Great Books!

A few quotes from Grandma Rose:

"You will find that the only thing that will really matter in your life is the love you have for other people and the love they have for you. Money, career, anything else in life is useless without love.”

“Sometimes we must try to view the actions of those around us with forgiveness. We must realize that they are going on the only road they can see…”

"Live in a way that every moment matters. Capture every thought, every scent, every note of music, every glint of sunlight on water, every chance to help another human soul.”

You are asking....oh, she is wise...is she your grandmother? Well, don't I wish. I like to pretend she is. Yet she is the Grandmother in the latest books I have read. I love them. It started with a suggestion from my sister in law Lori, to read "Tending Roses." I loved it! So I read "The Language of the Sycamores," another book that goes along with Tending Roses. I loved that one, maybe even more. I have just discovered an entire website on the author and many other books she has written. They are next on my list. These quotes are not even the a glimpse of an inkling of the books...what? They are both so great! I can't wait to read more of her books. If you love to read as I do, you will love these. :) Everyone is always looking for a good book. Well, now you know where to find some!

http://www.lisawingate.com/

Our Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. We enjoyed spending time with family and playing games all day on Christmas Eve. Christmas morning we set up our webcam for my sister and mom to watch the girls open their Christmas presents. They of course were spoiled by their Auntie Angie with too much stuff, and in the end had way too many presents. We had to force the girls to break away from their toys in the afternoon, to go see Alvin and the Chipmunks, which by the way they loved. (We always see a movie on Christmas day...if there is one for the kids!) Then we played more games and ate more food of course. It was a fun Christmas. We are very blessed. Other than that, I will let the pictures speak for themselves!

Christmas Tag

1.Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper, I love to wrap.
2.Real tree or Artificial? I've always had real my entire life, but they are too expensive now...so fake :(
3.When do you put up the tree? Day after thanksgiving...sometimes the week before. :)
4.when do you take the tree down? Usually the day after Christmas. I am tired of it by then...not too sure this year...December flew by.
5.Favorite gift received as a child? Barbie Corvette
6.Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I don't put it up much
7.Hardest person to buy for? Everyone..but usually boys (cousins)...since I have none.
8.Easiest to buy for? Myself by far. :) My kids too.
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Always mail....because my family all live outside of Utah...but then when I run out of cards, friends and family that live near us get a copy of it on email. :) Less paper to throw away right?
11.Favorite Christmas movie? Hmmm...difficult. I don't know...I really like a bunch like, The Family Stone, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life...all good. I like The Holiday too...cute movie. I like all movies really.
12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't know, maybe, I tend to keep things because I know someone spend money on it, and then years later wonder where it came from. I definitely recycled some wedding gifts...who needs three of something.
13.Favorite thing to eat at Christmas and dinner? Everything.
14.Clear or colored on tree? Clear
15.Favorite Christmas song? Same as movies, I love a bunch....The Gift, Breath of Heaven (obviously you are listening to them as you read), I like the Christmas shoes one, there are a lot of great ones at Christmas time!
16.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Always home...too many kids to go anywhere...it is fun to be home on Christmas morning.
17.Open presents Christmas eve or morning? Morning. Grandma's house Christmas Eve.
18.Favorite ornament theme or color? My favorite ornament on my tree are my two white feather angels.
19.Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowds at the stores & Rude people in a hurry.
20. What I want for Christmas this year? The Twilight series in Hardback. Easy enough!

Tag to my wonderful friends...Amanda, Heather, Sabrina (since you didn't do the last one), Lindsay..why not, what's another one right...and eh...that's enough. :)

Our Week

Well, this week was busy as usual. We had our wonderful Christmas pictures taken this week from My cousin, Alina's, favorite photographer (or one of them). It was her Christmas Gift to us and he did a GREAT job. The girls acutally loved it and did really well. It was a great gift for us. So, some of you may get this one in the mail....and if you don't, I will post it by the end of the week. Thursday, I had enrichment, but then after, my Pleasant Grove basketball team practiced together. (I am on a PG Rec team) We start our games in January. I am really exicted to play, although I have heard the PG league is the most competitive league around. Everyone wants to play here, so hopefully we will have fun and get a little excercise in the meatime. Our team is the "Old Ladies." We are all pushing 30 or more. Haha.
This weekend we went to Viewmont with Nelson to watch the Lone Peak Wrestlers in their tournament. On Friday we went to stay in a hotel. Emmalee came down (Eric was officiating in Ogden) so we went swimming with all the kids, and then Jackie joined us. We met Michelle and Brody for dinner at Cafe Rio and then visited in the hotel room for a bit. It was fun for us, but Emmalee's van messed up and luckily Eric could fix it. But they didn't get home until 1:30 am...sorry Em!
But we had fun together. The girls had a great time swimming in the heated pool and the hot tub. We were the only ones in there, so that was nice.

Saturday we watch part of the tournament and came home. Nelson has had fun coaching the wrestlers. We don't get to see him much during the season, but we know he enjoys it. Other than that, we are gettting ready for Christmas and Santa!

Let It Snow!!!!!

Well, it has been snowing here all day, not stop! What a fun day we have had. Nelson, the great husband that he is, put up my christmas lights today in the pouring snow. (Long story there...maybe another time). He is so wonderful! :) Then he and the girls went out and built a snowman....they had so much fun rolling the balls, we had one too many. And our snowman is gi-normous as you can see! Oh what fun....needless to say, I guess we need to invest in snow gear...it is coming early this year! This is the second snow storm already. There will be many more, and probably a white christmas!

The Polar Express!

Thursday night we went on The Polar Express with our family! It was so much fun. We all wore or pajamas and boarded The Polar Express, which was equipped with elves, a baker, hot chocolate, cookies, and more. Just like the movie! At the front of each car was narrator who led us in Christmas songs and talked to us the entire trip. We also read the book "The Polar Express."We traveled from Heber all the way to the North Pole, no kidding, in only an hour and a half! We got to the North Pole and saw Santa outside by the "pole" waving at us! Then he came on the train and gave each child a bell. The kids had so much fun. It was a great experience. It even snowed a ton while we were on the train. The girls had so much fun. I think they really believe they went to the North Pole...well, of course! We did!

How Sweet it is!

Well today we made sugar cookies. It wasn't as tedious of a task as usual. I made the dough earlier this morning, and let the girls help me roll them out and cut out the shapes. We baked them in the early afternoon, and then we had an "old fashion," as Grace (Will & Grace) would say, "Old Fashion cookie decorating party!"!









You can tell it was lots of fun! We took some cookies over to our neighbors...the girls thought they should enjoy some of the fruits of our labors. Especially the ones with too much icing and fingerprints in them. Haha. They are so thoughtful. They enjoyed decorating the cookies and putting candy on top of them. For some reason I usually only feel like baking sugar cookies around Christmas. They are especially yummy to dip in hot chocolate. We had a great time