Here is the entire cast
the inn-keeper
We had a fabulous time Christmas Eve with cousins and grandparents!
It started with a delicious dinner of tri-tip, salad, saute'd vegies, and garlic potatoes. Yummy! We acted out the nativity, went on a Christmas light savenger hunt, awarded the second annual Christmas light award to our favorite house, and had a gift exchange.
We missed the members of our family that couldn't make it but had a great time anyway!
Disclaimer: The following information is strictly from a mother's point of view. I am not sure if anyone else in attendance that day observed things just the way I did, but this is how I saw it.
...with the other parents, a mass of screaming and excited kids in front of me. Out of all these kids just a few would be recognized as the students of the month. The principal approached the front of the stage, and as he called out "active listening" the crowd fell silent. He began to disclose names of the lucky students. One by one the students of the month would apprehensively take the long walk to the front of the crowd to fist bump the principal and get their certificate, giant candy bar, and coupon for a free dinner at Chick-fil-a. You could see uncertainty in many of the kids faces and the principal made a little joke about how hard it was to stand in front of a large audience. Then he called Marley's name...
Marley and her friends, the Sierra's
I secretly love it when they get it at the same time.
She is fine but is sporting a bunch of scabs. The good news is, no broken bones.
Doesn't the red of her scabs make her eyes sparkle?
Marley and her great friend, Addy have birthdays one right after the other so we had a great big party for the both of them at Addy's house. There was a barbeque, cake, music, and a giant slide. The girls had a fabulous time!
Look what happens when you take a water proof cast to the beach. That was in September. It was pretty painful to get all the sand that was imbedded in her skin out.
A fun day at the beach, trade, for a couple days of raw skin. Totally worth it!
They had Lasagna, salad and breadsticks. They played games and had a great time.
I went on a Daddy Daughter Date with my grandpa too.
I remember doing this with my brother and sisters, dumping out all of the goods and trying to get the most with what you've got. At times like this it is nice to have a little sister who is willing to part with a Reece's for a Hershey bar (Liza's favorite.) The candy that no one wanted, even for free, was Bit-o-Honey, and Babyruth Bars.
He put on this fro while we were deciding what everyone would be for Halloween.
I kind of think he looks like Grandma Price, his mom, with that cute little face.
Miranda, my sister just turned 40 and we had a surprise birthday party for her. She was completely surprised. Miranda always has great ideas and more than once while we were planning the party I almost called Miranda to see if she had any suggestions.
Miranda has always been an amazing sister. She helped me learn things that my Mom might have been a little too shy to teach me. She taught me about fashion, and makeup, and I remember spending hours baking cookies with her. I remember when she got her driver's license and we got to go to the movies by ourselves for the first time. Our van was packed with friends and we were riding down the street, having the party of our lives. I am sure we were screaming and hanging out the windows. Miranda pulled the car over and yelled, "SHUT UP! This is a lot harder than it looks!"
Miranda has always treated me like her friend instead of her little sister. I love that!
At the party we had a bunch of different yummy soups and crusty bread. We played some games and then shared some memories of Miranda. Here's mine...
When I was a sophomore at BYU I went to school knowing that I needed to get a job. I didn't want a job, so as a result I procrastinated. I had earned money all summer so I made that money stretch most of the year. When the money started to run out I donated plasma (for an extra $12), I also worked for my roommate's brother stuffing envelopes ($5 an hour), I was the extra in a made for TV movie (for $50 a day), and I flirted so I could eat on dates. I was living on bread, the cheapest white bread that I could find for $.33 and I splurged for some margarine for another $.33. I was living on toast.
One day Miranda came over with Tanner to visit me. Tanner was hungry so she asked if she could get something out of my cupboard to feed him. Before thinking, I said she could. She opened my cupboard and there was nothing there. She just looked at me and said, "Bethany?" No one knew that I was so hungry. I hadn't told my roommates, my parents, or anybody. I just started to cry and Miranda understood. I was so hungry. She came by my apartment that night with two huge shopping bags full of groceries. Her and Jim were probably very poor themselves. They had just moved up to Provo and Jim was working two jobs but she came to my rescue anyway.
I lived the rest of the year on those two shopping bags.
That is the type of person Miranda is, she would do anything for the people she loves. I feel really blessed to have her as a big sister and a great example. Thanks Mirky!
