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??

Dress Up Friday

This is how everyone looked this morning as they headed out the door:
Cutie Cowgirl Kori

Clint Michael Jackson:

He wanted to work the "glove" into his costume.  His costume is complete with glitter socks!  He was practicing the moonwalk this morning, I don't know if he's going to show off his skills at school or not.

No, it's not Christmas yet, it's just Wes dressed as one of his partners, Paul Holden.  You have to know Paul to understand this costume.  Trust me, it's hilarious.  He even has the ponytail!

And here's a preview of our poor kitty, who doesn't like to be dressed up at all.  We continue to make him into a Halloween cat every year.  We thought this costume was timely.  Since our cat's name is Kevin, he's dressed as "Kevin", the mama bird from the movie "Up!" 

And that's it for today.  Tomorrow's Halloween, so more costumes are surely in store!!  Have a fun Halloween and be safe!

The Clint Splint

Last Friday, Wes and I were both called to Clint's school to pick him up since he "wasn't feeling well."  When we got there, we found him in the office with an ice pack, white as a ghost, and very dazed.  Turns out he had gotten hit in the hand in PE while playing dodgeball.  When he tried to alert his teacher, he got queasy and actually fainted - twice!!  We loaded him up and took him straight to Emergency where they x-rayed his hand and found a broken index finger.  He got a temporary splint for the weekend, and then he got this nice plastic splint with the totally 80's hot pink straps.  He will wear this for 2 or 3 weeks, and he'll start physical therapy next week.  Clint was actually pretty excited to have broken a bone, and he's quite proud of his battle wound!  The realities are hitting him this week though.  It's pretty tough to do school work without a working right hand!  We are trying to help him as much as we can at home, and his teachers have been very understanding.  The important thing is to get him healed properly.  That's an important finger and we don't want to lose any range of motion.  We're glad he hasn't had a lot of pain, and that it wasn't any worse!

Shoe Favors

Check out these fun shoes.  I found these on the internet and had to try them.  I used them for some thank you gifts and birthday gifts this month.  They're very fun to make, and you could use them for anything!  Any woman would love a new shoe!! Visit the link to find the template.
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/10/28/paper-witch-shoes/