Family Christmas Fun

Saturday we started our day out with a 5k run/walk/rode. It was rainy and a bit chilly, but we were all warmed by the Christmas spirit as we gathered for the race. Some young friends of ours from the ward sponsored a race with a small registration fee to collect money for needy families. We weren’t really planning on keeping up with the runners, but we did want to be moral support--we thought that the fun run was a great idea and a worthy cause, so we joined the runners, walkers and riders out in the sprinkling rain along the trail at a local library. Lucky for us they found a way for us to truly contribute--pushing a stroller to help with kid control! Perfect way for us to participate!

After Kelsey got off of work we headed to meet Maryn and go to the temple. We all did our own thing at the temple and then met back up to get some dinner and walk the temple grounds through all the lights. It was rainy up in Mesa too, but that just added to the beauty and the fun. The lights were reflected so beautifully in all the wetness around us and what better excuse to bundle up?!!

Here are some of my favorite shots…the last one being of my silly family. As I was trying to get down low for a different angle..suddenly there were “heads” appearing in my shot. We got a good laugh out of that one…maybe it is another you had to be there moment. I don’t know. It still makes me laugh today!

Snow!

Finally…we have something that looks like winter is really going to happen this year!

tWeLve-12-twelve

Here is what I was doing at

12:12 on 12/12/12

And just to make this momentous day even more memorable I emailed my family and asked them to send me their photos of  what they were doing at the same time. After they sent them I made this quick layout.

O Come Emmanuel

Loving this today!

This is by the Piano Guys, one of our favorites around here. We don’t spend hardly any time on YouTube, but we have seen all of their stuff that we could find. We love them.

Abundant Lemons

Look at my tree! We will drinking A LOT of lemonade around here!

We love fresh lemonade, so that is probably true, but all these lemons will give us the perfect opportunity to share with family and friends.

Kelsey and I went out to collect all the lemons on the tree and almost filled two laundry baskets! This chore turned into such fun. I don’t know if you can tell, but Kelsey’s hair is…a mess. She was in a ponytail with her bangs pinned back and as she crawled under and around the tree the branches kept pulling little tuffs and bumps out of her smooth pony tail. By the time we were done it gave us a good laugh…but I think it might be one of those “you had to be there” moments.

Christmas Concert

Tonight was the first of many nights that will be spent at Christmas Concerts in the next couple weeks. We like to support the youth in the ward with their choir, band and jazz concerts. Tonight was a different venue…one we haven’t been to for quite a few years. We went to elementary school concerts! While Ellie and Hunter were here for Thanksgiving, they told us about their concerts from school, so we marked them on the calendar, so that we wouldn’t forget. We thought maybe they would be with us by now, but just the same, we wanted to give them some more support. They both had their performances on the same night, so it was a bit of a scramble to get them both in. First, we went to Hunter’s school and watched him perform in the 1st grade “Winter Wonderland”—a medley of holiday favorites. Then we raced over to another school, where Ellie was playing her violin. They had already started, but we were able to watch her perform a few numbers. They seemed to enjoy that we were there and we were able to meet their older sister Kassie, her boyfriend and two little boys. We called it family home evening, so it was a win/win for everyone!

November Collage

Another close to another month and 2012 is almost history.

November was a great month, busy with good things, but not so many good pictures. When I get busier I seem to forget the camera more often. Something to work on for next year.

Of course the highlight of the month was Thanksgiving and we were fortunate to spend it with family and friends.

A short description of the photos:  All the women gathered in my room for a Twilight marathon, in preparation for the new movie, we had a great activity with the youth—a photographic scavenger hunt of things we were grateful for, Brianne made this cute creation depicting our thanksgiving feast, Kelsey got a new t-shirt, Tyler was held hostage...till he would conform to be on the right side of the rivalry game, Grace and I, and one week of November was spent with sickness.

That about wraps it up!