This stable scene is located at the Mesa Temple.

Christ
Holy One
Redeemer
Immanuel
Son of God
Teacher
Messiah
Almighty
Savior

Dear Jesus,

We are celebrating your birthday in just a few days. I want to thank you for coming to earth (the one you made) as a baby (even though you are a GOD) and living a mortal life (like me) where you taught the people how to return to Heavenly Father (I want to).

My Christmas tree is a symbol of you and your birth.

The Star that shone brightly is represented on my Christmas tree .

Multitudes of Angels are there as well.


Also on the tree are photos of my family. I believe that we were the Herald Angels that sang that evening you were born; at least I hope so.

With the lights of the tree glowing remind me that you are the Light of the World and the Light of my Life.

Love,

Kris

Where was Kris last Saturday morning?

Driving to Arizona all by herself.
The early morning sky was glorious.




This fella is the reason I drove to Arizona. This is Steele. He is our oldest grandchild. He was ordained a deacon and passed the sacrament for the first time last Sunday.


He looked like a young man in his new suit.
He fulfilled his assignment reverently; not making a single mistake. He looked confident but later he told me his legs were trembling.

Although I am old enough to be his grandma and have watched the sacrament blessed and passed for many years the authority to do so is not mine. With humility and gratitude I accepted the emblems of Christ's atonement via the hand of a darling 12 year old grandson with tears in my eyes.

"All I want for Christmas is my One front tooth, SERIOUSLY!"

Carter

"I think I'm the only one perfect today."

Italia

Curls make a girl feel good about herself.

I am visiting in Arizona for the weekend. These 2 cuties are adorable/toothless

The Appliance Angel

A new dishwasher arrived at our home yesterday via an angel.
Oh, we bought it at a Sears.
But an angel delivered it.
His name is Robert.
Why didn't I take his photo? Then I could have the face of a real live angel on my blog.

Robert showed me that we would need to purchase a new hose to make a connection along with the disposal fee of the old dishwasher we would owe him money.

Before leaving our home Robert explained that the moment he walked into our home he knew it was the 'household of faith' and that he wouldn't charge us a dime.

Elder Jeffrey Holland recently stated:

"...we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods."

I hugged an angel (Craig was home).

Aunt Georgia

This is my Aunt Georgia. She is a Saint in the purest sense of the word. She has had M.S. for years. She now lives in convalescent home. With one side paralyzed she has plenty of reason to complain but she never does nor never has. Dad says she has always been that way. Her life has not been easy for other reasons, as well but her eye glasses must have a rose tint to them. She thinks she is living at the Hilton: room service, maid and delicious food. In fact, she has gained weight. Maybe the food really is as good as she says.


Saturday I took Mom and Dad to see Aunt Georgia. This priceless photo is of my dad and his sister sitting side by side in their wheelchairs.

Dreams Come True

Let me introduce you to some DEAR friends. Sheri and I have been friends for 40 years!!!!!! We were best friends in high school, roommates in college, she was my maid of honor... you know ...like sisters. We used to swoon to the Lettermen (can you believe I am friends with one of them now?), go to dances and dream that someday we would marry handsome dreamboats and then we could all be friends together Dreams really do come true.
Kirk and Sheri live nearby. We talk on the phone, love each others families and go on dates every now and then. Last weekend we took our husbands to see Twilight. Such fun. Love ya, Sheri.

Corbin and Cooper

This is Corbin. He is 4 years old. He lives nearby...yippeee. That means I am not just a long distance Grandma. He is adorable, energetic, and very engaging. He loves high adventure. He is all about ACTION. Sure he is laying quietly caressing a puppy ( there are 6 boxer puppies...if you know some buyers) but he will jump into action any minute. When he went to see Santa at the mall he planned to tell Santa that he wanted a roller coaster for Christmas-



but, he asked for a book and crayons instead....which Santa just happened to be handing out.



Cooper is the other cutie in the Santa photo. He is 18 months old. He is the perfect little brother for Corbin. He just rolls with whatever Corbin dreams up. He patiently waits his turn. He wants to do the things his big brother does and boy is he fun to kiss. Look at those pudgy hands -delicious.

Claim to Fame

This is our family's claim to fame. At least one of them. I'll tell you about that later. First of all, this is Kelli with one of her best friends, Brooke White. Brooke was in the Top Ten of American Idol last season. Kelli was invited to attend one of the first performances on the show. So, you see...we have a claim to fame.

Brooke flipped the switch to turn on the Christmas lights at the Mesa, Arizona temple the day after Thanksgiving. We all attended this along with THRONGS of people. The temple was arrayed gloriously in lights. Sherrie, were you there too?

It was Magnificently, Heavenly, Beautiful.
But, back to the subject....another claim to fame I can't show in a photo. I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA WITH ME!!! agghh.
While Craig and I took a late night walk in Kanab, Utah during the Thanksgiving trip we spotted a tribute to one of Craig's cousins....Robert Horton...of Wagon Train fame (if you know what I am talking about...you are old!) Doggone! We tried to find it the next morning in the dark on our way out of town but to no avail.

Italia

Hello to darling Italia. She is 5 years old and in kindergarten. She loves everything that is girlie. She can play with dolls for hours. She plays quietly by herself but is always excited if someone will play with her. She has a darling little voice and feminine ways. She melts our hearts.
Thank you, Italia, for always giving your bedroom to Grandma and Grandpa when we come to visit.

Italia and Makayla LOVE to be together. They are best cousins. How fun to have a cousin your own age.

Carter

These are Rebeccca's 3 boys. The top fella is Carter. He is the same age as Slater the guy he is on top of. They play together so well.
Carter is a great student. He especially loves math! I can't believe anyone could love math. When Craig starts talking about anything that has a number in it my mind goes on a trip. That's what it did in all my math classes.

Carter always make a silly face when I take his picture. So, I don't have too many to choose from that show just how cute is face is. He is a little embarrassed to admit that girls like him, but of course they do!
He is a really good brother to his little sister Italia.

This is Steele. We celebrated his 12th birthday while in Arizona for Thanksgiving. He will receive the priesthood today.
Following in our family tradition--Steele LOVES basketball AND he is very good at it. He practices every chance he can get. I think a ball is permanently attached to his hand!
Speaking of hands Steele has wonderful hands. I have loved to watch him learn to play tunes on the piano. We sat together at the piano




















This is Slater. He is 8. He called and asked me to come a day earlier to Arizona so I could help out in his classroom. How could I ever resist such an invitation? Grandpa and I were ready in a flash to speed our way to the Jarman home. We arrived just 30 minutes before the scheduled time to assist the teacher with a writing activity. Rebecca and I edited the class writing assignment. Slater's paper was perfect!

Slater helped me make one of the pies for Thanksgiving. He is good in the kitchen.

The Deer Miracle

How many times have you seen a sign on the road cautioning that it is a wild animal crossing area and NEVER seen a one animal? I usually hope we will see wild life.

Craig and I drove from Utah after visiting Joel's family and Craig's mom to Arizona where we would be celebrating Thanksgiving. We decided to make it a 2 day journey. As we drove through southern Utah in the dark of night we noticed the warning sign that deer are in the area.
I offered a silent prayer that we would not harm one of Heavenly Father's deer and that they wouldn't harm us. Later....one was walking alongside the road not even attempting to cross the road.

The next morning there were similar signs. Together Craig and I offered the same prayer. Not long afterward a deer walked along the side of the road. Later as the road took a turn we came upon a deer family of four whom had just completed crossing the road as we came upon them. The last one was just barely off the road as we passed.

I see Miracles.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

Dear Elder Wirthlin,

You've been on my mind the last few days.
Sunday I reread the wonderful talk you gave at General Conference in October and marked it up some more.

I watched you talk one last time on our DVR before the Dish man came to switch out our satellites Monday

I spoke of you in Scripture Class Tuesday and promised that we would study your talk next week.

Also, Tuesday when one of my daughters called to talk about a problem I encouraged her with the words your mother taught you so long ago which you shared in this talk, COME WHAT MAY AND LOVE IT.

Later in the day I received an email announcing you have passed away.
http://www.meridianmagazine.com/churchupdate/081203wirthlin.html

Now you are with your beloved wife, parents, cousin Gordon and so many other loved ones.

I am happy for you.
Sad for us.
Sad for me,
But, Come what may and love it.

Sorry for not taking time to post just how wonderful our Thanksgiving Trip was. We came right home and got the house ready for Christmas. We love having the warm glow of the decorated tree in our living room. Don't you?

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Rebecca had everything planned beautifully. Ben took time off from work to make their home accommodate the influx of relatives. Their home was roomy and comfortable. The dinner was simply marvelous. The turkey was cooked overnight by Boy Scouts in a pit and ready at 8am.!!!!!! Sounds scary doesn't it? But, it was melt in your mouth delicious. Everything we ate was HOMEMADE. Rebecca made rolls as good as her Famous Aunt Cindy (at least she is famous in our family). I made 5 pies!!! Jan's scrumptious Peachy Yam casserole was, of course, among the favorites not to mention the dressing was melt in your mouth delicious.

Yes, the food was wonderful. But, best and most wonderful of all is that we gathered as a family (minus Shannon and her family-- boohoo).

My heart was and IS filled with Gratitude and Gladness.

We ate dinner at noon. What a great idea. We had the rest of the day to PLAY!. We had such fun playing hide and seek and sardines. Later that night I slipped away with my daughters to see At last!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks guys for putting the kids to bed while the gals bonded.