Mesa Temple Christmas Lights!

So, we got word that Brooke White was going to be at the Mesa Temple Christmas Light Ceremony, remember her from last year American Idol. She was the cute curly hair LDS girl from Mesa, Arizona, She was so cute on American Idol, I and my girls loved her. Well, we decided to take the girls and go walk around temple square(do they call in that here in Arizona, I know they do in Utah) anyway, we went, there was tons and tons of people. We sat and waited for the festivities to begin.

Ashlee and Braiden sat together and listened to the Christmas music

Mike and Haylee just sitting and waiting with the crowd

There she is Brooke White, She came to represent Mesa Arizona, the state and the community. She came to push the button to make the lights turned on. She shared some thoughts with us. I wished she would have sung but it was still cool to see her.

Thanks Brooke!

And there it is. The Mesa Temple Christmas Lights. I have to say this is a pretty cool temple. It is very different from most temples. Non the less when you walk around this temple. The grounds are kept and nice. The palm trees are trimmed and pretty. The lights in the palm trees are beautiful. There was allot to do this night. Nativity scenes and movies can be viewed in the visitor centers and music could be heard all around. Missionaries all around to answer questions. It was crowded but peaceful..

Take a look at the palm tree lights. Isn't that cool. I loved this. It is different from Salt Lake but very unique.

The kids had fun walking around. Or should I say hopping, skipping, running, and twirling around.

This was a great way to start a new tradition here in Arizona. and the best part is. IT"S FREE..

I'm on a free adventure hunt for Christmas activities in our state can you tell! Stay tuned there maybe more.

Enjoy your holiday activities!

What a Feast !

I have to say, I was so happy that Allison walked into the door with a smile on her face. I was so glad to see her I gave her a big hug, said my "I love you" and said, NOW, HELP ME COOK ! Ha-Ha She laughed and did what she could, Having her in our home and just home from the hospital was Thanksgiving enough. I did was I could do as far as setting the tables. I have special Thanksgiving table clothes but they couldn't be found So I made do. I think it turned out pretty good.






This is the Kids table. Looks the best if you ask me.

This was a pree Thanksgiving munchies before the actual feast. I think we over did it. This was after everyone ate. There was plenty. Yes, I made Grandma Glahn's famous Secret Fudge recipe.

Every year we place pictures of Mine and also Mike's parents somewhere to be seen at Thanksgiving. We talk to them as if they are in the room. We make them a little plate and say things like. I'm eating your favorite Chocolate Fudge Grandpa Glahn or These are Grandpa Davidson's favorite mashed potatoes. Both Grandpa's have passed away. We miss them but feel them around us often.

Mike cutting the turkey and getting ready to bring it to the table. Haylee found a piece and started early ! We had so much food. Carla and Otis came with these huge rolls and yummy sweet potatoe casarole , pecan and pumpkin pie. Allison brought her home made cranberry sause and green bean casarole.We started our meal wiht a toast of sparkling apple cider and a prayer from ME. We ate a great 2:00 lunch and sat around and watched a movie and then went back for pie and sat around and watched a movie and then went back for second meal. We had a great time being together all day and night as a family.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, Braiden the only boy cousin in Arizona (besides Baby Blake) is leading his girl cousins in a toast. To a great Thanksgiving feast.

Emalee, Ashlee and Briana doing the dishes, They got bored after awhile and started throwing dirty soap water at each other. I noticed soap suds all over.. They had fun.

We hope you all had a Fabulous Thanksgiving. It was great to make new traditions and be with Carla and Otis, Allison and Jason, and all of us. We had a nice day.

Mike and I wish you a happy beginning to a Perfect Christmas Season! May you make a great memory for your family. That is all they will remember, They wont remember the Ipods, cell phones, Wii, or other things. They will remember the memories. So, share your favorite traditions so we can all try them. Please share them. Leave them in the comment section.

Poor Little Sister Allison

My Poor little sister, Allison found out she has so gall stones in her bowl and her gall bladder. As soon as the Dr found out what her blood test results where he would call her and set up a date for her surgery. Little did we know that he would call and say, GET, TO THE HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW" Between Jason (her hubby) and Carla and I we had to go into what do we do mode, And so we did, What one couldn't do the other could. We did what we had to do so that we could keep things as normal as possible for her Little baby and Ava, We thought ok we can do this it is outpatient surgery Jason will be home in a few hours. WRONG, She ended up spending the night and staying the entire next day until 1:00 am in the morning. So again, Carla spent the night with her at the hospital so Jason could get the kids to bed and he himself could get some rest. I went up to the hospital to stay the day with her and then went and picked up her kids after Carla having them all day. It was a pretty hectic couple of days, So after getting her kids home and to bed. I headed home at 10:00 at night and thought I guess I need to go home and get to planning Thanksgiving Dinner for 14 people the next day. I was running on empty. I wanted to spend more time on the decorations and the center pieces and the place cards. There was no way. Then I thought, wait a minute I have 3 very creative beautiful daughters, and a niece Briana who was spending the night who can do this for me. So I handed them some scrapbook paper and die cuts and told them what I wanted and they just went to town. On top of this we wanted Allison to be able to be home for Thanksgiving we prayed and pleaded to make this possible. He Dr finally released her Thanksgiving Eve and she went home with stitches and all. I'm so thankful that the procedures she had done went well and Carla and I could be there for her and her family.

Movies in the Park

For the month of October and November the city offers residents to come to the local park and sit in the baseball fields to watch movies at night. The have this huge giant blow up movie screen that can be viewed from afar. They place it at home plate and we sit in the outfield. It was so fun. There must have been 200 or so families that come out to enjoy the cool Arizona nights. Towards the end of the month it started getting cold. So we snuggled with blankets and brought popcorn and hot chocolate. It was a great way to spend severl Saturdays as a family and the best part it is FREE!....

Haylee and her Daddy snuggled up together when she found out he brought candy with him..... all of a sudden she was his best friend

Ashlee and a little bit of Emalee sitting and watching the movie. Emlaee brought her Twilight book and was reading that in the dark at the same time...

All and All it made some fun nights to share together.