Christmas

Christmas Eve:

On Christmas Eve, our family went to a party that our neighbors throw every year. It was just a little different than our normal Christmas Eve ritual, but it was fun all the same. We had wonderful tasting chili and desserts, and watched as some people started getting louder and louder with the buzz from their drinks. It was entertaining to watch and as soon as it got a little too loud, we decided to leave. We came home and had our traditional opening of new jammies and reading of the Christmas story from the Bible. We also had the pleasure of pulling out Karissa's front tooth so she'd be able to sing, "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." It was quite the process but she let us pull it out eventually. We put the cookies out for Santa and snuggled into bed. I love Christmas Eve because it's one of the few times all my sisters and I share a room and sleep together.

Christmas Day:

My sisters and I woke up bright and early, excited to see what Santa left us. We waited an extra half hour before we woke up mom and dad. Once everyone was gathered in the living room, we took turns opening presents. Everybody got wonderful gifts. It was a fabulous Christmas. We had our yummy Christmas breakfast of hot cocoa and cinnamon rolls. Then Grandma and Grandpa came over to see our new things and wish us a Merry Christmas. Afterwards, we went to my other grandparent's, on my mom's side, for a family party. We had a great time together and had our traditional soup and bread. My cousin Marie was supposed to make a small movie clip from, "The Christmas Carol," for school, so we gathered up the cousins and made a movie. Megan brought some awesome costumes, and we made a pretty fantastic movie. I loved watching all my little cousins dress up in early 19th century costumes, and act. They were so adorable. It was a wonderful Christmas.

{Our family got sweatshirts with our last name and then University. I love it. It's one of the most comfortable sweaters I've ever worn. You can order them at http://www.inkpixie.com/.}

{Karissa gave me a teddy bear named Jed & Roo because that's what we call each other. I love it.}

{Family picture}

{Cast for, "The Christmas Carol."}

Day After Christmas:

The day after Christmas we went to my dad's side of the family for a Christmas party. We went sledding, ate yummy food (especially Crystal's cheesecake), played games, and had our talent show. My sisters and I did a little act with our chins. We put two 'eyes' on our chins with a bow and placed our faces upside down. Then we mouthed, "Santa Clause is Comin' to Town." It was very fun. We also visited a house by my aunt's where they go all out for Christmas. There were so many decorations and Christmas trees that I couldn't take it all in. There was a village set up that the lady said took two weeks to put up. Overall, the whole house takes about 2 months to decorate, and about 2-3 weeks to take down. Crazy. I had a lot of fun spending time with family. :)

{Sledding with Cousins}

{Engrossed in a story}

{Nativity Scene with my little cousins. So cute.}

{They were so adorable. I loved baby angel Gavin.}

{Savanna, Rebecca, and me}

{The Chin Singers}

{The village}

{One of the many trees in the house}

John McKay

On Thursday, December 17, 2009, my friend John McKay passed away. He had been battling cancer since 7th grade, and the cancer finally won. John McKay was a very special friend. He united not only his ward and stake, but a whole community. Let me tell you of a little service project our school did....

For the past few weeks, my school has done a service project to raise money for Primary Children's Hospital in John McKay's name. Throughout the weeks, we had activites to donate items or money. We had a movie night and watched "Elf," donated Play-Doh, had an Improvables night, had a pinewood derby and donated Hot Wheels cars, and donated cold hard cash.

{Melissa and me at the pinewood derby}

One of the best parts was the kick off assembly. John McKay was able to attend the assembly and accept a homemade quilt and a book from my school. At the end of the assembly, everyone stood up and gave a round of applause for John McKay. It was awesome. We ended up rasing over $8,000 dollars for Primary Children's Hospital. It was pretty amazing.

One reason I think John McKay stayed so long on this earth was to be an example. He was such an amazing example of courage, valiance, strength, perseverance, service, kindness, and love. It was a good reminder for me this year of what Christmas is really about. It showed to me how one person can unite a community and make the world a better place. Yesterday I was able to attend John McKay's funeral. It was a very nice service and he will be greatly missed. I'm so grateful I could know John McKay and be his friend. His influence will last forever in the hearts of many. We love you John McKay!

Christmas Dance

Asking:

{I put my name on a hot chocolate pack}

Answer:

He answered with a bunch of Milkyway chocolates with a sign that said, "Sorry for the delay. I can't wait to dance to the 'Milky Way!' Yes! -Clark" One of the Milkyways was holding down a HUGE snowflake balloon (notice in the picture the size compared to the picture frame it's next to). He told me later that it was a decoration at a store and he asked if he could buy it. The guy at the store was a little surprised but sold it to him for like 2 bucks. I thought it was hilarious.

The Day of the Dance (12/12/09):

For our day activity we went ice skating, then went to Annie's house for cookie decorating and hot chocolate. Afterwards, I went home and curled my hair. The day of the dance was also the same day as my cousin Lindsey's baptism. I wanted to go to both so I took my dress, jewlery, shoes, purse, etc. with me to the baptism. Lindsey was beautiful and she looked so happy to be baptized. I'm so happy for her. Luckily she was the first one baptized too, because by the time I changed into my dress at my cousin's house, I had 5 minutes before Clark was supposed to pick me up. He was a good sport and was willing to pick me up at my cousin's house (he drove a Hummer, too... I felt so special). hee hee Yes, my dad made Clark sign a shotgun shell. *sigh* I was really embarrased but Clark thought it was hilarious, so I guess that's a plus.We went to Rachael's house for dinner and pictures. The dinner was delicious, thanks to Rachael's mom. Afterwards we went to the dance and had a great night.

These are the pictures:

{Clark and me}

{Group picture}

{Silly faces}

This one just cracks me up. I don't really know what we're supposed to be doing here... something with our pinkys and looking attitude-y. I love everyone's different faces.

{The Girls}

A Taste of a Western Christmas

On December 2, the Bar J Wranglers came to Utah! When our family heard they were coming, we bought tickets the day they went on sale. Our family loves the Bar J Wranglers. Last summer we went to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, and one of our events was to see the Bar J. They were absolutely hilarious and had have fun, upbeat music. We loved it. The concert here in Utah was Christmas themed so we heard some awesome, western Christmas music. As always, I laughed so hard I literally almost fell off my chair. They are they best. It was a great way to kick off December.

{The Bar-J Wranglers (Becca even had each of them sign her spelling homework. Awesome.)}

{Us last summer with some of the Bar-J}

Winter

I love when the snow has gently fallen and it is so peaceful and beautiful. I love how the sunset and clouds add to the tranquility. It reminds me of a song we're singing in choir: "In the Bleak Midwinter."

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He come to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.