31st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mike.

We loved having Mike's brothers and their families here for the big birthday weekend. But I forgot to get out my camera until after Jared's family left - sorry guys!! We had fun playing settlers, going to the petting zoo and making Richard & Janae babysit while Jared, Abby, Mike and I went to see Sherlock. Thanks for coming and we hope you all come again in the summer when we can do a little bit more outdoors fun!

Baby in a Bucket

I recently re-discovered the baby in a bucket my grandma gave to me for Christmas one year. I was probably 14 or 15 when she gave it to me. I was appreciative of the thought even if I never played with it. However, Eliza loves it. I thought I would post a picture of it for all you crocheters or knitters out there. For some reason my pictures were a little blurry, but basically it is a cool whip container with a crocheted top, with a small baby inside. The baby has a crocheted hat, dress and underwear and small pillow, mattress and blanket. I know Janae's grandma made her one similar. Anybody else? Was it a fad in the 80's-90's?

And here is a picture of Eliza with her favorite Christmas present. She wore them straight through 3 hours of church last week. (No they are not prescription!)

Ian is happy to be back at school and in swim lessons. And we are happy to have something to entertain him too.

I have a request...

Does anybody in the near-by area have a copy of "It's a wonderful life" I can borrow? I really want to watch it this year. No, we don't have cable and the library copies are all checked out. Thank you ever so much.

I went to a conference on Aging and Alzheimer's a month or so ago and there was a inspirational speaker, Joan Endicott, who showed a clip from the movie and it almost made me cry... kind of embarrassing when you are sitting next to your boss! Ever since then I have been meaning to watch the movie.

Have a merry happy Christmas.

Dress up

I love dressing my kids in red for Christmas. I decided to do it earlier this year in case they aren't so accommodating later in the month. It was a bit of a struggle to get Eliza to wear red to church instead of pink but she was reconciled to the dress because it had dots on it just like Grandma Jan wears.

As you can see by my pictures, I had as much success as I did last year with taking pictures of these stinkers dressed nicely.

This one is by far my favorite of the lot. I officially retire from taking holiday pictures!

Update on other things.... I finished my turkey trot and I wasn't even last! I can't remember my time, but I had a great time running with two of my sisters. Mike, my brother in law Glenn, and Meridith also ran but out distanced us quickly! For all of you who said you wanted to run with us... we are planning on running the Orem turkey trot next year, a 4 mile run. It should be fun! I have to admit I have been a slacker since the race and have only been out running a few times. It's cold outside! Merry almost Christmas!