Getting Ready for Christmas

It snowed a lot in Blanding to help us get in the Christmas spirit!!!

Those "lumps" in the snow are our Christmas bears that Jed put out

Grandpa and Kristi and the kids came to help us decorate the tree

Decorating the tree

The finished product

Making honey candy

"Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the “spirit of Christmas,” we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the “Spirit of Christ."

--Thomas S. Monson, "The Best Christmas Ever", Liahona, Dec 2008, 2–6

Thanksgiving dinner at our house!!!

As we took time out of our busy lives to give thanks for all of our many, many blessings.......

...........we met at our house for Thanksgiving dinner.
We were few in numbers this year but did not lack for food. We pretty much had as much as if there had been 50 of us!



We had a good day.
And the horses even got some Thanksgiving treats!!!

"Gratitude is of the very essence of worship. … When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives”. Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love."

--Gordan B Hinckley, "With a Grateful Heart", Liahona, Aug 1999, 25

Hole-In-The-Rock trip----In & out in one day??

Some of the guys in our family (Jed, Jeremy R., Jeremy J., Matt & Trent) took upon themselves the challenge of a one day (in and out in the same day) trip to the Hole-In-The-Rock

They made it in most of the way with only a few mishaps along the way!!! (We don't have pictures of Jed's wreck)

They ended the day with a flat tire (the second flat of the day) on the trailer on the way home. But, they all arrived home with no broken bones. There were plenty of sore backs and come cuts and bruises.

Food storage week/Awesome Weekend with the girls

During the week we worked........

bottling Beans..................

and then sewing aprons at Marilyn's

And then it was on to Noelle's to make freezer jam.....
The finished product.....over a hundred jars of jam

And then more beans.

After all of the work, we were ready for a break.

It was my birthday (we won't mention which one).

The girls gave me an an amazing weekend experience

at "Time Out For Women".

After listening to inspirational talks and music

we were all uplifted and rejuvenated!

Thanks again to my beautiful daughters!!!!!! (We missed Heather

and Kera---they both have babies and didn't know if they would

like being in meetings for 2 days)

While we were all warm and dry at "Time Out for Women"

Our High School football team was winning

the State Championship

(in the snow at Alta High School in Salt Lake)

This tiny picture shows the team after the game

San Juan High football team is going to the State Championship game!!!

The San Juan High School football team won their semi-final game against South Sevier

The final score was 40-13!!!!! Next, is the State Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 14th against South Summit. Go Broncos!!!!!

Blanding happenings

From early snow storms.............

to fun Halloween times.................................
to picking out steers to raise for 4-H.
This is life in Blanding
Camryn with her steer

"A Family Is........"

The past two weeks have been filled with lots of family fun and since I have to cram two weeks worth of happenings into this one blog there are a lot of pictures.

Camryn's birthday was on Oct. 13th. This is one of the celebrations with family a few days after her birthday.

Scout's birthday was on the 21st. We all helped her celebrate.........
but she was on her own to enjoy this giant cupcake that Noelle made for her.

Jed's birthday was on the 20th. Since it was one that he wanted to ignore and since it was one of the big ones with a big 0 in the number (I won't mention how old he is since he is ignoring that also) we had several parties for him. There was a surprise party for him with family and friends at the Homestead restaurant in Blanding (sorry, no pictures) and then a dinner for family at our house (once again, no pictures) and then the kids and grandkids planned a surprise party for him in Utah Valley on the weekend.
You should have seen the surprised look on Jed's face when he walked into Jack 'n Jill Lanes bowling alley and found all the family there.






We won't mention bowling scores, but some of the family did better than some of the rest of us. After bowling we dropped the kids all off at Noelle's and Trent's and then........

The adults enjoyed a delicious dinner at Olive Garden
Back at Noelle's and Trent's we found birthday cake (German chocolate) and pie (coconut cream) and chocolate pudding dessert (3 of Jed's favorites).
We ended our fun day by watching the not so fun BYU/TCU football game:(

The next morning we were reminded that football games really don't matter. We gathered again at Noelle's and Trent's for the blessing of Jeremy's and Heather's McCoy. He was given a beautiful blessing by his father.

And we are once again reminded of how thankful we are for family.

A Family Is.......a deeply rooted tree with branches of different strengths all receiving nourishment from an infinite source.

A Family Is.......where character is formed, values are learned, ethics are created, and society is preserved.

A Family Is........where all members contribute and share, cooperate and work, and accept their responsibilities toward the good of the group.

A Family Is.........where holidays are celebrated with feasting, birthdays acknowledged with gifts, and thought of days gone by kept alive with fond remembrances.

A Family Is.........where each can find solace and comfort in grief, pleasure and laughter in joy, and kindness and encouragement in daily living.

A Family Is.........a haven of rest, a sanctuary of peace, and most of all, a harbor of love.

-Manny Feldman-