I couldn't be happier...

I don't know who was more excited for this semester to end...me or my kids.

But it is finally done.

Can I get a Hallelujah?!?!

Brent and I took the kids to lunch for a congratulatory round of rootbeer and pizza :)

 

And then the "jumping for joy" pictures for mom...

(my clever editing of bare tummies is great, huh??)

 

 

Time for relaxing,

laughing,

hanging out-ing,

good food eating,

italian soda drinking

and good ol' celebrating!

Another season under way...

Maddison is playing on the Varsity Lady Hawks basketball team this year and doing so gives me the honor of hosting a team dinner for the girls before one of their games.

We made lots of food and by the time it was all said and done, there wasn't even a lettuce leaf left.  These girls can put away some food!

 

They are a great group of girls...fierce and unforgivable on the court (12 -1 this season so far) and kind and beautiful and absolutely hilarious off the court.  The ringing of uncontrollable laughter that filled my home that afternoon was so fun.

The day after Christmas the team is off to compete in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.  We are having lots of fun following the team around and cheering them on. 

Let's go Lady Hawks!!

My Marvelous Middle child...

Davis breaks the mold.  Or at least the stereotypical one.

He is definitely NOT the typical middle child.

Although I have often thought "does he get as much attention as his older sister and younger brother?" he manages to ease my worries.

Heavenly Father blessed him with quite confidence and a sense of value that makes him stand taller.

And I'm really enjoying his subtle sense of humor.  He makes me laugh and who doesn't love that attribute!

 

 

Davis played 8th grade football and once again was the go to guy to hike the ball. He also played just as much on the defensive side of the ball and was a co-captain.

He was fun to watch but I have to say I'm not sure about Freshman football next year.  He's really excited and so is his dad and little brother but as the mom, my stomach is already churning.

 

At the end of the season the team gathered together for recognition and such.  They give an award for athletic performance and another called The Hurricane Award.  It goes to a player who shows leadership on and off the field, who respects his teammates, classmates and teachers, who achieves academically and who represents the school well. Coach handed the award to Davis and said that when Davis was on the field, he felt he had a coach on the field as well and thanked him for all he brought to the program.

 

My heart was bursting!

 

 

A couple weeks ago Davis turned 14.

Getting a shotgun was about as awesome as it gets. (apparently)

 

 

When we asked D what he wanted to do for his birthday all he said was, "shoot my new gun."

 

So that's what we did.

Our very invested Home Teacher took us out to a remote location and let the boys have their way with a box of clay pigeons, countless rounds of ammo and a tailgate off his truck.

 

 

On our way to dinner there was a gorgeous sunset full of unbelievable color that spread across the sky.  I mentioned it to my car full of boys (maddie had to work) and Davis said it was the perfect way to end his birthday.  To myself I said it was a gift to me, to remind me of the incredible son I was blessed with 14 years ago.

 

Happy Birthday big D!

I made a great decision last year.

Two trees!  Two trees!

One real and warmly adorned in the family room and one fake and standing regal in the living room.

 

I love, love, love that we have always had a real Christmas tree.

Nothing beats it.  The smell, the look, the nostalgia.

I grew up with real trees ~ sometimes flocked, sometimes not, and sometimes with lots of tinsel.

When I was little OH! how I loved the tinsel.

 

When Brent and I were married, I was adopted into the tradition of going up to Apple Hill in CA to find and cut down our tree. 

 

These are such happy, warm memories that are mostly about our kids being little again and the magic and wonder of the season shining in their innocent eyes.  And Grandma Joyce...passing around the hot cocoa or snuggling up with a grandchild to keep away the shivers.

 

Getting the tree from CA to Utah or Arizona was always an adventure.  One year, as we were speeding down the freeway, our tree flew off the roof of our van and bounced along the road.  Branches breaking free and poor, unsuspecting travelers luckily (and thankfully) dodging the 7 ft. green mass of pines and cones.  Another year, at a Utah tree farm this time, we cut our trees down in massive amounts of snow.  There was so much snow, if fact, that you couldn't tell what shape or condition the tree was actually in.  We would shake the snow from the branches as best we could and the little cousins would shout "that one looks good" and we'd let the axes fly.  Uncle Tom's was so bad that year that he had to take carpenter nails at least six inches long and pound the tree stand through the carpet and into his floor boards just to keep the thing from toppling over!  I laugh now at the sight : )

 

Although our trips to Apple Hill have diminished, we still keep the tradition of finding and bringing home a real tree.  It's a favorite part of Christmas for me. 

 

 

So we found our tree for Christmas 2012.

 

It is a fragrant bundle of noble branches with warm golden lights and all of our family ornaments collected and handmade over the years. There is even one that Joyce kept.  A handmade little drum that Brent made in 1974 and he proudly places on the tree each year.

 

 

 

 

And the other...

 

One of my vivid childhood memories is the Christmases of blue and silver.  It's what Mom loved.

At sometime in my life I promised myself I would have a Christmas of blue and silver.

 

And that sometime began last year...

 

 

 

Have yourself a very merry Christmas!