Jaclyn and Christie

Two of my former piano students came to visit me on Friday while on break from college. They studied with me for a long time, and I was very sad when they stopped lessons, but I am so excited for them to be entering this chapter of their life.

Jaclyn and Christie, you have turned out to be such wonderful young women, and I feel blessed to have you in my life!

New Year's Day

New Year's Day was on a Sunday this year, so off to church we went. Thankfully, our ward now meets during the later time slot, but we still had to be there 15 minutes early since it was my first day as the organist. I am happy to be able to use my music talent to help out in church, but I don't like not sitting with my family during Sacrament. I dressed Danica in the beautiful dress seen here that Genesis and Forrest sent her for Christmas.

As I was sitting by the organ, I watched Michaela, Tev's sister, quickly get up and leave with Danica. I didn't think much about it until about five minutes later when I saw Calee grab the diaper bag and zoom out of the chapel. I am not sure that they returned, but as I was playing the postlude music, Michaela came up to tell me about her adventure while changing Danica's diaper. To make a long story short, Danica was no longer wearing the pretty dress and was in her "back up" outfit."
We were so excited that Michaela and Jared made the last-minute trip out here from Arizona for New Year's! They came over for tacos after church, and the next day, we all went to the Bass Pro Shop in Rancho Cucamonga. This is one of my favorite stores- it makes me want to go camping right away.

Vance loves getting his picture taken with his little sister.

I love this picture- it seems that Danica and Michaela are sharing an inside-joke.

Meeting Uncle Jared.

I am excited for 2012. Hopefully, we will continue to have good health, our family and friends will find and keep good jobs, and we will make many great memories together!

Christmas

Usually, Caden wakes us up way early on Christmas morning to tell us that Santa came, but this year, Vance was our alarm clock. In fact, when we sent him in to wake up Caden, Caden didn't want to get out of bed, but he eventually gave in to his excitement and curiosity.

The number one request from the boys this year, as with every year, was Legos. Thankfully, they gave Santa a nice list to choose from, since their first choice was rather large in size and price.

Christmas was on a Sunday this year, so that meant church for us at 9:00AM. It was pretty inconvenient to go at that time, but it was worth it to help center our thoughts on Christ. After all, what is Christmas all about, anyway? The two talks that were given were really great. I accompanied a friend on the piano as he sang "Mary, Did You Know?" Both of us didn't really like the song, but the bishop had requested it. The tune has since grown on me. I also played for the Primary kids they sang "Christmas Bells" and "Mary's Lullaby". Honestly, I had completely forgotten that the kids were going to sing, so I had to borrow a song book from the Primary closet.

After church, Calee and Tony came over. We made breakfast burritos (though it was more like lunch time) and Calee made Orange Julius. Then, we let the boys open the rest of their presents.

Vance has really wanted Nerf guns, so that is what we got him. I don't have a photo to show his joyful face as he opened them, because I video taped it instead, and the file is too big to fit on the blog. The little boys and the big boys took the guns downstairs in the courtyard to play, and within five minutes had lost all of the disks in the ivy.

Calee helped Danica open her presents. She really likes this little doll that Tevye's mom sent her. She plays with it all the time.

This is a beautiful dress that Genesis and Forrest sent.

Tevye asked me to not get him anything, so, for once, I listened to him. That was my gift to him- not spending money on something he would complain about anyway. I must say that it feels terrible to not be able to give him something, but I really do think that he was happy about it.

Tevye bought me the creche for our Willow Tree nativity set. Now, all I need is the wise men. Our nativity set looks so nice now that it has a "home."

The aftermath.

Christmas Eve

We loved hanging out with my family at my brother's home. The cousins had a ton of fun playing together, and Tevye enjoyed playing Nerf guns with them. Kim finally had the chance to meet Danica, and so did her mom. Their home, as always, was decorated so beautifully.
Danica had fun playing with Uncle Bill and Aunt Kim.

Cole and Nolan started playing lacrosse this year. After having played baseball for many seasons, they were ready for a change and are loving it.

Vance and Caden (especially Vance) could hardly wait to break out the Nerf guns- it was war!

Kim's mom, Linda.

Presents!

Danica was so tired- but not too tired to open her presents.

Billy and I have had these stockings for as long as I can remember. Mom made them.

Tracking Santa on the NORAD site.

My brother's trick for keeping the boys from reusing the ammo. He also did this with his favorite Monopoly piece when we were little to encourage me to choose a different one.

Nolan gave us a concert on the bass guitar. He rocked those songs!

Ward Christmas Party

We attended our ward Christmas party tonight. Here are some pictures from the program.

The set was so colorful!

Herod and the Wise Men.

An angel and shepherds.

The primary children getting ready to sing. I played the piano for them.

Tevye and Caden getting ready to eat the tasty ham dinner.

Caden visiting with Santa.

Winterland of Gingerbread

Today, we attended the Winterland of Gingerbread event for Caden's homeschool. I was surprised by how many children were in attendance and how creative all the houses were. Last night, at 6:00, I ran to the store to buy a gingerbread kit. Originally, I had the intention of making everything from scratch, but I didn't have enough time.

Thank goodness my mom was able to come with us, because Danica wanted to eat right when we arrived, of course. We enjoyed looking at all of the gingerbread houses (my favorites were the log cabin and the Eiffel Tower), and the boys had fun making a Christmas craft and playing on the playground.

An island shack.

This one won first place. I love that the train went around the entire thing, and the log house was made of straw cookies.

A hobbit hut.

The leaning tower of Pisa was supported by a Pringle's can.

My mom and Danica.