Holiday Happenings

Two posts in one day! I am so behind!!!

With the holidays here, there has been so much going on lately that I haven't had time to post about it all and so I am going to condense some of it in this post...ya know, just for now. ☺ Forgive the length!

BIG "T"

Yes the "Big T" Thurl Bailey of Utah Jazz Basketball fame came and did a Christmas concert in our community. What? You didn't know he sang? Well, now you do! And he is extremely talented at it too. He was amazing. We took our entire Young Women and Young Men group to watch him for our weekly activity and they were all impressed as well.

The band he brought along was even more impressive. They were high school students that played like seasoned pros.

Here he is signing autographs and CD's after the concert. Notice how he towers over everyone! He is 6'11"...a tall drink of water and then some!

Me and Bonnie ↓ demonstrating how to make a fool out of yourself as everyone watches.

He really is a nice guy and so willing to appease his "fans"...lol.

Big T has been in our town before and I had to dig up these photos from SEVEN years ago when my middle son Bryce had the opportunity to meet him. Bryce was the District Cub Scout of the Year and so was asked to lead the audience in the pledge of allegiance at a program Big T came to speak at.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Bryce is sitting on the right of him and on the right of Bryce is my blogging buddy and dear friend Karen who conducted the program. Poor kid can barely see over the podium. Such is NOT the case today!

Wow! He is so tall...he makes made two of Bryce...not anymore though!

Christmas lunch with some friends.


















We ate at Rainbow Gardens...the yummiest place! They are famous for their Mormon Muffins. Mmmm....mmm....mmm...


After we shopped in the Rainbow Gardens Gift Shop. Look what I found... ↓

Yes, the purr-fect gift! I tried to put him in my basket but he purr-'fur' ed my lap. He was just in the store acting like he owned the place. Guess he does!

Is he not just so stinkin' cute!!

RELIEF SOCIETY CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

I was asked to help with a presentation for a Relief Society Christmas program. We did it at girl's camp this summer and so I was a little familiar with it. It is a beautifully written script by my friend Marilyn that walks you through the life of Christ. I had the part of Mary Magdalene. I had memorized the part while at girl's camp, but this time when I was re-learning it, it touched my heart so powerfully of how this Mary must have truly felt about her Savior. He was beloved by so many, but by her especially.

For a more detailed description of the incredible night go HERE to AUDREY'S blog. She did an amazing job describing the event. It was a very powerful presentation. It truly touched those who were in attendance. I was the last room and as the women were walking in, I noticed there were very few dry eyes. Unfortunately, I had to miss the rest of it while I waited for them to enter my room. So thanks Audrey for your great re-cap of what happened.


























Our Christmas Tree...
























I went to a Christmas Home Show last week and this ↓ was in one of the homes. Isn't it cool? They covered a post that was in the room and turned it into an amazing palm tree. I loved it and hope to do it sometime in my home in honor of Tyson who loved palm trees.

























The fashion statement we are making on our feet are the booties we had to wear to cover our shoes to protect the carpet. As if our lovely shoes would do any harm! If ya want a pair, let me know. I can probably get them to you just in time for Christmas!☺






Snowman Shuffle 5K



















Last week I ran the Snowman Shuffle. The weather was incredible this year! Last year, we ran in the blizzard from you know where! The course is a tough one to be sure. There is a major steep hill like no other, but if you survive it you get to run downhill for a bit which is always a bonus! My friend Julie talked me into running it. I haven't been getting in my weekly miles lately and so I wasn't real sure I wanted to do it. If it wasn't for her, I am not sure I would be doing any races right now.

Woo-hoo! I got 2nd place! 42nd overall (out of approximatley 140 runners.) Here I am receiving my ribbon. My time was 27:52. I was a little bummed because I was 14 seconds faster last year. Dang...I hate when that happens! Hmm... must be because I have slacked on my miles lately.

Here are a few of my fellow neighborhood runners that 'shuffled' their way to the finish line too.

For the full story go HERE.

Ward Christmas Party at our Church We had a great dinner and lots of laughter and fun. The best part of the whole party is the fact that I actually get a photo of my boys on Santa's lap...even if they think they are too old. I only got McKay this year because the other boys had other obligations.
















Here is a shot of McKay and some of his buds. I had to bribe them all to sit there for a quick photo by teasing them if they didn't they would have to give a talk in church the next day (I have connections!) ... it worked! I think they really believed me! I know, I know...

Our traditional Santa lap pose. Stephanie, me, Santa, Jen, & Bonnie.

Utah Homemaker's Christmas Lunch

Our Utah Homemaker advisor (Beth - that's her in the middle) hosts an incredible luncheon at her home each year to celebrate the holidays. She brings out the good china, silver, and the works! She is amazing. The food is always so delicious! I sware I took some photos of it and they are gone! She makes these to die for orange rolls and her roast melts in your mouth. We then play a white elephant exchange game and get laughing so hard that it's good we only do it once a year. Beth is one of those women who goes all out no matter what she is doing. There is nothing she can't do. I hope to be just like her when I grow up...someday.☺

AMERICAN MOTHERS MINI CONFERENCE

Some of my most favorite people come from the greatest organization in the world for mothers ~ American Mothers. I talk about it a lot, and I will continue to until the day I die because I love it so much. Even though this particular event wasn't a Christmas one, I didn't want to forget to post a little about it. It was an annual mini-conference held in Cache Valley. This year's theme was, "Motherhood...the Greatest Show on Earth!" and centered around a circus theme. It was incredible as always and I learned so much.

*The top left photo is Cecelia's daughters singing some songs from the CD they just released for the Flylady (her link is on my sidebar) that has been nominated for a Grammy award! Isn't that awesome!!

*Two of the most incredible and talented women I know and my dear friends, Lisa and Diane (event organizers) dressed up like clowns.

*The bottom right is of Susan Tanner, former General Young Women's President giving the keynote address. It was one of the most inspiring talks on motherhood I have ever heard. I hope to do a separate post on it soon.

Here we are with Susan Tanner - former General Young Women's President after her speech. Julie, Susan, me, and Cecelia (another one of the event organizers that has more talent than should be allowed in one person and one of my dearest friends on earth!)

Christmas Piano Recital


McKay's piano teacher had all her students do duets for this year's Christmas recital. She wanted them to do them with either another student, a sibling, or parent. I got nominated! I was actually excited to do it until the day of. It was fun practicing with McKay, at least until he memorized his part and I didn't! I had no plans of doing that either. Just getting up and playing in front of the whole audience was sacrifice enough for me!

This is McKay playing his solo titled none other than "You're A Mean One Mister Grinch"! He still loves the Grinch. He had this memorized as well but I made him take up his music just in case.

Here we are playing the duet. It looks like I have it memorized and he doesn't in this photo. That's because this was a staged photo taken after the recital since we didn't get a "real" one during. Ya know, just for photo purposes.....hee hee.

We are both happy that's over!

I have been trying to download the video of us playing the duet but BLOGGER won't let me download it!!! Anyone know why? I have tried several times.

I will keep trying...so check back if ya want an entertaining moment! Muuhaahaa!

It's Who You Know

♫ Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert ♫
Wednesday night a friend of ours dropped by to see if we wanted his tickets to the Mo-Tab concert for the following night because he was unable to attend. Now, this wasn't just any friend. This friend is the Prophet's brother who happens to be in our ward. Which means the tickets weren't just any tickets either. These tickets were reserved for the First Presidency's family, which means the seats would be incredible. We jumped at the opportunity to go and even though I was the one that wasn't sure how I was going to squeeze it in an already tight night, we were able to make it work.
The night of the concert, I had been at Taylor's basketball game in Salt Lake and so after his game I took him out to dinner and then we drove to the Conference Center to meet Dave and the other boys.
What should have taken 10-15 minutes at the most to get to the Conference Center, ended up taking almost an hour.
The traffic was the worst I have ever seen it downtown. We were barely creeping once we got off the freeway. I didn't think we were going to make it. Dave and the boys were already inside and waiting for us. Once we got closer to the Conference Center there was ZERO parking to be found. I ended up pulling into a church parking lot hoping against all odds that I would be able to squeeze into some little hole. As we were driving around a young couple with three little kids and two strollers walked by. I rolled down my window and asked them if they were leaving. They very politely said they were and so we followed them. It was a miracle to find that place only two blocks away.
We parked and then Taylor and I ran two blocks (literally) to the doors just in time for them to shut them and tell us the only entrance now was door 13---another long walk (run!). There was a long line and a man came out and said he wasn't sure if they would be able to get us all in. I held out my tickets and told him I had reserved seats. As soon as he saw the tickets he instantly gave us the VIP treatment. We were escorted inside and after we went through security we were directed to our seats.
This is the view we had from behind us. The place was packed. It holds 21,000 people and nearly every seat was filled. We were just grateful we made it inside before the concert started. Mainly because we were on the THIRD row right in the CENTER! We had the best seats in the house!I took the picture above from my seat. The heads you see are people sitting on the front row. We were just two rows back. The person's head you see on the left is the Prophet's daughter Ann Dibb. She had three empty seats next to her. Hmm...I wonder who usually sits in those?

The concert was incredible!

Very inspiring!Brian Stokes Mitchell was a guest artist and so entertaining and talented. I just loved him. I have never heard him perform before. He did all the singing vocals on the movie The Prince Of Eygpt and sang a song or two from that.

This is a blurry one but the set was just beautiful!
Brian Stokes Mitchell again. ↑ What a great entertainer.

Edward Herrmann was also a guest. You may remember him as the preacher in the Disney film North Avenue Irregulars and as Goldie Hawn's husband in Overboard.

I had to turn my flash off and so some of the photos weren't real clear.

Brain Stokes Mitchell ↑

Edward Herrmann ↓

Bryce and his date, ↑ they were sitting in the row behind us.

The place was packed! I'm sure glad we weren't sitting up in some of those seats!

The best part of the whole evening was after the concert when I got to meet Ann Dibb - President Monson's daughter, who was sitting directly in front of us. She is a counselor in the Young Women General Presidency and she was so gracious and so fun! She even offered to come and speak to my girls! I was so surprised. I didn't even ask her! She just offered! She has the most amazing presence. You could just feel the love oozing from her.

Bryce's date also wanted to meet her.

Me (that's what your hair looks like when you have just run two blocks in high heels!), Ann Dibb, & Ashley.

It was such a worthwhile evening - even with the horrendous traffic problems! I am so grateful I was able to attend. It's great for us low lifes to have friends in high places! Thanks Scott!

Friday Memes

Sorry it's late! The holiday craziness is sapping up all my time. I was going to bag it this week, but then decided even if it's Saturday by the time I get this done, someone might still want to play along! ☺ Sorry I didn't make it by last week to those who played along. I am still planning to!

Food 4 Thought Friday

Feel free to play along for some yummy fun! I will post a new one each Thursday night for those that are on a different time zone. JOIN IN!!!


Food 4 Thought Friday ~ This week's questions
BreakfastDo you have a real Christmas tree or an artificial one?
Lunch
Do you give a Christmas gift to your nearby neighbors each year?

DinnerHave you ever done the 12 Days of Christmas or had it done to you? Was it anonymous?


Midnight Snack What time do you typically get to bed on Christmas Eve?


Recipe for this Week (instead of your recipe for life - what is it for just this week?)


PLEASE PLAY !!!! Come on you know you want to!




Be sure and stop by the other's blogs who played along too!!!


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MY ANSWERS


BreakfastDo you have a real Christmas tree or an artificial one?I grew up with artificial ones. In fact we even had one of those silver foil ones with the rotating light wheel. Since I have been married, we have ALWAYS had a real one. Dave always insisted. Now the boys do too. I am still pushing to get an artificial one though. I am getting sick of all the dry needles! For more on this go HERE.
Lunch
Do you give a Christmas gift to your nearby neighbors each year?
Yes we do. Our neighborhood has always done that. It is one of my favorite parts of Christmas trying to come up with something unique and clever to give. We don't spend more than $2-3 each though. Mainly because we give to so many (usually about 30). The best part is when the doorbell rings and it's one of our neighbors delivering one to us. It's so fun. My favorite one we gave was a can of Pringle chips that I decorated with felt to look like Santa Claus with the poem that said something like: "Jingle, Jingle, Here's Kris Kringle. Sit right down and have Pringle." It took forever to make them, but they were pretty cute.
DinnerHave you ever done the 12 Days of Christmas or had it done to you? Was it anonymous?
We usually do it each year. We pick a family in our area that could use some cheer or help and do it anonymously. It is one of our boys favorite traditions. I usually buy a nativity set and we give one piece each day along with a part of a poem I wrote. On the last day we leave the baby Jesus. We've also had it done to us several times. Last year someone did it for us and the gifts were so generous and the cards were so touching that it REALLY helped make our Christmas much more meaningful after losing Tyson the year before. I think doing anonymous acts of service is really what Christmas is all about. It helps bring the meaning into it so powerfully.

Midnight Snack What time do you typically get to bed on Christmas Eve?
Lately, it has been around 1 or 2 a.m. When the boys were little, I would be up until at least 3 or 4 a.m. Just in time to have them wake us up about 5 a.m.!

Recipe for this Week (instead of your recipe for life - what is it for just this week?)
Hang on no matter how hard it gets. Hard things come to pass not to stay.

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1. Friends are one of my greatest blessings! ♥

2. Take good care of your health; it's what makes up the quality of life.

3. I'm ready for NOT Christmas, that's for sure! Never been so far behind as this year!

4. Forbidden Fruit is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.

5. The oldest ornament I have is from our first Christmas in 1982. It is a musical cross-stitched one my Mom made us.

6. Take some gratitude, appreciation, a giving heart, and a little humor mix it all together and you have joy and happiness!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to finishing getting my Christmas up (never been this slow!), running kids to and fro, finding Bryce something to wear to his dance tomorrow, wrapping gifts, mostly just doing Christmas stuff! tomorrow my plans include watching McKay's at his last basketball camp day, attending his concert, helping Bryce get ready for his dance date, and Sunday, I want to make it to all my meetings, and hopefully take a long winter's nap (ha-ha!)


To play go HERE.

So I Think I Can Dance! (pause music playlist at bottom)

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My Boys Are Gonna Kill Me!

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It Just Gets Better and Better! Yep, I'm Dead!

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