Merry Christmas

From our family to yours.

My favorite Christmas drink

One of the many Christmas memories I have from my childhood is the hot drink that my Mom used to make for us.  There was nothing better than being outside playing in the snow then coming in and finding a hot mug of Mom's special drink for me.  To this day I still look forward to making it and wrapping up in a warm blanket with my mug of hot punch.  I thought I would share in case anyone wanted to try it:

Hot Punch

1 lg. can Pineapple Juice (46oz)
1- 12oz can frozen Orange Juice concentrate
1 cup lemon juice
4 to 5 cups water
1/4 tsp. cloves
several cinnamon sticks

Mix together & simmer for 45 minutes.  Or you can simmer in crock pot on low.  Great for parties.

Our Simplified Christmas

Because of some decisions that we made earlier this summer we have had to really simplify Christmas this year.  This would be the extent of our Christmas decorations around the house - these trees stay up all year but they just got a little dressed up for the holiday.

Needless to say it definitely does not look or feel like Christmas around here.  We don't even have stockings to hang this year.  Instead we will be using gift bags decorated with our initials.  I do miss having the Nativity set up this year since that always seems to help remind us of the true meaning of the season.

Hopefully the decisions made this year will make it easier for us next year.  Some know of those decisions and some do not.  Those decisions caused us to put alot of stuff in a storage container this past summer- 540 miles away.  That would be why we have simplified this year - no possible way to get to my stuff right now.

May the joy of the holiday season be with those you love now and throughout the next year.

Merry Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  I hope everyone has a wonderful day and has a chance to reflect on all the good in their lives.

Ten things that I am grateful for:

1.   My family
2.   A house to live in.
3.   Food on the table
4.   Transportation
5.   Hot Showers
6.   Friends
7.   Dishwashers
8.   The Gospel
9.   My church calling
10. My pets

What are some of  the things that you are grateful for?

Three Teenagers

It's official, as of today I have three teenagers in the house.  Thirteen years ago today, our family doubled in size.  Two of the cutest babies I had ever seen (ok so I'm a little partial), joined our family.  They have been such a joy and a challenge to have.  Never did I think that I would have twins one day but here I am and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  

I remember back to the day before they were born - it was a Tuesday.   I received a phone call from my doctor asking me when I would like to have these babies.  We had known for several months that it would be a scheduled delivery.  I asked him "when is a good day for you"?  He replied, Friday looks good".  Well, I was already one step ahead of him because I knew that Wednesday was also one of his surgery days so I replied back and said "tomorrow would even be better".  He said "let me call the hospital and check with them and call you back".  Within five minutes I received a call back saying that "tomorrow" was good to go - be at the hospital by 1:00.  And as they say, the rest is history.  

I am so glad that these two are a part of our family.  I am so proud to call them mine.  I thank my Father in Heaven each and every day for each of my children.

 

I love you guys - Happy Birthday !!!

A little bit of organization

Ok - so my cabinets in my sewing room were starting to look a little pathetic.  Everything was just getting thrown in wherever and I couldn't really find anything when I wanted it so I figured it was past time to do something about it.

I headed down to Michael's to buy some photo boxes (since we don't live close to an IKEA - had to make do) and I think the cashier was thinking I was a little crazy buying about 15 of them (they were on sale) - but hey, they work great and I love them.  What do you think?  This is just one of the cabinets that I organized.

Before: (sad I know)

After:

Now everything has a much better and prettier home and hey I can even find things now.