December Highlights

Dec. 2nd Ward party

Dec. 3rd & 4th The Hive Boutique

Dec. 5th Baby Flint & Baby Oliver's baby blessings

Dec. 9th Leila Birds last home show for the year

Dec. 10th Adult family night @ McConkies

Dec. 13 Christmas dinner party with G&G McConkie

Dec. 16th Melissa's Ornament Soie

Dec. 17th John Shmit concert with Becky and Nate

Dec. 18th Eli's friend Birthday party and the McConkie Christmas party

Dec. 20th Eli' 6th Birthday, Cultivate Christmas meeting and Matt's work party

Dec. 21st Party @ our house with our neighbors

Dec. 22 Last day of school and the kids Christmas concert

Dec. 23 Drop off gifts to the hospital and Meet with high school friend @ the Mandarin

Dec. 24th (the kids and I)Stayed at home for wrapping gifts (Matt)Finished Christmas shopping. Matt made a awesome dinner, the Elves dropped off p.j's, kids to bed, Matt and I stayed up doing last minuet Christmas.

Dec. 25th Wonderful, relaxing, joyous day with family

Dec.27 Baird Christmas party

Dec.28th Baby shower for my friend Paige and after Christmas shop @ Target

It truly has been one wild and crazy month. Each year I can't belive how fast Christmas come's and go's. This year we decided that in loue if neighbor gifts we would host a party at our house, invited our closest neighbors to donate with us, toys to the children at the U of U burn unit. I chose the Children at the burn unit because when my Dad was burned he was in the hospital for about a month, I saw a lot of childnen there. Witnessing what a painful, long recovery burn victems have made me want to give to the kids.

I had everyone leave there donations at the front door, due to Walts love of toys and presants.

Three of my most favorite people in the world! Erica, Melissa and Macey. I am so gratful for all the support and love thease three amazing friends give to me. We sat around drinking hot chocolate and wasel, eating yummy treats, and visiting. It was a great night.

(I wish I would have been better at taking photos that night. I don't have any of the other neighbors.)

I am so grateful to have such wonderful neighbors. We had so many people donate toys. This is our basket at the end of the night. A lot of people who couldn't make it to the party dropped of toys earlier in the day.

It was a lot of fun hauling in all of the presents. Good thing Matt has super human strength. He carried the bulk of it. Each kid carried in there gift they had selected at the store. To be honest I was really worried about walking into the burn unit again. I think the excitement of my children helped to keep back the memories of seeing my Dad in so much pain. Once we got in to the burn unit, we visited with some of the nurses and doctors while we placed all the gifts under the tree. One of the nurses asked us if we would like to give one of the gifts to a little one year old girl. We selected the Elmo doll Hyrum had chosen from the store. Once we started to walk in the room, I saw all the equipment, I couldn't go in. I stopped walking and a doctor asked me why we chose the burn unit. I HATE when I cry. Once I start I turn into a balling wreck. It's like braking a dam. I sobbed out that my Dad was in a accident and had spent some time there. I told them how I remembered the kids. I told them my Dad is fine and had a very successful recovery. That was basically it. I just couldn't talk any more without crying. I don't know why I couldn't talk about it with out crying my eyes out. They were very nice. One of the nurses was there when my Dad was. Over all it was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to do it again next year.

Russ and Amy Porter, Kristi and Cole Sondrup, Matt and I, Laurie and Ben George

I always love when we get to see Matt's group of friend from high school. We usually get together around the holidays. Some live out of state for work. We met at the Mandarin this time. YUMMY!

We took this photo Christmas day at my Mom's house. It was so nice to have us all together. I miss Kali so much I choked back the tears when I saw her.

My mom made ginger bread houses with my kids this year. One of my favorite Christmas memories is making gram cracker ginger bread houses. Of course they had a blast.

Hyrum Christmas morning with his new super hero outfit. No more tying beach towels around his neck. Not that he ever minded.

Every Christmas eve the Christmas Elves leave p.j's on the door step. This is a tradition all we all look forward to. My photos are backwards. The bottom one is the p.j's all wrapped up and the top one is the kids sporting their new p.j's. Walt was really sleepy.

Jane with her snake (she named it Buddy) that Santa brought her.

Walter just wanted to open presents, he didn't really care what was in them. It was really sweet when he opened one from Hyrum he said, "cool, thanks Hyrum. I love it." That is probably the cutes sentence he has ever said!

Eli and Hyrum with their Santa gifts.

Whew, what a month!

Dear Santa

Jane wrote a letter to Santa this year that I felt needed documenting. It has made me not just giggle a little but full on belly laugh. I love everything about this letter, the way Jane expresses her self, it's wonderful. I am going type the letter how she wrote it. I found it interesting that she used punctuation to give feeling to her words.

Dear Santa,

I want a guinea pig for Christmas. I want a dog more than a guinea pig. But my Mom and Dad won't let me get one. Well I do have a dog but he is a hound. A hound is a hunting dog.

He is crazy! (and smelly)

but I don't really care if it's a dog. Just a pet! All I have other than Maverick (my dog) is a fish. And guess what. I took my dog for a walk a few days ago. And he got to strong and pulled me over on the road. I let go of his leash and he ran away!

I am Never walking him again! And once I came home from school crying. I wouldn't tell why but..... on the way home from school me and my friends saw the cutest little puppy ever! It was furry, it had floppy ears and a fluffy tail. My friend said I wish I had a dog. I'm the only one who doesn't have a dog. She said some other stuff but I'm not going to write them down. After begging and begging. They said I might get a small pet. Like a hamster or fairet. I like hamsters but my favorite is a guinea pig. I mean think of me. All alone all day with tree wild boys! I at least want one friend!! (other than my parents)

I get board when my friends aren't home! Oh, yes here are some things you need to know about them.

#1 Guinea pigs will be unhappy living alone so if you get me a guinea pig ( which you should!) make sure you get me more than one.

#2 A boy guinea pig and a girl will get along much better than a boy and a boy or a girl and a girl.

#3 Young guinea pigs fit in better than older guinea pigs do. But if they are well cared for they won't be so shy.

#4 Over time you can build a friendship with them.

Please get me one!

801-876-3946

Well, Santa got the letter and decided a snake would be better. We woke up Christmas morning to find the snake had escaped from its pet store box. We moved all the presents from under the tree and found the snake snug as can be under the tree skirt. Jane is absolutely thrilled. I just hope we don't loose it again.

Eli's is 6 years old!!

I just don't even know where to start with Eli. This little boy has stolen my heart. He makes me happy every day. He is such a thoughtful sweet child. Today I came into the kitchen to find him emptying the dishwasher. After I told him thank you so much for helping me out, he told me it was a gift for Jesus. Helping me was his gift to Jesus. Really, I just can't think up anything sweeter. He woke up sick this morning. I felt so bad for him. No one should be sick on there Birthday. We had him stay home from school, We opened presants, read books, watched movies and played on the computer. Later on in the day he was feeling much better. He got to go on a special date with Grandma and Grandpa Garner. They went to McDonald's for dinner, picked out a toy at Walmart and went bowling. He had a great time and felt very spacial! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

He got his very own set of REAL tools. He is pumped and cant wait to do his first project with Matt. What other six year old has a set of real tools? He is my little worker bee.

On Saturday he had a pirate party with his friends. The little trunk my Mom and Dad gave me when I was young made the perfect centerpiece. All the kids thought it was a real treasure chest.

We played cannonball (black balloon) toss, pass the parrot (like hot potato) and went on the funniest treasure hunt that Matt put together. He is so good at stuff like that. I was happy he was willing to make up all the clues.

All Eli's partie guests with their treasure chests.

Eli eating his ginger bread pirate cookie and ice cream.

Now that the pirate party is over all my boys think they are pirates. They walk answer me with arg matte and when I ask them to get their shoes on and get in the car they throw their arm in the air and yell neverrrrr.

Farewell Leila Bird's Nest

Well, Farewell untill next year. I finished up my last show. What a whirl wind time. Three weeks and four shows. It was super awesome starting home shows. Thanks to Tammy, Sissy and Kathy for hosting them for me. I loved making things for Christmas. But now it is time to pack it all away until next year. I can't lie, I am relived to have a bit of a break. I can't stay away from the crafting to long though, something in me pulls me back to the table. :) Happy resting.

How fun is Christmas decor?

Good bye for now.

Dinner with G&G McConkie

I really look forward to this night when Christmas rolls around. It has become a special tradition to us. We have Grandma and Grandpa McConkie up for "Christmas" early. We set the table up and have a special dinner. I love getting to do this part. My kids usually don't eat what we are having but they don't complain because it is our special dinner night.

Then we exchange our Christmas gifts with one another. Who doesn't love opening presents? This is one excited group of kiddies.

Walt was the gift distributor.

Walter was given the tickle monster book and gloves. He had a blast running around with the gloves on scaring everyone. I loved watching him be so excited. It is so funny that obviously the person he would scar would play along and act scared but he was always so satisfied with himself and would move on to the next person.

Matt and his sweet Mom. Two people I could not love, or be more thankful for.

Desert time!! We decided to make zucchini cake because it is kinda green. Jane helped bake it. She is quite the little baker.

Hello December!

How dose time go by so quickly? I wish life would just slow down. I feel like someone just shoved me into December. I find myself thinking wait, what about the fall? I guess we did already do Halloween and Thanksgiving. It just went by so fast it almost feels like a dream and I have to dig around in my head to remember it. How sad is that. Well this week was REALLY CRAZY. With two trips to the pediatrician, positive strep tests, really sad, cranky, sick kids, my first Leila Bird Home show, ( thank's to Tammy and Sissy! It was awesome. ) and the Hive boutique I was not really feeling the Holiday spirt. I think it is safe to say I was feeling like a bah hum bug. Walt has pulled apart the advent calendar I love to death, ruined the ribbons on my Christmas trow pillows and un-decorated the bottom half of the upstair and downstairs Christmas trees! I wanted to pack up all the Christmas and be done. Could we just skip one of my favorite Holidays. Jane reminded me we had not read any of the Advent stories yet and we are four days into December. After I cleaned up the house, baked cookies for a baby blessing tomorrow and put the boys to bed, we sat down to read. The first story we read brought tears to my eyes. Actually I was sobbing and then Jane was sobbing. I had to get up and get us some tissue. I heart was filled with gratitude. I thought of my family and this special time of year. I could not be more blessed to be with them. To teach my children of Christ and his birth. I am so grateful for my reading time with Jane. It is one of my favorite times of the day. I hope she will have fond memories of reading together. Sobbing together. Learning together. To kick of the start of December, four days late, this story helped me get in the mood. I am now looking forward to the rest of this month, no matter how crazy it might be.

The Christmas I Remember Best

By Ivan T. Anderson

When the Allied forces made their big push into Germany, it was the duty of my military police battalion to take prisoners from the front lines into crudely constructed stockades. I shall never forget December 24, 1944 and the German prisoner of war who helped to make it more memorable for me.

It was a bitter cold night and I found myself on duty helping to guard more than twelve hundred German prisoners. To say we were a homesick group of men would be an understatement. The fact that is was Christmas Eve only added to our depression. One of our company, a man from the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, stopped blowing on his hands long enough to say, “What a cold, miserable Christmas! Just because we are stuck out here doesn’t mean we can’t do something about it. I’m going out and find a tree.”

“Forget it!” another M.P. shouted. “There are no trees around here; besides, we haven’t anything to decorate with anyway.”

Not to be discouraged, Smoky went into the darkness and later returned with a bedraggled specimen.

“You call that thing a tree?” our heckler continued. “In Texas we’d plow that under for a bush.”

With a positive attitude, Smoky began to decorate his tree with ornaments made from gum wrappers, candy wrappers, etc. Several of the men not stationed directly at the stockade began to help our zealous friend with his seemingly impossible task. As we worked, I suddenly heard a voice calling from the stockade, “American, American.” Turning toward the compound, I saw a German prisoner with one hand extended through the barbed wire. With his other hand, he was motioning toward me. I quickly threw a shell into the chamber of my rifle and approached him with caution.

What I saw in his hand astounded me. This prisoner had made a beautiful silver star entirely from gum foil that was a work of art. He placed the star in my hand and motioned to the top of our tree. Hoping he spoke some English, I said, “This star has such detail, are you a professional artist?” By his puzzled expression it was obvious he spoke no more English than I spoke German, so I took his contribution over and placed it atop our tree.

“Well, I’ll be!” the heckler began again. “I hate to admit this, but that bush is beginning to look like a real tree. Guess I should have kept my mouth shut, eh, Smoky?” (A loud cheer of agreement resounded from all of the men.)

As we completed our tree, we began singing Christmas carols, and I noticed several of the prisoners joined in on “Silent Night”. The last strains were fading into the night when I heard the same voice call, “American”.

This time the prisoner had both hands extended through the barbed wire. Again I approached with caution, rifle ready, and again I was amazed at what he held in his hands. This German sculptor had made intricate figures of Joseph, Mary, and the Christ Child. He pointed under the tree as he handed me his detailed work. I nodded my thanks and carefully placed the delicate figures where he had indicated.

As I placed the tiny figure of the Christ Child, made from a stick base and professionally covered with foil, the light from our fire actually seemed to give it a heavenly glow. I thought of how far we had strayed from the teachings of Jesus and felt tears sting my eyes.

Looking at the stockade, I saw that the prisoner was still by the barbed wire, so I hurried back, smiled, and warmly shook his hand. He returned my smile and the firelight caught the tears that were in his eyes.

Since the close of World War II, I have thought of this German prisoner of war numerous times. Our meeting was brief; we were two ships that passed in the night, and yet I feel this man would agree that our only hope for lasting world peace would be a return to the teachings of the tiny figure he so beautifully molded that cold December night. One thing is certain: If we love the Lord, we also have a genuine concern for all mankind - the two are synonymous.

A few of my favorite photos from Christmas past. I could just gobble these cutie pies right up.