Merry Christmas 2008

K'Lee ordered a white Christmas from Santa and boy did we ever get one. It snowed pretty much all day long. The power went out for a little while which made Christmas breakfast unique. Crackers and Cheese.
John got Checkerboard Vans (Again). He has been wearing this style shoe since our wedding day.
K'Lee got an Ipod Shuffle. She hated it can you tell?
A'leese got electric socks. Now she can be on the computer downstairs without losing feeling in her toes....YEAH! Very thoughtful gift Natalie.

Natalie got lots of stuff for her new Ipod Nano (she bought with her own money). Here she is showing off her new watch.

Santa gave me a new ball for playing four square. Look out you guys I plan on being the "King".

and last but not least Johnny got a rip-stick. Hope he learns how to do it before he tries the hill in front of our house. It was a good Christmas.

T'was the night before Christmas

Where is K'Lee you ask . . . . .look closely between A'leese and Johnny. Okay, you can at least see her pants.
Here they are a little excited about tomorrow being Christmas. . . .who has the Ambien? Note: they are all in their new Christmas jammies.

Ropin' in the Christmas Spirit

We had the Ropers over for our annual Christmas party. We had crackers, cheese, and playful pretzels. Then we had dinner and after, to top it all off, we had a Chocolate fountain. We share the holidays with the Ropers in a way that we only can with them. They are some of our favorite people in the whole entire world. Christmas wouldn't be the same without the Ropers! We LOVE you tons!!!!

Yum. . . . . A chocolate fountain.

Introducing the Ropers to a chocolate fountain was one of the highlights of the evening. Only rule NO FLIPPING CHOCOLATE!!! Established mostly for me...grin.

K'Lee and Misti enjoyed it so much they ended up wearing as much chocolate as they ate.

Zach was so excited with the chocolate fountain his eyes stayed big the entire time he used it.

The Ropers gave me stuff for my bath. I love my bath.

We swapped gifts. Misti got make up and exchanged it for a barbie type doll.

Brandon got a 20 question game and is obviously thinking hard about what to ask it.

Johnny got a belt and put it on right away.

Whitney got a hat and did the same thing as Johnny...put it on.

"Zach attach" got a huge bag of candy cuz Aunt Karrie felt bad about him losing all of his Halloween Candy out of his sack when trick or treating.

John getting to relax a minute at the Christmas party.

Brandon giving us a special treat by playing A'leese's guitar and singing. Brandon has such a deep rich voice. It was a gift having him preform. Thanks I3eeje.

Oh A'leese you've never looked so good. NOT!

Good thing we are all family.... this even scares me.

Joe and me. Joe has grown to be such a special person in my life. My brother. My friend. I love you Joe. Thanks for the unconditional love you give me. You are the best!

Sometimes missed but never forgotten

Natalie wasn't able to be at our Elf party last night and she felt kind of bad. It's so hard when you have to choose which fun thing you should do. I let her make a big ice cream like the rest of the kids did and well it sort of put a smile on her face. Bon Appetite Natalie

Our "Elf" Christmas Party

This is how John was all night long! It was his last day of work before his 16 days of Christmas vacation. I think he is happy.

Sara? Sara? Sara? This is what Sara looks like when she is playing with her Voo-Doo Doll!
Jessica sat right next to the food so she could eat all of the spaghetti and cheese bread she wants.
Pam. What would we do without Pam? She has the GREATEST laugh and shares it easily. We LOVE Pam. And I don't think the glasses are "Dorky".

We each got a white elephant gift. John was lucky enough to get toilet bowl scrubs.... you go John!

K'Lee got my personal favorite... a artistically bent wire hanger.

Coen....got the grand prize of the night. He patiently waited and then snagged it! Coen you were definitely the winner of the white elephants.

Jon got a suiting glow in the dark football. A toy he can add to his "lets bug Kelly list". I hope with all my heart you play it late at night, in your backyard, with the loudest friends you have...I will be expecting a call since we probably fall into that category.

Jana looking "Fabulous" as she retrieves her prize. Ahhh the joy of a present.

Jacob getting dinosaur toothpaste. I'm jealous.

In honor of Elf we had Ice cream topped with lots of stuff. We just didn't have all of our candy and syrup on our spaghetti. We like Elf but just couldn't get into that much.

Every bowl looked like Johnny's. Some was stacked even higher.

Coen and Janna were creating masterpieces.

Johnny, Charidy, and K'Lee were eating masterpieces.

During the movie A'leese took her powder and covered Saras face as she slept. It was funny to see her looking like a China doll. All in all we had a really great time. Thanks Stanfords and Sanders for being such AWESOME friends. One personal note the only thing that was missing from the night was Natalie. We missed you Bug.

20 reasons I love my best friend, John

1. He is kind.
2. He always puts me first.
3. He honors his priesthood.
4. He can fix anything, even my heart.
5. He never lets me give up.
6. You can count on him.
7. He is a good father.
8. He gives all that he has to his family.
9. He looks good in 501's. . . . . .and even better out of them.
10. His eyes sparkle when he looks at me.
11. He has NEVER let a day go by where he hasn't told me he loves me.
12. He looks Great in a beard and mustache.
13. He makes me laugh.
14. I like the person I am when I am with him.
15. He is ticklish.
16. He respects womanhood.
17. He has a firm testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
18. He ALWAYS choose the right.
19. He loves my parents almost as much as I do.
20. He lifts me when I don't think I can go one more moment.

The Snowball

Tim's dad chauffeured the group to the reception center and to the dance in their Limo. Tim I have got to say, you have more class in that not quite grown body of yours then most people twice your age and height.

A'leese looked georgous in her dress and sweater provided by our dear friend Janna.

Garret, Kate, A'leese, and Tim went on the date to snowball. Doubling was a great idea! A lot less pressure that way.

They ate at the The Cottage, a reception center owned by Tim's parents.

They laughed and had a great time.

This was my favorite photo. It really shows the way A'leese and Tim get along. I am so glad they are really good friends. That is what life is all about.

Ready aim FIRE!!!!

Whitney and A'leese loured me out of the house on the pretense of seeing some gifts they had purchased for Christmas. Next thing I know they yelled,"Now" and I was covered in silly string. They really got me. I had know idea they were gonna attack. That's one for the girls. . . . .
Needless to say being a woman of revenge I was able to get the can of silly string away from Whitney and with the little left got both of them. Gotta say it was one of the SILLIEST things I have done in a while.

Let there be light

I was sitting in my livingroom taking it all in and decided I wanted to share the moment on my blog. I love Christmas, almost as much as the 4th of July. I am so gratiful for all that I have.

John did such a fantastic job with the lights on the house. It was so exciting to see I had to take a picture. This is our first Christmas in our new house and it has been terrific!!!