Christmas from Susan

Susan is always so generous to me at Christmas.  I loved her gifts this year as always.  I had mentioned to her that if she wanted a suggestion that I would love the Downton Abby movies and Hawaii.  She totally came through and gave me so much more!!

She knows that I love Beans & Brews hot chocolate.  I usually stop there on my way home from the temple on Tuesday mornings.  

And, she also knows how much I love Talbots.  She was way generous!  I will use these gift cards very carefully as the sales start popping up at Talbots.  Usually the end of January is when they start their big sales.  These gift cards will certainly come in handy.  

She also bought me three new recipes books.  Best of Bridge Cookbooks.  I've already browsed through them and found some fun recipes I will want to try.

These are the bottles she gave me which are absolutely perfect for putting home made jam in and then giving them for Christmas.  Very excited to make jam in the late summer and fill them.

As usual, I was very spoiled and very happy with all my gifts.  They will all be well used!!
 

Girls From the 8th Ward

 It is so fun that this group of women want to get together twice a year to catch up on our families and lives.  It is a fun group and such a reminder of what an amazing ward we had under the leadership of great Bishops like Dick Crebs.  There just seemed to be a special feeling in that ward that I've never felt in any other ward.  We met at Wendy Taylor's home this time and had such fun.

The lady on the left is someone that I don't know.  She apparently moved into the ward just after I moved out but she is good friends with the rest of them so was invited to join us.  Lynda Ann couldn't come because she had worked the night before and was working again that night.  I think I'm in charge of getting the group together in June or July.  

Left to right:  Unknown, Wendy Taylor, me, Sharon Kasteler, Gerri ?, Diane Thompson, Jeannine Davis and Susan Kormylo.

At the table left front:  Diane Thompson, me, Sharon Kasteler, Wendy Taylor, Susan Kormylo, Gerri ? and the unknown.  

We had such a good time and stayed for over two hours.  So much to catch up on and talk about.

Christmas Lights with Abby and Mallory

 Abby came in to town last week to meet with her Payson guide dog raising group.  When she was done with that project she came in to Salt Lake and met Mallory and I up at the This is the Place Heritage Park.  I won't go into the details of driving up there but will say that it took us almost two hours to get from my house to the park.  We had no idea there would be that kind of traffic but when we finally got there and parked and walking around, it was so worth it.  We didn't think about the fact that the Zoo (which is across the street from the Heritage Park) was doing the Zoo Lights.  So you can imagine the traffic issues.  We wandered around for a couple hours and even bought a few things.  If you've been to Swiss Days then you know exactly what it was like at Heritage Park.  We did have a really fun time.  Had hot chocolate and little tiny doughnuts.  There is a name for them but I can't remember.  

My purchase was a sweatshirt.  Also bought one for Mallory and one for Abby.  Mallory spotted the same vendor that is at Swiss Days.  Fun to see them and to tell them that we've bought shirts from them at Swiss Days.  I just love this shirt.  Merry and Bright is how I feel this time of the year.  

One of the squares on Annie's Christmas Bingo was Go see the lights.  We certainly did get to go see the lights!  Such a fun, fun evening!

Annie's Talented Projects!

 I'm always amazed at what this daughter of mine comes up with, can figure out how to make and makes what she has imagined.  She was asked (or more likely, she volunteered) to decorate the ward cultural hall for their ward Christmas party.  She built this huge star, that would hang from the center of the hall.  She painted it with gold paint.  The star wouldn't fit in her car so Andrew had to drive it over to the church in his convertible with the top down.  That's how big this thing was.  I don't have pictures of the table decor so I hope she took a bunch.  I do know that she made this small nativities to go on each table.  I was lucky enough to snag one.

The star hanging in her garage.

Annie also made Bingo boxes for each one of her kids and included Neal and I.  What a gun idea.  There are twelve squares and each square represents something different that needs to be done before Christmas.  This is the Christmas Bingo box.  Inside is a wrapped gift for each of the squares.

Neal and I did a random act of kindness for a family in our ward.

This was a home made (by Annie) Christmas ornament that went along with decorate your tree square.

These were home made, by Annie, Christmas cards that went along with Send Christmas cards Square.  The cards were absolutely darling.  I've already used most of them.

Another square was Watch a Christmas movie in new PJ's.  Annie made Neal and I t-shirts to wear while watching our Christmas movie.  We watched It's A Wonderful Life.  Probably one of my very favorite Christmas movies of all time.

Another square was Read a new Christmas Book.  I found this book and had to buy it and read it.  I want Neal to give it to Peyton after he writes something inside for her.  It is a cute book and reminds me of the day Peyton was helping us decorate the tree and accidentally dropped an ornament and it broke.  Neal yelled at her and crushed her little spirit.  The ornament had no nostalgia, or was it priceless.  Just a stupid red bulb.  He's had to repent and make up for that every Christmas.  I'm sure Peyton has long forgiven him, but . . . . 

Celebrate the true meaning of Christmas was my most favorite of all the squares.

She put a personal message with this one and I'll quote the message exactly as she wrote it:

"To my family, THAT I LOVE SO MUCH!

This donkey had to be a part of our Christmas!  He is so sweet, and peaceful.  (And he even looks a little tired, like most of us).  For me, this picture brings up the warm feelings of Christmas.  The holidays remind us of what is most important.  It gives us the opportunity to reflect, to feel joy, and to remember our Savior.  

I love that Christ came to this earth in such a humble way.  In a quiet and peaceful way.  Christ was never about the pageantry of a king.  He was and is about serving, teaching, learning, and loving each other.

My hope and prayer is that we can serve and receive love within our family, and with those around us.  My heart is so full, I am so blessed.  I love you all."  

What a sweet message of reflection and love.  

Temple Day with Mallory

 Mallory and I have been trying to get a time to go to the temple and finally succeeded!  We went on a Saturday morning to the Taylorsville Temple.  We had an assigned time at 11:30 but got there a bit early and were in the chapel a little before 11:00.  So we were able to get on that session.  I always love going to the temple with my amazing granddaughter.  Always spiritual and usually there is a funny moment.  After the session we asked someone to snap a picture of us.  You can see the wind was active that day, but the picture turned out perfect anyway.

I snapped this picture of Sprout and Brinkley in the back of my car.  Mallory and I ran a couple errands and the puppies got to go with us.

Thanks, Mallory, for keeping me on the straight and narrow.  I hope we have years ahead of us of going to the temple together.  I always look forward to those outings.

A Little Behind

 I have to go clear back to December 1st.  Neal had his 82nd birthday.  He is actually pretty healthy for 82 but is dealing with sciatic nerve issues.  He has been to a doctor who ordered a steroid shot which has helped a bit.  He has also been going to a chiropractor and today is going to acupuncture.  All of which a kind of band-Aid deals.  Some days he does really good, can even play a game of golf and other days he can barely walk around.  Not sure if he is going to eventually give in and have surgery, but that will have to be his decision.  I guess he will put up with this until he finds that nothing is going to "fix" the issue except surgery.  But the day of his birthday was a good day.  We celebrated by going to Market Street for lunch.

When we got home, his birthday present was on the front porch.  I had ordered him a puzzle table.  It is really nice and has drawers on both sides.  The top can be tilted and the puzzles pieces don't slide because of the covering on the board.

Yes we had to assemble it but it went together very quickly and easily.

We both really like it and it will get a lot of use.  We both love putting puzzles together.  

Happy birthday Neal!!

My Surprise

 After everyone left and I was putting the kitchen back together, I notice a new decoration sitting on the wall table in the front room.  Annie made this and left it as a little surprise for me.  I love it.  It is beautiful!  Thanks Annie.  Your crafting ability never ceases to amaze me.  

Thanksgiving Day

 Again, and I repeat, this is my favorite holiday of the year.  Just so many memories of Thanksgiving when I was growing up.  It is just a warm holiday and I love it.  Families gather together and enjoy good food and good company.  

We started the day by going bowling at Fat Cats.  Maren made arrangements for reserving lanes for us.  We all got there about 11:00.  Cutlers:  Maren, Greg, Taylor and Boston.  Gertsons:  Jeff, Andrew, JC and Jenny (two good friends of Jeff and Annie), Alex and Hayley.  Neal, Tucker and me.  Hintze's:  Robert, Mindy, Ryan, Izzy, Maddie and the new little family member, Logan.  

We had a fun time bowling and then all headed back to the house to prepare for a delicious Thanksgiving spread!

Families for dinner:  Cutlers, Gertsons and JC and Jenny.  Everyone brought something and the dinner was absolutely delicious.  It was a traditional dinner.  We also celebrated Neal's birthday, which is Monday.  And, I also was quietly celebrating my mother's birthday.  She was born on November 27th and I don't know how often it comes around but every now and again her birthday lands on Thanksgiving.  She was born in 1906.  She would have been 119 this year.  She has been gone 23 years.  That is hard to believe that it has been that long.  

I didn't take a lot of pictures this year at dinner but thank goodness Tucker grabbed a couple.  I did get this cute picture of Andrew sharing the chair with Santa!

Around the table:  Jaden, Greg, Maren, Alex, Hayley, Andrew, Mallory, Jeffrey, me, Annie, Jenny, JC, Neal, Tucker who is taking the picture, Taylor and Boston.  Such a fun group. 

I had to take a picture of Tucker's creation.  Very fun.  He was in charge of bringing a fruit plate and he went above and beyond.  

After dinner we played games, took a break and had pies and then back to games.  Maren and Lynda Ann had to leave around 6:00.  Both had to work but most of the group stayed and played games until after 9:00.  I loved every single moment of Thanksgiving.  Thanks to all who came bowling and to dinner for making it an amazing and fun filled day.  Makes me very, very thankful for family and friends!!!  We were thrilled that JC and Jenny (Jeff and Annie's close friends) could join us for dinner and games.  

I'm going to add here that Neal and I did something different for Christmas this year.  We gave each family $200.00 and asked them to come up with a service project of some kind using the $200.00.  We don't need to exchange gifts this year.  We don't need anything and we would rather have the family do some good for someone else rather than spend money on us.  When we get together in December then instead of exchanging presents we will have each family report on their service project or what they did with the $200.00.  Neal and I are also going to do something.  

How Much Would You Spend?

 What would you pay for a Christmas Tree?  Something I've never thought much about.  Neal and I have had an artificial tree since the second Christmas we were married.  I've never been one for a real tree.  I like the convenience of unpacking, putting it together and turning on the button to have all the lights lite up.  Definitely my kind of tree.  Neal and I were at Modern Display getting some white decorations for our tree and when we walked in the door we saw a tree that so made me think of Ron and Judy.  I took a picture of it and sent it to Judy.  She asked how much it was and I told her I had no idea.  I knew it far beyond anything I would want or would pay for so didn't bother to check out any prices.  Judy text me later and said that she had called Modern Display and it was over $10,000 dollars!!  Yup, $10,000.  I just assume that was the end of that.  Well to my surprise, we went to dinner at Ron and Judy's on Sunday and there in their dinning area was the tree.  This is the tree at Modern Display.

This is the tree in their home.  Fits in the little alcove just perfect.  They did a lot of measuring to make sure it was going to fit there before they bought it.  It is gorgeous but the question remains, how much would you be willing to spend for a tree?

Sunday Surprise

 Went to sacrament meeting this morning and as Neal and I walked in the chapel and sat down, there on the stand was President Oaks!!  What the heck?!  Of course I sneaked a picture!  

The meeting went as it normally would.  After the sacrament there were three speakers and a special musical number.  All the speakers only gave part of their talks so that there would be time for us to hear from our newly ordained Prophet.  When he got up he said: "Let me answer the question that is on everyone's mind.  Why is he here?"  Of course everyone laughed.  Then he went on to say that often if he doesn't have an assignment he likes to just pick a random ward to attend.  Security doesn't want him to give any notice so he just shows up about 10 minutes before the meeting.  He said it was his opportunity to be with the members on a normal basis.  He doesn't get that at Stake Conferences or General Conference.  Then he proceeded with his message which was "Trust the Lord".  He said those three words are the answer to every question anyone has about the gospel.  "Trust the Lord".   He only talked for a few minutes, had his wife bear her testimony and then he left.  He mentioned that they had another assignment to be to.  When they left we had a closing song and prayer.  I'm sure this meeting will be talked about and remembered for a very long time.  

President Oaks is the 18th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He is 93 years old.