Christmas Ison FHE

On the first Monday of December, we gathered in our home, to have our annual Christmas Ison FHE.

Tim read the story of our Savior's birth, as the kids covered their heads with towels and scarves acting as Mary, Joseph, shepherds or wisemen.

It was nice to have Jana and Kevin's family there... including Aaron and his cute kids.

After reading in the scriptures, we took turns ring bells and singing Christmas carols, until our special visitor arrived...Santa!

Our Santa helper this year was new to the job. He was sweet, funny and did a great.

Of course the traditional white elephant gift exchange happened and many treats were enjoyed.

Service

I'm so far behind, I'm having a hard time getting motivated to complete these posts. I do want to document what we did, so I'm warning you, these next few posts may be brief.... and not very creative.

One of our favorite days was when we volunteered at the Boise Rescue Mission warehouse. The guy in charge there knows what he's doing and makes it fun. When you first arrive everyone is asked to "sign in". Their sign in sheet, is literally a bed sheet. When it's filled, they hang it high on the warehouse wall, along with several others.

Grandpa Waite had come to town for Christmas, and was staying with us, so he came along to help. (Rylee was at choir, of course!)

We were just a part of the big group that showed up that night. There was probably 50-60 people there to help that night.

We got to help fill "food boxes". We formed an assembly line, beginning with someone opening paper grocery bags (grandpa's job), then someone put in canned fruits, then veggies, then a few fresh potatoes and onions, then dried beans/stuffing and finally some sort of boxed dessert (cake mix/brownies/muffins/etc.).

In preparation for our Annual Smullin Service Scavenger Hunt, we made popcorn snowmen again.

We put these cute snowmen on the door handles of the families who donated.

Our donation collection was a success!

Our favorite thing collected were the frozen turkeys...several were donated this year.

Lesson learned: Keeping the area of collection localized is critical. This year I opened up donation to Facebook and received lots of great response all over the valley. I underestimated how long it would take to collect everything. Keeping it simple is the way to go. :)

This night, our service focused on the Humanitarian Center.

We made felt puppets...

and wove hats on plastic looms.

We also had intentions of making plastic canvas blocks and taggy blankets, but ran out of time.

The kids all had a good time weaving the hats. Taylee was especially loving it. She even said out loud that she wished she had her own loom to make hats. She committed to start saving her money to buy some.

Little did she know... Jason and I had already purchased a set for her, for Christmas. We couldn't wait for her to open them... we knew she was going to LOVE them! :)

12 Days of Service

Last year in December, we started a new tradition.... "the 12 days of service".
Because of busy schedules and lack of good planning, we didn't get the whole 12 days in. This year, I wanted to be more organized and was determined to do better.

We had a planning FHE, where we brainstormed service ideas and scheduled our calendar.

Here are the activities we decided on:

1. Free movie on us. Went to a dollar movie and paid for people in line behind us ($20).

2. Leave a note and treat in the mailbox for our mail carrier, thanking them for their service.

3. Volunteer at the Boise Rescue Mission.

4. Service babysitting. Babysit for free, while parents go Christmas Shopping.

5. Volunteer at the Boys/Girl's Club.

6. Go look at Christmas lights and leave notes of appreciation on the decorated houses we really liked.

7. Annual Smullin Service Scavenger Hunt...that's not really a scavenger hunt. :)

8. Work on Humanitarian Kits from the D.I.

9. Gather/donate clothes to a homeless shelter.

10. Give hot chocolate to a bell ringer.

11. Leave notes and candy canes on car windshields wishing a Merry Christmas.

12. Bring a treat to a 24-hour drug store employee that is working on Christmas Eve.

I'm happy to report, we DID better...but not 100%. Still working on getting all 12 days in.

Maybe, the 12 days aren't the point. :)

I wanted to create something to refer to, so we knew which service activity was coming up. I created this pom-pom advent countdown and hung it up by our stockings.



The advent countdown was cute, but still has some need for improvement. Next time, I will put date/day on each activity, so my kids have no reason to ask what's next.




Another cool thing to report... during our service week, my friend posted on Facebook about a family in need. I responded with questions and asked if we could help. She gave me the kid's names and ages. I went to my "gift stash" and found 3 gifts for each of the 4 kids.

My kids helped to wrap the gifts and then we delivered them to my friend, to be given to the family in need.

It felt good to fill a need and be prepared to give spontaneously.

Homemade Gifts

We had so much fun 2 years ago making the gifts for our family gift exchange, we decided to do it again this year.

Treyson drew Abree's name. He told me he wanted to make a new blanket for her since her special baby blanket (made by Grandma Smullin) was getting raggedy and would have to be put in the "keepsakes" box soon. (Or "keep safes" as they would call it.)

I thought it was such a sweet idea, I totally hopped on board last minute and helped him whip up a quilt for her.

I showed him how to tie and within a few practice tries, he got it! I was so proud of him.

Rylee drew Jason name. She made him a customized Rubik's Cube he could take to work and put on his desk. It was all about the BSU Broncos an the Utah Jazz... of course.

I had Taylee's name. I made her a ruffle scarf. I bought 2 scarves from the Dollar Tree and cut of one of them to make the ruffles. Then sewed them on. It turned out cute. (Finished scarf not pictured.)

Taylee had Grandpa Waite's name. She made him a book, "Top 20 Things That Happened in Our Family in 2010". It was cute to see some of the things that made the list; Jackson lost his first tooth, Taylee started piano lessons, Sterling was born, we had the Ison Christmas FHE (funny to give to Gpa Waite), etc.

Grandpa Waite had Treyson's name. Grandpa made Treyson a "walking stick". It was cool. He smoothed it, carved his initials in it and even sacrificed a piece of his own shoelace for the handle.

Abree had Rylee's name. She and I made these flower clips for Rylee. So cute!

Jason had my name. He knows what I like.... acts of service! I received a gift certificate that entitled me to: A Garage Overhaul.

Including: Pressure washed floors, organizing and relocating items, a haul to D.I., arranging food storage items, re-organization of tools and a bike rack!

Are you jealous?

I know it may not be YOUR ideal gift, but it is MINE. :)

Homemade gifts take thought, time and effort, but it is SO worth it. I hope to continue doing this year after year.

The Christmas Post

Ok, here's the Christmas post...

On Christmas Eve, we gathered at our house for a party with my dad. We had a white elephant gift exchange, snacked and played a game.

We also opened gifts from Grandpa Waite. Grandpa gave us a neat gift. He gave us "Our Family Home Evening Journal". It's a notebook with pages in it to fill out as we have our FHE's. Documentation that may become precious in the years to come.

Christmas morning, Jason and I woke up around 7:00am. We got the orange juice mixed up and the sweet rolls baked and then headed upstairs. We thought we'd find the kids waiting to pounce. Instead we found this......
sleepy bedheads!
We were shocked. We had to turn on the light and wake everyone up from their "visions of sugarplums". Then we were told the rest of the story.... Treyson awoke around 4am, woke everyone else up and then was told to go back to sleep, cuz mom and dad would NOT want to start the day that early. (They were totally right about that.)

The kids had slept together in the family room. We had our traditional sweet rolls, orange juice and milk for breakfast.

"Hmmmm, wonder what Santa brought????"

Then it was time for the traditional line-up... youngest to oldest. (Each year the older girls try to convince us to start a new tradition... oldest to youngest. They haven't convinced us yet.)

Treyson had a Bakugan-fest...everything Bakugan.

Rylee got the Nintendo D.S. she was wanting..... lucky.

Abree got her "D.S." a.k.a. V-Smile handheld game system.

Taylee said she was 100% POSITIVE that she would get a Nintendo D.S. from Santa.... she was right. How was she so "100% POSITIVE"???

Jason got BSU attire from Santa.... and some Utah Jazz (wooden) candy canes.

The "Aftermath".

I received a new camera from Santa, that I'm still working on figuring out. (The instructions were printed in a foreign language, so even if I wanted to read them I couldn't.)

In the evening, we went to my mom's house to celebrate and open presents. Each family received emergency preparedness items to put in our 72-hour kits from mom and the grand kids got cool kit type gifts. Treyson's was a model car kit and Abree's was a clothespin doll kit.

Christmas was a wonderful day of celebration and family.

Ison Christmas FHE

The Annual Ison Christmas Family Home Evening.... a tradition that has been going well over 60 years.

Some things have changed; the location, the nativity narrator, the number of attendees, the addition of bells to our Christmas songs and the children (they just keep growing up!).

Some things have remained the same; children playing the parts of the Christmas story in Luke, the adult white elephant gift exchange, yummy food and a special visitor, with gifts, for the kids.

The kids no longer play a specific part in the Christmas story re-enactment. They're all Mary's, Joseph's, shepherds angels and wisemen. I guess the idea is less fighting that way. Usually there is only 1 Baby Jesus. This year, there was no fighting or crying about who was to hold him. Whew!

The kids getting geared up to play the parts of the Christmas story.

This year, Josh was our Luke 2 narrator.
Isn't Daisylyn the cutest Mary/Wiseman/Shepherd/Angel you've ever seen?

Santa had trouble with his sled this year. We sang and sang and kept singing waiting for him to arrive. We moved onto the adult gift exchange when we ran out of songs to sing. Finally, Santa arrived and explained that Mrs. Claus forgot to fill up the sled with gas, so he had to borrow her sled. We were just glad Santa had made it safe and sound.

Given the choice of a Santa gift or playing in the adult gift exchange, Rylee chose the Santa gift, "You usually get something you want from Santa. You may not be as lucky in the gift exchange." Smart girl.

Abree was quiet, but DID sit on Santa's lap.

Treyson bounded up onto Santa's knee. Hopefully he didn't hurt Santa.

When Santa asked what he thought his mom wanted for Christmas, Treyson replied, "Ummm, maybe a new camera???"

YES! I hope Santa was listening.

Jason and Taylee were at an award ceremony for the Reflections Art Contest. Taylee had received an "Award of Excellence" once again this year. They showed up after Santa had gone, so we saved Taylee's gift for her. (More on the contest later.)

The Ison Christmas Family Home Evening is a tradition we look forward to every year.

With Tiffany in Mind

As I walked into "Real Deals" this Thursday, I was greeted by these beauties.

The colors made me think of you, Tiffany.

Enjoy...

I thought this decoration was especially interesting. They took a Christmas tree and hung it upside-down from the rafters. It created a cool shape and neat effect. I would love to try this in the entryway of my home. Ya right. Getting Jason to figure out the logistics and rigging it up would be another neat effect.

Black Friday... a CRAZY tradition!

I'm not normally a morning person. In fact, you may have heard me say, "I'd rather STAY up 'til 4 am, then GET up at 4 am." It's true. So what rouses me at 4 am on the morning after Thanksgiving??? BLACK FRIDAY!!! Black Friday has been a yearly tradition for me since... for a long time.

Once a year, a promising bargain wakes me up insanely early and gets me out the door to:
1. Wait in the freezing cold, for business doors to open
2. Be pushed around by a frenzied crowd
3. Wait, once again, while in line to check-out
4. Risk not even getting the deal I came in for, because there was a "limited supply on hand".

Putting it like that, really does make it sound CRAZY!... and it is.

I've carried on this tradition in many different cities and circumstances. I've shopped by myself (with 100's of others). I've shopped with children (even crazier!). I've shopped out-of-state, while visiting for the holidays (in-laws thought I was crazy). I've shopped for hours and I've been done shopping in less than an hour (once). These last 2 years, I've been able to go with Jason. We "divide and conquer" and then go eat breakfast. Yum!

This year, I dropped Jason off at ShopKo, while I headed to Walmart. The plan was for the first person done, to go to the other one's aid. Jason was in-and-out quickly, with the careful planning and smooth running check-out lines at ShopKo. Meanwhile, I was drowning in a sea of carts and shoppers at Walmart. There was little organization, lots of chaos.

Jason found me by way of cell phone. I had been standing in line for several minutes and had not moved once... except to allow other shoppers to get by with their carts. With Jason to watch the cart and save my place in line, I was able to maneuver through the crowds and find 2 more things on my list. I also found us a shorter, faster moving line. Yay!

When we finally got to the check-out stand, I noticed one of my items was damaged. It didn't look good, but I knew the others were all gone. I asked to talk to a manager, or at least the young kid who was making managerial decisions for the day. He was able to take a few more dollars off, making it worth the risk of it not being fully functioning. --A card table and 4 chairs for $20!..that seemed like a good deal to me. (When we got home we found out that it was mostly cosmetic damage, so it really was a good deal.) Whew.

As Jason and I were leaving the Walmart parking lot, we heard this on the radio...

A loose, simplified version of what happened (at least how I remembered it).

The radio station was asking Black Friday shoppers to call in with their best deals of the day. Lady A called in and said that she got the best deal EVER on a Wii... it was FREE! She had found it in the parking lot of Walmart.
The radio station hosts asked her what she was going to do? Because OF COURSE it wasn't hers and she shouldn't keep it...right?
Lady A said that when she found it, she had looked around, no one was there, so considered it "an act of God", in these hard economic times.
Meanwhile, Lady B called in asking if Lady A had found the Wii at the Fairview/Eagle Rd Walmart.
Yes.
Because she had just been there, set it on the roof of her car while she was getting her child in their carseat, and then took off forgetting it was there. As soon as she remembered, she turned around and went back to the parking lot, but couldn't find it.
Eventually, the radio hosts put the 2 ladies on a conference call and were speaking to both of them... and they were speaking to each other!

Host: Lady A, is there any way we can persuade you to return the Wii to Lady B?
Lady A: "No way! I found it, looked around, no one was there, it's mine!"
Lady B: "No it's mine. I paid for it. I accidentally left it on the roof of my car as I was getting my child into the carseat. I came back as soon as I realized what I had done."
Lady A: "I can't help it if you're so dumb, to be so distracted by putting your kid in the car, that you leave it on your car and take off with out it. It's mine."
Lady B: "I have the receipt for it. I was just there. It's mine... Hey, is that you??? I see a lady sitting in her car, waving her hands, talking on a cell phone. Is that you?"
Lady A: "Hey, you better move your car or I'll hit you! Get out of my way!"
Lady B: "Give me back my Wii!"
Lady A: "You better move or I'll hit you with my car!"
Lady B: "I've got your license plate number and I'll go to the police if you don't give it back!"
Host: "Lady B, you've got the license plate number, just drive away. Don't get out of your car. Just drive away!"
More fighting, shouting and rumbling....
Host: "Are you there? Do we need to call security???"
More rustling.... and then they radio station gets hung up on.

Proof... Black Friday is a CRAZY tradition!


PS- Want to hear the actual conversation? Click here to listen to Mix 106's podcast (Woman finds a Wii #1, 2 & 3).

The Great Gathering

Last weekend, we went to Odgen for "The Great Gathering".

A festivus of many celebrations and holidays...

1. Early Thanksgiving dinner.

2. Nate and Cathy were baptizing their son, Bob.

3. Nate and Cathy blessing their new baby girl, Sarah Anne.

4. Jeff, Amy and family moving to Texas (for jobs) and wouldn't be able to visit for a while.

5. Early Christmas gift exchange with cousins.

6. Many, many family birthdays in the month of November.

Sweet Sarah Anne

Robert... a.k.a. Bob, the newest member of the church, in his ward.

Gifts were shared, turkey and pie was eaten and ordinances were done.

It was a quick, but nice gathering.