Merry Christmas...

...and His name shall be called "Wonderful - Counselor - The Mighty God - The Everlasting Father - The Prince of Peace"

May peace, love and joy attend you and your families...this Christmas time and throughout the coming New Year...

Love from all of us here at "Happy Acres"

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

...and it looks like dreams really DO come true...

It began last week with a couple of inches...

...and the girls being released early from school due to the storm...(thank goodness for snow-suits and warm clothes)

Nanook of the north and his faithful sidekick, Chinook, fought the brave fight and cleared the driveway and sidewalks... Ah, such manly-men...

Even Grandma ventured out to see what all the fuss was about... Tinkerbell (the dog we're babysitting) was having NONE of it and made Grandma take her back inside... *smart puppy and smart Grandma - it was cold!!!*

That was LAST week...Today, three days before Christmas, this is what we woke up to... in the front yard...

...And the back...

Maybe that White Christmas isn't just a dream, after all...

Amanda's turn...

While Jackie's been busy with basketball, Amanda's been busy with cheer and choir. Here are a few highlights.

They cheered at Jackie's first home-game...here, she's just finished the first part of their halftime dance.

...her first stunt...

...they call this one "Swedish Falls"...don't know why, they just do... (Mandy's on the right)

Hamming it up with her cheer pals, Haley (left) and Britney (right)

...and last but not least, this is the choir solo she performed for the Christmas concert they presented to the elementary school...

Basketball Star...indeed...

I haven't posted in awhile... There is a very reasonable explanation for that... I have been busy with the girls' new activities which have given me plenty of material for blogging, but very little time. That being said, today we have what could be called perfect timing. When I took the girls to school, it was snowing. It had been snowing all night. It snowed all morning so that when I got an email from the school telling me they were closing early, it was no surprise. Now I have the girls safely home and getting ready for some fun in the snow (more fodder for blogging); but I also have a few uninterrupted minutes to update the blog. Since we're pretty much snow bound and nothing could entice me to brave these roads again (unless Kevin gets stuck coming home)...I'm in blogging heaven.

So, let's start with Jackie. Basketball season started for the charter school-league last week. We are not going to mention scores other than to say that we haven't won a game yet (or even come close). The best thing we can say is that the girls are having fun, learning the game quickly, and improving all the time. Most importantly, they are having fun. Without further ado, here is Jackie's debut into the wide world of sports...

First game...

First home game...warming up

Going in for a lay-up during warm-ups!

High fives, she made the basket!!!

Then she notices the flashing camera and says: "NO - MOM!!!! Don't take my picture!!!"

Too late...*FLASH* She really is a basketball star!!!

She's a star...

...soon to be a basketball star!!!

Jackie tried out for the girls' basketball team at school yesterday, and made it!!!

Way to go for the tall kid here at Happy Acres!! When she's playing in the WMBA,

she can support her parents in the style to which they would LOVE to become accustomed!

Congratulations to our Miss J!!!

It's a little early, but...

...It's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas here at Happy Acres!!!

So many lights...so many places to string them...

Two entire trees to decorate...

Is that too many??? Can you have too many Christmas trees??? Hummmm...

NAH!!

Voila! The completed project, from the outside, looking in...

I LOVE Christmas!!!!

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

Many years ago, my Dad started what has become an honored tradition of military service in our family.



Dad and his brother, my Uncle Gene, both served 20 years with distinction and honor in the United States Air Force.


Today, both my nephews, Trevor and Sean Wozniak are serving in the military. To these honorable men, and all the men and women who serve our great Nation so faithfully, I say a heart-felt "Thank you, and God bless you!"

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

Home can be a Heaven on Earth...

...When it is filled with love....

When Kevin and I got married, we wanted a big family. We were blessed to adopt our two girls. We were thrilled with our "little family". This past year, we've been blessed with the big family we always wanted...it just took a different form than we imagined. Funny how when you put yourself in Heavenly Father's hands, He answers your prayers HIS way...and it's always for the best.

Last year when we moved in here at "Happy Acres", we went from a family of four to a hodge-podge-family of six... We didn't add any new kids (well, Marc and Debra CAN revert back to childhood from time to time...don't we all? haha) - we added an Uncle and Aunt.

Last month, we went from a family of six to a family of seven when we brought Kevin's mom home to live with us. We always tell Kevin that when he got Doris for a mom, he won the "Mommy-lottery". I guess that means I won the "Mommy-in-law-lottery"...LUCKY ME!!!

Here's the sign Amanda made for Grandma's bedroom door.

Today Mom unpacked her final box and we finished decorating the den for her.
Kevin installed the shelves and hung the pictures,

Deb and I cleaned all the glassware,

and Marc made sure everything was arranged just perfectly.

Now Grandma can be cozy in her chair, surrounded by her beautiful things, and warmed by the cats who fight over who gets to snuggle on Grandma's lap.

Yes, many years ago, Kevin and I dreamed of the big family we'd have. Thanks to Heavenly Father, we have the big family we need. It isn't perfect...(whose is?) but it's perfect for us. Getting to have Grandma live with us was just exactly what we needed.

Life is good!

He Loves Me!!!!

"I'm doing this for you, y'know?!!!", He called down to me as I stood watching him with my heart in my throat.

"I hope you know how much I love you!!!" He shouted.

His love for me was shouted from the rooftops...and they say romance is dead...

*sigh*

Halloween...

Some things never change...

Like getting made up in costume...

...and Mom taking pictures of the finished masterpiece...

But sometimes things DO change, like Amanda missing Halloween because she was sick.

So this year she stayed home and dressed up as an invalid...

Sorry Kiddo...Let's pack away the pumpkins...there's always next year...

Making memories...

I absolutely LOVE being a mom. No doubt about it, it's the best job for me! One of my favorite parts about being a mom is making happy memories for my kids. I hope this weekend was full of those happy memory-making moments for Amanda. Today was my first baby's 15th Birthday!!!

The social event of the season began last night with a party/sleep-over for Amanda and 4 of her friends.

By 6pm, the decorations were in place...



The table was set for dinner and snacks...


...and the guests had arrived!

There was cake...

...and some of it actually got IN her stomach...


and there was entertainment



Then the festivities continued with the family-portion of the BIG event...

Amanda got her first "grown-up" perfume (Vera Wang's 'Princess') from Grandma, a great make-up kit with a beautiful case from Uncle Marc and Aunt Debra, money and gift cards from Auntie Deb, Uncle Steve, Chelsea, Shane and Brea, a cell-phone decorating kit from Auntie and Uncle Charlie, AND... within a box, inside a box, in another box... HER VERY FIRST CELL PHONE!!!!!!!!!!

So...Make a wish, my darling girl...

Your "Sweet 16" is only 365 days of happy memories away!!!! *sigh*

*SIGH*

I started this weekend with the feeling that my bucket of emotions/spiritual reservoirs, etc. was getting pretty low. Lots of dippers in my bucket and not a lot of reserves for some reason.

Just in the nick of time...VOILA!!! General Conference weekend. Two whole days...four two-hour sessions of all the spirit-building, inspiration growing, bucket-filling reserves I could ask for! Best of all, I got to enjoy the experience with my family. It was great!!!

Even the pets were appropriately reverent...

Thank Heaven for General Conference...my 'bucket' has been filled to overflowing!!!

Hanging Gardens...

I was emailing my sister (Caline) the other day, and mentioned how grateful I was that I had finished college and was done with school. That's true for SO many reasons, but partly because I do so much "home-work-help" that I feel as if I'm back in school myself.

The math homework usually gives me a head ache. I have an easier time with spelling, English, Spanish, and Social Studies. Occasionally, I am called upon to help with BIG projects like the one Jackie just completed. In those cases, I sit in amazement at the talent and creativity of my children. The last one of these I helped with was Amanda's pyramid made entirely of sugar cubes. *That was fun since we painted them gold before gluing them together.*

Here's what Jackie came up with as a representation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Mesopotamia! I now know more about Mesopotamia than I ever learned in college...go figure!

Jackie found this example on the internet and used it as a guide for her creation.

Here we have built the structure, gotten the waterfalls and river in and added trees around the base.

The hanging garden is beginning to grow...

After three days, bunches of silk plants and flowers, dozens of hot-glue sticks, and several burnt fingers...Viola!!! The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the architect of this project.

As if to put His stamp of approval on the whole project, the Grand Architect shared one of His priceless creations at the end of our day.

Since He is the source of Jackie's creative mind... I'm sure He'd give her an 'A+' on her finished work of art. Great job, Jackie!!!!!