Merry December

My poor tree is SO outdated!

I was over the red 14 years ago.

Every year when I put it up I think to myself that this is it,

I'm throwing it all away at the end of the month!

Only to put it back in the attic.

The thing has 20 lives I guess.

Rusty still killing it in baseball!

And got his very first phone!

Not going to lie, I am pretty proud of myself for holding out until

they are 14 to get them a phone.

It is so convenient to text them instead of relaying info to his parents friends.

But I hate how sucked up into that dumb device it makes them.  

We keep it pretty locked up, with only having texting and a couple of games.

I can't imagine giving him free reign of the internet.

Scary!

You know when Della is ready for bed.

She starts to cuddle and lay all over you.

I do love it.

But she is getting bigger and its trickier to fit her on your lap!

Who let the dogs out?

I die over her dance costume this year!

The tail wagging behind her when she's walking, come on, adorable!

Only curse costume makers who put glitter on them!

She isn't allowed to wear it in the house or my car!

Family Christmas cards were a breeze this year!

I had 2 happy helpers whip them out in no time.

It is the BEST when they are capable and wanting to help me.

BLESS!

Grammy had her soup and nativity Sunday gathering!
We shared talents, played some games and had the nativity.

Della got to be Mary this year.
 Sweet Junie pushed it as far a babies will go in this family.

Time for the grandkids to supply baby Jesus!

Rusty's baseball team made it to the top 2 in their championship tournament!

No baseball team has made it this far in the history of Franklin Jr. High.

Unfortunately they lost.

They played their hearts out and did a great job so they should be proud!

Now lets take this team to Mesa High and boost their rankings, lol! 

So many varieties of Christmas goodies to deliver.

I had about 10 different categories of things I needed to give to others.
Ministering sisters.

Ward Council members.

Individual gifts to our Relief Society and Young Women presidents.

We have about 15 single widowed ladies in our ward who are all

just the best. Some struggling more than others.

Struggling families in the area.

To name a few.

I wanted to make sure everyone felt noticed and loved this Christmas season.

I tried to be mindful and customize as best to their needs as possible.

A few that I did.
I wish I had a picture of the 50 half dozen tortillas I ordered from Carolinas!

We Wish You a Berry Christmas

FYI, if you live in AZ don't bother making cinnamon rolls.

Rise up bakeries are LIT!!!!

The girls studio signed up for them to dance
 at the Christmas Market on Merry Mainstreet.

I had never done this before so it was fun checking it all out.

Nothing like sampling all the food trucks!

Loved the flower lights at the Mesa Temple.

I guess missionaries cut out plastic from bottles to make them.

So creative!

Lane got invited to go snowboarding for the
weekend with Sadie, Heidi and Turner.

It was the first week of heavy rain this winter which means they scored 

with major snow!

Another Sunday dinner and Christmas program with my family.
More talents and singing songs from the Nativity.

Winter Sing for Lindi and Della

Jesse and Kristen hosted the most epic party!

Dress like a Christmas movie character never has been so good!

I went with the first thing that popped in my head, ha!

Christmas with the Kranks is a favorite in our house.

I can't get over how realistic Casey's shirt looked while on!

I don't know why I don't have a picture of Melinda and Stephen but

they nailed Gus Polinski on Home Alone!

Same with Jesse and Kristen, they did Santa Claus 3!

We played fun games.

I died when it looked like Casey was ordering drinks at the bar!

The beautiful table set up!

Hiring your own hibachi chef is a great idea!!

This guy was funny and couldn't understand WHY we didn't want sake!

He kept asking and asking, it was hilarious.

We each got a turn to catch flying vegetables in our mouths!

Martins face... hahaha!

The food was top notch!

The yum yum sauce is where it's at!

We had a fancy night with my friends where we dressed up in
our finest formal attire for dinner at the White Chocolate Grill!

I couldn't believe how fun this was, who knew!

Annual dinner, gingerbread houses and Christmas light gazing night with the Evans!

It was a great night despite my only 2 pictures I have of it.

CHRISTMAS EVE!

Was on a Sunday this year.
We went to Grammy's for dinner and the dollar game!

Casey and Jesse must have been talking smack to each other?

But Maverick was the lucky winner, AGAIN!

CHRISTMAS MORNING!

Already busting things out of the boxes.

Most of Rusty's friends live on the other side of Southern.
This electric scooter has given him a whole new world of

FREEDOM!!

It is so nice watching his blue dot on my phone go from our house 

to theirs without me having to get in the car:)

Santa brought everyone remote control cars!

Apparently opening gifts is exhausting.

In the afternoon we visited family.

Grandma had a game for the kids.

Spin the wheel and pick a cup with a prize underneath.

David's cup had $50 under it.

He said the first person to jump in the pool gets it.

Collin got richer in 20 seconds!

 

We had an equally good time at the Goodmans for dinner.

I just don't have pictures.