A Year of 10'S!

Last December 29th, 2010 was the 10th Anniversary of my Baptism!  It has been a wonderful 10 years and hasn't felt like that much time has passed!  Throughout the ten years I have had many opportunities to serve in our ward in Champion!  I am so thankful for the people I have worked so closely with and for the lifelong friendships I have created.  When I first joined the church I started teaching Charmaine's Primary class because they had moved to Brooks.  I then taught the Relief Society Sister's once a month at the Enrichment Activities.  Then I was stunned when I was called to be a counsellor in the Young Women's Presidency, and even more stunned when I was called to be the Young Women's President.  I loved the Young Women, and I will always hold a soft spot for them in my heart!

This is our little group with the General Young Women's President, Sister Tanner, at the Regional Encampment

Next I was called as the Secretary to the Relief Society Presidency, then the Second Counsellor in the same organization.

I am currently serving as the Second Counsellor in the Primary Presidency, and I am thoroughly enjoying it!  The kids are so amazing, the knowledge they have of the gospel always brings shivers to my spine!  They are also brutally honest and they bring so much joy to one's soul every Sunday!  Calum is going to be a Sunbeam starting on Sunday, I am totally not ready for him to be in there but I know he will do just fine and to see him move on is truly wonderful.

Calum's Sunbeams class

I put this picture in because Emry is at least a foot taller than all these boys when they are standing side by side!

Getting baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been the best decision I have ever made, and with that decision came many more great decisions!

Marrying Jared was the next best thing that ever happened to me and this coming February it will be our 10th Wedding Anniversary!  I am so thankful for Jared, he truly is my best friend and it my biggest supporter for anything I do!  Without him in my life I definitely would not be where I am today!  I am so thankful for all the help he has been to me when it comes to our home and our three beautiful children!  I am so happy for all he does to provide for us and keep us fed and clothed!

My Best Friend

Our Beautiful Perfect Little Family

2012 is also my year to turn 30, the start of a new decade!  I am actually looking forward to what my 30's will bring.  I have three beautiful, loving, caring and sensitive children who bring me great joy in many different ways.  I have a husband who is loving, caring, sensitive and also very beautiful!  And I almost have a brand new beautiful dream home!  2012 will also be the year we will move into this home!  I am so looking forward to what this year will bring!

Christmas 2011

What a wonderful Christmas this has been!  We were so lucky on Christmas Day to be able to go to church in the morning and then have a super yummy Christmas dinner with all my family!  The celebration started the night before, Christmas Eve, when we went to the Candlelight Christmas Eve service at the Congregational Church.  My mom, dad and sister's family were all there and to hear the traditional carols and the words from the scriptures of the birth of our Savior truly set the true spirit of Christmas in my heart!

After the service we took the kids home and set some cookies and milk out for Santa, we then opened our traditional Christmas Eve present...pj's!  Calum was thoroughly disappointed with his jammies, he said, "I don't want these, I want a racetrack!"  Once he got them on and felt how comfy cozy they were he was fine!  We got the kids to bed at a decent time for Christmas Eve and then Jared and I set to work getting "things" ready!  In the midst of some last minute wrapping we remembered our stockings, we had forgotten to set them out, so we went up to Emry's room and thankfully she was still awake, we had her come down and set out everyone's stockings!

The next morning I am pretty sure Jared and I were awake well before the kids but we layed in bed just thankful for all the wonderful little blessings we have in life!  Jared soon got up and started our traditional Christmas morning fire in the fireplace, while I went upstairs and put some cinnamon rolls in the oven!  While I was getting that ready, Emry snuck into the kitchen and say down on the floor watching me.  The next thing I heard was Calum bounding down the stairs looking for Emry.  When he found her he came right up to her and grabbed her hands and with the biggest smile his little face could hold he said, "Emry, Santa came to our house!"  They ran down the stairs and the excitement began!  We opened our stockings first and the kids loved everything Santa had put in there!  Calum even got a big thing of chocolate syrup for his chocolate milk!!  Next they dug into the rest of the presents from each other and from us!  Last was the Santa gifts!  Calum got his much anticipated Lightening McQueen Racetrack and Emry got a guitar!  It was so much fun seeing the pure delight on their faces!  They are such special little children and I am so truly grateful for them!  Jared gave me some CD's, all country, who am I turning into?!  But I really do love them, he also gave me a pair of super cozy slippers!

After presents we had warm cinnamon buns and then slowly got ready for church!  For some reason I loved that Christmas Day fell on Sunday this year, it just felt so special!  After church we came home to change and get things gathered up to take to Arren's!  Because there was going to be so many of us for dinner, Arren's in-laws had everyone to their house for dinner!  It was so much fun, lots of laughs and visiting!  We even played a game, Guessture's!  And it was a lot of fun, I really like being around John and Roxanne, they are very special people!  The food was so yummy and everyone pitched in to make it truly amazing!  It was the first Christmas that we have spent with my dad in a very long time!  I think it has been 15 years since my dad was home for Christmas!  My Grandma Bev was also able to be with us, as well as my mom and Jared's mom!  It truly was terrific!  I even got a new vacuum from my mom and dad, and I absolutely love it, the suction it has is unbelievable, I love cleaning more now than I have for a long time!  My mom gave me a really cool ring, it is a Baltic Amber stone with the face of a woman hand carved into it!

The next day, Boxing Day, brought all the Puzey side home!  Again, a very wonderful day!  The kids had so much fun together as they usually do.  The food was exceptional and we had lots of laughs too!  We played another game, which makes my day!  The weather was beautiful for travelling, and even though it was a brown Christmas, it was still Christmas none the less!  A truly magical time of year!  I am so thankful for family and for the time we can spend together.  I am thankful for my Savior and I delight in His life and the legacy He has left for us.  I want to be the best I can be and do for others what our Savior would do for them!

What a boy!

Ward Christmas Party

Last night was our ward Christmas party and it was so much fun!  My dad came to enjoy in the food and festivities, and I think he had a good time!  Rachel and Jared and their little guys as well as Dave and Char and their clan were there too!  It was so fun having some of our family there to celebrate this special time of year!  The food as usual was delicious...roast beef, gravy, baked potatoes and a menagerie of salads and desserts!  I always love the potluck dessert idea, everyone brings the best of the best holiday dishes, lots of peppermint type desserts, rice krispie squares, or yummy tarts or cheesecakes galore, even homemade chocolates!  All of it was so yummy!  Everyone mingles and visits, catching up with those who have moved away or the younger ones who have left home to go to school!  The best part of the evening is when the Primary children put on The Nativity, celebrating the birth of our Savior truly is the reason for the season and they never disappoint when depicting this blessed time of year!

This year the Young Men and Young Women joined the Primary kids to sing the hymns that tell the story about the birth of Christ.  Jared played the last hymn, Silent Night, on his guitar...truly magical!  Silent Night was originally written on a guitar in Germany because the organ was broken.  Hearing it on the guitar has always brought shivers to my body, I absolutely love it!

The Nursery kids sang, Once There was a Snowman, and Calum was so cute, all the laughs from the audience always came right after Calum did something!  He is such a character, but we do love him he really keeps things interesting!

Once the main part of the program was finished Myrna led us in a sing song, hoping Santa would stop by the party!  At about this time Calum decided he wanted to leave the gym.  Jared went after him and told him if he sings really nice then Santa might stop by!  As Jared was pulling him back into the gym Calum was singing, "Baaa, blaah blaah", really loud!  The singing worked and Santa arrived with boxes full of candy bags!

With how easy going Armin is we were sure he would sit on Santa's knee without any fuss, and he did, until he felt the tickle of Santa's beard on his neck, his face quickly turned to absolute terror!  Everyday he is becoming more and more like Calum!

Calum was much more fond of Santa this year, although he wouldn't look directly at him, and he kept his little hands clenched under his chin in a very nervous way!  After Calum got his candy bag he came over to where Armin and I were standing.  He saw that Armin had the same brown paper bag that he had just gotten from Santa and asked what Armin got.  Not thinking what Calum meant, I told him it was the same as what was in his bag.  Calum looked so confused and asked me to open his bag, I got the ribbon off and passed it back to him to open.  When he looked inside he said, very disgustedly, "What, where's the racetrack?"  When Calum wrote his letter to Santa he asked for a Lightening McQueen racetrack, I guess he just assumed that since Santa was at the party he brought the gifts with him!  We had to tell Calum that Santa was only visiting that night but would stop by our house on Christmas Eve!

Emry was so excited to ask Santa in person for a guitar!  She has had her heart set on a guitar lately.  Whenever Jared takes out his guitar to play she is always right there beside him listening and watching intently.  We think it might be time for her to start learning a little bit!

Emry told Santa she wanted a guitar, he asked her who would teach her how to play, and she answered very quickly, "My daddy!"

Liam and Jonas

 That was the end of the evening, it was so much fun and again just a wonderful way to celebrate the joy of Christmas, the wonderful and miraculous birth of our Savior.  Only two more sleeps!!

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!!

Monday night we were invited to go Carolling around Vulcan!  We have done this since Emry was seven months old, only missing last year!  We had so much fun and it was actually a rather warm night!  The family that has always invited us is the Menin's and after carolling we go back to their house where we are spoiled with lots of yummy home made treats!  My favourite is Quinselle's Wassail drink, I think I had three maybe four cups of it!  Calum was mesmerized by all the Christmas lights and decorations, he loved looking for the next house all decorated up!  He was also quite fascinated with the power lines, and for some reason thought they were strings, I don't know if he thought they were Christmas string decoration's or what, but he so badly wanted us to see all the strings!  He at one point was sitting with some of the older girls and all of a sudden he hits himself on the head and whines, "Santa not bring me any presents!"  They got such a kick out of this, we think he thinks Santa has already come at Armin's birthday, or he is really listening when we tell him if he isn't a good boy Santa won't bring him any presents!  This year Emry sat with the older Young Women girls at the back of the trailer and had so much fun swinging her legs off the edge!  Back at the house we had a good time visiting and eating, I always like doing this with good friends, I feel we really develop a close bond when we share in the holiday magic!

Armin seemed to really like carolling too, he would bounce up and down to the music!

Armin totally looks like baby "Jack Jack" from The Incredible's, good thing Santa got him that movie for Christmas!

Last night was Emry's Christmas concert, it was really cute.  Emry's Grade 1/2 class sang a song called "The Reindeer Polkie"!  The Junior High band played and did really well.  I really admire the Champion School and how devoted the teachers are to their students!  The staff even sang a song at the end, and everyone was involved in some way whether playing instruments or singing or dressing up as Santa!  The school has such a strong connection with each other and I really feel like Emry can strive there!

Tonight is our annual Ward Christmas Party.  The Primary is in charge of organizing it this year, and I think it will be really fun!  I have two roasts in the oven as I write this, hopefully they turn out to be super delicious, it never fails when you have to make something for a gazillion people something always seems to go wrong...fingers are crossed!  Emry gets to be Mary when the Primary kids put on the Nativity, it was a last minute change, but I think she is quite excited!  Calum gets to do Once There Was a Snowman for the last time since he will be going into Sunbeams in January!  At least Armin will be up there next year to steal the show!  I can't believe there are only 3 more sleeps until Christmas morning!  I am all ready, wrapping is done, baking is done now it is time to take it all in!

The True Spirit of Christmas

On Friday, my dad took his two favourite granddaughters to Lethbridge for his girls club date!  The day started off bright and early with Grandpa picking his girls up at 9:30am, from our house they made their way to Lethbridge.  Their first stop was to the YWCA where the girls were able to pick a star to adopt a family for Christmas.  Emry told Jared and I all about buying presents for a little boy who is 6, a little girl who is 3 and their mom.  On the way to Walmart dad could hear Lily and Emry talking about picking out presents for a family who doesn't have much money, and how excited they were.  Once at Walmart, dad was so proud at his girls, not once did either one of them ask for something for themselves.  Together they bought a LEGO set for the little boy, a doctor kit and two blankets for the little girl and for the mom they bought a basket full of body wash, and soaps.  Emry talked about this experience with great detail, and her voice was so full of compassion!  Dad told me that while they were at Walmart he was driving the cart crazy, in a zig zag way down the aisle, Lily must have asked him to stop and when he didn't he heard Emry tell Lily that Grandpa is old and can't hear very well!  Dad got a chuckle over this!

After they delivered their purchases back at the YWCA dad took the girls to Humpty's for lunch!  When the waitress came by dad asked if the girls would be able to get a balloon, she said yes, but only IF they ate their crusts, (I think the adults must have talked before the waitress came to the table!!)!  So to make sure Emry and Lily got their balloon's dad hid the crusts from their grilled cheese sandwiches!  The girls thought this was so cool!

Next they went to pick Grandma Bev up for the movie they were going to see!  Emry was so excited about the movie, at school on Thursday she found the book that was based on the movie and checked it out!  The movie dad took them to was "A Dolphin Tale" and Emry absolutely loved it! 

After the movie they had supper at McDonald's before taking Grandma Bev back home and making the long drive back to Champion!  Emry got home just before 9:00pm and was totally exhausted!  Not too tired to tell us about her fabulous day with Grandpa Glen though! 

I love that my dad does these special outings with his grandkids, a special memory for each of them to have!  Emry and Lily always have such a great time together, and dad said they were little angels, something I do not find hard to believe, they really are the best of pals and always manage to have a blast together!  I know they had a great time and they look forward to their next day out with Grandpa Glen!  I really admired my dad for taking them to buy something for a family who doesn't have much, it taught them a great deal of compassion.  I know we try hard to teach our children these things but doing something about what they have been taught with someone they love and resect means so much more to them!  They learned a very valuable lesson of the true spirit of Christmas while having a wonderful time with their Grandpa Glen!

The Family Dance

Last night was the annual Champion School Family Dance!  Emry started talking about it weeks ago, so if there was any question about whether we were going to go or not, that question soon was answered!  It was lots of fun, and as usual the kids had a blast!  We were able to be there right when it started so Emry didn't miss any of the dances she had been practicing in gym!  Jared did the Butterfly with her and Calum, and we watched the kids do the Limbo, and Emry did the Macarena and YMCA, while Calum watched closely and tried to do the same!  She was even able to do a line dance, her favourite!  The nicest thing about the evening was being there with 'family'!  My mom and dad were both there and of course Arren and her family!  I love spending time together, I love how close we all are and I love that grandma and grandpa WANTED to spend time in a super loud gym with lots of screaming children just to see their grandkids go wild!  Jared and I figured we have at least eleven more years of the Family Dance, so I guess we better just accept the fact that this will be an annual family tradition!

Doing the YMCA

Grandma Debbie and Armin

Grandpa Glen and Emry

Armin and Lily

Gilbert, the wild man!

Armin loved this giant snowman!