Christmas 2012

We celebrated  Christmas again this year.  It was strange to think that

Jared will be gone for the next two years and with Trent 

joining the National Gaurd who knows if he will get to

come home next year.  It made me think that this was the LAST 

Christmas and well that was kind of sad.  Not that you don't want your kids

to grow up, but well when it happens it seems kind of shocking.

Here is a shot of Diana posing as if she were sleeping under the tree.

Here I am experimenting with my self timer on the camera of my phone.

I love the view of my tree from the ground.  It seems to go on up forever.

And here is the view from the front. Thanks to Pinterest I used the huge, ginormous metal

star from the front of my house as the top of my tree.  It is kind of amazing.

When you work at a Christmas store, this is the kind of tree you end up having.

Hard to believe that I got the tree for free a few years ago because someone just needed

it out of their showroom.  I never though I would have a such a beautiful tree.

Jared got things for his mission like Rosetta Stone for Spanish and a GPS.  He is 

rather dependent on the GPS on his phone and so I was a bit worried to send 

him off into the world without a GPS.  He also got a few other mission related items.

Diana got her dream camera and a tall tripod to boot.  She was very happy about it.

Last year I got a short tripod which was a fail on my part.  Lucky girl.

Trent got a laptop.  Lucky lucky boy!

We also managed to make some candy and enough treats to keep everyone in

a sugar coma for a few weeks.

All in all it was a very nice time and if it was our last Christmas we can say it was a good one.

A post of a bunch of picturs of Christmas decorations. And a few of people.

I decided to get one more post in before the New Year.  Boy my posting has really dropped off the charts this year.  I think it is due to working so much more.  It is OK I can live with it.  Perhaps I will post more next year.  Who knows?  I decorated my house mid November because I was so excited about all the new decorations I have acquired from work.  I think one of the best things was a new 9 foot tree.  This one I got from a company who works across from RAZ.  They just needed it out of the building, and it was free for the taking.  It is really one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen, and one I could only dream of owning.
 

 Here is a closer up shot.  Most of the ornaments on it came from RAZ.  Diana says it is very sad that we don't have all the old ornaments we are used to seeing, but I loved having it all be so cohesive.

 Here are a few of my nativities.  I loved the taller one of just Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus. 

 I got this nativity from a company next to Raz who were selling their samples.  I love it, and I saw the very same one for sale at Deseret Book for quite a bit more than I paid.

I loved this tall upright nativity, and it fit just right on my little table with my missionary picture.

 My niece Brooke came to visit us for Christmas vacation.  She had so much fun with Jared and Diana.  Here are Brooke and Diana in their new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

 Jared is a giant compared to these two girls.

 Diana hoping for Santa to come.

 The girls strike a pose.

 Brooke looking good on Christmas Eve.

 Jared's soccer shirt looks pretty appropriate for the season.

 Here is my Santa corner.  Last year there were just two Santas here, but they have multiplied.

 How funny is this moose?  I love him.  Another favorite addition to the decor this year.

 This is the tree for the family room.  It has more of the traditional decorations, but still we didn't get everything on the tree.

 This Santa was the perfect tree topper.

 Here is the collection for the top of the TV.

 And here are the snowmen, with one Santa thrown in for good measure.

 Diana wore these antlers to school for crazy hat day, and then they seemed to fit just right on this Santa.

 I loved how all these red things looked so nice on my white shelf.

 This moose is swooning from all of the festivities.

 Someone was a bit excited about her Itunes cards.

 And finally, even though she is practically the last one to get a Wii, she finally got her heart's desires.

 And, YES Just Dance.  This game has to be the most fun and has been played almost non stop.

 Brooke got some perfume.  Jared isn't that impressed.

 And here is a shot of my Mother-in-law who is serving in Nauvoo.  She is the blond angel on the front row with short hair.  I found this picture on Meridian Magazine.  Kind of cool.

 And finally a shot of my missionary at the mission Christmas devotional.  He is hamming it up for the camera.  Nice, huh.  We had a very nice visit with him on the phone on Christmas day.

I have to say that I am very impressed with how blogger had made it so much easier to put pictures on a blog post.  Who knew?  Not me as I haven't posted in forever.  I hope all of you made it through the season.  I am going to be working non stop for the month of January, but perhaps in February I will be back.  Maybe.  I am not making an promises.  OK.  So don't hold your breath. 

It's a RAZ Christmas

As I am still playing catch up, here are some more things I never managed to get on here earlier.

I worked an awful lot throughout the month and I was glad I was able to get the decorations up early.

This is the only picture I took Christmas morning. Diana was thrilled to get an I-pod and I-tunes card. It was really all she wanted. I was happy for her, because now I get her old mp3 player, which is just like mine that I washed in the washer and ruined. It was a win win for both of us.
Here is our offering to Santa. Notice my fun RAZ decorations as well. When you work for a Christmas store, it is ridiculously dangerous. I am not really sure why they bother sending me a paycheck, I just turn around and give it right back to them. But I sure got some beautiful things.

This is a shot of my cute little nativity, that my husband and I painted many moons ago. BK, before kids when we had more time and money. It looked so cute on the new mirror with a shelf that hangs over my fireplace. Sorry about the light in the mirror.

Diana was thrilled with her gingerbread village. I was thrilled that it was a project she completed on her own. I was a great thing to help keep her busy.

This is a shelf I got from RAZ last fall. My nativities looked adorable on it and loved that they were all together. Of course I have more than this, but this is a small sampling.

I got this amazing garland and ribbon at RAZ. I am not sure it is going to make it to next year because the fake snow kept flaking off of it. But is sure looked nice this year.

This was my favorite purchase. I love this caroling family. They looked so cheery and musical.

I actually got this Santa at RAZ in January last year. Isn't he fun?

Here is my favorite Santa. He has piercing blue eyes. And I love how he is all white. So so pretty. I couldn't resist him. And notice the wreath behind him that matches the garland on the stairs. I had to have that as well.

This is my little Santa vignette at the bottom of my stairs. It made me smile every time I walked by these little guys.

When my husband put all of the Christmas boxes in the attic he declared a moratorium on my Christmas decoration purchases. There is no more room up there, or so he says. Well what about the fact that Trent goes on him mission this year? I will have a whole new room to store things in. What about that?

Biker Chick

Santa was good to Diana this year. He even managed to get the very bike that she had picked out. In previous years, he has made some slip ups and not delivered on quite exactly what she had wished for.

She was so excited. It was fun to watch. Yesterday she experienced her first fall. That shook her up for a while. But I have no doubt she will be out there riding again today.

Christmas Present

Here we are in all our glory. At least Diana is looking good in this picture. I love her shirt that says "Just dill with it" by Heinz. Ha Ha Ha. Trent is sporting a nice goatee for the holiday season. Jared still needs a hair cut, but there he is with his best friends, his crutches. And look what is that on the wall behind us? The ghosts of family photo shoots.



I know that most of you will be bitterly disappointed not to get a personal copy of this picture to hang on your fridge for the rest of the year. Dill with it, K.



If I wrote a Christmas letter this year, I suppose that it would start with the statement that it was the best of times and the worst of times. It would speak to how much I have learned to love/hate the medical system. And how much I appreciate great health insurance. And how if you have to be in Vegas during the month of July, the hospital is a cool place to be.

Here's to next year and all that I hope it will be.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past, part 16

I can't seem to get this picture to be any bigger. I don't know why. Here is last year's picture. No trying to coordinate, no making people wear things they didn't want to, just stand together and shoot.

Some of the highlights from this year included: Diana was baptized with lots of family and friends there to help share the joy. Trent got his driver's license with lots of extra worry for me. Jared tried a new sport, Lacrosse with lots of new equipment.

I spent the summer traveling like a mad women. Trips to Texas, Seattle, Arizona, and Utah. The highlight would have to be a trip to LA to see the musical Wicked for my anniversary. Also I got to shake Elder Holland's hand at Women's Conference that year. And the BYU football team came to Vegas twice that year and I was able to stalk them to my heart's content.

Well that ends our long journey down memory lane. I am so glad now I don't need to write my life history. There have certainly been some memorable things happen over the past 17 years, some good, some bad, but no one can deny how blessed we have been.

Tune in next time to see what we look like this year.

Ghosts of Christmas Past, part 15

All right then, this year we are getting down to business. The torture method of choice for this year was Forced Fanaticism.

This was the first year the Cougars came to the Las Vegas bowl and so I thought it was an appropriate theme. I sent out 97 cards that said "Go Cougars" on them. The thought of so many people hanging my card up on their wall, made me giddy with happiness.

Of course my two teenage sons, do not share my enthusiasm as is witnessed most plainly on their cute little ornery faces. Bless their little hearts. I would have to say that this is one of my favorite pictures of all time for a myriad of reasons.

To go with my picture, I wrote a cleverish letter using football terms to describe the events of the year. Things like kick off another year, Diana's explosive improvement in reading, Jared's reception of eight merit badges, Trent's learner's permit in the grasp, my husband used yards of electrical wire, and time out for me at women's conference.





And look back to when Trent is two and tell me that he is not making the exact same little mad "V" shape in his forehead? Somethings never change. I just hope he doesn't have this face for his wedding pictures.