Ring Out the Old, Ring In the New

Perhaps appropriately so, today we attended a funeral.

The Candy Man was a sweet , older member of our ward that we had become pretty good friends with.  One of his daughters and one of his granddaughters, are two of my good friends.  He would call our house quiet regularly to ask Ryan a computer question.  Ryan would go to his house and spend hours with him, partly helping with the computer, partly working on genealogy work, and mostly visiting.  The Candy Man got his name because he would bring candy to church every week.  The children would see him and run to greet him, knowing they would get a treat from him.  He loved it!  You could see it in his face.  He would smile and his eyes would just light up! 

At the funeral, I learned a few new things about him.  I learned that he used to be a jockey!  I wish I had known that before, I bet Cadi would have loved to hear him tell her about his days riding horses. 

One of my first memories of The Candy Man, took place in Walmart.  We had lived here about a year and I knew who he was, he had already started calling Ryan for computer help. ;)  I was shopping in the local Walmart one day and I saw him talking to some people in the aisle.  I knew what he was doing because by this time, I was pretty good friends with his daughter and I had heard all about his trips to the Walmart.  It was his favorite thing to do - he'd go as often as he could get away with and stay as long as he could.  He didn't need to buy anything, he just wanted to go talk to people.  So he'd go and walk around, talking to strangers and asking them if they knew about the church.  He would teach them about the Gospel and invite them to come to church.  Well, I figured I was "safe" since I belonged to his ward and all, but apparently he didn't recognize me.  He stopped me and asked if I went to church.  I said, "Brother H., I am in your ward!"  He didn't believe me at first!  I finally convinced him and he quickly went looking for another person to share the gospel with. 

The Candy Man would bear his testimony in church often.  He often talked about how many people he would try to share the gospel with and how some even promised to come to church, but how disappointed he was that so far, he hadn't ever seen one person he had talked to come to our meetings.  But he never gave up, he kept going out and talking to people and did as much as he could to share the gospel with them.  I learned today that he carried several Book of Mormons with him, in different languages even, just so he would be prepared if anyone agreed to take one.

The Candy Man has had troubles with his health for years, far longer than we've known him.  But he was strong - and a fighter - and everytime we thought he was near the end, he'd bounce back and pull through!  However, a couple of weeks ago we learned that this really was going to be the end this time.  We were so sad to hear this!  But we knew that he was ready to go home.  We wanted to let him know we were thinking of him and loved him, so we stopped by a few days before Christmas.  The family was taking pictures of all his visitors and taping them to the wall next to his bed, so that even when he was awake, he could see all the people who loved and cared about him.  Cadi also drew him a picture to hang on the wall. 



He was resting most of the time, but Ryan did get to have a short little visit with him.



We are so glad we took that opportunity before it was too late!!!  The Candy Man passed away the morning after Christmas, at home and with his family surrounding him.  Just the way he wanted. :)   We will always remember our friend, The Candy Man, and I hope we will always remember the lessons he taught us.  

Tonight we are celebrating a New Year though.  New possibilities, new experiences.  We're going to go over to our friends' house with a few other families and we're looking forward to celebrating with them!  It's time to make new goals and look ahead to all that 2008 has in store for us!  I hope that you all have a very Happy and Safe New Year!

See you in 2008!!!

Perfection

There really isn't anything I have to say.  I'll just let the records speak for themselves!  Undefeated, a perfect regular season... most points scored in a season... Brady with the most touchdown passes in a season... Moss with the most touchdown receptions in a season... This IS perfection!









And we're not finished yet!  We're going for it all... Bring on the Post Season!

GO PATS!!!

A Christmas Story

Chapter One: Christmas Eve

First of all, Acadia ended up feeling much better on Sunday and fortunately, her friend felt better on Monday.  Whew! :)

On Christmas Eve, our good friends came over for dinner.  We wanted to share our annual Christmas Eve dinner with them and it was so nice!  The kids were really well behaved and we enjoyed having a quiet night.  We ate our usual: cheese, crackers, shepherd's loaf of bread, summer sausage, grapes, apples, olives, cider, et.  We sat on the floor on blankets and watched the short 5 minute Nativity video that the church came out with a few years ago.  Then we finished up our last day of our advent calendar where Cadi puts another part of the nativity scene on the magnet board and we read some scritures, a poem, and sing a Christmas Hymn.  Of course, the last piece was the Baby Jesus so that was perfect!  Afterwards, we let the kids play a little and the adults visited for a bit.  It was a really nice night. :)

After our friends left, we put Rori down for bed and Acadia got to play Santa's Helper for her first time!  She helped stuff Rori's stocking and set up a toy set for her.  She stayed up watching Christmas with the Kranks with us and finally we kicked her off to bed so Santa could come for her. ;) 

Ryan had told my aunt he'd bring a cheesecake to dinner on Christmas and he waited to start it until then, so he was up pretty late!  (But the cheesecake turned out really good! lol) 

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Chapter Two: Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was so fun!  The girls both woke up just before 7am.  Ryan, who had only gotten to bed at 3:30, was so sweet and patient!  He woke up and didn't even make the girls wait.  He was ready by the time I had Rori changed and we all headed out to see what Santa had brought.  It was so fun to see Rori experience Christmas - she loved everything!  She especially loved the Backyardigans playset that I won a few weeks ago! :)  Even though she would stop and check out other gifts that she got, she kept coming back to this one.  I'm so glad we won it! lol

Here are some fun pics:

First, Ryan and Rori in matching Christmas Gifts (apparently, mine is coming - they couldn't find my size in the stores so we're ordering it.  I'm super excited, I was hoping to get one!!!)



And here is Rori playing with a few of her favorite toys:









I have to admit that the kitties were almost a gift for me! lol  I got them because I wanted them!  And once they were opened, they spent a lot of time on MY lap! lol  These cats are so cool, they respond to your touch, they meow, purr, move, and the mom even kneads her paws when she's super content!  Finally, we have cats at our house that won't kill Ryan or Cadi (allergies)!  :)

Cadi had a great Christmas too!  Santa brought her a bathrobe (what she wanted most!) so she wore it the rest of the morning.  She also loved a little stuffed hamster that Santa brought.  Two years ago, we gave Cadi a hamster for Christmas and she named her Angel.  Angel died earlier this year, but this new little Angel won't ever die. :)



Cadi also got some Littlest Pet Shop toys, which she had really wanted.



Ryan spent at least 2 nights out searching for this sweatshirt - he went to at least 3 malls!  We knew she wanted it but it took awhile to find it.  It's a little big but that means she'll get to grow into it. ;)



And how can I leave out this?  Cadi LOVES Hannah Montana!  She got the 2 disc CD and a t-shirt... and her Aunt Debi gave her this...



Ryan got many things football: a jersey, a Patriots gift set, a Patriots football, an official NFL football, etc.  He did get a few things not football related, but that did seem to be the major theme this year.  He wasn't complaining!

I got a super cute bracelet that Cadi made for me, a couple really good books, some great cds, and a leather jacket!  I am also promised a Brady jersey. :D  (Now Cadi will be the only one without one, but she doesn't like football and doesn't want a jersey.  So we're not wasting the money! lol)

Here are some more random pics from our morning...

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Chapter Three: A White Christmas

Living in the Northwest, you don't really expect to have a white Christmas.  You can hope for it, but you just don't expect it.  The chance of getting one is about 1%.  Of course, as the holiday approached, we watched the forecast hoping it would show snow but all we saw was rain.  Then, on Christmas Eve, I heard a weather report say 80% chance of snow in the afternoon!  I hardly believed it!  But sure enough...

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Chapter Four: Fun with the Family

After we opened presents and chatted on the webcam with Ryan's parents back East, we got dressed and went to my aunt's house.  They gets a lot more snow than we do!  Here are some pics...









It was nice and warm in their house though!  We had a delicious dinner!  And it was fun to visit.  My cousin was there with her brand-new baby girl!  Ayva Belle was only one week old - exactly!  She was so sweet!







We had fun playing there, too.  Cadi loved playing ping pong.



There was a huge snowball fight after dinner!  Unfortunately, I don't have pics. :(  But I do have pics of Rori tackling Ryan...









Cadi was cold after playing in the snow and she wanted Ryan to wrap her up in a blanket, so he did...







It was a really nice Christmas and we really enjoyed every moment of it!  I hope you all had a great Christmas, too! :)

The End

Awwwwww!!!

Alternative Title: Trying to stay on the "Nice" list.


Rori usually naps right after lunch for a couple of hours. Today I layed her down and that didn't really happen. A little bit later she's crying and I know she hasn't gone to sleep yet. I go in there and well, she's justified in crying since she needs a diaper change. Okay, all set, now lay back down and take your nap. I get back to my chores and awhile later she's crying again! I know she STILL hasn't slept yet so I'm not too happy. I lay her back down AGAIN! I do some more chores... Yep, she's still awake! It's now about the time she would normally be waking up! So I figure I might as well just go in and get her.

The conversation goes like this:

Me: "Should I get you up?"
Her: "Yep!"
Me: "Can you say 'please'?"
Her: "Eeeese"
Me: "Awww, okay."

I get her out and say, "Now you're suposed to say 'Thank you'."

Her: "Day Do"

Okay, she's forgiven! lol

I've been trying to get her to repeat those for me for awhile and she hasn't! She did try the "Thank you" on Halloween, but hasn't really tried here at home. So... good time to start! lol

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Another nice story...

Acadia is still sick (that's not the nice part) and yesterday I found out that her best friend is sick now too. Today Cadi called her friend just to chat. While they were talking, I overheard Cadi say, "If you're sick on Christmas Eve, I hope I'm still sick. And if you're sick on Christmas Day, I hope I'm sick then, too. That way you don't have to be sick by yourself."

It makes me feel so good to hear her being such a sweet and caring friend. Not that being sick at the same time would really help anything... but it was such a sweet gesture!

I think both girls are still on the "Nice" list. ;)

Christmas Break Started Early

Alternative Title: The Boy Scouts Had it Right


Yesterday Acadia came home from school early because she was sick. Today she is still sick. Like yesterday, Cadi had really wanted to be at school today! Her class was going to watch Polar Express and have hot cocoa with mini marshmellows. Sounds fun, but she missed it.

I have been all ready for Christmas for awhile and this week has been really nice. While everyone else is stressing out because Christmas is coming so fast, I have been enjoying these last few days building up to Christmas Day. I have been able to do some extra baking, since I was in the mood. And now, with my school-age child home from school 1 1/2 days earlier than I expected, I'm REALLY glad I am all finished with my Holiday preparations! I don't have any shopping or wrapping left to do for her (or anyone else, for that matter). I don't have any packages to mail or errands to run. It's so nice that even though Cadi getting sick was unexpected and has forced me to be homebound during the last few days before Christmas, it's okay! No damage done! Ya know, there's something to this "Be Prepared" idea. ;)

One Monkey and One in Bed

Rori has been a crazy girl lately! On Sunday, she climbed out of her crib! She climbs on everything and usually tries to use whatever she's climbed on to reach something she shouldn't. Today I found her crawling on the dining room table, right next to the burning candle. Yesterday she was on the ottoman, pulling the little drawers open on one of our "advent calendars", looking for candies that are for each day. Everyday she pulls off about half a dozen ornaments from the tree - always the same ones, they seem to be her favorites. She also likes to pull bows off of presents. Fortunately, she hasn't thought to open any gifts yet. :) When you catch her "in the act", she looks at you with that big, sweet smile, waves, and says, "Hi!"

Cadi has been looking forward to her holiday show at school for weeks! She has practiced for us, told us all about the arrangements of who is paired up with who, gone over her costume, etc. Today she headed off to school with holiday colored nails and making sure to wear an outfit that would work with the costume she would be wearing. Two hours before the first performance I got a call from school, Cadi's sick! She has a temp of 100 degrees and wasn't feeling well at all. She kept telling them she didn't want to come home - she wanted to be in the show! But, of course that wasn't really a very good idea. So I picked her up and she came home. :( I feel so sad for her! She worked so hard for this show! There is another show later tonight and she is hoping I'll let her go but I just don't think that would be smart. Poor girl!

Picture a Christmas

As usual, I'm behind on posting pictures.  However, the oldest pics are only two weeks old, so it's not THAT bad.  Plus, they are all Christmas related and we're still in the Christmas Season so let's just pretend that I planned it this way, okay? ;)

I LOVE this time of year!  We have so many fun traditions and activities!  One of our favorite, newer traditions is attending the annual Festival of the Nativities that our stake hosts each year.  I think this is their 6th year and every year it seems to get bigger and bigger, better and better.   Here are some pictures from our experience this year (pictures taken two weeks ago):

First of all, we went on Sunday so we were still in our church clothes, we don't usually "dress up" to go to the nativities, it just worked out that way this time. 

This room is the "Home Sweet Home" room, they make it look like you're in someone's home.  It's cozy and warm and they have the cutest nativities in it!





The cultural hall has hundreds of different nativities set up.  There are so many different kinds!  Elegant, unique, international... It takes awhile to look at them all!







After we look at all of the displayed nativities (over 600 in all!), we go to the Children's rooms.  It's the girls' reward for being patient and well-behaved in the other rooms.  In the children's room, there are hand-on, kid-friendly nativities.  Finally nativities we can touch and play with!  Rori just loved running around (surprise, surprise!), Cadi liked dressing up and getting pictures at the stable.

















And finally, before we left, we visited Joseph's Workshop where Cadi made a little decoration (Jesus in a manger) and colored a picture.

Last weekend, we visited our good friends in Idaho.  This is another tradition.  When we lived in Idaho, we became such close friends and since most of us didn't have family close by, we started celebrating holidays together.  Now that we've all spread out a little bit and don't get to see each other as much, we make an effort to visit at least every Christmas season and have our annual Christmas Party.  It's ALWAYS a blast!  We keep adding more and more kids, so it's getting bigger and bigger every year - but that just means more fun, right?  Here are some pics:











We started this gift exchange when there was only one kid in the group.  Now we have a kids' gift exchange and an adult exchange.  The stories are usually pretty fun - about Riley Right.  Left, right, right, left, and... LOTS OF LAUGHTER!





The next day, on our way to church, we stopped by the Twin Falls, ID temple.  It is almost finished and should be operating sometime in the next year!





Later that night, we read the scriptures about Christ's birth and let the children act it out.  This is always pretty entertaining.  No one dressed up to play their part this year... except for Sleeping Beauty. ;)











And that brings us to THIS weekend!  Last night, we went to our ward Christmas party.  The children did a great job on the Nativity...









And finally, here are some random pics from the last few weeks...

Rori LOVES playing with the Fisher Price Nativity set...





And now that we have our front room finished, I actually get to put up a tree in our front window!  We have a tree in our family room that is fun and has all our ornaments that contain lots of special memories but the front room tree is my "pretty tree".  I like how it turned out...



Was that enough photos?  I think I've gotten us all caught up!  If you actually made it through all that, you are loyal readers, for sure!  We hope you are enjoying your holiday season as much as we are! :)