A little Christmas Magic.....

This year I made two new stockings for my two new grand baby Girls Eva and Brooke. Take a look see:

BROOKE

and

EVA

I hung all 14 Grandchildren stockings from the ceiling this year as there was no room on the fireplace. I think they looked cute.:

I did not put up a live tree this year for the first time ever!

I was a little sad, but I hung up lights between the fans and it looked festive.

I just miss the smell.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Only 365 more days......................

.................Until we do it all over again!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.......

We sure did...

My favorite part of Christmas is the

ANTICIPATION.

The nativity, the lights, the songs, the children's laughter, the movies, the gifts, the parties.....

all add up to that one special day.

You can see it in the children's eyes....

that wonder and amazement of all that Christmas is to them

....the hope of things to come....the joy, the love.

Grab every moment and memory you can.

Children grow up way too fast and it is sad to see the magic wain....

the wonder of the mystery, and joy of the unknown, the hope of things to come and of secrets, and happiness and of laughter.

I know friends who always told their children the "truth" about Santa Clause from the time they were born, they were never allowed to

BELIEVE.

You also never saw that wonder and amazement in their eyes.

You could tell they wanted to believe, but were not allowed to.

They were afraid that their children would confuse the fantasy of Santa with story of the first Christmas and

Christ the Savior.

My children have never seemed to be confused about fantasy and reality.

But to each their own.

It is your call, but I am glad that my children are

BELIEVER'S .

We have a saying at our house:

"If you don't believe.....you don't receive"

Trust me on this one....we are all believers here.

I don't know where I was going with this, but I always have a little bit of a hard time when the BIG DAY is over.

The lights are still on, the tree is drying fast, the treats are almost gone, the snow is melting, the presents are no longer wrapped under the tree. The Christmas carols CD's are tucked away in a box again.....and now I have 365 days of

ANTICIPATION

to look forward to again.

This snowman was made by our neighbors the "Gambles" . I am not sure how they built it so big. But it sure made me happy and in the Christmas spirit. I took it off of KSL web site. It is melted now....but it will snow again and another will take it's place.....

I BELIEVE IT.......don't YOU???

MERRY CHRISTMAS FOR THE NEXT 364 DAYS NOW.

THE STOCKINGS WERE HUNG..........

It's almost Christmas and I finally finished the last stocking.

When the kids were little I made them all stockings:

Then the Grand kids came along....one at a time and Nikki made Mason, Analyn, Emma, and Lindsey one to hang at my house. Then came Lili, Christian, Luke, Farrah [decorated by Carly], Campbell, and Sam that I decorated using store boughten stockings.... and then I free styled using felt and embroider thread.

I just finished Sam's last night.

Analyn, Luke and Mason's

Emma, Christian, and Lindsey

Carly found this cream colored applique to put on Farrah's

and I made the Gingerbread man for Campbell.

The newest addition is Sam's Motorcycle ....

although I asked Farrah what it was and she said a bicycle.

When they are all hung it is pretty crowded:

.....and next year it will be even more crowed.

We will add a little "Penny".

A "penny" for your thoughts.....

The stockings are all hung and we are ready.......

are you????

HO HO HO!!!

The Promised Chordette Post.......

The Valley Chordettes at the Hearthside

I decided to do a post on the "Valley Chordettes". This is a singing group I have sung with for about 20 years. Holly and I sing in it together. We both enjoy singing and it is a good time to be together from September thru December every Sunday night. We sang about 19 songs this year and never use music. We had some children sing with us this year. My grand daughter and Holly's daughter Analyn sang with us. This is what really puts me in the Christmas spirit. I love singing about the Savior. My favorite song this year was "Breath of Heaven" and my least favorite song was "It's the Most Wonderful time of the year" for reasons I won't go into. Here are some pictures of the evening:

Here are some pictures of Analyn. She sang three songs: Jingle Bells, Santa, I've got the measles, and Away in a Manger where she was a Shepherd.

Carly got bored [19 songs later] and started taking pictures over her shoulder. Nikki and Emma quickly caught on and gave it all they had.

And ....never....never....let anyone take still shots of you singing....it ain't pretty.....thanks Carly!!!!!!!!!!

And last but not least my dear "Alto" friend [whose name shall remain anonymous] had the prize winning look!

Merry Christmas from the Chordettes!!!!!!!!!

Christmas wrap up....decorations......

Tree # 8 Upstairs Live Tree

Tree # 7 in Commons with 21 stockings

Tree 5,6, and7...and close up

Fire Place up stairs

Nativity

Angels on Piano

Close up of tree # 3 Homemade ornaments Dining Room

Tree 1 and 2 Bird Tree and close up