Christmas Thoughts

We had a great Christmas. I love being together with the family and sharing in good times. We went to Mom and Dad's house for our traditional Christmas eve celebration...tamales and chili. Oh so good. I love that we all squeeze into their house and you can't help but talk to everyone, because we are all right there. I am so grateful that Uncle Ronald is still with us. What a pillar of strength he is and I love his fun sayings!

We also had our tri-annual breakfast at my house Christmas morning. Sausage gravy, biscuits, bacon and eggs. YUM! We missed Jake, but were glad he was able to stop in on his lunch break. I just love having Sydney around. She was so cute and loved all of her presents. I feel very blessed.

I am grateful for the chance to turn my thoughts more to Christ and hope that I can keep the spirit of Christmas with me throughout the year. Be a better friend, mother, sister.

Family Pictures

As many of you know we had family pictures taken a few weeks ago. It had been 3 years since our last picture and everyone has changed so much. Especially Preston and Sydney! Preston hit a growth spurt and Sydney is now 3 1/2. This year we went to City Creek Park in SLC and had so much fun. Cameron Reynolds has been a friend of the family for 11 years and is just getting his photography business started. We were his first big group. He told us to plan on 2 hours because he was putting together a DVD also.

We were so lucky because the weather was perfect, leaves were still on the ground and the setting was so different than our last picture. We got some beautiful, fun shots and I just thought I would share them.

*PS - if you need a good, reasonably priced photographer, check Cameron's website out cjrphotography.net

Costumes Across the Years

So I finally posted a slideshow with some of the costumes over the years. The majority of them I made, but not all were for Halloween. I added some from high school and some plays the kids were in. I just thought they were so cute. My favorites are: Mark, Me and Marissa's first Halloween. We look so young and Marissa was so dang cute! Also Mark dressed as a ninja, Preston's lion costume and Brandon's Star Trek suit. My one regret is that I could not find a picture of the Lord of the Rings costumes I made without a pattern. I will have to wait for grandkids to fit into them and take a picture because they were by far the coolest ones yet! Matt was 12 and Preston was 10, those were fun to make. So if you need a costume, give me plenty of time and I'll make you one!

A Star in the Making

Preston had his recital last night and played Ordinary People. He did a great job! He's so talented and has improved so much in such a short time. He's been taking lessons for 2 years and I love listening to him practice.

Art Show

Salt Lake County sponsors an art show in conjunction with the National Arts Foundation each year for employees and their families. This is the fourth year for the program. Preston entered 2 art pieces this year. One of his pieces, "Robot in Technicolor" was done by carving out on image on a block of wood and applying paint, then "stamping" it on the paper. He would then carve out a little bit more, apply a different color of paint and so on. It is a cool technique. Well, Preston won 3rd Place in the Teen division for this piece. Oh, what a proud mama moment! Great Job, Preston!

Homecoming King

This is a little "after the fact", but Matt was nominated for homecoming royalty at Taylorsville High School. Fun huh? Well, he had to decorate a cake as part of the contest. He had a distinct idea of what he wanted and did all the work with some coaching from mom and Jen. My friend, Connie made all the fondant and butter cream icing for us. Believe me, it would not have turned out the same way if I had done the Fondant. I have such respect for bakers everywhere! They make it look sooooo easy on Food Network Challenge!

Anyway, Matt made an awesome banana split cake and he played drums for his talent and did a great job. He won Homecoming King and we were so excited! Who'd thunk!!








The Finished Product!

The World According to Sydney

So I had the pleasure of having my granddaughter, Sydney for the afternoon. What a hoot she is! We had so much fun today and I thought I would share some of her wisdom with you.

We went to Costco, one of her favorite places. We were looking at dresses.
"Grandma, I already have a dress that color."
"Grandma, I don't need pajamas, I already have some."
" Are we done yet, can I get a smoothie?"

We get in the car and Matt and Preston have an ice cream bar.
Sydney: "Preston, you can't have too much sugar because it's not good for your tummy."
Preston: "Ok Sydney, this is the first I've had today"
Sydney: "That's all you can have for a WEEK!"

Preston was eating his ice cream in the car...

Sydney: "Preston, you shouldn't eat in the car."
Preston: "I'll be really careful." (With his mouth full)
Sydney: "Preston, you shouldn't talk with your mouth full. We have to have good manners even in the car."

What fun! We then went home and made Christmas crafts and played with playdoh, took Charlie for a walk and watched the Wiggles. I am going to have to write down more of what she says because she just cracks me up. Oh how I love that little girl.