As I sit here I am listening to Tommy on the phone with his friend. They start by talking about school and all then teen stuff. Then out of the blue heasked his friend "Do you believe in God?" I'm thinking 'Oh no!'. For those of you who know Tommy, you know why :) Next thing you know for the past 10 minutes and still going he is sharing all of the things we believe in. He's telling him about the gospel. Explaining the Holy Ghost to him. Talking to him about how he prays to our Heavenly Father and how he should try praying when he is having hard times. He's telling him how we have the Book of Mormon that we read along with the Bible. He's reading the Articles of Faith to him and explaining them. He's telling him about our prophets and how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. 
"Plaster Creations" is such a fun place! For anyone who doesn't know what it is. You go in and buy a plaster piece of your choice 
(hundreds to choose from). Then you sit there and paint it. You can take it home the same day. Jerrud and Corbin went to friends (Bess) birthday party that was done there. 
Out the front door there were clouds and sunshine. 
I love what was created for us to enjoy on this earth! 
So we finally turn the corner and there are trees and trees full of uncountable numbers of lights top to bottom! A cut out of Santa was standing there to greet us. A little ways down the street there is a neighborhood Santa sitting in a rocking chair waving to the passer-byers. The lights on the trees were amazing! The houses were very simple with a few lights as accents and some garland and wreathes. The neighborhood winner of lights added a few reindeer and a Merry Christmas sign.
Now, they have rules they follow. They are only allowed to use red, white & green lights. I'm not sure about the cans and cannots from there. There were a few inflatables and cut-outs, but most were just simple. There was also a nice nativity set up in the town by the YMCA.
They had a red white and blue tree with a sign saying:
I think our favorite part was the lights on the trees that lined the water and there animated Santa face that was blowing snowflakes. Then there was a fountain in the center with lights that changed color. The pictures aren't real clear and are pieced together. I wish I could have gotten a better shot of it all the way up and down the side. The reflections just added to it. The pictures don't do it justice!
We've been wanting to get there and we finally did. Don't get me wrong, it was pretty. It just wasn't quite what we expected. We were kind of expecting crazy light decorations everywhere. Now we hear rumor that this is the last year they are doing it. We don't know for sure though. We are glad we went. It was some nice family time spent together. I think the kids favorite part was when we stopped at the gas station on the way out and they got donuts! Why didn't we think about that the hours before we sat in the traffic lines!!
Tommy's was a record player with a cd player, cassette deck, mp3 hook up and am/fm stereo. All the boys love vinyl records! David got a digital camera. He's been wanting one to take pictures everywhere he goes! Jerrud got a nifty microscope. He spent time looking at boogers, toe jam and toilet water. Such a boy!! Corbin got a variety pack of transformers. He loves the complexity of them transforming.
Grandma Exckert got them the game "Baggo". You might have read it in a post we did right after Thanksgiving. We had a blast playing at their Uncle Dave's home with her! Their Grandpa Buster and Grandma Norma got them a 16-in-1 game table. Lot's of options to play for all ages! They also got them a snowboarding game that hooks to the t.v. They control it by standing on a board. Grandma & Grandpa Brown go them toys and clothes and cars and puzzles. They loved going through everything and seeing what they were going to open next! Grandma Forbes sent money for each of them. It's burning holes in their pockets!
I got my baby sugargliders a couple of days earlier. David got me a Willow Tree firgure to add to my collection. He got Ray and Marine Semi-truck. Precious tried joining in on the fun by chasing Jerrud's flying toy! She caught it a couple of times too!
When everyone was done it was time to clean up so they could find their gifts! Ray and I spent a large part of the next 2 days putting together the game table! Also he was home to help with the technical stuff with their things as well. We all had a wonderful day. It was nice with all 7 of us home togther for a few days! 
As long as I can remember, we have had this wooden train that we bought from a man that did woodworking in Germany. My mom and dad started a collection of characters to put on it. Every year adding to it. Unfortunately, moving around so much, a lot of them have gone missing :( But we still get new ones every year. We have everyone from the Smurf's to the Jetsons. Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Barney, Lion King, Pooh and the Incredibles. Our newest one that we got for 08' was Wall-E, the adorable little robot.
We have always had a nativity set. We had one for the longest time and it was on it's last leg. So in 1999, mom and I went on the hunt for the perfect nativity set. We found it! We fell in love with it the moment we saw it! We got two sets. One was the manger with all the little accessories they might have had in there back then and some animals. The second part of the set was the figures. We love it! Then when Ray and I were visiting his mom one year in Colorado, she gave us an all white nativity set she had made. It has very special meaning to us both. We love them both, so we display both. Then we have a third one that is our tiny glass one. I'm hoping to get the Willow Tree collection nativity soon as well. I think I need a bigger house!
Our tree is decorated every year with a lot of special ornaments. Most of them have a special meaning to us. From some we got in Germany when I was a child, to the bunches of them that Ray's Grandma Allstun made. Then we got some for special events in our life. As our kids got older, they started making them and added to our collection. We always have an angel on top of the tree. Unfortunately we had to retire ours this year. She had issues about staying together on top of the tree! We always had a real tree growing up. When we moved to NC, after the frist couple of years seeing the price of them here, we opted for an artificial one. I'm really missing the real ones and hoping to switch back to the real thing some time soon!
Every year I love checking the mail! It's so wonderful getting things that aren't bills in the mail! Every year as I get the cards and read the newsletters, I find somewhere to display them. It reminds me of how many people love us. We always send out our annual card and newsletter with a family picture each year. I know a couple of years we missed but this year we sent around 70 of them! I think we broke a record this year! 
I love my house at Christmas time. It seems so cozy and inviting. I almost wish I could leave it up all year round! I hope that as the years go on, the children leave home and remember the things that were special to them. And that they can begin their own traditions as time goes on. 