C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

C- Cookies, Candy, Cocoa, all the things I am afraid of eating too much of!

H- Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? I celebrate Christmas & say Merry Christmas.

R- Relatives, lots and lots of relatives... Whether they come to visit or you go to see them... Could be good or could be...? For me it is a treat!

I- Itchy dry skin always hits me near Christmas. Tragic!

S- Songs. I love Christmas songs, but please not 24 hours a day from Thanksgiving Day! I especially love the children singing.

T- Tree, goes up the Saturday after Thanksgiving and comes down New Year's Day.

M- Money gets spent so easily this time of the year! In one hand and out the other. I am so glad for an "Allocated Spending Plan"!

A- Aromas. The smells of Christmas are amazing. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, pine, and my newest favorite, Snowberry from Scentsy, yum!

S- Savior. God came as a baby, to save me from my wretchedness. I love Christmas because even in the midst of all the C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A, there is an "S", a baby who grew to be a man, perfect without sin, God in the flesh who came to redeem, even me!

I hope you all had a Christmas that was memorable and meaningful, especially in regards to the joy and hope given to all of us in the person of Jesus Christ!

(My computer is being upgraded and I am using Scott's laptop, so no pics at this time, sorry!)

Black Friday

4:45 a.m., great sales, some money, and a few of my favorite women (my mom, sis, and 2 sis in laws). Need I say more?

The Loot - believe me the kids wish they knew what was in the bags!

Thanksgiving and a Birthday

We celebrated Thanksgiving with friends and family at our church's fellowship hall due to the size of our group. It was a very nice time together. We even celebrated Ethan's (my nephew) 2nd birthday! Here are some pics of our time together.

Yummy turkey! Scott carved it up for us all to enjoy.
Cutie pie, Jenna, really wanting some dessert.

Some of us enjoying our dinner.

Birthday boy in his turkey hat (Manda made it for him).

Looking at the sisters it is hard to believe that Manda was sick with the stomach flu about 6 hours later. Then her dad got it too before going to bed. Thankfully they were the last in our home to come down with it! Scott brags that he actually lost weight on Thanksgiving this year.

Stopped in Traffic for WAY TOO Long on an 8 Hour Drive!

BEWARE THIS MAY FRIGHTEN YOU! IT FRIGHTENS ME THAT I WOULD EVEN POST SOMETHING SO... well... UGLY!

Stress release at its ugliest.
Nathan (my bro-in-law) trying to freak us out!

My baby sister, Kerstin. Don't ask... must be a California thing;)

All I can say is, on our way to the funeral, we were stopped for an hour and a half about 45 minutes north of Reno, aghhhh!!! We were going stir crazy... Adults... No kids... Wait I guess we were the kids... After we started moving again we learned that a semi-truck had completely incinerated on the side of the freeway. It appeared from what we could tell that the driver had not been hurt... I hope that was really the case.

Quizzing Stars!

My oldest two girls are involved in Bible Quizzing. They are such smart kids. They work hard, studying each week, memorizing verses and learning about the book of Exodus. Each girl was rewarded well for their efforts at the years first Quiz Meet in November. Hannah was on the 2nd place team, won a gold medal for missing only one question and had perfect memory for her verses! Manda was on the 1st place team, had a perfect score and also had perfect memory. I love watching them learn God's word in such a terrific way!

Costume Fun! (a very belated post!)

We did our Halloween and Harvest Party fun with the Potter kids and the cousins. From left to right, Brendon, Katelyn, Paige "Nastia", Manda (biker girl), Hannah (50's lady), Jenna "Shawn Johnson" and in the front, Ethan "Elmo". Don't they look GREAT!
Uncle Scott I don't want a picture taken, I want my cupcake!

My 3 Ladies! Too cute!