Christmas

Christmas is a million times better when you get to watch your little kid open her gifts.  Seriously.  She was so adorable.  She would start pulling off the paper and then start saying “OOOOO,  OOOOO, OOOO”  and start pulling faster.  She then would immediately kiss and hug whatever it was the was in the present.  After kissing the present she would give the closest person a hug and a kiss.  I kept wanting to give her more and more presents because she was so stinking cute.

Christmas Morning VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

On Christmas Eve Will’s family had a little party and a gift exchange.  I was lucky enough to get my own gift which was a Snuggy.  Seriously, love this thing.  Don’t know why I have not purchased one earlier.  I am wearing it now.  Anyways, Addi had a great time opening present and playing.  Jennifer put some bows on her while we were talking and she acted to odd.  She would not move for at least five minutes.  I don’t know if she thought we would yell at her if they fell off or what.

I have the most excellent parents who got me a Bosch mixer as my gift.  I was so excited I started doing the happy dance when I realized what it was.  I have already made some bread (which was decent) and am excited to use it more.  I am like a real live house wife now.  Addi got spoiled beyond belief.  I think she got enough clothes to wear a different outfit for a month.  She got her new favorite book and some blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Randall which she loves.  Auntie Rob got her some cool staking bowls.  As much as I love giving Addi presents it is also very stressful.  She is quite particular about the toys she plays with and I hate when I buy something and she ignores it completey. Our garage is fillied with baby toys and such that she used once.  Anyways I think after all my researching and planning we did good.  She got a stroller that she drags and carrys around the house all day and a little scooter.  She is a little too short for the scooter thing but stills gets on and walks around with it.  Will and I discovered today that if you combine the blocks and stacking bowls you can make some pretty fun games.  I got Will a board game that he played with his friends and really liked.  I am excited to get some people over here and play the game.  We had a good Christmas and it was nice to stay home and not have to worry about traveling.  We had our first family Christmas morning with just us and it was nice. 

Thanksgiving

For some reason I have been putting this post off for a month now.  I don’t know why.  I have a hard time writing about my family without getting sappy and emotional.  I just want my kids (who will hopefully read this) to know what an amazing family have backing them up.  A family that is full of love, service, hard work, fun, crazy ideas, charity, resourcefulness and just plain amazing people. 
For this Thanksgiving we had almost all of my grandparents kids, grand kids and great grandkids.  We spent three days together doing all sorts of things including eating, cooking, quilting, playing games, cleaning and just playing.  Addison discovered this little car and spent almost an entire day in it.  She  had lots of cousins that liked to push her all around the gym.

This is a picture of the family Thanksgiving feast!

Addi was good entertainment during the entire week.


We quilted two quilts for some family’s that needed them.

We played a hilarious game of Family Feud that my cousin Jason put together.  The questions were all based around the family and some answers were really funny.  It was such a great game I would love to do it again.
We had a little celebration for my grandparents because they had recently had their 60th wedding anniversary and my grandpa turned 90.  We watched old videos and it was fun to see them when they were so young.  My cousin Janelle has an amazing bakery in South Jordan called One Sweet Slice. She made a cake for their anniversary and it was perfect.  She said she thought about making a standard fancy cake but that wouldn't really work for my grandparents.  They are not fancy people.  Instead she came up with this spectacular cake which fits them perfectly.  The truck is the first one that they owned when they were married.  The bed of the truck holds missionary tags, the initials of all their kids, hay bales, tiny heads of lettuce, and an little American symbol. Every detail was perfect.  She also made 200 delicious cup cakes for us all to enjoy.

It was an excellent Thanksgiving weekend.  I am thankful to all the people who worked so hard to put this all together.  It was nice to spend time with my cousins that I don’t see often.  I can’t wait to get together again.  The following is an article written in the San Juan Record:
The family of Ruel and Deanne Randall gathered together Thanksgiving weekend for a few days of feasting, renewing acquaintances and celebrating the life of their parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
Ruel and Deanne were the honored couple celebrating 60 years of married life together, and celebrating Ruel’s 90th birthday. Of their 145 posterity 123 were present. Five of these unable to attend are serving LDS missions at this time.
Family came from New York, Georgia, Texas, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and local.
Ruel and Deanne were married October 15, 1951 and were blessed with eight children: Harriet, Julie, Jared, Todd, Barbara, Sanford, Sheldon and Kristin, 43 Grandchildren of which only 22 are married, and 61 great grandchildren, with five more on the way.
The reunion started Thanksgiving evening with dinner of eight turkeys with the trimmings. Followed with a Randall Family Feud show with survey questions coming from family members relating to time and activities and rules from Grandma and Grandpa Randall. Old family reunion videos were watched with some good laughs from the past.
Friday was spent on service projects, cutting wood, making quilts, along with cooking demonstrations on making bread, noodles, yogurt and the goods were taken to needy families.
Friday evening was a time for memories of Ruel and Deanne their legacy and the importance of family ties.
Saturday included a temple session (almost standing room only), more eating and then cleaning of the stake center. They are grateful for being able to use that wonderful facility.
The cake was made by Janelle Randall Brown portraying the pickup truck Ruel & Deanne had when they were first married. The back is filled with reminders of their life together, children, farming, gardens and missions.
Sometime we just have to stop and really focus on what really matters most. Family gatherings seem to do just that.  

Words can not express how much I love these two people.  They are a great example to me and my family.  I hope they know how many people they have influenced in their life.

Game Night

We drove up to Diamond Valley to have game night with Sheldon’s and Kristin’s families. Addi had a great time playing with Ella and Jael while we played Balderdash.  I made an amazing comeback and won the game (and did not cheat).  Will had the best answer of the night which had Sheldon laughing so hard that he had to have Keri read the card.
Ricou Browning was known for being killed by a turnip that was thrown out of a moving car by a vegetable throwing gang.
Great night for the adults and the kids!

The Reason for the Season

We usually go to Tuacahn to watch the live nativity but this year we decided to try something new and venture out to Staheli Farms.  I was glad we did. The nativity is free, they only ask that you bring a can of food to donate as your admission.  I love that they do this for free all month and donate so much food.
They had a small set made of hay and benches and picnic tables set up in front.  It was more personal and intimate in a way.  When we walked outside of our house it was not too chilly but once we got the farms it was freezing and windy.  We bundled up best we could and snuggled together to keep warm.  Will was unprepared and did not bring anything for his head.  He ended up stealing Addi’s snuggle blanket and wrapping it around his head.  He looked rather interesting.  One of our primary kids walked by and Will tapped him on his shoulder to say hello, he must not have recognized Will with his head piece because he cried out for his Mom and ran away!

The program started with a lady singing a beautiful song about Mary.  She had a great voice and it really set the mood.  I love watching a live nativty because it brings me away from all the presents and crafts and craziness to the simple reason we celebrate Christmas.  The  manger seen is so peaceful and perfect.  Most of the actors were kids and they were cute. 
  We did have a slight distraction during the nativity.  Dear Addison could see the llama that was near the manger and she loudly said ‘moooooo’ at least every minute.  It was funny and I could not help my laughing.
After the nativity we drove around to look at the Christmas lights.  Addi would start yelling and pointing whenever we saw a house that was really lit up.  We had a great night and will defiantly go back next year!

December Projects

I love Christmas and especially the projects that come with it!  My friend Wendy and I decided to make wooden trees for the December craft night.  We had quite a few girls come and had a great time.  Everyone's tree turned out so cute. This craft night business is a lot of work but it always ends up being great and is the perfect chance to socialize with other women with out kids!  These trees are 2x4’s cut at different sizes and stacked on their side with paper modge podged on. This is mine and one for my Mom.

This is not really a Christmas craft but whatever.  I discovered this old window pane at my aunt’s house and asked if I could steal it.  I get some hemp twine stuff, glue guned it on and a picture holder is made.  I spray painted the little clothes pins so they would stand out a bit.  I hate that it has to hang on a white wall but sadly renting equals no painting.

And isn’t sad that I had to search my house to find these three pictures (one is our own Christmas card from last year).  One bad thing about digital cameras is that you never have pictures lying around (at least I don’t).

Pintrest inspired me to make a felt tree for Addison.  The picture of the tree had a little girl just playing and playing with the tree.  I thought “this could really entertain Addi, probably need it”.  I dashed to Joanns, purchased lots of felt, put Addi down for a nap and started cutting and glue gunning. After many burns I finally finished.  I need to find a better way to hang it on the wall because my packing tape just is not quite holding up.  Anyways I was so excited for Addison to try it out.  I placed her in front of the tree and she walked away.  I was not about to give up.  I should her how to take the ornaments off and put them back on.  She still does not play with it as much as I would wish. Maybe she is a bit too young. 

Every time I walked by all the ornaments are on the floor so I pick them up and put them back on the tree.  I figured they just kept falling off, not true. One time as I was putting them all on Addison came by and started ripping them off and saying no each time I tried to put them on.  Apparently she likes naked trees.

This has nothing to do with Christmas but Addison finally says Mom and means it!  She usually only says it when she needs help or wants to be held but I will take what I can get.

Deodorant: The Gateway Drug

As I was getting ready this morning I had my little shadow following me around as usual.  I stood in front of the mirror, lifted my shirt a tad and put on some deodorant, set it on the counter and then started doing my hair.  I look down at some point to see that Addison had stolen the deodorant off the counter, lifted up her shirt and was rubbing it on her belly.  At first I laughed, then it hit me that she is learning and growing way too fast, and then I might have cried a bit.  I am a tad bit emotional lately (think it is time to switch birth control, I bawled while reading the Polar Express to Add tonight).  Anyways, if she is putting her own deodorant on at the small age of 1 what will she be doing at 3?  She will probably just live on her own in the garage and only need me to unwrap the occasional sucker (latest obsession). Also deodorant makes you smell good and boys like girls who smell good, which terrifies me.  The moral of this story is that my sweet innocent little girl can now put on deodorant, which I consider a gateway drug to all grown up and I-don’t-need-my-mommy behaviors.  Lock it up and throw away the key.