. . . guess what . . .

. . . came in the mail today? . . .

a very important {& scary} envelope

& yes, i cried when

i took it out of the mailbox . . .

. . . wouldn't you? as you know,

important occasions call for

certain preparations.

of course, lots of people

would be coming to our house

for the opening of this envelope ~~

so, of course,

there must be food,

or at least snacks & beverages.

since the call came

at around 2:30

& the opening was to be held at 6:30,

there was not much time

~~ chips & salsa it is!

see, i told you

lots of people would come!

everyone made a guess

as to where

elder romney would go

here's elder romney

{with shaky hand & letter opener

passed from friend to friend

expressly for the purpose of

opening these important envelopes}

elder romney beginning to read

{note the envelope covering the letter ~

exposing only one line at a time}

the letter & the call . . .

. . . to serve in the

mexico city north mission

beginning wednesday 2 april 2008

{i swear i didn't know where he was going

when i made salsa this afternoon!}

happy sisters

{& snickers in her christmas sweater}

really excited dad & sister

{she was playing the part of the

"cryer" tonight since

i'd already had my own episode

when i went to get the mail this afternoon}

addi was excited since her guess was . . .

mexico

{side note . . . she was not so excited

when i handed her the prize money

~ $1.00 ~

her comment ~ "just one?"}

happy grandparents & preoccupied aunt

katelyn looks excited

so does kenzi
& all the fackrells for that matter
question . . . how many people

are texting in this photo?
answer: three {at least}

most importantly . . .happy

elder andrew davis romney

note from mom: i would advise against

having an only boy be your youngest child.

i can't even describe how much

i'll miss this wonderful son

who always behaves & makes us laugh.

we are so proud of him!

. . . it's a wrap! . . .

. . . i hope drew likes ties . . .. . . merry christmas . . .
. . . from our crazy family . . .
. . . to yours . . .

. . . from disaster . . .

. . . to delicious . . .

a "how to" guide

. . . start with these

ingredients . . .

. . . mix in cute

red bosch . . .

. . . make a big mess . . .

. . . wind up with a

disgustingly filthy sink . . .

. . . dirty every dish

you own {almost} . . .

. . . pop these beauties out

in about 55 minutes . . . . . . repeat x 60 loaves . . .
. . . deliver to wonderful

friends&neighbors . . .

. . . fifty . . .

. . . years deserves a special celebration . . .

. . . complete with a

beautifully set table . . .
{look how pretty the white roses are

in vases filled with key limes & cranberries,

& individual boxes of godiva chocolates ~

it was just lovely}

. . . a delicious menu ~ including . . .

christmas wassail


chips&salsa*

*{made by "the secret mexican" ~

aka my brother

~ who won a salsa-making contest

in the town of queen creek!}

fresh guacamole


albondigas soup


bolillos


tamales wrapped in banana leaves


scrumptious rice


refried black beans


choice of lemon/raspberry or godiva cheesecake

. . . & all because

these two crazy kids

fell in love . . . . . . you'd think {at age almost 81}

that my dad would be

celebrating more like his

60th anniversary . . .

. . . but then mom would have been

only twelve years old &

i think that's illegal or something . . .

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

special thanks to

jeff&lora ~ hosting

eric&molly ~ food

heather&sean ~ dessert

{all i did was make the invitations!}

. . . a recommendation . . .

. . . today, one of my

favorite blogs . . .. . . features one of my

favorite people . . .
. . . read all about it here . . .

. . . question . . .

. . . if you have jammies this cute

for your grandbabies . . .. . . would you wait until

christmas to give them?
. . . halleigh taking the

peppermint theme

perhaps a little too far . . .

. . . addi demonstrating that

these pjs are,

in fact, suitable for sleepwear . . .

they're especially fun to wear

while being chased

by a puppy named

snickers

on your mark, get set, go
tate, sporting his new gingerbread,

getting in on the act

{sorry, but girls really are more fun to shop for}

action shot

again, i ask you . . .

if you have jammies this cute

for your grandbabies . . .

. . . would you wait

until christmas

to give them?

yeah . . . neither would i . . .

" . . . ♪♫ this is that time of the year ♫♪ . . . "

" . . . ♪♫ a tinselly, glittery time . . .

. . . {momma} keeps buying presents

and sneaks them into the closet ♫♪ . . . "

truthfully . . . that's a lie!

. . . unfortunately, {momma} isn't very inspired

and {she} hasn't even started buying presents yet . . .

. . . what {she} has started buying

{and sneaking into the closet}

are wrapping paper and ribbon . . .

. . . {momma} can't seem to help herself . . .

. . . these are three of my favorite papers . . .

and if you believe that,

you don't know {momma} very well!um . . . could someone please talk to costco?

you gotta love their

neverending rolls of paper,

but come on!

these have to be the dorkiest prints ever!

. . . why {if your paper is reversible}

don't you show the more attractive part?

. . . the other sides are so much cuter . . . . . . i was thinking i need to make some more tags,

until i got the box of leftovers out . . .

. . . but, i think we're good . . .

. . . here is {momma}'s real addiction . . .

♥thanks costco♥

. . . i do ♥love♥ your ribbon,

and the price is unbeatable . . .

. . . all in all,

you have to admit that

{momma}

has a little problem . . .

". . . ♪♫ christmastime is here ♫♪ . . ."

. . . ♫♪ happiness and cheer ♪♫

♫♪ fun for all ♪♫

♫♪ that children call ♪♫

♫♪ their favorite time of year ♪♫ . . .

i call it my favorite time of year, too

. . . a few before & afters . . . . . . this one's a little dark, but isn't that the point? . . .
. . . p.s. another gerbera daisy died

{moment of silence, please} . . .

. . . you'll be seeing a lot more of these colors . . .

". . . ♫♪ haul out the holly

put up the tree before my

spirit falls again ♪♫ . . .". . . come on in . . . . . . we

{& maggie, our antique lhasa apso}

welcome you . . .

. . . this leads upstairs

where amanda&brent

moved out of yesterday

{single tear [for me], but

happy new home owning [for them]} . . .. . . remember the quilt?

i found a happy home for it . . .

. . . this buffet belonged to my

great grandmother rogers . . .

. . . it's such a good sport

it just sits there & lets me decorate it . . .

. . . here's our normal

living/home teaching room . . .

. . . looking in from the entry way . . .

. . . gotta give a little shout out

to shesgotitall.net . . .

. . . love it! thanks so much

vicki, shalae & suzanne! . . .

. . . we let these two ↓ stand guard . . .
. . . some say this looks like

whoville or minnie's house . . .

. . . i say it looks like

many years of

collecting shtuff . . .

all in favor of thanksgiving
always being so early in the month
say 'aye'
i loved the "extra" week of november!
now . . . welcome to december

merry christmas
from our house to yours