Christmas, Moments 151-161

151.  Christmas!  

We had a wonderful Christmas this year.  As you can see from the picture Santa did come, and he brought me a new camera!  Hurrah!  The one I had been wanting, but didn't even dare hope for.  In all of my excitement Christmas morning over my new camera I didn't take many pictures.  I know that sounds very weird.  You would think I would have more pictures than ever, but I was so enthralled with trying to figure out how it worked that I didn't work it much.  Haha! 


Some of my favorite things about Christmas this year were:
153.  Caroling with our friends.
154.  Making goodies and delivering them with friends.
155.  Listening to Christmas music with the kids.  They love it as much as I do.
156.  Taking the kids shopping for each other.  It is so fun to see how excited they get picking out things they just know their brother or sister will like.
157.  Acting out the Christmas Story from the Bible on Christmas Eve while Shawn read it aloud.
158.  Focusing on my Savior more.
159.  Helping Santa Christmas Eve.
160.  Going to Church Christmas morning.
161.  Having Christmas dinner with Shawn's family Christmas night.

The Ice Park, Moments 144-150

We had a wonderful time at the ice park on Saturday, thanks to some great friends of ours who invited us to meet them there for the free admission day.  The weather was cold, but not too cold.  We were able to enjoy ourselves and not turn into popsicles.
The days are short here now and getting shorter.  When we got to the ice park about 2 it was fairly bright, but by the time we left around 3:30 it was already pretty dark. Crazy!

144.

145.  Riding in Santa's ice sleigh

146.  Logan and Hannah sledding on the ice slides

147.  Mya got to spin in an ice bowl

148.  Ice sculptures

149.  Getting a ride in Santa's train

150.  After our ride we were treated to free hot dogs and
 hot chocolate.

Would you like to join me by recording your own moments of joy? 
Share your own moments of joy by posting your moments on your blog each Tuesday and then linking below.  
To link up, click on title of your blog post, and then copy and paste that link below. Please include a link to this blog in your post.  Thanks,  I can't wait to see your moments joy!

Tree Trimming & A Link-up

Moments 133-143

133.

134-139

140.

141.  I love this picture.  Did you ever do this when you
were a kid?  I did.

142.

143.

Moments 128-132

"Children are an heritage of the Lord"  Psalm 127:3

128.  Hannah hand stitched KateLynn's name on a piece of fabric
 and then I helped her make it into a pillow.  Hannah was so proud
 of how pretty it turned out.  Katie loves it and, Hannah has
 already started stitching one for someone else as a Christmas 
present.

129.  Attending Tabetha's Young Women's in excellence program.  She worked really had to finish a baby afghan so she could display it as her talent.  She did a fantastic job and it turned out beautiful. 

130.  I told Mya to go lay in my bed, hoping she would go to sleep,
when I came into check on her she had propped 4 pillows up
behind herself, was eating an apple, and reading a book.
Silly girl!

131.  Having hot chocolate with the kids on a cold wintery day.

132.  Snuggled in close together on the couch looking and laughing at family scrapbooks. 

Would you like to record your own moments of joy and share them?  Post your own moments of joy on your blog next Tuesday and then link up here to share them with others. 
 To read more about what 1000 moments of joy is click here.
I can't wait to see your moments!

Thanksgiving Moments 121-127

To start off with, I thought I would share with you the secret I discovered today for having a really great Thanksgiving dinner.  Are you ready?  Okay, here is the secret, lots and lots of butter.  
Siimple, really, but oh, so true.  Am I right, or am I right?

121.  All my kids were such good helpers today!  It was 
wonderful!

122.  All day, I kept hearing Jarom say, "I love Thanksgiving."

123.  Chocolate and Peanut butter always makes me happy.

124.  My homemade rolls turned out fabulous, and so did my turkey.

 The only major catastrophe I had today was that I put the yams in the oven on broil to brown the marshmallows, and I stepped away from the oven too long.  When I got back, the marshmallows were black on top.  I panicked at first, and then I just picked the burned ones off and put new marshmallows on.  No one even knew. 

125.  Shawn's sister, husband and 7 children joined us for dinner.
 Their youngest is just a few weeks old, and boy is he a cutie.
I thought maybe I could offer her 20 bucks for him.
We do sort of need another baby around this house.  

126.  Shawn's mom, aka. Grammy, also joined us, and boy are
 we ever glad we have her.  She sure can make some
 meeeeaaaan pie.  Oh, and her gravy is fabulous too.  

127.  After the turkey had been taken out of the oven, and we were putting the final touches on dinner, the kids would poke their heads into the kitchen to see how things were coming along, if we had carved the turkey yet, and how much longer it was going to be?  It was fun to see how excited they were. 

I really had a wonderful, relaxing day.  It was so nice in fact, I kept thinking I must have forgotten something really big that I should be making or doing.  But, as far as I know, I didn't forget anything important and we had a great Thanksgiving Day.  Hope you did too.


Check back tomorrow to see what we did for fun after dinner.  Believe me, you do not want to miss this.  

Marriage Moments, Moments 118-120

"It is so rewarding to be married. Marriage is wonderful. In time you begin to think alike and have the same ideas and impressions. You have times when you are extremely happy, times of testing, and times of trial, but the Lord guides you through all of those growth experiences together."  --Richard D. Scott, The Eternal Blessings of Marriage, Ensign, May 2011.

118.

I came home from a meeting the other night and Shawn said that there was a surprise for me down by my pillow.  I rushed to our room and found this note.  This note led me to another note, and then another and another.  I was so excited as I rushed from room to room wondering what the end surprise could be.  Finally I came to a giant chocolate bar.  Does my sweetie know me or what?  What a fun surprise!

119.  Date Nights!  Shawn is always so good to make time for the two of us to have some alone time together.    Ninety nine percent of the time when we go on a date it is because he planned it or he suggested it.  Sometimes our dates are as simple as going to the store together, or grabbing a bite to eat and then perusing Barnes and Noble, but whatever it is it is always so nice to spend time with just him.  

120.  Flowers just because.  I would say that on the average Shawn brings me flowers about once a month, just because.  Just because he loves me and he thought of me while he was at the store.  I sure love that man.  

There is Sunshine in My Soul Today Moments 113-117

"There is sunshine in my soul today, More glorious and bright Than glows in any earthly sky, For Jesus is my light.  Oh, there’s sunshine, blessed sunshine When the peaceful happy moments roll. When Jesus shows his smiling face, There is sunshine in the soul."  --LDS Hymn #227

113.  Sunshine

Sunshine is a rarity this time of year, and this was one of those rare mornings when the universe was in alignment and everything felt right with the world.  The house was clean, my boys were listening to me read a great book, the little girls were playing quietly, and  when the sun lit up the room it was almost as if I could hear the angels singing.

114.  Seeing how happy Hannah was after her first piano lesson with Jarom. 

115.  Watching Tabetha step out of her comfort zone and do some   hard things for school this year.

116.  Katie being so excited to peel the potatoes for me.  She thinks it is her job and she won't hear of anyone else doing it.  

117.  Hannah:  "Mom when I bear my testimony it makes me feel so happy inside." 

Moments 109-112

"Hold your heads high, you wives, mothers, homemakers.  You engender life and enrich it.  Don't trade that pervasive force for fleeting, surface trinkets.  Cherish it, enlarge it, magnify it.  You hold a mighty office."

 --Barbara B. Smith (Daughter's in My Kingdom, p. 159)

109.  I love the way he is laying on her lap, and they are looking in the mirror together.

110.  Hannah was so proud that she was able to put this puzzle together all by herself.

111.  Katie loves her 3 wheeler.
This was our last walk before the snow came
and was it ever cold that day.

112.  Logan wrecked on his sled, and the girlies are trying to make him feel better.
They love to be everyone's little nurses.

A Few More Summer Moments 102-108

" Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." 

 (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

102.

103.

104.

105.

106.

107.

108.

Summer Vacation Moments 91-101

While we were in Utah this summer, we went and visited Uncle Paul, Shelly and little Bailey.  Uncle Paul, was Shawn's mission companion for 8 months while they were missionaries in Orlando, Florida.  Last time we visited Uncle Paul he told Hannah and Katie, that they could have his horses Smokey and Denny, but that they had to stay there so he could take care of them.  Hannah and Katie have talked nonstop about Smokey and Denny for two years.  They were both so excited to be reunited with "their" horses.   

The older kids had never met Uncle Paul and Shelly before, and were excited to finally meet the famous horses they had been hearing so much about for years.  

The first night we were there we went to the local rodeo.  What a fun time for a bunch of wannabe cowboys and cowgirls.    

91.  Hannah with Denny

92.  I almost skipped over this picture without noticing Logan holding Mya's hand.  It makes my mother heart melt. 

93.  I bet Smokey can beat Denny in a race.

94.  I win!

95.  Wait up!

96.  What a sweet brother!

97. Chill'n by the stream

98.  And Check out those cowboy boots.  He just had to 
have them for our trip to Uncle Paul's.  He wore 
them everyday for weeks after he got them .  

99.  The riding teacher said that Jarom is a natural on a horse.  

100.  Love those beautiful eyes

101.  Happy to be back in the saddle again.