25 Days of Christmas

Madi the Missionary's Christmas Package

-Countdown to Christmas with 24 mystery gift bags

-All of the gifts inside the bags were bought at Deseret Book or Church Distribution.

 I have prepared all these gifts to be opened each day in December for a countdown to Christmas for my missionary.  For Family Home Evening, Wayne and I had our kids figure what scriptures to use for each gift.  She will have to look up the scripture to guess what's inside.  Some of them are a real reach, but very funny!

1. Luke 2:11  Mini Nativity Scene 

2. Alma 36:1   Tootsie Roll Pops

3. D&C 109:14 New Testament Bookmarks

4. Acts 28:3 Stickers

5. JSH 1:16 Joseph Smith Bookmark

6. D&C 28:16 Pez Dispenser (MY FAVORITE...read this one)

7. Joshua 24:15  Pkg CTR rings

8. Alma 32:28

9. Ether 6:4 Luggage Tags

10. 1 Ne 15:24 Rod of Iron Key Chain

11. D&C 59:9 DOTS mini candy boxes

12. Jer. 51:8   Lip Balm

13. Alma 11:42 Silly Bands

14. Alma 37:35 Pocket-size Mormon Ads

15. 4th Ne 1:3 Caramel Candy

16. Alma 48:17   Captain Moroni figurine

17. 2 Nephi 4:19 Small prints of Jesus (I bought Greg Olsen)

18. Phillipians 3:14 Colored scripture marking pencils

19: 3 Nephi 23:3 Mini notebooks

20. Alma 19:13 Little church puzzle (Abish, Ammon)

21. Luke 7:37,38 Body Lotion

22. Psalms 141:3 Lip Balm

23. Moroni 10:3-5 The little Books of Mormon

24. Luke 15:22 Rings

25. She gets to open the box of all the family Christmas Gifts  

FINALLY, Austin Dodd!

Austin- 3 months old

  I finally scanned and organized photos of Austin Dodd.  I promised myself that I would not blog again until  first blogging about my most amazing 3rd child.  It seems like you can ooooh and aaaah and be gushy about girls, but that is not the way it goes with boys.  You have to be a little more careful about what you divulge about them even though the things that you want to divulge are all positive and great, those positive items may be extremely embarrassing  and uncool.   So, just so you know, there are many more things I could say about Austin, but I just can't say it all...    

     I am so proud of this sweet little boy who grew up to a tall, 6'2" still sweet (but not so LITTLE  anymore) boy.  He is almost sixteen and we're not sure if he is 6'2" forever or is still moving upward.    

     This kid is awesome!  Austin loves to have fun, keeps us laughing with his variety of different ethnic impersonations. 

     He loves most sports.  This year as a Sophomore, he has played Football, Basketball and will play LaCrosse in the Spring,  all while receiving straight A's at Logan High School.

He takes time to be prepared and organized as he studies, although his room rarely reflects those qualities.  Oh well...  

     He has been patient this year with me as I have learned more about sports.  Since the girls moved out, we have been watching markedly more of ESPN and therefore, I have had to take up a serious study of football with his expert help.

   Austin is a grateful child, which is a wonderful blessing.  He is so great with kids...they love him!  He is a great help and a hard worker and I am so happy I have him around, he makes our home a fun place to be.

Last High School Dance Ever For Hillary Dillary!

     Sweet little Hillary Dodd went to her last high school dance tonight.  She was so beautiful.

 This whole thing where your children graduate from high school and leave you is awful and highly overrated, but necessary.    Soon, she will be leaving for an extended period of time.  In July, she will be attending BYU Hawaii. 

  

     Wayne and I were talking about how when we were her age....we left home and never moved back in again.  That does make me a little sad...but also happy for whatever is in store for her wonderful future.  

What a blessing to be a parent.  We love this girl!!

Hillary Sugar Dodd

Today my blog is about another one of my favorite things: Hillary Sugar Dodd. Madi's middle name is "sweet" and Hillary's is "sugar". This is because I overlooked the importance of a middle name when Wayne blessed them and so I gave them an unofficial middle name about 2 weeks ago, because I can...

Anyway, Hillary Sugar Dodd is practically graduated from high school and she has also has been involved in many amazing things in her short little life; soccer, basketball, student body officer and president, choir, musicals,etc. But those things are hardly the best things about her.

I am amazed at her love of life, her contagious happiness, her humility, her ability to love and accept all those around her, and her goodness and kindness. She is one of the most fearless people I know, she is unafraid of talking to people, performing on stage or going somewhere by herself for a week where she knows no one. She is determined to accomplish whatever task she has in front of her. She has a strong testimony of the gospel and has worked hard to gain it.

She is great example to her brothers and sister and isn't afraid to say it like it is. One of my favorite parts of the day is hearing a play-by-play of her day because she is such a great story teller. I wish to be more like you Hillary Sugar Dodd.

Madeline Sweet Dodd

My blog for the day is all about one of my favorite subjects...my daughter, Madi. She is an amazing young woman who has been an example of goodness to me all of her life. She quietly and diligently goes about her life; working hard at school and at her two jobs. She lives her life as a silent example of doing what is right, sometimes only because it is right.

She is a good example to her younger sister and brothers. She has been blessed to have a wonderful, supportive extended family and has followed their example of compassion and love for others.

She doesn't demand or need cheering fans, constant praise, or accolades... She consistently does what needs to be done and does it as a fabulous example of kindness and love.

I am so proud of her and the many difficult decisions she is making in her life. She smiles when she doesn't feel like smiling. I am amazed with her ability to do hard things and keep going. I love you, Madi Sweet Dodd! Your example makes me want to do and be better.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

The beginning of our trip was spent in Buenos Aires. There were many beautiful churches. We found out that 95% of the population is Roman Catholic and by law, the president and vice-president of Argentina must be Roman Catholic.

Beautiful parks are in Buenos Aires. There are so many apartment buildings that everyone relishes their green space. Everyone speaks Spanish, but they don't look Spanish or Mexican, more European. The architecture has a definite European look to it, as well. It was beautiful.

This is the area of the city where they held a flea market. There was so many unique and ancient things for sale from people's old homes. Wayne bought an old lock with a skeleton-like key. It was such an interesting experience. We found a place to eat at the corner of the intersection. Just outside the restaurant, we saw a couple dancing the tango on a large plywood-like board. I had a croissant with ham and cheese and Wayne had a cured ham and cheese sandwich. We are still not sure what cured meant, but he said it was kind of rubbery. I wonder if it was cooked? My Diet Pepsi tasted awesome that day, but no ice. :(

Well, that's all there is to post. We loved Buenos Aires, but so glad to be home.

Colonia, Uraguay

Warning!!! This post has too many photos, even though I left many of them in my computer unposted. On the 4th day of our trip to Argentina, we visited Colonia, Uraguay. We left at about 8 am and took a massive ferry that probably held about 300 or more people. The trip lasted about 1 hour. We arrived and were met by our tour guides and a bus which took us to the old city. It was beautiful! The guide showed us the difference between the streets made by the Portuguese and those made by the Spanish. (Portuguese streets drain down the center, Spanish streets have sidewalks and are concave.)

Above is the wall that surrounded the entire city at one time, including strategically placed cannons.

Above, is a picture of a convent that was destroyed by fire. If you look closely, you can see an operational white lighthouse to the back left.

Check out the rain spouts, I think they are dragon faces.

Below is a skeleton of a whale that was found intact on the shore of Colonia. It lost it's way up the river. They put it in this display in the park. Wow.

Above is a picture of the Flower of Uruguay? I can't remember the name...I think they called it the passion flower.

This is the smaller group of travelers who visited Uruguay. The entire size of the group we traveled with for the whole trip was 114.

This is one of the most interesting things we saw... It's a bullfighting ring that was built in 1915. It is still prettty much intact, but huge! If I stood by it, my head would hit the top of the cement foundation you can see at the bottom of the structure.

The trip to Uruguay was one of my favorite things; for one reason, the sun was shining all day and another reason, it was such a charming place.