december daily, day 24

It is Christmas Eve! It feels more like summer outside than Christmas but you will not hear me complain about it! (It hasn't rained one day since we put up our Christmas lights outside. Usually, since we have lived here, we have fought the rain and having our lights short out several times because everything is so wet.)

My top five things about this day:

5- uploading my photos and finding the 67 pictures Megan and Hailey took of each other. Here are three of them.

4- seeing mission impossible. (I liked it.)

3- playing uno and scattergories (I am wondering if the chemo really did affect my brain long term).

2- our Christmas Eve dinner. No one in my family really likes the tradition of greasy Uncle Brent tacos without Uncle Brent and Aunt Michelle cooking them. So we tried something new this year. Tri-tip, crab legs, roasted potatoes, salad and rolls. It was a hit! Tod assured me that we could cook the crab legs. He was correct! They were tasty. (here I am talking about food again!) Megan was the only one who wouldn't try the seafood (chicken!)

1- our Christmas Eve family home evening that Tod was in charge of! Singing time (which Tod posted to facebook), testimony time and hearing the first Christmas read about from Jesus the Christ. My heart was very full as we each expressed our gratitude for our blessings, for one another, and for our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Some nights it is just fun to be a parent...this was one of them!

december daily, day 24

It is Christmas Eve! It feels more like summer outside than Christmas but you will not hear me complain about it! (It hasn't rained one day since we put up our Christmas lights outside. Usually, since we have lived here, we have fought the rain and having our lights short out several times because everything is so wet.)

My top five things about this day:

5- uploading my photos and finding the 67 pictures Megan and Hailey took of each other. Here are three of them.

4- seeing mission impossible. (I liked it.)

3- playing uno and scattergories (I am wondering if the chemo really did affect my brain long term).

2- our Christmas Eve dinner. No one in my family really likes the tradition of greasy Uncle Brent tacos without Uncle Brent and Aunt Michelle cooking them. So we tried something new this year. Tri-tip, crab legs, roasted potatoes, salad and rolls. It was a hit! Tod assured me that we could cook the crab legs. He was correct! They were tasty. (here I am talking about food again!) Megan was the only one who wouldn't try the seafood (chicken!)

1- our Christmas Eve family home evening that Tod was in charge of! Singing time, testimony time and hearing the first Christmas read about from Jesus the Christ. My heart was very full as we each expressed our gratitude for our blessings, for one another, and for our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Some nights it is just fun to be a parent...this was one of them!

december daily, day 23

Today was spent on family bonding. We started at the gym (all five of us). Then we came to Tod, Megan and my very favorite lunch spot, Cafe Citti! (I have decided with me, it is all about the food we are going to eat while we are together.) 

After lunch, Hailey and I got the last minute errands run (grocery store, salsa deliveries, and such) and then we all went to a new restaurant Hukuni for a hibachi dinner. (delicious!!!) Jon had picked up a couple of new games (which I don't recommend) and we spent the evening laughing and seeing how stupid the mother with the BYU education is! It is almost Christmas. We are getting excited!

december daily, day 22

So, this quarter has been a tough one in the junior english class. I even made a trip in to visit with Hailey's teacher Ms. Rose last Friday. Hailey has been feeling quite stupid and like she just isn't an analytical thinker. Today, Hailey received this text from Ms. Rose. I am so happy for Hailey!!!

Hailey,

I wanted you to know that you had the highest grade in the class for the 100 question objective test.

Have a wonderful break.

Ms. Rose

YIPPEE! And, Hailey is finished with this semester. She took her last finals today!! We will celebrate next week somehow.

In other news, MEGAN has finally arrived! Finally! So excited to have her here with us for a few days! Woo-hoo!!

december daily, day 21

I so cheated yesterday! I'm sorry. I had nothing else to report. :)

Guess who arrived in Santa Rosa?

TOD!! Jon picked him up at the airport this morning and they made their way to a golf course very quickly! I'm so grateful! I had promised Tod a good, home-cooked meal when he got here. I tried hard not to let him down. These two look so much alike it's CRAZY!

Tod is also a GIANT! How did I ever carry this boy and his 22 inch long body for nine months? I promise...I am his mother.

In other news...I got all my presents wrapped today! Yippee! And, I had done a lot better than I thought. I should be able to wrap up all the shopping tomorrow! Today was a great day. So happy to have Tod here!

december daily, day 20

sweet announcement! you need to watch this!
i am so happy for him! Merry Christmas!

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=18567804&nid=1016&title=david-archuleta-to-serve-lds-mission

december daily, day 19

Tonight we had the Sister's that are serving in our ward over for dinner. Meet Sister Pina and Sister Biggs. They are great missionaries and it was very fun to break bread with them tonight. Afterwards, Hailey and I and the Sisters joined our ward for some Christmas caroling. It helped us feel a little more of the Christmas spirit. We went to an assisted living center and walked the halls singing and then gathered in a central location for some singing. It is always so fun to carol to senior citizens. They always join in singing or they clap to the music or they just smile and remember. Thank you Brush Creek Ward for providing the opportunity for us to join in caroling. We loved it!

PS- I have not wrapped one Christmas present.

I have not finished buying every Christmas present.

I am not panicked. I still have 3 days, right?

Holy COW! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

december daily, day 18

This is what Jon and I woke up to this morning! Isn't Hailey the sweetest child? We didn't really think any of our other children remembered...but they did. :) Anyway, 30 years ago today, Jon and I got married. One week before Christmas. (thank you mother for not hating my guts!) I thought I should share a very beautiful picture of us. One I don't think I have shared before. You will get a good laugh! (can you say, chubby face?)

Neither one of us remember taking this picture, in fact, Jon doesn't think he has ever seen it before. It makes me laugh! Young love. Isn't it the greatest? Now here is a picture of old love. Five children and 2 1/3 grandchildren later love. After cancer treatments love. In the third year of our mission love. It is one of my favorite pictures of us from this year.

I feel so lucky and blessed to be so in love with my husband after all these years. He is one of the greatest blessings God has ever given me. He is my sunshine. He is my best friend. He is sensitive, and caring, and a fighter, and a clear voice when I get off track. He makes me laugh, he keeps me real, he takes care of all of us, he never gives up, and he treats me like a queen. My list could go on and on and on and on. One of the sweetest blessings of being on our mission is how often I get to hear him say really sweet things about me to our missionaries. Most of the time he is totally exaggerating how wonderful I am, but it is so sweet to my ears nonetheless. 

Thank you Jon for 30 wonderful years. I LOVE YOU!!!

december daily, day 17

Today was a rather difficult day to be the Mission President of the California Santa Rosa Mission. President had a situation to deal with all day today. It is so disappointing when things like this happen. :( Consequently, the evening we had planned to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary turned out to be dinner at Outback and a movie. I'm grateful we got that. (Celebrating 31 years is going to be something memorable!)

In other news of the day, Hailey and I had a few fun hours together running errands. It is always a treat when I get to spend some time with my busy 16 year old. She is happy and fun and I love her a lot!

december daily, day 16

tonight was hailey's winter choral concert. can you find her? she is in red, on the second row. she looks tall and she is smiling! (I love that about her, she is always smiling if she is performing)

her choir sounded very good! i think her choir teacher and grandma lucy would have been good friends.

they both bring out the best in their students.

she also plays in the hand bell choir! i missed the pictures of her grinning before the song began.

they have also improved since their fall concert. :)

daddy and his daughter. 

december daily, day 15

All-Mission Conference was a highlight of the year! Having all of our missionaries together, at one time, pretty much fills up the chapel. It is an amazing sight. It is something I hope I never forget. One of my favorite things of the day...singing Christmas hymns together. Priceless. Another one of my favorite things...hearing what President had to say. It touched my soul, very deeply. Again, priceless. Let's just say the phrase, "You're no Allyn Schlauder" has been being talked about for a few days now. Someday I will explain. :)

Packages all ready for pick-up!

The Senior Sisters made the cultural hall very festive!
I'm so grateful!

Tonight, our departing dinner was one of the best ever. I really do love this night every six weeks, but I really do hate to say good bye! We will miss these Elders and Sisters, but we are so proud of them. They are going to be some great people as they continue to contribute to the world in the future!

I shed a few (ok. maybe more than a few) tears today. By 10:30 I was wasted. The dishes will just have to wait until tomorrow. Good night!

december daily, day 14

today is wednesday. the day before thursday. on thursday we are having our all-mission christmas conference followed by a departing dinner for twelve of our missionaries. i really didn't have time to go see david archuleta last night. today i am paying for the lost hours. it was still worth it. seeing archuleta. 

this is what i have been looking at most of today. iMovie and iDVD. i was making a dvd for our conference with beautiful scenery photos that the missionaries had sent me, and pictures of about 330 baptisms that had occurred this year. it took awhile to make. then, i finished up all of my missionary pillowcases so we could load them into the trailer to get them to the church in the morning. then, i made the dvd i always make for our departing missionaries and burned a copy for each of them, put them in a gift bag with either a tie or necklace and a starfish. i was working on that until @ 9 pm. then my therapy began. i made 5 batches of salsa. that makes me happy. it only feels like christmas when i make multiple batches of salsa. afterward, i set the tables and then tried to figure out what i should say to our missionaries during my few minutes at the conference. why do i wait to do the most important thing last? i don't know if i will ever get things in the right order.

made it to bed by 1. i have not pushed myself this hard since i got cancer. hmmmm.

december daily, day 13

Tonight we did something that was totally fun and for Christmas! We went to see David Archuleta's Christmas concert. I am sorry to say, it was the first time I have ever heard his music, but happy to say, I don't think it will be the last. :)

Anyway, Jon came home a couple of weeks ago and told Hailey he had four tickets to the concert and to invite some friends to come. Then last week I got a call from one of my missionaries mother who said, "David is coming to Santa Rosa and he is wondering if some of your investigators would like to go to his concert." Elder McBride grew up with David, he is a close family friend, and he wanted to leave some tickets at will call if we thought anyone could use them. Long story short, President had Elder McBride and his companion, Elder Schulte come to Santa Rosa a day early to escort the investigators to the concert. I tried to pick up the tickets earlier in the day and driving over there I had this yearning to go to the concert myself. So at dinner tonight (we fed them delicious pizza, salad and ice cream pie) I told them I sort of wished I was going too. A few minutes later they got a phone message saying that two of the investigators had bailed. Jon started teasing me that I should go with them (I know he never thought I would) and I got up from the table, threw on a dress and headed for the door.

It was fun! He is really a great person! I know my missionaries were a little uncomfortable to be at a concert on their mission with their Mission President's Wife (actually, that probably made them feel more comfortable about it) but we made a memory together for sure. So, here are too many pictures to document it. Enjoy! 

on our way...susan, jessie, hailey, emily, nate, elder mcbride, elder schulte

the stage

waiting for the concert to begin

meeting david

a happy reunion

jessie was the most excited. she is a big fan!

nate even got in on the fun

yes, i was there.

 We thought the only thing that could have made it better...if Brynley were here with us. Merry Christmas!!!

december daily, day 12

Seriously, not one thing in my day is worth reporting. 

So, I thought I would give you a look at my remodeled kitchen. This was a painful process (being without a kitchen for a month) but I really love it now!

we think we will be getting a black refrigerator someday.

 Let me just tell you, the cupboards and the microwave and the gas stove are really nice. I almost enjoy spending time in there now! :)

Oh, and I got my teeth cleaned at 8 this morning and I have a cavity! Jon's reaction, "Aren't you a little old to be getting cavities?"

There you have it. Merry Christmas!

december daily, day 11

 Today was a great Sabbath. Hailey and I got to go to the Shiloh Park Ward and hear Danny Hardisty speak about his mission in Guatamala. I just love missionaries! There was such power in Sacrament Meeting today. I know that Heavenly Father loves and protects and blesses His missionaries with miracles. It is not easy, ever, but it is so worth it! Sharing the gospel brings so much joy!

Hailey tried a new hair style today! She looked darling!

I also love that she wears her medallion! a. lot.

she is awesome. :0)

In other news: we had a great missionary fireside tonight in Santa Rosa with Elder Bob Packer.

I got my missionary birthday cookies made and frozen today for Thursdays conference.

I am ready for bed. Good-night!

december daily, day 10

It wouldn't be Christmas without this nativity of my Mother's. Eula Mae Judd gave it to her many years ago, (hand made! i was always fascinated with it, especially the jewels and chains on the camels and wisemen) and when Jon and I lived in her home all those years at 4220 Del Rey...I sort of took it over. (i think she is ok with that, i hope) This is one of my Christmas treasures! I finally put it out today.

Our tree finally got decorated. Not sure it was our best effort, but since it is December 10th already and it will be coming down in a couple of weeks, I tried really hard not to fret too much about it. Hailey was very helpful! In years past I think she would have liked to just through the balls at the tree and leave them where they landed. This year she was awesome, trying to do it with great care, so I would like it. She is such a nice 16 year old.

I worked on my missionaries Christmas bags for probably six hours tonight. About 11 pm I took a box off of the bed and realized something had broken inside and in was wet clear through to the mattress. It had made some bad stains so I started working on trying to get that stuff washed, therefore I decided to keep working on the boxes while I washed. I finally went to bed about 12:30 am and just laid there. There was no way I could get comfortable. Finally I got up again and took 3 advil. I was sure I wouldn't be able to walk today. Doing a project like this, kneeling, standing, kneeling, standing, kneeling, kneeling, kneeling..is hard on my fifty one year old body. But, I am almost done getting that all ready! Hallelujah!!!

140 boxes in bags in one day. killed. me. off.