What We Love about Christmas

We hope you had a very merry Season!

Here are some reasons we love Christmas time:

making homemade gifts
(even if they are not perfect!)

my friend taught me how to make these gifts for Adam...so fun!

The music
(the Sacred as well as the fun Christmas music, hearing the choir singing so beautifully [especially when you are the director and you know they had heavenly help]).

we went to this concert this month...even though we didn't know any of his music, it was so fun-what a sweet little guy he is! Now we love his Christmas Album.

Hearing from family and Friends

Sending off care packages to missionaries
and other loved ones... (I actually only love this when it's done,
I always stress about getting it there on time etc....:)


Nativities

Making paper snowflakes

Seeing your kids turn their hearts to each other
(making or buying gifts for each other with their own money).
this is a "blanket" made by David for Adam


Decorating

see the link (above)to my decorating blog for the complete Christmas home tour:)

Bundling up the babies to go outside

Making Christmas cards and crafts

kits for the craft I was in charge of for Wesley's class party




Seeing the magic of the faces on Christmas morning,(hearing things like wow thanks Mom and Dad...I can't choose a favorite, they are all my favorite...)

The mayhem

Having opportunities to serve others and think about
and remember the Savior all month long He is the reason we celebrate.

Happy Thanksgiving!

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious:
and the things of this earth shall be added unto him,
even an hundredfold, yea, more."
Here are some of the things we are grateful for:
our faith
our families
good health
our heritage
kind neighbors
dear friends
our boys:

Wesley Samuel age 7

David Logan age 5

Keller Lukas age 3

Adam William age 1

Wedding Bliss

Adam and Brittani were married in the Salt Lake Temple (on September 19....I'm really late posting this one!). The ceremony was so amazing, I cried so many tears of joy! Adam and Brittani are so well matched and are so happy together. I look forward to getting to know Brittani better and to seeing the great things the two of them will accomplish together!

This picture is with Jon and Will at the reception. Because I was in charge of decorating the lunchoeon, I was too worried about everything to take pictures. I'm sad I don't have photos of my family at the luncheon where we were all together. My kids didn't go to the reception; Wesley and David went to the BYU game and the two little ones only made it past the family photos, I then took them back to Grandma's.

Everyone looked so beautiful in their black and white attire!

The luncheon was held at UVU. Here is (a poor) picture of a sign I made for the luncheon I also decorated 16 tables and made a display table for the entrance. I was so thankful to have Tanya's help setting everything up; she's such a decorating genius! I began working on the decorations in June-it was so fun to see it all come together. They used many of the decorations at the reception, which was at the White Willow reception center. What a beautiful day it was!!!



One week later I was able to fly to St. Loius to be at the wedding of my cousin Joe Wittwer and his beautiful bride Katy. I traveled from Rexburg to Orem, slept at my parents, then went with them to Salt Late, flew to St. Louis, stayed there for about 15 hours and flew back...It was a very long journey and well worth the effort! It was great to be with the Wittwer and Keller families and to see Joe so happy. Katy, a darling girl and wonderful addition to the family, was beaming through the whole ceremony(which was held at a lovely old Unitarian church in downtown St. Loius). Unfortunately, my camera was lost so I was not able to take my own photos!

What a wonderful month for marriages!!!!

A Star Wars Halloween

This year for our ward Halloween party
we decided to be a Star Wars Family.
What an adventure!The cutest of all was
our tiniest ewok (Baby Adam).
On Halloween night David and Adam Changed their costumes.

Wesley "the Sand Trooper"

David "The BYU Football Player" (helmet not shown in photo)

Keller "Darth Vader"

Adam "the Teddy Bear" a quick change from "the Ewok"

Happy Anniversary-10 years together!

Happy 10th anniversary to my dear husband! We have been through many adventures together, moved to many new places and joined some amazing children to our lives. After all we've shared, I have realized that where ever you are, is where I want to be because with you I am home.

Here is an excerpt from a letter written to my Grandma Aldora and my Aunt Sara Ann just after my wedding ceremony.

…..It was a beautiful day. It went by so quickly and was so wonderful, I felt like it was a dream. The ceremony was so special. What an overwhelming sight to see people you love in one room to be a part of the joy that comes from being sealed for all eternity. The reception was more beautiful than I could have ever wanted it to be. We had banana splits and listened to many wonderful friends perform musical numbers including Jon’s band Mighty Mahogany. The wedding activities were certainly wonderful, but the greatest joy is knowing that long after the cake is gone and the festivities are over, the reason for the celebration will never die, because it’s truly eternal.

Happy Late Birthday to Baby Adam!

Things have been so busy around here that I have not had a chance to blog about any of the events that have taken place lately! To make things worse, I lost my camera with so many precious photos on it! I can hardly believe that little Adam is already one year old! His birth was definitely my hardest and he has probably been the most challenging of all the children (his acid reflux was more severe than the others'...I never thought that was possible after David!), but what a JOY!!! here are a few fun facts about Adam:

His nickname is Boozie: there is sort of a long etymology behind his name, but it fits, especially since he loves drinking bottles!

He has a very mature taste for food: he loves garden tomatoes, corn (yes on the cob- he can eat up to 3 in one sitting!), and pickles to name just a few.

He is a genuine Mama's boy: unless he's otherwise occupied, he gets really anxious when I walk away from him even a few steps. As I type this he is in my arms trying to sabotage my operation by hitting the keys.

He loves attention: (what one-year old doesn't?), he has only now started walking and every time he takes a few steps we all chant his name over and over until he reaches the safety of his target destination. Watching his face at our approval is almost more fun than seeing him walk.

We love you baby Adam! Happy Late Birthday!

First Day of School

David Started kindergarten, he is in heaven being able to hang out with his friends all morning! The kids are going to a brand new school built just a few blocks away.

This year Wesley Started 2nd grade. He is one of 2 kids in his elementary that were selected to join a gifted program- he is looking forward to that.

The first day of school is always an emotional one for me. After I put my little guys on the bus, I walked back home quickly so that the other parents wouldn't see me getting teary-eyed. I know that they are so thrilled to be going to school, but I kept asking myself if I had done enough to prepare them for all of the stuff they would encounter in their new environment and hoped that they would be strong enough to choose right choices without any parental influences nearby; I'm sure that our Heavenly Parents felt the same way as they sent us off to this "school"of life. I know that I need to put all the care I can into making home a haven no matter what happens to them anywhere else.

More San Diego Photos

San Diego Temple (where I was a receptionist for 1 yr. and 1/2)
At Wicked
With "Glinda the good witch" from Wicked

With Nina and Vladimir at the Padres game. They beat the Mets 8 to 3.

Visiting the Connell family

San Diego Trip

Derek and I are celebrating our 10-year anniversary in October. To celebrate we planned a trip to San Diego (where we lived for 4 years while going to graduate school) here are some highlights of our trip:

Wicked:We have been wanting to see wicked for a long time...it was worth the wait! the cast was awesome! The girl who played Elphaba had been young Cossett in the origional cast of Les Mes-she was great. After the show I met the actress who played Galinda, she was so sweet!

Padres game: Nina (a former student of mine and dear friend) and Vladimir took us to the Padres game with tickets to the owner's suite and to the dugout; we were feet away from home plate! Our only regret was that we had eaten dinner before we got there-they had SO much delicious food! After the game I got an autograph from Kuzmonoff (one of the locals' favorite players) and Vladimir gave Derek a ball signed by Tony Gwin (a beloved former Padre and hall of famer)!

Visiting old friends: We had so much fun visiting with Nina and her family and also seeing the Connell family some of our dear friends from the 13th ward.

We are so grateful to my sis Becky for staying at home with our boys. We called her so often wondering how they were doing. After a wonderful week we have realized that although it's so great to get away and relax, life for us would be so empty without our little guys that we missed all week long.