Wonderful Christmas!

Todd and I posing for the camera!


Dad and I with a picture we received from Grandma Cook of the Savior!


Lyndon and his white shirts.
Jed and Shane


Dallen and his new shaver.


Dallen bought me some nice perfume!


We had a very wonderful Christmas. It was filled with family and the joy of grandchildren. It was fun watching them open their gifts from us. They all were so excited for Christmas and Santa Claus. We had good food and fun games and lots of visiting. We had Amber Kiffer stay with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We enjoyed having her here and it was a lot of fun. I think Dallen really enjoyed having her here. They stayed up Christmas Eve until 2:00 a.m.

Spencer called us about 2:00 p.m. and we all had a good time getting to visit with him. He is doing well and only has 8 months left. It is just amazing to me! We talked to him for about 2 hours.

I took down all of my decorations the day after Christmas. I was tired of it and was ready to get it all cleaned up. I had Lyndon help me and it went so much faster with his help. Now we have to get out New Years plans in order and figure out who is coming and what we are doing for that. It has been a fun holiday. Here are some pictures from Christmas day.

Wow! I am so happy!

I am so very excited and happy. I was surprised to see that at Weight Watchers I lost 3.2 pounds! It is amazing to me that I am losing weight during the holidays. My daughters said to me when I started Weight Watchers in September, "Mom, how can you possibly think of losing weight with the holidays coming?" I told them that I was going to do it for myself and that taking care of myself was the most important thing to me. I guess I proved to them and to myself that it can be done. I feel so good and it is nice to see that all my clothes are getting too big. I have two black skirts that I just love and they are both too big. I may see if I can't have someone do alterations on them when I get to my goal weight. If not I am asking Santa to let me buy new clothes after Christmas to get a new wardrobe. That would be exciting!

I found a wonderful thought that has me thinking and I think it is so true...

Don't think of "LOSING" weight. Think of "REMOVING" it.
You "LOSE" something carelessly. You "REMOVE" something
deliberately, with great care, because it is no longer
desirable and you wish to be free of it permanently. Choose
your words with care - they affect your attitude and belief
system!

I think about this all the time and it is a true statement for me! I hope to be to goal weight by the middle of January. That would be fantastic!

Pictures and fun with Wisemen and a Camel!

Our Stake Young Single Adults were doing a food drive and they had people come to the church property and in bringing food you could have your picture taken with the Wise men and a Camel. They had donkeys to pet and ride and they had a wagon with two beautiful Belgian horses to pull it. We had our picture taken and then they had activities in the building for the children. We had Erin and Delphia and Ruby with us. The girls got to make a tree ornament and color a picture. They also had hot chocolate and muffins inside to enjoy. We then went outside again, after warming up and got to go on a wagon ride. It was fun and I think that Ruby and Delphia loved it. I loved it too and would have liked to have gone on a longer ride. It was really cool. I should have gotten pictures of that too!

We had Ruby sleep over on Friday evening. She has been looking forward to it for a long time. We went to Wendy's for dinner, Ruby's choice. Then we took her to the movie "The Princess and the Frog". It was such a cute movie. I loved it and so did Ruby and Grandpa. Lyndon doesn't usually like animation, but he really enjoyed that movie and the music was great too! Then we brought Ruby home and got her tucked in bed after prayers were said and read a story to her and then it was off to dreamland. We really enjoyed having her. It is fun being grandparents! Ashley and Jed came and had lunch with us and then picked Ruby up and headed to the Romigs for the afternoon. Later that day Todd and Meg and Chloe came for a visit and it was nice to see them. We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving. Everyone's live are always so busy. Then at 5:15 p.m. Lyndon and I went to Iggy's for dinner and I had their half cobb salad. It was delicious and for being a half salad there was alot. I only ate half of that, but it was so good. Then we came home and watched Delphia while Shane and Erin went to a late birthday dinner for Shane's birthday. It was fun playing with Delphia too! We had a great day with the grandkids! This other picture is of Chloe with her cute pink hat. I thought it was adorable!

Christmas is only 15 days away!

Hurray! I have my Christmas shopping done! Now I just have to find the time to get everything wrapped. I got Spencer's Christmas sent off to him on Tuesday and it was nice to get that done. The weather is so cold. I thought I was going to freeze to death as I was out finishing my shopping this morning. We had a ward caroling activity last night and it was a lot of fun, but very cold. We went caroling and then met in one of our neighbors circles and they had barrels with fire in them to keep us warm and cups of hot chocolate and very cold doughnuts. We had a good time, but me feet were quite cold. The rest of me stayed quite warm. It had several layers on. Erin and Delphia went with Lyndon and I and she had fun too! She even tried to sing along.

I even finished my visiting teaching today and that is a good feeling to have that done. December is a busy month, but I love the holiday and all the activities.

Something about Christmas time, Something about Christmas time makes you wish it was Christmas everyday! Oh Yeah! I love that song. Thought I would just share!

More pictures!

Time to share some pictures from the past few weeks!

Weigh-in Monday!

Well I had to report my success this morning. I lost 1.2 pounds today. I wanted it to be a bit more, but a loss is good and I know as I get closer to my goal weight it may come off slower. That is o.k. I am just glad to be feeling so good in my own skin and my clothes.

I loved waking up to some snow this morning. It makes it seem more like Christmas. I love Christmas and thinking of the Savior and his birth. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ and am grateful for my knowledge of him. I have been extremely blessed this past year and need to acknowledge my Father in Heaven for blessing us so greatly.

Last night we traveled out to Eagle Mountain to have dinner with Ashley,Jed,Ruby and Emma. She had invited Lynnette and Shaun to dinner also. We stopped at Erin's first to drop some things off and to see their tree. It was fun to see them and give Delphia hugs. Then we arrived at Ashley's. The dinner was delicious and the company delightful. It was fun to see Shaun and Lynnette. They are such a cute couple and we had a good visit. It was fun to see Ruby and Emma too. They are such cute little girls and I love getting hugs from them too! We watched the First Presidency Christmas Fireside and it was wonderful. We snuggled with Emma and Ruby under blankets and while Ruby was on our laps she and Grandpa both fell asleep. It was pretty cute. Then after that was over we went upstairs and had Ruby open her birthday present from us. I think she was delighted with what we got her. Her birthday is actually today, but we celebrated a bit early with her. She is four and a cute four year old at that. It was a fun evening and we truly enjoyed ourselves.

December 5th Is A Special Day!

Today is a very special day! It is our 29th wedding anniversary! Whoo-hoo! I have had 29 amazing and wonderful years with a man that I love and cherish. He is my sweetheart, my confidant and most of all my eternal companion for eternity!
We have had our challenges from time to time, but that is what makes a marriage interesting and helps us work harder to pull together in everything that we do. We have 5 wonderful children and 4 beautiful grand-daughters, with two babes on the way. Ashley is having a boy and Erin is having a girl and they will be sweet little additions to our family.

Lyndon and I spent Friday and half of Saturday together and enjoyed each others company, which is something that we don't get a lot of now a days. Life just gets hectic with work and church callings. But that is o.k. We went to see the lights on Temple Square on Friday evening and it was beautiful. We really enjoyed seeing all the lights and feeling the spirit on Temple Square.

I am so grateful for Lyndon! I so appreciate how he has worked so hard so that I don't have to work. He makes our life comfortable and he is fun and sweet and has a heart of gold. He may look rough and tough on the outside, but he is a marshmellow on the inside.

I am grateful for his spirituality and his willingness to listen to the spirit and to always choose to keep the commandments and is faithful in all he is asked to do.

He is my everything and I want him to know that I love him! Thanks, Lyndon, you're 1 in a million!

Hurray! I had a good weight loss after Thanksgiving!

I weighed in monday and to my great surprise I lost 2 pounds! I was quite careful, but thought I might just remain the same weight. I was quite happy! I made it through the Thanksgiving holiday and now I need to make it through the month of December. There is always things going on this month and I need to be in control. I just need to plan carefully and I can do it!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends and enjoyed the Cook gathering in Tremonton so very much! It was so much fun to see all the nieces and nephews and their children. The Cook Clan is growing by leaps and bounds. We had a good visit with my family too and really enjoyed staying with Doug and Lisa and their family Friday night and Saturday! It was fun spending a little bit of time with them. I hope we can do it again sometime.

Well I got my tree up Monday night, not decorated, mind you. Then on Tuesday evening I got the lights on and got it decorated. I hate putting on the lights. It is a pain, but I love the tree! Then I decorated it and it is pretty, I guess. I didn't put alot of effort into it. I think I am getting lazy in my old age. I do love Christmas, but it is sometimes a lot of work and I am trying to simplify, simplify, simplify!!!

Erin was here today and she helped my with some Cub scout stuff and then we cut out snowflakes for our tree on my Cricut Expressions machine. They are quite pretty. Well it is time to go and read scriptures with my cute little hubby. We are enjoying reading the scriptures each evening and I am learning some things I have not noticed before. Isn't that how it is each time we read the Book of Mormon? Well good night all!