A New Year's Eve Post

2000

2001

One last word before this year ends, one last musing at the end of this decade. It didn't hit me that this is the last day of this decade until I was making my bed this morning. (What? You don't think of big thoughts while you are making the bed.) Wow! So I have not only been going over what has happened this last year but also what has happened these last ten years.

2002

2003

2004

Over the last ten years our family was put together one member at a time. Yes, just three boys for us. Those that attended dental school with us said it would never last, but we are happy as a family of five. We have celebrated first steps, first words, first haircuts, and first days of school. We have had many birthdays, two baptisms, and one graduation. We have lived in four different states and the boys have attended three different elementary schools. Doug and I have served in the church as everything from Ward Clerk to Scout Leader to Nursery Worker with many in between. We have grown physically, educationally, and spiritually.

2005

2006

What a busy decade and the next promises to be more so. In the next ten years we will have many birthdays, three boys receive the priesthood, three Eagle Court of Honor's, three new drivers, two graduations, one completed mission, and one mission being served. We will move again and the boys will go to middle school then on to high school. Doug and I will continue to serve in the Church to the best of our ability. We will grow physically, educationally, and spiritually.


2007

2008


(Coming Soon)
2009

Christmas Day

Christmas Day dawned early. I say dawned but the sun was not up at 7 a.m. but the boys were. As usual they were told to wait as mom and dad turned on lights, got the camera ready, and put on Christmas music.

When told that they could come down the boys descended the stairs like a pack of elephants. They were so excited to see that Santa had brought them what they had asked. Matt received a BB gun, Nate received the books "Bone" by Jeff Smith, and Danny received Lego Racers.

Then I made the boys open up the presents that they had purchased for each other followed by the boxes of cloths. By this time they were really excited because they knew there was something big to be opened. Finally, I gave them a box shaped package and told them they all had to open it together. If only I could add sound to this picture you would know the excitement of seeing a Wii.

The rest of the presents consisted of accessories and games for the Wii. Movies from both mom /dad and Uncle Dunna/Aunt Jymie. Doug and I also received a wonderful gift from my parents. I remember when Dad found a box that contained the gifts of the Magi in it. Now we have our own.

Uncle James and Aunt Erin made sure that we were all ready for breakfast Christmas morning with this wonderful gift. Thank you for helping us keep this tradition alive.

We spent the rest of the day being lazy, watching movies, building Legos, eating, and playing Wii. It was a very Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

This year Doug and I decided to stay at home for the holidays. Although we enjoy visiting our family and being with them for the holidays, it has become more hectic as the boys have become older. Just the logistics of getting all the gifts to and from Arizona is enough to cause major planning. So this year it was a Christmas in San Antonio.

We started our afternoon with cookie making. Yes we are that far behind this year. We were able to make peanut butter blossoms and gingerbread cookies.

We also finished our stories for Papa. The last few years all my dad has asked for as a Christmas present was for each of us to write down one of our memories. It could be anything we wanted. Because we are behind on everything Christmas, Papa is getting his stories by e-mail. At least I did scan the boys in so he has their handwriting.

This year we switch our dinner from homemade pizza to soup. The boys were not too crazy at first with the substitution but were singing my praises by the end of the meal.

Next we were off to see Christmas lights. The San Antonio Temple does not put lights up so we went downtown to the River Walk. We froze but enjoyed the way the lights sparkled on the water.

Back at home it was time for the Christmas story. Danny was put in charge of placing pieces of the nativity on the table during the story.

The traditional jammies were opened next and then the reading of the "Night Before Christmas" by Doug. I think we were able to cover all our traditions really well and now my boys sleep "while sugar plums dance in their heads."

My Obession with Nativities

I have not always collected nativities. My mom started collecting when I was younger but I figured that as long as you had one to put up for Christmas you were set. So when Doug and I were first married I purchased this set.

It worked well for us for many years. But that all changed when I was asked our first Christmas in Cleveland to help organize the Kirtland nativity display. I spent countless hours making backdrops, collecting and displaying nativities, and being a hostess. I was able to see many different types of nativities from the ones that have been collected over years at great expense to the ones that only value is the sentiment attached to them. And I fell in love.

These are a few that I purchased because for one reason or another I liked them. I pull them out every Christmas and enjoy putting them around the house.

I love this one because it is a Boyds Bear. I love teddy bears but usually keep that obsession to my personal space in my room. (People might think I am strange to see bears sitting all over my house.) But once in a while you can find a bear hanging out in different places.

Others like this set that was given to me by the Relief Society in the Sunny Mesa ward and the Joy block that was given to me by a very good friend have more meaning to me. I think of those women when I put up this nativity every year. I love the rustic feel of the display and that it is kid friendly.

These sets I display all year round. I just can't stand putting them away. I love this style. Mary holding her baby as Joseph enfolds both of them in his arms. I think back to having my own children and the first few minutes of their lives. I couldn't put them down and I choose to believe that Mary had the same feeling. These nativities also remind me of where we have celebrated Christmas. It was in Cleveland that I first saw nativities that depicted the Holy Family as being anything but white. I then found the adobe nativity in Mesa made by a local Native American artist. Again a dear friend made me the sign to remind me that we should always be seeking Christ.

I have many more nativities in the form of pictures, tree ornaments, and outdoor banners but I will save you from these. What I have found out through the years is that as I have collected these nativities and displayed them we have less and less room for Santa as we make more room for Christ. I would love to say that this was the plan all along and that my parenting skills were that sharp, but the truth is that it has snuck up on me. My boys are as excited as I to see these reminders come out of the box and find new places to display them. As I now walk through rooms I will notice that figures have been moved around as the boys tweak the exact placement so every shepperd, wise man, and sheep can see the Christ child.

Holiday Home Tour

Since many of our family and friends (read most of them) have not seen our house I thought I would do a Holiday Home Tour. Now you get to see the good, the bad, and the boys rooms.



I will start with our living room. Notice how I was able to avoid taking a picture of the T.V. I think Doug was watching something with the holiday spirit like Dirty Jobs. We spent 45 minutes walking around smelling trees until we found what we thought was most smelly....in a good way. What???? That's not how you select your tree?

Now we move on to the dinning area. These rooms are long and narrow so instead to trying to fit my large furniture in the traditional areas we have moved thing around to fit us. We enjoy having the fireplace by our table with a chair to snuggle into while reading a good book. Plus I have a beautiful mantle to decorate and hang our stockings with care.

The kitchen....what more can you say. Although this is where I spend most of my time (making breakfast, lunch, and dinner) it is not the most exciting room.

Now to the upstairs. We have this great loft area that we turned into an office/play room. The idea is that the boys don't have any toys in their rooms but as you will soon see that doesn't happen.

The boys rooms. First I would like to point out this is what my boys think is "clean" when I say clean up your rooms. Let me put blame where blame is due. The mess is Nate's. Matt does attempt to keep his room clean but when you have Nate as a roommate, it next to impossible. I am sorry to all future missionary companions, college roommates, and most importantly future wife. Next you can now see why I just avoid these areas all together. It is much easier to just shut the doors than to have to continual fight about having clean rooms. After all, I don't have to live in them.

On to the master bedroom. Since this is a room I live in it is clean. Notice the plastic skull with the captain ABU hat sitting on top of it. That is Doug contribution to decorating. How would you like to wake up to that every morning? (a personal favorite)

Now I know I have missed a few rooms but I can't see where anyone would really like to see a bathroom unless you are buying the house. Or the garage full of all Doug's stuff. If you do then you will just have to visit.

A Few Things About Douglas

Doug (or Douglas as he prefers it be written) has turned the big four zero. In his style it was a small event. Doug prefers not to have a lot of attention drawn to him i.e. lack of pictures to go with this post (sadly enough I'm the extrovert in the relationship). We celebrated with a family meal while we shared favorite stories about him. The big excitement came when desert was served. (A pie of course for he is not big on cake.) He and I will be going out to a fancy restaurant later this week to top off the celebrations. (Doug has a taste for the nicer things in life and is willing to wait until he can afford them rather than do with lesser.)

Doug has been prayed and blessed into my life, literally. I have known him for 11 years and I still learn new things about him. (I just recently learned that he played trumpet "badly" when he was younger.) One thing that has always stayed the same was his ability to be a great father. Almost every candid picture of him that we have he is with one of the boys, working with them, playing with them, or instructing them. (And although he won't admit it, he melts when he holds a baby... especially girls.) He makes parenting easy by always backing me up when the kids try to out smart us and being the good guy to my bad. There is never a doubt that this man loves his boys.

I thought I knew about being a hard worker until Doug and I were married. His work ethic put me to shame. Doug is finally slowing down to a regular 8 hour work day (yea for the Air Force) from a work day that would last anywhere from 12-16 hours. He has always made sure that our family was well taken care of even as he pursued securing our future through his continued education. He is diligent in his work and has received many acknowledgements for his abilities. (If you can't tell, I'm pretty proud of him.)

Many things can bring tears to my eyes (just ask the boys) but few do it faster than seeing my darling husband perform his priesthood duties. Every time he has blessed one of our children or taken them into the waters of baptism, I have said a silent prayer of thanks for such a man. When I have witnessed him enter a priesthood circle to add his hand, I am grateful for the example he sets for my sons. As he leads our family, I am secure in the knowledge that he does so with the help the the Holy Spirit. How blessed am I.

Added to that he is my perfect match. Doug is an easy going, non-confrontational person who lets me be the up-tight, kick them in the knees person I am. He will continue to "listen" as I talk and talk and talk. Doug is the one that soothes me, who holds me when I cry and smirks at my jokes. He says "I love you, too" in a way that makes it sound like Scooby-Do and washes my car to let me know how much he cares for me. (The ultimate gift for Doug is clean, perfectly maintained vehicles.) Doug loves me for who I am instead of who he thinks I should be, a lesson that he has taught me. Now don't mistake me, he is not perfect....but he is perfect for me.

Would an Old Man Do This?!?!?!

Doug turns 40 in just a few days. For months I have been asking him how he would like to celebrate. The response has been "Let me think about it" with me asking again a week later. I wanted to make it big, but he and I are not big party people. So what to do? Then a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving Doug came home because he had found a track that is closer than a three hour drive.

Now let me explain. Ever since I've known Doug he has wanted to do a track day. A track day consists of taking one of his motorcycles as fast around a track as he can. Many things has been in the way of realizing this dream. First being money ('tis not cheap), the next being time (once we had the money, we had no time), and the last being me. After being married to the man for a few years and going through two motorcycle mishaps, I figured he would be safer on the track than he is riding to work every day. So I was out of the equation and we finally had the time with some limited funds that would allow the activity.

So when he mentioned the track I knew we were headed into track day territory. Being the wonderful wife that I am, I totally surprised him by telling him to sign up and we would call it happy birthday.

The day dawned early (5:45 on the day after Thanksgiving) and we were off to the track. We spent the day watching Doug go around the track and then head in for classes on how to ride better. Although Danny got sick it was a really great day. (Forgive all the pictures)

Now who is going to call this man old??????

Thanksgiving

This year we made Thanksgiving a family event. (The reality is that we know no one.) But this allowed us to have all of our traditions.

Our first tradition is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while trying to cook and clean during the commercials. This can get a little interesting especially if the TV is on a different level than the kitchen, but we always get it done.

The second is that I always make my men get cleaned up. There is a strict no jeans policy. If they want to wear jeans I will make hamburgers. That's just the type of girl I am.

Last, we always have to see a movie in the theater after dinner. Some years this is the only time we go to the movie theater. This year we saw "Blind Side" and really enjoyed it. As we left the theater Doug asked the boys how they liked seeing their mother in the Sandra Bullock suit. Since I sat through the whole movie thinking to myself "I would do that! I would do that too!! I have done that!!!" I was not offended at all. It's so nice to be understood.