SURPRISE!

As many of you know, Layne turns 40 this week!

Tuesday, as a matter of fact.

For a couple different reasons, we celebrated a week early. Although, Layne didn't know that we were celebrating...until he got there. A great big thanks to everyone that came and that helped pull off the surprise. And was he surprised.

The house looked beautiful and the food was yumm-o!

Here he is planning his 30 hour ride home revenge.

Here are a few of us that love Layne.

Time to blow out the fire and open presents.

Even if Layne isn't a party animal, he tried to fake it real good, and the rest of us had a blast.

Happy Birthday Honey! Love ya lots!

I must credit Geri for all the awesome pics. I had over 250 really good shots to choose from.

All Aboard

It is time to start getting ready for our trip to Idaho.

This is always more than just packing a bag and taking off. It also involves a good cleaning of the house (so we actually want to come home again), laundry at the last minute, and 'YIKES! How are we going to fit this all in?' moments. Our visits in the summer aren't as tight, but winter visits require us to be a little more creative. There is just more stuff to take. Winter coats, boots, pants, gloves, etc. Two weeks worth of warm clothes for six people. In the summer all we really need is a swimsuit and a couple short sleeved shirts. We can't forget all our gifts we need to take and then the important stuff - snacks, drinks and entertainment for the 30 hour drive....I'm leaving the loading of the van to our master loader, Layne.

Today the kids are home from school because of an ice storm. So we've been cleaning. While I was folding laundry I had some time to think.

Here are a few of my self-conversations today:

*I'm thinking that since I'm missing a 1/2 of a month of enjoying the decorations at my house I can keep them up 1/2 way though January. Right?

*We had a lot of fun this year and we even got to see the one & only.....

Richard Simmons in person! (I know your jealous.)

Why I remembered this and yet, I can't remember most of yesterday...that's not good.

*I have absolutely fallen in love with snowflakes. I have them hanging all over my house, turned them into tags on gifts given to friends & neighbors, and I just LOVE THEM.

*The Christmas party at church was canceled (because of the ice storm) for tonight. This has created a problem. I was really counting on not dealing with dinner. Since we are leaving I've been cleaning out the fridge so we didn't grow something nasty while we were away. Hamburger Helper anyone?

Okay, that is about all that is on my mind right now.

Hope you have all had a great day & week.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Some of My Favorite Christmas Projects

(Stained Glass Cookies)

I love houses. windows. city streets, buildings & yards this time of year.

It is amazing how just a few decorations and some twinkle lights make everything look so happy and festive. Throw some cookies in the oven (or better yet, plug a wallflower in the wall) and everything smells just as wonderful as it looks.

(3-D Snowflake)

My favorite part of the season is Christmas Cards, hands down!

I added the links to the two projects up top, try them if you get a chance.

They are fun for adults & kids.

Enjoy the Holidays, Everyone!

End of Family Week

(thanks for the beautiful poinsettia, Becky)

Well, things didn't quite end with a bang like we had planned.

Actually, it did end with a bang...on Justin's head.

Mitch and Justin were racing on their bikes and Mitch cut Justin off. Then Justin's front tire hit Mitch's back tire and Judd went down. Big gash in lip/lots of blood/off to the ER for a couple stitches.

This trip to the ER wasn't quite as gross as when he nearly bit his tongue in half, a couple years ago, but it was yucky and Mitch felt awful. The big scab came off yesterday so it looks lots better now. The stitches come out next week.

So we spent our last night of Family Week at the hospital. We'll have to redo that night tomorrow. As a matter of fact, by popular demand, we'll be redoing many of our Family Week nights.

Family Week

A few years ago the President of the United States of America proclaimed a week in November to be National Family Week where time and energy would be focused on strengthening and honoring families.

This year the Dayton Ohio East Stake (a stake in our church) is supporting this concept with its own initiative. The DOES First Annual Family Proclamation Week has been this week, November 23-29, with a strong focus on families and family time. Our stake and ward calendars have been cleared to make room for a whole week of free time to spend with our families.

They even put up a website for more information about this wonderful initiative. It is a good place to go and register, find ideas, and refer others in our communities to learn about Family Week.

We decided to start our evenings off with our usual scripture study and then we spend time learning about one of the kid's aunts and uncles. Then we have a fun activity together.

- So far, we've -

Played games. (Sunday & Thursday)

(button, button, who's got the button)

Went Swimming. (Monday)

Went bowling. (Tuesday)

I was really surprised how nervous I was to go bowling. Last time I went (two Christmas' ago) I fell and broke my tailbone. It was a LONG time healing....18 months or so.... BUT, it was a fun time and I bowled better than ever. As a matter of fact, we all bowled pretty good. You can see here that Judd had a blast.

Read a book together. (Wednesday)

Tonight we are going to put up all our Christmas decorations together and Saturday we are going to make some goodies to take to some new neighbors and our 'Ohio Grandma & Grandpa'. I'll try to post about those two days too.

This has been a great week. No electronics (TV, computer, phones, movies, video games, etc) allowed from 5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Just us together, doing something together. Josie took the week off from work so that didn't interfere, and since Thanksgiving was on Thursday, piano lessons weren't scheduled. It was great to have a clean sweep on the calendar for the evenings this week. Yea for family!

*****

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We had good friends and lots of yummy food that filled up our day. I hope all of you had a wonderful day with friends and/or family and being able to notice all the blessings you've been given.

(Thank you for the beautiful flowers, Holly!)

On the other hand.....

Some things that have happened

these past few days.

Tuesday through Friday in bed. I ended up with the flu.

* The upside? I can cancel my appointment for my flu shot.

We had to drive to Dayton three times this past weekend.

* The upside? We could fill up for $1.77!

We got our first measurable snow on Saturday.

*The upside? My boys are in heaven. Mitch lives for winter.

Today my right eye was completely swollen shut most of the day.

*The upside? I got to sleep most of the day away while the Benadryl did its magic.