Merry Christmas Eve!

Our Mansfield Thiots
Mansfield ISD held school all the way until Thursday and we used to say Districts that held school closer to the holidays, really liked Mothers and Districts that got out earlier, really like Kids.  Ricky and Becky are all set for Christmas and what fun with those three darling daughters.  They are all so excited and we had such a fun Merry Christmas Eve Eve with them last night.  I loved getting to spend time together with out Texas Thiots.  Thanks for coming!

Our Charlottesville Granges
In Charlottesville, the last day of school was on Tuesday and Christmas break began early Wednesday morning.  Tatia has a whole list of fun activities that tie in with Light the World for her family.  One of my favorites was sleigh riding on leaves on Saturday morning.  Who needs snow when you have a fun hill covered with slippery leaves in your very own back yard!  They are inviting several families over tonight for birthday cake and the Christmas pagaent.  We loved the year we were there with them for that.

Our Carmichael Thiots
Carmichael Schools most defiantly like Kids.  There last day was on the 15th of December and they will have a total of 3 weeks off.  Charlie and the kids packed plenty of fun and adventure into their first week off.  Charlie took a week off of work and loved every minute.  From Ice Skating, to Christmas Caroling, to Skiing, there was never a minute without something fun to do and something wonderful to look forward too.  The very best part was just being together.  I loved the occasional photos I would get, and the fun e-messages from Keelie telling me all about her happy days. Last Christmas we were with our Carmichael Thiots and we loved that!

Our LA Thiots
I;m not sure what schedule the LA School Districts are on but Adelaide has had a fun week making preparations for Christmas.  One of my favorite things she showed me were getting a pair of wings.  They were walking through an outdoor mall and she caught a glimpse of them and she knew what she needed was a pair of Angel Wings.  They are GORGEOUS and she loves them.  I was so happy when she called to show me how they work.  Oh my goodness, I would surely choose her to be the angel in the  Christmas story.  They are going to wake up Christmas morning, open gifts, pack their bags and head to snow country for Christmas.  I know my dad is looking forward to some hugging time with those sweet little great grandchildren.  We loved getting to see them last Christmas at Grandpa's.

Our DownTown Thiots
This is Elinor's first Christmas and I'm not sure who is more excited, her or her parents.  Skyler especially has loved picking out gifts and I'm not going to lie, he lets her try them out before Christmas.  Kara said she won't remember and that when she is old enough to remember, they won't do it any more, but this  year, it's extra fun!  They have a GORGEOUS 12 foot tree that smells like Christmas.  Kara and made cinnamon ornaments and dried oranges and strung popcorn and cranberries.  It's GLORIOUS!!!  We had the funnest Christmas Eve Eve in their fun home.  All the Texas Thiots came and were were treated to a yummy dinner and Delicious bunt cakes while we sang Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus.  Then we played some games and went downstairs to the Game Room and enjoyed Karaoke, Skee Ball, Darts, Pool, Shuffle Board.  It was so fun to watch everyone having a good time.  Little Elie had to leave to go to bed, but she was darling too.

We Plano Thiots
Every year, Christmas falls on a different day of the week.  Last year Christmas was on Sunday and I loved that.  This Year Christmas Eve is on Sunday and perhaps that is my very most favorite.  I love that we have to be all ready before Christmas Eve.  That makes for a lovely Christmas Eve without having to worry about last minute shopping or errands.  That was all done yesterday and now we can just sit back, enjoy our Christmas books and be ready for the Savior's Day tomorrow.

The song White Christmas has always been one of my favorites.  Well, we had a white Christmas on Friday this week.  Our Texas Dallas Mission has challenged us to have a missionary experience this year and we were able to attend the Temple with our newly baptised friend Kumar on Friday.  Dick picked him up along with our brand new Elder Missionaries and brought them to the temple where I was serving in the baptistery.  I LOVED getting to jump into a jump suit and be the proxy for Kumar's Grandmother who has passed away.  Kumar was baptized for his Grandfather by Dick and it was such a spirit filled room.  I'm so glad I was there.  It was a white Christmas for sure!
I hope you have had a wonderful week preparing for celebrating our Saviors birth.  Several of my Sisters at the temple are memorizing the words to the Living Christ.  This is the first paragraph and I LOVE it.

"As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth."

My Activity Day Girls came on Wednesday and we made an ornament to hang on the tree with one of my favorite  nativity pictures.  It was a sweet night where the girls shared their talents of music and art with eachother.  I love those girls

It's been a wonderful week before Christmas and now Tomorrow is Christmas!  Merry Christmas dear Friends and Family! SLY Robynn

All Aboard the Polar Express!

Our Mansfield Thiots
Last Weekend was the Mansfield Thiot's Ward Christmas Party.  They are in a new ward in their new home and they sure had fun at the Christmas Party.  Ricky was asked to be the narrator for the Christmas story and he loved doing that.  The girls loved getting to talk to Santa and it was an extra great evening.  Last night was our ward Christmas Party and we invited our girls to come and climb on board the Polar Express with us.  It was sure a fun evening and having four little granddaughters with us made it even more fun.  The gal who was in charge is amazing.  She did a terrific job.  I loved getting to help with a few parts of the party.  The conductor did a great job of punching our tickets and we got to write letters to our missionaries in the ward.  It was a Huge Success! Happy Anniversary Ricky & Becky this week!!!!!! What a beautiful family you have made!

Our Charlottesville Granges
Last week before attending the fun puppet show they went to, they stopped at McDonald's for dinner and low and behold, the happy meal toy was an engine to a train.  Oh my, everyone was thrilled and when they went again this week, they got a car to hook onto their train.  What fun that has been.  My mom was a HUGE fan and supporter of Happy Meal Toys.  When they were something she loved she would be sure and collect all she could.  They made her so happy and I can see the same thing with our Charlottesville Granges.  That made me happy too.  They are sure having fun counting down the days until Santa Comes.  Oh how they LOVE Christmas!

Our Carmichael Thiots
Dick talked to Charlie on Saturday morning and he was on his way to work.  The third weekend is usually his work weekend.  Keelie and Callum are out of school for the Christmas break.  They will have three weeks off.    Mackenzie's school only has two weeks off, so Charlie gets to take a week off and have the kids this week.  They are putting together some fun plans of great adventures to have.  Skiing is on the list and I hope it works out that they can go.  They all three love to go and the cold doesn't even bother them.  It's just a couple of hour drive to where they can ski away.  Hope  your plans work out.

Our LA Thiots
With all the crazy fires in the LA area, believe you me, we are so grateful that Pierce, Stacy, Adelaide and Jackson have not been in the way of that firestorm.  If you watch the news you may think the whole city of Los Angeles is a blaze.  So thankful.  Pierce and Stacy asked Adelaide what she wanted for Christmas and she said she wanted to see her Utah cousins and see the snow.  They are making plans for Christmas in Utah and I hope the weather cooperates and brings some beautiful snow for Adelaide.  She Believes that it will and I do too!

Our Down Town Thiots
Sky, Kara and Elie came to our Polar Express Party too and we loved having them with us.  Addison and Elinor really had a fun time together.  Elie is trying to eat the top to her apple sauce container.  She said it looked good enough to eat.  What a fun week she's had.  She got to meet with Santa Claus again and wasn't a bit frightened.  She is one smart girl to love him already.  We loved getting to watch her while Sky and Kara went to a movie after the dinner part of the party.  Everyone loves Elinor including our silly dog Rocky!

We Plano Thiots
Last Sunday I got this crazy idea of putting together a giant Christmas Card for my dad with ALL 34 of his Great Grandchildren on it.  I sent out a request for photos to my neices and nephews and it was so fun to get each of these pictures in my inbox.  My computer turned them into a Christmas Collage with all those smiling faces and Sams club printed it 12x16 and Laurie picked it up and by Tuesday afternoon, it was hanging on Grandpa Gr-8's fridge.  Every time I've talked to dad this week, we love looking at it together and put their names with their faces.  It does help that we have 2 Jacks, and 1 Jackson and 1 Ella and 1 Elie, a Keelie and a Kelsi, and Aida, Abbey, Addie.  I can only imagine how my sweet mom in heaven loves looking down and watching them grow into these amazingly fun little people.  Let me see if I can do it.  Left to Right,  Aida, Sophie, Hailey, (Krista's girls) Paige, Taylor, Devan, Calvin, (Chips kids) Oliver, Abbey, Molly, Kelsi, (Jamie's kids) Katie, Jack, Libbie, Gabbie, (Josh's kids) Callum, Keelie, (Charlie's kids) Maxwell, Penny, Charlie, Oscar, (Tatia's kids) Ella, Heidi, (Chase's kids) Elinor, (Sky's daughter) Baby Birks in March, (Chandlers Daughter) Jackson, Adelaide (Pierce's kids), Brooklyn, Harper, Addison (Ricky's girls) Logan, Parker (Jordan's boys) Jack, Lucy (Cierra's kids)
WHEW!!!  We are planning a family reunion this summer to celebrate Dad's 90th birthday.  I am so hoping we can all be there together.  What fun that will be!
Dick and I had a wonderful evening on Monday.  The play the Forgotten Carols was in town and

Dick got us tickets a couple of months ago.  I LOVE that story and we went many many years ago.  It was just as great as I remembered it.  Dick bought me the CD after the show and a new CD player so I could play it.  Mine conked out after so many years.  I may wear out the CD listening over and over.  It even makes cleaning house fun to listen to those sweet songs.
Dick had a busy week of rechartering Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts in our stake.  He is so good at following up and refollowing up with those who aren't as diligent at completing tasks.  Go Dick!  Hopefully by the end of the day, it was be complete.
Merry Week before Christmas Ya'll!  Sure love you, Robynn

I LOVE Christmas!

When I went to my writing class on Thursday morning, we were to bring a story we wrote about when a wish came true. I couldn't come up with anything to write and when a I saw this post, I knew I wanted to share Sister Hinckey's story.  A fellow blogger shared this book last week on her blog and I have been on the hunt for it.  She said the thing she loved about it is how happy everyone was on every page and how imperfect things were.  I especially loved the picture of the kitchen after Christmas dinner. It was just exactly how my  kitchen looks after a feast.  Not the Norman Rockwell kitchen, but the Robynn Thiot kitchen.  It was written as the 12 days before Christmas and how everything can be ready in time even if you don't start on black friday preparing.  That is the way I roll.  I've never been smart enough or prepared enough to not be worrying right up to Christmas morning! When I read the story about Majorie Hinckley, it put a smile on my face as I said the words, I LOVE Christmas!  That's how I want to feel this year, not overwhelmed and worried!  

Patricia Holland shared this story:

“Several years ago, during the Christmas season, President and Sister Hinckley came to BYU for a musical event. Before the program, there was a buffet dinner, and at one point while the men were away from our table, the women began to talk about the frustrations of getting ready for Christmas. Our conversation focused on the fact that everything about the season was becoming a burden for women. We bear the responsibility of selecting gifts, organizing social events, preparing everyone's favorite food, and making certain that family, guests, and even the less fortunate have a merry Christmas. We felt overwhelmed if not resentful.

Sister Hinckley listened patiently, and then without the slightest edge of criticism in her voice said, “I love Christmas. It is the most joyful of all seasons. I love seeing the eyes of little children light up on Christmas morning. I love giving gifts. I love being with my family. We just need to simplify and remember what we are celebrating.”

After she had spoken, something magical happened. Our attitudes shifted, and we began to talk about the birth of our Savior and the spirit of giving. In the years that have passed since those words were spoken, a burden has been lifted for me during the holidays. As I shop, prepare food, and join with friends and family to celebrate the birth of our Savior, her words nurture and calm me. “I love Christmas,” I hear her say, and I let her teach me to relax and enjoy the season.

and from Marjorie Hinckley herself:

“I love everything about (Christmas). I know it has become too commercial. We would all agree. But perhaps in our particular culture, that is the way we have of showing that this is the most important day of the year. I love the street lights, the store decorations, the folks from the Salvation Army ringing their bells. Yes, even the crowds of Christmas shoppers, knowing that most of them are looking for something that might make someone happy. There is much of hustle and bustle, of gift wrapping, card sending, baking, housecleaning, phoning, and feeling concern about proper gifts for this one and that one. But the wonderful thing is that through it all there is an escalating awareness of the Savior.

We will, sure as anything, read again about His birth in Luke. We will sing and listen to all kinds of music about Him, from “Away in a Manger” to The Messiah. But what does it all mean if it doesn't do something to us inside? The words that always jump out at me are “Come, follow me.” What did Jesus do that we could follow him in doing?

Jesus went about doing good.He healed the leper, cast out devils, raised the dead. None of this can we do in just the same way. But in the environment we find ourselves in, there is so much we can do. There is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Acts of kindness come easily at Christmas. Our grandchildren are having a great time shopping for a family who cannot provide a Christmas for their children. But there are myriads of kindnesses we can do all through the year if we are alert to them.”

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Our Mansfield Thiots

Ricky and Becky have spent a magical week at sea in the Bahamas.  The weather has cooperated and it's been so nice to get away.  Becky's parents have been super heros watching the girls this week and everyone has had an extra good week.  Hurry Home!

Our Charlottesville Granges
An early Christmas gift came this week with tickets to the puppet show, Do you know how much I love you?  It's a favorite book and the puppet show was so much fun.  Everyone loved dressing up in their best to go to the Magestic Theatre for the play.  Baby Charlie was so nice and everyone had such a fun night.  What a fun way to start the Christmas season!  Charlottesville had the first snowfall of the season this week and our little kids there were thrilled.  They made snow angels on the deck and had such fun.  It wasn't quite enough to sled on but next time I hope there will be!  It's beautiful!

Our Carmichael Thiots
There was a live Nativity on the temple grounds last night and Charlie and his kids went and loved being there.  Callum had lots of questions and loved learning more about the very first Christmas.  They loved being together on the temple grounds.  Afterwards they drove through some very beautiful Christmas lights on their way home and loved feeling the Spirit of Christmas!

Our LA Thiots
If you watch the news, you know of the horrible fires they are fighting in the Los Angeles area.  Pierce assured me they are not too close by.  What a scary thing for so many.  We are praying for rain to help those firefighters with their valiant efforts.  Pierce was in New York at the first of the week and Stacy's sure glad to have him home.  He arrived home in time for his Elder's Quorum to sponsor the Ward Christmas Party on Friday night. He said it was a huge success and he's glad he could help. For the decorations and the games, Pierce had the Elders quorum gift wrap 50 boxes that they had stacking tower games and at the end the children got to unwrap them all and had a gignormous pile of wrappings.  They loved it!  Very clever PJ!

Our Down Town Thiots
I got a bonus day with Elie this week and we were at Michael's Craft store looking for a letter E to put on my tree and we found a bear that looked just like her.  We couldn't resist a photo shoot with them together.  She is so much fun and we were so glad for her bear suit as it keeps her warm on these cold days we've been having.  Burrrrrrrrr.  We get spoiled and forget that the weather can really be cold.  We had a fun dinner date with Sky and Kara and Elie at their home on Tuesday night and got to see their gorgeous Christmas tree and enjoyed the lights downtown.  Thank You!

We Plano Thiots
I sure enjoyed the Christmas Devotional last Sunday night.  Our weather was so nice that Dick set up a projector in the back yard and we built a little fire in our fire pit and watched it outside and enjoyed toasting marshmallows afterwards.  Kumar and the Sister Missionaries joined us and it was lovely.  I've already listened to it again and if you missed it, you can find it at LDS.org under first presidency Christmas devotional.  It surely brings the spirit of Christmas.  I've also loved #Light the World this week.  It's great to have a service idea to focus on with a sweet scripture each day.
Our Dear Friends the Pauga's invited us to join them for FHE on Monday night and to bring our Nativity Costumes.  We loved reenacting the Chrsitmas story with this amazing family.  Thanks for including us in your family.  We love you!
It was Gingerbread house making this week for our Primary Activity Day girls on Wednesday.  It made for an extra fun time and the girls had fun decorating them.  I was grateful that Letitia was here for an extra set of hands and my other leaders.  It was great fun!  When I was in SLC in October, Lani and I found some darling aprons that Tatia cut out the names of each of my girls and we ironed on.  They were so tickled to get to KEEP them.  It was so fun. Another favorite part of my week has been working on Christmas Cards.  Stacy did an awesome job of taking our family pictures on Thanksgiving.  It was amazing how she fit us all in and everyone looked great!  Only a few heads needed switching and no one was harmed she promised me.  Thank you STACY!!!!! for sharing  your sweet talent with our family!   Have a wonderful week ya'll!  SLY Robynn