Ssprinnng!

Last week was spring break. It was so great to be off for a while. The first couple of days were all about me. I read, slept and mostly did nothing. My niece, Bonnie and her family came from Texas to visit for a few days. It was a great way to spend the rest of my time off. It snowed the first few days. The kids had a blast, they couldn't get enough of it. I went with them to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum - we were there for about five hours! I think my favorite part was watching the kids play in the sand and water. On Sunday we had some family come over to visit. It was great to see Chuck, Angie and their families. We had such a great time.

We've been watching the wildlife move back to their summer homes. On Friday a bull elk and his harem were walking up the road on the ridge behind our house. It was so funny to watch them marching single-file up the road. I guess that's easier than pushing through the brush. One night last week Jerry called me upstairs to see a Huge owl at the top of our deck eaves. He shined a light on him - he just sat there and looked at us with his big, round eyes. Then he went silently into the night and was gone. We woke up one Saturday to a tapping sound on the side of the house....a woodpecker was digging the bugs out of the space between our storm drain and the house. He was a busy, noisy bird. We had to clear a cute little song bird and his nest out of our deck heater. We watched about eight hawks flying around on Saturday. And we have too many deer on the hillside to count. I even saw a fox on my way home from work the other night. The WildLife is exciting around our house!

FEBRUARY

We're living in a Winter Wonderland. It's one of those snow storms that just hangs around and makes you want to make cinnamon rolls and chili and read a great book by the fire.....if only I could!

You'd think....

You'd think with all the time I had off over Christmas I'd have filled my blog with every detail. I especially love to post pics of the fam....not so. I spent the holidays doing all the things I love and lovin' every minute of it - except the bad cold I had.

We love having Santa come to our house for the adult kids. We can't help it, we love their faces when they open something great. I mean the grandkids are fun, but they just hurry through it all so they can play with their great new toy. The kids savor the moment, they open their stocking with relish and we can see the childish delight in their faces.

We did a couple of things this year that I plan to keep as tradition. I thought by now I'd have it all figured out, but we keep evolving and it's great. Here's what I learned.

1. SIMPLIFY
2. I don't have to make all the candy and cookies mom did...I had the girls up one Saturday, they picked a couple of sweets they wanted to learn to make - or wanted around. I added Scotch cookies - a family tradition since pioneer days.
3. We don't have to go out on Christmas Day. We have our big Celebration on Christmas Eve - dinner, program, presents. LOVE IT! Because of the snow, we didn't leave the house on Christmas Day. On the Sunday after we had a progressive dinner at the kids houses. LOVED IT! It gave them Christmas to spend with in-laws and letting the kids play. And we still got to see what everyone got.
4. Ask about Christmas memories, you'll talk and laugh for hours.
5. Parties between the holidays are just as fun.
6. Some traditions are meant to be thrown out...what a relief!
7. I don't have to put up five Christmas trees. Nor do I have to decorate the bathrooms, laundry, sewing, quilt, bonus rooms.....
8. The kids love picking through the old ornaments I'm not using. I love seeing them at the kids houses.

That's it. I wrote this mostly for myself - sorry people, but I want to remember what I learned so I can do it again next year!

I love family parties. I love to party. Period. But I really love having my family around. We hosted the Monson Social this year. Loved it! It helps that I have great in-laws that I like and consider friends as well as relatives. And that I have great kids who pitch in and help. I know I'm a super-freak when it comes to Christmas and snow and all that warm, fuzzy stuff. I'm thankful they tolerate me....

Welcome!

I'm so glad you're visiting. I'm participating in BooMama's Christmas tour. The homes I've visited are delightful! I hope you enjoy mine.


We have a Winter Wonderland outside, I wish you could see it! I collect Nativities, this is my first ever! It's now over 30 years old.
We have a Christmas tradition of sharing books. Each year I buy a book for each of my children's families and try to find a small memento that will go along with it. It's usually a Christmas book, but it doesn't have to be. This year our book is an illustrated collection of Christmas stories, I have a small nativity for each family to go with it.

Merry Christmas To You!