A Tradition...

No matter how uncomfortable. The kids all slept in the same bed the night Santa came, although it is getting harder the more they GROW.. Porter woke us up at 4:30 am, no doubt because of sleeping conditions.

Christmas...Adventure's.

This year Bob and Rox wanted to teach the Grandkids some new things, Dutch Oven cooking, and you know; survival skills like climbing a rope and Archery! The kids LOVED it!

A Family Christmas Slumber party!

Scary Sleepy Heads...

We spent the Eve of Christmas with Loren's Parents, Grandparents, little Brother and his gorgeous little girl... Then we went to my Parent's Home on The day of Christmas, Erin and Matthew's Families were there it was soo nice to be together. Grandpa Bob and Grandma Rox taught the kids the Joy's of Dutch Oven Cooking...The kids made biscuits and scones, we ate them with Jams and Cocoa. We had shredded beef tacos for lunch with homemade salsa... yummy. We played games and Grandpa read the story of Christ's Birth from the Bible, then we had a Big Pajama Party, and watched the Italian Job until we all fell asleep. The next morning Grandpa,Uncle Matt and the kids made Waffle's & bacon outside, Grama, Erin, Jen and I made hash browns, eggs and Hot cocoa to go with the meal. Loren played Basketball early that morning with stu's family, and showed up just in time for waffle's.

The cousin's really enjoyed each other, we laughed a lot, it was so nice to be together. We are so blessed...

Cousin's and Cookies!

A Busy weekend....

Steph spoke in Church today, on the Atonement, she did a great job!

Some Caroling.....

Some Happiness....

Some smashing... with freshly scrubbed hands.

We had the little JOY girls this weekend, It's soo nice to be close enough to watch them grow up.

Eliza, Jane, and Lucy....We love you.

Some Christmas Joy!!

"The best thing about this old wallet, was the pictures, I call them precious, the memories I carried inside"... Charlie Joy

Charlene found one of his old wallets and brought it to him today...
Inside the wallet was a picture of his two Daughters, his Son, and his sweetheart Nina.

Christmas JOY....

Charlie Joy to be exact, My grandpa Charlie has had a few health problems lately and the last time I saw him before today was in the Hospital, not lookin soo hot, but today he was happy and his old Sassy self. Aside from having an 86 year old body he was doin pretty good today. He asked me how all my girls were doin, and how our only boy was too. When I was telling him that Charlee just turned 17, he got the biggest grin on his face and said; "I remember being 17 , that was a great time , I love that time because I was with your Grandma and we took a picture" he looked around until we found it siting on his dresser, it's the cutest picture of Charlie and Nina. I asked him to tell me a story, and he told me how much I reminded him of my mom Katie, and the first time she flew down from Utah to meet him and my grandma, when she was still just dating my Dad. Grandpa said how much he loved her and how he loved to tease her... He said she was feisty, and he didn't know why, but he knew she loved him. ******* He also told me how much he missed his sweetheart and that at Christmas time they would make Fudge, "love fudge" together, the popcorn balls, sugar cookies, and the Pies. When we couldn't all get together, she would get all of the goodies, including her Tamales for everyone, and ship giant packages of that love and hard work, all around the Country to her kids and Grandkids. Grandpa then told me he wanted me to hurry up and make him some. He started to remind me of the recipe that he and Grandma had taught me years ago , he reminded me that everything had to be EXACT, and to have Loren close by, for stirring. It was a good visit, and he had a big smile on his face when we left.

The Ward Christmas Celebration!!!

POOR LOREN....He has had a couple rough weeks watching me stress.I have a very small Activitiy Committee group, but they were an Awesome help, along with some other great friends, Thank you.

How do you get a happy wife? ...... You help her with the Ward Party!

I can feel the difference in my shoulders and jaw, now that it's over.... It was a really fun Party and we had plenty to eat, the line went fast, the program was spiritually uplifting, and Santa was a hit! We fed about 260 people.

Hooraaay! We got some great pics of the night , but i don't have them yet.

Thanksgiving...So much to be thankful for!

This is a little late, but we have a lot to be thankful for... Family, we were blessed to be with some of our family this year, all of Jim and Charlene's (my Aunt and Uncle) kids and grandkids were in town; Paden is fresh off his Mission to Japan, Mary and Heath's newest baby was there and Jim and Charlene's first great Grandchild too. My Uncle Jim is still hangin tough fighting his battle with Pulmonary Fibrosis, he is an amazing man, and I love him soo much. I cooked a fat Turkey,it turned out to be beautiful and juicy, despite a few mishaps that morning, I shall save that story for another time when it's not soo fresh...I love being with my cousins, they are so much fun to hang out with. We spent the morning with them and then we headed to Buckeye to be with some of the Howe clan, Loren's Parent's and some of his brother's. We had a memorable time with them as well... Charlee got to take her Uncle Hunter's new Jeep for a spin and got it High Centered, it takes mad skills to get a Jeep stuck,(it had to be pulled out by her Uncle Dillon's truck) no one was injured, except for maybe Bug's pride she was teased mercilessly the rest of the night. At the end of the day we had full bellies, and new memories of another Holiday with loved ones, the thing that matter's the most!