Do people really blog during Christmas? I'm not ready to post the holiday stuff yet, but my little sister had this on her blog, so I thugged it, and want to pass it on.

You are supposed to copy the list, and bold the things that you have done (mine are bolded).

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (Does XBOX Rockband count? :D)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis (Kim Smith dropped one down my shirt in 9th grade!)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (do a few phrases count? I'm oct-lingual!)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (Cinderella... a Loveridge Production, thanks, Amy!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (sorta)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia --going next summer!
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (25mph was way fast for me!)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a car... on Ebay :) (twice!)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating--pioneer trek!
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (Carrie thinks I saved hers when we were kids...whatever, lol!)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (SIX!!!!)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own-- (Yeah, this one!)

There are a few more I'd like to do...CHINA? Hint, hint, John! ;)

Time Flies

Wow! So much has happened since my last post!

GOOD KIDS:
I love my kids. This is what I woke up to the other morning.

I love that. Thanks Andrew! Ashley also made this fun game that the kids enjoy playing on Sunday mornings before Church. It's called "food-opoly". She even made all of the "mortgage" cards for each individual space on the board including the cost of rent, the cost to build a food stand (house) and the cost of a grocery store (hotel). She included each of the four food groups: Meats, Vegetables, Fruits, and Grains. She even cut up her own money! I love it when they create.



THANKSGIVING:
We had a wonderful holiday beginning with the annual Pie Pig-Out at my mom's house a couple of days before Thanksgiving. The idea is that because you're so "full" after Thanksgiving dinner and have no room for pie, we have a "pie only" night just before Thanksgiving! We have a few minor appetizers, and pie, pie, pie. Love this tradition! For Thanksgiving day, we headed to John's sister's home where she hosted 46 (!) of us for a wonderful dinner! It was so great to be there with everyone, laughing and sharing memories. Then we followed up with our traditional viewing of "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby. What a great night! (Oh, and I DID have enough room for pie as it was :0

BLACK FRIDAY:
Well, I did it again, but this year, I was smarter. I slept in until 5:30, and arrived at the stores around 6:00 to avoid the "standing in line in the freezing cold" thing. I got some AMAZING deals at Toys 'r' us, and of course, WALMART! Half-way through my shopping spree, John called me to tell me to be careful, because a Walmart employee was trampled and killed in New York. How sad. I didn't get to WalMart until the rush was over, so I didn't trample anyone that I know of, but still got 90% of my shopping completed! I dragged Carrie out later that day to Walmart (a different one in Sandy) and had the humiliating experience of getting my card declined! (John had put in a transfer that morning, and I guess it hadn't registered yet!) Fortunately, I wrote a check for the bounty, and we were on our way!

ANNIVERSARY:
I don't know if 13 is a lucky number or not, but all I can say is our anniversary was unbelievably MAGICAL! Of course, it didn't hurt that my fabulous lifetime friend, Suzie, gave us a "getaway" package to the Little America hotel that we were able to use! We were given an amazingly HUGE room at the hotel, and a wonderful gift certificate that we could use anywhere in the hotel. We ended up having steak and salmon in their very romantic restaurant.

The rest of the celebration was just that: a celebration of 13 years of being the luckiest girl on the planet! Even one week later, I can't believe how our little get-away has affected my mood! I've been walking on air since we got home! I feel like I'm engaged again! John, you're amazing, wonderful, and well, PERFECT for me. Thanks again to Suzie, and of course, to John! I love you!

CHRISTMAS DECORATING!
We always put the nativity up first. Maybe I shouldn't allow it, but my kids play with it like they do a dollhouse. I love that. Every day that I come in, the figures are placed in a new position. I guess as long as nothing gets broken...

Got the tree up just after Thanksgiving. I did a major overhaul on the tree this year and went RED RED RED! I'm so grateful for Tai-pan Trading!

Then last night the kids got to decorate "their" tree. They were so cute! They kept saying "this is beautiful. We need to enter it in a tree-decorating contest!"

I was laughing a little under my breath, at the hap-hazarly placed ornaments all crusted the front-only of the tree leaving the sides and top mostly empty, but they were proud of themselves, and I LOVE that they were enjoying themselves.

We've already had our first school Christmas pageant! Here's little Matthew as a shepherd. I LOVE having my kids in a school where they can actually celebrate CHRIST'S BIRTH as the center of the holiday! Matthew has been singing "Far Far Away on Judea's Plains" all around the house for the last two weeks! YAY!

I'm excited for the rest of the season. I LOVE Christmas! I'm looking for ways to create "magic" in some unsuspecting people's lives, and that is probably my favorite part of the season! Merry Christmas!!!!