THIS CHRISTMAS KEEPS ON GIVING

We loved our Christmas. Here are the 12 days of Christmas round-up that our two daughters and their families gave to us. We had so much fun opening them one at a time until Christmas!

DAY 6 - FAMILY PICTURES! beautiful pictures of the kids and the families!

DAY 7 - MOVIE TICKETS! Now we are going to go see Avatar!


DAY 8 - WARM GLOVES!

DAY 9 - HOT CHOCOLATE!




DAY 10 - BOOK - "I BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS" BY DIANE ADAMSON"




DAY 11 - REMINDERS OF CHRIST

DAY 12 - PERSONAL LETTERS WRITTEN BY FAMILY MEMBERS --These were wonderful sweet letters written to Rock and I expressing memories and sweet positive expressions of gratitude which we really appreciated. We did get a laugh out of the letters of the two 9 year olds whose letters basically said: "Thanks for having my mother, because if you didn't have her I wouldn't be here today and what would the world be without me?"

Rock and I appreciated the fun! Thanks so much to the Nicholls and Gatten families!

WE ALSO GOT TO CELEBRATE TWO BIRTHDAY'S IN DEC! BROOKE AND HALLIE! Our Brooke is a special person, she can do anything and do it fast! She is creative, motivated, and a great mother to her 5 children. She is a marathon runner like her dad, and a quilt-maker like her mother. She also is a voracious reader. Everyone in our family admires and loves her for her many talents. We all like to tease her that she is the "president" of the family. That just means she is really good at taking charge of things! We all look up to her!










Hallie is our sweetheart. She is just two, but she talks really well. In fact she is so smart that she can use a cell phone to call grandma anytime even when her parents are sleeping. She loves my I-phone and can usually play any game on it without my help. Wow, two-year-olds are really special, but you have to constantly watch her in case she wants to "borrow" your scissors or pens or something dangerous. She also likes to do everything Jayma does.

BEN AND SETH SPEND A FEW MINUTES BONDING...AHEM. (THOSE I-PHONES ARE AMAZING)

TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS FUN

Two of our daughters with their 5 children (each) planned a 'Twelve Days of Christmas' for Rock and I (grandma and grandpa). Every night we open one of the twelve presents they gave us from under the tree. We have had so much fun looking forward to opening something every night!

On the 1st day we opened a CD of beautiful Christmas songs that they downloaded for us. My favorite so far is #18 called; Lullaby by Eclipse. I had never heard it before, it made me cry. I downloaded all the songs to my Ipod so I can listen to it while I sew.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas we opened some beautiful ornaments that the kids had made out of salt dough and painted themselves. They are very lovely hanging on our tree now!

On the 3rd day of Christmas we opened all the ingredients to make some FUDGE! HO HO HO! How jolly we will be with our big tummys! But it is our FAVORITE THING about Christmas is the fudge!




On the 4th day of Christmas we opened a beautiful magnet board to hang all our beautiful pictures and important messages on! It now hangs above grandma's desk. Did you notice the picture of the model on it? (She is my oldest granddaughter -who, by the way, hit 4 homeruns this past fall in Softball. )

On the 5th day of Christmas, we opened this darling Frame board! The message says: "We never knew how much love our hearts could hold till someone called us grandma and grandpa" That is so very true! We are so thankful for all 23 little kids that call us that! We love them!!!

(pictured - not frame models - our very own darling grandsons; River and Ryder Rock)

These words above the couch were a gift from Sage last mother's day, but before they left, Brooke had it installed on my wall! Look how beautiful it looks on that large space! Right above the circle where we gather as a family to visit!

THANKS KIDS! WE ARE HAVING FUN! I hope everyone else is having this much fun!

we'll post the remaining 7 gifts on Christmas!

THANKS FOR FAMILY AT THANKSGIVING

We were lucky to have 7 of our 8 children here for Thanksgiving this year! We are so grateful that Amber's family came out from Denver, and Seth's family came from Las Vegas! We had a great time and we loved being together.

Although we had to put dinner on hold for a while so that Dr. Chad could sew up a slashed ear on Jake. 12 stitches in his ear lobe. (pictured)

That happened at the football game before the dinner. Smith had sent invitations to all the Ballstaedt cousins setting up a flag football game. They had so much fun until someone stepped on Jake's ear with their cleats.

Accidents aside, it was a fun day!

ANNOUNCING......

YEAH! Ben and Lisa annouced their forthcoming marriage. We are so glad it is official since I have been calling her my daughter-in-law for about 2 years now as well as adding her to our family tally. Wedding in March, details to follow!

MAYBE CHRISTMAS PERHAPS...MEANS A LITTLE BIT MORE!

"...Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,He rode with his load to the tiptop to dump it!“Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!” he was grinch-ish-ly humming.“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two“Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry Boo-Hoo!
“That’s a noise, “grinned the Grinch,“That I simply MUST hear!”So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.It started in low. Then it started to grow …
But the sound wasn’t sad!Why, this sound sounded merry!It couldn’t be so!But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at Who-ville!The Grinch popped his eyes!Then he shook!What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small,Was singing! Without any presents at all!He HADN‘T stopped Christmas from coming!IT CAME!Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”“It came without ribbons! It came without tags!“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more!”

(Dr. Suess, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, New York: Random House, 1957.)

I love this passage from one of our favorite Christmas stories....but having said that, I want to thank all those good people who know that for some, Christmas CAN come from a store....

There is a desire is to help the poor and needy. This is how many good people fill their Christmas with love. I wanted to thank all those who have helped this year!

In the last few weeks, we have had phone calls from so many people asking if we could find them a family in need that they could do Christmas for. We had one young family purchase 30 pair of Nike shoes to donate. We had a widow drop by several wallmart gift cards, and several other people just show up with gift cards. We get gift cards in the mail to donate aand we don't know who they come from.

They thank us, but we quickly tell them it wasn't us who donated it, so they thank God.

So thanks to those of you who were able to give in this difficult year to help the poor and needy!

Matthew 25:40

"...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethern, ye have done it unto me. "