December 4

On The 4th Day of December,

Christmas gave to me...
The Bakers over for dinner, the best possible company!
One of the best things in life is having great friends!
(Tyler, Abby, Ella, Logan, Addie, Kate, Tommy and Kenzie)

James and Jon spent the day chopping down trees, taking loads to the dump, and helping neighbors in need. Melissa and I made warm soup, homemade bread, and the best hot orange drink. We sat by the fire to keep warm as Sunday nights storm rolled in.

December 3

On the 3rd Day of December,

Christmas gave to me...
new Christmas Stockings to hang by the Christmas tree.

It was time to get new stockings! James and I bought 4 stockings in New York at Rockefeller Center in 2002. I was only a few weeks pregnant with Abby at the time and we thought 4 Christmas stockings would be plenty. Now, with 6 of us, we needed some new fun stockings.

I put together a scavenger hunt with clues to help the girls

find their Christmas suprise!
The last clue said,
"Where you sleigh."
They found the new stockings
in the garage in the sled! :)

December 2

On the Second Day of December

Christmas gave to me....
2 visits to Santa and our Ward Christmas Party!Thanks Mo, Matt and Judy for this fun
Christmas tradition!
We met Dan, Ash and Sophia there this year.
We always love visiting Santa at Flip's!

Afterwards we headed to our 50th Ward Christmas Party.
Santa flew his sleigh from Flip's to the church and made it just before we did! :)

Kate is asking for a Tangled Wii Game.

Lucy loved Santa's beard, or was it his hat, or maybe his eyes?!

Abby is asking Santa for Harry Potter Lego Wii
Game years 5-7.
Ella is asking for "nice princess things"!

We ate dinner by one of our favorite families,
The Stevenson's! :)
Abby, Kate, Sam, Jacob
Kylie, Ella and Adelaide
Baby Viv and Baby Lucy
HO HO HO

December 1

On The First Day of December,
Christmas gave to me...
Dinner and a sleepover at Grandma's on the floor by her Christmas tree.

Tonight, all 3 girls slept at Grandma and Grandpa's house. A favorite tradition!
School was canceled because of the winds.

Wicked Winds

WIND

December 1

4:00 am woke up to loud wind and 2 crying kids frightened by the sound. From the back of our house we could see the freeway closed at Centerville Parish Lane, flashing police lights all over the valley, and power outages in other areas.

Huge trees knocked down all over.

Abby's friend George had a lot of damage with
several huge pine trees knocked down.
You can see their mangled trampoline.
December 4
Our family, had power out for 18 hours, and school closed for 2 days.
However, we are aware of a few friends and neighbors who
are still without power as of noon Sunday!
Many wards are holding Sacrament Meeting only so that
work can continue to be done on peoples homes.
There is a solemn desolate feeling.
There is a lot of worry about the storm rolling in tonight!!!
A good time to stay inside & cuddle to keep warm.
Now, as we prepare for another storm Sunday night.
James is helping neighbors and friends in our old neighborhood
who seemed to get hit the hardest.
We are praying this storm will be mild!
Traffic is terrible as James and the rest of
Bountiful try to go to and from the dump!

The Festival of Trees

The Festival of Trees

The girls danced at the Festival of Trees and did SO great!
I was so proud of each one of them.

Oliva, Emma and Ella

SAD NEWS....
I spent hours getting the kids ready and was so busy that I remembered the camera, but forgot the battery I had charging on my desk. :(
I took these pictures with my iPhone, and would LOVE pictures and videos of the girls on stage if anyone has any they can share with me!

Abby and Kate have been with Legacy Dance for 4 years and
Ella has been dancing 2 years! Way to go girls!
We love Miss Mo!
We had so much family come to support them....
From the Derrick side, Grammy, Papa J, Aunt Trish, Amanda, Ashley & Sophia
From the Smedley side, Grandpa, Grandma, Amy, Emily, John, Will Spencer!
Wow! Thank you everyone for coming!!!

Abby's Piano Recital

Abigail Jane

Pianist

Abby's Piano Recital
Centerville Library

Abby completed Kindermusik this past Spring,
and began taking piano lessons this Fall.

Tonight she had her first piano recital, and she did GREAT!

She played 3 pieces including:
Little Scherzo
Merrily We Roll Along
'Tis a Gift to be Simple

Abby and her piano teacher Kristen Spere
Way to go Abby!
Afterwards we went to Galaxy to celebrate!