Only In Kentucky....

Today we attended the Monticello Branch in Monticello, Kentucky.

In October 2005 our family was called to attend the Monticello Branch where Tim was a counselor in the Branch Presidency. Each week we traveled the 85 miles one way with our family of 5 kids in tow (Young Tim was serving his mission to Canada at the time) and we continued doing that for 14 months. It was a bitter sweet day when we were released from serving in the branch but our family was better for doing what we were called to do. Monticello holds a special place in our hearts which is the reason that we have continued over the past two years to make occasional trips to visit our friends there who seem more like family.

So today we made the hour and 45 minute journey on the familiar winding roads leading to Monticello. We did it this time with only two kids with us. Jacob stayed home to attend our home ward. Along the way we saw some "only in Kentucky" sights........

Santa on a John Deer tractor...with a matching mailbox :)

Two BIG lions guarding this driveway to a very ordinary house -- you'd maybe expect there to be a mansion just beyond the lions but, no......

Horses wearing blankets.... it was quite cold today!

And probably my favorite are these signs that stretch from south of Nicholasville all the way to Monticello......

Can You Believe It???

A HUGE WOW to the price of gas in Somerset, Kentucky!!!!

Too bad it's a gas station that went out of business!!!!! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! I couldn't resist.......... :)

Okay, this is the real price in our town of Nicholasville! Pretty good, ah? (the $1.39 is the price after some sort of rebate)

Dinner With Doug.....

Tonight we had our ward Christmas party and it was very nicely done! Each family, after telling how many you had in your party, was taken to a table to be seated for dinner to be served. We had the pleasure of sitting at a table with friends, Doug and Shawna. We always have pleasant conversations with them ....Doug is an avid outdoors man and knows everything there is to know about many things. He's the guy you want with you when you are canoeing down Elk Horn Creek in a thunder and lightening storm (yes, that is truly what happened!) We might have died that day if it weren't for Doug! (no kidding!) So Doug is the man you want on your team, hands down.

I learned something new tonight having dinner with Doug. I learned that Doug is the guy you want at your table for the ward Christmas dinner too! :)

Doug REALLY made me laugh tonight and the funniest thing was that he wasn't even trying!!! It's just the way and the timing in which he says what he says. When our ham dinner arrived and we were all enjoying our food, Doug in all his innocence said, "This is REAL ham!" I looked at him with a smirk on my face and questioned, "As opposed to what? Fake ham?" We all busted out laughing and Doug just looked at us and said, "What?"

So we all recover from laughing and we get some more mashed potatoes at our table. Shawna and Doug took some more potatoes and so did I. Shawna tasted first, then me. Something didn't taste right. Neither Shawna or I could pinpoint what the problem was but decided we didn't want to eat more because they didn't taste like our first serving did. Doug, looking like he was questioning our loyalty to the dinner, shrugged off what we said. Then Doug, the eternal optimist, took a little taste of the potatoes in question and said, "It just needs MORE sauce!" (referring to the small cup of sauce at the table that none of us could identify but according to Doug, was "okay") and then he promptly made a swimming pool of sauce over the potatoes and enjoyed the rest of his meal!!!

Maybe you just "had to be there" to experience how funny it sounded but it started us laughing all over again and that was when I knew that my next blog post had to be Dinner with Doug.

I am glad that Doug and Shawna are on our team and at our dinner table. I look forward to dinner again with you guys sometime! :) The evening was so nice that it even made the flat tire we had in the parking lot not seem so bad.... I'll save that for another post! :)

Becoming....

"It is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us--even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will. We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won't, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming."
Joseph B Wirthlin, Ensign, Nov. 2007, 29 30

What I Love About You....Jacob

Ahh....where do I begin with Jacob? Jacob is the fourth boy in our family and he has been a character from the beginning! He has always been full of what he thinks are good ideas...fortunately for us, SOMETIMES they are. :) Jacob turns 15 in February.....

What I Love About Jacob......

*His blue eyes
*His love of Origami

*His interest in soooo many different things

*That he retains so much Useless information to be able to have conversations about almost anything :)

*He has Awesome computer skills

*That he has taught himself songs to play on the Piano


*He's the Life of any party

*He amazes people with his MAGIC tricks

*His great sense of Humor

*That he's taught himself some Japanese

*He wears PINK ties

*He's not afraid to dress up like a ButterFly for Halloween

*He likes old Newhart episodes

*He's very creative

*He is an ExCeLlEnT artist

*He keeps 2 liter bottles of soda in the frig at church so he can drink it in the morning before Seminary

*How he looks up to his Oldest Brother

*That I have to check EVERY pocket of ANYTHING he wears or something will get washed that isn't supposed to be washed....Pen Guts, pieces of PapeR, eRaSeRs, MP3 PlayeR, batteries, Glue sTicKs, gUm...you name it and it's in his PoCkeTs

How much he is like his DAD

He loves His MOM (You KNOW you Love Me!)

Christmas Loves....

Candy Canes

Frosty cold weather when you can see your breath dance in front of your eyes

EGGNOG

Snowmen


Nativity Scenes

The Smell of Pine

PineCones

Christmas Lights

TinseL

Ribbon Candy

Poinsettias

GingerBread Houses

Snowflakes

Chocolate Covered Cherries

Josh Groban's Christmas CD NOEL

Christmas Vacation From School


FavoritE ChristmaS StorieS

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

O Christmas Tree....

Our tree went up on Sunday evening and the lights were put on. Tonight for Family Night we turned on the Christmas music and decorated the tree with the many, many ornaments we have collected over the years.

Each of the kids have ornaments that are specifically theirs. For most years we bought one ornament each Christmas for each of the 6 kids. Plus, there are the many homemade ones that make it to the tree each year. The tree gets loaded down with way more ornaments than most people would probably put on their tree but, it isn't their tree, it's OUR tree... And I like our tree. Each year I go through the same thing -- first, I grimace thinking it doesn't look very good but then it starts to grow on me. Especially when I realize that, in not too many years, most of these ornaments will be leaving home with the kids that they each belong to.

So, I let the kids continue to load up the tree with whatever ones they want on it. And I smile as they do. In fact, tomorrow we may look again through all the Christmas bins we have and see if there aren't just a few more they might want to add. :)

This Christmas it is our job to gather up the ornaments that belong to our oldest son, Tim, and sending them on to their new home...HIS home, with his new wife, Lisa, to celebrate their first Christmas. It is just a little sad that the day has arrived that I always knew would come.... the day when I would pack up their ornaments and send them to their new destination to, hopefully, begin a new tradition in their own family.

Christmas is such a lovely time of year -- full of love, tradition and promise.