Christmas Eve Dinner at Our House

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas Holidays is spending time with family.  I also love that I live in an awesome home that is perfect for hosting large family gatherings.

One of our Glover Family traditions is drawing names among the siblings and exchanging gifts (when possible) on Christmas Eve.  Chrislynn just got an awesome blender from Kd.  And I got a gorgeous scarf hand-knit by Chrislynn.  Worthy got a promise from me, because I had not completed his present in time for the exchange.

We are all having a ball. 

Worthy is talking about his favorite infomercial products 

This is my parents opening the present from our family (from me) 

There is a story on the back; that is why my parents are hiding behind it:

This is my story:

When I was a kid, I thought my Dad was a celebrity.  I always thought it was so cool when he showed up somewhere with his guitar.  Singing along with the songs he sang are some of my fondest memories.  The best was watching other people react as he sang, "I'm Going Lion Hunting" or The Ant Hill Song in Navajo.  I cannot remember when I first realized that my Dad and Dr. Lobotomy were the same person.  I do remember believing in his alter ego just like I believed in Santa.

The first time Britt met my Dad was at a Blanding Stake Young Women Campout, and it was also his first introduction to Dr. Lobotomy.  Britt and some friends got caught trying to sneak into camp.  All the young women were gathered for the evening entertainment.  That night, the entertainment included a bunch of Monticello High School Wrestlers wearing black sweats and Dr. Lobotomy masks (courtesy of my Dad), dancing to "Singing in the Rain. . .Tooty-tot, tooty-tot, tooty-tot-tot!" on the picnic tables.  That is an image I will never forget.

I love you, Dr. Lobotomy!

I think they like it.  That's me, by the way, with Dr. Lobotomy. 

The kids happily went straight to the kid table with their food 

 And proceded to get social at this social event

 good food--Mom always makes the best

 good company--so glad Chrislynn and Richie and family could make it, and Aunt Nancy, too

posing silly 

 having too much fun

We stayed and played for a little while after dinner.  Tyler entertained everyone with her karaoke machine, and Sophia entertained everyone with her dancing

Here is a picture of me in the gorgeous scarf Chrislynn made for me.  I promise Worthy's gift from me is almost as awesome, or at least it will be once I finish it.  Happy Birthday to Worthy tomorrow!  It is so fun celebrating my big brother Worthy's birthday on New Year's Day and my baby brother Tim's birthday the next day.  Both were the new year baby when they were born, Worthy in Provo and Tim in Monticello.

You think I am almost caught up, but no.  I am not even close.  Still, I am going to try to finish out the events from the holidays and then maybe work my way back to some other things that I missed.  We live a truly blessed life, but it can sometimes be kind of hard to document all those blessings.  Not that I am complaining.  I love it here!

This is the Season Beloved All the Year

Have you missed me?  

Christmas has come and gone.  The break is almost over, and it feels like it just started.  We had a good visit with family here and then we had another good visit with family up north. It has been a good (too short) Christmas vacation.  I thought I would share with you some of my festive Christmas decorations.  I literally got them up just a few days before Christmas, and we left the day after Christmas, so they may stay up just a bit longer, because they really do make me happy.  And to tell you the truth, otherwise my house really is not decorated (as you can tell by the lack of any hanging pictures).  I promise I will post more pictures soon, with actual people in them.  I just love my pretty Christmas-y home!

Happy Holidays!

This was how we watched General Conference

I love General Conference.  My kids enjoy it, too, for the most part.  We love doing nothing but listening to the messages given by the leaders of our church.  We love being uplifted and inspired.  Sometimes, with lots of young children fairly close in age, the process of listening to eight hours worth of inspiration over two days is not so easily achieved.  We have tried various tactics to get the kids to sit still, so all of us could gain something beneficial from the words given to us by the General Authorities.  I have tried coloring packets, craft projects, and things like that.  None were as effective as the Bingo cards that encourage these guys to actually listen to the words and then add a treat to the squares when they heard that word.  But we have used Bingo cards for the last three or four years.  It was time for something new:

We do not have satellite T.V. anymore (nor do we have an antenna), so we watched General Conference on the internet this year.  See how attentive they are all being.

 I was lucky enough to find a site that suggested making treat buckets labeled with common words spoken at Conference.  I have noticed that other friends of mine had similar ideas.

 This was a fun way to get them to pay attention without them shouting Bingo every few minutes.

Thanks so much to Camie at Cookie Nut Creations for the inspiration and the printable pictures, and thanks to Sugardoodle on Facebook for referring me to them.

I love General Conference!  Every moment of it, including all of Saturday.  I love that I have a husband who also treasures that time.  We do not plan special projects for Conference weekend.  We plan to be sitting and listening to the inspiring messages the entire time.  We usually plan to have yummy food the whole time (and boy did we!)  I was just about bursting by the time the weekend was over--not just from the good food, either.  I was touched over and over by messages that I felt applied to me and to those I love.  And I received a very strong confirmation that our General church leaders are very much aware of the members needs, all over the world.  For me, it was another reassurance that my Heavenly Father knows and loves me.  The moment when President Monson announced that the Provo Tabernacle would be rebuilt and that it would be a second temple in Provo, I started bawling.  My girls looked at me like I was crazy, but it was an excellent opportunity to teach them about how the Spirit works and influences us.

I can't wait to read the messages again soon, and once again be inspired by all those wonderful messages.  What a gift it is to be an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!

By the way, I am over my funk for the moment.  I guess I just needed to vent.  I am feeling ready to hope again today.  Thanks for your love and prayers.