Happy Day after Christmas...

Angelo once said to me, 25 years ago today, in the little town of Caltanissetta, Italy
 in the cutest broken English I've ever heard,
 "Happy Day after Christmas!!!

It's one of those sweet memories that will be forever engraved in my heart, mind and soul!

I can still see him standing there in my minds eye, and because he really meant what he said,
 is exactly why it has stayed with me all these years and every day after Christmas,
that phrase pops into my mind, and I smile and cry at the same time! I loved my mission! 

(some times....)

just like every missionary, some days were great and some were not so much!

Anyway,

we had a nice 2013 Christmas...

I have to admit, that I have been feeling quite like the Grinch since Halloween,

I wasn't really ready for all the hoopla that sometime can come with Christmas,

I just wanted it to be as simple and as sweet as it should be.

So, I didn't start decorating immediately,

(as I've done in years past!)

I slowly picked the things I wanted to pull out as decorations,

I wanted it to feel more rustic and more Christ-like, and it did to me!

The kids seem to enjoy what they received,

 Kurt and I have never gone overboard with giving them gifts galore,

so, I feel very lucky because they are always grateful for what they get...

Yes,
I'm sure, they sometimes wish they were getting all the new electrical gadget that all there friends get...
but,
 they don't seem to complain about it, at least not to my face, or they would be adding a new shiner to their list of gifts,
something I'm sure there friends wouldn't even think about asking Santa for! ha, ha.

I got a new phone with big buttons so I can actually see it,
being able to see is kind-of important to me!

which,

was a complete surprise, since I didn't ask for one, I've dropped my old phone so many times that it had these two big black dots on the screen,  but I just thought it added more character to my phone,
it still worked, kind-of, it started dropping calls and text messages...

anyway,
 Christmas morning I hear this phone ringing in the garland on top of the mantle,

all the kids of course, are acting surprised and saying "mom, you better go check it out"

so, of course, I did, and of course, it was a nice nifty new phone,

now,

 it's just going to take me forever to figure it all out!

 but, I ain't complaining!!!! 

I'll leave you with a few photo's of our day!

Lynzie and I had a good story to remember about our p.j.'s this year....
we'll save that story for another day!

Kurt got a lot of clothes that he needed,
but
 lets just pre-tend that he is such a sexy model and sooo photogenic that it just wouldn't be right to show them all to ya. One is enough!

Spencer got some new shoes, 

(will his feet ever stop growing! If anyone needs to barrow some backwoods snowshoes,

 you can barrow his new tennis shoes, they're grey with a beautiful blue color!)

and a gun with a scope...everyone needs one of those, right?

Lynzie gave this to Caitlyn...it said,

"Exercise, I thought you said Accessorize!!!!

Truer words could not have been spoken about our little fashionista!
of course,
our little shoe-horse added a few new pairs of boots to her collection,
and a computer for all the studying that she will be doing in college.

and Candice spent her time with both families, (I didn't get a picture of her)
 we did give her a portable esthetics/message table! HOORAY!!!
and a new vacuum,
Spencer was trying to give her a hint of what it was, he kept saying, "your gift really sucks"!
 I asked her if she wanted to try it out to see if it worked/sucked on my rugs
but
she declined!!!

Lynzie got a real pink basketball, at first I thought Caitlyn was so excited for her,
but,
 then upon further examination....
she is yawning!!!
 hey, don't judge folks,
 apparently it's like really, really early.... like 7:30 am!!!!

she got cute clothes, cuz, #1- she is a girl and
#2- because she keeps growing!
she also got a computer too.

I didn't take a lot of pictures this year, as we were just laughing and enjoying being in the moment.
We hope ya'all had a Merry Christmas with a re-newed love for Our Savior.




P.S. remember how I was feeling a little grinchy this year, well, I didn't get my Christmas cards sent out just yet....
so now, they will be New Years Cards instead!

love ya.

twenty.....

BUON  COMPLEANNO!!!


(and many, many more...)

Steve....

It's been nine years!

and, 

although my heart is not ripped out like it has in the past, 

it's still intact, and beating.

it still hurts....

because, sometimes you want someone here instead of there!

 and sometimes life seems a little unfair because of that.

but,

 that is just my opinion!

I really like this Santa Clause...

one,

 because he is full of detail and he's wearing a green suit instead of a red one, 

he has a lot of character and details and I like that about him.

 One year when Steve and Heather were married they always made the coolest gifts.

they didn't gifted me the Santa but.....

(Thanks Heather)

 Heather had made all of us girls a Christmas swag with unique California pine cones, that she picked up from California.....
these pine cones are flatter like a flower instead of those long tall pine cones that we are use to seeing everywhere everday,
I've always tried to keep mine special and intact. It's quite fragile after all these years.

It reminds me of the good ole' days when Steve was happy with his little family.

He brought a happiest into my life, and into others lives and seemed to lift my burdens by just reminding me "not to sweat the small stuff," that is a gift if you ask me,
 cuz not everyone has that ability!

I like this Santa, it reminds me of Steve

and, 

that makes me smile....

*this is one of my favorite picture of Steve and his little son Arik,

who I think was about 2 or 3 years old at the time.

(we just came across it a couple of months ago!)

Steve traveled a lot all over the world and so when he was home, he was home and enjoyed his family,

I think this picture kind-of says it all.

I can feel the love just jumping off the page.

pictures can speak a thousand words sometimes!!!

don't ya think?

we still love and miss you everyday Steve.

You better watch out, and you better not pout....

 I got the awesome opportunity to sit on Santa's lap a few weekends ago..... 

it was a magical experience, 

one that doesn't happen every year, in fact, I think I sat on ole' St. Nick's lap about 15 years ago,

 but, 

this one was just a little extra special to me....

CUZ, THIS CUTE OLE' ST. NICK JUST HAPPENED TO BE... 

MY DAD!!!

(one is never to old to sit on Santa's lap.)

He's since clean shaven again, dang-it!

Memories!!!

Heads are going to roll...

 Ohhh Thanksgiving...2013

*Lynzie was sick.
*Our fridge hose broke, which caused a water leak in Caitlyn's room. 

*Mrs Pilgrim (aka Martha) head fell off.
and
*Mr. Pilgrim (aka George) can't stand up by himself...(only on hard surfaces)

George and Martha make a good pair, those two.

BUT

all in all

it was a nice day,

the food was delicious and it was so nice to hang out as a family

we were low keyed,

 my mom and dad came up later that evening for a little left-overs....