Forgotten Carols~ A special night

Tonight, The Gray's, Rollender's, Boohers, and our family all went to see The Forgotten Carols. It was such a special night. It really put the spirit of Christmas in our hearts. These songs have been a favorite of mine for many years and to me they are what Christmas is all about. As Michael Mclean says, we all have a carol in our heart and tonight they sang loud and clear in all of our hearts. The highlight was singing as a family, while holding hands, one of my all time favorite songs..."We Can Be Together Forever Someday!" It made us all think of Grandma and how blessed we are that families are eternal.

Christmas Lights~ A tradition

Within a day apart these are the gorgeous views we beheld. It was a delight for the eyes and especially wonderful to get to experience it with those we love. This year we were able to experience the Christmas spirit with hearing Thomas Heaps sing at the Assembly hall on temple square and then walking around Salt Lake's temple square to view all the beautiful lights. Emily kept us on track, and we had to do it in a hurry because mom froze, but we got it all in and came home and warmed up with hot chocolate.Upon arriving back to Arizona we went to see the Mesa temple lights and nativities. It is a family favorite, in fact I think this was the fourth time this year for the girls. Quite a contrast, it was such a warm night that we ate our Mesa frozen yogurt while walking around the grounds. We love the display of nativities from all around the world in the visitor center! I love these two temples, they have a special place in my heart and always bring the Christmas Spirit. I feel so blessed that we got to experience both temple lights this year.

Family Night with the Dovers

We had a Christmas family night with the Dover family! We just love this family so much! They have become our adopted family. Joslyn and Laurisa have been their babysitters for over 7 years and they have been apart of our family ever since. We had a crepe night (Marcus' idea) since he loves our family crepes! We made dipped oreo treats and listened to Grandma and Grandpa Dover share the Christmas story! It was a great night and fun to share with such wonderful friends. I love sharing the Christmas season with friends and family!

Hiking in December

These women make everything fun, but hiking with them is a favorite! We have lots of laughs and solve the world's problems at the same time. It's amazing how beautiful the weather is in December, perfect weather for hiking. Jan wanted us to come to her house in Awahtukee, where she has hiking right out her back door. It was a beautiful hike, with beautiful views. We only hiked for 2 hours because we had a lunched planned at Carol's along with opening gifts. We had the best Panini's ever! Everyone brought food and we enjoyed lunch at Carol's house overlooking the whole valley. I feel so blessed to have the most amazing friends who I enjoy doing just about anything with. I think we need to hike at least once a month!

Testing out New Big Pictures!

A Glance Back to Grandma Whiting's Funeral

Mitch's Winter Formal dance

This was quite the day! Mitch wasn't sure when he got asked to Winter Formal if he could go because he had a wrestling tournament on the same weekend. I told him it would all work out and to have faith. He found out the night before the dance, that the tournament would be over in time to go. I love how flexible his date was. We all scrambled at the last minute to pull it all together. We helped his date get tickets, boutineers, corsages, a shrug and a necklace and a dress shirt for him all while he was at the tournament. It was so great to see the night turn out to be such a success. Mitch said he had the night of his life, and it was especially fun to go with such an amazing girl who he considers his best friend.

We love visitors

Visitor's spoiled us with their presence this month. We always love the opportunity to have visitors stay with us. First we had Wade's brother Justin, who flew in from Baltimore and was able to stay with us for 10 days. What a treat to have so much time with Justin. He seriously is one of the easiest guest we've ever had. He is just part of the family, he pitched in on getting the house ready for Thanksgiving. He was such a good sport to sleep on the couch in the family room where all the action always was when it was his bedtime. We had some great late night talks. His easy going nature is so fun to be around. Wade's parents drove down from Utah to be with us for Thanksgiving. It was such a special holiday to have so much family with us. We feel so blessed to have these wonderful people apart of our lives and cherish the time we get to spend together. Justin felt like he was at a resort. He would go out everyday and lay in the sun and read. It was good seeing him get some rest and relaxation because he is such a hard worker in Dental school.We also got a bonus visitor, Meg came to stay with us. We were so excited when she called telling us that she was coming down for an interview. I got her an interview with my friend and she got the job! So now she will be moving by us! We had such a fun few days, it felt like I was on vacation. We had so many good laughs, and went to a movie, shopping decorated for Christmas and made yummy food.Meg was able to go to Institute and lunch with us! It was wonderful having her and we are looking forward to more fun times with her.