Hillary's present

My family has two Christmas traditions, drawing names for gifts and making homemade presents. This year we combined them. I drew Hillary's name. After some brainstorming Brandon and I decided to make her a garden box.

Brandon contrived this clamp so he could glue the wood for the bottom of the box together.
Here is the box when it was done being put together. (Brandon did it all while I was at work. So I have no idea how it went together)
I helped stain the box.
I love how pretty stain makes wood.
Hillary loved her gift.

Gingerbread houses

We had our family Christmas party on Saturday. We took pictures, ate sandwiches, exchanged homemade presents, visited with extended family, and we made Gingerbread houses. Here are the pics from that.

Billy's house had a couch and a big screen TV inside.
This was the one I made. I invested everything in the roof.
Hillary's house. What you can't see is all the wafer cookies that she stockpiled on the inside.
Lindsey decorated her whole house before she put it together.
This is Emily and David's house. It is one of my favorite gingerbread houses ever.
This is my Grandma's house. Brandon built it for her in a dutch style and she decorated it.
Here are the pics of assembling the houses.



And here they are all in a little "gingerbread neighbor hood"

Christmas Under the Tree 2009

Brandon's family has a really cute tradition. On the Friday before Christmas they all get together for a family party. We played games, ate treats, told stories, and put out the manager scene while reading the Christmas Story. Then we have a big sleep over. Here are some pictures from this year's party.

The really meaning of Christmas

Last night we did probably the most appropriate Christmas time activity we could have done as a family. We went to the Salt Lake temple and acted as proxy to seal some of our Polish Ancestors together for eternity.

As long as I can remember my Mom has been talking about finding a certain ancestor's parents. She found them about 3 years ago and that lead to finding hundreds of names. She and my sister Emily worked hard to get the names organized and ready for temple work. Then about a year and a half ago we started the work. Hillary, Billy, and several of our cousins were able to act as proxy for the baptisms for the dead. Then aunts, uncles and ward members helped out with the other ordinances. Last night we were able to be part of the final ordinance - sealings in the temple.

Seven of us, Mom, Dad, Me, Brandon, Lindsey, Emily, and David were able to go into the Salt Lake Temple. Billy, Hillary, and Grandma were kind enough to baby sit Rocklond and Asher in the waiting room. It was so amazing to be able to help preform such a wonderful ordinance for ancestors that died 100 years ago. Many times during the night the sealer remarked that these people had been waiting a long time to be sealed together.

I really can't describe the feelings I felt as I was able to be with my family while we helped seal other parts of the family together forever. It was so amazing to look at my family and know that we will be able to spend eternity as a family. I understood better how the atonement relates to the temple ordinances. Thinking about the atonement made me think about Jesus's birth. And that made me think that doing temple work is the best thing you can do to celebrate Christmas. I highly recommend it.

Christmas at the Office

Everyone at work is getting into the Christmas Spirit. Just about every team has a Christmas tree. Here is the tree that my "team" put together. (Technically I don't have a team, but I sit by the team lead for the people who work from home. Since we are orphans we have banded together) Anyway this is the bamboo plant that Melissa has had on her desk since she started about 3 years ago. I decorated it with buttons.

Here is the Charlie Brown tree.
This was the tree that started the unofficial competition. It is the handmade ornaments tree.
I love the stockings on this desk.
They are so cute.
This is the biggest tree. Its 8 feet tall!
There are more trees but I didn't get pictures of them all.

Chippy Chasers

Our friends created their own board game called Chippy Chasers. We played it with them last week and LOVED it. I'm not just saying that to be nice. It really was a great game. Brandon, who usually doesn't like board games, even had a good time playing.

It is a game about catching chipmunks in the wild. The jist of the game is you get different traps and bait and then you roll a dice to see if you caught a chipmunk. Brandon had no luck what so ever with traps, but after he upgraded to a tranquiliser gun he did much better (after firing a couple "practise" shots)

I love seeing couples work together on a project so I thought I'd give them some publicity by sharing the facebook link with the 3 of you who read this blog. Anyway here is the link again. And if that doesn't work you can type Chippy Chasers into a facebook search and it will pop up.

Happy Hello

Last weekend I was able to spend time with my one of my best friends and her family. I haven't seen Cheysi since the last week of August 2006. To illustrate how long that has been you have to understand that I met Brandon two weeks after I said goodbye to Cheysi. In the meantime, I got married and she went on a mission to Russia. Even though she has been home for over a year we just haven't been able to get together. Finally last weekend we were able to see each other. Her family was having a Christmas/birthday party in Logan so I got to see all of them as well.

I lived with Cheysi's family for three weeks one summer in Ephraim. I got to know them all pretty well. They are such a loving family. They are all fiercely loyal to one another, and they all love to play and joke around.
Cheysi's mom Sunshine started including me with the family during my second summer in Ephraim. She is so wonderful for wanting to include me in the mix with her 5 real daughters.
Cheysi has always brought out the little girl in me. From dancing crazy at Youth Conference Dances, dressing up as 80's chicks, singing at the top or our lungs while driving down Ephraim Canyon, and dressing alike on the ropes course we have always had a good time. At one point this weekend we were laying on the floor sharing secrets under a blanket and laughing like no time had passed at all.
These are Cheysi's sisters Solana and Kara. I worked with both Cheysi and Solana doing youth conferences at Snow College. They were some of my best friends for two summers. Solana even came to my college graduation to represent the rest of her family.
This little cutie was a toddler the last time I saw her.
Of course Cheysi had to do something to get herself thrown in the snow. She was always the target at SnowFun during the water fights. She's a fighter and a tease so she was a prime target to get soaked by every youth conference group.

I'm so grateful I got to see all these wonderful people again. Especially Cheysi. Thanks for a great weekend.