Our Christmas week

It's been a DELIGHTFUL seven days of family and fun.

I got to watch Julianna dance at her Christmas recital.

She love wearing her swishing, swirling, sparkling red dance dress.

Hubby and I went to see the lights at the Mesa Temple.

Always a treat.

We also enjoyed listening to the Mountain View High School Chorale.  They sang beautifully and we enjoyed music for the season which honored the birth of our Savior.

My son let me honor his birthday before heading north to spend Christmas with the in-laws.

His girls helped him blow out his lone candle.

He's a very lucky man to have these sweet daughters in his life.

It was a busy Christmas week so I didn't bake a cake but I did make him one of his favorites for dinner, homemade noodles with chicken over mashed potatoes.  The cupcakes came from Sassy's.

I already posted about our annual doughnut day, but didn't include these shots of Julianna entertaining grandpa while he was outside frying.

She's a high flyer.  It was a gorgeous Arizona day with a high of 71 degrees.  A perfect doughnut day.

Grandma, did you get me in the air?

On Sunday, I fixed the annual ham Christmas dinner and we also celebrated DIL Susan's birthday.

They provided the cake and tried to make it somewhat healthy as there were lots of walnuts and carrots.

Julianna was happy for her momma.

She was also happy to finally join the stocking brigade on the fireplace.  Sister Heather decorated a stocking for her as we watched the movie "Christmas Oranges."  She did a great job.  Glen's mother started this tradition of red felt stocking with toes.  Whenever I had a new baby, I would receive a plain stocking in the mail to decorate.  She never sent them decorated.  I have offered the plain stockings as well for grandchildren if wanted but they are in charge of decorating them.  Heather finally came through for Julianna.  Isn't it cute?

On Christmas Eve we grilled pizzas outside, the grand kids' choice, and ate in front of the outside fireplace.  We had just our oldest son's family as all the others were with in-laws or out of state.

There was a smaller cast for out nativity, but still enough to tell the story.

I had to pull out my bathrobe for Joseph as TJ is now over six feet tall.  Those babies are growing right out of our costume box!

Cutest brother/sister shepherds.

Christmas Day we headed to their house for Christmas breakfast and to see what Santa brought and their gifts.  A skate board and helmet.

New clothes from Nate and Nichelle.

She loved her new clothes and thought they went well with her new necklace.

And BB guns.  Not my favorite but their dad and grandpa had fun telling them about their first BB gun.  Notice the eye wear.  Don't shoot your eye out!

Of course my favorite gift was the sewing machine Heather received from Santa.  She has been taking sewing lessons and I think we have another confirmed sewer.  I went over things in the instruction manual with her and helped her get it set up.  When we finally went home, she had already cut out a skirt for her American girl doll and was ready to roll.

We ended the day and the week by finally going to see the movie, "Lincoln," and visiting with the missing children on the telephone.  I hope your week was as merry.

Christmas card to the neighborhood

My husband works hard each year to turn the outside of our home into Christmas magic.  He calls it his Christmas card to the neighborhood.

He begins the weekend before Thanksgiving and recruits nieces, nephews, younger friends, and our grandson to help him.

But the planning and layout are all his ideas.

My tall son usually helps us to put the string of lights around the roof line.

Our nephews and grandson strung all of the red and white lights through the Virginia creeper hanging from the ash tree and the lime tree.

The really big job each year is the lime tree, the piece de resistance.

Glen sent me out to take a picture from across the street of his little corner of the world alive in lights for Christmas.

This is how things look during the day, pretty but not magical like after the sun goes down.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone.  This is a new handmade felt nativity made in Nepal.  I love nativity sets and the story they tell of the birth of the Son of God, even Jesus Christ.  On this Christmas Eve I love to ponder the story and recommit myself to serve and do as the Savior would.

Hopefully there is always room at the inn.

Big sister

Being the big sister has been a role I have enjoyed, mostly.  I love this Christmas card photo of Gary's and Velva's little family in 1958, left to right: Lynette, Janis, Laurel holding Becky, and lone brother Farrell.  Youngest sister Jolene would not arrive until the early part of 1960. We were a fifties family and they had them fast back then.  Farrell and I are 13 months apart in age and with those "L" names we were often asked if we were twins.  Lynette and Becky were 11 1/2 months apart.  I look at Lynette and think, "Why she is still just a baby, too."  But we all survived and continue to love one another.

Things about myself I notice in this picture:

-French braids which my mother put in my hair on Saturday night (very tightly) with the assumption that they would last a week.
-Bandaid on my knee which is a regular feature as I always had skinned up knees.
-Wart on the other knee and those warts were my childhood bane.  I still have scars where some were burned off.
-Clothes made by my mother who was at her Pfaff sewing machine almost daily.  I would sit on a little round stool next to her sewing table and watch her sew and ask lots of questions.

I love that people are still sending family pictures with their Christmas greetings.  Isn't that what Christmas is all about, celebrating the gift of the Savior with friends and family?

 

This is what I included in my Christmas Card this year, pictures of my family who are my treasure.