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Last night we celebrated with my family!  We all met at Gammy & Papa's for a yummy Chicken and Dumplings dinner.  Then we gathered around the tree and the kids exchanged gifts.  This year, we just had the kids purchase gifts for each other.  They all were very happy with their $10 presents!  Gammy put together little treasures for each child and our family all got Disneyland Annual Passes.  Well, except for Jeremy.  He got money to use towards his Hawaii trip. This year, we went in and got Mom and Dad tickets to see "West Side Story". It was fun hanging out together and we finished off the night with pie and pudding!  I love my family!

....Goodbye Toby-Wan...

Toby and his Christmas Pillow

Christmas also was the day we had to decide whether to keep our wonderful dog.  Toby hurt Sam the Dog.  It was very scary and very sad.  Sammy is OK, but what Toby did, was not.  We spent the next 3 days agonizing over what to do.  When we got back home, I spoke to our adoption specialist.  She spoke to the behavior specialist and they were concerned.  We had a family meeting on Monday night, and told the kids we would probably have to give Toby back.  They were devastated, but understood.  On Tuesday, Jeremy spoke with a trainer and some rescue people.  They also suggested we give Toby back.  So the decision was made, and Jeremy took Toby back to the Humane Society yesterday.  This has been one of the most heart-wrenching things our family has ever been through.  I miss my dog.  I hope that they can find a more suitable home for our Toby.  He made us so happy and we love him so much. 

___ 9 years old!

 Some people might think it's horrible to have your birthday on Christmas.  Not this girl!  She loves it!  She gets to celebrate pretty much all December long.  She already had her friend party at the beginning of the month.  Then, before we left for Simi, Gammy & Papa came over to give her presents, since they wouldn't be with her on her special day.

 Thanks Gammy & Papa!

 Then, on Christmas Eve, Nana let Cali open a present early:

 She got a box full of books!

 Thanks Nana & Papa!

 On her birthday, after all the Christmas festivities had finished up, she got to open her gifts from her family!

 "Despicable Me"  DVD from Gavin-

 Tinkerbell DS game from Luke-

 "Tangled" barbie from Brody-

 AND clothes and boots from Mommy & Daddy!

Sparkles!

 Chocolate Silk Pie....Cali's favorite!

Happy 9th Birthday Cali Girl!  We Love You!

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***Absolutely One of my Favorite Things***

..."The Puppy who Wanted a Boy"...

Have you ever read that book?  We have it in our Christmas Book collection.  It's a story of a little puppy who wanted a boy for Christmas.  He goes on quite the journey before he finds the perfect one.  That's what this picture reminds me of.  Of all our kids, Gavin was the most excited and has been the most helpful with the new dog.  They are inseperable.

Last night, we had a power outage due to a tree falling on power lines next door.  It was really fun to have all the candles lit and we all just hung out snuggling in the family room and read Christmas books.

We all decided to just sleep there for the night.  Gavin was already asleep, and Toby was in his little bed, but he couldn't resist that cute boy, and curled up next to him for the night.

There's something really special about a boy and his dog...

....TOBY WAN KENOBI....

 WE GOT A DOG!

Crazy...right?  Yep!  My husband and kids have been wanting a dog for years.  It has been me holding us back.  I never wanted a house dog.  I only wanted an outside dog and we can't get one of those until we have a fence.  Then, the other night, I dreamed we had a dog.  A cute little house dog that could snuggle up with us and make the kids so happy.  I got up Saturday morning and told the family about my dream.  That did it!  Everyone hopped on the computer and brought up adoption web sites.  We found out that adopting a dog is not very cheap.  So, we took a ride down to the County Shelter to check out their selection (because it's cheap!).  We saw one that we liked, but it already had 2 holds on it.  So, we left and everyone was sad.  When we got home, we checked out Rancho Coastal Humane Society's web site,  We fell in love with a picture of a Jack Russell Terrier named Toby.  After church today, we drove on down and met the little guy!  We fell in love!  He's perfect for our family! 

He already had a name, so we added a little of our own personal touch to it..just to make it more special.  We are very excited that Toby Wan Kenobi picked us as his new family!

(BTW-He's a pure breed....he's got hair instead of fur...he's hypo allergenic, so if you're allergic to dogs, he shouldn't bother you!)

He's also house trained and can sit, shake hands and point!  We Love Him!

---To: Gavin Fm: Lukey

Today Luke came home with a cute little handmade bag and card.  I was so excited and ready to open it and see what he made ME.  He told me that it wasn't for me, it was for GAVIN.  That made my heart so happy.  When Gavin got home from school, Luke took him into the office where their little tree is and gave him the gift.  It is that cute little pine cone tree you see in the picture.  This was a great moment for me as a mommy.  It's so nice to know that my kids love each other and do nice things for one another!

The Temwani Childrens Foundation

Gavin & Ricky at their booth

The 6th Graders at Gav's school have been working on projects to help raise money for the Temwani Childrens Foundation.  They had to come up with things to sell at a special movie night.  Last night was it and Gav's group made little jars with pictures of the children and quotes from the foundation.  It was really neat and I am so glad that we are able to participate in such neat events with Gavin.  All of the kids came up with such neat ideas and things to sell.  Then the night ended with a screening of "The Lion King" w/ popcorn and all the candy my kids could want (can't believe they didn't puke!)

The First Gift of Christmas...

 Cali had her best little buddy Emily over yesterday and they had their very own gift exchange.

Aren't they the cutest?  Yay for Christmas!

....Another Family Tradition...

Every December our Sundays become "Baking Day"!  Here's me and 2 of my helpers.  We are making goodies to take to loved ones for FHE.

......YES! It's time.....

.....A Heart Happy Moment...

It's been a while since I've written one of these.  But the last 2 weeks I have been overcome with emotion.  I feel I need to write it down, because this blog has become my journal.  Last week, Gavin was ordained a Deacon and received the Aaronic Priesthood.  So many of our family members came to support him.  I shared it already in a previous post, but I was so touched by it, and so was he.  This week, he passed the Sacrament for the first time.  He was the smallest one.  But he did such a great job and took it very seriously.  It's amazing how grown up he seems now.  I tried not to watch him the whole time, but I couldn't help it.  I did look away whenever he looked my way, so that he wouldn't notice me watching him.  I love that I get to raise my children in the Gospel.  I'm so thankful to have been raised in it myself.  Although, I was anything but perfect, I feel it armed me with the right tools to be able to get myself on the right track, whenever I have lost my way.  I know that bringing my children up in this church will give them the tools they need to be happy too!  I bore my testimony today of these things.  I also love this time of year.  I think I feel the Spirit more during the Christmas Season, because we don't just feel it in our homes and churches.  It's everywhere!  It's in the songs on the radio, the decorations, the yards, and even in the stores.  You hear people speak of Jesus more than any other time of the year.  That makes me Happy!  Thank you for letting me share these "Happy
 moments with you!

.....Cali's #9 Birthday Party

 Yesterday, Cali had her birthday party celebration!  It was quite a day!  We started our day at 10:00 AM with a trip to Clay n Latte to make Christmas ornaments and some other things!

 Next stop-Lamppost Pizza for lunch and presents!

 They all loved playing the Trivia Game!

 We even got to play in the SNOW!  The movie theater had snow brought in and the girls had fun throwing snowballs at each other!

 Then it was time for "Tangled" in 3D!  I got the girls cute "Tangled" themed snack packs and they got to take home their cups as souvenirs.

 We ended our day with some yummy cupcakes at Little Cakes before finally heading home around 4:30!

It was such a fun day!  Happy Birthday Cali!

Movie Review...

Wonderfully Disney!

This movie has it all!  I cried-I laughed-I even got a little scared!

So much fun and you leave with such a "happily ever after" feeling!

V10 Christmas Party

 The Best Way to kick off the Christmas Season...

 Cali, Chloe (&Carter too)-got to be in the program.

 Everyone looked so cute in their Christmas-y outfits!

 My kids wouldn't go near Santa, but managed to grab some candy canes anyway!  (& Jacob too)