Yes We Need A Little Christmas, Right This Very Minute.....

The title of my post is a line from the happiest Christmas song for me this year! Here are some pictures from our Christmas holiday thus far:

First Presidency Christmas Devotional

Aunt Cheri was so great to give us tickets to the devotional. We took Taylor and she loved it. The entire evening was special to spend with Cheri and our oldest.

Flowers for the BEST family friend and child care provider in the world!

I think Dave had those words written on the card for Julie. As the baby from one of our day care families passed away from SIDS, there was so much sadness and gloom...for the loss for this family. Dave had Julie on his mind and called me at work to ask for Julie's address. He said he was sending her flowers and to let her know how much she means to us and our family. I was so touched to read the card from him as he expressed to Julie how much she means to us and each one of our children. Here are the beautiful flowers he had sent:

Taylor in "The Little Matchgirl"

We enjoyed watching Taylor perform in the winter dance recital. She did a super job and was overwhelmingly supported by her family. A huge thanks to Uncle Steve, Aunt Cheri and the ever-supportive Grandma Barbie and Poppie for coming to see her dance!

Santa Claus Is Coming....uh, CAME to Aunt Cheri and Uncle Steve's House!

Cheri and Steve called one afternoon and invited the kids to go to their neighborhood/ward Christmas party. The next night, when Dave went to pick them up (I was at Adventsingen), he sent me these pictures of the kids and Santa, who showed up at Cheri and Steve's home! I heard nothing but the surprise Santa visit from the kids for days and days. Oh, I LOVE Christmas!

Celebrating Christmas through Music: Deerfield in Song and the MOTAB Christmas Concert!

Last Thursday, I enjoyed a perfect day. Yes, perfect! I had the best German native guest speaker at the high school come in and talk about his Christmas memories, an awesome talent show at the junior high and then I ran to Deerfield for their annual Christmas program. Taylor and Jaxson were adorable as they sang with their classes. Grandma and Poppie joined us for the music too.

Jaxson was on the first row in white by my friend, Kim's, darling daughter in a green shirt!
Taylor had to run over and hug her grandparents on her way back to class.

After school, we quickly got our homework finished, read and at 4:00pm, Dave, Taylor, Jaxson and I were off to SLC for dinner at Texas Roadhouse (go before 6:00pm- we feed four of us there for $31.00) with Grandma Barbie, Poppie, Cheri and Steve. After a marvelous dinner, we drove to Temple Square for the MOTAB Christmas concert with Nathan Gunn and Jane Seymour.



Jaxson and I had some time together walking about the conference center before the concert. We talked about the temple, getting married there one day and about the prophet. It was such a special one-on-one experience for the two of us. I LOVE that kid soooo much.


On our way back to the suburban, I tried to get the grinch to stop and get a picture with me! :) Love my man-
And I LOVE my children!

Thanks Cheri and Steve and Grandma Barbie for giving us your extra tickets. We had the most memorable evening as a family.

A perfect day. Yes, perfect.

Annual Gingerbread House!

We invited Grandma Barbie and Poppie over for a family night with Chicken tortilla soup, breadsticks and to make our annual gingerbread house (thank you, Costco, for the kit. I'm still not in a place where I desire to make this from scratch). We had a great time and our house....uh, it turned out exactly how any house would when designed by a 10, 7, 5 and 2 year old!



We ended our evening with a nice FHE lesson with a resolve to be more service-oriented this season. Thanks, Grandma, for a great lesson!

Advent Countdown

What I love about Christmas in German-speaking Europe is how the emphasis is on Christ more than commercialization. I'm trying to incorporate more traditions in our family and will be adding the lighting of the Adventkranz (wreath) next year on the 4 Sundays before Christmas. For now, a tradition that I love, is the advent calendars. We love the countdown with our chocolate-filled calendars. And here we are:

THS Honor Society Babysitting Night

There are very few perks when one works at two different schools. However, I have one! The babysitting night by the THS Honor Society students. Their adviser is incredible and makes this 4 hour night so special for the kids. When they arrived, they were placed with 2-4 students who doted on their every need! They did 4 different crafts, had hairstyles done on them, were feed a yummy supper, were visited by Santa and ended by watching a Christmas movie. On our way to my classroom

Another great Christmas Tradition!

Football Dessert Night: Season Finale!

What a great ending to a great season! Thanks to the coaches and team moms who went to great lengths to make the season special for each football player.

The kindest gift from the best ward on the planet

I have said for years that I live in the greatest neighborhood in the world. We have friends who are our third family, great traditions with several people on our street and simply lots and lots of laughs and together moments.

But have I ever mentioned that we all belong to the same ward? And that our ward is incredible, too?

Our buddy, Dana, approached both Dave and me a few weeks ago and said he wanted to come into our garage and use it as a service project/teaching opportunity for the Elders Quorm in our ward. Dana is known for his ability to organize and tell people what to do! :) The perfect person to head up this project.

The result: incredible!

Here are some of the BEFORE pictures:

The men came over on a Tuesday night and began to work!

All of our junk on the car port area:

Dave was over-joyed by this kind gesture

And the garage started to shape up!

Look! I can park my suburban in the garage now!

Nice shelving EVERYWHERE!

Dana measured how high our water storage containers were and built the new shelving so they would fit under them.

THE FINAL RESULT:

Dana built the kids a bench with 10 cubbies for their shoes, backpacks and whatever we want to use it for!

Our skiis, snowboard and Dave's little touch with the license plate....

This project took 3 nights' work for about 10 men per night. We are overjoyed and overwhelmed with gratitude for this kind project for us. I kept saying to Dana, "We don't need this nor do we deserve it." Dana kept saying, "Let us do something nice for you and Dave."

Next on Dave and my list for the summer: paint the wall and finish the flooring!

Love our ward. Love our neighborhood. Love our Dana!