Family is Everything!

362 days until Christmas :)

I think if I start preparing now I may actually be ready in time for Christmas 2010! 

But before I pack up the holiday decorations and go into a New Year's cleaning frenzy, enjoy a couple of 2009 Holiday memories with me ...

Greg, Talon, and Dustin were very dapper and wise men who traveled from the East bearing gifts and wearing cool hats!

  

Matt and Porter took a break from tending their sheep on Judea's plain to hang out at our house for awhile.

We received tidings of great joy from Melanie and Katie! 

 

The fam donned their coordinating Aloha nightwear (sans Derek who obviously prefers xbox to hanging loose)!

And believe it or not, after tracking Santa's flight path on my iphone, the jolly old guy finally arrived in Logan!  Melanie took it upon herself to get the children up at 6AM!! She didn't want anyone missing out on any fun!! And oh boy howdy! We didn't miss a minute!

 

Ho, ho, ho!  A Merry Christmas was had by all!!

Including Barkley :)  After all, it isn't every day you get a new snuggie!

 
 

  

A Christmas Miracle!

The printer is printing!

I do believe a Christmas elf fixed it after I went to bed last night :)

Christmas can now come!

 

 

Grinch? Who me?

Due to technical difficulties of the technical kind (internet down, cable down, internet down, printer not printing, internet down, christmas card not downloaded properly, internet down, printer still not printing, internet down) been feeling a bit like this of late:

But do not despair!  I have great hope that my heart with grow ten sizes sometime within the next 48 hours!  Because, although the printer is still not printing, the cable is working, the christmas card was downloaded properly onto a zip drive in a pdf format by yours truly, AND the internet is CURRENTLY up and running (really hoping for the best on this one)!  

I feel a Christmas carol and cocoa coming on!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

 

It doesn't get much cooler than this ...

For Melanie's birthday this year (in September) we gave her a "ticket" to fly to Texas to hang out with cousins.  I was going to go along with her just for the fun of it, but stayed home to attend Chelsea's graduation instead.  So, Nicole gallantly volunteered to take my place :)

While there my girls had the singular and fabulous opportunity to meet and "hang out" with Hilary Weeks! I'm still waiting to hear all about every minute of their trip.  They are at this very moment flying somewhere over one of the states between Utah and Texas.  

 

For some details of their weekend adventure, see my super cool sister-in-law's blog here !

 

Another Graduate!!

They called her name and she walked across the stage!

Chelsea Suzanne Hicken Moore!

Magna Cum Laude!

With a degree in music therapy.

And minors in psychology and linguistics.

Utah State University with miss this brilliant blonde!

 

Bonus of the graduation event was watching Brigham as part of the color guard.

 

What a darling couple!

 
 

 
  

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Have they been naughty or nice? Only Santa knows!

Are you kidding me?

I'm in my van in the drive-thru line at McDonalds and the temperature gauge in my van reads that the outside temperature is ZERO! Zippo! Nada!

There is a guy in the other line with his window open and his bare hand hanging out with a cigarette dangling from his fingers.

Seriously! What is it with these people and their cigarettes? I could barely keep my window open long enough to place my order. The only explanation I can think of is that his hand was frozen in that position!

Wow! I am still in shock. Or maybe I'm just having a brain freeze. After all, it is ZERO degrees!

Trapped at home

Because of snow or ice or illness?  NO.

The spring on the garage door is broken and we can't get our cars out!

I've been waiting for the repair man all day!

The good news is I've made four quadruple batches of hot fudge sauce!  Did you know it tastes just as good when licked off the counter as it does atop a bowl of ice cream?!

Eighty-three!

There aren't many that I know that can carry 83 years of living with such grace!  I have always thought that the perfect word to describe my mom is guileless. I'll bet that if everyone had a mom like mine there would be fewer angry, cranky, and self-centered people in the world.  She taught me to smile. To have faith. And to simply enjoy what we have! Which is A LOT!  My mom is a beautiful woman of grace and love.  And she makes a darn good jello, too!

Happy Birthday Mom!

 

This is my life ...

 Those pj pants are only one year old!

ONE!

Help! I am living the ZITS comic strip!