Memories...

...in the making. It's kind of like pulling out the box of old Christmas tree ornaments, you know what I mean, the ones the kids made in Kindergarten that are broken and faded. You don't think about them until you see them again at the beginning of every Christmas season. Every year I think, this is it, I'm throwing some of these out, or giving them to the rightful owner who is now 26 years old, but then my old sentimental self comes out and I hang them back on the tree.


Pictures do the same thing to me, taking me back to a special moment in time. I have shoe boxes full of old pictures, many of them are duplicates (remember the pre-digital era when you took one then one more to make sure you got a good one, then you had duplicates printed).


Now today, I look at the pictures of this holiday season and recognize some are better than others, but still I can't delete any of them any better than I can throw those old ones out. Some of these pictures won't mean much to anyone but our family. And that's OK, because those are the ones that will remember with tenderness the moment those pictures happened.

Let's start with...

Preston's only wish for Christmas was Lego's. And so...he got Lego's. Big, small, yellow, red, round and square...he got Lego's.




Within minutes of opening his last present, Preston was in another world, creating a spaceship to save the galaxy.


...and the result is in...a Starwars Battleship. Way to go Preston!



Me and my new scarf from Andy and Shay playing a game of Snorta. Cock-a-doodle-do!!!!




Madison got more clothes than toys this year. She's not the little girl I see looking back at me in last year's Christmas pictures. She squeeled with excitement when she opened the box with a hair crimper. Preston just rolled his eyes.





Yes, there truly is a Santa Claus and he roams the neighborhoods of Hooper, Utah. Giving, anonymously, very handsome cowboy boots to little 5 year old boys. Little boys, who need a little extra TLC, while dad is serving in Afghanistan. We may never know who that Santa is, but we will never forget the look on Lukee's face when he tried his new boots on. To that good Samaritan, God bless you!



...and speaking of faces we will never forget, Emry was quite lovely with the blue, pink and yellow paint highlighted by her big, brown eyes. She is a beauty, even when covered in a coat of water color.



It was fun to see Amelia in her warm, footed jammies, enjoying her new ball popper. I wonder how long it will take her to find Emry's finger paint?





Emry is an Impressionistic painter. We all got the "impression" that she loved her new easel Santa brought her.



Our sweet Shay, always trying to make gifts personal, made a book for Grandma Great with a collection of the children's stories grandma had written. Grandma was thrilled. Good job Shay!



Sammie is practicing for when Logan comes. She has it all under control, right down to the feeding and burping. Danielle doesn't have a thing to worry about.



Nothing can be sweeter than a one year old boy, snuggling into his mother's arms. Next Christmas Cameron will be much to old for such things, but this year, Danielle was enjoying every minute of his hugs.



Sammie dancing to "The Ladybug Picnic".




A gift I promised myself...

to read a book during the Christmas break. I highly recommend it.