Merry Christmas morning!

Santa came!! He brought fun toys for the kids. I was in heaven watching them play all morning long. I thought to myself several times, "This is the life."

Lily saw this tiny pink sparkly notebook in the store and wanted it so badly. Amazingly, both Santa Claus and Grandma & Grandpa Robison gave her one! So she has two tiny pink sparkly notebooks!

Aaron got the chinese cleaver he's been wanting! Our chef friend recommended it a year ago. Aaron has waited so patiently and his parents delivered. Thank you!

The kids' main present was a play kitchen. They had so much fun playing with it, especially Carter. The biggest hits were the working blender and the wooden fruit you can cut in half with a little wooden chinese cleaver.

Aaron and I got our camera early for Christmas. Aaron framed a large family portrait for me. He also did a fantastic photo shoot with the kids. He made me a collage frame with some of those photos. The picture below is Lily snuggling me while I open my gift from her.

Have I ever mentioned that Carter likes wheels? Lily gave him this tractor book that has real wheels on it. It was the first gift he opened...and the only one for quite a while. He played with that for a good half hour before he opened another present. By the end of gift opening, he had received 11 wheeled gifts.

It was fun to stay in jammies over half the day. All four of us watched Wall-E together and played with toys. We went to the Wintertons for dinner and playing. It was a fantastic Christmas!

A joyful Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was joyful and calm.
Carter got up early so he and I snuggled by the Christmas tree in the dark. We sang Christmas hymns and read about Jesus' birth.

We had the Wintertons and Tim and Glenn over for a midday feast and Christmas program.

I didn't get a picture of the delicious toffee I made this year. It's a new recipe that is simple and quick. I love it! Here Carter is sampling a large piece and enjoying it!

I love winter weather here! We went for a walk and it felt so great out.

Sweet girls.

I think this is called a rose cabbage cactus. Isn't it cool?


After our friends left the kids got a new pair of p.j.s and read stories of Christ's birth. Then we went to bed early.

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat...

...please put a penny in the old man's hat!

We had fun Christmas preparations and activities. Following is a summary. It's long. If you're not interested just breeze on by.


We went caroling with our good friends, the Wintertons. Here we are with Dorothy Mimms, our 91 year old friend.

Lily made "popcorn world" with popcorn from our neighbors. She'd pour a ton out onto Carter's tray and they'd eat it together.

George came to visit after an interview for his medical residency. I had fun laughing with him like old times.

The temple lights were pretty. Yes, it was chilly out!

Hot chocolate and cookies with Semanee after the lights.

I did a cookie exchange with some girlfriends.

I made an army of gingerbread men. Lily said they were the army of the Israelites. She pointed out David, Goliath, and King Saul. :)

A few photos around the house. I love the feeling in the air
and around the house at Christmas time.

Aaron and I have a tradition of reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens aloud together.

...If you haven't got a hay' penny then God bless you!

Ho ho ho!

The magic of Santa Claus at Christmas. He came to our ward Christmas party. I love this photo of when we entered the room to see him. Lily remembers him and loves him. Look at the excitement on her little face. Carter was very curious about what was in the room too.

Lily had a nice little chat with Santa. She told him she'd like a pink castle that she can fit in.

I love this funny picture! Lily is talking away...I'm not sure if she's trying to explain to Carter who Santa is or vice versa. Carter is not impressed about sitting with a huge white bearded stranger.

Our Christmas party was fantastic. After visiting Santa we had an amazing dinner au Cameron et Michelle Bolender. Then there was musical entertainment. Aaron sang I'm GettingNuttin' for Christmas in a comical men's ensemble. I sang Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabelle. Lily sang Picture a Christmas with the primary children. Carter danced along to all the songs.

Handel's Messiah

I love singing, especially praises to my God. I don't know how in all my years of singing, I have never attended or participated in a performance of Handel's Messiah. But this year that changed. It provided a good challenge. The music was difficult and completely new to me. I sang in the chorus and performed the solo I Know That My Redeemer Liveth. The truly inspiring text of the music is scriptural passages from the Bible. It was an incredible experience for me.


With friends and fellow soloists.

Little dolls

Lily and I made little dolls for our church to send to children in need around the world. They were fun to make. We stitched, stuffed, and drew on the heads by hand. It was more time consuming than I had anticipated. However, it felt rewarding to know that our efforts would bless a few children who need some comfort and love.

This was a good opportunity to teach Lily to serve others. I also appreciated that it exposed her to sewing. It's a great sewing start for her!

Thanks, Leslie.

Leslie, my real life and blogging friend, said she likes my blog. Thanks, Leslie! I'm supposed to list 5 things I love. You wouldn't think it difficult to come up with five things I love. However, I'm finding it a little tricky. I suppose I'll focus on five things that I love, and they're not particularly the five things I love most.

1. Scrapbooking paper. Beautiful colors and textures make my world come alive.
2. Our Christmas tree. The glow of the lights is magical. The ornaments bring back happy memories from my life.
3. Skip, my car. Lily also affectionately calls him Lightning McQueen. He's a silver Mazda Protege 5.
4. Colonial At Home candles
5. Pretty dishes
6. Ribbons. Again, color and texture!
7. My china hutch. I found it on craigslist. It was yellow. I repainted it white with light green accents.
8. Saucony running shoes.
9. Bed Head Hard Head hairspray.
10. My bed. It's so soft.
11. My dining table and chairs. The table is a dark espresso brown stain. The chairs are antique white, distressed. The table is huge. We'll be able to fit our big family around it...when it gets big someday.
12. White kitchen cabinets. I don't have white kitchen cabinets but I really want them.

I guess that's more than 5. Really it's a pretty superficial list. Like I said, they're just things. But they're things that make my life bright!

Now I get to pass this along to 5 other blogging friends.
1. Melinda
2. Jordan and Kelly
3. Beth
4. Cassidy
5. Alisha

It's official.

I'm registered for the Ragnar Relay Del Sol!

It's a 181.2 mile relay race from Wickenburg to Mesa, Arizona. There are 12 runners per team. Every runner runs three legs of the race, ranging from 3 to 8 miles each. I'd better get training!

Fire station field trip

Lily's preschool had a field trip to the fire station. Carter and I went along for the fun. It was Lily's field trip, but it was right up Carter's alley. When we went into the garage, Carter was in awe at all the big trucks.

Standing patiently in line. Quite a task when you're four years old.

Driving the fire truck.

Ready to go into a burning building!