Deck "n" the Halls !

The girls decided that they wanted to experience of going to pick out a tree on a lot. Cutting off the bottom of it and placing it on the car and strapping it down and bringing it home. We usually have an artificial tree so this sounded like a good idea. They would have to convince their Dad. SO they begged and pleaded with him. He finally gave in and grabbed the keys and said Let's Go.

SO off we went... I found this tree. But I was shot down with a NAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

.

Emalee found the pretty fancy ones.

Haylee said NAYYYYYYYYYYYY

Haylee, Ashlee and Mike found this one. Emalee and I said Nayyyyyyyyyyyyy

So we let the worker help us. He picked out the perfect tree and told is all about it. So we all agreed and took it home..

Thanks, Worker from Fry's

Mike always places the Star on the top. We all sit down after we are done and listen to the Christmas music and watch him place the star on top of the tree. To me the tree topper represents the The Master of the tree, The finally, the Perfect Ornament that watches over all the other ornaments. It represents the Father of all the ornaments. Maybe that is corny but. That is how I view Mike. The head of this house the one that watches over us all,who takes care of us and makes sure he has his eyes on us at all times.

He is my STAR !

When we decorate our tree we end with a toast. Eggnog with Cinnamon on the top. It is a perfect ending to the tree decorating night. We toast to the beginning of the Christmas season.. We have done this every year for the last 10 years.. The girls look forward to this.

We always take a picture on the night we decorate the tree. It is always hard to do because we are all tired and it was close to 11:00 on a school night. I had to run to my seat before the timer went off.. Pretty funny.. I look a mess.

After we get the girls to bed. I tip toe around the tree and remove some old broken ornaments that the girls love and re-arrange the tree and add some MOM touches. I try and hide all the ornaments that are on their last leg. So this is the actual finished Glahn Family Tree !

I don't think I have ever seen an ugly Christmas Tree. I don't think there is such a thing. Decorating the tree to me IS Christmas. I love to sit and look up at the tree and just reminisce Christmas's in the past. And just enjoy the Spirit of Christmas.

My Sister Allison says, "Rumor has it if you sit under the tree and look up at it and listen carefully you can hear angles singing" My girls believed her and are still trying to hear the angels...

Enjoy!

Who Rock the House!

OK so I had to post this short clip. After each game the team does this little dance. I think it is so cute. Emalee is #10. Go COUGARS!

Emalee's 8th grade Softball Championship

Yeahhhhhhhhhh, EMALEE

Emalee's softball team was undefeated for the season and won the last championship game. The 8th graders are awesome to watch. Who said sports are just for boys are wrong. These girls know how to to put their head in the game and stay focus.

Softball has tought Emalee to be a team player and to be determined. Her coach tells her that

SOFTBALL IS A THINKING GAME. You have to watch what is going on all the time.

GO COUGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Favorite Things about Haylee !

I can't believe that Haylee is now 10 years old. She was 10 months old when we brought her home from the Agency. (Remember Cheri) It's been 10 years. I actually took pictures of my pictures so I could save time on not scanning them. I loved this little yellow dress. She was my baby doll. I loved to dress her and make her adorable.

These are some of my favorites, I could sit and post tons of pictures but these bring back some sweet memories and make me smile.

Haylee, is a year old in this picture with her little red overall dress. I still have this dress. It is on her Bear from the Build a Bear workshop. She loves to put it on her animals. Funny, how her baby clothes became her doll clothes.

I can remember making these rag bows for her hair. My sweet baby,

Do they get any more darling than this. This was a fun age.

This was at down town Dsiney at Libby Lu. Great place to take girls. They doll you all up a nd sprinkle glitter all over your hair. This was a fun day.

Here she is 5 years old. Every year I would take some fun poses of her. She loves to pose for the camera.

One of her fondest memories of dance. Is when she was on a competition dance team in Utah. She performed every Saturday for 3 months. Prior to that she practiced for a few dance routines 6 hours a week for the entire year. It was intense for a 9 years old girl. However, she loved it so much and wished she was still on this team.

They biggest competition is when we traveled to Dixie College where 30 dance studios competed. Her routine for this dance took 1st place for costume, choreography, It was a long day.We were there for 8 hours. She had 4 routines to perform.

of course, Mom was proud of her. Even though it was a year of tough training and learning new techniques. and constantly improving her dance skills she did it with a smile. It has tought her the rewards of hard work, and dedication. Her passion for dance has never diminished. She has been twirling around this house and in dance classes since she was 3 years old. I'm proud of her.

Now she is 10 years old. We made cupcakes for her class. She wanted to put the letter "H" on her cupcakes so everyone knew that it was HER birthday.

Daddy, Made her some yummy bacon and eggs for Breakfast. She is not a morning person so being happy and full of smiles was out of the pictures. Literally

She loves to play and mix lotions and positons. (That is what she calls them) She would save all the little bottles from hotels we stayed in and make her own scents and label them. Now, Target came up with a Spa Factory. You can make your own spa scents, oatmeal masks, pefumes, and lip glosses. THIS IS SO HER. So this was a gift from her parents.







I love you Haylee Sugar Bug, Thanks for a fabulous 10 years. I love being your Mom.You may have not grown in my tummy but you certainly grew in my heart..

Joseph B Wirthlin passed away at 91 years old.

Joseph B. Wirthlin, Oldest Apostle, Dies, Age 91

SALT LAKE CITY 2 December 2008 Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, the oldest living apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died last night, age 91.
Elder Wirthlin had gone to bed at his Salt Lake City home, and died peacefully at about 11:30 pm of causes incident to age. His oldest daughter, Jane Wirthlin Parker, was present. A member of the family had been staying and caring for Elder Wirthlin, whose wife, Elisa Young Rogers Wirthlin, died in 2006.
He had continued to work at his office right up until the Thanksgiving holiday.

My Daughter Ash, and I are always searching for quotes from the prophets. She does such a great job at organizing them and keeping the quotes order by who recites them. This is one of her Personal Progress Goals she is working on. I was going through her list of quotes and she has a few from Elder Wirthlin. Here are some of our favorites. I'm happy to know that he is with his beautiful wife and they are embracing each other and continuing their journey together.

I...believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life. If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness.
Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Come What May, and Love It," Ensign, November 2008

We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won’t, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities."
Joseph B. Wirthlin, “The Great Commandment,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 28–31

"The companionship of Christlike friends deeply touches and changes our lives. We should well remember that the Lord often sends 'blessings from above, thru words and deeds of those who love'...Love is the very essence of the gospel of Christ. In this church, prayers for help are often answered by the Lord through the simple, daily service of caring brothers and sisters. In the goodness of genuine friends, I have seen the reflected mercy of the Lord Himself. I have always been humbled by the knowledge that the Savior regards us as His friends when we choose to follow Him and Keep His commandments."
General Conference. Oct. 1997

THIS IS MY MOST FAVORITE QUOTE....Makes me want to home school my kids...

Parents can plant seeds in the hearts and minds of their children only if they know where the children are and what they are doing. Parents should not leave the teaching of their children to chance. (Ensign, May 1989, p. 9)
Every home is a house of learning either for good or otherwise. Family members may learn to be obedient, honest, industrious, self-reliant, and faithful in living gospel principles, or they may learn something else. Learning the gospel in the homes of Church members should be centered on the scriptures and on the words of the latter-day prophets. The Lord has commanded parents to teach their children. (Ensign, May 1993, p. 70)

I found some free things to do in Arizona

Snowfall at San Tan Village
Now through Saturday, December 20, 2008 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Friday and Saturday evenings.

On Friday and Saturday evening from 7pm-9pm -- every halfhour for 10 minutes, the Children's Play Area turns into a winter wonderland as snowfalls.


Complimentary Horse and Carriage Rides at San Tan Village (Thanks Elizabeth for sharing this info)Now through Tuesday, December 23, 20086:00 pm - 9:00 pm Complimentary horse and carriage rides will be offered throughout the holiday season.
November 28, 2008November 29, 2008
December 5, 2008December 6, 2008
December 12, 2008December 13, 2008
December 19, 2008December 20, 2008
December 21, 2008December 22, 2008
December 23, 2008

Christmas Questions!

This is a fun Christmas questionnaire -at least I had fun answering the questions!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper!
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial my daughter has allergies need a artificial one
3. When do you put up the tree? Around the 1st of the month
4. When do you take the tree down? I get sick of it on Christmas night! (sorry)
5. Do you like eggnog? I like it with a sprinkly of cinamon on the top
6. Favorite gift received as a child? don't remember,
7. Hardest person to buy for? my mother
8. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, of course!
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail
10. Favorite Christmas Movie?Clark Griswolds Christmas Vacation
11. When do you start shopping for Christmas? It is always on my mind.. I buy and store it in the closet.
12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, I appreciate all gifts
13. What do you eat at Christmas? a breakfast casarole type meal, christmas dinner, this year we are going out to dinner at a Restaurant. No cooking for me
14. Lights on the tree? Yes! I seem to like white better than color, but I like both.
15. Favorite Christmas song? Pretty Papers by Willie Nelson, O Holy Night by Martina McBride
16. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay at home
17. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Nope...
18. Angel on the tree top or a star? We have both, I like the star better though.
19. Open the presents Christmas eve or Christmas day? We open one present Christmas Eve and the rest Christmas day.
20. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People that are rude and drive crazy
21. Favorite ornament theme or color? Red-
22. Favorite for Christmas dinner? ham, funeral potatoes, and all the sweet stuff
23. What do you want for Christmas this year? just to make some new memories
24. Christmas Tradition? reading stories to the girls, being with family, laying under the tree singing christmas songs with the kids and hubby. You should try it. The tree looks different when you lay on the carpet and look up at it. It's pretty...

Now it's your turn.... copy and past and answer the questions.

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.

The Twilght Adventure

Ok, I have my 'Team Edward" girley girl daughter Emalee who loves Edward because he is very passionate and he is romantic and maked you feel safe and loved. He takes care of you.

and, I have my "Team Jacob" party girl Ashlee, who loves jJacob because he is cool and is a what's up kinds guy" (those are Ashlee's words) is downto earth and natural. just like Ashlee. Now I learned what type of boys they like.

Friends and cousins at the movie theater 5 hours before the movie is about to start.

Being silly at the movie theater

the girls brought snacks and games and ipods and camera's and played camp games and sang songs.. It was cute to watch them.




We were able to get into our seats at 9:00pm. A groupe of people made Cullen Boys cycles (the pictures of the different characters on popsicle sticks" and passed them out to the girls. . It was funny to see them hold up thier Cullen boys cycles. Even Carla thier auntie was in on it..


The groupe of people passed out Hyper ventalating bags that were labeled just in case you pass out over EDWARD! Emalee was practicing she is so in love with him.

And then there was us ! Carla and Allison and I . It was fun being with the girls and being silly. After being one of the first few to sit in our seats. We sent the girls for popcorn and drinks. Some people tried to take their seats. We told them they were saved they went to get popcorn. This one Mom said, No way, we are sitting there. She practically was on top of me. After a few minuts I realized that she was touching me and her knee was on my leg. I gave her a little push and told her to back off. and get off of me Lady!. She looked shocked but I was not about to have her climb over me. Allison, yelled for the manager saying : We have a phyco lady in here, and Carla was yelling to the managerwho was down in the very front so she could here her explaining these are our daughters seats who went to get popcorn.. The manager said saved seats only for popcorn lines that is all. We SISTERS! didn't let this lady win. You can't mess with SISTERS I tell ya! I didn't want to be mean or rude. But I stood my ground until she backed off. And she did.

We all thought the movie was good. I think we need to see it again. It was hot in the theater and I felt like I was breathing in everyone elses breath for 5 hours...

So was it worth a midnight showing? hmmmmm, nay,,,, I think it could have waited..

Our Ward is Splitting up!

Well, It is official. Our ward of 900 members is going to be split. We learned that this Sunday during our sacrament we will be taking 2 wards and making one new ward. It is exciting and sad at the same time. As we have learned how to manage as one big huge gigantic enormous family. So we will see what the outcome will be. The Morning side ward of Queen Creek will change once again. This building sees allot of people during the week and on Sundays. The chapel is overflowing on Sundays all the way back to the stage. and if you are not at least 30-45 minutes early you get a hard chair. So change is good but it will be sad to not have some of the same families in our wards...

TO OUR VETERAN HERO ! Uncle Jean- Claude

This is a SPECIAL TRIBUTE.

My Girls wanted to share a special message to their Uncle JC. Who lives in Utah. To explain a little. When we lived in Utah, my Sister Nikki and her Hubby JC lived with us for a short time. During that time the girls got to know their auntie Nikki and uncle JC very well. They listened to his Stories of the time that he served in the Navy for 10 years. He shared sad stories, happy stories, scary stories and funny stories. It was a great opportunity for the girls to learn what it was like to serve our country. They also witnessed their uncle struggle from the side effects of serving our country. As the girls watched the parade today they often mention things like JC would like that tank, or JC would like that Motorcycle, or JC has army clothes like that. Even, "Hey Mom, he looks like Uncle JC." You could tell that he was on their minds.. Thank you JC for being a good example of a soldier and a HERO.

We love you uncle JC. We thought about you all day today, love the Glahn Girls.!

Veterans Day a day to reflect

COUSINS AT THE PARADE!
What a great way to celebrate a day off from school. Taking the girls to a Veterans day Parade with their cousins. This is City of Mesa tradition and this parade was huge. There was so many spectators and also so many participants. My Girls want to send a special tribute to their Grandpa Glahn who served in the WW2 has a navy Coreman. We love him and miss him. We have another Special Tribute to send out to Grandpa Davidson who also served in the Navy. and also Uncle Dave who served in Desert Storm. These are our Heroes

This was a special part of the parade, Family members walked proudly as they held flags on their fallen hero. Their loved ones were displayed proudly on their flag as they marched the parade route. It brought a tear to my eyes as we stood and clapped until the all passed by. There was allot of heroes to salute. It was a great time to explain to the little ones what Veterans day meant, It was so special to see the Haylee, Brooke, Ava, Braiden see the faces on the flags and have them stand so quietly and respectfully as they walked by. Can you imagine what they must have thought? It was a tender moment to see that. The parade was so long the little ones started to get wiggly so we ended the afternoon at Jack in the Box eating Taco's... To all of you who have Veteran Family and Friends, We thank you for your service!