Christmas

As most of you know i work as a nanny in minnesota while going to school to become a photographer. well the family i work for goes to florida for Christmas. So as we where opening gifts this morning i thought to myself. what does the word christmas mean to me? after that a few more questions came to mind like what is my favorite christmas pastime? what is my favorite christmas book? whats my favorite christmas gift i ever received or gave? what is my favorite christmas memory? and you know i probably could answer all of these with a simple i dont know but if i really think about it i can answer all of these questions.

1. favorite christmas pastime.

I think my favorite Christmas pastime well was in the past the advent calander and wreath. for those that dont know what that is. its a wreath that has 4 candles each meaning a different thing about christ. and for me i never really understood all of the meanings but it was always family time when i was a kid. each night for the four weeks before christmas we would get together and have a story and christmas carols. i have lots of memorys from this but the one that always comes back is What child is this. my older brother would always pick this hymn because in the second verse you get to say a swear word and mom wouldnt get mad.

2. my favorite christmas book. This one is kind of hard because there are so many that i like. but i think the one that i remember the most is papa panoff.(im not sure if that is spelled correctly) it was my dads favorite and every year on christmas eve he read it to us as kids.

3. favorite gift received and given.
I think that my favorite gift received this year would be my winter cloths i couldnt afford them but michele and brian bought them for me which is a huge blessing. i think my favorite gift i have ever got was my Oboe. My mom and dad shopped for a long time to find the perfect one for me even though at the time they couldnt really afford it they knew that it was what i wanted and they wanted the best one for me.

my favorite gift i have ever given someone this one is tough because i give so many gifts i cant really remember them all. but i think that the best christmas gift that i have given is My love and i know thats not really anything special to everyone and it sounds conseded but really i belive that the best gifts come from the heart and what better to give anyone but the love of my heart.

4. Favorite Christmas memory wow i have 21 years of christmas's to go through i dont think i can pick just one but here are a few.

I remember as a kid my parents had to put up a baby gate to keep us out of the tree. although decorating the tree was always a fun time and very precious to me.

i also remember as a kid decorating Gingerbread houses that was always a good time.The competition when there is 10 kids between who's is better is always fun.

every year for christmas as far back as i can remember my oldest sister Gabi bought my dad gouda cheese, beef stick (summer sausage), and wheat thins. it was one of my favorites to share that with him. he always made jokes about that.

When we where kids we would make gifts for out god parents every year it was great fun to deliver those.

then there is the anticipation on christmas eve of santa coming i always got so excited i threw up at least once.

then you know when your a kid you get so excited that you wake up at the crack of dawn well my mom always told us we couldnt come up until she said it was ok. so my dad would come downstairs and read us stories.

yeah i think that about sums up all my memorys.

What christmas means to me.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year normally this year has been a bit different but christmas really means to me. its a time for showing love, kindness, charity, and lots and lots of family time.

well i hope you like this post. I hope it helps you think of what christmas means to you.

The year 2010 in one post.

OK so i have been reading other peoples blogs and they are all posting things that they have learned or experienced this year and i thought i would give you my year in a nut shell. 2010 started off pretty rocky for me I started the year in Florida with Brian and Michele where i then told them on January 1st of all days that i was going to no longer work for them and that i needed to go home. at this time i was leaving them to be with a man named Joshua pierce. i flew home on January 11Th 2010 and lived with my sister had no job because i was going to marry this man who told me he was rich. well then February came after getting engaged on February 13th,

life seemed to be great and nothing wrong i had just got my job back at shopko and i was living the high life.

then the end of march came my dad got really sick he ended up in the hospital and six days later on April 7th 2010 my dad passed away. he was my hero and i never thought i would have to live without him to call and answer my stupid questions about my car, or about my history assignments.

on April 11th 2010 i called off my engagement and broke up with the man who i thought was the one. sense then most of you know that he defiantly was not!

after that i thought my world was over i had no reason to be around i couldn't focus on school or work or anything.

i thought things couldn't possibly get any worse.

well things started to get better in may and June. but then June 21st came and my Nana passed away. which was very heart breaking she was a great Nana.

after attending the second funeral for the year i decided it was time for me to start looking for jobs outside of Brigham city i could just no longer see where my life was going to get any better.

July passed, then august and i had still not found anything or heard back from anyone.

i then decided that maybe i was supposed to stay in Utah and stick it out. so i started getting more comfortable with everything. for labor day weekend my mom wanted to go see my grandma so we drove up to Boise Idaho. which is not my favorite place because on the way there i got my first speeding ticket. while i was there the last person in the world i ever thought i would hear from again emails me. it was Michele and Brian they wanted me to come back and work for them.

on September 15, 2010 i flew back out to Minnesota. my life has gotten better sense then i feel like i have purpose again.

October was warm and we didn't see any snow, November came we still hadn't seen any snow and then Thanksgiving came Michele had just reached the 18 week mark in her pregnancy and we thought she would carry the baby to full term. we drove to Nebraska on November 21st she ended up delivering the baby at 18 1/2 weeks pregnant. They had a little boy named him Jakob. so after attending 3 funerals, loosing one fiance, a speeding ticket and moving three times. i am very glad this year is winding down to the end. I am hoping for a great and happy year in 2011.

but through all this i have learned to be humble and loving, that life can go on after loosing a loved one even though you think about them everyday. i have also learned that leaning on my family for everything is not really necessary but its nice to know they are there when you really need them. i have learned who my friends are and who aren't. My testimony of the gosspil has only gotten stronger and my love for my heavenly father has grown even more.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas!! and a Happy New Year!

Skating

so for the last two months we have been taking ky skating she started out not even being able to balance on the ice but now i can hardly keep up with her she is so cute while she is out there.

just an update.

i have been so busy with taking pictures for school that i have not had time to update you guys on here.

This picture to the left is a old shed it looked really cool like something out of a story book.

its located in williams minnesota.

This is an old fashioned bell that is really cool looking.

This is a bench that faces the lake i just thought it look so lonely sitting there all by its self.