The blue tree

As I was walking through the thrift store a month or so ago and saw this outdoor Christmas tree with faded blue lights I knew I had to have it. I set it up one night just after thanksgiving and loved just the way it was.

But when I pulled out the Christmas decorations I found a bunch of blue ornaments that I had gotten last year at Targets after Christmas sales. I thought they would look pretty on the blue tree and the kids really wanted to decorate it so I let them.

Joseph only pulled down like 20. smile.

Gracie put these "brothers" together. She loved pretending that they are alive.

I loved the way her hands would cup each ornament after she hung it.

We listened to Christmas music, danced to a little Mariah and had a really fun time.

She moves like a dream

The day after the ward party Russ had to go to a continuing education class and it was Gracie's dance recital so Connie (because she is awesome) said she would come over help me. She ended up coming over earlier because we woke up not feeling well. Especially William, he really wasn't feeling well. We watched movies all day and wrapped fabric and yarn around stuff (making Christmas decorations) until it was time to get ready to go.

Look at her pose! I didn't tell her to do that, she was just standing like that.

Here she is so excited and sitting with "her girls".

She danced to a mermaid song and she did so well.

The only problem was that she would turn around to look at a girl behind her a lot.

This move is really tricky for these little girls and they did it so well.

Check her out! Big finish!

Connie brought flowers for her.

And after it was all done she wanted to go and dance on the stage some more. Watching all that dancing really inspired her.

When we came out we found that it had rained and that there was a beautiful rainbow. On the way home we stopped by the cemetery to visit my nephew Miles grave. Three years ago he passed away and we can't wait to see him again.

The month of December

I finally took a moment to get the pictures off my camera and decided I better do a few posts. Here are some pictures of our ward party last Friday. I am really proud of myself for taking my actual camera and taking pictures. I have not done that a lot lately. I know the kids will like looking back on these pictures. I have very fond memories of parties at the church when I was a kid.

Scoping out the dessert table.

How sweet is Jonah in this picture?

The somehow convinced Spencer to dress up like a wise man.

I love the intense look on her face.

Joseph and Jessica playing with the (plastic) ornaments.

and now check out Owen's dessert plate...

Don't worry the Wise Man came and told him he would be sharing it with the whole table.

after this was over Connie came and joined all the ladies for a trip out to the crafeteria boutique. It was a lovely evening/night.

YW in excellence

We had a lovely Young Women in excellence. We invited the whole ward since we don't have a lot of young women and we want the to have all the support they can get. It turned out really good. Thanks to Angela for taking pictures and Jessica for having awesome stuff like the signs.

And Kathryn from the crazy awesome blog I Heart Mesa came and did cotton candy which was a HUGE hit (especially for my kids). Thank goodness I save everything I ever do cause everything I used was something I had used before.

I DID IT!

There has been something that I have been meaning to do for months and just never sat down to do it (okay it takes more than sitting down, but you know what I mean). I have been collecting vintage clothes and I finally listed some of them on etsy. Hopefully this is not an isolated incident:) If you are a local and want to purchase something contact me and I will take the shipping off for you. And if you know someone who is interested in vintage clothing please send them my way. 

debsfreckles etsy shop