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.

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.

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.

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.

We got some nice, early snow and had our annual breakfast with Santa.

That night we also went to the annual holiday lights parade downtown. We froze and got snowed on. No pics.

The younger kids built their first snowman of the season.

I made a wood block nativity, based on one I found online. I love how they turned out.

OK, maybe I made an army of them. lol

And this morning, I finished my entry for the Prudent Baby stocking contest – to win a serger! The main requirement was that it had to somehow use knit fabric. So, I used an old t-shirt of Justin’s and an old red t-shirt of Ada’s. I *love* how it turned out.

I hand sewed on the 33 flowers. Keeping my fingers crossed!

As mentioned, in November, Ada turned 7 years old! She’s such a happy girl, and not hard to please. She even requested to help make her birthday cake – a chocolate heart topped with peppermint patties.

I had fun making clothes for her doll, including matching pajamas for both of them, that she loves.

Ada also spent most of November working on a research project at school. She learned about rabbits, made a poster about them and even learned how to make a powerpoint presentation. On her birthday, the group of kids that did this project gave their presentations to the class and parents. She did a great job!

I love my Ada Jane and am so proud of her!

I will admit that most of the work in the boys’ room was done by Justin. I assisted occasionally and helped paint – and cleaned up at the end. Most of my time has been on other projects…
baby blanket and hat for Micah and Sarah’s new baby

a hat and darling shoes for a friend’s new baby

a few cute men to finish my sister’s set (Andrea, don’t click on the link)
another book pillow for Kezia’s friend

a notepad holder for Ada’s friend

a cute little bag for another of Ada’s friends

another setting of monogrammed roasting sticks and carrying bag – that I forgot to take a picture of before giving them away…
and a cute yarn wreath that I made up for Christmas. I had to do this early as it is the craft I will be teaching at our Relief Society Super Saturday activity in a few weeks.

I’ve got another biggish crochet project I’m working on, and a craft fair coming up next week that I need to make some things for. Not sure when I’ll get anything done with Halloween coming up, chaperoning another field trip, a choir concert, helping at the school book fair, putting on a Ward Trunk or Treat activity – just this week! I need a nap.