Christmas with the Family

Since this was an away Christmas for our children, we decided to have our christmas party last Sunday. Boy, did we have fun!! First we had a wonderful dinner, followed by a Christmas program, then the presents and finally the chocolate fountain (which BTW didn't work, but we dipped anyway). Here are some pictures. Sorry, but they are a little mixed up. Here is Allie (Mary) riding her donkey (Brett):

This is Clay before he got into his shepherds outfit. Landon, Emmie, Allie, Logan and Dax.

Here is Clay not too happy about being a shepherd.

These are our little angels--Lexie and Kate

Dax is a wiseman with the gold, Allie as Mary, Landon as Joseph, Emmie as an Angel with the star that she made herself. A little sideline here. As Kim, Amie, Adrien and Lacee were reading from Luke, when it said, "and she laid him in a manger", we realized we forgot the most important person which was the baby Jesus. Nick said, "we lost the baby Jesus, where is the baby Jesus?" While I was running to the toy closet for a baby, our little Kate (2 years old) who was running and skipping around the living room went over to our little Fisher-Price nativity set, picked up the baby Jesus and handed it to Allie (who was the mother Mary). Who said little ones don't pay attention!! Melted everybody's heart.

Here are the wisemen riding on the camels (Jarom, Brion and Scott) Logan and Dax. Easton was the other wiseman somewhere :)

Opening presents. Kim, Amie and kids

We had a wonderful Christmas party. Poor Brett has to put up with Nick and I all by himself this year. Actually, I think he is quiet excited about it! Here's wishing all a very Merry and safe Christmas!

Candle Light Christmas at Heritage Park

The whole family went to Candle Light Christmas at Heritage Park (across from Hogle Zoo) and had a great time. If you have kids, it is a great place to go. There are crafts (button ornaments, christmas spider, christmas hearts, etc) that each child can make. There is a puppet show and an old fashion barn dance where you line up, clap your hands, dosey-doe and dance down the middle of others clapping their hands. There is a live...and I mean live...nativity with Joseph and Mary surrounded by a cow, donkey and lambs. The baby in the manger was not live though...too cold for babies. There was a train that took us to Father Christmas where the families had their pictures taken with Santa. His sleigh and (real) reindeer were outside the house. When Logan came out from seeing Santa, he said, "That wasn't the real Santa." I said, "How do you know?" He said, "Because he had brown shoes on and not black boots!" Here are some pictures: Here are some of the guys-- Here is Easton enjoying the train ride.

Allie, Logan and Emmie enjoying the train ride.

Easton and Logan clapping during the dance.

It was Brion and Lexie's turn to dance down the aisle while we all clapped.

Dax with his Santa's hat on, Allie, Kate and Adrien doing their christmas spiders

Easton, Lexie, Landon, Logan and Dax after the puppet show with the puppets.

Lacee, Dax, Logan, Amie, Landon and Easton making their button wreath ornaments

We really had a great time. I didn't get pictures of Clay, Kim and Spencer, but Clay wasn't feeling very good and so they didn't stay long. That happens when you have little ones. Anyway, if any of you are looking for something fun to do this season, the Candle Light Christmas is one of our favorite activities!!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

Nick and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert last night. Natalie Cole and David McCollough were the guest performers. It really was wonderful. There were children's choirs from around the Wasatch Front as well as dancers and of course the bell choir.

Richard Elliott (organist for the choir) did a fantastic piece that was just phenomenal. Both his feet and hands were going all over the place!! He made the organ sound like bells, whistles, trumpets and drums. It was amazing.

David McCollough told two stories of how "I'll be Home For Christmas" song came about, as well as "O Little Town of Bethlehem" while the choir sang parts of them.

My favorite part of the program was when Natalie Cole sang "Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire". The reason for this is because it brought back a sweet, sweet memory for me. About 3-4 years ago at our ward's Christmas party, while the kids were putting the Christmas chain on the tree, anyone could go up and tell a story, sing a song or share a talent. Nick and I were sitting in the back and I looked over and found him walking up to the mike. He said he would like to sing one of his favorite Christmas songs, and began singing the above song, acapella and by himself. I was so mesmorized and I felt like he was singing just for me. His voice melted my heart and I fell in love with him all over again. That's why this song means so much to me.

I am so thankful for the Christmas season, for the birth of our Savior and His redeeming love for each of us. May each of us take the time to listen and enjoy wonderful music that brings us closer to Him who gave His life for us, especially during this time of year.

Ahhhhh Thanksgiving

We had a great thanksgiving!!! Good food, lots of laughter, pie contest, floor show, gingerbread trees. It couldn't have been a better day. All of our kids and grandkids as well as my mother were here. I love having the family together, its a little bit of heaven for Nick and I. After dinner and while the kids were watching a movie the adults shared what they were thankful for. The rule was that we are all thankful for our families and the gospel, so we had to share something different. Some were thankful for....seasons and nature, technology to keep in touch with family, the opportunity to fast and pray, having good eyesight, living in a free country, modern conveniences, etc. Here are some pictures...this is Amie and Brion's baby Lexie with a ping-pong ball in her mouth (I couldn't resist taking a picture). Allie, Emmie and Kate decorating the gingerbread christmas trees. BTW, the kids liked doing these much better than the houses. They are easier and faster and keep their attention. They turned out pretty darn good too!

Logan, Amie and Landon

Lacee and Dax

Kim and Clay

Okay, so I know we are all waiting to here about the 3rd annual thanksgiving pie contest. Last year you may remember poor, poor, Nick's pie. He was determined to win this year. He thought and he thought and came up with this idea....He would go to Cold Scone and buy some ice cream. I mean, everybody likes ice cream don't they? He bought a graham cracker crust, put the ice cream in it and poured carmel on top with little dollop's of whipped cream. The question is, did he REALLY MAKE A PIE? His comment to this was, "well, I took out the ice cream and let it sit out so I could pour it into the crust." He put so much hard work into that pie. Anyway, this year the pie contest has passed the gender lines, Kim and Adrien decided to enter. Here is the low down: Nick's was a ice cream pie, Jarom's was a "Bubba's Famous Pie" (don't ask, you don't want to know, trust me), Brion's was a lemon coconut pie, Kim's was a apple/rasberry pie, Adrien's was a cream cheese rasberry pie and Brett's was a Banoffee tart (that is sugar cookie crust, carmel with bananas and whipped cream on top, I promise I didn't make it, he did it himself). Here they are:

We had each child vote once for best tasting and presentation. The adults voted top three for each category. Scott, Lacee and Spencer tallied the votes and here they are: First place for presentation was Kim's! She got a box of Whopper's. Drum roll please...First place for best tasting was Adrien! She got a box of Good and Plenty as well as the very, very big prize of the coveted trophy that Brion and Amie found at the D.I. last spring. It stands 7 feet tall and has a lady on top. We will keep it safe and sound for the next year. Take a look--

After the pie contest we had a floor show with the grandkids. Here is Landon singing a song to everyone. Notice Easton on the chair behind him. He is singing to the top of his lungs a different song than Landon was. It was really funny.

Of course the dancing was a hit. Here are all the grandkids (except Clay) dancing to High School musical.

Well, that is it for this year. I'm sad when it is over. I think I will go and take a nap now :)

November 11, 2009 was a very, very special day for our family. Our youngest son, Brett, finished his mission. We had the opportunity to drive down to L.A. California to pick him up. It was a sweet experience for Nick and I. We are so thankful that we were able to see the places that he served, attend the L.A. Temple, San Diego Temple and the St. George Temple with him. He is an amazing young man. We also had a wonderful experience of sitting down with Pres. and Sister Blackburn and listening to them express their love and appreciation for the type of missionary Brett has been. We felt very honored, as we were the only parents they were able to meet with. It did this mom and dad's heart good to hear them talk about Brett. Here are some pictures...This was my first hug from Brett. Right after we picked him up we walked over to the L.A. Temple and did a session. Interestingly enough when we were in the celestial room there were 4-5 people that knew Brett when he served in his different areas, and came up to us to introduce themselves and talk about what kind of a missionary he was while serving in their different wards. It was really neat to meet them. Here is Nick and Brett outside L.A. Temple

Here we are again outside the temple

We took a little side trip down to the San Diego Temple. What a gorgeous temple it is!! In the celestial room you can walk up the stairs to the atrium and then look out the atrium window and see the Angel Moroni. That was really, really neat.

We told Brett that the family was going to get together on Sunday afternoon (we got home on Saturday afternoon), but what he didn't know was the girls had planned a suprise and when he walked into the house all of the family jumped out. He was totally shocked and loved every minute of it. The grandkids were amazing. They were so excited! Some of the grandkids didn't want to let go of him. Here is Scott, Brion, Jarom and Easton taking in the scene.

Landon wouldn't let him go.

Brett played ball, hide and go seek, Wii games, anything and everything the grandkids wanted. No wonder they love him so much. Here is Dax, Logan, Allie and Emmie

This is the sign that they hung up inside the house.

I think it is really neat that instead of "Welcome Home" they put "Well Done", because that is exactly how all of us feel about Brett's service. We feel so blessed to have him home.

Boy, did we have fun on Halloween!! Brion and Amie had a party in the afternoon and everybody dressed up for it (except me....I went as "and old fashioned grammy" per Logan). We had sloppy joes, salad, rootbeer with dry ice, eyeballs (doughnut holes dipped in white chocolate with frosting for the blood shot eyes). We had a dance and Grandma Christofferson read spooky stories to the kids. It was great fun!! It has been the first time since we had grandkids that we were able to see all of them on Halloween. Here is Dax as the red Power Ranger with Easton as a dog (the cutest dog grammy and pa have ever seen!)
Here is the dance. Emmie really gets into it, just like her sisters. There are doing a line dance here with Kim (spider woman) helping.

Clay as Mickey Mouse. He was so interested in the balloons that he didn't even eat (except an eyeball, he loved those)

The rootbeer with the dry ice was a hit!! Here is Allie (fairy) and Landon (the great Harry Potter) with Logan (darth mal)

The kids sitting still, getting ready for the stories to start. Emmie (fairy) Logan, Lexie, Landon, Allie and Kate.

The adult costumes were really funny. Our kids are always commenting on Doug Heffernen from King of Queens. Here is Adrien who is Kari Heffernen, and Jarom who is Doug. He looked just like him...except he had to use a pillow to make a big stomach. He even talked like him. It was really hilarious!

I about died when Brion and Lexie came out. Brion use to work for Fed Ex while he was in college and so he is a Fed Ex guy and they dressed Lexie up as a Fed Ex package. They even had the address where to send her!!

Amie was a gal from the 70's, Amies Brother Ryan was dressed up as some kind of weirdo and Amie's mom was Mary Poppins complete with umbrella. We really had a great time. I am glad that I don't have to put up with the sugar highs that kids get.....I have enough on my hands with all the sugar Nick has had, heaven help me!

Who Needs a car navigator?

Well, folks, I admit our grandkids are smarter that me! This summer I was babysitting Logan, Landon and Lexie at their home in Saratoga Springs. I had to go to SLC and since there was so much construction on Redwood Road, I thought I would go on the side streets to get to I-15 in Lehi. How hard could that be? We turned off of the main road to a little street I used to know growing up in Lehi. Down the road we went with Logan as my navigator. We come to a street and he tells me to turn on it, but low, I think I know better!! HA!! He said, "Grammy, you are going the wrong way, you were suppose to turn right there." I pretended that I didn't hear him. As I merrily went on my way, behold, I realized I was going the wrong way. I made a U-turn then turned down the road he said I had missed. I thought, "maybe this 6 year old really knows where he is going." I followed his directions, which, BTW went through subdivisions gallore, right to I-15!!

Last week, I needed to go to Walmart when I was down in Grantsville watching Dax and Easton. So we hopped in the car and away we went. We were coming toward Tooele and Dax said, "Grammy, you need to turn on this street ahead." So I thought, well, that is in the general direction, so I put on my blinker and turned. I had never been on this road, but he assured me it would take us to Walmart. We came to a big stop and I made a right turn thinking it looked like a pretty nice road when Dax said, "Grammy, you are going the wrong way, you shouldn't have turned." I kept going on this road down to main street and turned left and headed to Walmart. Dax said, "I guess this road goes to Walmart too, but my mom takes that other road and it is a lot faster!" He is only 4 YEARS OLD!!!

I don't know about you folks, but when someone else is driving I'm in my own little dream world. I guess we want our children to be smarter than we are, which they are, but come on, when the grandkids start showing you up, its time to swallow our pride and buy a Garmin nuvi car navigator which we just did!! Now, if only I could run it.....maybe one of the grandkids can help me :)

Heaven Welcomes Shadow

Well, sadly, Shadow died last night. It was probably for the best since she couldn't hear and would fall asleep while she was walking and fall over. Poor thing. Nick discovered her dead this morning in the garage. Lots of good memories with old Shadow. She would climb up the big tree out back to the very top and bounce from limb to limb getting down. She would climb the tree by the front porch, climb up over the roof onto Kimmy's patio. She was a proud cat, Shadow was. She thought she was better than everybody else, thought she could just come in the house and take over (which she was allowed in the house until the last couple of years when I had enough!) Oh, the good times I had chasing her with a broomstick trying to swat her on the bottom to get her out the door when she would sneek in. The good times watching her catch a beautiful robin or a mouse and then leaving it on the front porch rug so that we could be impressed. Yes, we were impressed, dear Shadow, not with the birds, but the mice you found. Now you can make amends up in heaven with them. She gave such joy to our kids (Scott tossing her when she jumped on him, Kim being allergic and ignoring her, just to name of few). She lived through Brett, chasing, catching, trying to get her to run through the sprinklers with him. Even the grandkids got a kick out of her, screaming when she got near (that was only the girls BTW), playing with her tail and watching her strut off into the sunset (across the street). Little Annie that lives up the street will surely miss Shadow as she use to watch for her when she would walk with her mother each morning. Only when Shadow was in a good mood would she appear and bless us with her presence. Nick and I already had a memorial for her this morning on the way into SLC as we talked a couple of minutes about her. She lived to a good old age, that Shadow--1989 to 2009--20 human years, 140 in cat years. In closing, may I suggest that everyone take a moment, bow your head and think of her, she would appreciate it so much.

Here she is in the background, the only picture we have of her. May she rest in peace out back!

Brothers

Isn't this a nice picture? This is Nick and his oldest Brother Gene. They met in Lehi to go to General Priesthood meeting together. Gene was mission president of the Frankfurt Germany mission and was up to Utah for his reunion on Friday. Nick was so excited to go with him. Throughout the years of our marriage/family we have watched Gene and Deanna raise their children and have tried to follow their example. Gene and Deanna work in the Snowflake Temple twice a week as well as Gene is Patriarch for his stake. I think that if Nick and I continue to watch and follow them, we will be headed in the right direction. We love them so!

Sisters

My sister Marsha came out to visit from Williamsburg, as she and Dave are in the process of moving to North Carolina. She stayed for 10 days and we had a ball!! Katherine, my sister-in-law (I hate to call her that because she is more than a sister-in-law to me), Mom, Marsha and I went to St. George. We saw Aida at Tuachan, did a session in the temple, went to church and shopped. We did everything we wanted to do while down there. We laughed and laughed and laughed!! This is Katherine, Mom and Marsha. One day we went to Thanksgiving Point Gardens. This is Mom, my sister LaNae and Marsha.

LaNae rented a golf cart for the garden and I tell you she was Mario Andretti!! I even fell out of the cart when she punched it!! This is true!

We had a great time and I can't wait for Marsha to come again. She adds so much to our family. We are definitely planning a trip to St. George. What happens in St. George.....stays in St. George :)

The Zoo

Nick and I went to the Zoo on Labor Day all by ourselves!! We were there right when they opened and were able to watch the gorilla's, elephant, rhino's, as well as lots of other animals eating their breakfast. It was fascinating to watch. It was early enough that they were active, especially the monkeys. We saw a kukabura bird, and I sang softly the kukabura song as we walked along hand in hand. I do have one beef though. I don't believe in evolution. Every time I watch the apes I think...I was NOT made in the image of an ape!! There, now that that is taken care of, on with the show! There weren't very many people there right at first. One of the exciting things was seeing the baby animals. Here are some pictures: This is the baby giraffe with it's mother. Here are the baby tigers (that's why we came to the zoo, and for Nick to ride the train, bless his little heart!). Two of the baby tigers were asleep and this was the closest I could get.

Here is the mother tiger and she was giving the baby next to her a spit bath (that's what my mom use to call them). It was really endearing to watch.

This little guy is the baby snow leopard. He was a character. As you can see, he was not shy at all and loved rolling around. His mother was close by watching and making sure he gave us a good show!

Here he is again.

Well, the most exciting thing we did was ride the train. Nick couldn't WAIT to ride the train. So here we were two grandparents with no grandkids riding the train that carried many a child! I felt like borrowing a child to sit with us, just for appearances, but alas, I could get arrested for that. So there we were hanging on for dear life, me watching the 'wahoo' look on Nick's face and enjoying every minute of it!!