Livin' in a Winter Wonderland

We got dumped on with snow this week. It snowed for several days and here's some pictures of the end result. (Warning, there are a lot of pictures. There's just so much snow to show)

That lump in the snow is our trampoline

A lot of shoveling and tractor work

Jed had to shovel off the patio roof so it wouldn't cave in
I was pretty sure he would get buried in the pile of snow when he jumped off but he stopped part way down the pile and didn't sink all the way to the bottom!!




Mattie (Camryn's dog) can actually walk on the snow and cross over the fence into our yard.


The yardstick indicated that there is over 3 ft of snow!

Paco would get buried in the snow if he didn't have these trails to walk on

It's beautiful and we are thankful for it and the kids love playing in it and since school was canceled for two days they had plenty of time to play in it.!

"Girl's night out" (or would it be Girl's night in?)

This past weekend Noelle planned an awesome "Girl's Night" at her house. All the girls in the family were invited. We were all there except for Kristi, Kera & Aleyah. First of all, Noelle made "Girl's Night" shirts for all of her nieces (oh, and Scout also). They loved them. It was so much fun for them to get their shirts a few days before the event and helped them get excited for the fun!

Noelle had made a yummy dinner: White bean/chicken chili and chicken noodle soups to go in bread bowls. And of course there were lots of treats: cupcakes, candy, cake, etc.

Heather helped the girls make bead necklaces and bracelets. Noelle had "Best Friend" charms for them to make the necklaces and bracelets extra special.

And then the girls got manicures and pedicures.

And to prepare for the sleep-over---sleep masks were handed out!!


There was popcorn........
And movies!
And cute, little boxes of treats.

This is what it looked like the next morning after the big,

ole slumber party.

What a fun time. It will be a special memory for all.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Noelle:)

We love Christmas

We love Christmas because..........We had our whole family together this Christmas except for Josh who is serving a mission in France. That made 28 of us. Wow, we went through a lot of food and we made a big mess and we absolutely loved it. We got to talk to Josh (Elder Lyman) on the phone on Christmas day and it was all good.

(our family went to a lot of trouble to create this live nativity scene, with the kids dressed up so cute and even a live donkey!)

And we love Christmas because........of the chance we have to spend time with cousins, aunts & uncles, grandpas and grandmas.

At family parties...........

Christmas morning with Grandpa...........
at Grandma's house..........

And the gifts that are exchanged are fun. This little guy is Paco!

I'm not sure there has ever been a gift as fun as the little donkey

that our family gave us this year!!!

And more family time playing in the snow........










And more family parties...........

And, or course, we love Christmas because of the chance we have to celebrate the birth of our Savior

"Christmas is more than trees and twinkling lights, more than toys and gifts and baubles of a hundred varieties. It is love. It is the love of the Son of God for all mankind. It reaches out beyond our power to comprehend. It is magnificent and beautiful.

It is peace. It is the peace which comforts, which sustains, which blesses all who accept it.

It is faith. It is faith in God and His Eternal Son. It is faith in His wondrous ways and message.

It is faith in Him as our Redeemer and our Lord.

In our times of grateful meditation, we acknowledge His priceless gift to us and pledge our love and faith. This is what Christmas is really about."

(Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Season for Gratitude," Ensign, Dec. 1997, 4-5)

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