Happy Holidays!

Maddie on her way to the last day of school before Christmas break. Her black shirt had a sparkly ornamented Christmas tree on the front so she looked very festive.

Now it has taken me so long to finish this post that I have to say - Wow! I can't believe Christmas is over already.

Traditional top of the stairs Christmas morning photo. I wonder how many more of these will have two girls in them...?

If Loretta hadn't helped me wrap all my presents and get my house organized, I would never have been ready for Christmas in time. It all seemed to go by in a blur...

It was kind of a crazy two weeks here - Amy was home from college, my nephew, Lauron, and niece, Angel, were here, visiting Grandma D. and us, and Grandma Sargeant came back with Amy to finish her move to Utah. We had Grandma D.'s Christmas party on Saturday, church on Sunday, some of the family for dinner after church, Christmas Eve Family Home Evening on Monday and dinner for more family.
Amy and Tyler at Grandma D.'s Christmas dinner party. It was a lot of fun this year, as Uncle Dave, Aunt Karen, Elisabeth, Jared, and Jacob were there, as well as Lauron and Angel. Grandma always knocks herself out for this event and it is eagerly anticipated. I don't think that she will ever be able to top this year's family gift, however. We will all NEVER forget the "ghost grandma" ornaments!!

Then we had Christmas day with everyone over at various times and spent Wednesday with Lauron and Angel - shopping, movie, "In 'N' Out" for dinner, and Guitar Hero fest till the wee hours (I'll be glad when that thing is GONE back to college!)
Although as you can see, lots of people had fun pretending to be "rock stars."

"Look, Daddy! I can play too!"

Angel liked the game so much she pooled all her money and bought one after she went home.
Looking at Lauron, you might think he was a real punk - especially if you remember his "Especially for Youth" cute little white-blond flat-top look. The funny thing is, he's still the same sweet huggy "I love you, Aunt Linda" boy he's always been. Is he just a "wanna-be punk??"

The Christmas Day soccer game players after little Ally kicked the winning goal. The rest of us were walking the track with the stroller babies, but it got too cold and they had to head home. Susan came back and picked up stragglers in two loads in her car. It was a little crowded - kind of like the car full of clowns at the circus...

It was a great vacation. I'm not ready to go back to "real life" yet...

Grandkids!

If you are not a grandmother, you may not understand that I truly have the cutest grandkids in the world. If you are, you will undoubtedly disagree...and that's the way it should be!

Beautiful daughter Allyson with cute Aubrey and darling Sydney in their Christmas dresses.

Cute Aubrey and handsome Tyler before church.

My photo-editing software is refusing to "rotate," but this picture of sweet Ally and Aubrey was so cute I knew you'd all want to rotate yourselves to see it!

Sydney at the ward Christmas party. Papa loves the space between her teeth!

Tyler in his new birthday coat.

This is Julie, the one who can no longer be called "cute."

She's simply beautiful.

New Home in Mt. Pleasant, Utah

Okay, I know you've never heard of it, but there is a pretty little town in Central Utah, 30 miles north of Manti, in a beautiful valley surrounded by green foothills. The town is Mt. Pleasant and it, along with its sister city, Fairview (5 miles further north on Highway 89,) is starting to grow on me. It's a good thing too, as we now own 18 acres of undeveloped land in Fairview and this home in Mt. Pleasant. I know it doesn't look like much, but it has a lot to recommend it - starting with the 5 beautiful acres of city property on which it stands.

It is much prettier in the spring and summer when the trees are in leaf and the grass is all green- a haven for little grandchildren to run and play in. It has room for horses (!) It has a back patio that could host many a family picnic or barbeque. It has a huge garage and covered RV parking...

...a perfect room for scrapbooking parties...
...a fun kitchen...


...a new-fangled stove...

...and an old-fashioned one...
...and lots of other interesting features and rooms...The only thing it doesn't have yet is a stick of furniture or appliances...Mom Sargeant is staying up there right now with an air mattress and a cooler! She is a trooper and a camper! We are excited to begin furnishing our home-away-from- home and are looking forward to escaping there once in a while...Merry Christmas to us!

Family Photo

Here we all are at the Sargeant Family Photo Shoot for this year. I think it turned out pretty cute, especially since Brian was sick when we took the shot and Allyson had to take his picture the next Sunday and PhotoShop him in! (You'll all get hard copies in your Christmas cards.)

One Already!

Jimmy, Ally, and baby Sydney.

Baby Sydney turned one on Thanksgiving. She had her first birthday party at Hemenway Park yesterday afternoon. It was quite the "big" affair. Lots of visiting, food, photos, and fun. Unfortunately, Sydney wasn't feeling too well - had an upset stomach. She still managed to eat a bite of cake and "open" her presents. She is such a good natured little thing!

Syd loved her buggy from Grandma D.

She had lots of fun swinging and riding on the rocking horsie. Happy birthday, Sydney!

Aaargh! She's a Young Woman!

Maddie turned 12 years old today and I can't believe it! She graduated from Primary, got her Faith in God award, went to her first Young Women class, had a birthday brunch before church and before Amy left to go back to BYU, and got a "going-away" present from her beloved Primary teacher.

One day a few years ago, Maddie came up to me and said, "Mommy, when I was a 'surprise baby,' was I a GOOD surprise?" It brought tears to my eyes that she could even wonder otherwise. She was SUCH a good surprise, one I can't imagine living without. I am DEFINITELY not ready for an empty nest. I thank Heavenly Father every single day for this ray of sunshine in our lives. Happy birthday, Maddie. We love you so much!!

30 Years and Counting

Jeff and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary Friday!
Hard to believe it's been that long...We had planned a trip to Tahiti in January to celebrate, but we bought the house in Mt. Pleasant instead. Tahiti will have to wait...