{End of 2009 ~ Happy New Year}

Well, I've been majorly busy over the past month & super blessed.  After my car accident, the deductible to have the car fixed wiped out my entire savings.  I don't even get to keep the car (x-husbands).  A few weeks after the accident (December 2009) I acquired 2 new jobs.  The steadiest of the jobs is delivering the Standard Examinar in my neighborhood.  I'm up at 5am Sunday thru Saturday.  I gear up as if I were going out to ski.  If it's really windy I even put on my ski goggles.  Then I really don't notice that it's only 7 degrees outside.  I deliver to about 30 houses every morning & then I'm able to get home & shower & get ready for the day before my boys wake up.  Mind you m'boys are not being left in the house alone.  I have 2 brothers that are still home at that time & my mom is there for most mornings as well just incase m'boys ever did wake while I was gone.





I've also returned to Smith's... not in the photo lab though.  They have closed most of those down.  I'm a checker & I'm really liking it.  It's much more social than the photo lab was & I meet some very interesting people.  It's also the highest paying of the 2 jobs.  Also, in December I had 5 photography jobs that kept me super busy.  My boys have felt the difference with me working outside the home & have been more demanding when it comes to my spending time with them. But I've almost replenished my savings & should have my own car paid with cash by the end of March.  Cross your fingers for me!

{Bug} knocked his front tooth loose in the summer & it really got loose just before Christmas.  He would bite down on his lip so the loose tooth stuck straight out, it was hilarious!  I was almost sure that Santa & the Tooth Fairy were gonna come the same night.  But it held on a few days longer & when he was eating Captan Crunch for breakfast at his daddy's house it came out.


I sure love the way he looks without that tooth.  It's so adorable & I hope it takes a while before that next tooth comes in. 



Santa brought {Bug} a snowboard & {Skunk} a sled.  We've been having fun outside & {Bug} is such a natural snowboarder.  I'm so proud of him!





New Years was really nice & quiet this year.  I worked at Smith's till 9pm then {Twinkie} came to pick me up from work & we picked up a bunch of yummy food before we left.  We went back to his place & snacked on a green onion cheese ball & crackers while we grilled steaks, steamed king crab legs, & cooked then chilled shrimp.  It was all so good!!!!!  I really tried to make it till midnight, but I fell 30 minutes short.  {Twinkie} woke me with a New Years kiss & New Years wishes.  He is such a sweetheart!

{Merry Christmas... to ME!!}

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{Merry Christmas!!}

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{Christmas Creche Nativity Display}

I saw this last year & was so impressed & it was such a great spiritual experience for me.  I've been really lucky to even find out that it was going on.  I saw it advertised on Mrs. Cavanaugh's marquee last year on a random errand & this year was the same.  Tonight is the last night if you want to check it out.  It runs from noon to 8pm at the Pleasant View stake center behind the Pepsi plant.  There were over 900 baby Jesus' & thousands of angels.  They give the kids a list of things to try & find on each aisle.  There are so many impressive nativities & it makes me want to collect them when I travel out of the country someday.  Below are a few of my favorites.  What a fun hobby/passion some of these people have.  There is also a room for the kids to dress up at a nativity characters & you can take pictures of them in front of a life size nativity scene.  And another room that has coloring, puppet shows, nativity building blocks & nativity puzzles for the kids.  My boys really liked it both this year & last.  A Creche is an artistic representation of the birth of Christ.  The tone if very hushed & quiet as you walk around looking at all the nativity's with background soft Christmas music playing & a slideshow of Christ over the podium. The local HS choir was there performing around the 5 o'clock hour.  And if you haven't seen our local Christ depiction photographer, Scott Sumner's work, well it is also there on display.  I absolutely adore his work & he has been my personal mentor since I used to develop his film back in the day @ the lab.






Here are m'boys dressed as a shepherd & Joseph.



This "Kitchen Gadgets" Nativity was handcrafted here in Utah.



This "Engraved Leaf" is from Chihuahua, Mexico. The leaf is peeled back, a figure is sketched on the skin & laid back on the nerve.



Kenya



Zambia



Here is my mom & m'boys looking at one of the nativities.



Thailand



Valparaiso, Chile. This is a matchstick carved with the Holy Family on top. Image on right is taken 
with the aid of a magnifying glass.

{Jacob... *sigh* sweet, sweet Jacob}

Saw this with one of my BFF's for her birthday last week. I LOVED it! Will see it again. Posting the picture just so you can share this lustful staring with me. ;)