Red and Black

Ready for church the day after Christmas. And we didn't even plan it.

One of the Differences...

...between sons and daughters--


You'll probably never have to say to your boys: "Please don't do ballet on the step stool while dusting."

Happy Camper

If you had just come off of "Nutcracker Weekend," which also happened to be "Move Allyson" weekend and "Stay Up Really Late to Watch a Movie Weekend," and then you spent three hours at church and then got woken up from a nap for family photos...


...you might look like this too! Thanks for the cooperation, Dad! (He really was a good sport. In all the REST of the photos. You might see the finished product before Christmas, if I get on the ball...)

I Won!

My friend Michele had a giveaway on her blog and I won!
The package arrived today and it was filled with all kinds of fun retro Christmas items. I felt like a kid!


The stocking is made from an old table runner she got at a yard sale. She is always collecting vintage and retro items, and I am the luckier for it this time! The ornaments are on the tree and the stocking is on the wall already!

Thank you so much, Michele!

Merry Christmas, Mom!

Two years ago Mom and I tried to go to Disneyland together and it never worked out.


When Amy and Lamoni forgot their tickets when they came to our house on the way to the happiest place on earth we bought them new ones and said "SOMEONE" would use theirs before the expiration date. What a sacrifice. But SOMEONE had to do it.


So Mom and I went. We visited, took our time, and did just what we wanted to do. It was nice to spend time together and enjoy each others' company.


The castle was so beautiful at night...

Three New Posts

I'm blogging out of order again...

Puttin' Up the Lights

Happy Thanksgiving Birthday

Our Beautiful Ballerina

Puttin' Up the Lights

Last year we had no lights on the house. No work, no money, no time. Lack of Christmas spirit, I suppose. I did put 17 strands of lights on our 7 1/2 foot tall Christmas tree, but it didn't quite make up for the dark house every time I come around the corner.

This year we started early. The day after Thanksgiving, Ally, Amy, Maddie, and I put up lights while Lamoni mowed the lawn to get ready for the sidewalk-lining little light-up trees.

Continuing her new tradition of always wearing heels, Ally climbed the ladder to the roof wearing her high-heeled boots.


We made her throw them down so she could climb OFF the roof in them.

The girls wound the lights around the railing and outlined the balcony too. Jeff is still supposed to outline the tall roof, which is why I was waiting to take a picture of the finished product, but I'm thinking it might not happen.

There are few things that make me happier than coming up the street and seeing my house all lit up for Christmas! Happy holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving Birthday

Maddie turned 15 years old on Thanksgiving this year. She is always such a good sport about "going with the flow" for whatever is her birthday celebration.

This year we had Marie Callender chocolate satin pie and sang to her at the end of dinner!

We had three tables set up in the living/dining room. Susan, Brian, Drew, Jeff, Mom, and friends Sharon and Lorraine and I sat at the big table.

This was apparently the table with all the "cool people" on it for Thanksgiving dinner. (Amy, Lamoni, Lamoni's brothers, Moises and David, Maddie, and Allyson.)

The little kids, Sydney, Nate, Brian, and Aubrey had their own table in the middle.


Maddie folded the napkins into turkeys. She thought they were kind of dumb, but we all liked them! We had a great time eating, playing Catch Phrase and the Name Game. Jillian, Anthony, and Maizie joined us for dessert and games.

We missed David, Loretta, Julie, and Ally, but they had a great Thanksgiving too. They made their own dinner with all the things they love to eat--even baked a new "pumpkin cheesecake pie" recipe--and enjoyed each others' company.


Amy's friends, Eddu, Rocio, and Maritza (with David and Moises) joined us for "second dinner" Thanksgiving night!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

Four Years Ago Next Tuesay...

We celebrated Sydney's 4th birthday today.


We were a little worried about not having planned something more than cake and presents with the family, but Sydney was perfectly happy playing with her cousins and her new Barbies.


This was Aubrey's idea of party finery...


I sure do love this little girl. The last four years have just flown...

Our Beautiful Ballerina

Maddie had parent dance observation at ballet class this week.

She is turning into such a beautiful ballerina.


I can't wait to see her in the Nutcracker in December. (This photo-Nutcracker 2009-Peppermint Doll.)

I Love the Ocean

The other days of our Veterans Day weekend were spent at the beach.


We decompressed from Disneyland, rode bikes, and Jeff surfed. His new long paddle board works great. This is the first time I've actually seen him stand up and ride the waves. We all had a great time.

Happy Holidays!

Guess where we went for Veterans Day?


Last spring we worked at the Southern Nevada Veterans Cemetery for an afternoon and received tickets to Disneyland for a day as part of their "Give-a-Day/Get-a-Day" program. So it was only right that we use our free tickets on Veteran's Day.


It's a little early, but when I saw Main Street all decorated up I got tears in my eyes and almost cried.

After all, it's been over a year since I was there.


I'm glad I got to spend the day there with two of my favorite people.

Beautiful Girlies

Meet the BCHS Cheerleaders!

Oh, wait. That would be the Girls' Cross Country Team. (Maddie-standing, second from right.)

I'm So Proud...

Okay, okay. I know. Pride is one of the seven deadly sins. So. Let's just say "I'm So Happy." "I'm So Satisfied." Or "I'm Amazed."


I have tried a new skill. It is one I have wanted to try for a long time. I free-design quilted on my sewing machine! I used a tool (screwdriver!!) to put a darning foot (which I didn't even know I owned) on my trusty Janome sewing machine and quilted crazily all over this wild Halloween table runner. I purposely used all this wild fabric so that the quilting would not be prominent. It is VERY rough and totally a practice effort. But I did it and I can only get better from here, right.

I'm pleasantly surprised with this crazy runner. I think it looks kind of eerily festive! Thanks to my good friend Jill who made me the original summery one and to Moda Bake Shoppe for the idea.

New Posts

There are four new posts today. If you want to read them all, just keep scrolling down. They are the last four posted.

She's a Nerd

It's Homecoming/Spirit Week at BCHS and today is "Nerd Day."


I think Maddie pulls it off a little too well--how about you?

Double Blessings

My friend Lara had twin daughters this summer.


Maddie with Hailey and Harmony.


Some of the ladies and young women in the ward have been helping out with the babies and Lara's three-year-old, Landon.

What a blessing it has been to be a part of that!


My friend Kimberly and I also got to sew Hailey and Harmony's blessing dresses. It was a little traumatic for us, as Lara had us cut up her gorgeous WEDDING GOWN to make the dresses. They turned out very pretty though.


Friends and ward members Savannah, Leisel, and Sophia helped a LOT with the girls this summer.

We all made sure we were in town Labor Day weekend for the blessings. Brian loves ALL babies.

We even made Jeff hold Hailey. He always looks so comfortable with the tiny ones...

We are so blessed to be part of a ward family.

She's a FRESHMAN!

Impossible! How did this happen?

My beautiful, sweet, kind "little happy-surprise baby" is in high school.

Excuse me while I go and cry a bit.

Outdoor Adventure

Talk about adventure! We attended the annual ward campout Friday night.


All started well. Dad set up a two-man tent for us and a one-man tent next to us for Maddie. (The family tent is in Mt. Pleasant...) When I went inside this SHOEBOX I should have had my first clue that it was going to be a VERY long night...

Then the High Priests cooked us some delicious food. Rick is hard at work; Carl is giving good advice.

Hafen, Carson, Grandma D. William, Aubrey, Tyler, and Eric enjoyed the food.

This tent "The Stubbs-Majal" was the envy of all attenders. It was purchased at a yard sale for $5!! It had shelves, a closet, and more shelves! So cool. And cool-looking too. Dallin was quite excited to sleep in it.

We had a very nice evening of eating, visiting, singing, campfire, and game-playing.

THEN we went to bed. And the WIND started up. No. I'm talking THE WIND!!! It seriously sounded like a FREIGHT TRAIN was going through! And it just kept on, and on, and ON! All night long!! It was one of the three nights of my life that I didn't sleep a wink. And remember, we were in a tent the size of a SHOEBOX!!


The next morning we faced some flattened tents. Luckily we had set this one up for a family that didn't end up coming.

Luckily, Aaron sent his wife and baby home, as he only ended up with an air mattress. What happened to his tent??? (Carl-advising again.)


Sadly, the Stubbs-Majal was all fluff and no substance. It ripped apart and blew down during the night and Steve, Camden, and Dallin had to sleep in their car. But in the morning they WERE able to "save the Oreos!!" inside. So all was not lost.

This is a night we will all remember forever and will definitely go down in infamy in ward history! What an adventure!