Christmas & Question

We had a wonderful Christmas! We hope all our friends and family had just as great one also. We are so blessed with family and friends who support us in all that we do. Even when things are hard. Thanks to Swagbucks we had a pretty good Christmas. We have always tried to make Christmas a meaningful thing and centered around Christ. Garth and I have been doing a nativity advent calendar every year that I did as a kid growing up. We read about each piece everyday and then read in the scriptures. We are so grateful for our Savior who has, as we have put our faith and trust in him, blessed us beyond measure even if plans don't always go as we want them to.

On to the other part of Christmas... Kaylee of course made out as a bandit. And thanks to my thrifty shopping she got 3 times as much for the money we budgeted for her. She got lots of new games and puzzles, a new baby and a stroller (one of the many things from G&G J which she loves), clothes (of course never ending), a vacuum which she loves to use helping me clean. Just last night she helped me vacuum the floor. She got a fun block set from Garth's sister and family and she got lots of new books. We decided after Christmas as I was putting things away that I would take one of our storage containers and take half of her toys and put them in there and then put the other half in another storage container. I then put one of the containers in her closet and we now rotate them every couple of weeks. She loves being able to put the old ones away and getting out the new bucket. It's like getting new toys. Little does she know they are the same ones she had. I know sneaky... Garth got a new wireless mouse (upgrade from our other one) and a few books and games. He also got a big box of Baby Ruth's and 2 big containers of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (If anyone knows Garth well, then you know that he loves his Ranch dressing on almost everything). The big thing he got and thanks to my Grandpa Sanderson, Swagbucks again and Amazon, he got a new Dinovo Mini. Which is a small wireless bluetooth keyboard that you can use for a remote and a keyboard for when you want to watch tv or be on the computer from the comfort of your couch. We watch and record tv through our computer on our tv so this makes things tons easier. Now again if you know Garth well, you know that he is a very frugal money conscious person. He has wanted this thing for a while and it sure costs a pretty penny for poor people. :) I knew that he would debate with himself over and over whether or not to get it and would make up excuses for it. So I just bought it for him with the Christmas money we got from my Grandpa. He was very happy and that's what was the best part. He had the biggest smile and it made his day. I got everything I asked for... mostly kitchen gadgets and craft stuff. I got the laminator I wanted that was originally 80 bucks I got it for 16! Thank you black Friday :). I also got lots of fun games and cooking things. My parents got us this awesome cooking unit that you can use for emergencies or camping or whatever. It is amazing! We got lots of gift cards and things for fun date nights. We got lots of movies and other things to keep us busy. But Garth's favorite thing that I made for him was a Date of the Month Club book. He gets to pick out 12 dates for the year (from many options) and I take care of everything else. He also has tickets that consist of massages and treats and other things. I am way excited to plan the dates and finally have something there so we don't' do the same thing every month (movie at home ha-ha). We are so blessed and we love our family. We are excited to start a new year together and make new goals for our family.

 

This is the Christmas gift we gave to our class and neighbors.  It has the nativity with star, angel, wisemen and Peace.

We did declare the Day after Christmas our curse day though... for various reasons things always seem to happen that day. Miscarriages, other things, etc. This year as we were driving to my parents house for family pictures, our Check Engine light went on... Stupid car... we have known that we would eventually have to get a new car, but now it is getting to the point that it will cost more in the long run to fix then to get a new car. So we decided since we will be having one car for the next 5 or so years that we would get a car we could grow in. So we have started looking for vans or suv's. Hopefully we will find a good one that we like! Luckily we have till September to get a new one (our registration is up then hehe) But we are planning on getting one before our trip this summer to California. It was frustrating, this means we have to put off getting a house for a while again, but we know that Heavenly Father is taking care of us and that this is what we need to do for our family. Thank goodness for the Gospel in our lives! Who knows where we'd be without it. This is definitely long, but it is one of my journals so it can be long! Hope everyone had a great 2010 or at least a good one. :) Happy 2011!

So onto the question… I am considering creating a blog that gives advice and tips on crafting, scrapbooking, cooking, and other things.  Would you read it?