I Don't do Karaoke!

Tonight my sister wanted to go out for her birthday.  I was pumped when she decided to go to Keys on Main  Who doesn't love to hear dueling pianos?  But tonight we show up, and it's karaoke night.  Oh NO!!!  Now, I love to sing just as much as anyone else.  But I love to sing....in the shower, in the choir, in the car.  I do not love to sing songs I don't know, to people I don't know and I never sing solo.  I do not do karaoke!!!!! Unfortunately it was my sisters birthday and she really wanted me to sing something.  Luckily, I have the best husband in the world who agreed to go up and sing Ice Ice Baby with me.  I'll be the first to admit, that isn't really singing, but we sure did say a whole lot of words to a beat on stage and it made Jenny happy. 

I think maybe in years past this would have been an easier thing for me to do.  But tonight, I had zero confidence on stage.  No dance moves, no chutzpah, nothing.  I was pathetic. 

Merry Christmas!

White Christmas

Christmas day was wonderful for a number of reasons...

First, it dumped on us through the night, which means we woke up to lots of fresh white snow. 

Second, I had the opportunity to see a sweet woman dressed all in white as she was baptized on Christmas morning.  I can't think of a better way to celebrate the birth of our Savior, it was beautiful!  I had been asked to do a talk on the Holy Ghost and when I realized that 90% of the people in attendance were Hispanic, I decided to switch it up and give my talk in Spanish.  I was pretty nervous, it had been a while since I had given a talk in Spanish, but it went surprisingly well. 

Third, the kids all seemed happy and GRATEFUL for what they received!

 

 

Fourth, we got to spend time with family and enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner!

Fifth, we ended the day watching The Martian, which I loved.

Q and Ayzha didn't quite make it through the movie
it was a long but lovely day!

Best Chrismas Eve Ever!

When I heard those words come out of Ayzha's mouth I'm sure I had a grin on my face ear to ear.  We did a lot of fun stuff today.  We played ball at the church, did some hooky bobbing and sledding behind the car, jibjabbed ourselves, played bean bag baseball at a retirement home, re-enacted the Nativity, and opened up our Christmas jammies. 

I'm exhausted!

Hooky Bobbing!

Ben decided we needed to learn about hooky bobbing today.  The kids loved it!  Between that and getting pulled on a sled behind the car, the kids were in heaven!

 

Quite a Day!

Not only did we visit the humanitarian center this morning, we also stopped by Temple Square.  Jesus spoke to us, we watched some beautiful Christmas videos, and enjoyed the lights.  It was lovely!

Then we headed over to Tara's to celebrate mom's birthday and have our family Christmas party.  We sang songs, ate yummy treats, and told Christmas stories.  Ben and I even performed a little Christmas duet, him on the viola and me on the piano.  So much fun!

Grandkids!

Be the Answer to Someone's Prayer

"We are to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to provide for the widow, to dry up the tear of the orphan, to comfort the afflicted, whether in this church, or in any other, or in no church at all…" -Joseph Smith

Today we had the opportunity to visit the LDS Humanitarian Center. The great work that is accomplished in this center was inspired by those words from Joseph Smith. I have great love and admiration for this man of God and it just so happens to be his birthday.

During the tour we watched a short video presentation.  It talked about people and families throughout the world who have been helped by the humanitarian program.  There are people all over the world praying for someone to help them.  We can be the answer to someone's prayer! 

Tying a Quilt at the end of our tour

dog pile on Ben!

Q-nanigans

Qyntn is finally old enough to really enjoy Christmas.  It is so much fun to share in his excitement about everything!  One thing that was especially special is that Qyntn got to shake hands with President Russell M. Nelson at our special stake conference this month.  President Nelson was making his way to the podium, stopped at our pew and shook hands with Q.  I have never seen a bigger smile on Q's face.  He didn't stop at any other pew, just the one where our kids were sitting with the Welsh family (Ben and I were in the choir seats).  That was pretty sweet!  After the meeting, Tiago chased him down and shook hands with him too and said he would never wash his hand again.



lil stinker



Q is obsessed with our Santa...
he pushes that darn button on Santas
hand over and over and over all day.
 



His Zoolander "blue steel" look is too cute
especially with reindeer antlers on his head.



and Santa paid Q a surprise visit

Christmas Perfomances

The Grinch Program

 

 

I love music and I want my family to love it too, so I signed the girls up to sing with a group this year for Christmas.  I keep inviting Ben to sing in the ward choir with me too, and he finally did.  His choir debut was in front of President Russell M. Nelson at our stake conference.  He also performed with the choir for Christmas.  I hope he will keep coming!  Ben and I are also working up a couple duets...him on the viola and me on the piano.  We need lots of practice but I think it is awesome that this is something we can do together. 

STAR WARS!

Today I wanted to do something really fun for the kids so I decided to take them to see the new "Star Wars" movie.  According to Tiago, it was an awesome surprise!  We all LOVED it!  All the girls in the family want to be Rey next year for Halloween.

 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love almost everything about Christmas!  I love that we spend an entire month focusing on the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I love the gift giving, the carols, the baking, the good will that seems to be ever present in the hustle and bustle of the holiday.  Mostly though, I love the opportunity it presents to teach my children to love and to reach out to others as the Savior does.  That is what makes this the most wonderful time of the year. 

 

These are some of the things we have tried this year to help our children reach out in love...

 

We went Christmas caroling with our neighbors, delivering a plate of goodies to those who have served us throughout the year. 

 

We are doing the 12 days of Christmas for a neighbor who lost her husband not long ago.  She's a 30 something widow and single mother of two little girls.  This will be their first Christmas without their daddy. 

 

We are reading the book, "The Family Under the Bridge."  I hope this will help the kids learn to appreciate all they have, and instill in them a desire to help others.  It might be working.  When we were leaving Walmart the other day, we passed a man who was holding a sign that said, "Homeless, Need Tacos"  Immediately the girls said that we should go get him some tacos.  We drove to Taco Bell, bought the man a meal, but when we returned he was gone.  We were all a little disappointed, but it warmed my heart that they felt such a strong desire to help this stranger.  We left the food... in hopes that if he returned he would find it. 

 

Along with the Welsh family, we hosted a neighborhood Christmas gathering/food drive.  We lit some fires, played some Christmas music and provided hot chocolate and treats for all our neighbors.  We will be delivering the food that is donated to the local food bank. 

 

 

 

On Christmas Eve we will be spending the evening with our older friends at the Seville (a retirement home).  We plan to play bean bag baseball with them and sing carols. 

 

I hope, and pray that these are the things my kids remember about Christmas this year.  Not what gifts they received, but what they did to show love to others. 

"Leader of the Grannies"

Our ward split (again) two weeks ago.  Because we live in the new ward boundaries I was immediately released from my calling as Young Women's President.  I had only been in that calling a few months, so I wasn't surprised when the bishopric said they wanted to meet with me again.  I figured I would pick up right where I left off.  Boy was I wrong, they had something else in mind for me. Relief Society President!!! or as Holly put it, "the leader of the grannies."

WHAT??? I could go on and on about how under qualified I am for this position.  I haven't had a calling in RS in 18 years.  I know very little about the welfare program, I have never been involved in organizing visiting teaching or compassionate service.  How could I possibly be the right person for this? 

I am excited to write this new chapter of my story.  It will certainly be an adventure...

Ward Christmas Party...(Feeding the 500)

Our ward is massive, so when they asked the YW auxiliary to head up our ward Christmas Party, I new it would be a challenge.  There are 750 people in the ward so we planned on feeding 500.  That is a lot of ham and potatoes!  I was given a budget of about $1100 dollars for the entire event.  In order to stay within that budget, we borrowed roasters from women in the ward and cooked 100 lbs. Of ham at the church.  We did a pot luck for salads, rolls, and dessert, we served water, but we catered  potatoes supreme from BYU catering.

Since we knew there would be about 200 kids coming, we absolutely had to have a visit from Santa.  We decided to have him come before dinner and asked one of the photographers in the ward to take pictures for us.  They turned out great...

To keep the kids busy after they saw Santa, but before dinner, we showed Polar Express in the Relief Society room and had paper taped to the walls in the primary room so the kids could color on the walls.  It turned out great! 

During dinner, in order to get everybody through the lines in a timely manner we had 4 serving stations.  It took about 25 minutes for everyone to be served which made it possible to start our program right on time! 

For the service portion of the event, we set out Christmas giving boxes (presents with a slit in the top) on the tables so people could donate money that will go to help those in our ward who could use a little extra help this Christmas.

The Program was my undertaking!  Inspiration came to me one night as I was watching Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show.  I just knew that somehow I had to include a lip sync battle.  I decided to follow the Tonight Show format.  Ben agreed to be the host and do a funny Christmas monologue.  The bishopric and YM presidencies agreed to the lip sync battle, Santa Claus was our special guest, and Lori Beth Meldrum from the Mo tab was our guest performer, she sang Away in a Manger.  Following that part of the show, the "producers" (myself and Deirdre)  shared a Christmas message and invitation and we ended the night with the ward singing "Silent Night."     

So bummed this shot turned out fuzzy!
Best husband ever!

The lip sync battle was the highlight of the night.  The bishopric brought it and made me proud!
you can check it...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xep70UJpp38

I didn't sleep much the night before, and it was a ton or work, but our Christmas party turned out pretty sweet!  I was very pleased and thankful to everyone who helped to make it magical!

Deck the Halls

Tonight for FHE we went to see the Christmas lights at Thanksgiving point.  At the end of the drive there is a portion dedicated to the birth of the Savior with the words of a primary song printed along the way.  The kids burst into song as we drove through and I could hardly hold back the tears.  It was very sweet.  We returned home, watched the new video that was released by the church...A Savior is Born, and then decorated for Christmas.  I love to feel the excitement as we deck the halls and listen to Christmas music.  It is truly the most wonderful time of the year!