Christmas, Christmas Time is Here.

"Christmas, Christmas time is here. Time for joy and time for cheer...." I have felt that way this year even though it is a truly busy season. Do I still have Christmas shopping left to do...yes. Do I still have a few Christmas cards to send...yes. Am I leaving this week for AZ and still have ALL of packing, delivering and cleaning to do...yes. BUT despite this and more I have felt joy in the Savior and his humble birth.

I have loved reviewing the Christmas story with our kids. What would it have been like to be there? I hope that I can always be thankful for the Savior and all that he has done for me. I hope that I can be an instrument in His hands to help those in need. I hope that our family's flame of service and giving can burn throughout the whole year...not JUST Christmas.

I hope that I can treasure and capture the moments of my kids looking at Christmas lights, singing Feliz Navidad as loud as they can, putting money in our jar to help a couple of families in need, watching the 1st Presidency's Christmas Devotional...it was so quiet I could hear a pin drop as my kids absorbed the stories and felt the spirit, making a gingerbread house ALL by themselves!, throwing marshmallows through a snowman poster with Grammy, Pappaw, and Heather, petting REAL reindeer, wearing hats/gloves/scarfs when it's cold, and seeing family and cousins!

What a great year 2008 has been! A year that has made history in many ways. I look forward to 2009 and all of the potential it brings. I'm not sure if I will be blogging for the next couple of weeks, so...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!









PS...We have LOVED everyone's Christmas cards. It is one of my favorite parts about Christmas since we have moved to Texas. We love hearing about how everyone is doing. Thank you!

The Great Wolf Lodge

We surprised our kids one day during the Thanksgiving Break. We told them we were going to see a movie and then pulled up in front of the Great Wolf Lodge. It was so fun to watch their faces get so excited!

For anyone that is looking for great "family time" you've got to go to this place. (I don't think they have one in AZ). It is a beautiful hotel with a huge indoor water park with tons of fun waterslides, etc. Plus they have activities going on during the day, including "Magiquest" that my kids really wanted to do. Lots of fun memories!

Black Friday...would we do it again?

OK...for the first time my great sis-in-laws (Heather and Kristen) and I decided to do the early morning shopping after Thanksgiving. I've never had the desire to get up in the wee hours of the morning to do this, but instead of getting up early we stayed up ALL NIGHT! Yep, we pulled an "all-nighter"...call us crazy.

We found out that the outlet mall by Kristen's house opened at midnight, so there we were with a million other people shopping. There was even a band playing "Let it snow" (in Texas?). Around 2:00am I could feel my eyes closing as I waited in line at Banana Republic. By 2:30am Kristen pooped out :(, so we dropped her off at home. Heather and I knew that if we sat down for a minute we'd be asleep, so we stayed strong and went to IHOP. After a "not-needed" 3am meal and hot chocolate, we made it to Kohl's by 4:00am. (I've never seen so many people waiting in line to get into a store). By 6:15am we were done with a successful shopping trip to Kohl's. Heather, you are a trooper...even though "Lola" led us astray for a bit we did it and had a GREAT time! Do you think this can top Cantan???

We got home at 6:30am. I layed down and literally 5 minutes later Matthew was saying "Mama" and tapping on me. At 7:30am Sean woke up and took over. He is wonderful! I slept for a couple of hours and paid for lack of sleep the rest of the day. Would I do it again? Hmmm, skip the outlet mall and wake up early. That's what I would do.

Kristen, Kelly, Heather, Grammy and Pappaw...thanks for a wonderful Thanksgiving!