Merry Christmas

Eric and his family spent Christmas at my house. These are all the presents before

Santa came.. We did not have much room to move around Christmas morning.

Does Bryson still look asleep? He should. The other kids woke up at 5:15am.. Good grief I say.
I am may be old but I still have a hard time sleeping on Christmas Eve.

Besides there is always time for a nap later.
I was very spoiled by Santa and my family.
Santa brought me a Wii.

Jennifer and family gave me this great shelf for my bathroom.

Thanks Mark for putting it up! I love it.

Scott and family gave me this great table with lamp.

Thanks again Mark for setting it up for me.

When you come to the end of everything you know

and the next step is into the darkness

of the great unknown...

You must believe one of two things

either you will step out onto firm ground

or you will be taught to fly.

I saw this picture and loved the quote..

Thanks to Eric and Jennylin I can read it everyday.

This is my most treasured gift.

Thanks Jenny!

I also got a necklace with all the kids names on it as well as pictures of the kids,

scrapbook stuff and some Wii games.

It was all great. But I loved being with my family the most. All of us

were together but

We missed having Sara and her family here with us.

I missed Mom and Dad as well.

I think they were very close by and enjoying

the reason for the season right along with us.

Do you believe? Can you hear the bell?

Thanks to the Bringhurst Family for inviting me to ride with them on the Polar Express.

As you can see we made it to the North Pole and got to see Santa.

This is one of the Elves. She took a liking to Preston and his Cousin Layne.

Brockers had himself a good time.


This is cute little Sam.




Preston eating instead of drinking his hot chocolate.

Nikki, Brittney and Ashlee having some fun.



We had a great time. We all buddled up and wore our PJ's.

It was a great start to the Christmas week.

Sweet Caroline..Bom Bom Bom..

So last night I went to the Neil Diamond concert. I was supposed to go with Eric, Jennylin, Patti and Scott.. Well due to a huge snow storm that came through Eric and Jennylin were unable to make the trip down. Scott and Patti ended up with conflicting agendas.. So I called upon some great friends and they came along.

When I was younger I could not stand Neil.. He was all my Mom listed to..PAINFUL!!!
Then the Jazz Singer came out and I have been a fan ever since. I have been to at least 4 of his concerts..

I wanted to go this year for Mom. His last album came out while she was sick and in the hospital. She had be go buy it and download it on her I-pod. So I think she got to hear it at least once. I remember her being bummed that she had not seen Salt Lake on his concert schedule.. I told her we would just go wherever he was going to be.

Anyway it was a great concert . I had some quite moments thinking of Mom but the rest of the time I was dancing away with my friends!

And the Bidding Begins

> So this is Dr William Hutson. Mom loved him and he adorded Mom as well.

He always called her Mar-see-a. He was the only one that could get away with calling her that.

He is talking here about how much he missed her and the only reason he was willing to be sold to the highest bidder was because it was in her honor.

Here Dr Fang starts the bidding at 5 dollars.

Right away the hands start going up.

Dr Hutson takes a little off to show what he has to offer.

Of course the price went up after that.

Little flex action. Come on people open those wallets.

Here is the group of girls that "won" him.

I was talking to Dr Hutson this morning and he hopes that

Mom got a good laugh with this.

Thanks again Bill for being such a good sport for such a good cause!

Paying it Forward and Honoring Grammy

So last night was my work Christmas Party. It was a great time. It started of with the Ashlee, Preston, Brock and their friend Alyx making a donation to the scholarship fund that was set up in my Moms name. They call themselves Crafting for Kidz. For the past few years they have raised money to donate to others in need."Paying if Forward" They raised $310.00 this year. It was fun to have them come and make the presentation at the party.

( Annie and Annie Beth)
Then my Boss at work gave out a few awards one being" The Marcia Quinney Nursing in Excellence Award" They are going to make it a yearly award. The winner was Anne Marie Faucher. Which I found to be the perfect choice.. Congratulations Annie!

Chris, Annie Marie, Me and Brett

Then to top it off one of the Doctors Bill Hutson was auctioned off. The proceeds to go to Moms scholarship as well. With a little money from a lot of different people he went for $ 444.00. Wow!
He was a favorite of Moms and it was fun have the bidding wars.. ( I will need to find a picture to post)

I miss Mom and Dad a lot. Some days it is hard to be surrounded by people that worked with Mom everyday. But at the same time I am blessed to be surrounded by people that loved her. They are a great support system..

Thanks Jennylin for bringing the kids down to be a part of this great night!

Favorite Christmas Poem

This is a great Christmas Poem. The first time I heard it was on a Christmas Album by Reba McEntire. She has such a great voice to read it to some music. It is what is playing on my blog. So turn up your speakers and have a quick listen. And may it help us all remember the true meaning of Christmas.

It happened one day at the year's white end,

Two neighbors called on an old-time friend
And they found his shop so meager and mean,

Made gay with a thousand boughs of green,
And Conrad was sitting with face a-shine

When he suddenly stopped as he stitched a twine
And said, "Old friends, at dawn today,

When the cock was crowing the night away,
The Lord appeared in a dream to me

And said, 'I am coming your guest to be'.
So I've been busy with feet astir,

Strewing my shop with branches of fir,
The table is spread and the kettle is shined

And over the rafters the holly is twined,
And now I will wait for my Lord to appear

And listen closely so I will hear
His step as He nears my humble place,

And I open the door and look in His face. . ."
So his friends went home and left Conrad alone,

For this was the happiest day he had known,
For, long since, his family had passed away

And Conrad has spent a sad Christmas Day.
But he knew with the Lord as his Christmas guest

This Christmas would be the dearest and best,
And he listened with only joy in his heart.

And with every sound he would rise with a start
And look for the Lord to be standing there

In answer to his earnest prayer
So he ran to the window after hearing a sound,

But all that he saw on the snow-covered ground
Was a shabby beggar whose shoes were torn

And all of his clothes were ragged and worn.
So Conrad was touched and went to the door

And he said, "Your feet must be frozen and sore,
And I have some shoes in my shop for you

And a coat that will keep you warmer, too."
So with grateful heart the man went away,

But as Conrad noticed the time of day
He wondered what made the dear Lord so late

And how much longer he'd have to wait,
When he heard a knock and ran to the door,

But it was only a stranger once more,
A bent, old crone with a shawl of black,

A bundle of faggots piled on her back.
She asked for only a place to rest,

But that was reserved for Conrad's Great Guest.
But her voice seemed to plead,

"Don't send me awayLet me rest awhile on Christmas day."
So Conrad brewed her a steaming cup

And told her to sit at the table and sip.
But after she left he was filled with dismay

For he saw that the hours were passing away
And the Lord had not come as He said He would,

And Conrad felt sure he had misunderstood.
When out of the stillness he heard a cry,

"Please help me and tell me where am I."
So again he opened his friendly door

And stood disappointed as twice before,
It was only a child who had wandered away

And was lost from her family on Christmas Day. .
Again Conrad's heart was heavy and sad,

But he knew he should make this little child glad,
So he called her in and wiped her tears

And quieted her childish fears.
Then he led her back to her home once more

But as he entered his own darkened door,
He knew that the Lord was not coming today

For the hours of Christmas had passed away.
So he went to his room and knelt down to pray

And he said,

"Dear Lord, why did you delay,
What kept You from coming to call on me,

For I wanted so much Your face to see. . ."
When soft in the silence a voice he heard,

"Lift up your head for I kept My word--
Three times My shadow crossed your floor--

Three times I came to your lonely door--
For I was the beggar with bruised, cold feet,

I was the woman you gave to eat,

And I was the child on the homeless street."

Helen Steiner Rice

Happy Birthday Boys...

Preston is 10!!! He is my #1" Boogalou".

Even though he is getting older and thinks kissing his Annie

is gross I love him dearly!

Trust me there is a little trouble behind that smile!

Happy Birthday !!!!!!

Chase is my "Big Red"

He turned 11.

Chase is always good for a Laugh

and a Hug!

Happy Birthday Chaser!

I tired to post pictures from the early years but my computer is not letting me.

So I will try later but I want to get the Birthday shout out

to my Boys!!!

Carrie Underwood here we come

So I took Chase, Nikki and Natalie to the Carrie Underwood Concert

for their upcoming Birthdays. The night started with us having dinner

at Ruby Tuesdays.

We got to the concert early to beat traffic. So we hung out around the

Radio Stations. And for whatever reason there was this Pickle hanging around


We all got free shirts from K-Bull 93

Here we are waiting for the concert to start.

First we were entertained by

Little Big Town

Then the count down for Carrie Began.

Entertaining themselves waiting for Carrie

Cute little Cowgirl

I think Carrie is looking at us.

We had great seats. We were 6 rows up from the floor

and to the left of the stage.

Thanks to the Jumbo Tron

Carrie is almost up front and personal

This is the closest we got to Carrie

And I think this says it all as for how we felt

walking out of the concert.

I had a great time watching the kids. This was Nikki and Chase's first concert.

Natalie has been to a few.

And as every concert goer has experinced we had a few drunk people right

in front of us. One guy kept giving Nikki a High Five. The other guy

just sat there and sang every song word for word.

But really I think I am getting old. Because it was all so LOUD!!!!

But hey I survived anyway!

Thanks Kiddos I had fun.

Happy Birthday Bubble Girl

Look at this cute thing! She already loves Purses and Pooh.

All warm and snugly with Grammy.

Some days are just tougher then others.

Hanging with her crime fighting cousins.

Happy Birthday Bubble Girl!

Hope your having a great Day.

Love you Lots!

Girls Day and Night out.

So Jennylin and Ashlee came down to help me finish packing and clean Mom's house. Nikki came over to help as well. We got a lot done. Thanks a ton girls! Well all the hard work deserved a little reward. So shopping we went!. First stop Tai Pan Trading.

Where I ended up getting my Christmas Tree and all its decorations. After that stop we got some of Jennylins errands done.


Then we met up with our cousin Kimmy for a Yummy dinner at Firehouse Grill.
Thanks for coming Kimmy we know you were busy getting ready for your trip.

Then we were back to doing some more shopping. It was nice

to get the Christmas shopping started.

The girls decided to stay the night and help

me decorate the tree.

We had a great time doing it!

Even though it is not even Thanksgiving my tree is up.

and I LOVE IT!!!!

My First Christmas Tree in my First Home!

Thanks Girls it was a GREAT DAY!!!!