Santa

On the drive to the mall, I prepped Allie on the whole sitting on Santa's lap scenario so this year she wouldn't freak out. I told her that she gets to see Santa and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She was really excited about this. So when we got there, she told Santa that she wanted a guitar. We took the picture and walked away. I looked down at Allie who was looking pretty sad and she says, "Mom, he didn't give me a guitar." Oops - I forgot to tell Allie that you tell Santa what you want now and then he may give it to you on Christmas morning. To Allie, everything is new and a learning experience. It is so hard to remember that sometimes.

Tree Plus Snow Equals Christmas!

Cameron always goes out of town for work when there is a big storm. Last time Allie, Connor, and I didn't have electricity for several hours. He left again just in time for me to shovel all of this. My mom, who lives in Vegas, told me not to shovel it because I would throw out my back. I laughed.

Allie helping . . . because she is late for school by this point.

I thought I did a pretty good job for never having to shovel snow growing up. To be honest, I enjoyed the exercise.

You know the excited feeling you get on the first warm day of spring. It's because you know what is coming. I got this feeling when it started snowing. It just really didn't feel like Christmas until the snow came.

Thanksgiving!

I wish we would have taken more pictures of our awesome Thanksgiving in Denver this year but I think we used more of the video camera this time. Here are a few of my favorites!
I told Allie that on Thanksgiving we get to eat all kinds of good food like Turkey. She looked back at me with a inquisitive look and said, "a Turkey?" This prompted a deep discussion about how the Lord gave us animals on this earth to eat like chickens, cows, pigs, and yes...turkeys. The next morning Allie woke up all excited and said, "Today is Thanksgiving!!! And we get to eat an animal!"

Allie absolutely loves playing with all her girl cousins.

First Thanksgiving in a long time that I didn't get sick! Now that is something to be thankful for.

Cam's sister Kirsten, step-mom Kathleen/Nana, and Cam's sister Verretta

Kathleen spoiled us with a ton of delicious food. Here are us girls making home-made pretzels.

I woke one morning, got out of bed, walked downstairs to find Kathleen wearing almost the exact same thing as me. Great minds think alike. Thanks again Brad and Kathleen for having us. We had a blast!

John and Emily Jones

For the past week, Kelli and I have been mourning the loss of John Jones, who died during the Thanksgiving holiday in the Nutty Putty Cave near Spanish Fork. John and his wife Emily were in our last ward, and are some of the best people we've ever met. Their unselfish and faithful attitudes were contagious and inspiring to everyone around them. We treasure our memories of their Sunday School lessons and their warm smiles.

Upon hearing of John's tragic death, we were utterly heartbroken. With his departure, he left behind a wife, a 14 month-old daughter, and a child on the way. Our feelings have ranged from bitterness to sorrow to hope as we have thought about and prayed for this family. Ultimately, we have clung desperately to the knowledge that the Lord loves this family infinitely more than we do and that He will care for them, comfort them, and that with time He will heal them.

A memorial fund and an auction been established to help Emily and her family, for any who are interested. Thanks also to Troy and Melissa for sharing their record of the funeral with us all. We wish we could have been there.