Epicness

We had an epic family day Monday...and I'm even using the word in the right way. It was long, drawn out, great...not heroic or poetic, but epic nonetheless. ;) I have no pictures as I forgot to bring the camera, but it was a fun, full day.

We got out the door by 1pm after Charles and Bethany had worked in the morning and went after Christmas shopping at the old Christown Mall (they remodeled it and named it Spectrum Mall, but no one would call it that, so they finally renamed it Christown Spectrum....Arizonans are a little strong willed).

Spent Christmas gift money and gift cards. A lot of time was spent in lines and in dressing rooms.

We went to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader (new Narnia movie) also at Christown,  which was not epic, but it was very good, probably my favorite one of the three Narnia movies so far. It had beautiful symbolism of temptation, sacrifice and Christian application that was a little lost in the others, even though it is apparent in the books. We had dinner at Appleby's, then went to Zoo Lights. The Phoenix zoo, where Bethany works is open at night from Thanksgiving til mid January with huge light displays, shows and fun stuff like carriage rides, polar slide, camels rides and a couple of animals exhibits.  So she bought us tickets with her discount as our Christmas gifts.

We went home and watched White Christmas. We vowed not to watch it until Hannah arrived to watch it with us and we finally watched it on a night that Bethany was working. That was not okay with Bethany so we had to watch it again. We then played Wii (our family gift), lots of fun obstacle course games and Mii making.

Then we fell into our beds and fell soundly unconscious for the night. 

Epic should also mean tiring-beyond-all-reason.

Sister Day 2010

My girls like to do something special together at the holidays, so yesterday was Sister Day. No one else was invited. In the afternoon they went ice skating (and since I wasn't invited, there are no pictures...sad) and I made them a nice dinner followed by an evening show downtown of the Nutcracker Ballet.

They got all dressed up and when I went to take a picture, they all just stood there (probably tired from ice skating). So without saying a word, I just started clicking one picture after another and this is what happened:

Gingerbread guy party

We came home last night to Emma's friends obediently following Bethany's instructions on cookie decorating. She made the cookies and the colorful frostings and turned them loose. It was a very fun time!  I especially liked Sara's googly-eyed gingerbread guys. They work like 3 cups of coffee if you look at them first thing in the morning.(click on the slide show to see the pictures individually mom)

I hear rustling....

Every time I walk by our Christmas tree, I think of this verse that I found a few years ago....

Do you hear the rustling? Listen closely...

*
Let

the heavens

be glad, and the 

earth rejoice! Let the sea 

and everything in it shout his 

praise! Let the fields and their crops

burst out with joy! Let the trees of the 

forest rustle with praise before the Lord, 

for he 

is coming!

Psalm 96:11-13

Gift suggestions

“Christmas gift suggestions:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.”

~Oren Arnold~

Need more inspirational ideas?
click here

Bad Nativities

Just for fun, The Cavalcade of Bad Nativities again this year.  And how about the Cavalcade of Bad Nativities II?

Oh, nooooooooooooooo....


Kitsch up with ya later.....;)

I need a silent night...

This weekend's rush:

~Sunday school class Christmas party
~Driving through midnight and into the wee sma's to bring Emma home from Tucson, where her ride home ended
~Children's choir Christmas play tonight
~Church
~Picking out a Christmas tree
~Decorating the tree complete with traditional snackage
~3 Christmas movies
~One afternoon of futile Christmas shopping....

A friend of mine posted this song on her Facebook and I thought it was perfect. Every year I try to do it differently, but it always turns into a whirlwind.....

Conspiracy 2010

Join us....pass it on....



Advent Conspiracy Blog