Getting the House ready for Christmas!!

Here are some random pictures of the house all decked out for the holidays. As you enter the front door, this is what you see. We bought this tree/basket years ago in California and it has been a big part of decorating ever since. (It is Dennis' favorite!)

Of course it wouldn't be Christmas without Mickey ... and then, of course, we still have our Disney tree (which isn't pictured in this post .. maybe next time!!)

Santa has a prominent spot in the family room - displayed as he has for 38 Christmases now!! He even got some 'touch-up' painting this year as his coat was fading a bit and turning orange ... it was fun to give him a new look. (Another Grandma Babe memory!)

This nativity was made years ago, but now has a wonderful place under the TV that is mounted above it on the wall. It is fun to bring the nativity and Santa into the same room ... all apart of the special day.

Our tree - in the living room. It is covered with ornaments, as usual, but that seems to add to its uniqueness and beauty. I continue to receive compliments on it ... which is fun. It is not your typical 'formal looking' tree, but we love it!!

I decided to put snowmen on the sidebar this year ... Talmage was over the other night and wanted to know where the village was!!! He is very observant!! I promised him I would put it up again next year, and said I would come and see his which he helped his mom arrange.

This is the table centerpiece I created this afternoon. I saw one at a friends and borrowed hers for ideas ... with the help of my box of 'odds and ends ~ picks and things, got it done. The sleigh had been with Dennis' tree, but didn't show up very well, so this is better use of it, and I needed something for the table! It is fun to create from what I have on hand.

Thanksgiving Dinner ~ November 27, 2008

The Family Room all set ready for the meal.

One of our place settings. Janna made cute pilgrim hats (totally edible) for each of us to enjoy.

Table #1: Dennis, Amy, Seth, Dave, Wendy, Debra, Diane and Ruthie (taking the picture). Proof we ate "family style" ~ the family in California asked how we ate ... it is always nicer, but a little more work.

Table #2: Matthew, Sandie, Michelle, David, Jason, (Claire and Janna ... missing at the moment!!)

More turkey day pictures ...

It looks like we have murged the holidays ... but there was a reason. Thanksgiving is very late this year and we have a Relief Society Enrichment meeting/social here in 4 days ... so no time to wait ... luckily no one seemed to mind!!

The kids table ... eating in the kitchen is always fun (they got to eat on paper plates!!) ... but they were closer to the food!

Claire and Janna were not seated at the table when it was time to start eating ... so I caught them heading down the hall. Claire didn't have a nap ... but was able to return in just a couple of minutes (and she made it through the rest of the day!!)

A funny picture, but I wanted to show that in the midst of all the preparations, it really was clean. The potatoes are cooking, and the turkey is in the oven, and the stuffing is waiting to go in!! It was a fun day.

What has Ruthie been doing?

FAMILY HISTORY!!!
I LOVE the new family search program ... and wish we could of had it a few years ago as many of our family names would not of been duplicated!! (Oh well, we needed to serve in the temple, right?) Mom sent me all the names/cards she and Donna had and I have been working on combining duplicates and getting them ready for sealings. (And trying to determine where some of the holes are) There is still so much to do ~ but I have a great love for this work and know it is very important. Many of these people now mean so much to me ... I know them, and that is such a special experience.
I know this is the Lord's work ... because technology is making it TONS easier!

Gas Prices!!

I decided I need to blog this ... for the record. This was gas this morning at Sam's in Provo ~ $1.76/ gal.

We bought my Santa Fe in April of 2004 - when gas prices in California were $2.16/gal.
We moved to Utah in June (2 months later) and prices were $2.40 in California and they were $1.84 if Utah. We were pleased!!
(Utah usually has lower gas prices than a lot of the nation ... but during this past year that was not the case. We are glad they finally got with it and came down like everyone else.)

Here are some statistics I want to record for the future:
Utah gasoline prices:
June 2004 - $1.82
Jan. 2008 - $2.92
Apr. 2008 - $3.35
June 2008 - $3.95
(We pd $4.24 in Salina ~on our quad trip ~ and $4.50 at Panguitch Lake for gas for the quads)
July 2008 - $4.19
Oct. 2008 - $2.83
Nov. 2008 - $1.76
WOW ~ what a difference!!! (What a blessing to have the prices down lower than what they were 4 1/2 years ago!!)

Will it last??? We hope so ... but for now, we will actually ENJOY getting gas!!

A bit of Fall ... it continues ...

This is probably 'phase 2 or 3' of about a 15 phase project ... removing and disposing of the leaves in our back yard. They don't come down all at once ... it takes place over several weeks/months!! Our neighbor behind us has HUGE trees, and they drop their leaves first in the season ... so our first rakings are mostly Julies!! (She gets ours in the end, so it is all good.)

This was actually one of the smaller piles we had to deal with. Dennis took care of most of them this year ... which meant he mowed/raked and hauled them away on numerous ocassions!!

Proof that there were still many more to come. I've decided I need to blog the seasons of Utah ... as seen through my backyard. I need to venture out there in the middle of the winter and get an all white picture to add to my collection.

This is proof that we do clean them up in between droppings. (A clean lawn only lasts a few minutes) Leaves fall like rain - and it is actually very pretty (but not FUN if they are in your yard!!) Luckily many of our front yard leaves blow away ... the back yard it totally contained ... good and bad!!

Thinking of Grandma Babe ...

This is my latest Christmas decoration ... and I made it in honor of Grandma Babe. (It is made out of mostly things I already had, which was just what she would of done, ... AND the top layer is poinsettia garland, something she loved to use at Christmas) I saw something like this last year and have been thinking about it ever since. The garland is what I used to use on our stair case in Wildomar ... and is not needed here. The larger circles are two different sizes of hula-hoops that I got on clearance at the end of the summer.

Meet our new FROSTY!

We had such nice weather for the past 2-3 weeks, everyone was out getting their decorations up early (believe me, it isn't much fun to do in a freezing snow storm ~ which we have been known to do!!) Yeah for good weather and getting things done.