Spruced up, spruce down

It's the day after Christmas, and as a "forced" holiday tradition...everything holiday get's put away and returned to the basement.  With the house feeling emptier now that the Spruce tree is boxed away, and the quick clean up (Sprucing up) that follows...I keep thinking how this year was a very memorable one for us.

With the recent move, new friends, old friends, and all the blessings we could handle, we end on a note of gratitude.  We had a wonderful and quiet Christmas Eve dinner. Of course the tradition continued with the fondue pots sputtering and the Elders (Missionaries for our Church) over for the meal. It was so delicious & I'll be posting the recipes soon. One of our Elders is originally from Taiwan and it was so cute teaching him how to eat from Sperry's "cheese and meat appetizers". Yes, the meat and a slice of cheese can go on the cracker to be eaten together. So cute! After several years of having a broken camcorder (sorry Sperry, we've missed some of your childhood), we decided to splurge and found a great deal on a new one.  Unfortunately, Christmas is a time with big stakes in learning about a new camcorder. We successfully spent most of our "movie time" looking at the computer mouse and listening to Jacob and Carter talk about a computer game. We thought it was "off", so I think we missed some of the important things that we were hoping to catch when we thought it was "on".  Our kids had eaten, downed the Santa Shakes that we make every year, and after a wonderful discussion about the signs of Jesus Christs' birth from the Bible and the Book of Mormon, they went to bed.

The next morning, we found several strands of Christmas lights had been strung leading us down the stairs and from room to room in the basement. At the top of the lights was a sign, "Follow the Light of Christ for the best presents" to help us remember what this holiday was all about.  Going from room to room, it was fun as we were lead by the lights to the next gift, opened, and moved on to the next. Ken became Barbie's new Home Teacher, a ripstick (skateboard), new wii game, and each of the kids received snow boots (a necessity out here we've found). We are grateful for miracles, memories and family. This year has flexed our faith muscles, but the Lord has supported us in unexpected ways. We are grateful for a new job Scott loves! New schools and friends that are being enjoyed by the kids, and a new warm and friendly ward.  Thank you for all the love and support you have given us. We are grateful to see what 2012 brings.