Belle

December 28, 2008. We had a family tragedy this Sunday. Belle, our dog, was hit by a truck. A very nice couple stopped to tell us that they had seen a truck hit our dog and that she was laying out in the road. Jared carried her into the garage. Belle wasn't dead but we knew that she wouldn't last very long. It was heart wrenching to watch her. We had all the kids come and pet her one last time and tell her goodbye. Poor Taylor. He had claimed Belle as his since she was just a pup. It broke his little heart. Belle didn't make it much longer. Jared pretends to all tough but he is pretty tenderhearted. It was hard to watch the kids. We love you Belle.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was so much fun.

Taylor was so excited. He came in our room at 5 AM saying he couldn't sleep. He had already scoped out the tree and had determined that Santa had eaten the cookies. We held him off until 6:30 when we allowed him to wake up the red heads.

Abby wandered out half asleep. It didn't take them very long to get into the spirit of it. Taylor got a Didj and a toy puppy that responds to your voice and does tricks. Abby got a beautiful doll that looks just like her complete with a suitcase and clothes. Dallin got a tool set so he can be just like Dad.

That morning we invited all of the Grandparents over for Breakfast. It became an adventure for my parents who were traveling from Ogden to join us. It was a blizzard and snowed the entire day.

By that night the drifts in the road were pretty big and the power kept flickering. Taylor was getting a little nervous, so we reminded him that we had a fireplace to keep us warm, the pantry was full of food and we had each other. What else did we need? That became the slogan of the night and was repeated every time the power would go out. It really was a Christmas that we will remember.

Christmas Activities

The kids helped put up the
tree.

All of the kids had fun Christmas Activities at school. Taylor's class put on a Christmas play. Taylor was the narrator.

The kids were out of school three days before Christmas so we made Gingerbread houses.

And we made Sugar
Cookies.

We put on the Nativity at Grandma Slater's house. Taylor was Joseph, Abby was Mary and Dallin was a lamb.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

I know I am a little slow catching up on the blog but I didn't want to let Thanksgiving go by without mentioning it. This year we were able to celebrate the holiday with both families. The food is always great and it is nice to get together with the everyone. My family is almost too big to fit into a house when we are all together. So we met at the church the Saturday before the real day. I made three batches of rolls and a pumpkin pie. On Thanksgiving day, we celebrated at Jared's Grandma Donna's house. We had an enjoyable time.

We also had a Thanksgiving Family Home Evening at the Nursing Home. Our family was asked to do the program the Monday before Thanksgiving. I was so proud of the kids. They spoke up and didn't act nervous. They talked and shook hands with eveyone. It was fun to see them praying and leading the music. We made a Thankful tree and talked about how "bare" our lives are without gratitude. Then we dressed up the tree by adding leaves that listed the things that we were grateful for. Being at the nursing home really helped us to put things into perspective. The things that were listed over and over were family, health and the gospel.

We have so much to be Thankful for this season. With the economy being so unstable, I have been very nervous. But Jared has been blessed with a great job. I am still able to work from home part time. We are all healthy and happy. We have a nice home in a great community. The kids all love school and are doing well in that regard. We have a good family and great friends. I enjoy working with the Young Women at church. We really can't complain. So I decided I needed to turn the news off and enjoy the present. Worrying over the future really won't change much.