Promo material

Each year we try to do the Run Run Reindeer in Ivins.  It has been on the 1st Saturday of December until last year when they changed it to the Saturday before Christmas.

Last year it was on Christmas Eve and was a lot of fun with donuts, hot chocolate and Chick-filet.  We won't be around for it this year but I still get the links to their promotional ads and their link to the Facebook page.  Guess what cover page they changed to yesterday...

Why am I so excited?  Look underneath Santa's watch on his left hand.  Right under the black shirt that is showing under his white cuff.  Recognize that cute little face?  That's COURTNEY!  This was taken a few years ago (probably 3 or 4) but that's her. Which means that the head above his watch is MINE!

We're famous! ;)  hahaha!

Lava Ridge orchestra concert

Courtney had an orchestra concert last night for the Lava Ridge Intermediate orchestra.  They did a good job.  I was able to record a few of her songs before my phone ran out of space.  Bryan got some others, but this will give you a taste of the orchestra:

(I don't know if this video is going to work or not.  It's giving me fits!)

Making ornaments

Another Christmas tradition the kids love is making glitter ornaments.  We have been doing this for quite a few years and it is so easy and fun.  You get some floor cleaning fluid (I can't remember the brand), some empty craft ornaments, and some glitter.  You pour a little bit of the floor cleaner in the ornament, swish it around, and then empty the excess.  Then you pour glitter into the ornament and shake it around (with your finger over the hole).  You dump out the excess glitter, put the top on the ornament, and VOILA!

They are fun and it's great to mix glitter to find a new combination for your ornament. 





The cleaner and glitter can make a huge mess though.

Early out

One a month the kids have an early out day so the teacher's can go to meetings.  These days drive me nuts because Ethan can't get from Success Academy to the high school in time for classes so he ends up missing his high school classes once each month.  And Courtney gets really bored when she is home early.

Last Monday was an early out so they were both home by noon.  Ethan studied for his finals and then read a book but Courtney decided to entertain herself.  I was busy working on the computer and didn't notice anything until I hear leaves rustling outside.  When I looked, I saw this:





Courtney decided to clean up leaves from our backyard.  Now, this is really impressive because that wheelbarrow she is using has a flat tire!  So she was having to push it really hard to get it anywhere.  And she spent over 45 minutes out there cleaning up leaves because she had nothing else to do.  How awesome is that?!  I was so happy and let her know how much I appreciated her doing that.

Later she came running in crying.  She had learned a valuable lesson that Bryan learned years ago...always know where the rake is.  Yup, she stepped on the rake and almost knocked herself out.  So now she has a bruise next to her eye to show for all her hard work.



I don't know if you can see the bump in the picture but it's at the end of her eyebrow close to the bottom left of the picture.

Jumping toothpicks

Somehow the subject of the jumping toothpicks came up.  Bryan tested the toothpicks to make sure they were good for jumping and then made them jump.  Ethan was amazed.  He has seen it before but Ethan really wanted to figure it out.

He took the toothpicks and tried to figure it out.  He even enlisted some friends but none of them could get the toothpicks to jump.  Bryan finally told him that if Ethan doesn't figure it out before he goes on his mission, that Bryan will teach him how to do it.

Poor kid. 

Ward Christmas party

We had the best Ward Christmas party!  As the bishop explained it, a lot of work goes into a Ward Christmas party and you get a night of socializing and listening to the Primary sing.  But it doesn't really amount to a whole lot.  So instead, they decided to simplify the food and then serve the way Christ served.

Last Saturday we had a breakfast and then we all loaded in cars and drove to the Utah Food Bank across town to do service as a ward for 1 1/2 hours.  It was awesome because they had things for everyone to do.  The little kids made Christmas cards to go with the care packages that had children while the adults sorted through donated items.

We had around 90 people there (I believe) and we got a lot of work done for them.  The Dollar Tree store has a warehouse in St. George and they send pallots of boxes over to the Utah Food Bank.  Each box was like opening pandora's box because there were so many various things in each box.  You could have pencils in with bathroom cleaner.  It was crazy.

We opened the boxes on the pallots and then sorted them into categories so they could be sent where they were needed.  They were items that, if you don't have money and are worried about buying food, you wouldn't buy for yourself.





I am hoping this will be our new Ward tradition for Christmas because it was a lot of fun and really made a difference for the Christmas season.  And...we didn't have to clean up after a huge party!

House light show

There is a house on Rachel Drive in Santa Clara that has an amazing light show for Christmas.  It would drive me nuts if I were one of their neighbors, but it's great fun to go and watch it.  On our way back from the Garden's, we decided to drive through a couple of neighborhoods with good lights and end up at the Rachel Drive house.

We tuned our radio to their station and watched the show.  The only annoying part was that someone was parked on the wrong side of the street, right in front of us, and wouldn't turn off their headlights.  So they were shining right in our faces!  Ugh.

Anyway, here is the video of part of the show.  Just ignore all the talking.