Merry Christmas

Wow! It has been so long since I've added anything to my blog. This season runs me ragged! If it wasn't so worth it in the end, I think I'd skip it and do it maybe every other year. But it is so fun to have family close and to see all the good cheer in the world. Even the shopping is bearable most of the time. I haven't run into any grabbers and pushers this season. Most everyone has been very cordial and patient in the gigantic lines.

Right around Thanksgiving time, Lindsay, Emma-Leigh, Maci, and I (along with some of Lindsay's in-laws) went to a demonstration to learn how to make chocolates. They taught us to make chocolate covered cherries, Almond Joy/Mounds, peppermint patties, cream filled chocolates, turtles, peanut butter cups, and other things that were so fun. So a couple of weeks later, Lindsay came down here to Soda Springs and we spent the whole day making chocolates. We were very ambitious and weren't smart enough to realize that we needed to start off crawlling and learn to run later. We tackled the whole shebang at once. We made pretty much every kind of chocolate that was demonstrated to us. We used 6 pounds of chocolate and every filling imaginable. But we turned out some pretty good chocolates for beginners. Next time we will probably narrow our scope and only do a couple of our favorites.Lindsay bought a golf ball mold and made peanut butter golf balls for Ronnie to give to his coworkers. They turned out pretty well and she was pretty proud of them.


Logan reached another milestone in his life this past week also. We went to Rexburg on December 12th for his graduation from BYU-Idaho. Elder Uchtdorf was the speaker. He is always so awesome to listen to. Afterward he spoke, then we went to a different building and listened to a couple of more speakers and saw Logan get is "fake diploma" as he called it. He, of course gets a real one in the mail when his credits are verified.
Afterward, we all went to Idaho Falls and ate at Garcia's to celebrate. Of course, by the time the graduation was over and we got to Idaho Falls from Rexburg, it was 10:00 p.m. The good thing about it was that we pretty much had the restaurant to ourselves. The bad thing was that a storm came in and we all had to drive home in it. We got back to Soda Springs after 1:00 a.m.


Last year I got a Shih Tzu that I named Rhoda after my great granny Cluff. She had beautiful long hair but her hair picked up everything it touched, including snow. Sometimes she had so much snow balled up on her belly that she could hardly walk. It couldn't be pulled off without pulling her hair out with it so we always had to put her in the sink under hot water to melt it off. I decided that I just didn't want to spend time doing that this year so she got a haircut this week. Here are some before and after pictures.


This season is so full of parties and fun but I hope I never get so busy that I forget that this season is really about the birth of our Savior. He is the reason for the season and I'm so happy to have His blessings in my life. And I guess my greatest Christmas present this year will be the opportunity to talk to my missionary. He has been out almost 11 months now and will have his 20th birthday the day after Christmas. He is a true blessing in my life.

Merry Christmas to all and may your 2009 be filled with my blessings and prosperity.