Bowling In the New Year

This year we went bowling to bring in the new year.  Stefanie brought three friends:  Sarah, Taelor and Chris.  Braden brought his best friend Michael, and Rachel brought George.  Even though I bowled the worst two games of my life, it was lots of fun! Afterwards, we went home to eat chips and 7-layer dip, and drink pineapple pina coladas. 

2011 has been a great year, full of changes, challenges and growth. We have a tradition of counting down the year's top ten events for our family.  Here we go...

#10:  Spring Sports: We spent the wettest Utah spring on record sitting outside in our camp chairs, wrapped in heavy blankets, holding umbrellas and cheering on our Lehi soccer and lacrosse players. 

#9:  Summer Hikes: We hiked all over the Wasatch Front this summer and enjoyed getting better acquainted with Utah's back country.

#8:  Braden's MVP Cross Country Season:  Braden had a great year, came in first or second on his team in every race, made it to state, and was awarded the MVP trophy!

#7:  Stefanie in YW/Middle School:  Stefanie turned 12 years old, and entered Young Women and middle school. My baby is growing up!

#6:  Thanksgiving in San Diego: We spent an unconventional Thanksgiving in San Diego, playing on the beach and watching Braden compete in a soccer tournament.

#5:  Rachel Off to College:  Rachel is our college girl!  In spite of being kicked out of her freshman dorm, she had a successful 1st semester at SUU.

#4:  My New Calling:  By far the most challenging, time consuming, and rewarding calling I've ever had is that of President to a primary of 120 children. 

#3:  Braden's Eagle:  We could not have been more proud of our boy after he earned his Eagle Scout Award, and was recognized at a well-attended Court of Honor.  

#2:  Rachel's Graduation--She did it!  Rachel graduated from high school.  She wore her sky blue cap and gown, and walked with the Westlake graduating class of 2011.

And...our #1 event of 2011...Cruise to Mexico!  A family vacation we will forever cherish and never forget!  What a great year!  Can't wait to see what 2012 has in store. 

Christmas Reflections

These are the only two decent pictures I got of Christmas morning, because Rachel was grumpy and threatened me that I had better not even point my camera in her direction.  In her defense, she was just getting over the stomach flu and hadn't showered, dressed or combed her hair for two days.  So, as difficult and painful as it was, I put the camera away, and Christmas morning remained mostly undocumented on film.  But here are a few reflections...

* As mentioned, this was the Christmas of a nasty 48-hour stomach flu.  We all came down with it the week of Christmas--except for Kent.  Stefanie got it on the 20th, and did nothing but vomit and lay on the couch for two days.  Rachel followed two days later, and  it caught up to Braden on Christmas morning.  Poor kid!  Then I succumbed the next day.  Ugh.

* In spite of this, it was a very nice Christmas.  It was wonderful to celebrate Christmas on a Sunday.  I loved worshiping at church with the healthy members of my family (Kent and Stefanie) and participating in the musical program presented by the ward choir. 

* As part of the Sacrament Meeting program, I directed a chime choir of women and girls from my ward, we performed "Away In A Manger".  It was lovely!  We had performed a couple of numbers earlier in the month at the ward Christmas party--Silver Bells and Silent Night--and the bishopric liked it so much, they asked us to perform a hymn in Sacrament Meeting.  Earlier in the week, we did a little show for the residents of Greenwood Manor, an old folks home here in Lehi.  I was grateful for the many opportunities to give praise through music!

*As is our tradition, we celebrated Christmas Eve by going out to dinner, and to a movie.  We ate at Rodizio, then saw "We Bought a Zoo".  Cute movie we all loved!  Poor Rachel missed out on all the festivities, and spent the day at home on the couch.  Boo!

* Monday evening we traveled to Preston to deliver a Christmas gift to my parents--a hardcover blog book of our family website, the Kindred Konnection.  I was so excited about this gift!  I had ordered it a few weeks before, and it turned out better than I expected!  We had a fun evening chatting and playing games with my parents and Tami and Brady.  Even though I didn't feel 100%, I was so glad we went.

 * I have loved having Rachel come home from college!  I remember last year, feeling a bit nostalgic that it was my last Christmas with all my chickies living at home with me.  But this has been delightful having her come home for Christmas!  It is true what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder.  We all have a deeper appreciation for family togetherness, and it is a tangible feeling in our home.  I love my family! 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

I love, love, love decorating my house for the holidays.  Here are some of my favorites...starting with the kitchen.  All through December I have my kitchen table set with Christmas finery.  It is welcoming and festive looking, complete with a poinsettia tablecloth, red textured dinner plates, poinsettia goblets, and an evergreen centerpiece. 

 From Pinterest this year I discovered a fun, new way to display Christmas cards.  I strung up a wide red Christmas ribbon up and down each of the cupboard doors and taped the top and bottom to the back.  As the cards arrived throughout the month, I simply attached each of them to the ribbon with a clothes pin.  So decorative and easy when anyone in the family wanted to remove a card to read or take a closer look. 

  
My Christmas stockings are a staple!  Several years ago I assembled each of them from a kit, they are precious to me!  Someday I hope to have a fireplace mantel downstairs, but until then,  I hang them from the dining room bay window, over the table.
 

 

This is the coffee table in the upstairs family room.  I really adore this centerpiece!  Nearly every night I light the five candles, sit on the couch with some Christmas music playing in the background, and enjoy the flickers.

 

This room is my Christmastime pride and joy.  A few years ago I convinced Kent that I needed my own formal tree to decorate and display, he agreed.  My tree is strewn with gold and burgundy beads, ornaments, and bows, and drips with gold tinsel and icicles.  It is topped with a large golden bow, and cascading sparkly ribbon.  I also add evergreen garlands and white lights across the piano, and down the banister.  This room is elegant and beautiful, I get compliments from everyone who comes to my door.  It makes me so happy!

   

Several years ago at Girls' Night Out, my Mom gave me my first lighted Christmas village house, and thus begun my collection.  I add one or two new ones every year, and am now up to eleven, carefully displayed at the base of my Christmas tree.   I love each of them, and every year I look forward to picking out my next addition.  I have several charming houses, a fire station, a school, a gas station, a winter carnival, and my new one this year, a veterinary office.  Can't wait for this collection to continue to grow, year after year.

Here is a view of the other side of the entry room with the picture of Jesus, and two sconces topped with a candle and garnished with holly and a gold bow to match the ones on the tree. 

Here is the tree downstairs in the family room, complements of Kent and the kids.  This is where we display all the homemade and various random ornaments, collected through the years.  This is where we pile all the wrapped presents.  Nothing fancy or elegant about this tree, but it has its place.  Christmas decor would not be complete without it! 

On the computer desk...an assortment of some of my favorite Christmas knick knacks.  Many of them are Super Saturday crafts collected through the years. Of course, there are other crafts, ceramics and wall hangings displayed randomly all throughout the house, but this is my largest grouping of them.
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Now, on to the outside!  It is mostly Kent's domain, but I like to add a few touches of my own.  This year seemed to get away from him, and it was suddenly too cold and icy for him to get up on the roof, but he did get a few lights and lawn decorations set out.  I always string colored lights up the bannister, place wreaths on all the outside lighting fixtures, and add a couple of favorite additions, like this lighted wooden lamp post I picked up a few years ago at my favorite boutique, the Blue Goose.

For years now, I have wrapped the front door with a shiny foil door cover from the dollar store, and topped it with a pretty Christmas wreath.  I've had several neighbors--adults and kids--comment on my fancy Christmas front door.  

 

 

And that is a tour of my Christmas house.  The end!

Favorite Family Christmas Pic

My favorite family Christmas picture ever!  This was taken 10 years ago, and I think it is precious!  It warms my heart to see my kids so little and cute.  Yesterday I showed it to Stefanie, and she responded that she didn't remember having it taken.  Yes, Stef, that is because you were only two!  So adorable.  Braden was six, Rachel was nine.  So much has happened in these ten years!  It makes me wonder what the next ten will hold.  Love it!

MVP

So happy for Braden who was named MVP at the LHS Cross Country banquet this evening.  It was an outstanding, memorable event, first a catered dinner for all the athletes and their parents, then the awards ceremony.  Coach Rowe and Coach Hayze handed out certificates to each of the runners, then came several awards such as most improved, most inspirational, etc.  When Braden's name was announced as MVP he received a huge round of applause, then both coaches took a few minutes to praise him for his work ethic, good example, sportsmanship and determination throughout the season.  Proud of my son!

Christmas Orchestra Concert

'Tis the season for Christmas programs!  I've been to plenty of them this month!  I was especially excited to go to Stefanie's orchestra concert.  She did great!  She is becoming quite a talented little musician.

Temple Square Tradition

As is our tradition, we ventured to Temple Square last Monday for FHE to see the Christmas lights.  They were spectacular, as usual! 

Mission Bay

The coordinators of the San Diego tournament reserved lodging for all the soccer families at the "Catamaran Resort" on Mission Bay.  Oh my, it was nice.  Mission Bay is a lagoon bordered by gorgeous white sandy beaches.  Right across the street, only about a two minute walk away is the Pacific Ocean. Here is an internet picture of the resort with the bay on one side, and the ocean on the other.  We stayed on the third floor of the tower.

Here are some pictures I took of our hotel and the Mission Bay beach.  It was amazing with all the sailboats and watercraft, and people walking, biking and rollerblading on the trail surrounding the bay.  

One night we took a cruise around the Bay on the Bahia Belle, a Mississippi-style steam boat.  It totally reminded me of New Orleans!  

The resort was a tropical paradise, including an exotic bird exhibit.  The birds actually talked to us!  Stefanie had fun feeding the fish and ducks.  Loved Catamaran Resort!

San Diego

We had such fun in San Diego over Thanksgiving weekend.  The majority of our time was spent watching soccer games, and driving to and from different soccer fields around the city.  There were 32 teams at the tournament from all over the United States, Braden's team ended up in a tie for 6th place. 

In between soccer games we spent time at the beach, Stefanie had fun playing in the waves and sand with other soccer siblings.  The weather could not have been nicer, sunny and warm all weekend.  It got a little cool in the evenings, but the afternoons were gorgeous.  We appreciated every minute, especially because we read online that the temperatures were in the 20s back home.  Brrrr!  So glad to get away from that and soak up the sun on the west coast for a few days. 

The San Diego temple was between our hotel and many of the soccer fields, so we passed it multiple times.  We stopped for a few minutes one evening after a game to walk around the grounds and take a few pictures.
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Next post: our hotel at the Catamaran Resort on Mission Bay.

Rachel's Birthday/Thanksgiving Day

For only the third time in her life, Rachel's birthday and Thanksgiving fell on the same day this year.  We celebrated them both in a very different way...Rachel kept saying, "This doesn't feel like my birthday OR Thanksgiving!"  But it was lots of fun.  On Wednesday night when Kent got home from basketball practice we drove down to Cedar City.  We stayed in her cute new apartment, about a mile off campus.  All her roommates were gone for the holiday, so it felt like our own private hotel suite! We spent a fun evening with her, just chatting, eating birthday cake, and watching movies.  Loved it!

The next morning we got up early so Rachel could take us on a tour of her favorite places on SUU campus.  

The beautiful bell tower that chimes every hour.

Cedar City is such a pretty town!  Love the red cliffs on the southeast side of campus.

 

Here is the football stadium.  Rachel and her friends loved cheering on the team this season.

Here are a few other scenic spots at SUU. We also walked past the old Juniper Hall dorm building, all locked up with "no trespassing" signs everywhere.  Rachel entertained us with stories about her life as a college girl.  Because it was a holiday, we had the whole campus pretty much to ourselves! 

 

After the tour, we loaded up and headed to St. George and the Golden Corral and a Thanksgiving Day feast! 

And then we were off to San Diego!