aren't we a photogenic bunch!?
apparently we are a little camera shy.
I think the garbage can added interest to the pictures. These pictures were all taken in the State Capital Building. I just loved all the paintings, especially up in the dome. The stained glass windows were very cool too. All in all we had a great afternoon with Brad. It was nice to catch up with him and see where he lives and how he is doing.
Each year the participants are different, but the story of Christ's birth is the focal point. How blessed we are to have a knowledge of our Savior and the great gift of the Atonement he gave to us. 
We have been counting down the days to Christmas with this Angel Advent Calendar. It is also a long standing tradition. On Christmas morning there was much excitement because of the believers among us. I just love having little children around and the excitement they bring.
Emma modeling her new pillowcase.
Kaden showing off some of his gifts.
Courtnie likes her new bowl.
Chelsi looking very stylish with her treasures!
Grandpa excited with his gifts.
The best gift of all was Christmas falling on Sunday. We got ourselves ready to go to church to enjoy the real meaning of Christmas. It was a wonderful meeting filled with beautiful music which brought the spirit in abundance. How grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this wonderful time of year when we get to celebrate his birth and focus more on him. I have been grateful for opportunities to serve and for those who remembered us this season. We have much to be thankful for!
It was so delicious! The cabbage is my favorite! The very next day, December 2nd, we drove to Washington and moved Tyson and Courtnie to Pasco. We now have no children or grandchildren in the state of Idaho. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Two weeks later, on December 15th, we went to Salt Lake and moved Brock and Carrie from an apartment to a house. We have decided that December is our moving month. Buy the way, we are considered professional movers.
We went to Temple Square to see the lights. Isn't it beautiful?!
This is a baked Alaska Pie. It tastes as good as it looks. On December 19th, we had a family dinner with Clinton's siblings and spouses. We had a lovely time. It was so nice to get together and eat, visit and just enjoy each others company.
Back: Denny, Nancy, Bruce, Ivan, Jamie, Ronnie and Clinton
Carrie
I thought this diaper cake was so cute!
I know I am a proud grandma, but look how cute they all are!
Later that evening we had a girls night out. We went to the play "White Christmas" at the Colonial Theater in Idaho Falls. It was a fun play and Chelsi's friend, Sarah Parkinson was in it. Afterward we went to Cold Stone for some ice cream.
Treyton, Jordan, Deegan and Kaden sharing the beanbag!
Little Londyn just loves her grandpa!
Emma, Tyson and Kimmie. The parents went black friday shopping! We definitely had the better time!
Londyn turned out to be a great ball handler.
Deegan, Jordan, Kaden and Treyton really mean business.
Even Chelsi joined in and showed the boys what to do!
After a delicious meal of deep fried turkey and all the trimmings, this is where I found the head cook relaxing. We had about 28 people over. The guests were our family; Pam, Ivan, Matt & Stacey and kids; Ron and Paula and their kids. We had a great day!
Just look at all the fun there is to be had! We feel truly blessed to have so much family around for this holiday!
Deegan making himself comfortable to watch the movie.
On Monday, I invited Kaden, who is Deegan's cousin, to come over to play. They had such a good time together. We played games, read books, watched movies and had lunch together. This was a fun time!
When grandpa came home from work, he took us to McDanold's for dinner. Then we went to Fat Cats to play some miniature golf. These are Deegan's treasures from tonight. His happy meal box, a bacugan, and tickets from Fat Cats!
Deegan loves to get bubble baths. Don't you just love his beard?
On Tuesday, he wanted to have Lunch in a Pumpkin. So he helped me make it. It was delicious! We just love to have our grandkids come to our house!
I also read the book "Sea Biscuit". I have never heard of this horse, but it is a true story. I watched the movie afterwards. It could be slow at times, but I enjoyed the story.
Another good thing about her is we turned 50 together. It is nice that I didn't have to do it alone. The down side is that, certain funny people have brought to our attention that together we are 100 years old. I am still sticking with the idea that 50 is the new 40.
Chelsi asked me what kind of cake I wanted. I told her the Banana Split Cake. It looks fabulous and tasted delicious! She said she would not put 50 candles on the cake because she was afraid of all the second hand smoke that we would all have to breath. Ha Ha , she thinks she is so funny. She also is very worried that I might break a hip in my frail state. She better think again, because if I ever get a cane I will probably have to hit her with it!
Monday was my actual birthday. Courtnie, Kaden, Emma and Kimberly took me to lunch. The kids were really surprised that I did not choose to go to McDonald's. I chose to go to Millhollow instead. 
The highlight was the detour to Florence's Chocolates. I just love dark chocolate! I enjoyed every one of them!
Later in the day my friend Angie Lewis took me to Cold Stone, my favorite ice cream place, for a delicious treat! The pumpkin ice cream with pecans and drizzled chocolate was to die for!
You can see how happy this makes me! Then we went to Plano to work on our ceramic projects.
Tonight Clinton took me to the movie "Footloose". We have been trying to go for quite sometime. This actually ends my week long birthday. It has been a very fun week!
When we got to California, our first stop was to Joe's Crab Shack. Good place to eat.
Later that evening we drove to Newport Beach. We saw the tail end of the sunset. We also took our shoes off and walked along the beach. This was a fun thing to do.
Day 1 at Disneyland: we visited the Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain
We took a walk through Tarzan's Tree house, went on the Jungle Cruise and one of my favorites Indiana Jones Temple of Doom!
Just for kicks we visited Fantasy Land and rode the Carousel, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and walked through Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
Since it is Halloween today we got our picture in front of the Pumpkin Mickey. The park closed at 6:00 pm tonight. We decided to go have a nice dinner at McCormick and Schmick's. It was fancy and the food was delicious! We also went to the movie "Money Ball". We really enjoyed this movie.
Day 2 at Disneyland: We rode the Matterhorn roller coaster, the Submarine Ride, the Monorail and another favorite Star Tours.
Luckily we saw my favorite Disney Character! Tigger and I posing together.
We rode the raft over to Tom Sawyer's Island. Clinton coming out of the cave. By 4:00 we had seen and done everything we wanted to do, so we went to Newport Beach again for a picnic and a sunset.
We got to watch the whole sunset this time.
Our picnic dinner.
These birds were pretending not to see us, but they kept getting closer to try to get our food.
Day 3 California Adventures: I just had to take a picture of Clinton in front of this airplane. Then we rode the Soaring Over California Ride.
We just loved the Tower of Terror Ride! We rode it twice!
It was pretty scary! I loved every minute of it. Another favorite ride was the Toy Story Ride. You got to shoot at all of the different targets. It was so fun, we rode it twice too! The Grizzly water ride was awesome too.
We got lucky again and found Sully for this fun picture. When we were finished at California Adventures we went to down town Disney for souvenirs. I got a really cute Mickey Jacket and a Mickey and Minnie Salt and Pepper Shakers for my collection. This has been one great birthday present! We had a great time together doing something so fun!
