I must be the only bored person on the planet.

Seriously. I mean, all we ever hear about is how hectic December is. So many things to buy, so many parties to go to, etc. And so I braced myself. I did all my shopping early. And all the parties were early. And so, for the last week, I have had absolutly NOTHING to do. Nada. Kinda creepy . . .

We hosted the annual YW Christmas party last Wednesday, and that was awesome. We really feel blessed to have such a great house to host in- we fit everyone in, no problemo! I also have to count my blessings on such a fun calling. I remember that two years ago, the Christmas party was my first activity when I started working with the Beehives. And I didn't know a single girl! I just remember feeling bad, because all the leaders had brought their assigned food (they didn't want to assign me something on one week's notice), and were chatting with all the girls, and I just stood there wondering how I was going to get to know all these girls I had never met before. But now I just look around and see all these girls that I absolutly love to pieces. I worry for them in all of the trials I see them go through, but I am constantly amazed by their strength and vibrant spirit. I know everyone says this, but we really have a wonderful batch of young women in this ward!

Anyway, after the YW party, we have just been hangin'. Doing laundry. Wrapping a few presents. The thing is, my kids are still too young for this holiday. Neither of them have a clue what is going on, and if we had any "Scrooge" in us at all we wouldn't buy them a thing, because they would have no idea. As it was, they were with me when I bought their presents, and "helped" me when I wrapped the presents. (That girl is such an investigator! She drove me nuts, picking up the scissors or the tape the instant they were set down, taking presents I just wrapped to push them around the carpet and use them as chairs, etc. Of course the scrap wrapping paper I gave her to play with was b-o-r-i-n-g.)

And yesterday we had quite the blizzard. So I took the kids out to play in the snow! This is going to sound lame, but that was the first time I have ever done that. Tyler has always been so timid- as it was, he mostly just stomped around in the drifts yesterday, and wasn't sure he liked trying to make snowballs or anything. But he is getting more and more adventurous, and Kaitlyn I knew would enjoy anything she could attack, so out we went. Her neon gloves were a bit of a fashion statement, but Kaitlyn sat and ate some snow before getting up and trying to walk in it. Even though it came up past her waist. LOL. And Tyler seemed to think it was exciting, even if he had no idea why. Next up: we need to get a sled!

Christmas Card addresses

Okay everybody- I am working on getting my cards out this week. So if you want to get one in the mail, I need addresses! My email address is just my name (firstlast) at hotmail.com. If you got one last year, I am sending to that same address unless otherwise told. Except for Sara- I know you moved back to Germany, but um- where?

If any of you haven't gotten one before, and want to be added to the list, please don't hesitate! I always end up with extras, since my home teacher owns a print shop and prints them for me.

In the meantime, here is the cover, fresh off of photoshop!

Heading in to Christmas . . .

We aren't as busy as most people are in December, but we do have a few traditional events that help us head into the holiday. Our first one was last Friday- the annual Cloward party. It is one of those really good white elephant parties, where it is a contest on who can come with the funniest, most useless or interesting item. Things like a pumpkin, a pair of high-heeled constuction shoes, one bowling pin, a set of Donny Osmond VHS tapes that come back every year, or crazy boxer shorts. It helps that we have awesome, hilarious neighbors. And this year, Christopher worked very hard for his prize. He opened it, got really sad when it was stolen, and then was SO happy when he managed to steal it back and keep it.

Makes a wife so proud.

He hasn't decided firmly what he is going to do with the horns yet. Right now they are on our front door, attempting to impale anyone that comes to our house. But he mentioned that he wants to attach them to his truck. That would make sense for a beat up, rusty old truck. I guess the fact that he has a nice, 2008 Tacoma instead adds to the humor? In case you are wondering about what I won, my prize package included two rolls of toilet paper, a box of popcorn, and a DVD from the Mayo Clinic about some gastrointestinal disease (GERT?). Oddly enough, someone approached me afterward and asked if they could borrow the DVD because their husband actually has that disease. Um, all yours! Take it away!

And the next day was something I honestly look forward to all year. My grandpa and I have gone to Christmas Around the World for 7 years now. It is a show that the BYU folk dance team puts on every year, and we love it! My grandpa loves all song and dance shows, but this one is a really good one. Basically, the dance groups dress in local costume and perform traditional dances from countries around the world. Irish dancing, American clogging, you name it. They always manage to find something new to add for variety, since there are a lot of people who come every year (it has been going for 50 years in one form or another), but there are old favorites too (it's not over until the "red boots dance"!). This year they had the Men's Chorus come and sing, and who doesn't love BYU Men's Chorus? My favorite part was when some of the singers came down and "cut in" on the dancers, and then the displaced dancers brought choir director down to dance. And then they tossed her up in the air! It was so much fun. I truly look forward to my "date" with my grandpa every year. He is 95 this year, so I never know how much longer it will last.

That night we went up to Christopher's work party. I think I would have had a wonderful time if I wasn't trying to keep two toddlers on their best behavior for a sit-down dinner in the Joseph Smith Memorial building. At least I got to visit with everyone though. We really are good friends with most of his co-workers and their families. That is the best part of a small, close-knit company like that.

After all that fun though, it is time to do MY part to get ready for Christmas. The Christmas card was rather stressful this year, since I never see Chris in the daylight hours to take a good picture, and the one time we tried to arrange someone else to take the picture was when the kids were FRIED and didn't smile. Notice their happy faces above. So our card has a picture of each kid on the front instead of a group shot this year. They are the cute ones anyway. On to shopping!