Christmas morning

It's finally Christmas day! Everyone had sugar plums dancing in their heads last night. We heard reports of people who were too excited to sleep (haha).

For breakfast, Sarah made German pancakes and Aaron made hot chocolate. I love having grown up kids who want to cook:

I made lots of fleece blankets this year and my family seemed to like them (thank goodness):

Aaron wanted a Kindle. He can load thousands of books and periodicals onto it. He won't have to worry about carrying or moving books from one apartment to another:

Sarah gets to pick out a Cockatielle (bird) this week. The cage is huge and quite pretty:

I got my wish too! This is the first bike of my own since I was a teenager! It's a pink and white ladies Schwinn. I think it's called a LuLu. It has 7 speeds and is very retro.

I also have a raspberry-pink and black helmet. I must say it's bad for the hair:

I have to show this adorable pony that mom and dad gave to me. My grandkids are going to love it. When you press on one ear it neighs, and when you press on the other ear it makes galloping sounds.

It holds 250 pounds! We all sat on it and it's as sturdy as concrete.

Even though it's been another tough year we have managed to have a most amazing Christmas.

Joe got clothes and a Jack La Lane Power Juicer. We also now have a 'soda stream' to make our own soft drinks and a very nice Cuisinart. It's a kitchen aid brand, so over the years attachments can be added if we want.

The best thing is that my daughter and her family will be coming to visit us very soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! It may not be about the gifts, but it sure is fun.

Family Christmas Party 2010

It really isn't Christmas until the family gets together at Mom and Dads house in Salt Lake City.

For several years now we've enjoyed the tradition of dining on large trays of Chinese take out. It's great.

This year Mom and Dad took the time to share with us some personal and family history stories.

We have ancestors to be proud of and I never get tired of learning about them.

Our family is so large and crazy. We may have 20 people at a party and that's still only about half of us.

Following are some pics;

Aaron:

Dad:

Mom:

Sarah with her grandma:

Bradly and son, Tyler:

Debera:

Me (Lesa):

Brian:

Dallin and his folks: Shawn and Lilly:

Three of Shawn and Lillys kids (they have 4):

Stacy (Her baby boy is due in January):

Sarah and Aaron:

Lots of little Cousins:

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of our missing family members.

Luncheon

Today I went to a luncheon for certain workers; office, engineering, laundry.

I've worked on two different shifts, so I know a few people.

This picture has most of our Friday shift. We work 2:00-6:00. One lady is missing.

From left to right: me, Marlene (she helps us part time-about an hour each week), Heather (center) is in training right now. She's a young return missionary. Delanne (In purple) is our supervisor and was my missionary companion about 35 years ago. Cathlene is in the red vest.

Gathering:

Heather and Marlene:

This shows two of the ladies from when I did the Thursday shift.

Left to right: Delanne, Kathy, Maureen, me:

Nice ladies:

Basically the program was; eat food, listen to a light hearted Christmas story (read by the Recorder), sing a few carols,then listen to nice talks from the Temple President and the 1st Councilor. It was a very nice get together.

A sledding hill

Joe and I went out looking for a sledding hill for our grand kids. We found one, but then we learned a couple of things.

First, the only way to approach the hill would be on snow shoes. We were sinking to our knees in places. A small child might sink chest deep.

The hill looked good, but isn't a good place to bring kids to sled right now. The snow probably isn't always this deep here, so it might be good at other times.

I was first to reach the hill and I made a short run.
You can see my sled tracks in the snow:

After the sled run we put on our snowshoes and went walking.

Following are just some sights from our walk:

It's amazing the places we can get to on our snow shoes:

These beautiful trees got us thinking that one of these years it might be nice to cut down our own Christmas tree.






It's always great to get outside and play (at any age):

THE END

Winter Playground

At about 2:30 this afternoon we escaped for a little play time with our snow shoes. We parked at Spruces campground in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Getting ready:

Into the trees:

No picnics today:

A little stream:

Me:

We discovered a great place for sledding. It's just hidden enough that it's probably not well known. If we bring kids and grand-kids here, we would very likely have it to ourselves. Small children might prefer to start from part way up:

This open air shelter was well hidden in the trees and full of picnic tables. It also has a huge rock fireplace. It can be rented (or you can just climb through the giant open windows):

We like finding new places to play and to bring visitors.