SUB FOR SANTA

TWO WEEKS BEFORE CHRISTMAS our grandchildren and children met together to make some homemade gifts for an INNER CITY PRIMARY PARTY.


here are some of the kids in the basement sanding and painting the little wooden cars. Sage later added the wheels.

These are the blocks that Smith made, and Erin and Lisa painted.


All the little children at the PRIMARY party got a car, some blocks or a doll that Amber purchased, (not pictured).




Amber purchased some darling little dolls that were wrapped for the children also. We also made 120 sugar cookies and decorated them as CHRISTMAS TREES for all the kids.

OUR MISSIONARIES reported that the children loved their homemade toys and all the cookies!!!!

Some of the grandchildren donated $5 of their money to buy the cars. Joel's children donated a toy from Santa's list to give the INNER CITY CHILDREN instead of keeping them, and they were things they really wanted.

Some of our children donated gift cards from Wal-mart to some needy families as well as my sister and my brother and Rock's Auntie. We gave them to a Branch President so he could give them to needy members of his Branch. He was very grateful. We knew that he himself and his family needed a lot of help too, but they were very humble expressed their love and gratitude on behalf of those people who he would give the cards to.

Erin said - (I copied off her blog) -

"It was a lot of fun making these, but what was even more satisfying was the attitude our kids had about giving away. Mylee said, "We're only getting one thing for Christmas this year because the poor kids are getting our stuff." McKay, Hunter and Emma each gave away one of their "Christmas list" presents (which were really cool looking) and many of the children gave $5 of their own money to pay for the toys we were making and giving away. Several other children went out and bought toys. Erin made a small baby blanket, and I know several in my family donated Walmart gift cards, and I am sure there are many things that I do not know of."

I FEEL BETTER NOW

I had my gall bladder out November 19th. ...After 20 years of pain, I sure feel better now.

I am still trying to figure out if I am going to miss it.....hummm - It's the green thing in this picture. I can't believe such a little tiny thing can cause so much pain. Well it isn't there anymore.

The worst thing about the surgery was that they gave me too much medication, I slept 3 days, and then I had a massive hangover with the worst headache of my life. I could hear my heart beating in my head and it felt like someone hitting my head with a hammer. (I wonder if that is what drunks feel like?)

My sweet sister Ruth brought me a yummy dinner the day I got home from the surgery. It was really a good day!
Look at these lovely flowers the office sent me after my surgery - they made sure it was all purple. How cute!

7 days later I got a bad reacation to the steri tape - I broke out with hives on my incisions and it spread all over my stomach, and everywhere. OUCH! you know how you want to scratch your skin off and you can't so you go crazy?

Well, I am enjoying not being sick everytime I eat.

WHAT A HEALTHY GUY

Many people know how strong "Marathon Rock" is and the secret to his great strength is his positive attitude toward "running" and his love of fresh veggies for breakfast.

You may be wondering what is in that Vitamix that he drinks every single day? Here is his secret revealed to the world...Looks like spinach, celery, carrots, raddishes, and lots of other green stuff like cabbage, avacado, cucumber, green peppers, , and oh, the finishing touch, tomato juice and a lime ....yes, the whole lime, he plops it right in. Then just BLEND.

Sometimes he adds soy sauce to make it drinkable. The whole thing tastes sort of gritty.

And yes, he drinks the entire two quarts everyday.

...Well we can plug our noses, but it works, he is living proof...

(Or maybe he just has good genes), but....

This guy will be 60 years old in May and look how cute he still is!

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Last week while mom-Amber was basking in the sun in the faraway Island of Hawaii, her little munchkin Hallie, (otherwise known as "Howie" to the little people), teamed up with cousin Stone, (otherwise known by many alias's, "Charlie Brown", "Tough Guy", etc....) .

They learned many things together, important things that only siblings can understand, like;

"If you have a toy, I should have that toy..."

and generally just the traditional;

"Anything you can do, I can do better..."

especially when Stone saw that Hallie could pull herself up to a standing position, and he couldn't. His very extreme competitive nature surfaced and he abandoned his normal yoga routine on the floor that he generally works at all day, and embarked on an intense routine of trying to get himself to a standing position, at all costs may I add.

Notice this first picture Stone has the toys.......now watch........

Now Hallie takes the toys away........
Now Hallie hides the toys behind Stone's back. Ha Ha.....this was a fun game all week.....

Stone is thinking how can he get tricked so easily by a girl?


When she realized she got caught she gave the toy back to Stone...

They did not always appreciate having to eat at the same time.....

Erin thinks if she can just get them down for a nap she can read a book.....And trying to remember who's bottle is who's.....

She was sucessful at one point to get them on the same schedule, and luckily we were able to fool Hallie that Erin was in fact Amber. Humm, lots of other people confuse them too, they are used to it.

MORE BIRTHDAYS

Lindsey Smith (24), Sienna Ballstaedt (2), Lisa Hong (25) and Ginger Ballstaedt (1) all had birthdays!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv72urCWJcU

This link is to a "youtube" made by a Catholic Bishop defending the Momons for taking heat on Prop 8 in California. I personally appreciate his words of support, especially in a time where everyone is protected by "civil rights" except those who believe in God, and more specifically those who believe the Constitution protects their rights to free expression of religion.

So I have a question, suppose the courts overturn the will of the people and decide that the vote shouldn't be counted, and these courts write gay marriage into the constitution of California? Then it becomes law doesn't it? And because Mormon's believe that we are subject to laws, does that mean that Bishops in the Mormon church will be required under the law to perform gay marriages in California? Will it mean that our temples in California will have to close so that we will not be forced under the law to perform gay marriages in the temple?

When did "Civil Rights" become more important than "Sacred Rights"? It seems to me that those who are unfamiliar with sacred religious writings...("Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained by God...") are unaware of what they are really screaming about - because the lessons of the past and the words of the Prophets should warn us all that our destruction is all that comes from disobedience to God's law.

I FEEL LIKE I LOST MY BFF

You know how sad it is when you finish a book that was really fun to read? I have lost a week of my life while immersed in the adventures of Eragon and his dragon Saphira. The First book, okay - it started slow, but then again so did "Harry Potter" and we are sort of in the same genre which I classify as "Books-Every-10-Year-Old-Will-Love". So what if the author started writing it at age 15 and emphasis on his physique is a little overblown! So what if he hasn't perfected the nuances in conversation and occasionally it reads a little stiff! The promise of romance hints oh so sweetly, but sorry, that doesn't go anywhere. (Maybe in book 4?) Book one still has enough adventure wrapped up in it to keep you fixated on the written page long after the sun sets at night and you just keep thinking you can keep your eyes open for a few more hours..... What with the elves, drarves, shades, bad guys, good guys, blood, gore, and magic, hey, it just makes a fun epic novel.

Well, in book two Eragon has established himself as a bona-fide hero, hey, who woulda known? He is just as surprized as anyone....Hummm.... But the Epic continues even while bogging down the story by a HEAVY new language... Elven. It's not exactly like reading Victor Hugo's Les Miserable in French ... since this language is all made up and no one can understand it except Chris Paolini and the Elves, but I would say our author is enamouredwith this new language to the point that I think he really speaks it in every day. The biggest frustration is all the forty subplots get so spread out like wandering roots of a tree that you are left wondering if they will ever merge and resolve into a solution before Eragon turns 60 years old. But you also wonder if the line between good/evil -right/wrong is specific enough to carry the story at all. Basically book two just compounds and multiplies all the loose ends that never got resolved in book one, so at the end of the book my head was spinning. However, the characters were more alive, insightful, and emotional. It was a clear indication that the author had matured. I sent Rock to Wal-mart immediately for book 3, ($15)it couldn't wait, I had to deal with it. (Number 1,099 on the wait list at the library?...forget that.)

Okay, book 3 is quite masterful. I could not physically unattach it from my body, I slept with it, I saw the Boar mountains every time I looked out the window......The author finally decided he had to wrap up all the loose ends and it was time for the hero to save the world and defeat the enemy!!! Yea, I was dying to know all the secrets of the bad guys.......and I was so impressed that Aragon is much more mature, and even humble on occasion. I guess you could say he grows up, he cares more, he loves deeper, he grieves deeper, and he falters less often. He rises to his stature.

Well, guess what, I ferneically finish the book, and find out that Paolini decides he can't wrap it up in 750 pages!!!! Are you kidding me? Now I have to wait for book 4? BUMMER, I HATE WAITING FOR BOOKS. well maybe i can get something done now....

ANNUAL GRANDMA DAY AT CORNBELLY'S

Ryder seemed to find stuff to do alone McKay and Kathryn are Mr and Mrs. Farmer while Mylee rides the race cars

Lydia poses by the pumkin decorations and Lisa gets mobbed by the kids, Bethany likes her.

Kayla hanging upside down, and Kathryn visits with the pumpkin princess of Thanksgiving point.

Jayma can only see out of one eye, but she likes the pumpkin princess too.

Brianna loved climbing on the haystacks and Bethany needed her turn with the pumpkin princess.

They love to jump on the Big Bouncy

More fun continues