NOTHINGS IMPOSSIBLE

Josselyn

While driving back from Arizona, Josselyn began yelling at the top of her lungs. "Mom, something is wrong with my voice, it isn't very loud!" She carried on saying this until her ears finally popped!

In August I would never say this, but in December, "Arizona is the perfect place to live!" The weather was perfect for playing outside at the park and long boarding. Even I was doing pretty good on the long board until I found myself on my backside when I was getting really brave! (Now I have a lovely bruise, but at least Brandt can't say his mom is a chicken!) What fun to be outside and not have to be cooped up or freezing all winter long! Maybe I will have to buy a winter house in phoenix!

Picking Oranges with Grandpa

This was the first time I had ever been around an orange tree that was ready to be picked. The tree smelled so yummy. I think it competes with my peach tree. My only concern is, "What do you do with all the oranges once they are picked if you don't eat them all?" My dad picked at least 6 apple boxes full. I know the ones we took home won't last long enough for me to discover the answer to that question! They are one of Odette's favorite things to eat right now!

Lights at Mesa Temple

Much warmer than on Temple Square. I loved the lights on the orange trees!

Christmas Morning

Ya, I know it sure looks like a lot, but remember there are gifts under that tree for 10 people. It totally reminded me of Christmas growing up, except my kids slept until 7:30. I don't think my brother and I ever slept much past 3! It was a wonderful fun day with lots of playing. It was also nice because we could go outside and ride the new bikes the girls got without even a jacket on!

Kids in a Candy Store

I knew their was lots of kinds of candy out there, after all, I live off of most of it! However I didn't realize their was THIS much candy! I think the little girls were in heaven! They even had eatable lip gloss. For those of you who think this is cool, so did I until Odette decided to start eating every lip gloss she found!

Also for the record, "Razzles, the candy that is also a gum" is not so yummy.

A REAL Tree!

The first thing we did on our Arizona vacation was to go and pick out a REAL tree! I love having the tradition of having a real tree. They smell so pretty and look so pretty and spending time with the family to look for the perfect tree is so much fun. Last year we couldn't do this, so I was excited to get the tree with my parents and two sisters since we would be spending Christmas with them. We all had fun walking through the forest of trees and each begging to have the one we liked to be picked. After the tree got a fresh cut, the kids grabbed a bunch of boughs so that they could play and make wreaths with them. (They did make some cute wreaths later in the week with their Aunt Selena, but I forgot to take pictures.) Then it was decorating time. I love how kids decorate the tree...all the ornaments at their height in all the same place! It was absolutely beautiful!

Where does the time go?

Time sure does seem to go quickly!

I know that when I was younger my mom was always telling me to enjoy being young, time will move quickly as you get older. Well, she was right!

This week before we left for Arizona, I woke up Sunday morning and didn't go to bed until Saturday night! (Not really, but that is what it seemed like with everything that we had going this week!)

So where did all the time go...

Five dentist appointments. (Six if you count the time I had to go back and get a cavity fixed.) The dentist asked Josselyn where she got such pretty teeth and she responded, "From Heavenly Father, duh!" And miracles of all, Odette's teeth aren't rotting and actually look really good. I thought for sure with all the puking she would need false teeth until her permanent ones came in.
A trip to the GI doctor. Not good news like the dentist. Odette has lost weight. We are upping her "feel hungry" medicine to see if that helps and still trying to calorie pack everything. Also, we are going to be putting tubes in her ears to see if that helps because she has had a few ear infections that keep affecting her appetite. That is scheduled sometime when we get to meet our new year's deductible...lucky us.
A trip up to Primary Children's for Odette's monthly check-up. Her counts still look great. (Thanks for all of you who are still praying for her, we can feel your added strength.) She still steals everyone's hearts. This time she drove the "ambulance" and refused to get out and blew kisses to the doctor. There isn't anyone that can resist this little girl! She is just so lovable.
Three Christmas parties. (Thank heavens they were all on different nights!) All of them were great fun! The kids loved the juggler at one of the parties who said they were going to juggle a piece of "pooh". Sure enough, a toilet brush, plunger and piece of Winnie the pooh. :)
A trip out to Tooele for a family gathering where we all ate way to much food, got new Christmas socks and played lots.
A Christmas cookie exchange. I definitely need to learn how to make fancier cookies for the holiday, however I was glad for the six dozen we got in return for our candy cane cookies!
Christmas shopping.
Finishing of Christmas gifts.
Packing and cleaning to get ready for a trip down to Arizona to enjoy the nice weather.

My time was gone quickly, but in its place some fun memories. It was time well spent.

An Experience

Brandt and Kathleen got to spend the morning with the Saratoga Springs Police Department. They had breakfast, got to drive in the police cars with the sirens on, (Did you know there are like four different siren sounds?) and go shopping at Walmart to get Christmas gifts for their family members. They had a lot of fun with their assigned police officers. I am sure this is an experience they will remember for a long time!