Its a blizzard out there!.....

Wow. Talk about a snow storm. It started at about noon today and didnt stop until after 7pm. I went to pick up Ian from Chess club after school and noticed I was low on fuel....like really low....but I did not want to get out in that mess so I thought I would just pick Ian up and then get gas later. I shouldnt have listened to myself. 3 blocks after I picked him up, I abruptly ran out of gas. No chugging and sputtering....just immediate engine failure. Nice. I did manage to get out of the middle of the road and thankfully I brought my cell phone with me since I wasnt wearing socks and walking to a phone would have proved very chilly. I called my brother to come to my rescue because Denver was at home watching this very brothers child and didnt have a carseat for him. Big thanks to Nate and Alisa for braving the weather and putting gas in my car. Ian was so upset about the incident he declared "This is the worst holiday beginning EVER! " (it was his last day of school for the Christmas break)

So, after that fiasco, we spent the rest of the afternoon trying to warm up. We lost power to the house a couple of times which meant pizza for dinner....the delivery guy didnt look too thrilled with having to be out in that mess. I dont blame him but am grateful that he brought us our dinner. Then I had to go to work and that was interesting driving 20 miles per hour on the freeway. Now it is 1:00 in the morning.....I am home and off to bed. Apparently the snow is supposed to resume tomorrow (today). Looks like we will have a white Christmas thats for sure!

Let it snow.....

This is the view out of my front window. It is so quiet when it snows.....I love it. Got home from work late so I decided to sleep in and take the kids to school late. Perfect day to do it too....

Addie Scissorhands....

Addison decided to cut her own hair....grrrrrrrrrrrr. After I got done blaming all the boys in the household, I realized that the little stinker must have done it herself (with the scissors that Denver kindly left out for her....hey, I have to blame someone more responsible than her). Thankfully the damage was minor and is reasonably able to be hidden. This time. I shudder to think what it would have looked like if she had been the least bit coodinated with them. Luckily she has not mastered the art of scissors yet.

Ring, Christmas Bells......

I received a real treat last night when I was able to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choirs' Christmas concert. This concert is so difficult to get tickets for that I dont even bother trying. I have an aunt and an uncle who both sing in the choir but they are only given enough tickets for their immediate families and sometimes it isnt even enough for that. So.....when my aunt called me the other to offer me one of the tickets she received, well, she didnt have to twist my arm! Big thanks to Angela (my cousin) for giving up her ticket to me! This years guests (they always have special guests) were Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herrmann. There was some speculation that maybe this year they got Josh Groban as the guest but unfortunately that didnt happen.....Im still hoping for that..... A month ago when I saw who the guests were going to be, I wondered if it would be that good. I didnt know who Brian Stokes Mitchell was and Edward Hermann will always be the guy from The Lost Boys.....(awesome 80's vampire movie) so I wasnt sure what he was going to add to the event. Well, I was very pleasantly surprised. Mr. Mitchell was very good.....very broadway....but very good. He has a really beautiful voice with a huge range and I enjoyed some of his songs quite a bit. Of course I was left wishing for a few more choir pieces but maybe I am biased :) I have to say the highlight for me was the reading that Edward Hermann gave. He told a story about a family who suffered a lot of loss during the civil war era and how they managed to still have hope at Christmas. The orchestra played in the background as he told the story and he told it with so much feeling that I may have believed it to be a true story about him.....I think he even was crying at one point. Very moving. I loved it. He also told the story of Christ's birth from Luke at the end which was awesome. They had dancers and bell ringers and it was a really beautiful concert. We had great seats too thanks to Grandma and her wheelchair. I can never get enough of the choir though and wished there had been a couple more pieces by them.

Not much else going on over here. Just seems that I have no time and yet I cant figure out why. Its this time of year I think. My lack of posting shows that I have been preoccupied with other things. I'll work on it......

The Value of Time.....

My Aunt Chrissy sent me this little thought/poem about the value of time. I could personally relate to more than one of them as I know she can too so I wanted to share it......

To realize The value of a sister...

Ask someoneWho doesn't have one.

To realize The value of ten years...

Ask a newly Divorced couple.

To realize The value of four years...

Ask a graduate

To realize The value of one year...

Ask a student who Has failed a final exam.

To realize The value of nine months...

Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize The value of one month....

Ask a mother who has given birth to A premature baby.

To realize The value of one week...

Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize The value of one minute...

Ask a person Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize The value of one-second...

Ask a person Who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of a friend or family member:

LOSE ONE.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have.

You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

Ian's Baptism.....

So, today was the big day. Ian has patiently waited an extra month for his chance to get baptized. We bought him a nice suit for the occasion and he looked very sharp. His own words this morning were...."I look pretty handsome in this..." He was very composed and I am so very proud of him. Dad got up and introduced him to the congregation and listed a few of his favorite things: Fave Primary song: "Called to Serve" Fave scripture story: Daniel in the Lions Den and also what are some of his Christlike qualities. Denver said that Ian's was love. He loves people and has always had a hug for anyone who would let him do it... ever since he was 18 months old. We decided to wait for his confirmation to be done tomorrow during our church services. After the baptism, we went to the Olive Garden for lunch. This was Ian's choice for "fancy restaurants to eat at on his special day" . Nate and Alisa & Soren came with us as well. It was a really nice day and most importantly, Ian is happy. Here are a few pics from the day.

Evan really wanted to try on Ian's suit.....funny thing is that it nearly fits him anyway. We just recently discovered that the boys have the same size foot already. I think Evan is going to be VERY tall.