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HI EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!
I have no pictures to share yet, but i wanted to wish everyone ....

a SUPER MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i love you all and hope this day (and yesterday) has been amazing and full of love. I'm so glad you are all my wonderful amazing family, and I'm excited to see everyone!! (i'm sorry i won't see you joe, but i hope you have a quick recovery, and i STILL love you!) =D

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND I LOVE YOU!!!!

get the message? :)

Holliday Christmas Cheer that split my stapled stomach!

How to beat the wrap

BY DAVE BARRY

(This classic Dave Barry column was originally published Dec. 9, 2001.)

This is the time of year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the three Wise Men -- Gaspar, Balthasar and Herb -- went to see the baby Jesus, and, according to the Book of Matthew, ``presented unto Him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.''

These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of wrapping paper. If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so: ``And lo, the gifts WERE inside 600 square cubits of paper.

``And the paper WAS festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.

``And Joseph WAS going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she saideth, `Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'

``And Joseph DID rolleth his eyeballs.

``And the baby Jesus WAS more interested in the paper than, for example, the frankincense.''

But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the very first Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those gifts had two important characteristics:

1. They were wise.

2. They were men.

Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my opinion; this is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey of two guys I know. One is my son, Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift is, quote, ''if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the person opens it.'' The other is my friend Gene Weingarten, who told me he does wrap gifts, but as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift.

''No one ever had to wonder which presents Daddy wrapped at Christmas,'' Gene said. ``They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs.''

I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can never COMPLETELY wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards and put it in the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this sector with a marking pen.) If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by Scotch tape.

On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper, she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually LIKES wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of mental illness. If it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual volt.

My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills -- like having babies -- that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I am presenting:

GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN

-- Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the recipient opens the gift, neither of you recognizes it, you can claim that it's myrrh.

-- The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch. They must be smoking crack.

-- If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient on Christmas morning:

YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?

YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!

YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.

YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!

YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.

YOU: I also got you some myrrh.

In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year, is that you save the receipt.

Hospital Birthday

Monday was Heather and Chloe (and Dad's) birthdays.  Sadly, Joe was in the hospital...so we took the party there!  It was an emotional ordeal, but a beautiful sight for onlookers.  It was an adventure to be at Heather's, poopy pants, hospital visits, broken fingers, cologne in the eyes, car repairs, snow removal, frozen pipes...you name it, it happened!  

What is Liz doing?

What is Liz doing  you ask?  I don't feel like I really know what I'm doing.  I think I've just been busy with end of term grading, entertaining guests, cleaning up after guests go home, supporting James through end of term and interviewing and everything else that goes along with being a mom.  In addition I planned and pulled off a Pack Meeting between runs to the airport--and I still feel like I know nothing about Cub Scouts.  I've also been working on prepping things for Christmas as well as the family reunion.  I'm planning for a fun time, so I hope you all come ready to have some fun.  But after all of that I think I need to relax a little so plan for a fun but relaxing visit!  Hope to see you all soon!

oh yeah! pictures!

oh i forgot it was friday!!!! I'm on break now!!! woohoooo!!!! I ended up NOT having play practice today, and I don't have to go to the mandatory 6 hour rehearsal on the 4th (sunday!)! yay me!!! :D
Then tonight I went bowling, shopping, (christmas presents! yay me again!!!), and to an awards ceremony for a writing contest for my friend! (you probably don't care, but it was lots of greatness!) i'm updating... :D

and tomorrow we are going caroling with the youth and the primary.

and monday we are going to Missouri.

ah! and I think my accent is getting worse. but I think it'll be better when i'm around all you who don't talk like they do here... :D hehehe

and I'm SO glad joe's surgery went well! you are crazy.... 10 inches of extra intestine? did i hear correctly? :D

and we have some major fog tonight! i had to drive home in it, and I got to test out that..."why you don't turn your brights on in fog". I'm glad I get that now! :D I never really understood.

and here are some photos! i had fun playing with them this week! love you all!!! I'm excited to see everyone!!!!

Happy Photo Friday

Everyone is so busy today. Marquie is at school until 6:30, Dad is doing employee reviews, Heather and Joe are doing surgery, Justin and Jodi are driving (since 8:30 last night), Michelle is frustrated cause Bryce has to work Christmas Eve, (but grateful he has work to do.), James did his big interviewing yesterday and Liz is....., I am trying to get ready for 15 guests for a party tonight. I just thought I would let Heather know that other people are involved in the blogging...but she's right, we need more blogs!

It's been amazing to watch the weather all around the country the last two days. Everyone is getting snow!--except for us, of course. We are supposed to have a high of 48 and rain. I miss the excitement of the snow. But, when everything here shuts down with rain, I guess we don't need snow!

Looking forward to next week!

Holy snow

Yep, there is tons of it. I don't have a total, but surrounding cities range from 6-10". Soooo much snow. I was driving in it last night at 12 a.m. What, why 12 a.m.? Causse I went to see Jersey Boys with Katey McGregor. No cost but the train ticket. She was supposed to go with her boyfriend, but he was deported. Yes, really. So, she called me. Yeah for me! It was so much fun and the music was amazing. I must definitely get the soundtrack. I'm also pretty sure I am going to have to take Joe!

Joe just went into surgery about 20 minutes ago. They had an emergency and we were delayed two hours. GGrrrrr. What do you do? I will try to get on tonight and let everyone know it went well. He was told he would be getting an epidural and just about died. Men are such babies! Don't worry, we still love you. Hope you all are well, cause nobody is blogging. I just have to kind of guess you are all o.k.

Since it is freezing here, i thought this to be an appropriate picture. Think warm thoughts.

Fondue?

Yep, crazy us, we had a fondue party last night. We hit a crazy going out of business sale at Linens N Things and bought a fondue pot for $8. This was all Joes doing. So, the kids and I went to work yesterday to celebrate his graduation. First, we went out for supplies and presents. Now this was quite a feet, considering the below zero windchill. Ummmm brrrrrr! We then strung crepe paper all over the living room and accompanied it with hordes of balloons. Then we set to work on the food. We had a cheese fondue, which we hated, so I took cheese powder and mixed it. That was super. We dipped little smokies, pepperoni, teriyaki chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, foccacia bread, french bread, and roasted potatoes. We finished with angel food cake. Yes, we had a lot left over. The best part, Joe was shocked. He had no idea. It was lots of work, but so much fun. I do believe we are having left overs tonight. Mmmmmm!

YIPPPEEEEEE!

Woohoo, Woohoo, Woohoo! We are done!!!!! Yes, Joe officially graduated tonight with an MBA. He totally rocks. He also completed his capstone course with an A . Yep, he is pretty much brilliant. I think I am embarasing him at this point. Love you all and see you soon!!!! Joe is cool! Joe is done! We are happy, happy, happy.

Years Ago

Happy Saturday Morning Family. I know that I missed Photo Phriday but hope you will enjoy this picture from a few years ago. Mom and I graduated from High School in June of 1974. After graduation I went with my mom and dad to San Antonio, Texas to visit Calvin and his family. It was sort of a graduation present for me. Over my years growing up I had the chance to take many trips with mom and dad, you know, being the only one at home. The last one I took was in August of 1974. Dad had meetings in Portland, Oregon. I remember doing all I could to get out of the trip. Just didn't want to deal with it.

Looking back, I am very grateful that I went with them. Dad made arrangements for us to take a fishing trip with Brother Hugey, a man he worked with in SCS. We went Salmon fishing in the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was fun, we caught several salmon and enjoyed them for months to come. In fact, the last one we ate the day of my mission farewell. Here are the proud fishermen.

A few more pictures from our Chicago trip

I know I posted photos yesterday, but thought I would search Marquie's folder for some more fun pictures. Congratulations to all you end of semesterers. I assume, now just finals to go. All you involved in "public school"--James, Liz, Joe, Bryce, Justin, Jodi and of course, Marquie (who is not to the end of the semester until the middle of January), lots of you are almost to the end of your education journey. Some of you are just beginning, and then there are those of you in the middle. Anyway, all that meandering behind us--CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! And, also a congratulations to Michelle and Bryce on the near completion of their home--send pictures! And, to Heather who is very much "back in the saddle" again.

Wow, we have so much to be thankful for!

Skyline High School had a two hour delay today. It rained. Enough said.

May I recommend some good reading to you all who have a little time on your hands. I have been studying Elder Bednar's talks on prayer from the last two conferences for our young women's lesson on Sunday. It has been a marvelous experience. I highly recommend these talks for your perusal (I really have no idea how to spell that word, but I know what it means.) I was especially inspired by his counsel on the connection between our morning and evening prayers. Let me know what yout think.

I guessed I've mother meandered long enough. Have a wonderful Friday!

It's FRIDAY!

This is the dawn of the last day of my first semester as a college professor.  I made it through the classes, teaching, conducting, most of the grading, and more than enough, "will there be extra credit?"

I'm going to take a well-deserved nap . . .

sometime next week after finals are over and graded!

April's Baptism

I keep waiting to get a post on the beautiful experience last weekend with April. But, since I haven't seen anything from the Petersen's, I thought I might just make a little post. It was a beautiful, spiritual experience. When Vickie gave her talk on the Holy Ghost, she told the story about the pearl of great price, then presented April with a beautiful pearl necklace, made from a necklace her mother had given her when she was 16. It was such a tender experience.

April was beautiful in her white clothes and the baptism and confirmation were incredible experiences, just ask the Grandpa's.

We were so grateful to be able to attend and be a part of this very special experience.

country christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards



we had so much fun with jj's, i had to try this....mwahahahahahahahahahaha! :D

Beautiful Blog!

James, the blog is beautiful and festive. I approve!

Long time no see!

Our lives have been all but calm, but I'm sure not any less than any of yours.  We made it to the end of the last week before the last week of school, which seems to bring way more stress than the thought of finals week.  So much to do, and so little time!  But we did find a few minutes amidst the chaos to attend our ward Christmas party, even taking Michelle and the kids along (Bryce was in Vernal all week).  Prior to the party we had a chance to take these lovely pictures, and we thought you would like another peak at the ever-getting-bigger Julia :)

Jodi is getting more and more excited for Christmas.  I don't know if that is because it is Christmas, because she gets to drive 3000 miles, doesn't have to work, or because she gets to spend time with all of you.  Take your pick.  We are gearing up, and leaving just as soon as I finish my first semester of Flagship courses with a final presentation that I have been researching all semester and frantically putting together the last two weeks.  I have learned a lot of lessons to benefit me next semester, which is good because I will be increasing my school load from 15 credits (which seemed to fill my plate plenty) to 18 credits.  Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, except that I have seven additional hours every week meeting one-on-one with various tutors and teachers.  And then there is my beloved job at the MTC.  Another 20+ hours.  "Welcome to adulthood/real life", eh Dad?  Love you all!  So excited to see you in a few weeks!

Okay, I wrote and post, saved as a draft, added pictures, and it disappeared. Sorry.

I FOUND IT FOR YOU! Photo Friday

Already it's Friday again. The weeks zoom by. Thank goodness we have lots to do to keep the weeks from dragging. We are heading to Chicago in an hour so we can attend April's baptism, yeah!
Getting there shouldn't be an issue, but coming home.....depends on Chicago weather tomorrow.

We have our tree up and have pretty much finished our Christmas decorating. Our home looks nice. And the extra decorating has made it feel more like home to me. We have an artificial tree this year for the first time in our married lives. I tell you, I think it is wonderful. Snap it together and plug it in, add our special decorations and wah..lah...instant Christmas. And, we don't have to worry about watering it.

Marquie downloaded her camera yesterday, so I should be able to find some fun pictures. It will be a surprise!

Hello

Took me long enough, I know. I am feeling pretty good. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and he seemed impressed. He said the pathology report confirmed what Joe and I told him, the kidney was a piece of crap! I am still tired and not exactly running a marathon, but in time.... I am super excited for the reunion and am hoping it will me warmer there. We have a whopping high of 20 today. It is currently 10 degrees, but it says it feels like -2. Thank heavens for heaters. Our Young Women in Excellence was canceled last night due to snow. It didn't need to be, the roads were fine. Now we have to try to reschedule it in the next two weeks. Uh huh.... I sent all the treats I made to work with Joe so I wouldn't eat them. Yeah me! Except the bread, I froze that. I'm off to the store to pick up cake mixes for a giant baptism cake! Two more days. Yesterday was supposed to be April's first Activity Days. She was pretty bummed. I'm kinda starting to feel old. Could be worse, my granddaughter could be old enough to be baptized.
He He! Love you all. BLOG!! I almost forgot... We made service advent calendars for F.H.E. this week. I just made them out of paper. Each day, you check your calendar and do a secret service for the person listed. It has been really fun and I think it is a good way to keep the Christmas spirit. O.K., that's it. Bye!