My Little Christmas Elves

Every year the kids look forward to decorating the tree. They waited all night Thanksgiving night (which is usually when I get the ornaments out), but this year some of the lights weren't working so we didn't get to decorate the tree until the day after. I replaced a few hundred that had burned out (they have been on the tree since 2002, I am surprised half of them are still good!), then the boxes of ornaments came out. The kids were all giddy about opening each box -- pretty soon we couldn't see the floor with all the bubble wrap, bows, ribbons, balls, and ornaments that flew out of the boxes!

It was so fun to watch, I had to stop tying bows to videotape them and snap a few photos of them admiring each and every ornament and finding a special place for each one on the tree, getting up on the ladder so they could put them up high. They hung all of the ornaments that we have collected over the years (they get a special one every year!), and they did a great job! Thanks Allie, Collin, Jasmine and Dylan! (oh and Anna whose extra eyes and hands were very useful!).

Thanksgiving 2008

The centerpieces and place cards

Our Thanksgiving Book (which I forgot to get out :()

The little shoe people

The crowd
More of the crowd...

We had a great Thanksgiving with everyone present (well, almost - minus Grandma Beth and Pappi who are in the Bahamas, and Anna's family who spent Thanksgiving with the Dickerson fam -- they came the next day though, it was almost like they were here!). Archie came in from Las Vegas, Jake and Abby from Cali, & Aireen, Danny & Andrea from Utah. It was nice to have all my siblings come and join our already big Harris clan from around here.

In total, we had 25 people (including the little babies, who had their own places). I have been doing our own Thanksgiving dinner every year for the last five years so this year was less stressful since everyone brought something and Lorraine and Jack made the turkey, noodles, and dressing (the major stuff!). The double ovens came in handy though, now I can't remember how I used to do it with just one. It was an afternoon filled with lots of laughter and good conversation. After dinner and clean-up, I got our Christmas tree out and went late into the night trying to figure out the lights and decorations.

Here is my personal list:
1. I am thankful for my family - Kevin and our three kids who are healthy and happy and always makes us smile. Also Kevin's fam and mine. It has been so nice to live close to family -- having dinners together and having our kids play together.
2. I am thankful to have the gospel in our lives, and for the hope and comfort that it gives us especially during this terrible economic downturn and many other uncertainties.
3. I am thankful to be in Arizona and to be with Kevin all 7 days of the week. It is so nice to be able to eat at the dinner table together every night, and to enjoy the many other simple things that you do as a family that we only got to do on the weekends last year.
4. I am thankful for Kevin's job, our house, and that we have the things that we need. I am thankful I can stay home with the kids.
5. I am thankful for friends, blogging, coupons, my camera, my preschool, FHEs, chocolate, and all the other little things that make life a little more interesting!

Thanksgiving Traditions

One thing I forgot to get out was our Thanksgiving Book (see photo above), which we get out every Thanksgiving (almost, I didn't get it out last year either) and write things we are thankful for on paper leaves or on the back of the place cards. By the time I remembered the book, everyone had left. But I am still making a list of things we are thankful for this year, and adding it to the book. So if you were at our Thanksgiving dinner, please comment - tell me 2 things you are most grateful for this time of year. I will type it up and put it in our book.

A tradition I want to start for next Thanksgiving is to put together a Thanksgiving Alphabet Book. I saw this on one of my favorite blogs the day after Thanksgiving! - and want to copy it for my own family next year.

To make the Thanksgiving Alphabet Book (from My Montessori Journey):

You will need 28 tags (you could do really cute ones!) and place a letter of the alphabet on each of 26 tags using letter stickers. One blank tag will be the title page - and you can spell out "Thankgiving" or "We are thankful for...". The other blank tag will be the back cover on which you would write the time and place of your Thanksgiving dinner. On Thanksgiving, you pass out the tags (and pens!) and directions that each person think of something they were thankful for that begins with the letter on their tag. They would then write what they're grateful for as well as their name on the tag. After everyone is finished tie all the tags together to make a "book". It would be fun to look back at this in the future years and see what everyone was thankful for and their handwriting.

Maddie is 1!

Our cute little Maddie turned 1 on Saturday. We had a big party with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! We had pizza and root beer floats, opened presents, and then watched her birthday photo slideshow that I put together that morning. The kids had fun opening presents for Maddie. She got a bunch of fun toys but she was mostly excited about the baby doll she got from her Aunt Kristie. Kevin and I can't believe the year went by so fast. She is the sweetest baby and we have enjoyed having her in our family this past year. Time needs to slow down just a little bit so we can enjoy her baby self just a little longer. Now on to the toddler years!

A Christ-Centered Advent Tree

Day 21-24
Day 18-20
Day 14-17
Day 9-13
Day 5-8

Day 1-4

By Jen's request, here is the advent tree ornament set that I am using for Christmas this year. This project started last year, but thanks to my pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel problem, I didn't get to and Mom brought the ornaments home with her to the Bahamas and finished them for me early this year. Thank you!!! Just a little bit of background on the advent tree (typically called a Jesse Tree by many Christians):

There was an old custom in Europe and early America of hanging symbolic ornaments on a Christmas tree during Advent - ornaments which represented the Messianic prophecies - often with the prophecies included within the ornaments. This tree was gradually assembled during the days of Advent. It was called the Jesse Tree (Isaiah 11:1), named after the father of King David. The Savior was prophesied to be a descendant of David, which is the Tribe of Judah - the royal line of Israel.

Introduce the tree you will be hanging your ornaments before December 1. Each of the ornaments on the tree stand for prophets and people and events in the scriptures that prophesy about the coming of the Savior. Every day of December until Christmas Eve, read the scripture reference that goes along with the symbol, and share with your family in your own words.

On Christmas Day, you will have gone thru the Biblical stories of the prophets, lineage, and other events that prepared the way for the Savior's birth. I also included two stories from the Book of Mormon (Samuel the Lamanite, and the Account of Christ’s Birth in the Americas). I compiled these from many sources on the Internet including the Book called “Let’s Make a Jesse Tree” by Darcy James, then made my own modifications to fit our family’s needs. Enjoy!

Day 1 – Symbol: Earth; Story of Creation. Genesis 1:1 - 2:3.

Day 2 – Symbol: Apple Tree; Story of the Fall (Adam and Eve). Genesis 2:4 - 3:13

Day 3 – Symbol: Rainbow; Story of Noah and the Ark. Genesis 6: 11-14; 7: 17-8: 3; 9: 8-17

Day 4 – Symbol: Night Sky with Stars. THE CALL and PROMISE to Abraham. Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1- 6; Abr. 2:10–11.

Day 5 – Symbol: Sheep/Ram. Story of Isaac’s sacrifice. Genesis 22: 1-14.

Day 6 – Symbol: Ladder. Story of Jacob (House of Israel). Genesis 28: 10-22.

Day 7 – Symbol: Sack of Grain (or Coat of Many Colors). Story of Joseph and His Brothers. Genesis 37: 1-36; 50: 15-21.

Day 8 – Symbol: Burning Bush. Story of the Call of Moses. Exodus 1:1-14; 3:1-12.

Day 9 – Symbol: Kneading Bowl (stands for the unleavened bread Israelites were commanded to eat). The Passover and Escape from Egypt. Exodus 12

Day 10 – Symbol: Tablets of Stone. -THE GIVING of the LAW - Story of the Ten Commandments. Exodus 19:16 - 20:20.

Day 11 – Stalks of Corn/Wheat. Story of Ruth. Ruth 1: 15-2: 3 How was Ruth related to Jesse and David?

Day 12- Symbol: Horn of Oil. Story of Samuel and David’s anointing. 1 Samuel 16:1-13

Day 13 – Symbol: Crown. Story of David. 1 Samuel 16:1-23, 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 7:1-17.

Day 14 – Symbol: Altar. Story of Elijah. 1 Kings 18: 17-24, 36-39

Day 15 – Symbol: Tongs with Live Coal. Story of Isaiah’s call. Isaiah 6:1-13.

Day 16 – Symbol: Scroll. Isaiah prophesies about Christ. Isaiah 8:14-15; 9:2-7;

Day 17 - Symbol: Whale. Story of Jonah. Jonah 1:1-4:11.

Day 18 – Symbol: Dove. Story of John the Baptist, Zechariah and Elizabeth. Luke 1: 5-25, Matthew 3:1-6

Day 19 – Symbol: Lily (for purity). Story of the Call of Mary. Luke 1: 26-38

Day 20- Symbol: Carpenter’s Square. Story of Joseph. Matthew 1: 18-25

Day 21 – Symbol: Brick/Stone Wall. Story of Samuel the Lamanite. Helaman 13:1—16:8.

Day 22 – Symbol: Manger. Story of the Journey to Bethlehem. Luke 2: 1-7

Day 23 – Symbol: Sword. Account of the Savior’s Birth in the Americas. 3 Nephi 1: 1-21.

Day 24 – Symbol: Star. Story of Christ’s Birth. Luke 2: 6-21 (Read before going to bed).

If you want the extended version with my notes on it, email me (it is 5 pages long!).

Megan and Chad

SUPER good-looking family, these two and Mr. Parker. I love this one of Chad and his little boy. More to come...

Belated Happy Birthday

...to Grandma Beth (my mom)! Sorry this is a belated post :o)! We look forward to seeing you and spending time with you at Christmas! Just in honor of her birthday, here are some of the fun memories the kids and us have of her:

1) walking to feed the horses carrots and celery in Provo
2) fixing Teddy up so she's not all holey
3) cooking all the good Filipino food when she comes to visit
4) staying for a week or two to help with the babies (Allie and Maddie)
5) going to Disneyland, Knotts Berry, and Legoland
6) going shopping and having her try on tons of clothes
7) helping me sew felt ornaments and finishing them for me because I had pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome (thankfully it's gone now!) -- thanks!
8) she and pappi having a fun time listening to the kids sing songs over the phone, even if it's the same song over and over. They always act like it's the first time they've heard it.

Hope you had a fun birthday! We love you!

Austin & Rex

I can't believe I am just getting to this! Here are just a few of my favorites from our little photo session. The Pettits and us go a long way back - Austin and I were roommates at BYU, and Kevin and Rex have been best friends for a looooooong loooooong time. :) It was a lot of fun to see how their family (and ours) have grown over the years.

Trustworthy Girl

Allie was voted Trustworthy Girl (Student of Character) in her class! This comes after last week's awards - Principal's List, Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance, and being accepted in the Gifted Program at her school. She said she got all the "paper-thingy's" possible. Funny girl. We are so pleased that she is working very hard and learning lots. Keep up the good work, EELIE!

11 Months Old

Looks like Maddie is outgrowing the baby stage quick, and on to the toddler years. Sniff. The other day, she got so mad that I wasn't paying attention she threw her first tantrum. She would sit up and cautiously let herself fall to the floor (unfortunately, yes, including the head thump), roll around, then repeat the process. She did this maybe 4 or 5 times before I picked her up (ok, I really wanted to see if this was a real tantrum). As soon as I picked her up she quieted down fast, and now everytime she wants attention, she throws this little tantrum. Thankfully she still takes long naps, one in a.m. and one in the p.m. I can't believe the year has gone by so fast, she is now 11 months old, and pretty soon she will be walking and out of my hands. Sniff. I wanted the baby stage to last a little longer. Time flies.

Sneak Peek - Jody