Merry Christmas 2024

This was our first practice/staging shot before the hair and wardrobe change. But Mike said he likes it better because the word "Favorite" is right over my head and I'm his Favorite. 

He did some secret Santa shopping and bought me an outfit. (I'll have to exchange it for a different size.) Other than that, there wasn't much of a gift exchange. We both got new Church shoes we shopped for a few weeks ago. And we received tons of neighbor gifts and goodies...some of which we have devoured.

A beef chuck roast and potatoes are in the crock pot for Dinner, but only Mom will be able to join us, as Eric and Matt both "have been smitten by the flu." I do hope it's a short 24 hour bug so they won't suffer very long. 

We look forward to seeing Damian, Tandy, Lexi and Ella later this week, and the rest of our kids on Jan 11th for Moms 90th birthday.  We are gonna have a party!!

Christmas in the kitchen

 I don't usually decorate too much in the kitchen. But I did this year!

Mr & Mrs Santa by the sink, with a box of received Christmas greeting cards. I missed sending them this year.

Cute containers and pinecones on the coat rack.

The reindeer jar usually has Whoppers in it. But we keep eating them. (Oink) Swedish Fish or cinnamon gummy bears go in the center jar...something red. But we keep eating those, too. The mini marshmallows last a bit longer. But only a bit. 

It was kind of fun to toss stuff around and make it more festive.

Until I needed to make applesauce two weeks ago. Then I had to move it all out of the way. Today, the counter looks quite cluttered. But in a good ( yum yum yummy good) way. PIE!

Apple, pumpkin, pecan. A coconut pie is in the fridge. Who needs a Christmas dinner? I'll just have pie, thank you very much!!

New Phone/ quick Vernal trip

 It took several days, but my new phone finally came in the mail. There was no repairing the old one. The water damage was too extensive, even after drying it out. It just won't power up. So sad. Luckily, I had a lot of information out on the cloud, and it was saved. I have pictures, etc. And I even was able to find on my new phone the Keep Notes app that I used for lists and so forth. That was a relief to find it. But I do have all my contacts back. I did lose all of the old texts and that's sad. There were many family photos and things in there. But, it could have been a lot worse! We didn't have to spend a ton of money for the phone, so that's nice. I do still have to get a case and a screen protector for it. But I am connected once more! Hip hip hooray!

Mike and I went up to salt lake on wednesday. We spent the night with Nick and kaylee. We met their new dog, Roz. He is a Maltese puppy and quite cute. We got to spend a little time with grandkids. 

Thursday we had lunch with Phil dixon. 

Then we drove on to vernal and visited with family and handed out Apple cider. We spent the night at Sally and devere's house. Friday morning we picked up pork and beef and drove home. Quik trip, but it was a lot of fun. No pictures, though. I'm trying out my new phone and it's Talk to Text Feature. It does not capitalize very well. :-) and I'm leaving it as is. I'm just relieved to have a new device. Poor Mike must have gotten very tired of me saying "Where's your phone?" all the time.

Mike and Roz snuggling.

Friends for eternity and fleeting phones

 Tonight  Kim and Terri Hunter came over to have dinner with us. Kim said something about he and Mike being friends in our pre-earth life. I think I can believe that! Some people just click. Some become dear, dear friends right away, and then they just stay that way. 

Eric and Matt dropped in for dessert afterwards. They were in town for a painting/art class with our friend Hannah Dawson ( Prussian Blue art designs).

It was fun to chat with them, too.  

Since I seldom think to take photos of our friends, I seized the moment tonight and we donned the Santa hats. 

However,

My phone took an unfortunate deep dive into the toilet  and I did not know it for quite a while. It spent some time in a rice bag, but now is at a repair place to see if we can salvage any of the data. I sure hope so. I'm missing it quite a lot, quite frankly. My tablet does not have my current and updated calendar. And I can't text the photos of Kim and Terri to them. But I can email, so I hope that will do! And I hope I can find them for this post, too. My first attempt failed to locate them. Oh dear.

Great evening with family and friends,  after a long-ish morning at choir rehearsal and afternoon in Temple office.  And a 30 minute nap this evening for me!

Another ER visit with Mom

 This time it was because she couldn't breathe! Scary stuff. 

She's back home after 6 hours of testing ( and lots of waiting) breathing treatments.

She's been resting at home and improving daily.

Mike and I attended a Gentri Christmas concert. They put on a really good show! Glad we went.

I got a few grandkids called this evening and had a good visit about my making a cousin book for them for Christmas. It was fun to chat for a bit. We really do have some nice grandchildren. Too bad most of them are so far away. Although, with technology, NObody need be far away!

I decorated our Christmas tree today. Red and gold. Pretty, if I do say so myself. This year, I spread Christmas cheer into the kitchen, too! Some on the walls, and even on the counters. But I didn't swap out regular glassware for Christmas glass wear. I wore out! That's a LOT of trips up and down the stairs to do all that. 

Nativities, poinsettias, tree collection...that's about it. And it is enough.

Belated Halloween picture.

 I found this adorable picture of my neighbor's grandkids standing on my front porch. So cute. I think the mommy took it, as I found it on FB with her Fall Photo dump. Cute little family. I only know who two of the kiddos are.