The People I LOVE the Very Most: My Christmas Tree

I Love Christmas! I love Christmas decorations in houses and the cozy feeling you get with a Christmas tree all decorated and lit up!

When we were kids my Mom started collecting Christmas ornaments for us. I don't want to pretend I know how many I have, but I'll say it's in the many 100's! I know the next question too . . . do I really get them all out? Yes I do! It takes a full day to put them on my small normal tree, but it's the funnest tree you'll ever see! I love it! And . . I love A LOT of lights!

This is my mantel with my nativity and our stockings. I love a lot of lights!

Great Quote

Elder L. Tom Perry
"There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity.
When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic.
Perhaps when difficulties and challenges strike, we should have these hopeful words of Robert Browning etched in our minds:
“The best is yet to be”.
We can’t predict all the struggles and storms in life, not even the ones just around the next corner, but as persons of faith and hope, we know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and THE BEST IS YET TO COME. "

Shine

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

-by Marianne Williamson

Words to Live By . . .

* Ethan to Ezra -- " watch out... it's Sizz Skywalker!" 1/8/2010

* Ethan to Me -- "Mom, if I would have been there at the hospital when they had to cut Mason out of you I would have kissed you. I would have been just so proud of you." Then I got a big hug and kiss.. aww -- 1/6/2010

* Ezra -- "Peaz... Peaz" First words asking for a yummy McDonald's french fry -- 1/4/2010

* Ethan -- "Mom, Mason just hit me in the nerds. Man that hurts...!" -- 12/1/09

*"Reg (My mom) makes better toast than you mom. No offense." -- Ethan (My mom makes him cinnamon / sugar toast. Of course it's better!) -- 4/26/2009

*Ethan -- "I really can't wait until it's spring or summer or somthin' so that I can finally wear my sand boots again." (referring to flip flops of course!) -- 4/18/2009

*Ethan -"Mom, I wish there were no such things as babysitters." Me-"Why is that? I thought you loved your babysitters?!" Ethan -"I do, but I wish that instead of being babysitted you would have to take us with you and we would have to sit at our own kid table so I could be in charge." Me-(speechless!) - 3/30/2009

*"Mom... Would you be a good mom and take my bag inside?" -- Ethan to me after buying yarn at the craft store for himself!! What the?! 3/27/2009

*"Mom, can I have another hot pill?" -- my nephew Riley - 3/14/2009

*Spen- "Mase... it's time for your morning meds!!" Ethan-"Man, I really wish there were no such thing as morning meds for Mason..." Mason- "yeah." 3/14/2009

*We have tickets for the Disney on ice show tomorrow and I am really hurting today so at dinner Ethan turns to me and says, "Mom, I've been trying and trying to think of a replacement to take me to the ice show. Who do you think I should call?..." Ethan - 3/13/2009

*"Hey Mom, check me out... I've got some fancy footwork~" Ethan 3/9/2009

*Ethan has been spreading his charm!! http://patrickanderin.blogspot.com/2009/02/ive-got-crush.html

*"Mom, sometimes Ez looks at me like I'm crazy!" Ethan 2/28/2009

*Written in a journal entry at school - "I lik to visit my frends in lost vegis." Ethan 2/5/09

*E -"Dad, do you like to be a dad?" Spen - "yeah" E -"yeah, being a dad must be pretty cool. I can't wait to be a dad, you get to do LOTS of fun things like take me skiing and stuff." Ethan -- 1/11/09

*Spen - "Ethan, how'd you get to be soo cool?" Ethan - "Dad, I learned it from you..." Spen (tearing up) - "ahh" Ethan - "yeah I just watch what you do and do the opposite." (giggles as he walks away) Ethan -- 1/8/09

*"Mom, did you know that there is a swear finger?" A bit alarmed I said, "I did know that. How do you know that?" He answered, "I just know that this (holding up his pinky finger) is a swear finger, you know . . . pinky swear?!!" -- Ethan 1/5/09

*I needed a pacifier from underneath Mason's bed and as I went to climb under myself Ethan came in and said, "It would be my pleasure to crawl under there for you mom!" and once he found what we were looking for yelled, "I found it Mom!!! You just sit tight and I'll rescue it for you!" -- Ethan 1/3/09

*"Mom, I don't want to practice my reading . . . I'm just content watching TV. I just want to be myself and continue not having to read words I don't know." -- Ethan 1/2/09

*"I'm not a baby . . . I'm a man!" -- Ethan 11/27/08

*While watching conference after one of the speakers defined 'virtue' . . . "We know what 'virtue' is." "You do?" we ask. "Well, grown ups do." -- Ethan 10-5-08

*"Grond-alay, grond-alay. Grond-alay is ondalay in spanish."
-- Ethan 10-5-08

*"I've waited long enough, I can wait a little longer." -- Ethan after he found out we'd have to wait longer to bring Ezra home. 10-3-08

*"They play their guitar so good. When I play mine it's so bad everyone screams and runs out of the house. I play it so loud that I broke a string! Can you believe it!?" -- Ethan 10-2-08

*"Awww, Fiddlesticks!"" -- Ethan commenting on our long drive home from California 8-17-2008

*"How long are we going to be at the die place? (cemetary) -- Ethan 5-25-08

*"D for D-uh mom." --Ethan 5-21-08

*(while holding my recently disconnected cell phone that was passed down to him) "Mom, I need to check to see if anyone has texted me . . . nope, (flips the phone shut) doesn't look like I missed anyone. I wonder why I haven't gotten any texts? --Ethan 5-20-08

*about my dad being released from the bishopric . . ."he's not going to be on the bishop's team anymore, they're setting him free." -Ethan 5-6-08

*"Mom, the only dare that I do is to choose the right!" -Ethan 4-30-08

* "Mom, are you going to criling irun (curling iron)your hair today?" -Ethan 4-10-08

* "Mason, do you want to play with mommy?" "No way, (giggle)" (one of the few things that he will say! I was hoping for 'yeah') -Mason 4-10-08

* Mom, look at the picture belove (above) the light. -Ethan 4-1-08

An inspirational thought....

"Welcome to Holland"

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. All rights reserved.

Friday, December 12, 2008

My Christmas Tree

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