I Know Santa Claus is Real!

I am cracking up! My little girls are in their room right now getting ready for bed. For some reason they are discussing whether or not Santa Claus is real. Sophia is saying, "I know Santa Claus is real because I have never seen dad have a beard or a white mustache. You just have to believe or he won't come." Kate is agreeing, "Yeah, dad doesn't have a white beard or mustache." Besides the obvious, mom and dad don't have enough money to buy all that stuff! So funny, I am not fond of having kids think that Christmas is about Santa. However, Santa does make it magical!!

Grandma's are Great!

Throughout my life I feel like I have really missed out on getting to know my Grandma. She worked when I was little and then when her and my grandpa retired they decided to spend their time traveling. In the winter they were snowbirds down in Arizona. It wasn't until my grandpa passed away 15 years ago that I realized that I didn't really know my grandma. She was a quite little lady who let my grandpa be the center of attention.

I have since learned that she is a beautiful woman inside and out. I love her so much. I can now see why my mom was such a wonderful lady. I am truly blessed to live just minutes away from her now. I am so glad that my kids are getting to my grandma while I get to know her. She comes over for dinner sometimes and my kids get really excited when she is going to come. This summer she brought me stuff out of her garden and we shared recipes. The past few weeks have been especially fun. She has come over to dip pretzels with me. Yesterday she taught me how to make caramels. She is so cute and I am grateful to have this wonderful lady in my life.

Kate's Baptism

Last Saturday, Kate got baptized. She was really excited and a bit nervous. Earlier in the week she had been wrestling with Hope and ended up with a black eye. I didn't realized that she was actually hurt that bad until the next morning I thought she had put makeup on to go to school, and that is when I realized she would be sporting a beautiful black/green eye by the day of her baptism. The night before she was baptized, in her prayers, she asked that she would get a journal on her baptism day so she could write about how funny it was that she would have a black eye on her baptism day. That's when we had to make sure that she got a journal, because she had prayed for it and we didn't want her faith to be shaken. The next day we sent Aunt Belinda to get a journal, she ended up getting two others.

She was so proud after she was baptized and told me she felt really good inside. She was one of the last baptisms of the day and the water was freezing. She had goosebumps a mile high. She is a very sweet girl and is really trying to do the right thing all the time. I can tell she feels bad when she messes up, but she knows that she can repent. I just love watching kids learn and grow in the gospel. She has a friend who wasn't able to make it to the baptism. She saw her friends' dad a couple of days later. He was apologizing that they couldn't make it. She told him, "That's okay, it doesn't really matter who was there it just mattered that it happened." Wow, that is an impressive response from an 8 year old. I think that she is wiser than I thought.

Christmas Favorites

I absolutely love Christmas. I love the smells, the tastes, the sights, and the sounds of Christmas. I love the smell of cinnamon pine cones, Christmas trees, and the smell of cinnamon rolls baking. My favorite foods associated with Christmas are cinnamon rolls, yams with tons of brown sugar and butter, mmmm. I love holiday treats of every kind, but I really like to make and eat dipped pretzels. I also love hot chocolate, alot!!! I love seeing the lights on through everyone's windows and of course those who have them outside. I love going to temple square and seeing the lights and hearing the music. I don't necessarily love the snow, but I love the way it looks on the trees with lights underneath. I love listening to Christmas music. My family isn't crazy about the fact that I turn on Christmas music right after Halloween, but I just have to, its in my blood. I love to listen to Trans-siberian orchestra, Manheim Steamroller, and Jim Brickman. But the old family favorites...Anne Murray, Statler Brothers, and the Chipmunk's Christmas still remind of being a child at Christmas. I just love everything about this blessed holiday. But most of all I love the reason for the season and that is our Savior. How blessed we are to celebrate his birth and remember everything he stands for.