The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Merry Christmas to you and yours!!

Santa visited our home sometime on Christmas Eve or in the wee hours of Christmas morning. He must have been super tired because he had a few slip-ups.

I was surprised to see that he had taken a few pictures of the tree with my digital camera. As I was downloading the photos, Ava noticed that not all of the presents were in the photo! It only means that Santa took a break halfway through our gift-giving to snap some photos for me!

I also have my suspicions that Santa borrowed some of my wrapping paper because some gifts from him were in the same paper as I used to wrap one of the girls' gifts.

We forgive you Santa, you are the best!

Here is what we woke up to.

The girls with the loot!

Layla, who was happy to eat paper all morning.

Oh yeah, did you notice how blurry that first photo was? Well, no more. Santa brought me this...





Community college night class, here I come!!!!

Sittin' in a tree

My brother, Henry, and Tori Harris were sealed in the Mesa Temple on Saturday, December 2o. It was a great day. Clare and her family, Marshall, and my parents gathered for the occasion. We were very grateful that Henry selected a bride from the valley as it made travel very convenient for us!




The BYU professor that Henry works for set him up with Tori, his sister-in-law. Apparently, sparks flew! Henry now works for his brother-in-law!


My girls were little flower girls. It was so cold that the girls had to wait in the foyer of the temple, because the visitor's center had not opened yet.


They love Aunt Tori!

Hoofin' it to Christmas

In July, the girls and I ran a 1-mile fun run in Provo. It was so fun and we talked about doing it again during the Gilbert Days Festival or the Mesa Turkey trot. However, I was little turned off at having to fork over $60 to do this and end up with a crappy t-shirt.

Armed with my email list, I invited all the kids I could think of to participate in the 1st Annual Reindeer Run. Mark scouted a location where we would not cross any streets, driveways, parkways, etc. Ava and I made chest numbers for each participant and bought candy canes for the finishers. We had more than 30 kids, plus their parents hoof it with us.




Mark had to run to the turn-around point to make sure the kids turned around and left Mia running alone. She panicked and started to cry at the sight of her dad leaving her in a trail of dust. A girl in our ward, Ivy, took her by the hand and ran the rest of the way with her. They would stop to walk then start to jog again. Mia was so grateful and drew a picture of the two of them running that we delivered the next day.

Hey, if Tonya Harding can do it...

The girls and I went ice skating at Polar Ice on Saturday.

It was actually more fun and LESS WORK than I thought it would be. Mia could support her own weight after about 45 minutes and, by the time we left, I only had to hold one of her hands to guide her around the rink.

Ava's practice on the roller blades really paid off and I think she only slightly bruised her tailbone!

We're goin' again over Christmas break, come with us!

And one to grow on...

I started this post right before Mark's birthday on November 30. Then it got lost on my "to-do" list. I never finished it, but wanted to post it anyway. Maybe I will have all thirty-something things up by his next birthday!

In honor of Mark's thirty-somethingeth birthday, here are thirty or so things you should know about him!

1. He is the youngest of 10 children.
2. He eats cereal every night at 9pm, you can set your watch to it!
3. He was actually named "Dan" at birth, but changed to Mark very soon after. However, he did not discover this until 5 years ago.
4. He graduated from Lahainaluna High School.
5. He played tennis for BYU-Hawaii.
6. He spent a day at the San Diego Zoo with an alleged kidnapper and his young victim.
7. His all-time favorite movie is "Papillon."
8. He loves Guns 'N Roses
9. He makes the best scrambled eggs.
10. He had his own outboard motor boat at age 12.

11. He is super organized.

12. He is an obsessive list-maker.

13. He loves to read biographies.
14.