Christmas Day!

For Christmas we only had Sacrament meeting at Church. We sang in the choir, so after the Primary sang we got to sit in the comfy seats on the stand. We rented from the Redbox on Saturday "The Smurf movie", so we watched it as a family after sacrament meeting so that we could return it before we were charged for a 2nd day rental. It was a really cute movie! I enjoyed all the humor using the key phrase of "Smurf". 
      Christmas was a lot of fun! "J" wore a santa hat and helped pass out the gifts. He was excited to see the gifts that we got for him. Due to state regulations I had to make sure he wasn't in any of the pictures I'd want to upload. Anyway, he is a good addition to our family, and he enjoys being with us. Antonio and I got him a t-shirt from BYU-Idaho. 

 The presents nestled under the imaginary tree. haha We couldn't figure out where to put the tree that Ruby wouldn't knock bulbs around or chew on the tree. Space was the 2nd problem. Anyway, we enjoyed all the nativities on display instead and it worked out well! 

This is a cross-stiched picture of Germany and all the cities there. Mom made one and gave it to my grandparents back several years ago. Elizabeth decided to make a replica of it for my mom. She was pretty excited! We lived there for 5 years, so it is a bit of history.  

 Dad teasing Holly with some of her new toys. He recently had his kidney removed and appendix, so he is still taking it easy. He is enjoying his jean quilt mom made for him. 

 The "3 amigos". It is nice having Elizabeth home from school for the semester! I haven't been maintaining a normal body temperature hence the blanket. 

 Ruby loved her new toys, but never developed the concept to unwrap them. haha Probably a good thing, since I don't want her shredding/destroying things we give her, or she sneaks! 

 I think the flash didn't go off--This is Dad and his new router! He is quite excited and can't wait to be able to use it in the garage as his health and stamina increases. 

                                Another ball that Ruby got for Christmas. 

 Mom and Dad gave Antonio and I 5 gallon buckets and gamma lids! We will really put these to use! Santa gave us a water fountain with rocks and I'm pretty excited about it. I love fountains and hearing the trickling of the water. Antonio got me a snuggie with penguins on it. I got him a pair of pajama pants with BYU on them. He really likes them. 

                                                My loot!

Holly got a few stuffed animals and I gave her a piggy ear! She was pretty excited! 

Christmas Eve!

We had a lot of wait time to go through the Layton Commons park via vehicle. Being a cold night, everyone petitioned to wait rather than walk through it. I think next year I'd prefer to walk since the walking path is closer and goes through the lights instead of the long way around them. It was fun to enjoy the lights! 

                                       The blue tunnel!

We were on speakerphone with my uncle Steven, so it helped to pass the time away while we waited in line. He was a couple of cars ahead of us. 

 I'm not sure the significance of dragons and mythical creatures.

                                                                          Dragon

                                                                     Dragonflies

                                                                          Peacock

                                             Bear and salmon in the river

Humanitarian Quilt Finished!

Whew!! What a busy day! I've been fighting getting a cold for the last week. Yesterday at church I wasn't feeling the greatest. I was feeling colder than normal and was sneezing a lot. So I sat in the library where Mom was filling in during Sunday school with Ruby. I slept until 12:45pm today. Longest I've slept in in forever. Hopefully the extra sleep will help me fend off the cold. I got the baby quilt tied this afternoon for the humanitarian center inside the D.I. It looks pretty nice--almost hard to give it back! haha We don't have true quilting stands, so I carried in plywood 8' boards and we strategically set them up with our dining table chairs and C-clamps.

I didn't sew the strips of fabric together. The front and back were already assembled. I was given the kit and a bundle of batting. I pinned it together, sewed around the edge, and tied it. I think whomever assembled it used scraps, because most of the strips aren't the equivalent width from end to end. Some strips were sewn upside down, but I guess in the end it is a colorful blanket for a child. 

I worked with "J" for Jets this afternoon after he got home from school. We are nearing the end of "Freckle Juice" by Judy Blume. I'm hoping to find "Ralph S. Mouse" for his next book. It is hard to find books that are low enough reading level, yet engaging for an older teenage boy. We made ornaments for him to give as gifts. They are the glass bulbs with a digital picture printed on overhead projector sheets. Cut down and inserted into the bulbs. We went to Walmart to finish off his gift by purchasing bows. 


I get to make up about 16 hours of staff work before January that hadn't yet been implemented earlier on in the year after "J" was placed in my parents home. I'm pretty stoked. So I will have 28 hours in Staff pay, and 18 hours in Jets pay. Same job, just 2 different pots of money the pay comes out of. 

 Sunday night we made gingerbread houses. The pieces were put in the refrigerator to assemble closer to Christmas when Elizabeth is home from school. I decided to make a castle instead of the traditional gingerbread house. I ran out of dough, so my castle will only have 1 tower instead of 4. 

                            Antonio cutting out his gingerbread house.

Ruby is enjoying life! A few days ago we went to Walmart. I found a ball and kicked it down the aisle. Ruby went nuts over it. It lit up and had flashing lights. Turns out it is a stocking stuffer, as I saw it this evening when we were looking for bows for "J". Anyway, she kept looking up at the cart to make sure that we still had the ball. It seemed we weren't going to be able to leave the store without it. So we bought it, even though $5 seemed high for a plastic ball. She has LOVED it! She can catch it in her mouth, and it is big enough it is not a choking hazard like her tennis balls we've taken away from her. I chase after her and she has her routes under the table and around the kitchen. Quite a work out for both of us. 

5 Year Soap Storage

We read online that if you want your soap bars to be extra sudsy and long lasting that you need to store them unwrapped inside a shoebox for 5 years. So we are going to try it out! 

I have 6 Lever 2000 bars (blue), 2 Deseret bars (large rectangle), 1 Dove sensitive skin (oval), and a bar of deodorant soap from Dad's recent hospital stay. I labeled the outside of the box with this years date, so I will give you an update in 5 years of how it works out.

Playing with Ruby

We played with Ruby and tuckered her out. This is a clip before she  wore out. Elizabeth has taught her a new trick and she gets pretty excited about it. She tosses the ball to her, and Ruby catches it in her mouth. She is getting better about returning the ball, though she still favors her version of "keep away."

Saturday Chinese Feast!

We made homemade chinese for our linner lunch today! I have to say I wasn't as coordinated with the rolling of the egg rolls as I remember being. My first roll was going to be square, but Elizabeth promptly made me undo it and start over following her explicit directions...Simplified she claimed. 
Afternoon lunch was scrumptious! 

                                     Arial view of heaven!

Elizabeth is coming home today!

I haven't posted probably in an eon. Ruby is keeping me plenty busy and growing like a horse. She is 40 lbs. I could barely lift her to weigh her. 


I've found solace and refuge in my heart. Working really hard to keep  stress at bay. Taking each day at a time and being super excited and grateful for the few days I feel absolutely AMAZING! 


I'm pretty excited that Elizabeth is coming home today. I've definitely missed getting to do fun activities with her since she's been away at BYU-Idaho alone this semester. We got pretty creative some days at what we found to do. 


I'm also PREPARED for WAR!!! Antonio recently bought a NERF gun w/6 bullets. Elizabeth and I already had ours from years ago. Even our foster sibling purchased his own gun so we can have a war. I said I'd even have it outside in the snow....that is if we got any snow that stayed. I'll definitely get some pics posted of our war and festivities.


I'm hoping that we can get some family pictures taken since 3/4 of the house was contaminated with the flu last Thanksgiving. We are desperately lacking in recent complete family photos. 


My brother is currently residing in Afghanistan. He'll be there for 6 months. I got to hear his voice on Skype as well as the sounds of planes taking off in the background. It was like a LIVE Google World experience! :D  


I got our hotel reservation for Antonio's graduation taken care of in December. He will be getting his teaching certificate and Bachelors degree. He has been thoroughly enjoying his student teaching experience at Centerville Jr. High, here in Utah. We are hoping the job market is fruitful and we are blessed with whatever the Lord has in store for us.