Christmas Village

Our Christmas Village is all up now and I didn't even have to do it! Robert and Steven took over this year and they did a terrific job! I just added a few extras. It was so nice to let them take over because it is a lot of work. (I'm sure I'll have to take it all down and put it away in the boxes as usual in a couple of months!) It's always so fun to have up. When I went up to see it for the first time, there were a few new pieces that I hadn't seen before. Robert just can't stop buying them off of Ebay! I keep telling him we have plenty now, but he doesn't stop. I love the Christmas villages so much. It reminds me of a Christmas many years ago.

When I was a senior at Olympus High, one of my seminary teachers challenged us to do something nice for someone that Christmas season-- preferably something anonymous because it is more fun that way. I had been working at ZCMI in the Cottonwood Mall as Christmas help in gift wrapping so I had a fair amount of money to spend on my family with some left over. I decided to buy several little gifts like lotion, cologne, bubble bath and chocolates and take a gift each night during the week before Christmas. I chose to take them to an older widow who lived alone in a house around the corner and down the street about four houses from me. I knew her name and where she lived, but had never met her before.

The first night that I went, I waited until after dark, but I felt perfectly safe in my own neighborhood. And the fact that I was on a "secret mission" made the trip very exciting. I remember so well walking down the street looking at the Christmas lights decorating my neighbors' homes and the lighted windows and the stars shining in the clear sky. It seemed so magical to me and I think that is why I love our lighted Christmas village so much.

I arrived at Carrie's house and started walking down her long driveway. Her lights were on so I was pretty sure she was home. I set the first little wrapped gift down on the step in front of her door which was on the side of the house, rang the doorbell and knocked hard a few times just in case the the doorbell didn't work. Then I ran as fast as I could back up the driveway and hid behind the bushes, breathing hard and peeking to watch for her to open the door. It took a minute or so for her to open the door and call out "hello?" She then looked down, saw the package, picked it up, looked out again, and then shut the door. With a big smile on my face, I walked back up the street and around the corner to my house. I had such a good feeling inside and decided this "anonymous giving" was very fun.

The next couple of nights, I repeated this, sneaking out of my house each time. I waited until no one was around the front door, put on my coat, and went quietly out. And each time she came to the door a little faster, so I had to run faster!

Then the next night, with snow flakes lazily falling down, I put the gift on the doorstep, rang the bell and knocked, then ran up the driveway. But when I was only about half the way to my hiding place I heard the door opening behind me and a little voice calling out "who are you?" a couple of times. I had been caught! I kept running, though, and turned behind the bushes, but then I felt like I needed to go back and talk to her. So I walked down the driveway back to her door. I told her my name, where I lived, and told her that I thought she knew my grandmother who also lived in the neighborhood. She was very nice and invited me to come in and sit down, which I did. We talked for a few minutes-- about what I really don't remember. She thanked me for the gifts and gave me some candy. I wished her a "Merry Christmas" and walked back home, again with a smile on my face.

I found out that Christmas how fun it is to give, especially anonymously, but I was also glad to be able to meet Carrie and talk with her, too. Then she didn't have to keep wondering who her secret gift-giver was.

Looking at our Christmas Village now brings back memories of that Christmas which really stands out in my memory because it was so magical to me.

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for. I love my family and friends dearly and I am so thankful to have them all in my life. I'm thankful for my home and church.

I'm thankful for my eyes. The fact that I have very terrible eyesight has always made me appreciate the fact that I can see at all. There are many people that live in total darkness. I am so glad that I can see this beautiful world that has been created just for us. I love the trees and grass, flowers and mountains, and all the wonders of nature. I also love art and architecture that men have made. I'm thankful for the amazingly fun hobby of making art of different kinds. It is so great to have that creative outlet.

I'm thankful for my ears that can hear the wonderful sounds of nature: the birds, crickets, thunderstorms, and the ocean waves pounding against the beach. (I wish I could see and hear that a little more often!) I'm also very thankful to be able to hear music which I love so much. I enjoy so many different kinds of music. My CD collection is quite an eclectic assortment as you can tell from my playlist here. I have a little piece of heaven when I am working (really playing) in my craft room listening to music!

I am thankful for this time of year when we think about other people a little more than ourselves, when we can enjoy the excitement of this magical season, and remember what is really important in our lives.

There are many crazy things going on in the world today, but life is great when we count all our many blessings and be happy with what we have. Yes, I'm very thankful today.

Sweet Baby

Cason is 3 weeks old already and he has changed so much since the day he was born. It's great to have those sweet newborn baby sounds in the house again. Even his crying isn't very loud. He really is a good baby.

Baby Cason

Cason Daniel was born on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at Alta View Hospitol. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21 inches long. What a cute little guy! Danny and Courtney were supposed to call the hospitol that morning at 7:00 to make sure they had room for them to come in so they could start her labor since she was 10 days past the due date. But at 2:15 that morning her water broke and labor pains started, so they got to the hospitol at about 3:00 and Cason was born at 12:51 p.m. that afternoon. We are so glad that he is finally here! How great it is to have a newborn in the family again! They came home from the hospitol on Thursday afternoon, and this grandma loves to hold him!

Is this a happy face or what?!

A new family!

Halloween Dept. 56

We got our little Halloween houses set up on the piano. We have a haunted Train Station, a haunted mansion, and the Wicked Witch's castle from the Wizard of Oz. They all light up and the train station and the haunted mansion make spooky sounds. The monkeys fly around the top of the castle. It's fun to have it up and our two grandsons, Mason and Gavin love to watch it. Happy Halloween!

Artist Trading Cards

These are some silly ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) that I made using photos of me and some stamping friends- Fontella, Bonnie, and Ashley. I'm teaching another class this Saturday and thought I would make these to give out. They are mostly made with rubber stamps with a fence die cut and some background paper. Lots of fun!

Department 56 Obsession!

Several years ago I got interested in the Department 56 lighted Christmas Village houses. I had seen them in a few different stores and took Robert to one of them to show him and see if he might be interested. He liked them too and I suggested that maybe we get one a year and start setting up a village for Christmas. I think that first year we bought a couple of houses. There are many less expensive village houses you can buy, but we really liked the quality and collectability of the Department 56 houses. They are so detailed and well-made. Well, it didn't take long for Robert to get obsessed with our collecting! He started getting on Ebay and buying at a discount (sometimes!) We have so many pieces now that we don't know where to put them all! I keep telling Robert that we have enough, but does he listen? No, way! It was so sad to put the Christmas houses away since we love them so much, so a few years ago we bought a few pieces of a springtime set of houses and trees so we could keep them up on the piano the rest of the year after we took down the Christmas village.

Well, this year we did what I didn't want to do-- we got into the Halloween collection! We have a few pieces that we will put on the piano. So, today I took down the Spring set and put it all away. It's always a little sad to take them down (and a whole lot of work), but it is time. As soon as I get some fabric that will look good to set it on, I will put the Halloween houses up. I have never been a real big fan of Halloween, but, for some reason this year, I thought it would be fun to have some decorations for the holiday. These are photos of our spring houses. I guess it's a good thing this series in discontinued so we can't buy any more! I'll post photos of the Halloween pieces when I get them put up!