Christmas Eve aka Christmas!

Since David and Jacob are going to their dad's for Christmas Eve, we had a special talk with Santa and got him to come a day early to our house!  So Christmas Eve morning was Christmas morning for us!  Santa did not disappoint. It was a fun morning. Don't laugh at our crooked star.  Just too heavy for the smaller branches I guess!  We saw lots of fun presents and we were spoiled by others in the family.  We even got a picture of Joel, who had just got home from his overnight shift at Target! We waited for him to get there before we started on the gifts.  The day before we skyped with Clif and Lindsay and let them open their presents from us as they were flying out to Texas that afternoon. We were going to skype with Ashley but she had to work and we never did catch up with her!  We texted a lot.  The big, big box from Joel to the boys was the last package and eagerly awaited.  A ton of nerf guns!!  It was a great Christmas morning and now we can just relax and enjoy the rest of the holiday!  It sure got quiet when the boys left.  Eric and Randa's family stopped by later in the evening on their way home from Springville. (we didn't get any pictures!) We exchanged presents with them too and it was fun.  I got to work on a puzzle and it was truly a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Jacob waiting for Santa...

 

 

 

Some thoughts...

There have been some sad things going on, (pedestrians hit by cars) and my thoughts have been with these families that are facing a Christmas without their loved ones. The first was a 14 year old boy, on his actual birthday, he was crossing a street and hit by TWO cars.  One from each direction.  It was so sad! I don't know any details, but what a tragedy for his family.  Another one was a little girl,I believe she was 2 or 3 but not sure, she got away from her mom in a school parking lot and was hit by a truck.  The truck was obeying the low speed limit in the lot, it was just an unfortunate event.  His truck was high enough that it struck her head.  The mom was putting another child in a car seat when the little girl ran away from her.  I can't imagine the grief of the parents and my prayers are with her family and the driver of the truck. Another 18 year old man was hit and killed crossing a street, and a woman my age, 53, was hit and killed.  All in different areas and in different circumstances.  It seems like every day there was another incident.  It breaks my heart as I think about those families and what they are going through.  It makes me really think about the blessings I have and to hold those I love a little tighter and try to show them more love more often. It has been sad to hear of each of these and my heart and prayers go out to each of the families impacted by these tragedies.  I have shed tears more than once thinking about them.  What a hard Christmas it is going to be, planning funerals and arrangements in place of their usual traditions.  God bless those families and I pray they will feel the peace of Jesus Christ during this time and this season.  

It's also Clif's birthday!

December 20th is always a special day!  Clif's birthday!  I can't believe he is 29 years old!  He was just  a tiny little guy, and his sisters couldn't understand what all that noise was under the Christmas tree! We love you Clif!  Happy Birthday!  You are going to be a wonderful pharmacist...keep working hard at pharmacy school!! 

Christmas Sunday aka Lilly's Christmas...

The kids look so sweet all dressed up for church!  It was a wonderful day at church.  Grandpa sang in the choir and they put on a beautiful program.  We all enjoyed being in church together. We had a pretty regular Sunday afternoon but in the evening....we got to do our stocking tradition and Lilly got to open her presents because she is leaving with her mom for the week! The boys got to open their presents from her, and then she got to open all her presents from all of us.  It was a fun night and everyone enjoyed it.  Usually for the month of December we write nice things about each person in our family and put the slip of paper in their stocking.  We didn't remember to do it until today!  So we all wrote things about each other and then put them in.  Then we read them out loud. It is always fun to read them and to feel the love.  We are going to do better next year about writing them all month long!  The kids wore their new Christmas pajamas and looked so cute!  Merry early Christmas to Lilly!  We hope she has fun in AZ with her mom and grandparents.  The rest of us will have to wait patiently a few more days!

Grandpa and Grandma's stocking notes...

Winter is here and we love it!!

We are loving the snow!  I can't believe I would ever say that, but it is so true!  It's so pretty and the kids LOVE playing in it!  David is building an igloo, sledding is fun even in the back yard, and snow angels are the cutest!  Nate and Amanda tried sledding down the driveway.  I like taking pictures from inside!  Dave enjoyed shoveling a path on the back porch to show how the deep the snow is and to give the cats a walkway.  We are having some beautiful sunsets too, they are hard to capture in a picture, but I love seeing them.  When we first got a little bit of snow, it looked like aliens had been making crop circles out there!  Those kids are so funny!  And our deer have started showing up again.  They are bigger!  Here are a few pictures from different days of snow play.  

She did it!!

Today this young lady officially finished her student teaching and is DONE with her schooling at BYU!  We are so proud of her accomplishment!  She has worked hard and though sometimes it seemed like the end would never come, it did!  And on top of that, she has already got a job and starts on Monday!  No break for her.  She will be a math teacher at Mt. Nebo Junior High in Payson!  Way to go Amanda!!  We love you!! (The picture is with her student teacher partner Julie).

Getting ready for Christmas...and decking the halls!

Time to pick a tree and decorate it...Bake goodies for our friends...Build a minion gingerbread house...Visit Santa...and Perform in the school sing. We had the cutest little reindeer and santa in the program!  Jacob's class sang Rudolph, David's class did a cute Reindeer Rap, and Lilly's class sang Merry Christmas Barratt Elementary.  We had our friends, the Judds, over to decorate sugar cookies...that was very fun!  Lilly figured out that when you cover every single space of that cookie with nerds candies and others, that it doesn't taste so good.  But they looked pretty! It sure is fun getting ready for Christmas!  There will be more, but we have started!

Jacob's art...

Jacob drew this cute picture one day while Lilly and David were at school.  I love that they are becoming real siblings.