“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning
but a going on,
with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.
Cheers to a new year
and another chance for us to get it right.”
— Oprah Winfrey
We opted for a quiet evening tonight:
Chinese take out
Puzzle
“While You Were Sleeping” movie on DVD
I’m hoping we are awake to ring in the new year with our pots and pans, but I won’t promise!
Happy New Year!
JoAnn
P.S. Are we the only family that uses old painted boards for 1,000 piece puzzles?
Utah had a white Christmas this year!
(At least in our part of the state.)
That is one of those details that we always wish for, but don’t always get.
We didn’t have any fresh storms the week of Christmas, but we had plenty of snow left from the week before.
It really was beautiful!
With Christmas music blasting indoors and post card scenery outside, it was easy to get caught up in the spirit and magic of the holiday.
I spent some time in Santa’s workshop making lots of these.
The decorations were hung.
The grand kids’ nativity got a lot of rearranging.
We cooked, baked, and ate far too much food (but it was delicious)!
(With one exception-which our children now refer to as “The Turkey Incident”! Even my attempts at speed cooking in a gravy didn’t help our undercooked meat.)
We gathered together with our family and friends.
(And missed some who are no longer with us.)
We rejoiced in the birth of our Savior.
Many blessings were counted.
Memories were made.
(My camera kind of took a holiday, too, as I participated in all the Christmas fun.)
And…
We still have one more family party to go.
I hope you had a nice Christmas celebration at your house!
JoAnn
Christmas came early to our house this year, bringing our whole family together for a few wonderful days.
We got to hang out with cute Paul and his parents, as well as with all of our other children and their kids.
WE HAD THE ENTIRE FAMILY HERE!
We played. We ate. We talked. We laughed.
It was noisy.
(We didn’t take very many pictures.)
We loved kissing these cute, chubby cheeks.
The cold, snowy weather only made everything more interesting.
Some fancy creating took place, too.
And some cousin bonding time….
Everyone loved playing with Uncle Robbie.
(Our grand-kids have pretty fun aunts and uncles.)
It was hard saying good-bye this morning.
We miss you already!
(I’m hoping that somebody got some good photos!)
JoAnn
P.S. Undercooked turkey and over-baked brownies can’t ruin a fun evening!
P.S. We are excited for round two of Christmas!
Want to relax and enjoy some Christmas spirit?
Here is a list of some of my favorite Christmas music/video links:
Father daughter duet (The Piano Guys)
Little Girl Surprises Parents With Sign Language
O Come, Emmanuel-Christmas Version-The Piano Guys
O Holy Night (Andrea Bocelli and David Foster)
Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo’s O Holy Night/Cantique
Carol of The Bells- Mormon Tabernacle Choir
David Archuletta and the Mormon Tabernacle Choirhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgqmyimVlfU
Good Tidings of Great Joy: The Birth of Jesus Christ
Do you have any fun Christmas links?
JoAnn
It’s been one of those weeks!
I feel like I’ve been scurrying about, trying to stay afloat,
just to keep from getting buried under it all.
The cold weather has kept my students indoors for too many days in a row, so there hasn’t been any break time!
I’ve been trying to catch up on correcting papers.
Christmas projects at school have taken extra time.
Students have a LOT of energy that needs redirecting this time of year, which requires a LOT of teacher energy, too.
There have been parties and luncheons and visits.
(You should have seen the creative cake I “made” today from an angel food cake I picked up on the way to school, cool whip, and candy canes that I hammered and broke apart while my students were getting ready to go home. I mixed the candy cane mixture in the cook whip, spread it over the cake, and had a pretty festive last minute dessert for our faculty luncheon today!)
Only a few more school days before Christmas break!
Sigh!
* * * * * *
Did you know that there are a lot of kind and generous people out there?
I get to see first hand some wonderful acts of caring.
Every single student at our school will receive a new pair of shoes.
(For some, just in the knick of time.)
Food boxes are being sent home with kids to get them through the holiday break, so no one will go hungry.
Knitted hats have found their way to over 800 boys and girls.
Dictionaries, tooth brushes, fruit, pencils, books, gloves, candy canes, dental work, eye glasses, and many other items have been donated.
* * * * * *
Giving is a two-way street.
Our students just finished a food drive for the Utah Food Bank.
Now they are collecting quarters for a shoe drive.
* * * * * *
Yes, life is busy; but it is that way for most of us. Many of us choose to make our lives complicated, partly because we have opportunities to do so many things and it’s hard to choose, but maybe because we want to make a difference in someone’s life.
Talents were meant to be shared.
My sister Linda and her friend have been painting these cute life sized posters for their ward Christmas party.
Imagine how festive it will make their party!
Well,
the weekend is finally here!
There will still be plenty to do in the next few days, but it is a busy time I enjoy.
Have a great weekend!
JoAnn
P.S. I love Maddie’s hat modeling while we were at Disneyland.
This question can be taken more than one way.
Zachary wants it to hurry and come. Kids can’t wait for the magic to start.
How much longer? (We can’t wait.)
I’m frantic because I have so much to do.
Today I’ve been pulling out decorations and trying to do some cleaning.
How much longer? (Will I make it?)
I imagine everyone is having a busy day today.
I hope you have a nice weekend and that you can find the answer you are looking for, whether you have a LOT left to do, or are ready and waiting.
How much longer?
Are we there yet?
(This last phrase was added as a joke for my travel weary family!)
♥
JoAnn
We just returned from spending three wonderful days at Disneyland.
(And two really long ones driving in our cars.)
It really is the “Happiest Place on Earth”, just like they claim.
The best part of the vacation was having almost all of our family there (Ten adults and six children)! We really missed Heidi, Ovidiu, and Paul, but they are flying here in a few weeks and we are excited to spend time with them then.
Check out the web page for Disneyland below.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/
We only had three days to spend exploring the park, and there are millions of things to do, so we crammed in every second we could.
We took some time to remember my nephew Shane, whom we all miss.
Disneyland offers so much entertainment and fun that everyone can find something to do.
You see people of every age there.
We took turns going on the thrilling rides, kiddie rides, and family venues. We watched musicals. We met Disney characters.
We “people watched” as we sat by sleeping babies.
Everyone loved the parades and nightly snow fall.
(Yes, this was Southern California. They have magic snow making machines.)
The Christmas lights and music were right out of a Christmas card.
Everything was magical.
Our children all agreed that this vacation was the best one yet!
I’m going to let pictures do the rest of the talking, but I would recommend putting Disneyland on your bucket list if you haven’t been there recently.
Even a little rain didn’t dampen our spirits.
It can be pretty tiring playing that hard, but what great memories we made!
Thanks, Disneyland!
JoAnn
P.S. Thanks to everyone for sharing their pictures.
