Family Christmas Party

 Our annual Christmas gathering took place on Sunday this year.  I have to plan around Maren and Lynda Ann's working schedule because they both work at hospitals and hospitals never close.  Plus they work graveyard shifts, so it kind get a bit tricky sometimes.  We had a smaller group than usual.  Lynda Ann and her family - minus Abby and Antonio.  Maren and her family.  Mindy's family had a conflict and Lyndsy was working.  Spencer, Derek and Tucker all out of the state.  We had a nice dinner.  Maren brought the salad and Lynda Ann brought the funeral potatoes and I filled in with the rest.  We did the usual.  Dinner, then gifts and then those who wanted to hang out and visit and play games stayed.  I love those kind of evenings where there really isn't any particular agenda, just being together.  We play the Left, Right, Center dice game and then the card game called Screw Your Neighbor.  Lots of laughs.  I love my family and love gathering around the table for good food and games.  

Lots of fun pictures of the family.  So good to have Emmi home for a couple weeks!

Emmi got a special gift from Ron and Judy.  They are so interested in her Navy Career and what she is doing.  They bought her this Christmas ornament.

Getting a hug from my granddaughter!

It was such a fun gathering and certainly helped bring the spirit of Christmas into our home.  I forgot to take a picture of the special gift I gave to each granddaughter and the book we gave each family this year.  I'll post that later.  Merry Christmas everyone!  

Emmi Arrives

 We got a call from Lynda Ann that Emmi would be arriving at 8:30 p.m. and did Neal and I want to meet them at Denny's out by the airport for a hot chocolate.  We were excited to be invited.  They said that Mallory was coming in on the Front Runner so I called Mallory and told her that we would pick her up at the Murray Station so she didn't have to go all the way in to the airport.  We got the Denny's about 1/2 hour before the rest of the group arrived.  It was fun to surprise Emmi.  The minute she saw Mallory they ran and hugged.  Two very happy sisters who love each other!  We all got hugs and then sat down and ordered hot chocolate and other stuff and had a wonderful visit.  We didn't stay too long as Mallory needed to get back on the Front Runner by 10:00 p.m.  What a joyous occasion to have Emmi back here with us for the Holidays.  

And, of course, one photo bomb from Gam.  Silly me.

Emmi we are so happy that you are here and that you arrived safe and sound.  Lots of fun times ahead for the next couple weeks.  

A Beautiful Surprise Christmas Gift

 Lynda Ann never ceases to amaze me.  She creates the most incredible things and I love that I can be the recipient of some of them.  This year she brought me this Christmas decoration early so I could enjoy it through the holidays.  All handmade.  She even painted all the berries!!!!! (Well, they are wooden balls that when painted look like cranberries). And she has lights intertwined in the decoration with a little switch to turn the light on and off.  It is beautiful!!!  Thank you Annie.  I love it!

Wedding In the Air

 We got the official wedding invitation for Hayley and Alex.  It won't be but a couple weeks and Annie and Jeff will have another daughter married.  Very exciting times.

Can't wait for the big day.  

Baby Sitting

Or should I say Dog sitting.  Neal and I were invited to Ron and Judy's to celebrate Neal's and Judy's birthdays.  I knew I couldn't leave Sprout for over 4 hours in his play pen so I asked Mallory if she would come and tend Sprout for the evening, stay over night and then we could do lunch and shopping the next day (which was Saturday).  She came up after her work and school and Neal and I were able to go to Stanfield's and enjoy the evening without having to worry about Sprout.  Sprout and Brinkley played and bounced around together until Sprout was pretty much warn out.  Good to have Brinkley be such a patient and gentle dog as to put up with Sprout's energy.

Mallory and I shopped at the mall the next day, had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then she headed home.  I was so appreciative of her giving of her time to come and tend Sprout.  Thanks Mallory!

We also had a very fun talk about life at BYU, her studies, her job, and her new calling and new friends.  

Easy to get Behind on Blogging

 There is so much going on and I find that I get a lot done but my journaling seems to suffer.  It isn't that is is a low priority, I just get caught up in so many other things and always in the back of my mind, I'm going to get my blog done.  Today is catch up day.  

First of all, Neal and I finally took the time to arrange all my counted cross stitch pictures that haven't been spoken for and get them hung on the wall in my office (or spare bedroom).  We've hung all seasons up there and they look great.  Neal did a great job of spacing and laying them on the floor and getting an idea of what looks best where.  I had a lot of input on the placement and it all worked out perfectly.  Silly to have spent so many hours and money on these projects and not have them where I can enjoy them.

I think they look fantastic.  

Next item.  Maren along with Brock, Boston and their friend drove to California to spend the weekend with Tucker and his girls.  Maren said they had a wonderful time and enjoy the trip to Pismo Beach, but mostly just visiting and catching up with her brother and Jamie and the girls.

Tucker and Maren always enjoy being together.  A great love and bond between them.  As a mother, it is heart warming.

Some Thoughts

 When life starts to feel a bit overwhelming, and peace seems out of reach, I have a tendency to gravitate to nature for comfort because I see His love in the beauty that surrounds me.  We had our first snow storm Thanksgiving night and the morning hours were beautiful.  I'm not a great lover of cold and winter but there is a beauty about the winter months that and the fresh fallen snow that brings a feeling of peace.  If I allow His peace to guide my thoughts, they inevitably focus on the abundance I already enjoy in my life every day.  I love the changing seasons, my family, the cycles of day and night, and the comforting predictability they bring.  Even the cooler weather invigorates me and strengthens my faith.

"Joy in this life, right now - not despite the challenges of our day but because of the Lord's help to learn from and ultimately overcome them - and immeasurable joy in the life to come.  Tears will dry up, broken hearts will be mended, what is lost shall be found, concerns shall be resolved, families will be restored, and all that the Father hath will be ours."  = Amy A. Wright

Thanksgiving

 House lights up and tree lights up.  Neal talked the neighbors into having the lights go all across the whole roof line of our 4 connecting town houses.  It looks awesome and very festive.  We are hoping more of the units will want to light up their areas.  Ours really stands out.  

I also finished decorating the house with Christmas now that Thanksgiving is over.  

Cute picture of Andrew holding Sprout while we were playing Shanghi Thanksgiving night.

Annie had to work Thanksgiving night so after dinner and while we were playing games she took a quick nap on the couch.  When she woke up all three dogs ran to her.  Brinkley, Maggie and Sprout.

Very small group this year for Thanksgiving dinner.  Maren was at the Cutlers, Lyndsy was working and Mindy spent her day with her family.  So we just had the Gertsons minus Abby, Antonio and Emmi.  I hardly knew how to cook a meal for 8.  We are used to 20+

We did start the day bowling at Fat Cats.  Thanks to Maren, we met out at the new facility in Herriman.  Jeff and Andrew, Neal and I, Maren, Greg, Taylor, Brock and Boston were the bowling crew this year.  We had a fun time.  Thanks Maren for arranging this event.  

The bowling group.

I beat Neal both games.  Made my day!!!

All in all it was a nice day.  It is always good to be with family.  Love you all and thanks for making it another great Thanksgiving Day.  My absolute favorite holiday of the year!

Putting Up Christmas

 It's time to get out the tree and the garland.  I like to have the tree up in November but try to be careful not to step on the toes of the Fall decorations.  I do love Thanksgiving and the decorations that go along with it.  But for me, having the tree up just adds more excitement and festive mood to the home.  Maren gave us a wooden reindeer and when we unpacked it, Neal notice that it had some unfinished edges on it so he took it outside to smooth a couple of the "sliver" edges.  He set it down on the porch while working on a piece of the tail and Sprout was not sure what to think of it.  It was so funny to watch.  He never would touch it, which is good.

Putting the reindeer together.

The tree is up but not fully decorated yet.

Sprout investigating the reindeer

He wanted nothing to do with it.  It sits under our tree now and he hasn't gone near it.

Fun to have the house partially ready for Christmas.  We will put up the rest of the Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Sadie Hawkins Dance

Maren called and asked if Neal had a pair of cowboy boots that Brock could borrow.  He was going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance at school and needed to dress up cowboy style.  That brought back a flood of high school memories from my years at Provo High.  We had the Sadie Hawkins Dance every year and we all dressed up in style of the event for the dance.  I loved going to all the school dances.  I had Maren send me some pictures.  Loved them.  Brock is one handsome dude.  Usually the girls invite the boys to the dance.  The story goes, as I remember it, that Sadie Hawkins was a comic strip in which Sadie Hawkins Day fell sometime in the Fall and the unmarried women of Dogpatch would chase the bachelors and if they caught them would marry them.  I never read the comic strip that much but loved the dance every Fall.

Notice the awesome cowboy boots!  

Hayley's Birthday

 It was fun to spend an afternoon with Hay Bug.  I picked her up about 12:00 and our first stop was to Orson Gygi's to pick up some items that Lynda Ann had on the wedding list for Hayley's big day.  From there we went to the Mall and did some shopping for both of us.  We wandered around the mall for a couple hours and then went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch and to celebrate her birthday.  I got a full discourse on Dungeons and Dragons, that she and Alex are totally in to.  Honestly, I didn't understand much of what she said about the game and how it works, but I listened intently.  It was fun too see her excitement and animation as she talked about it.  Hayley is full of energy and is such a happy person.  It was such fun to spend time with her and get to know her just a little better.  Love you Hayley!

Sprout

 I just have to post an update on our new puppy, Sprout.  He is growing and seems to be a healthy little puppy.  He knows "sit" and "go get your toy".  Pretty good for 11 weeks.  We are still and probably will be for some time, working on the potty training, but he does know (kind of) to ring the bell when he wants to go outside.  He has learned to love his little play pen.  Now he goes in and out of there on his own, which is really good.  I only lock the gate when we are going to be gone for a while.  Mallory also ordered Sprout his new name tag.  It is so cute and nice that he now has his name and phone number on his collar.

He loves to sleep with his head on my shoes.

I love the coloring of the white down the center of his back.  And the black on his tail.

His favorite place to be on a nice day.  He loves to go out and just sit on the back porch.

He almost always comes in from outdoors and runs up stairs to have Neal lift him up on his lap.

This seemed appropriate.

He was up on my bed one evening and I glanced over and couldn't find him for a minute.  I stood up and realized that he was snuggled in between the pillow and all I could see was his little butt and tail sticking out.

This is the new tag that Mallory ordered for Sprout.  So dang cute.

Thanks Mallory.  They are perfect for a perfect little Sprout!