Almost over
The first month of 2012 is almost over, and I haven’t shared a whole lot here on the blog. Not to say we haven’t been busy, so I’ll share a few highlights.
I’ve made a few other things (mostly for birthday gifts for the kids’ friends), but this is the gift I made for Kezia’s friend, Emily.
There was a swim meet in town yesterday, and both Kezia and Zephram swam. Kezia did the 100 back, 50 breast and 200 free. She improved her times for the first 2 events, but this was the first time she has swam a 200. That’s a long way for such a little girl. Zephram has never been a very good swimmer, but since the end of last soccer season he has been swimming with the younger swimmers on the girls’ swim team. He has improved A LOT, so after spending most of the day on a 5 mile hike with the Scouts, he showed up 15 minutes before the start of the meet to swim the 25 back and 50 free. He didn’t have a time for the back, but didn’t look like he was going to drown, like he did the last time I watched him “race”. However, he cut his 50 free time in half! Way to go dude!
Yes, Caemlyn is usually mentioned in swim meet posts, but she was off with Justin at the Albuquerque Temple. They were gone most of the day doing baptisms, and going out to eat. She was also the youth speaker (first time!) in Sacrament meeting today. Her talk was on 1 Nephi 3:7. She did a great job and I’m so proud of the young lady she is becoming.
And a little sneak peek of from the curve ball I mentioned in my last post.
Focus 52
I typically make resolutions at the beginning of a new year, but life has thrown us a little curve ball, so I’m a little behind. Though I still haven’t determined just what I’d like to accomplish this year, one of the things I’d like to do is improve my photography. I’ve taken classes and read books, I think the best thing I can do now is practice. Even though I’m a couple of weeks behind, I’ve decided to participate in a 52 week photography project – focus 52.
To facilitate this effort, I’ve started a separate blog just for this project here. Feel free to follow along and leave comments/criticism. Now that I’ve posted my first week’s assignment, and shared it, I’m committed. Eek.
Christmas 2011
I know we’re half way through January, but … better late than never, right?
We had a lovely Christmas.
We wanted to have our traditional chinese food dinner on Christmas Eve, but with the local establishment being closed, we had it on Friday night instead. This made it easier to spend Christmas Eve caroling at the local assisted living facility with several other families from our Ward. It was a very nice way to spend the evening. Before bed the kids got to open their jammies from their cousins.
We got up early on Christmas morning so some of us could be at church at 8:15 to practice with the choir. We even ate a nice, big breakfast together, and the kids were so patient and never complained about having to wait until after church to open presents.
The heat in our building wasn’t working that morning (always happens a few times during the winter), but we enjoyed the music and talks all the same. Funniest thing was when the Stake President stood to speak and, with a grin said, “I’ve been waiting for someone to say this, but I know that many of you are cold, but few are frozen.”
After church the kids had to wait a little longer while the turkey was prepped and put in the oven, then the kids finally got to open their gifts. They were pleased with everything they received, making all the waiting just a memory. I also received several wonderful gifts, most notable were a 50mm lens for my camera and a serger. (I’m still learning how to use it.) We didn’t get to relax for long though, as our feast had to be prepared as the missionaries serving here were coming over for dinner. We enjoyed their company, and they laughed a lot over their beard hats. I hope their phone calls with their families after they left were good.
Attending church and spending the evening with a couple of young men far from home, were wonderful ways to remember our Savior and take note of how truly blessed we are.
Fun Times
We had a lot of fun in December, especially with all of the snow we got. After our second big storm, I took the kids to the park for some sledding.
Caemlyn hosted a party for some of her friends. They built gingerbread houses, had hot chocolate and played out in the falling snow. The boys were all off somewhere, but here she is with some of her friends and the messy table after building their houses. Some kids didn’t make it due to the storm, but they had a good time.
My parents also came to visit at the end of December. We must have been too busy having fun for me to remember to take any pictures. The only ones I have are of them in their new shirts (see below). We went sledding, to the movies, bowling, dog walking and football watching. I’m so glad they were able to come and spend some time with us. We are all looking forward to seeing them again this summer.
Uncategorized | Comments OffHandmade gifts
I like to think of myself as a good gift giver, choosing gifts that the recipient will truly like and use. Even if I don’t get it right, I try and do my best and often give handmade gifts. This Christmas was no exception, and I made quite a few gifts. Here’s a photo dump of most of them…
Advent Bunting, filled with daily scriptures and activities. I loved how this turned out, and so did the kids.
Awesome bag filled with yarn and a crochet hook case with hooks and stitch markers. This was a giving tree gift for a mother in our Stake.
Another giving tree gift (scripture case) for a girl in our Ward. I also made one out of different fabrics for Ada, though I don’t seem to have a picture of hers.
Crocheted beard hat for my nephew. I stole this pic off his dad’s facebook account. And I don’t have pictures of them, but I also made some for the missionaries serving in our Ward since they came to our house for dinner on Christmas day.
Pillows I made for my sister-in-law Valerie. She emailed me an etsy link for similar ones years ago, and I decided it was time to make her some.
Ada got to go to a friends birthday party, so I made another reading pillow.
The week leading up to Christmas I finally got around to making the girls some new dresses (well, a skirt for Caemlyn) with some awesome flannel I had. No patterns used, and I love how they turned out.
My parents came for a visit after Christmas, so we had to have a gift for them. I will admit, that I had very little hand in making these though. I saw the idea on pinterest, so we copied it. The kids drew maps and included the places my parents go most, at least in my kids’ eyes. All I did was provide a little guidance and do the writing. I think the kids did a fabulous job.
