Christmas and More

I've done terrible blogging this month.  Oh well, can't change the past.  So, here's what we have been up to.

We got to celebrate Christmas a couple of times.  The first time we went down to my brother-in-law's house to gather with the Newey family.  It was a lot of fun.  Grandma got some fake mustaches that we put on for pictures.  Some of my nephews look very dashing with a mustache, and side burns.......and unibrow.  The kids also got to make gingerbread cookies.  I've never made gingerbread before, but I might have to next year.  It was a really yummy recipe and the kids had a lot of fun rolling, cutting and decorating their cookies.

While we were in Utah we got to see some really pretty lights.  In Ogden at the block that has the city offices they set up a very impressive lights display.  Shops from the city also have little houses that they decorate the insides of and you look through the windows.  It was really neat.  The kids were so happy and excited running from house to house, they made a lot of people smile.  We also went to Temple Square in Salt Lake.  The two little ones fell asleep in the car, so Robert drove around with them for a while and the older girls and I walked around.  They really loved it and Taylor says we have to do it every year.  Next year we will park somewhere where we can catch the train and ride it into Temple Square so we don't have to fight for parking there.  It was crazy!

 The next weekend I went to my cousin's sealing in the Logan, Utah temple.  It was lovely, but very cold.  We didn't really want to have to take all the kids down for a quick trip, so I rode with my Mom and Dad.  My youngest brother and sister came, too.  It was pretty cramped in the back of my Dad's car with the three of us, but amazingly enough we were a lot better behaved than when we were younger.

And then came Christmas.  We let the kids open their stockings before church, but they had to wait until after to open their presents.  They were happy that church was shorter.  Michael woke up at about 3:30 to come in and ask if it was time to open presents.  We told him "No, go back to sleep for a little while".  He did.  When we did open presents later, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Nicki, and Aunt Melissa came over to watch.  One of my favorite gifts was the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites books 3 & 4 on cd.  That was a family gift for us to listen to on car trips.  We rarely listen to the radio anymore, mostly books on cd.  My brothers and sisters had a game night themed gift exchange and we received the game "Trouble"  The kids have already figured it out and played it a couple of times.

Then Monday I went with Robert's Mom and Sisters and we hit some of the after Christmas sales.  I have the kids' Christmas ornaments for next year.  I also got a good deal on a new church outfit for Michael.  I can usually find cute dresses for the girls, but dress shirts for boys have been harder to find.  It was really fun hanging out and having a girls day.  The kids got to play with their cousins for the couple of days there were up and we all had a lot of fun.  Robert didn't get to do too much visiting since he was studying (more about that in a minute).  The kids were especially sad when it came time for the cousins to leave.  It was probably good, though because my kids were coming down with a nasty cold and none of the kids were getting the rest that they should.  One night all the girls slept here, while Michael slept at Grandma and Grandpa's and another night Lindsey stayed over there.  Taylor was supposed to also, but she said her stomach hurt, so she came home.

So, about that studying, earlier this month a friend approached Robert about work.  This friend is an insurance salesman and asked if it was something Robert would be interested in.  Robert said he would talk with him, but it probably wasn't something he would want to do.  After talking to him, Robert came home and said he was considering it.  I talked with our friend's wife to see what it was like at home and she told me she has the perfect life.  Sounds good to me.  So, Robert started studying and took the test to get licensed to sell life and medical insurance.  This will be quite a change for us as it is different from any other line of work he has done before.