Merry Christmas!

This is what reminds me of Christmas...a German Christmas! My mother was always so great at baking cookies, decorating the house, and just making Christmas nice. We have maintained a lot of those same traditions at our home. I spoke to my brother, Dusty. I have not spoken to him in awhile...you know life just gets in the way of important things like that. It shouldn't. My brother is a very special guy to me. He is my youngest brother, and I have always loved him. I remember when he was brought home from the hospital...I had a cold, and my Mom told me not to kiss him. I did it anyway--he is just irresistible. Adrien, my son, reminds me a lot of Dusty--they have the same personality, expressions and sense of humor. It was great talking to him, and I am proud to be his sister! Yet amid the gift giving, eating, traditions, and connecting with love ones...Christmas is about sacrifice. The sacrifice of our Heavenly Father allowing his only begotten Son to come to earth. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ coming here taking upon Him our errors and mistakes. He is the way, the truth, and the light! In the immortal words of Tiny Tim, "God bless us, everyone!"

More Christmas Pictures......

A Rootin Tootin Early Christmas....

Yes, you did SEE Santa on Friday night! We had the elder's over for a Christmas Eve meal. We had Ham, pineapple souffle (Thanks, Jae), green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls,stuffing..it was awesome! Theo made nearly everything, but the souffle.I actually was allowed entrance into the sacred kitchen of Theobald, and I got security cooking clearance to make the souffle. We had Christmas music blaring all day! The kids opened their new pj's, and immediately put them on. We also had a meat and cheese tray to munch on. Then the kids went to bed. The picture with the wrapping paper on the hallway entrance is a tradition with us. This safeguards the downstairs for Santa, and is fun for the kids to break through in the morning..notice a hand on the side..the rest is the kids opening their gifts! Notice Adrien's reaction to the videogame he received...also watch out for the underwear cowboy!Thanks to the many that helped with Christmas this year!

Mickey Dee's

A good friend of ours owns a few McDonald's. She invited us out for a meal, and then I was to go home with her to do genealogy (a win for me all the way!)It was really neat for us to just go in and order whatever we wanted...Brett really likes the Happy Meal toys, so Amy just handed him one of each toy! Brett also disappeared with Amy on a tour of the back of the restaurant. Brett was in awe at the burgers cooking and all of the "cookers"...It was a fun night with our friend. Later, I stayed at her house until 3am searching for ancestors..we were quite successful...and it was a great spiritual experience!Oh by the way...Brett's front tooth is loose! He is just 4..I find this quite odd....

Elf on Lake Toho

We got to enjoy a great evening out--FREE! The City of St. Cloud plays movies once a month on the lakefront of Lake Tohopekaliga. We love the lake which is covers over 18k acres. One Friday night we bundled up Brett and Adrien, blankets, snacks, and watched Elf, the featured movie. We had a great time! It was freezing at about 60 degrees. As you can see from the photos some people had a little nap....:)

ICE, ICE... BABY! Who says it ain't cold in Florida?

Young Women activity was a special one this past Tuesday! All of us attended "Ice!" This is an indoor walking tour held at a ritzy hotel in the area. Basically everything is made of ice. You get these huge coats to wear in the 9 degree temp, "free hot cocoa" and get to slide down an ice slide. Vanessa and I thought it was HILARIOUS when the announcer asked people NOT to stick their tongues on any of the sculptures! Remember, all of these pictures are ICE. It was dark, dark in there, and my camera is not the best! I got kinda misty-eyed feeling cold. Reminded me of home in Indiana. The cold did not really bother Vanessa or I, but some folks that showed up in shorts was freezing their "mahookees" (made-up Brett word) off! It really was fun horsing around and listening to the 5 Beehives buzzing about that "hot boy, Adrien." What was REALLY funny is when they asked me if I thought he was cute! You should have seen their faces when I explained that he is my son! Vanessa said that asked her if she was going out with Adrien! She said, "Idiots. He is my brother." Love that kid!

It's FHE with our favorite missionaries!

Will there be snow? No. Will there be a cheery fireplace to hang stockings by? Nope. Will Jack Frost come "nipping at our noses?" nada. Do we hang our heads and cry? No cause TheoSanta is coming to town!..and we are in Florida...warm. Yes, another fun filled crazy time at the annual "lighting of the Theo tree." As you can see a few pics down EggNoggin slap-happy people! I hope everyone enjoys Todd's new tattoo. He thinks he is Irish and a member of a motorcycle club..I have told him 3 times that we are members of a jelly-of-the-month club... called Harley Jellies, but eh? This year Todd was in charge of Christmas music, hot cocoa, egg nog and snacks. He made the elders and Adrien get the boxes out of the garage...Vanessa and the elders hung ornaments along with santa's little elf, "Brett." Everyone decorated our Gingerbread "garage"...yeah, you heard right..not house.. but garage..c'mon look at it--would you wanna live there? Brett made his best angry reindeer face. don't ask. The elders had a great time! These are our favorite so far..they are not in our ward, but sneak over because we are fun....ok, ok, for free food. Our tree leans to the RIGHT...which is fine for us conservatives:)