A spirit of cheer---visiting the mall

Carson, Jessie, Aunt Kim, Grandma, Jacob and I visited this TRAIN display at a nearby Mall. The village of trains filled an entire store space. We chose this destination to visit Santa as well because the venue is not the most "popular" place, however, it met our needs----SHORT LINES and a great display for the kids. I often wonder why more visitors don't forgo the hectic scene of the "popular" mall and drive just 10 more minutes for a much more relaxed and pleasant wait for the guy in the RED suit.

TRAIN PHOTOS HERE

After googling "christmas lights" specific to our area, we printed a route conducive to our schedule and the children's willingness to participate and discovered Santa's Airport! We are sure that Santa took off from here the night of Dec. 24!

My idea of "organized" decor for the holidays!

After spending an untold amount of money on storage boxes and surviving hours spent looking for  carefully crafted Christmas decor, lights, and extension cords long enough, but not too long, I have finally arrived at "my" tracking system!

I am happy because I can put up my decorations in one day (with the help of the children and hubby)! I can not take credit for this idea as it came from a friend, but I have finally implemented it for my holiday decorations.

 ALL the items used to create a mantel, table, staircase, piano, etc. display are stored in a box and labeled as to where the items will be used. I even put lights and extension cords in the box and they are used only once a year. Quite possibly, this is wasteful, but it is worth the $1.50 it saves my sanity!

 As the season approaches, the kids lift the boxes from their cozy basement long-term storage spot and haul them near the place that the label in the box directs. The garland strung with lights, ivy, ball, berries, ribbon, etc is then attached to its "home for the holidays" and like magic, Christmas joy is shared by all when the lights appear!

We all know that only in a "magazine" photo display do the lights ALWAYS work.

Half a strand here--- half a strand there--several light strands are found misbehaving!

This year, I even spent $12 to replace the batteries in a little device that is SUPPOSED to detect the burned out bulb so you can replace it. (Thankfully, my meticulous hero I married agrees to take this job) He fixed many a dud light strand this year.

Christmas magic always makes one or two strands begin working simply by "singing" Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer to them--that is the favorite holiday song!

Did I mention that plastic boxes stack NICELY?

This large red box, when opened, reveals white plastic garbage bags labeled with numbers. I stored one strand of outdoor lights in a bag and labeled the bags in numerical sequence as to what bush they were used on. It only took 1 hour to put all the lights up! More time to make (and eat) Christmas cookies!

 Boxes for the upstairs decor are stored in the attic so one does not have to drag the heavy load up the stairs. The same method works for these displays as well!

Do you think Jessica will fit in the box for next year's display? 

Children growing up way too fast and losing the magic of Christmas definitely is not one of my favorite things of the season, but spending time with them is!

Ghosts of Christmas PAST

TRADITIONS:::

Beliefs or customs taught by one generation to the next. Traditions serve to preserve a wide range of culturally significant ideas, specific practices and the various methods used by distinct cultures.

Growing up, a visit to Santa was a must and waiting on the stairs BEFORE seeing the gifts  was also a must. Here is a look back at these two time-honored Evans/Bishop traditions.

1987---1990

1998-1999

2000-2003

2004-2009

Annual PageTurner Christmas dinner

These are "My Girls" and their handsome husbands. We meet once a month and discuss a recent book we all have read. Many insights and inspiration are shared as we share our thoughts concerning the events and themes in the books. We share our joys and sorrows and trials and triumphs with each other and have emotionally supported one another with grace and dignity for over 12 years.

 Maria Miller•••Darci Evans•••Heidi Fackrell•••ME•••
Mary Ellen Naylor•••Leslie Freidricson

Presenting my gift to these ladies took a huge amount of patience on my part. I bought the "item" in March while in Florida and kept it SECRET until last night!  It was worth the wait!

Love you "girls"!!!!!!!

My FAVORITE event of the holidays

This Friday night, I will attend an annual event that almost makes me happier than Christmas day!  Why you ask?  Because I am surrounded by good food, friends, and gifts--and I don't have to do any work.

PageTurners, my monthly book group, meets once a year with our handsome and supportive husbands to celebrate the season. We are all spoiled with creative gifts from each other. There is laughter and tears as we share our lives and love for books.

I get so excited to share my gifts with my "girls"!  Here is a peek at what they look like from the outside...

 Jessica helped decorate the gifts for the men!  She is one of Santa's BEST helpers.

 As I create this post, I am watching OPRAH"S LAST FAVORITE THINGS SHOW and JOSH GROBAN is singing--------JUST TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Years ago, I had a dream that I was on Oprah's Favorite Things show............
                                  ...sometimes dreams do not come true and I am OK with that!

Check back later to see what is inside......it is better than being on OPRAH because I created it for 5 girls I love dearly!

A season of sharing and caring....

Carson, Jessie and I enjoyed making this display complete with simple and fun Christmas activities for December days.  Carson's response to this RARE CRAFT event in our house,

"We should do CRAFTS more often! This is Fun."

From another friend's blog, I copied these ideas and printed them on paper. Using paper, glue, scissors and Christmas scraps, the kids "fancied" the paper up and we filled this vase. 


Some of the Christmas slips are "kid" creative and would not make the Martha Stewart collection at KMart, but we made a memory!

Starting TODAY--DECEMBER 1--we will choose one idea from this glass jar and begin our joyous holiday season.  

For a complete list of our ideas, see this blog.

Making and creating holiday cookies to take to our cousins in Colorado helped Carson and Jessie get into the season's spirit. Eating the cookie dough is oh so sinful!!!!!

 Hunter really tried to add his festive cheer, however, he could not find the energy to help. His 5 AM wake-up call to attend an early-morning seminary class and his wrestling practices after school make for a TIRED teenager! 

  Digging out the Santa hats was a must

As a Mom of three boys, it was often difficult to maintain their attention for the time it takes to be "creative." They were more interested in seeing how much frosting it would take to crack the cookie or their 3 minute contribution to the project would leave me stranded with 100 cookies to make, bake, cut-out, frost and decorate.

Makes for one cranky MOM!

Jessie's interest in these projects is so refreshing to me and I am glad to have my youngest son, Carson, share these moments too.