Tis The Season

My mom came to town on December 22nd and we have been trying to make the most of our time. Visiting family, Christmas shopping, getting sick, and resting. So far it has been a fun time.

We went to Temple square the Saturday before Christmas. I haven't been there for a few years so it was fun to see the lights and hang out with, what felt like, a billion people.

This is how Emerson smiles these days

It was a cold evening but fun. We met my cousin Sharee and her fmaily there as well as my cousin Katie. I think I was done taking pictures at that point because my hands were too cold.

Christmas Eve we went to my sacrament meeting. Anthony and Caleb joined my mom and I. It was nice to only have an hour of church.

 Some more pictures from the holiday season.

 It actually snowed on Christmas Eve so we woke up to a white Christmas. Moki and I had to hike the Y to take advantage of it!

Christmas day we made sure everyone wore flannel to Loralie's house. We hung out and played games. It was a fun day.

Other things we have done:

• Girls night up at my cousin Katie's house. We ate soup and played fun games
• Put together a Webb family get together. I didn't take a single picture but it was all of my moms siblings and their families. It was well attended and so fun. It was such a good opportunity to catch up with so many different people.
• Went to my school and had a shooting night with my brothers.
• Andrew slept over with me and my mom one night.
• Spent an afternoon shopping with my mom and Anthony. We were getting things for the Webb party. We also had lunch together.
• I put away Christmas on December 28th. That is really early for me but I have been pretty sick and I was ready to have a clean and organozed house.
• Basketball practice every morning.
• Had an awesome Christmas Eve, that will get it's own post.

It has been a great holiday season!

#LIGHTTHEWORLD

Thu Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does an awesome December campaign called Light the World. It encourages you to do an act of service everyday leading up to Christmas. I tried to do it this year. It was harder than I anticipated, mainly because there is quite a bit of planning involved. I made a list of one thing I could do everyday before it started to help me get things done. It especially helped when I shopped on the weekends in case there were things I needed to purchase. I didn't do everyday but I did quite a few things. I even took pictures of a few of the things.

Here are the things I did:
donated water to a shelter
hosted a fmaily dinner
got to know a new neighbor
called my parents
Made a child feel special
visit a nursing home
brighten someones day
make a meal for a family
donate old clothes
ease the burden of a struggling family
reach out to someone with an illness
organize a social gathering

It looks like I did about half of the days. I wanted to post what I did because next year I want to try and do more. I also want to try and do things monthly not just in December. I love this idea though. It really helped me work to do something everyday which I appreciated. Christmas can be a long hard season for a lot of people and I just hope that maybe a couple of the things I did helped brighten someones day. I know it brightened mine, which is the magic of service!

The start of December

December is busy and magical all wrapped into one. I will say it would have been more magical this year if it would have snowed more than once! I got a new Christmas tree on black Friday. It is big and awesome. It has eight different light settings which makes it so fun. I love just laying on my couch and watching the lights in December.

We had multiple Sunday family dinners.

 I gave this train away after Christmas. I think I will get a different, smaller one next year. It has provided some magic for my cute nephews for a few years. Emerson is at that train LOVING age.

 The Hancocks had their annual Wassail party. It was fun to visit with a few Oroville people. My Utah siblings all came so that was fun for us.

 Moki quite enjoyed this bone. I can't even remember what we made for dinner. I let her chew on it for a couple of hours and she was in heaven, well except for the fact that I made her stay in the kitchen.

This year the school district changed the calendar so the term ended when we left for Christmas break. I like the change, but it made the last week of school very stressful. Once I was finally on break I had some time to put together little gifts for my basketball team.

 Anthony had the day off of work so we hung out for a few hours. Got some pizza and sent this picture to everyone else in the family that was working.

Basketball

I am loving my basketball team this year! They are great girls and athletes. It has been a lot of fun. They all get good grades, they are responsible, and they do what they are supposed to. It has made coaching fun and easier than some years. They are also really funny! This is who I spend most of my time with in the winter.

 One thing I have wanted to do for a while is a service activity during our season. The truth is that as a head coach there is so much to do I haven't ever made time for it. This year I am fortunate to have two awesome assistants. I put one of them over our service project. they set up a day for us to go to a rest home and play balloon volleyball and sing Christmas carols. Can I just say it was AWESOME!!!! I think it was my favorite Christmas activity I did all year. And it just made me love and appreciate these girls so much more. They are amazing. It was so fun. It was only 45 minutes of our time but we had a chance to bring some big smiles to otherwise lonely and often forgotten people.

We went right after practice so we were all sweaty and gross.

It was are last hurrah before we parted for the Christmas moratorium

The week after Christmas we practiced two and a half hours everyday. Playing basketball is a huge commitment, coaching is a ton of work......these girls have made it pretty awesome so far. Here is to six more weeks of basketball!!!!!

Thanksgiving

My mom came out here for the week of Thanksgiving. That was a treat. Aaron and Jacklyn were coming out for a family reunion and invited my mom to ride with them. It was really nice to spend a few days visiting with them and then the week with my mom. While Jacklyn and Aaron were here we helped Nancy moved, had two family dinners and played lots of games. Caleb taught us Secret Hitler and that was the game we played the most.

 Aaron and Jacklyn left Tuesday for St. George. Wednesday after a three hour basketball practice, my mom and I shopped for Thanksgiving and then went up to my Aunt Loralie's to play games. When we got back to Provo we met up with my brothers. Dan made an awesome Shepherds pie for dinner.

Thursday my mom and I participated in a 5k turkey trot. It benefited a family in my ward. It was fun to get out and run in the morning. Two of my former students were there running and one of my current basketball players as well. So fun to be out running with kids I know.

After the run my mom and I went up to Loralie's to start preparing for the dinner. This was the most I have ever helped prep for Thanksgiving dinner. It was a pretty quiet morning. My brothers joined us in the afternoon before the feast. All of Loralie's kids were at their in-laws so she was nice enough to let us use her home for Thanksgiving. Nancy joined us as well. It was a pretty easy day. In the evening my mom and I stopped by her brother Jerrolds house so she could visit with him. That was fun as well.

Then we did something I am actually totally against. Black Froday shopping. I really wanted a taller Christmas tree so we went to Target and Walmart. We were able to do all my om's shopping for the grandkids. We found a tree for me the following day at a different Walm-mart. It was just what I wanted and I am super happy with it.

Friday we played games with Loralie and then came home and set up Christmas and cleaned my downstairs. I love decorating for Christmas.

 Saturday Nancy picked up my mom to drive her down to St. George. After my mom left I spent the day cleaning the upstairs bedroom. I threw away a ton of stuff and organized everything. I also re-arranged all the rooms and washed all the baseboards and walls. It took me ALL. DAY. LONG. It was worth the effort because my house looks so nice.

small bedroom

my bedroom

 the tv room

I still need to move my futon back in the tv room. It is currently in Dan's basement. Overall I had a great break. I am tired thinking about working all day tomorrow!

Olivia got baptized

I was lucky enough to be able to fly to California for a weekend trip to attend Olivia's baptism. I can't believe this girl is eight. I love her so much. She is SUPER sassy but also super smart. She is missing both her front teeth and is just as adorable as ever. I was asked to speak on the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was fun to participate in her baptism program and spend a few hours with their family.

 It was a very quick trip. My mom and I attended Oroville third ward sacrament meeting before she took me to the airport. I grabbed a quick picture with Krissann Lowry to send to Katie. It is always fun to see her family when I get the chance.

Birthdays and Halloween

We celebrated Andrews birthday at the end of October. I can't believe that he is five years old. Time goes way too fast. I love that guy something fierce. We did one of his favorite activities to celebrate: roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores.

 Halloween is my least favorite holiday, I am pretty sure I say that every year. This year the Dodgers were in the world series the week of Halloween. My co-worker Tanner is a huge Dodger fan. It's the first time the Dodgers have been in the world series in his lifetime. he was really excited. Luckily Hannah is also a Dodger fan. She loaned me her Dodger gear and I was able to surprise Tanner and show us as a Dodger fan. I was pretty sure he would be one as well. It made Halloween really fun.

 I love the teachers I work with. they are just some of the best people. I definitely count them as blessings in my life.

Halloween evening I went and hung out with Jana. We passed candy out while Ben took their seven kids trick or treating. I really enjoy that tradition with Jana. I am not sure it will last much linger since she doesn't have an infant anymore, but it has been a fun one!