Christmas 2008

Ya. Santa did it. He brought the girls a CUPCAKE MAKER. Ya, the one's that were advertised day and night on television, in every single add and in every single store. It even made the top ten toys of the season. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB. One attempt at the cupcake maker and both girls said, "Uh...Mom? These do NOT look like the picture!" Now, that's an understatement. Not to mention that they pretty much taste like cardboard. Good thing Walmart has agreed to take returns from Santa. :) But he wasn't the only one that got suckered in. I ended up buying Hallee a "as seen on tv" nail polish mechanism that got the same response. "uh, Mom? These nails do not look like the pictures on the box!" Again, a complete understatement.

However, Santa did redeem himself on the music systems for the girls. Hallee got an I-pod, Hope got a stereo for her room and Caymbree got a kid-tough portable boom box. They were a huge hit and the girls have not stopped listening to them.

The extended family also scored big time with the gift of a Wii and all the accessories. We will be busy for the next few months playing Guitar Hero, Mario Cart, High School Musical Dance Edition and more. So much fun!!!

Christmas Eve party 2008

Christmas eve just wouldn't be the same without new jammies!

Christmas Dance Recital

Proud Parents

Scary how grown up they look isn't it?

And now for your entertainment, may I present Hope and Hallee's Christmas performances. Hope you enjoy! (remember to pause my playlist music first)

Keeping the tradition alive

For as long as I can remember Grandpa and Grandma Larsen have taken the entire family up to the USU training center each December. With the passing of Grandpa the possibility arose that the tradition would end. After some discussion and the generosity of some, the annual family gathering was made possible once again. Not having Grandpa with us this year definitely felt different and it was next to impossible to get him out of my mind. But nothing would have made him happier than to see us all together laughing and having a good time.

Sorry Rob but this picture was too funny not to post. Just thank me that I didn't post the picture from the gangster rap" .

It was a kids paradise with lots of crafts, yummy treats, the Wii, and a custom made sledding hill in the back yard.

The Christmas Jar

Last year my parents gave us an empty jar and a wonderful book called the "Christmas Jar." They asked us to read it and then start collecting our spare coins in our jar. I'm embarrassed to admit that in all the post Christmas chaos I only read half the book and the jar got shoved on the top shelf. So this year when they asked us how much we had collected I had to walk the hall of shame and admit my mistake.

My mom then told me about a family in her ward that were in need of a few items. Both parents are blind, they have a four year old daughter and the mom is pregnant. My parents have visited multiple times and had witnessed the challenges that come with a young child and two parents that can't see. (Like trying to find your mittens before you go to school.)

On morning while doing Hallee's hair I passed on the stories to Hallee and Hope that my mom had told me about the family. At one point I looked down and Hallee was sobbing. Being the sensitive mother that I am I angrily scold her and tell her that I couldn't possibly be hurting her hair. (In my pathetic defense - tears are not uncommon while doing hair.). She then told me that it wasn't about her hair but that she felt so sad for this family and especially the little girl.

I asked them if they wanted to give some of their allowance to buy some Christmas presents for her and both of them hurried off to their rooms to collect some money. Hope came back with ONE PENNY. I asked her if she wanted to give a little bit more and she said, "no, this is good."

Hallee came back with her ENTIRE piggy bank and said she wanted to give it all. When Hope saw her generosity she went back to her room and came back with one penny, one dime, one nickel and one quarter and beaming from her own version of generosity. We added our money to the collection of other family members and they set off to do some shopping.

When we went to Logan we were able to deliver the Christmas gifts to the family. The little girl was SO gracious and just kept saying "Merry Christmas!" and "Oh, thank you!" Allowing my children to witness this special moment was a gift I hope they always remember and truly allowed the spirit of Christmas to be felt.

And just in case you were wondering....the Christmas jar already had a few coins in it for next year. :)

Christmas Dresses

Holiday Happenings

So much stuff...so little time to blog. Here is just a little recap of the HOLIDAY HAPPENINGS at the HODGES....

A holiday favorite...DECORATING THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE. I think I could kiss the inventor of the pre-made kits. Bless you!

All the stockings are hung, the tree is up and the smell of Christmas is in the air. Okay, I'll be honest. I pooped out about half way through. Half of my decorations are still out in the garage, the kids tree never made it's appearance and you know what. I am okay with it.

A date night with dad....not to this movie but to High School Musical 3 again. I think they had described the entire movie to Troy in detail but they INSISTED that he go see it with them while it was still at the theatres. Putting Hallee in a boring red shirt and realizing I didn't have a hair bow to match led to the creation of these fun little things...

So fun that I ended up getting together with my girlfriends to make some more!

And I've even managed a little time for a few craft projects. My mom came up with these fun Christmas blocks that we made over Thanksgiving.

And a fun little project I copied from a friend. Thanks Krista!

Davis Valley Classic

Six years ago my cousin and I, at the request and input of some of our coach friends, decided to start a drill team competition. We held our first competition at Woods Cross High School and looking back now it was somewhat of a comical disaster. We really didn't have a clue what we were doing. We only had six teams and our "staff" pretty much consisted of us, our husbands and our moms. Our mom's ended up being our door bouncers, the welcoming committee, concession stand workers, and just about everything else. It was during the Christmas holiday and the heat in the building had been turned off. Needless to say, we FROZE!!! At one point we even had to go out to the cars to gather blankets to try and keep our judges warm. Nice hu? The school provided us with three janitors, all of them teenagers who I swear were smoking weed during the competition.

But, we survived!!! And each year we grew (and yes, we switched high schools). This past weekend we held our sixth annual drill team competition at Davis High School. We now have over 25 teams from around the state that compete in our event. Who would have thought it would have turned into this? Troy is amazing and spends two full days in the thick of judges and coaches as my trusty tabulator. I'm sure it is quite enlightening for him :).

I've been judging dance and drill competitions for over ten years but it is fun to be on the other end of things once a year. I'm just glad it's ONLY once a year. I think I am still trying to catch up on my sleep and mentally wind down and it's been over for more than 24 hours!

Walk with Christ

December is CRAZY. Believe me. I know first hand. It's sad to think that the one time of year that we should be most focused on Christ is the time of year when He is most easily forgotten. For our December Enrichment we started a 14 day "Walk With Christ" program with the sisters in our Ward. The Enrichment Committee made 80 of these booklets for containing stories, questions and journal pages to read and ponder each day.
in the middle of our fourteen day journey we had a Progressive Dinner. We met at the church for hot chocolate and then each sister was given a set of three homes to visit. One for salads and rolls, the next for the main course (turkey, potatoes and veggies) and then a final home for dessert. (We had seven homes running at one time so that our group sizes would stay under 10 people at a time.)

It was a logistical nightmare to get it all coordinated but in the end it was worth it. We live in a ward that has divided three times since we moved here and we finally have small enough numbers that we all SHOULD know each other. This dinner gave people an opportunity to sit down in small groups and really get better acquainted.

Yesterday we had the priesthood and the Young Women help us out with the primary and nursery so that we could have all the sisters together for a special lesson and testimony meeting to close our Fourteen day walk. It was a wonderful time to reflect on our blessings and the joy that Christ brings into our lives.