Merry Christmas!

"We wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas! We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!"

We hope all of you had a Merry Christmas-cause we know we did (especially Emma and Ellie). We went to the Glover grandparent's on Christmas eve. We had a wonderful dinner (Todd bought the cheaper turkey...only 90 cents a pound if you get it black.....so he says...lol. what a character). We visited and enjoyed the kids energy (I know i needed it to make it through the night waiting for Santa to arrive).

Emma and Ellie got lots of fun presents from the family that night. Toys, books, clothes, and Bart and Marilyn gave them all blankets and sleeping bags so they can have sleepovers with their grandparents.

It was great to be with Grandpa Dean. This will probably be his last Christmas with us because of his cancer, but we love him and he looked great. It was nice to have a moment to visit with him-to thank him for everything he has done for our little family.

When we got home, the girls and mom and dad opened our Christmas Eve gift-pjs to wear for Christmas. Emma and Ellie both got Princess pjs. Mom got a nice warm set of pjs that dad bought all by himself (pat on his back) and Andrey got Dr. Pepper pj bottoms (his favorite drink).

We then ate the last piece of chocolate from our Christmas countdown and got Santa's milk and cookies ready. Emma was so hyper it took her until almost 11 to fall asleep. Ellie was so angry that we woke her up on the way home for all this craziness. She was happy to see her bed.

We woke up bright and early to find lots of snow outside. Did Santa come?Emma ran to the plate and cup and saw that he had indeed arrived and left without her seeing him. She was so upset and didn't understand why he couldn't wait for her to say hi and thank you. We turned on some background Christmas and had fun watching the girls open their gifts. Emma got a Barbie from Fairytopia, a pet dog (not real...I don't want indoor pets so that's all she gets till she is older and can take care of one), clothes, my little pony toys, a piggy bank she wanted for her money she gets when she helps with chores, lots of candy, and more toys. Ellie got a pet can (again, not real), tub toys, clothes, baby, stroller (since Emma and her fight over the one that they have), and more toys. While they were playing with their toys, Andrey and I opened our gifts. I got lots of clothes, the new Hillary Weeks CD ( I love her!), A BIKE (now we can go bike riding), fun stocking stuffers, a cute sweater/jacket that I wanted, and more. Andrey got this calogne that he has been looking for for years. He got nice shirts, stocking stuffers, movies, and more (I can never remember).

After our little Christmas at home, we drove slowly to Spanish Fork to visit Andrey's mom and step dad. We had lunch there and opened gifts and visited. The girls got more toys and beautiful matching dresses they got to wear the following Sunday to church. I collect Willow Tree dolls and got a WT box with a carving in it and another Summer Angel (my birthday is in the summer). I also got a giftcard to Roberts. YEAH! Andrey got a small quad....these scriptures he has wanted for years. He also got a nice new watch since all his others happen to break so easily.

After that fun trip, we drove to Kearns to my family. We had a nice dinner and sat down to our big 4 foot stockings that we get spoiled with each year. There were so many fun toys and goodies inside of them. We then did our gift exchange. I made Robyn, my sister, a scrapbook calendar. It was fun to see her enjoy the pictures of the family members on both sides of her family. It was fun to do something less expensive, but put more work and feeling into it. I hope she liked it. We got lots of clothes...and I got....the new Hillary Weeks CD...again...Andrey was in so much trouble for forgetting that my mom told him NOT to get that for me....oops. It was funny to see how angry she got at him...he felt so bad.

We watched a movie and visited till we were all falling asleep. (these pictures will be posted soon).

We had a fun night and we finised the weekend off with another party at my aunts house where we enchanged gifts...but this year is was with a recipe and ingredient. It was fun to visit, sing, make our HUGE snowman, and watch all the kids play together.
We has such a fun Christmas, but it was nice to sit back and see all the love that we have for each other, and for our Savior. That is what makes Christmas so special and memorable to me.

New value added to the Young Women's Theme

We are daughters of our Heavenly Father,
who loves us, and we love Him.
We will "stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places" (Mosiah 18:9)
as we strive to live the Young Women values,
which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and
Accountability
Good Works
Integrity
andVirtue.
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.
This value will be gold. I am so excited to announce this to our young women tomorrow at mutual and get a response. LOL now we have to change our skit quite a bit for New Bennings.

Elder Worthlin

Elder Joseph B. Worthlin passed away peacefully on December 1, 2008. He will be missed. I will always remember his talk on always being happy even though life is hard. There is probably a wonderful reunion happening right now with his wife, Elisa and other loved ones. He was a great man. He was 91 years old.

Christmas Tree and Lights

I always love the weekend after Thanksgiving because we get to put up the lights in our yard (and new fence) and decorate the little living room with decorations and tree.

The girls had a blast putting the ornaments on the tree...well, Ellie had a good time taking them off the tree. The tree has only been up for about 2 days and she already broke 3 ornaments. I decided after seeing this that we are going to wait for Santa to put his gifts under the tree before we put our's under it. I am not going to wrap and rewrap gifts all month. The girls are so excited and "ooh" and "ahh" as we drive by all the houses that have decorated. This is such a fun time of the year-especially with little ones.

Andrey was excited about putting up his "town" on top of the t.v. Thanks Amber for that. He was so excited and now we have a start to our collection.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a fun day we had. I always love a time to celebrate with family, friends, eat good food (that I don't have to cook), and just relax and visit. We have three sets of parents to visit so we started our Thanksgiving on Sunday in Spanish Fork, visiting Andrey's mom, Kathi, and Step Dad, Dave. We had a wonderful dinner and dessert (you got to love the pies) and had fun visiting, watching movies, and listening to the youngsters play together.

Today we started the day with Christmas music (it is now legal so get off my back those of you that tell me it's too soon. lol). The girls danced the morning away singing along while we made salads, guacamole, and got drinks made. It is always fun working in the kitchen with Andrey. I miss having him around all day long. I sure and grateful for him.

We went to my aunt's house to celebrate my side of the family and we all put out the good food and ate and ate and ate. It is fun to see that each year our family gets bigger and bigger. We used to all be able to sit around a big table, but now it takes 5 tables and two rooms to fit everyone. Our little family is so big now and I love all of them so much. We have some good times. After eating dinner, we went outside and got a train ride from the train that Uncle Joe and Andrey build this last summer. That is always exciting for the little ones...and me and my sisters seem to enjoy the rides a little more.

After the train ride, we loaded up the kids and drove to Draper where we forced another meal...but to my surprise, I was actually able to eat more. I'm a pig, I know. I think I ate more than Andrey. The food was so good. We had my father in law take some pictures of our little family so we could have some outdoor ones for a possible Christmas card photo (so check your mailbox next month). The company was excellent, but we were sad to have missed Todd's family and Serenie's (can't wait to see all of you on Sunday). After the little ones entertained us for a few hours with sining, dancing, summersaults, and just being cute, we enjoyed all the pies that were made. Pumpkin, raspberry/peach, pecan, apple, cherry. Oh my goodness. So good. And the best part (in my opinion) is the cool whip to top it off. I was falling asleep in my chair and the girls were slowly dying down, so we called it a night a little earlier than planned, hitting the road at 7:30. The girls were out the minute they got buckled in.

Now I get to spend the rest of the evening with my wonderful husband, who just served me a nice warm cup of hot cocoa.

I can't wait to get our tree and lights up. I love the holidays and I am so grateful for all I have and all of you! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Fun Tag

Fun Tag
1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked-but no one picked me up...

23. Taken a sick day when you are not ill (also known in education as a "mental health day")

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michaelangelo's David

41. Sang Karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful in person

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported by ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted-well, drawn...

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive in theater

55. Been in a movie- does a commercial count?

56. visited the Great Wall of China

57. Taken a martial arts class

58. Started a business (still in the process of trying)

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies

62. gone Whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper (Thanks to my paper route).

85. Swam in the ocean

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had Chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

Well, I think I got 53 out of 99. Good thing I am still young...there is still a looot I have to do. It's nice to have somethings to look forward to.

Thanksgiving

I am grateful for so many things. I am grateful for Thanksgiving for having an excuse of thanking everyone and feeling gratitude in my heart.
Some things I am grateful for are:

* The scriptures. I don't read them as much as I should, and they are good at collecting dust, but I know that I can always find answers to prayers and be comforted and blessed while reading them.

* I am grateful for my family. I love Andrey so much. He works so hard; early in the day till late at night. I don't see him much, but when we are together, we take advantage of the time we have with our little family. My girls are my life. I love them and am so grateful to be able to stay home with them and be with them every day and witness all the fun, frustrating, silly, and hard things they learn to do.

* I am grateful for the gospel and my testimony that keeps me going. I love my calling as the Young Womens president and love working along side Andrey, the young mens president. We love the youth in our ward and I have become so close to my counselors. We have some good times and it is the highlight of my weeks. Tuesday, mutual night.

* I am grateful for my little house. It still needs a lot of work and it will take years to get how we want it, and we may even move before it's done, but I am so grateful for a home to live in. To know that we are warm and have somewhere fun to come to each day.

* I love my family, extended family, and friends that are so dear to me. They are so supportive, loving, great examples, and do so much for me and my little family. Thank you for all you do and have a Happy Thanksgiving.