Christmas happenings with our family

Here are some of our pictures from Sunday the 21st to Thursday Christmas day. The first group of pictures is our FHE that we have each month with my brothers and family. And also, that night was Layla's birthday we celebrated. In this picture above (left to right) is Matthew, Mikayla, Brighton, Layla, Brittany, and Suzanne.
FHE at Mark and Miriah's home, this picture above is during the lesson that Miriah did with everyone participating. In this picture is Mark, Miriah, Layla, Caleb, and Mikayla
Layla turned 6 on 12-21-08. In this picture above is (l to r) Mikayla, Layla, Brittany, Cumorah, and Nathan.
Brighton playing with blocks at our FHE at Mark and Miriah's home.
Kara playing with Cougar with Mikayla and Brighton in the background too.
Our Christmas tree in the family room!
Colton and Kara in their new PJ's and opening a present from Cami's deceased parents ( a tradition each year). On Christmas Eve we had the missionaries over for dinner and then we read the story of Jesus's birth in the Luke 2 and in Matthew 1 and in parts of the Book of Mormon. Then we got in our PJ's, got Santa's plate all filled with cookies. Then we played the game that Cami's parents gave us which was the American Idol Encore Wii game. We had a blast singing and dancing!
Here is Spencer with his new PJ on Christmas Eve. He went to Lindsay's home during the afternoon evening to enjoy the Christmas fun at their home. To see more pictures look at Lindsay's page that I have a link to.
Christmas breakfast, this year we ate before we opened presents. Lindsay is the one taking the picture for us. :)
Kara in the midst of opening presents.
Colton enjoying opening his presents.
Matt and I on Christmas morning. Christmas was a wonderful day filled with wonderful company, a TON of snow, wonderful presents, a great talk with our Missionary, Coby, delicious food and celebrating the birth of our Savior and the life he lived so that we can have eternal life through his gift of the Atonement.
Lindsay and Spencer, Christmas morning.
Christmas afternoon at Matthew and Suzanne's home. We ate a delicious meal, visited, and then played a few fun games. In this picture is L to R, Mikayla, Matthew, Nathan turned around, Mark, Kara and then Cumorah.
Matthew looking great after a long day.
A very tired Cougar after a busy Christmas Day in his mom's arms and Cumorah standing close by. On December 26th we went out to a late lunch and then we went and saw the movie, "Bedtime Stories." Our family all enjoyed it and the fun event was because Matt's parents for Christmas sent us money to go out to eat and to go and see a movie. It was a fun day. Then later that evening Matt and I saw the movie, " Seven Pounds." That is a very thought provoking movie.

Sledding, Christmas program and other happenings!

Today Kara went sledding with her two friends Natalie, and Riley. They have a tradition of going sledding right before Christmas at Eastmont. Matt took them this year since I was wrapping presents most of the day!
Here is a picture of Kara's school Christmas choir. They sang on Wednesday December 17th at Eastmont Middle School. This is Kara's last year of being in the choir since she will be in middle school next year. This is her 6th year of being in the choir. Kara also got some very good news this week about her 6th grade play. They are doing the play Much Ado about Nothing by Shakespeare. She got the part she tried out for, Beatrice so she is pumped! Although she does have to fall in love with Benedick and learn around sixty lines so she has her work cut out. Kara also graduated from NOVA a new program that is taught to replace DARE (the drug free program). Thankfully, Spencer drove my carpool route with Lindsay so I was able to go to the N.O.V.A. program.

Colton had a lot of parties at his school this week. One day I made him Texas Sheet Cake for his whole class (you don't have to buy store brand stuff) and the next day I made him Cinnamon Rolls for another class. He has had a lot of fun at his parties though and found out there is a lot of talented people at his school when they did a Christmas talent show program.

This week we did a lot of Christmas shopping, baking, finishing Christmas cards, visiting teaching, home teaching and other Christmas activities. And in the midst of this we had a TON of snow. Matt had put new tires on my Pilot and they were terrible in the snow. I was sliding into everything and because there was so much snow the roads weren't plowed. Luckily Spencer and Matt put my old un-fancy tires back on my car which I am so grateful for because they drive so well in the snow!

Tomorrow would have been my mom's 67th birthday. I miss her so much and I always feel sort of melancholy on her birthday when I think about what might have been. Every year I convince myself that I won't feel this way, but it is really pretty fruitless since it seems to be what happens on her birthday! I am just so grateful for the HUGE influence she has had on me because of who she was!

We also want to wish Matt's parents a very Happy Anniversary today. We are so glad they got together and hope they have a wonderful day.

FHE at Temple Square

My favorite thing to do during the Christmas season is to go to Temple Square. Here are some of the pictures that Lindsay took while we were there. She does an amazing job and she was just using my digital camera. Then she was sweet enough to edit the pictures too. I never knew my camera could take such good pictures.

Christmas skiing in blizzard like weather!

Here is Kara exhausted after our last ski lesson with the Deseret Ski school. I really enjoyed this program and it is so CHEAP. We were able to get three two and a half hour lessons for a total of $40. When I looked at prices for regular ski lessons it was $90 for just one hour so we were very grateful for such a wonderful price and great lessons. When I was talking to my ski instructor he also let me know that all of the Alta ski instructors were teaching these three classes for free. What wonderful kind people to do this for the community. We are so blessed.
Matt waiting for us during ski lessons! He has been great coming with us each week, to enjoy the scenery and he also says it is because he wants to protect his girls!

Here I am about to go on the ski lift with my new found friends. I am in the blue vest and I am too excited to do something that was a fear of mine for a very long time.
Here is Kara at our last ski lesson. She did wonderful and we both went up on a green ski lope. It was so much fun and we both loved it. The only thing that was interesting to deal with was the snow that was falling at a rapid speed.

Here is a picture of Kara after the Mormon Tabernacle's amazing concert that we both went away from in awe. What an amazing choir we have. We are very lucky that Matt has two employees that always give us tickets to this and make it a tradition each year. The guests we had were Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herrman were fantastic.
Matt ended up getting the flu so Kara and I had a fun mother/daughter trip to see the Mormon Tabernacle choir on Thursday the 11th. Here is a picture of Kara before the concert when we went out to eat and this is the dessert we shared. Kara is a lot of fun to hang out with.

I did forget to take pictures of Lindsay and I's trip to Cedar City to pick up Spencer. Since Matt was sick we decided to drive down to Cedar City a day earlier than planned as he was going to make the trip on Saturday, but since he caught the flu that we all had we knew he wouldn't be well enough to go. And since Matt was home on Friday I could actually go because he would be able to pick up Colton and Kara from school and take Kara to her "Up with kids" class too. I still felt bad leaving him with the driving like that when he had been really sick on Thursday, but he liked the idea of not having to drive to Cedar City a lot. When Lindsay and I got to Cedar City we realized that there was still cleaning to do as Spencer was behind because we were coming a day earlier then planned. After the cleaning was done we packed up his stuff in our car. It went pretty quickly and we were back on the road in no time. It is nice to have Spencer home. He has been very helpful. When we got home from ski lessons Spencer had enlisted Colton's help in shoveling the snow on our drive way and walk ways and had hot chocolate waiting for us. And then later that night he and Lindsay made dinner for us too.

It has been a different week then planned!!!

The beginning of our ski lesson
Kara's class (she is in the pink and black coat in the back)


(My ski instructor Sid (who is amazing and who has taught since 1968) and a few of my new friends plus three extra people checking out our class.
Colton also enjoying Alta ski resort with his dad!
Minutes from being sick!!!


We have had a very busy week and had a lot of plans until the awful flu virus came to visit at our home and forced us to slow down. Last Tuesday (12-2) in the evening Kara started getting sick. She said she felt better on Thursday morning so we let her go to school, but then after school when I picked her up she was sick and was throwing up again. Then Colton started to come down with it while we were skiing. And then I caught it early Monday morning and I am thinking I will be much better by this evening. After having the flu it really helps you appreciate a functioning body. And it has also got me very behind in so many things!

Tomorrow is our All Adult Enrichment Dinner I have been working on for quite sometime. When our RS president, Alice called me yesterday and found out I was sick throwing up she offered to go and get all of the food (even after I told her I could do it, but secretly I think she didn't want my germs on it.) Then Natalie offered her help in preparing some of the food I was planning to make. And then my friend Crystal called up today and offered her help too. So after that I got brave (seriously it is that hard for me) and called another mom in the car pool and asked her if we could switch days as I usually pick up today. And she was more than happy to switch. One thing I have always struggled with is asking for help. I've always felt like everyone is already so busy that I never wanted to add more to their already busy life and the unseen burdens they carry. It is funny because I love to help people and it gives me a lot of joy. I learned so much from my mom who was such an example to me of Christlike service. Even when she couldn't physically do things for other people she blessed people by her kind words, note, or call.

We were really sad by the passing of Elder Wirthlin. He has always been one of my favorite apostles. I have loved his talks, book, and learned so much from his humble example. One thing is he also served in the same mission years ago where my son Coby is serving. So it has been nice to hear of some of his experiences there. I loved what Elder Nelson said about him at his funeral, "He cared so little about himself, because he cared so much about others."

Spencer is busy with finals and we will be going to pick him up and all of his stuff this weekend. It will be nice to have him going to school in SLC! We have so much to do for Christmas and hope that you are all enjoying this beautiful time of the year!

Our Tree is Up!!!!

We got most of our Christmas decorations up on Saturday, but we were able to put up both our Christmas trees on Monday night for Family Home Evening. It is always a lot of fun. Here are just a few pictures of our night below.

Our home is quieter now with Spencer back in school, but he will be back in December to stay and go to college here in Salt Lake until his upcoming wedding. Yes, the word is out that he plans to be married in the temple to Lindsay. A lot of you have met her and if not you are in for a treat as she is a very beautiful, lovable young women.

On Sunday I went to hear Coby's friend Jake speak and he did an amazing job. I just love Jake and his very cheerful, happy disposition is very contagious. It made me think that sooner than I can believe our son Coby will be back from serving his mission.

It is a busy time for everyone and I am excited for the season of Christmas as we celebrate our Savior's birth. I hope you are enjoying this time too.

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving; I didn't take many. We were at my brother Mark and Miriah's home. It was a wonderful meal and wonderful company.

It has been a very fun and busy week with lots of different things to do. It was nice to have Spencer home from SUU for over a week and great to see Lindsay too.

We have a couch in the upstairs family room slash playroom. I never, ever look behind it. Truth be told, when I'm in that room I don't even let my eyes wander anywhere in the vicinity of the couch. It's where the girls and their friends hang out. Thus, I'm scared of what's back there. The other day, I was brave enough to move it:

We have a rule that food is not allowed out of the kitchen. So, imagine my surprise (not) to find mass piles of dry noodles. There were also half eaten suckers, used bandaids, gum, chapstick, endless garbarge. Oh, and a glove. Not a pair mind you, just one. Are they really that lazy? Just shove it all behind the couch I guess. Ask any one of them who shoved all this crap back here, and I get my favorite response, "I didn't do it."

I think from now on I should just start shoving everything I pick up behind the couch. I'm so tired of bending over to pick. up. one. more. thing. So, I'll just kick it to the couch instead. When the girls ask me where their backpacks are, I'll just say, "I didn't do it."

Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and let you all know how grateful we are for you, our friends and family, who impact our life so greatly. You are each a blessing in our life and we learn so much from each of you.

The more we obey God, the more we desire to help others. The more we help others, the more we love God and on and on. Conversely, the more we disobey God and the more selfish we are, the less love we feel. John Groberg

Happenings this week!

Colton gave a talk on prayer on Sunday and he did such a great job. It was the best talk he has ever gave and he got so many compliments and I did too for him! Matt was extra busy adding another High council meeting that day so we didn't see much of him. Luckily I didn't have to go and visit people in the ward this Sunday! But we were lucky enough to have our home teachers come over; they are awesome.

Yesterday we were able to have the missionaries over for dinner. Our missionaries cover 22 wards so it is hard to schedule a day with them.

Today, I went to bishop's storehouse to work to help fill Thanksgiving orders for our area. It is amazing to me how organized that place runs. The people that work there are so helpful and made it easy. It just amazes me how efficiently the LDS church runs all of their programs. Right now Matt is at the Jazz game with his friend Jamie sitting in their cozy suite with delicious food.

Tomorrow is our schools Thanksgiving dinner so I get the opportunity to go and help serve and then I also will have a minute to eat dinner/lunch with Kara. Tomorrow is also the Reflections award assemble and Kara got a letter that she is getting an award tomorrow. I was really proud of her because she wrote a song and worked hard.

Tomorrow night I am going with my girlfriends to my first midnight movie Twilight. It should be interesting because I am supposed to go and help Friday at Colton's school, so hopefully I won't be too tired. And Friday is also the day that Spencer comes home for Thanksgiving break. It will be so nice to have him home for over a week; I have missed him so much.

Saturday Kara and I start our 1st day of ski lessons together. It should be fun and she is especially excited.

This Sunday I have the opportunity to go to a missionary (non) homecoming talk. It is a friend of Coby's from high school, and he also happened to be on the same mission as Coby. So it will be so cool to hear about his experiences serving in the same mission. The following Sunday I am going to another non homecoming talk too. Coby's friend Jake is getting home from his mission. I sure have missed Jake and it will be so great to see him.

Family Portraits

I mailed each family member their picture TODAY from the family reunion! I can't express how glad I am that the pictures are finally here and the order was finally right this time. I have had so many different problems with this particular picture group that I just have to laugh.

We did get all of the photo shopping done for free because of all of the problems so that was one bright spot, especially since he did 11 different photo shops. Basically he did one member or more from every family. I just forgot to photo shop myself if you can believe it because I really am not smiling in the picture, but you know what I decided, it is really not a big deal.

We all need to become

"The purpose of life is not to do. It is to become. To become more of who we are is perfect success, no matter the end result. " Heather Madder

I love this quote as it reminds me that we are each creators of our life and each individual has a central purpose differently tutored for them individually.

Happy Veterans Day!

I am so grateful for those Veterans that have served our country and made it the safe place it is today. I can't express enough gratitude for the time they gave to their country and the countless times they put themselves in harms way to protect this country. I am so glad that I live in this free country!

This last weekend we had a great stake conference! Our theme was Love one Another. And then our Saturday adult evening meeting was about preparing to go to the temple, particularly the Draper temple which will be having an open house for 54 days. Our stake has the opportunity to participate in helping with the open house. I am so excited for this! That night we also went to the high councilmen and wife dinner. This is I must admit is a time where I realized that I was getting much OLDER! I remember when my parents use to go to these.

On our Sunday morning session every talk was about Loving one another. They talked a lot about forgiveness too. It was all beautifully done and to top it off we had a primary choir that sang beautifully and brought the spirit more strongly through their sweet spirit and music.

We have had a great week and Kara had a sleep over with her friend and it was fun to hear giggling girls. We got to talk to Spencer a lot so that made for a great week and I was able to help at the school with Reflections, feeding the teachers and I made Grandma Przybylski's Chicken noodle soup thanks to Aunt Julie's cook book and it was a big hit. One of my great friends is the PTA president and I am very inspired by her dedication to the school and the countless hours that she serves. She just amazes me.

We had a lot of rain on Monday and it was so nice as it reminded me of home. In our letter from Coby this weekend he mentioned how grateful he was that it wasn't time to come home from his mission yet. His current companion is going home today so I am happy that he is loving his mission so much. I love having a missionary out spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints. I need to mail him a package as his bag was ruined, and his shoes are ruined again and he needs a new journal!

Election is over!!!!! Yeah :)

I am so glad that the election is finally over. Here at our home we were disappointed with the results for the president. But now that Obama is the president we will stand behind him as our American President.

I was so grateful that Proposition 8 passed in California. This is something that was extremely important to me. I am grateful for all of the voters in California who got out there and voted! I can't express my gratitude enough. Thanks for allowing marriage to continue as the Lord intended between one man and one woman. I am so grateful for marriage and the opportunity I have to be married to a wonderful man who makes each of my days brighter!

Colton has been sick with the flu today. He woke up in the morning throwing up on the carpet of all places. Not a great way to start the day, but I was blessed that my husband got up and cleaned it up for me before I realized it. And in talking to Spencer today he had the flu today too; how interesting that living so far away he had it the same time as his brother.

I talked to my sister Katie on the phone yesterday. It made me miss her all the more. She is so fun to talk to. I wish we lived closer as I miss her a lot. She mentioned coming to visit in Utah and I hope that she is serious because I would love to see her. We always have so much fun when we are together.

We went to Kara's parent teacher conference tonight and she has a 98.8 percent overall which is wonderful. She puts a lot of pressure on herself to do well and sometimes she is way too hard on herself.

I started a face book page as a better way to keep connected with Spencer and in the process I have found out it is kind of fun too. Some of the avenues of the Internet are so amazing. Please have a Happy November!

Halloween Fun and Grandma Mackey's 90th birthday

Halloween was great this year. Kara was a 50's girl and she looked so cute. And Colton was a CIA agent at least for our ward's trunk or treat.

One big thing is the fact that today is my Grandma's 90th birthday. My grandma is an amazing person who I love and admire. I am so blessed by having her influence in my life.

The elementary school didn't have school on Halloween so we celebrated it on the 30th. That is the day we had the school parade and all of the Halloween parties. This is my last year having a child at Edgemont elementary school. So my 16 years of watching my children in the parade is coming to an end with I am sure great things in store for the future.
After the parade I put on the Halloween party for Kara's class. I had three moms that came to help and my husband Matt came too. One of the games I picked out was a flop, but the rest were great. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Kara said the funnest game there was the one her dad did. After the party and while her class was at lunch and recess I prepared caramel apples, and put together root beer floats and then we all went home.

Colton didn't have any parties or dress up at his school, but he took it right in stride. This is the first year I didn't take my children trick or treating. Kara went with her friend for the first time without me and Matt and I stayed home (it was our date night) and answered the door and spent time with Colton. I hope you all had a very Happy Halloween.

Great Wisdom!!!

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." Mark Twain

Connie Sokol recently wrote this and I loved it! I really need to hear it so I am posting it here for myself mainly as it is a great reminder for me as I work with all kinds of different people.

"Working with people can be Dickens-like: it can be the best of times and the worst of times. Although many of us feel blessed to work with kind and amazing angels, most of us meet or deal with people that, to be succinct, need a chill pill or a good swift kick. That is, until we walk in their moccasins. Reading the following from Brad Wilcox in Raising the Bar gave food for my soul on this very subject:

"When someone lies to us or lets us down, we can look for the secret. What has happened in his life to make him act this way? When someone gossips, look for the secret. What has made that person so insecure? What kind of pain has been dealt with to cause such low self-esteem? When someone has pulled away rejecting the very expressions of love that are so needed, look for the secret. What has made her feel so angry, alone, and devalued?"

This week when rubbing shoulders with each other, I invite us to look for the "secret", the emotional clues that will help us better understand another, and the ability to walk in their moccasins, or Nikes, or stilettos, for just a little while.

OK I know who has some great pictures of the Family Reunion!

When I was at John and Annette's home I saw some of his great photos from the family reunion. So I took off a good portion of my pictures off this site as his are WONDERFUL and I want him to send them quickly . I can't wait until you all see them too! He has an amazing camera.

I ordered all of the pictures from the photographer on October 22nd and he said it would take two to three weeks. So I imagine I will have them in my hands by November 12th and then I will mail them out to each individual family. Thank you for being so patient with me.

Our weekend in Boise!!!

This last weekend we were in Boise to celebrate Matt's dad playing in at Boise State 50 years ago against Tyler college. Boise state won the game 22-0. It was so cool to be a part of their exciting weekend as we attended a Boise State game and sat on the 2nd row. Boise State played against the Unverisity of Hawaii and it was one of the best games I have ever been too. After the first quarter they had all of the players that had played fifty years ago come on the field and they honored them. It was so neat to watch. We really enjoyed seeing Matt's parents and his Grandparents Przybylski. We had such a great time to visit with them and go to church with them too! They are both such amazing people. I am so grateful for their influence in my life.

While we were there the red carpet was rolled out by Annette and John and family. We had a wonderful time visiting and the cousins love playing with one another. It is so much fun to watch them play together. Annette is so fun to talk to and I thoroughly enjoy her company. Jessica is such a beauty and certainly resembles her mom!

Mason played football while we were there too. He looked so strong in his football uniform. We were sad we didn't get to watch his game. Colton and Steven play so well together it is too bad they don't live closer! On Sunday after going to two wards we left to go back home for school and work. It was funny we went to two sacrament meetings and both were about charity. It is something I always need to be working on. Thanks for a great weekend to all! We did forget to bring our camera to John and family! We love you all!