Give The Boy A Hand!

Look, Ma!  I can use both hands!  Clint finally got the pins out of his finger and he's learning to use his hand again.  Hooray!  Mom won't have to help him write his homework anymore!!  It's been a long haul, and he will still have some physical therapy for a while, but Clint has handled this whole ordeal incredibly well.  Here's a picture of Clint's hand, and here are the pins that used to be in his finger, ouch!

A Sweet Tradition

We have never made gingerbread houses before, so we decided to try out a new tradition this year.  It was very fun, everyone was really creative and they turned out so cute!  Maybe next year we'll try some bigger houses if we dare!

Today's Top Ten List!

I have been listening to all of my beloved Christmas music the past few days, so I decided to blog about my favorites.  Here are my top ten favorite Christmas CD's that I own:
#1 Donny Osmond Christmas at Home - My favorite of all, it is full of meaning and romance.  "Come To The Manger" is quite possibly my favorite Christmas song ever.
#2 Vince Guaraldi Trio A Charlie Brown Christmas - All the original Charlie Brown Christmas music.  This is one I sometimes keep out and listen to all year long.
#3 Harry Connick Jr. When My Heart Finds Christmas - The original HC Jr Christmas CD, and still the best!  Makes me melt.
#4 SheDaisy Brand New Year - Original, energetic, fresh, and even a little weird, this one is such fun to listen to, love these girls' harmonies.
#5 Michael Buble Let It Snow - It only has a few songs on it, I wish he'd do a complete Christmas CD, but hey, it's still Michael Buble!
#6 Ray Conniff's Christmas Album - The Ray Conniff Singers were a huge part of my childhood, and although this one does not include the quintessential family Christmas morning song, "Here Comes Santa Claus", it's still a great CD.
#7 Jon Schmidt Christmas - I have the piano book for all of these songs and I wish I could play them like Jon!  I think he is pure magic.
#8 A Partridge Family Christmas Card - This one is a total guilty pleasure, I mean, the Partridge Family?  But I just love the groovy 70's sound, David Cassidy's cool voice, and "My Christmas Card To You" is one of my faves.
#9 Celine Dion These Are Special Times - I'm not normally a Celine Dion fan, but someone gave me this Christmas CD and it's awesome.  She really does have an amazing set of pipes.
#10 Marie Osmond's Magic of Christmas - A little bit country and a little bit rock and roll, this one has a wide variety of styles and a lot of original songs.  Even better, she sings most of them as duets with members of her family. Of course, her duet with Donny, "When Christmas Comes This Year" is my favorite on the CD.
Hmmm, now that I've written about 10, I can think of about 10 more that I love too!  Maybe next year I'll have a brand new list of favorites!

Christmas Past

I've been getting out all of our Christmas decorations, and I am having some melancholy thoughts of Christmases past.  This is one of my favorite  photos of my kids.  We even dressed up our dog as a sheep.  She was a good poser!  This was 11 years ago, my how time flies! One of our family's favorite holiday traditions is having a Bethlehem night.  For one of our family home evenings during December, we all dress up in "Bethlehem" garb, turn out the lights, spread a blanket on the floor, and, by candlelight, eat a simple meal like they would have had in Bethlehem.  We usually eat pita bread, meats and cheeses, and fruits.  Sometimes we read a Christmas story, and sometimes we make up stories about the people we might have been at the time of the Savior's birth.  We are grateful for the Christmas season and for our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I wish I could make the season last longer, just like I wish I could have kept my kids little for a bit longer!  But I am grateful this year for the remarkable people they are becoming.  I am proud of their accomplishments, but mostly of their thoughtful, giving hearts.  I am a lucky mom.  Love you kids, love you Wes, and I'm looking forward to a wonderful holiday with all of you!

California, Here I Come!!

Mission Call!!  California Arcadia Spanish Speaking!!  The call came yesterday and he will leave for the MTC on Feb 10!  He is very excited to be serving a mission.  He didn't really have a preference, but he thinks California sounds great, and learning a language will be awesome too!  We are all thrilled and proud of Colton.  This will be a wonderful time for all of us. 

Pomegranate Season

Aaah, it's pomegranate season, hooray!  I've been eating at least one or two of these lucious fruits every day since I could get my hands on them at the store.  In fact, I'm eating one as I'm typing this.  I think pomegranates are my favorite food.  I love the flavor, and the crunchy seeds.  Best of all, they are super healthy and naturally fat free!!  I started a new contest at the gym which is testing our body fat, and I have a lot of work to do to get mine down!  So I need all the help I can get, I need my delicious pomegranates!  I just wish I could get them all year round. 

Broken Finger Update

Well, things did get worse after all.  Unfortunately, Clint's broken bone was not staying in place, so he had to go in to the hospital yesterday and get some pins put in his finger.  This was major surgery, but Clint did really well.  The hardest part was fasting all day.  His surgery wasn't until 4:30!  And because he hadn't had anything to drink, his veins were hiding, and it was pretty rough getting an IV in him.  But he is one tough kid.  What a trooper!!  Here he is before he went in:

And here he is coming out of anesthesia:

So not too bad!  He's still feeling a little dizzy today, but he's not having pain, and we're glad about that.  Hopefully now we'll be on the uphill swing of this!  He will probably keep these pins for a couple of weeks until the bone starts sticking together.  Who knew a broken finger would be such a big deal??