar we were in how we viewed the individual family members and the importance of remembering the small details. As Susan and I have been revisiting the past, we have found we have a connection that is unique. We came away from our childhood with a love of the history of our heritage and hunger for more information. It has been frustrating for us that the remaining generation before us seems to have so little knowledge or remembrances of those who have since passed on. We are the next generation to pass on the information. I am now the eldest of the blood line for dad's maternal side of the family and the only one of my grandmother's grandchildren left that has any memories of her. With each generation the stories become fewer, they fade away just as our childhood fades away. Nevertheless, whether we recongize it or not, our lives are woven together by the generations of time. The results if preserved, are a beautiful patchwork quilt of people, experiences and memories that are rich with various shades of color. Some bright lively shades and other quieter muted hues. When we choose to look closely, we can find the common bond and see the stitches that hold us all together. I am grateful that Susan and I have found that our individual patches that have been woven are closer together than we ever would have thought and have balanced out each other. The thread which stitches us together is strong and I believe will hold over time adding strength and richness to the family quilt.

Welcoming December with our Tree

Over the years it has been tradition that I decorate the tree for Christmas (a self imposed tradition). Usually this would be done while the kids were in bed so they would wake up to a surprise. As they got older I would let them watch and sometimes put a few ornaments on. I was so bad! I have relaxed a little over the years and now let Ally and Kaitlyn add their decorating touches. This year they put almost all of the ornaments up once I put on the lights. I tweaked a few ornaments, but mostly left it the way they decorated it. I love a brightly lit tree, but over the years I find I love the bright reflection of the happy faces of kids who feel a sense of accomplishment and pride even more.