Ice Skating with the Youth

 On Wednesday (Dec 29) we went ice skating with the Youth.  Louisville has a really cool outside pavilion that they turn into an outdoor rink. It was fun to go ice skating outside and it was a beautiful day!!

 

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Christmas has come and gone and it was great and full of Family fun and memories.  We spend Christmas Eve at the Newson’s with a traditional ham feast and concluded the night watching “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol” (one of my childhood favorites).  As always I could not sleep (waking up every hour from 2 o’clock on) but had made a deal that I would not wake Ben up till morning… which turned out to be around 6:45!  We sat around talking and getting excited for our day until 8:00 when we were invited upstairs (by the parentals) to begin the Christmas festivities.  Santa was so nice to us this year (we have learned that Ben/Santa really enjoys black Friday) and it was fun to see the tree overflowing with presents.  As always it was fun to have Jesse and Becky come over with the kids; there is something magic about watching kids on Christmas.  We all enjoyed lazily opening presents and then calling family on Skype (best invention ever) and talking to them about their Christmas mornings.  We got some great things including; I got a beautiful necklace that Nedra made me (that I love) and Ben is amazing and picked out cute cloths that actually fit me.  Ben got some nerf guns (to make up for the lack of a real gun) and some golf shoes. 

That afternoon we made our way over to the Stones- Abode to have appetizers and a relaxing afternoon with them… or so we thought.  Our relaxing afternoon turned into a riveting game of sardine’s in the basement (you may be surprised how many people can actually fit under on bench, on a window seal or into a closet).  It was really fun playing with nieces, nephews, cousins and siblings.  There was delicious food (as expected) and we did get a lot of relaxing and family togetherness. We got some great family gifts; including a picture book of our family reunion and stones logo shirts. But the big present of the day, we got a red kitchen aid!!  I am really excited to get a house of my own to settle this in and start baking.  I am really excited (I think Ben is too- even though he is a bosh lover).

We had a great Christmas and loved spending time and talking with our families.  We love you all and hope you all had a great holiday season!!

Crocs Holiday Party

Ben’s recently started working as an intern for Crocs and as one of the perks we got to go to the Holiday Party.  This year the holiday party was a semi formal held at a nice hotel in Broomfield, CO.  There was dinner, dancing, a live band, raffles and lots to do.  There were even some photo booths that you could squeeze into with your friends, look at all these pictures we took.  We had a blast.  It was a fun night and it was great to meet all of Ben’s co-workers.

Boulder Dinner Theater

With the holidays approaching and the stress from the past year I have been slightly scrooge- esk and super stressed out. Ben, my most loving husband, sensed this (or heard it quite literally every day multiple times) and so he decided to take a break and go on a special date. He wouldn’t tell me what we were doing he just told me to dress nice and to be ready at 5:15- so that’s what I did.


So it turned out that the most amazing husband in the world took me to the Boulder Dinner Theater to have dinner and see a play with some of our best friends, the Gibson’s. We got to see Hello Dolly, which is one of my all time favorite musicals. It was so great and made me want to sings, dance and act again. It was wonderful to see Danny and Amy, who live in California and were just visiting for the holidays. And in all going to the Boulder Dinner Theater is never a disappointment, it was amazing!! I love Ben- thank you!!

Ward Christmas Party

Every year people dread the church Christmas party- the bad food, tacky music, even tacky-er (if that’s even a word) decorations, kids running around (obviously an entire orphanage was invited- because it appears there are no parents) and then no one stays to clean up.

This year our ward Christmas party turned out great!! The decorations were so super cute. The music was kinda tacky BUT they had a dance floor and dancing- which was so much fun and right up my ally. Jesse (Ben’s brother) was in charge of the food and it was EXCELLENT. It was a full out turkey dinner, organized and served well. Well done Jesse!! There was a section of Christmas carols with guitar accompaniment. It was fun, short and entertaining. The kids were entertained with crafts in the back and just when things got a little too crazy, who showed up but the fat, jolly man himself- SANTA CLAUSE!! Some people even stayed to help clean up. It was a great night with friends, family, food, dancing, Santa…need I go on?

Maybe my Scrooge outlook on Ward Christmas parties is beginning to change.

The Festive Decor

Eric, Ben and Tim

Some of the Young Women with Santa

Attack of the Laugh

The other day Ben came upstairs laughing HISTERICALLY. He was trying to tell us why, a story about Nedra’s leg falling asleep, but he couldn’t get the story out without laughing. I tried to get it on camera but by the time I got the camera, got it on and shooting he made me stop. He laughed hard for over 5 straight minutes (none of us understanding why). It was so funny.


Here is the short clip I did manage to get…

Christmas Decorations

I love getting out the decorations for Christmas.  It helps me to get excited (like a little child) and really believe that Christmas is here.  This year I have had the chance to help decorate the Newson and the Stones houses for Christmas.  (The Pictures from the Newson's are when we were getting ready for Nedra's doll club- it turned out great!) Here are some of the beautiful decorations throughout these homes…

Christmas Music

Christmas is a time for tinsel, cookies, silver bells and…MUSIC. This year we had the chance to go to many wonderful Christmas Concerts; Starting with Andrew’s School Concert which was very festive and displayed holiday music from different perspectives. We also had the chance to attend the Fairview High School concert (this is Ben’s high school) and they always put on an extraordinary holiday concert. This year was a little different (due to a change of directors) but it was still great and Ben was invited (as a choir alumni) to join the choir for two numbers.


I also went to see the Colorado Mormon Chorale  perform their Christmas Favorites in Louisville. They were great with upbeat songs from all around to world to some soft spiritual pieces. They performed a humorous piece, which I had never heard before, with the 12 Days of Christmas (each sung in a different historical time period).

Rachel is a vocal performance teacher and had a recital at the beginning of Christmas that we all went to and got to help at. It was great to hear her students perform and to see their courage and hear their improvements. It was also great, as always, to hear Rachel perform at the end.

Ben and I also participate in our ward Choir and so we got to sing in a beautifully organized and arrange Christmas sacrament meeting. The songs were hard and some of them were very different but it turned out beautiful and the spirit was so strong. There was even a special children’s choir which brought the spirit so strong to our meeting.

I am so grateful for the wonderful holiday music that we have and the opportunity that we have to participate and watch it all around the holiday season.

December Birthdays

December is the month for Stones Birthdays, so as usual we all got together to celebrate the plethora of aged folk in our family. The day began with a choir concert from Andrew- it was marvelous and Andrew did a great job at NEVER looking at his family (who were constantly making crazy faces, trying to get him to laugh). He sang great and the choir sounded beautiful.

We then all trekked to the Lundgreen’s were we all partook in a glorified taco bar (complete with desserts galore), played games, and watched as the birthday folk opened presents. Ben’s birthday is in January (so since it close enough) the Dawson’s sent him a birthday gift to open with ‘da boys’. They were all so excited to get their…weapons that they immediately hooked them to their belts, posed with them, thought up a million ways to use them and planning a camping trip to do just that. Here are just a few pictures of their excitement. It was good to see everyone and spend a fun filled weekend together.



Book Club Book Exchange

This year I have been in a local book club started by one of my friends and including any women we might know who just need a night away once a month. We voted on the books at the beginning of the year and we have a very eclectic group of women and books. It has opened my mind to reading books that I might not have considered before. We meet at members homes and always have lively discussions but have also formed friendships, talking about our lives monthly.


Our final meeting of the year we did a book exchange (white elephant style) at a local restaurant. It was fun to get everyone together and talk; then to unwrap and swap these books and be able to talk about these new books, or old books. It was fun and got us all excited for next year. I have enjoyed being able to read more and having people to discuss it with.



The Thanksgiving Pride Cycle...

We had a great thanksgiving this year with friends, family and GREAT FOOD. Charlotte got to come out and visit from Idaho (which is always fantastic) and we spent a day gorging ourselves, lazing about, playing games with family and feeling overly grateful for the love we have. 
That night the chaos began- Ben didn’t go to bed but started his black Friday madness by hitting Walmart at 12:00. He rolled into bed around 3:00 and then out again at 5:30- he is crazy! Brea and Charlotte left around 6:00 and didn’t get back till 12:00 (not so early bird) but still got some great deals. I wonder- why do we do this to ourselves? Is it really worth it? Would we buy this stuff if it wasn’t on MEGA SALE? But in the end it is kind of fun. It makes us feel adventurous. It makes us feel like we are doing something on the wild side. And who doesn’t want to feel a little gluttonous the day after the day of thanks, love and gratitude? What an ironic weekend!!

Ben and I made the turkey again this year- it was good!