dear 2009...

thank you for the happiness...
thank you for the sadness...
thank you for our triumphs....
thank you for our failings...
thank you for the memories...
thank you for the love...

lisa

santa came...

he came and made their dreams come true...
he came in the middle of the night and left us magic... he came with a letter for dallin and a replacement for his elephant ornament that broke while we were decorating the tree this year. dallin was so excited that santa had thought so much of him that he had his elves make him a new ornament.

he came and fulfilled the wii dreams of this little boy

he came and gave this little girl the doll she wanted

he came and gave us a fun afternoon of jeep and skateboard riding...

he came and gave this brother and sister a fun game to play together...

he came and gave presents to brandon and me too! among the presents...brandon got a new tool set and i got the camera i have been wanting for a long time!! my bishop also came and gave me an unexpected present a few days before christmas. he gave me....the calling of.... PRIMARY PRESIDENT!!! needless to say christmas was kind of a blur. i have been very busy and have a feeling my blog might suffer a little bit but i am happy and excited to serve.

he came and gave us a wonderful christmas. we can't wait for him to come again next year!

conk family picture 2009

new tradition

dallin & megan,

you will probably not remember last night but i'm pretty sure i will remember it for the rest of my life. we went to see santa and mrs. clause . it was pure magic for me to watch your eyes light up with wonder and excitement. your little bodies were filled with aniticipation as we waited in line. pretty soon it was our turn and you both took your place on santa's lap. you both listened intently on what santa had to say to you. your dad and i stepped back a little to give you some private speaking time with the big guy but i did hear him ask you both what you wanted.

dallin said - d-rex and a mini ninjas wii game
megan said - a barbie jeep.

santa then asked you if you were good kids. you both soberly replied yes. i'm sure he knows what wonderful kids you really are. with that you jumped off santa's lap and he gave you both a candy cane. there was awe in your eyes and joy in your little faces. your exctiement at having just met santa was contagious! then we went to a table where you could write letters to santa and get an e-mail response back from him.

dallin...this is your letter.

then you got to put them in a special mailbox headed straight for the north pole. after that the family headed to dinner.

when we got home we decided to lay out blankets on the floor and watch a christmas movie. then we all fell alseep under the twinkling lights of the christmas tree. everyone decided this should be a new family tradition. (i already know it will be one of my favorites.) as i lay snuggled with my family and the soft glow of the christmas tree i felt so blessed for all that i have.

goodnight my sweet babies...may visions of sugarplums dance in your heads.

all my love,

mommy

i love him and his big heart

he has the biggest heart out of everyone i know. a few weeks ago in church he learned about serving others. his teacher mentioned the men and women serving our country so he came home and told me that he wanted to make something to send them. he made this picture complete with himself saluting. it was so cute! we sent it off to an address for holiday mail for soldiers. i am so proud of him. he has such a big heart.

'tis the season

the christmas tree is up... the village is placed...

the stockings are hung by the chimney with care...

the advent calendar is in full swing (and the kids are loving it)...

and charlie is back!!

we are loving Christmas!

my mom...

she is my therapist
she is my teacher
she is my interior decorator
she is my lunch date
she is my shopping partner
she is my counselor
she is a great grandma
she is my best friend

SHE IS MY MOM!

no flakes or yes flakes?

yesterday we hung up our snowflake christmas lights outside. when it got dark out i took the kids outside to look at them. after looking at them for while i asked the kids what they thought of our snowflakes. megan looked at me and said, "mommy, are those no flakes or yes flakes?"

disneyland 2009

no... i have not fallen off the face of the earth. a few weeks ago my computer crashed!! i mean dead as a door nail crash! i wasn't even sure if we could get our past 5 years of pictures off of it. thankfully, the computer people were able to get the pictuers but that was it. so we had to get a new computer and wait to get our pictures back. so...i have a lot of catch-up to do.

i will start with our disneyland trip. we went in the beginning of november with my parents and had so much fun. it was the perfect time of year to go. no long lines and great weather.

i was worried about megan. this is the first time she was really aware of the rides and i wasn't sure if she would freak out or love them. lucky for all of us...she loved them. she was so excited to go on every ride. even the matterhorn. when we got off the first time she said "let's go again!!"

this was a big year for dallin too. he is officially tall enough to ride the big roller coaster at california adventure. he didn't even hesitate going on it! he jumped right on and went a few more times before we left.

no trip is complete without dinner at rainforest cafe!

megan was so sad when she couldn't ride the roller coaster with dallin.

walking with papa to disneyland

the castle at night was so beautiful!

with tinkerbell and terrance

we took one of megan's princess dresses. she loved wearing it!dallin got his face painted megan got her face painted too! megan's favorite ride was dumbo

i love disneyland! you can't help but be happy there. thanks for coming with us grandma & papa! we can't wait to do it again next year!