Holiday Fun!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas Programs and Christmas Cheer

The boys had their Christmas program on the 15th, and I am just now making the time to summarize it... Nick was not excited about putting on his "Sunday Best" as per the instructions sent home by the music teacher. Carson wasn't as upset about the dress code, but still didn't like the idea.It was packed. There was not enough room for everyone. It was insane. The Kindergarten was first. Thank heaven.Much to my relief the 2nd graders were next! I had a really hard time seeing Carson. We sat on the opposite side of the auditorium. He was so cute though. I didn't have my camera ready and he did kind of a "ta-da" move at the end of his songs, so I made him re-enact it for me outside it the hallway after the show.Because it was so crowded we left as soon as the 2nd Graders were done. It didn't take long for our seats to get filled.
Mica didn't have any Christmas programs this year but she spread her Cheer. Her Dad had to go to work and he had said "I don't want to go, I want to stay here with you." Mica got on his lap and started to sing. She made him feel better and he went to work. She has a way of cheering us all up!

My Newest Nativity

Ted made me a nativity out of nuts and bolts. The kids loved it and I happen to think he is quite crafty. Micalyn looked at it and said...
Ok so that was staged, but she originally said that and I thought it was so funny I made her say it again, this time on camera.

The W in Christmas

Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting season for a 6-year-old. For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant." I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.so, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in 10 minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment -- songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So,when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love, I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in the front row-center stage held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy,and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, "Christmas Love."The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W." The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a
purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:

"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"


He's the reason for the season.


I got this email seriously, years ago, but I went back and found it. I have thought about this every Christmas since I recieved it and wanted to share it with you. Don't be fulled that the little boy is named Nicholas, this didn't happen to us...or I would have pictures to go with the story!

Merry Christmas

More from our Thanksgiving Weekend

So we did more on our trip to The Basin then just have our Thanksgiving dinner. On Friday Ted and I were completely out of our minds and we went shopping that morning. We didn't get up and go early like everyone else, so to be honest the store wasn't packed with people when we got there. It was however, insane! Nothing was were it was supposed to be, they had stuff just stacked where ever they could, it took forever to find things. When we got back from shopping we had to apologize to our children because we left while they were still asleep and they didn't care for that too much. Friday night we all went to the Temple and it was Perfect, Amazing, and to quote and commercial priceless...It was so awesome to have all of us at the Temple together. Then on Saturday Night we had a game night. SO FUN!Here is Jen and Melanie either shooting a commercial for Vegetables or showing the absentee's what they missedJen started to tip the bottle and things got really crazy...
I can't show you how crazy it got (wink wink) but here is Nick and Jalynn just realizing how crazy there aunts and mom's are! My Sister's were completely worn out by the end of the evening. For those of you who missed it we missed you and sorry that you will never know what was so crazy...

A Cookie A Day

I found a site that gives you a new cookie recipe each day leading up to Christmas. I will try to religiously post them everyday on my recipe blog look to the left of the screen for the "Let's Eat" link!

A Myton Thanksgiving

We went to my Mom and Dad's on Wednesday after the boys got out of school and Ted got off work. We got the master suite at the Perkins HotelWe had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Elementary School so that we could all fit in comfort and the kids had room to run around. I didn't take too many pictures but here are some from the festivities... We had some fun at the school as you can see, but the funnest part was...
That's right! Kelly and Ted singing Black Hole Sun.