New Years Eve 2008

We had a quiet New Year's Eve celebration. We ate dinner, watched a couple of movies had crackers and dip and went to bed.

I can't believe that the year is over. It seems like it just got started. Time sure seems to be going faster. When I was a kid it seemed to crawl. The older I get the faster it goes. Even the boys say that they think it is going fast. I guess that is a sign of the last days.

We have had a good year, even though we have had some challenges. We have seen a lot of changes. We moved to a new home, mom went on a mission, Ann moved to Arizona to finish her senior year, and Kelli and Scott got custody of Logan and Victoria.

Nationally, we saw gas prices soar to $4.19 a gallon here in town and back down to $1.49 the lowest in 5 years. Then there is the election of the first black president Barak Obama, and the national home mortgage fiasco. We have seen the glimpses of the last days this year I think.

I think individually and as a family we have learned more about independence and reliance on the Lord, the power of prayer and that we can always turn to our Heavenly Father for comfort and peace.

I pray that this new year brings all of you progress towards your goals personally and as a family. We love our family, and are grateful to them for their love and support in all we do.

Happy New Year 2009

P.S. You may not be able to tell, but I have retro posted about 5 things for this last week. Make sure and not miss anything.

Mother/Daughter sleep over

Last night was the mother/daughter sleep over up in Pine Valley (Up the mountain in the snow!). Ann came and picked me up from work and we headed up. The road was clear until we made the turn off for Pine Valley. The road wasn't totally clear. It was starting to freeze and get icy. Needless to say it was a little nerve racking. We finally got there, with good timing, everyone was just getting ready to eat. We had homemade soups, fruit and snacky stuff. The soups were so good.

We stayed in the Dixie College cabin. The place was huge. After dinner we had a presentation by Phil Andrus who is a member of the stake presidency, but also is in our ward. He talked about the significance of Christmas and remembering the reason for the Savior.

After that we did a small white elephant exchange and then they talked about the importance of getting your Young Women in Excellence award. There were three of them that have just received it recently, Shelly Hoopes, Ann and Leslie Richins. They asked them what their favorite project was and how they felt about it. Then they gave them a small gift for all their hard work.

Sister Hoopes, the YW leader, passed out PPP pillows. That stands for Personal Progress Pillow. We all got one. Then it was time for games. We played a new one that was hilarious to watch. I was one of the first ones out, but Ann was one of the last three. The girls had a great time playing it. It is really simple. Just done with the hands.

We sat around and talked and finally went to bed. We got up to fresh cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast. We didn't get out to early as we were concerned with the ice on the roads. We left about 9:15 and the road was fine. I got to work about an hour later. It was really nice to be able to take some vacation time and do that with Ann. We both had a good time.

On the way home we had to stop and take a picture of the local volcano with snow on it. It is in Veyo. It was so pretty.

Chris' Birthday

We celebrated Chris' birthday a day early this year. Ann and I have a mother/daughter sleep over for young women tomorrow night. We made homemade pizza for dinner. He made his favorite hot sausage, bell pepper and lots of cheese.

After dinner of course we sang and then gave him his gifts. He got the Chronicle of Narnia DVD's, a running suit, some computer cables and an Adam's Family DVD.

Family Pictures

We went and did family pictures again today. I can't believe it has been a year and a half since our last ones. We decided to do winter casual ones for a change. We were all in hoodies and jeans. It takes about half an hour and she makes it painless. I can't wait to see them.

25 Favorite Things About Christmas

In no particular order....

1. Listening to Christmas carols
2. Sitting by a lighted tree and a fireplace
3. Eggnog or eggnog shakes
4. Remembering what someone said that they wanted 6 months before.
5. Making gifts
6. Watching children act out the nativity
7. Singing in the Christmas choir at church
8. Letting my family make a mess of the living room one day a year and not saying a word about it
9. Traditions
10. The possibility of a white Christmas
11. Shopping for fun things or the perfect gift
12. Driving around to see the lights on Christmas Eve night
13. Hearing the story of the birth of the Savior
14. The anticipation of the kids for Christmas
15. Christmas lists
16. The parties
17. Christmas goodies
18. Kindness of others
19. Watching the kids decorate the tree
20. Reviewing my blessings
21. Watching corney Christmas movies in December
22. Ann singing "O Holy Night"
23. Family time
24. Picking Christmas ornaments out for the year
25. Making my kids endure picture taking.

Christmas 2008

Today was such a quiet and relaxing day. I loved it. We just spent time together as a family. Of course Santa brought what the kids really wanted. Ann got a new digital camera and the boys both got MP3 players. Ann loved her camera and started taking pictures right away. I can now reveal what one of my big projects was. I made a lace shawl for Ann. It took me about 60 hours. Everyone said that they hoped she like it. I said if she didn't I would just kill her. I didn't need to worry. I hope to have a picture up later this week with her modeling it. I made it in her favorite colors. It took me about 60 hours.She also got new shoes, jewelry, nail polish, (from grandparents) a book and a picture of the San Diego Temple from us.

The boys got ties, hoodies, watches, pj's and flannel sheets for their beds. I finally made the pillows to match their bedroom sets I made last year. They loved those. They also both got reading lights. They will need them since G & G Weidman got them $25 gift cards for Barnes and Noble. Chris and I have 3 book worms for kids. I love the fact that all of my children are good readers and love it.

Chris made the main portion of breakfast. We tried out a new crockpot breakfast casserole. He got up at 3am to turn it on. It was a lot better in conception than reality. We all ate it, but decided we wouldn't want to make it again. It was basically cinnamon raisin french toast and sausage.

Most of the day we all just kind of lounged around. Ann read her camera book and others and played with her camera, the boys listened to music and read, Chris read a new graphic novel he got and I worked on a knitting project. We all stayed in PJ's until about 2:00 when everyone had to get dressed for dinner. (How mean am I? I didn't make them pick up the living room though.)

Shadow felt he got the best present of all though. He got a bone to chew on all week.

Christmas Eve

Tonight was a little bit of the old, mixed in with some new traditions. We normally drive around every Christmas Eve and look at the lights. It was raining all day, and by the time we were ready to go it was raining even harder. We wouldn't have been able to see them that well. I was a little sad, but what were we to do?

After dinner we gathered around the tree in the living room and opened our Christmas pj's. We all went and changed and gathered back around the tree. This year they were navy blue flannel with polar bears on them. Chris began by reading the story of the Savior's birth from the scriptures.

We then talked about wanting to give gifts to the Savior this year. As we put our new ornaments on the tree we told everyone what our gift was.

My gift this year is to lose weight and get healthier.
CJ is going to be nicer to everyone in the family.
Nathan is going to pray more often.

Ann is going to be a better missionary by being a better example. Chris is going to be a stronger husband, more worthy father and purer.


After we were all done and had written our gifts down, we had Ann sing "O Holy Night". It really added the finishing touch to this time of new committment and we could really feel the spirit. My heart was touched as I heard the words to that song.

I had to get a picture of the stockings. They were actually hung up over the fireplace this year. Later in the evening we all gathered together and watched a movie that Dad Weidman told us about. Chris had taped it for us. It was an old 1945 movie called "The Cheaters". A lot of old character actors were in it. It was definately dated in the fact that many of those attitudes were be totally politically incorrect now days.

Ann's Home

This is going to be a quick post, because I should have been in bed an hour ago. We finally have Ann home. She had a bit of an adventure. There are only two stations that fly into St. George. Salt Lake and Los Angeles. Salt Lake had a bad storm Friday night, and I knew that it was going to be a mess. So she flew into LAX about 1:30. From the time she got on her plane to when she landed the connecting flight filled up. She couln't get on her connecting flight home. They rolled her over to come in on the last flight in, but that was at 9pm. That flight was pretty open, but if she didn't make it she was going to spend the night in the LAX airport. Not a happy thought!

Chris suggested flying her into Vegas. All the flights were oversold, and there was only one that would work. I went ahead and listed her anyway. A friend told me that a lot of times if a flight is oversold, people won't show up thinking that they are not getting on. We said a lot of prayers and she made it. The customer service agent said that she was really lucky. That was one of the last flights out of LAX that was available. As soon as she got her boarding pass she called us and we grabbed coats and were out the door. Her flight was only 44 minutes. She had to wait about an hour for us to get to her. She met us out at passenger pick up. One of the first things she said, was that she was freezing. I told her it had been snowing! She was also amazed that both of the boys were taller in a couple of months. A couple of quick hugs and we were on our way home. We walked in the door about 12:30am. It was worth it though. Now we have to get her back at the end of vacation.

Chris gave Shadow a bath in preparation for Ann coming home. He hates having them. Of course he shed enough for 3 dogs. Chris finally just gave up trying to get all of the hair off of him and we dried him off. I thought dogs were supposed to put on a winter coat, not get rid of one.Afterwards he shivered for an hour. Maybe that is why he hates them. I can't stand seeing him that cold, so I always put a blanket on him. He looks like a pampered puppy. It took him a few minutes to realize who Ann was, and then he was all over her. (The reason for the bath) He couldn't believe she was home.

*** SPECIAL NOTICE ***

Weather & Road Conditions ALERT!
December 18, 2008 - 5:34 am

SCHOOL WILL NOT BE HELD TODAY DECEMBER 18, 2008 (THURSDAY),DUE TO EXPECTED SEVERE WINTER WEATHER AND ROAD CONDITIONS.

ALL WASHINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOLS WILL BE CLOSED TODAY.

Let It Snow...

I think this week we have had more snow here, than I have ever seen here. Monday, it started snowing about 8:00 and went all day and into the evening. I felt like I was watching a screen saver out my window at work. It just kept coming down. It wasn't cold enough for it to stick though. It melted as soon as it hit.

Today it started snowing about 4:00. It has come down all evening. When we came home from the concert Chris and I both went out to take pictures. It was so cool seeing it come down under the street lights. I tried to take a picture of it, but it really didn't turn out like I wanted it too. Nathan came out with us and started playing in it. He built a small snowman in one of my planters.

It is so strange to see it on the streets and the cactus. I got a couple of pictures, but really want to play with my camera tomorrow in the daylight. Actually, what I really want is to take a photography class so I will know how to take pictures like what I visualize in my head.

I know that this last one isn't very clear, but I think it turned out kind of cool anyway.

Nathan's Choir Concert

Nathan had his choir concert tonight. He is in the choir at school. They did a really good job. They had some difficult songs. They have a beginning and a show choir. Nathan is in the beginning.

He says he is thinking about choir next year, but he really wants to take Art too. I told him in Middle School you get a couple more electives.