Christmas

 I love Christmas.  My favorite time of the year, but this year I feel like I missed most of it.  We were gone for the first two weeks on our trip to Canada and got the tree up the 17th.  It wasn't long enough...

 I love coming home to lights and trees, but we didn't get lights up this year outside and we had to use a fake tree inside.  Blasphemous!  It will never happen again.  The children were happy… it's hard not to be happy at Christmas when you are little and it all about your presents.  I added something new to the Elf gift pj's this year.  I was touched by Miss Boo's letter of thanks.  She is so polite.

 Mr. Finn has always called the children Thing 1 and Thing 2.  Imagine how excited I was to find these in the Clearance Bin at Target.  The perfect pajamas and they love them as much as we do.

 The Dude was sad when I took down the Christmas decorations two days after Christmas.  I must admit that is really early for me, but it just felt over.  He said he loves the mantle the most because it is so beautiful.  That's a lot coming from a seven year old.

 Miss Boo is about Art these days and Santa took that to heart.  She also got a piano bench for her keyboard to help her practice better/easier.

 What can I say about the Dude.  He gets great joy out of everything.  Sadly, these little things that he loves got thrown out with the trash.  It's becoming a yearly thing with his stuff.

 We got a leash to help with our dog.

 No, not this dog.  That would have been fine with me, but Mr. Finn was ready for the pooping kind.

 This kind… I don't have anything against him, but I am not a dog person.  He is trying to win me over.  He might...

 My favorite gift this year was from the Dude.  Priceless!

 I am blessed this year with healthy children.  Funny, sensitive, ornery, create, smart, loving children.

 Christmas was small this year and we loved it.  We decided last year to take out all the "stuff" and make it smaller.  It was wonderful last year and this.

We are grateful for a loving Heavenly Father that deposited us back in our little corner of the earth.  Love this time of the year to reflect on the Savior and how key he is to our happiness.

Happy New Year!

New Experiences

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I got to be the photographer for a friend of mine.  A very trusting friend of mine.

Family pictures even.  

My little guy had to get in on the fun… as usual.

 These sisters are so much fun together.

 I am in love with Madi… she is photogenic.

 This little turkey didn't want pictures, but this caught her personality.

 She is so pretty and coming into her own this.  I love this age in Young Womens… Beehives do so much growing.

It was a first for me and kind of fun.  Helps when you have such fun models.

Way past due! Sorry Miss Boo...

 My beautiful, brown eyed girl turned nine in April.  Yes, it was a long time ago, but she deserves a spotlight this year.

Amazing. Talented. Funny. Strong willed. Creative. Smart. Loving. Kind. Beautiful.

 She wanted a sculpting, face painting party.  Nothing fancy, but it made her happy.  No special cake… just chocolate… and her friends.

She felt very loved and special on her day.  We love her so much and are blessed to have her as our daughter.

Our Miss Boo!

Am I ready?

YES!

Thank you for asking.

I am ready for Christmas.

I do understand that we have not celebrated Thanksgiving and don't get me wrong, I love that Holiday and having friends over to cook and eat with.  I love being grateful, but I feel a longing for Christmas.

A year ago we were in Mississippi.  Shhhhhh, don't say that aloud.

We have almost recovered from that experience.

Apparently I wasn't supposed to post the rest of this because it disappeared on me.  Time to change the whine fest I was having.

We have really enjoyed being home.  We took our children to the "real" Circus, which was a spectacular event.  Just watching our children's faces was amazing.  Wow!

I am grateful for my children and their absolute joy that gives me so much joy.

It was a wonderful evening.  Thanks to Mr. Finn for letting me pick the event.  It was delightful.  As you can see, he was having a great time too.

Surprise Gratitude

I see everyone on Facebook posting about what they are grateful for.  I am very grateful for many things in my life, but can't seem to join the ranks.  I feel very selfish about sharing it... I want it for myself.

In our world, where we are struggling with health issues, death and other issues, I feel the need to keep everything inward.  But while in the temple today I ran into a woman from our ward.  Actually, I could hear her voice while I was doing temple work and I got so excited that she was there.  Does it ever surprise when you realize you have stronger feelings for someone than you thought?  I have always adored her, but I realized I love her, that I think of here as someone very special in my life and I could imagine seeing her in the next life and be so happy for that to happen.  She saw me and I saw the same look on her face... I love how we are blessed with special people in our lives.  How Heavenly Father puts them there for us to enjoy and to be blessed by and to bless by knowing them.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR FRIENDS.

I have a lot of friends and some of them I find myself smiling when I hear their voice on the phone.  You know those smiles... the cheesy, ear to ear ones.  I like seeing that in the mirror and grateful that I recognize the joy I have been blessed with.

I also consider this cat a friend.  She is a menace, but we love her.  She brings us great joy, even when she is being naughty.