I don't want to forget the special day I spent with my sisters...December 17.  Brenda had invited us to her house for our annual candy making, and birthday celebration....only this year we were missing the guest of honor.
We had a wonderful time together... Brenda's home is so cozy...nestled up in the mountain, the view on every side is just beautiful..  She had made us a lovely lunch and we just thoroughly enjoyed the time talking and laughing together.
After lunch, we exchanged our presents and Brenda got out her ukulele and we sang some of our favorite Christmas songs. 
Leslie had given us each a song book that was pretty special. It was one she had gotten from mum's collection that we all had wanted. ( I know she really had to hunt to find us each a copy on the Internet!  That was so thoughtful!)   It was a book that mum had taught us a bunch of songs out of when we were growing up.  They have been some of our favorites...and when we opened them up and started singing, it was like the years just melted away and we were young girls singing together again.  There was a great feeling of love there and it was as if mum was right there with us. The tears were flowing, but mostly tears of gratitude for the blessing of having been born and raised with this wonderful family and for the love we share. 

We decided to brave the cold and go up to see the lights at temple square.  There were a million people there but it was worth the pain of fighting traffic and parking.

So beautiful!

When Kelley got home Wednesday afternoon, he still had the finishing touches to put on the cedar chests.  We had ordered the hardware ( corners, hinges, latches) for them online and arrived on Thursday.  Then he had to put the cedar lining in them. 

Many hours later...

 Voila!  They turned out amazing!   We were both kind of giddy with excitement to give them to the girls.  I picked out some of my favorite embroidered pillowcases that I had inherited from  my grandma, and put them in ...along with some dish towels that had been embroidered on too.

I know people don't do hope chests or trousseau's so much anymore, but it felt like the right place for these special things. 

 It was like a whole new celebration when Kate got here Friday night. 

She gave Liv her Christmas present a little early...an American Girl Doll! 

Oh my goodness, I don't think Liv has put it down!  She just loves it!

Three dolls!

So we had been planning  for Camille's family to arrive at our house a few days before Christmas and then be able to stay  for a week or so after the new year. 

She called me on the 15th and said they had to change their plans...and they were coming that weekend! 

Sam has been having one ear infection after another, so after his last one, they sent them to a specialist and decided he needed tubes put in his ears.  They wanted to get the surgery done before the end of the year so they wouldn't have to meet the deductible again, so they planned it for Dec. 29th.  That meant they would have to head home right after Christmas.

Anyway, we were thrilled to have them here when ever they could be here! 

There were several projects I had been planning on getting done that last week that I just let go.  I wanted to spend every minute playing with family...not sitting behind the sewing machine. ( I guess that will teach me not to procrastinate!)

Kelley had to be gone for the first part of that week which was really dumb! Gail had asked him if he would help him do a little job in Elko...and Kelley, not knowing Camille would be coming that early, had committed to do it. It was a job building a small building at a gold mine, so this required taking a mine safety class which took three days!   Really bad timing!   Anyway, we sure missed him and were so happy when he got home a little earlier than we had thought he would!  Sure do love that man and appreciate what he does to provide for our family.  I know it was killing him to have to leave just as Camille's family got here.

 Liv and Lizzy were very happy to see each other again.  Maybe Liv a little more than Lizzy. (It was bitter cold that week before Christmas and no snow, so Liv had to take Lizzy for walks in the house.)

 Lizzy mostly liked sitting under Sam's chair waiting for him to drop some food.  When Sam figured out how fun it was to feed Lizzy, that's where most of his food went. They got to be good friends.  Sam wasn't one bit afraid of Lizzy.  She would follow him around, eating up any crumbs he left behind and licking his face occasionally, but it didn't seem to bother Sam. 

 At night though, Lizzy wanted to be right next to Olivia...laying as close as she could to her bed.

Sam is such a little joy!  He is very busy though and really gives Camille a run for her money.  Where Olivia was so calm and sweet, he is like a little tornado. Where Olivia is super tidy and keeps track of the tiniest little parts of all of her toys...Sam is more like a small explosion...sending everything flying in all directions.

He is all boy and just wants to go go go!  He really keeps Camille running and it shows...Camille has lost a lot of weight...I think from nonstop chasing after him!

 Kellen's mom sent a big tub with the twelve days of Christmas for their family.  It was really sweet and thoughtful.  Olivia was so excited every day to open a new present.  Most of them had fun activities for them to do as a family, so that was real nice.

The week went by way too fast!

Lotta Joy

That's pretty much the only way to describe the last few weeks.

This Christmas season was truly wonderful as we were able to have our whole family with us this year. 

Many happy memories were made and are stored safely in my heart.

The next few posts will be  from some of my favorite moments.

Every year we like to make a little something for our friends and neighbors for Christmas.  It's become a tradition for us that we truly enjoy....to remember those who have touched and blessed our lives the past year.

Kelley spends hours out in the garage cutting out, sanding and staining the wood, then he will bring them inside for me to finish up. ( He usually helps me do that part too!  He is such a good painter, I think it drives him crazy to watch me paint!)

Anyway, after all was said and done, ...cut, stained, sanded, painted... the letters needed to be sanded one more time. 

I asked KC if he wanted to help me.  I had heard him talking to his friends on the phone earlier, but didn't know they were planning anything.  He took one look at the gozillion letters sitting there and said  "sure!"  Then he went in the other room and called his friends back, telling them he had decided to spend the afternoon with his mom instead of shopping with them.

That meant a lot to me! 

Rubber Band Man

I've been collecting these pictures for several months now...Kelley's strangeness must be documented.

Last night at the Relief Society party they wanted us to all get to know each other so they had a list of several questions  and we would go around the table and answer the questions...then change tables and do the same with a new group of ladies. 

Well one of the questions was  to tell something personal  and unusual about yourself.  I told about my unusual husband.

I guess I should tell how this started....For as long as I can remember, Kelley has been taking the rubber band off the newspaper in the morning and just flinging it anywhere.  I would find them all over the  place.  What does he think?  That they just disappear or disintegrate or something?...It must have a connection to his thinking that the clothes he throws on the floor next to the hamper somehow magically just jump in the hamper while he is at work.

Anyway, one day a while back, I had finally had it.  I said "Can't you think of something better to do with those rubber bands"?...Do you think I like picking them up every day?"

Well from then on, this is what I wake up to.

And these are only a few of his rubber band-plastic bag...(don't forget about the rainy day newspaper)

creations. 

Sometimes they don't even have anything to do with the rubber band.  He will just fill my purse with random items....yarn, cans of soup, bananas, you get the idea.

The worst is when I don't notice what he's done till I get to the store and go to get out my wallet and find it securely bound with several rubber bands to my lotion, sunglasses and drink mix.  I've got some pretty strange looks from the clerks.  I try to explain about Kelley, but then they look at me like I'm even stranger.

 Ok this was a good one...the contents of my purse, in newspaper bag, wrapped with duct tape.....one day he got my cafe rio left overs ( that I adore) and wrapped them so tightly with duct tape, I had to cut it open with scissors.   He is creative...I gotta hand that to him.

The other night I stayed up pretty late so when I went to bed, I was about half asleep.  I laid down and thought my pillow felt pretty hard, but was too tired to do anything about it.  I woke up in the middle of the night ( as usual) and was like..what is wrong with my pillow???   So I turn it over and inside the pillowcase were Kelley's dress shoes.  Really dear?

I thought he would lose interest in this whole thing, but that doesn't seem to be happening...it's more like a challenge to come up with even more strange things to do with rubber bands now. 

He never fails to amaze me (or make me smile.)