a HO, HO, HO, was had by all!

I got an droid x smart phone,

and all I know, is that it's actually smarter than me!

but, since I'm so blind it's nice to have something so big that I can actually see!

electric scooters...

Oh, just modeling our new Christmas p.j's...

guess what?

try not to be jealous but.....

I got a glass figurine from a truck stop!

yep, that's just one of the many, many blessings of having a husband who is a trucker!!!

a cherish heirloom or a perfect white elephant gift???

Christmas 2010

Luke 2:15

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

Matthew 2:11

And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

(this got me thinking of what "gift" I could give the Savior when I see him again,

thats when my missionary memories came flooding back, and just wanting to be that much better as a parent,

remembering that there really is no greater gift than,

helping others come to known their Savior and to feel of His love!)

Luke 2:16

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

I opened my last gift of the baby Jesus this morning,

Isn't it the sweetest manger set, it really is, I wish you could see it up close,

all the expressions on there little faces are so sweet...

Thank you Amy and Shona for the true gift of Christmas.

I'm grateful for the birth of our Savior...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

.

swaddling...

Believe it or not....

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping,

the last 2 days I've been able to knock it out,

it's been fun to shop at midnight,

there are enough others shoppers so it's not scary to be there in the middle of the night,

but

not so many people that it's Christmas crazy and your waiting in long lines...

altho, I did have a thought through all the craziness,

we need to start a "movement" and get Christmas back to were it should be....

it's stressful and I'm sure I'm not the only parent that thinks it's stressful in trying to come up with all the extra time, and money....

not to sound like The Grinch' but it's all become too commercialized

just like every other holiday in this country.

I love simple and sweet...

speaking of,

let's end on a simple, sweet spiritual note,

my gift this morning was another

*wiseman,

and I let Lynzie open this one, she was just as touched as I have been,

Luke 2:11-12

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

(I totally got chocked up reading this one.)

I learned something about swaddling this year that I wanted to share with you;

During Biblical times after a baby was born it was washed,
rubbed with salt then oil and lastly swaddled. Swaddling was accomplished by tying strips of cloth together and then wrapping them around the baby to restrict movement. Swaddling kept the child warm, and it was thought that it also ensured that the baby would grow strong without deformity. Because of this a swaddled baby took on the metaphor of being a loved and cared for child. Thus Ezekiel says of Israel,

“And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut,

neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee: thou was not salted at all,

nor swaddled at all” (Ezekiel 16:4).

In other words, because of Israel’s wickedness they have been abandoned and not cared for.

Perhaps the reason Luke gave us this small detail about Mary swaddling her baby was to help us realize how much she loved this child and to let us know He was well cared for.

To learn more about all the symbols of Christmas

and read an amazing blog,

go here.

To all a good night!

days 4, 5 & 6....

day 4;

Luke 2:8

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

*A little sheppard boy kneeling on one knee, with a satchel over his shoulder,

and he is holding a little lamb.

day 5;

Luke 2:9-10

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

*a beautiful little angel girl in a crimson colored dress.

day 6;

Luke 2: 13-14

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

*one of the 3 kings, bringing a gift for the baby Jesus.

I am still enjoying opening a gift each and every day,

and this morning when I woke up at 2:oo a.m.

I opened my gift for today because it was officially today, right?!

Caitlyn is 17....

It's actually Monday, but to me it's still Sunday, I haven't gone to bed yet....

Caitlyn's 17th birthday,

she was actually born on a Sunday morning 17 years ago....

I remember being woken up around 7 that morning, cuz something didn't feel right,

and wahla, sure enough, I was in labor,

and so true to a Caitlyn attribute,

I skipped the first stage of labor and was on my way, very fast and intensely, to the second stage,

(it makes me laugh cuz Caitlyn is still like that, she is a fast learner and likes to get thing done, she doesn't mess around!)

she was a few days late, her due date was on the 14th of December,

and I remember I was so ornery and tired of being pregnant and if one more person called me on the phone to ask if I'd had the baby yet... someone was going to get hurt!

Kurt called our Dr. and was relaying information to him,

(because, I was to ornery to talk),

about when labor started and how far apart the contraction were, and he, Dr. Campbell, had the nerve to tell me that he thought it would be awhile and to call him back in a few hours,

(Dr. Campbell delivered both Candice and Caitlyn,

he use to call them, Candi, the dandy and Cate, the great!

he was the best doctor....

Charlottesville, Virginia)

Hint..... don't try to tell a pregnant women her own business!

well, I remember saying to Kurt,

"well, you two can sit and talk on the phone and decide when you want to show up at the hospital BUT I'm going to the hospital now to have this baby"!

that's when I walked out the door, that's when Kurt realized I was serious and ready to go!!!!

When we got to the hospital sure enough, I was ready to go,

but, I had passed the window of opportunity to have an epidural,

I had just had Candice naturally 13 months earlier so my body knew what to do,

so hooray for me, I was having a natural childbirth again!

it really wasn't that bad!

my Dr. did arrive in time, and Caitlyn was born just right after that!

We loved her the moment we saw her...

We had a few names picked out,

both boys and girl names cuz at our ultrasound appt. they told us 90 percent chance it was a girl but don't paint the room pink just yet...

when she was born, unlike Candice, we didn't know what to name her,

our #1 name for her was Miranda, (a family name)

but for some reason, it just wasn't right,

I remember thinking, this girl has a name, I just don't know what it is yet?

The next day after she had spent the morning with me in my room, I sent her to the nursery so I could get some sleep, everything was quiet and my heart was just so full for this new baby,

I had just closed my eyes when I heard "Caitlyn" it was so loud,

I opened my eyes and sat up,

I sat up so fast, I winched in pain....I couldn't believe what I had just heard, and thought someone was in the hall, I sat there and listened to hear where it had come from, but again, everything was quiet and still....

I reached over and wrote Caitlyn on my bedside table, picked up the phone,

called Kurt, and said "come on over, I have her name".

When I said the name out loud to him, he just let the name soak in for a few seconds and then smiled...

Caitlyn is a common name nowadays, but 17 years ago, I had only heard it one other time years earlier from a sister in my mom's ward.

We are so glad to have Caitlyn in our family,

this morning as Kurt was saying our family prayer, he got all chocked up as he thanked our Heavenly Father for giving us the gift of Caitlyn, we are lucky to have her...

Happy Birthday Caity!!!

We love you!