A Tender Mercy

I have a fetish, I collect something, and this also is something I inherited from my mother. At Christmas time I open a few bins that hold some of my favorite possessions. My Nativities. I carefully unpack each one and place them on the shelves, all while listening to my favorite Christmas carols. This past Thursday, I was doing such a task and had my favorite song on, "O Holy Night". I had unpacked all 17 sets, but not set them up yet, when I asked Tyler to go get the mail. He came back with a box postmarked to me. I recognized the handwriting immediately and couldn't wait to open it. It was a package from my dear friend Jodi. As soon as I had cut the tape, tears began flowing. Her family had just returned from Ethiopia, where they adopted their little boy Jacob. And inside the box was a beautifully crafted nativity from where they had just been. My boys didn't understand why I was crying, and I guess all I could say was, "I just miss Jodi."
Heavenly Father had sent me a tender mercy to remind me that I am not alone, and that someone is aware of me. He gave me a friend that knows what I love, and then had her send it in the mail to arrive at the perfect time to find the best place for it. It was such a simple act, yet every time I look at it I am reminded of the incredible friendship that I have with her, and the love that Heavenly Father has for me. He sent me a gift too. His Son.
It is so wonderful that we can be reminded, at the perfect time for each of us, that we are not alone.

Festival of Trees

So it is now time to post about what my focus has been for this year. It is Festival time again!!!

For those of you that don't know, Festival of Trees is a charity that gives 100% of everything raised to Primary Children's Medical Center. Last year it was able to raise a new record of 1.6 million. This is all because of people that are willing to donate their time, money, and projects to help the children that are in need at the hospital. It runs the Wednesday through Saturday after Thanksgiving every year, and this year it is December 3rd through the 6th. It is open from 10 am to 10 pm every day and holds things for every member the family. There are over 600 trees, centerpieces, gingerbread, and wreaths that are up for auction. A gift boutique, sweet shop (with homemade candy and fudge), scones, sweet rolls, a children's area called Kids Corner, Photos with Santa, and of course Entertainment to top it all off. There are two stages that run groups every 1/2 hour and foyer performances on a grand piano throughout the day and evening.
This year I am the Chair of Entertainment, and it has been fun and stressful at the same time. I have been busy trying to schedule and keep track of over 160 performance groups, and maintain the responsibilities of a committee also. I really love this area and don't really ever want to be anywhere else.
If you have never been or go every year, I suggest you make it a point to go down to South Towne Expo Center and bring in the Christmas season with a bang. Your money will all go to the children at the hospital, and you will get into the grove of the season. It is a great way to bring in Christmas.

Baby Update

I think that she looks like her daddy. You can tell that she has attached ears, and her mouth and nose area look lots like Ryan. He can't see it yet, and it will remain to be seen if that's how she comes out, but it makes me happy to see him in her.

I went in for my targeted ultra-sound today and everything looks great with our little one. She is about 1 lb 2 oz and growing perfectly. So far there is nothing dramatic happening with my cervix, so that keeps me off strict bed-rest for the time. I am trying to take it easy however, but my husband doesn't think so because I hauled three bins out of the attic so that I could decorate for Christmas. I think that I am totally taking it easy because if I wasn't, I would have brought down the other five.

The Crazy Christmas Lady

So yes, this is my title. I have now succeeded in putting up my Christmas trees with only the kids ornaments to go. My basement is decorated in Santa's and Snowmen and the upstairs soon to be decked out with all my nativities. What can I say....I love Christmas!!!!!!!!! In fact, more than the actual day of Christmas, I love the season of Christmas. The sounds have already found a place in my CD player, and my children are busy filling out their lists. What a joyous time to celebrate such a incredible miracle. I love just about everything about it. The sounds, the lights, the smells, the gift wrapping, the family get-togethers, the children's anticipation, the spirit of giving, the sense that Christ is near, everything. It takes just about all of my control to keep myself from totally skipping Halloween and jumping right into the red and gold that I love to decorate in. So yes, I am the crazy Christmas lady, who gets it from her mother, and I will soon be posting photos of my kids handiwork at the tree.

This is Important!

Alright everyone, here is the important news. We are all so blessed to be a United States citizen where we have the right and I feel duty to make our voices heard. So GO VOTE! You can not complain about what is going to happen if you don't take the initiative and vote. So stop blogging and get out there and get your cute maroon sticker and then wear it loud and proud that you did something that many people in the world only can dream about.

GO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Ryan and I decided that the boys designs were way better than ours. They drew on their pumpkins what they wanted and then we carved them for them. Left to Right: Tyler, Ryan, Me, Eric.

We kind of had a theme this year. My kids were so dang cute in their costumes! Tyler would limp along with his cane just like Yoda and Rylee wore here "cinnabun" hairpiece all night to be Princess Leia. Eric was the man with the force, Luke Skywaker.

Rylee totally got into Halloween this year, she thought it was great that all she had to do was hold out her bucket and smile and people would give her treats. She got a few extra at almost every house.

Eric is smiling funny because he is showing that he is missing three teeth and looks like a pumpkin. Fun for him that on Monday it is school photo day!