Santa came early!!

The Britt family will be flying to Washington State to visit family over the holidays so Santa thought he'd give us our Christmas gifts early, so we didn't have to pack presents along with snow gear, carseats and toys for the inevitable layovers which are due to occur if the weather keeps up the way it is.

I wanted to briefly wish everyone a warm and happy Christmas, because mine certainly will be. Although it's 10 below in Spokane right now, my sweet husband made sure I'd stay cozy with gifts like these...

I wanted to make sure he stayed warm too, so I found a Lakers blanket, because they've been red hot this season so far, 23 wins out of 28. Keep your fingers crossed on Christmas, they play Boston the defending champions.

Santa brought a great gift: Seinfeld Scene It. It combines my two loves; T.V. and games!

Hendrix opened one gift, a Batman action figure, but also received some Buzz Lightyears from his cousins. Thanks guys! He'll wait until Thursday for the rest. He was just excited to open any gifts and loved watching Mike and I fight over who knew Seinfeld better. Poor MilaBelle has been sick and was already asleep.

We'll get plenty of great pictures of snow and family and will be blogging our New Year Wishes when we return. Everyone have a Merry Christmas and Enjoy your New Year's celebrations.

Is it truly the thought that counts?

I realized last week as I broke down in tears at work, that while most of America loves Fridays (TGIF right?) I hate them. It's the day that is filled with cleaning (because I won't get to it again until Monday), getting my work stuff ready for the next two days, getting my church lesson down/and church things done, so I can play Sat. night, and setting myself up so as soon as Mike gets home, I can rush out the door. I decided "no more!" would this be a day of sadness. So, last night with Mike's help I completed my list of things so this morning I could have a play day with kids.

We choose to make Christmas goodies for friends/family and neighbors. (Pictured: What I hoped mine turned out as)I have never been a good baker, in fact I really suck at it, but I thought I'd attempt for the holidays. I bought great ingredients thinking that's why the things I've tried to bake in the past have failed. The kids had a blast, licking the spoons and playing with unique untensils like whisks and chopsticks (Hendrix drummed on the stool, while I sang, he said we were a house band.)

Although we had fun and the first batch of cookies turned out like this... There gingerbread/chocolate cookies. (Pictured: What they actually turned out as.)

My dough was way too dry to continue making shapes, so we opted for chocolate balls instead, but after they were baked, just looked like blobs of pooh. See for yourselves.

Now, my question to blogging land, is they don't taste bad, they're not super yummy, but considering my past disasters, these aren't awful. Do we still give them away? Is it really the thought that counts? or do I chalk the day up to quality time with my kids and I chuck 'em?

Do you prefer to get treats from friends only if they're good, or because they thought of you?

I think with some icing and/or powder sugar I could save them? What do you think?

Think Globally, Act Locally

I went to the church cannery for the first time yesterday. I wish I had brought a camera after seeing our lovely ward sisters in their hairnets and oversized yellow gloves.(Not us)

I've been trying to add more service into my life; finding out which charities give the greatest percentage of your donations to the needy, sending money abroad to the organizations I love. Although these were good things, it didn't compare to actually working on my feet for 4 hours doing a welfare assignment. Anyone can write a check... and please continue to do so, but I encourage you to also get out there and work! It wasn't hard work, more tedious than anything really. Just twisting lids onto syrup bottles, as Bonnie said "Elf would have been in heaven." My feet stuck to the floor, my fingers were a little sore, my throat hoarse from trying to talk over the loud machine, but my heart was full and my mind content. It felt good to give service for someone I didn't even know. I am always in awe at how much The Church is able to do with our tithes and offerings. We capped, labeled, and packed over 8,000 bottles. Thank you Bonnie, Kimber, Janese, Debbie and Rachel for coming, it was great to have company. Thanks Amy for watching my kids. Happy Giving this season everyone!

Besides being my grandfather's birthday, today marks the date that John Lennon was shot and killed outside of his New York apartment. I comemorate this date every year to pay tribute to a man who contributed so much talent to the world of Rock-n-Roll. I truly believe that The Beatles are the greatest rock-n-roll band of all time and have influenced many musicians today. John's solo album are very comparable, but was he destined to die?

Consider this... John's favorite number was the #9 for several reasons: He was born on Oct. 9th, 1940, in Liverpool (9 letters). The band he and Paul McCartney, along with George Harrison formed was discovered by Brian Epstein on Nov. 9th, 1961. The Beatles famous appearance on the Ed Sullivan show was on Feb. 9th. John incorporated the #9 in many of his songs including Revolution and 909. He met Yoko Ono exactly 9 years after meeting Paul on Nov. 9th, 1966. John and Yoko's son was born 9 years later on John's birthday Oct. 9th, 1975. (drawing done by Lennon, of his rockstar self and his role as dad with his son, Sean)John and Yoko's street address in NY was 72nd St. (7+2=9). The DakotaThe Beatles were together exactly 9 years before their breakup.

With the #9 giving so much joy in his life it was a tragedy that the #9 also was a part of his death. Although Lennon was shot and killed on Dec. 8th, 1980, he passed away at 11:07pm (1+1+0+7=9) New York time, it was the 9th in Liverpool, his birthplace.

A decade ago...

A handsome recently returned missionary met an equally cute, recent high school graduate and the rest was history. Mike used to keep a great record of events on his wall calendar. Each day before bed, which we realized was always after 3am sometimes 5am after we met, he would faithfully write down that days occurances.

On Dec. 7th 1998 Mike attended a Family Home Evening with MCC 2nd ward, and afterwards came to my apartment. Mike's notation: "Snowfight at church, met Lori and Leah". Mike and I had seen one another prior to this, but never formally met. He saw me at church, and remembers the dress I wore, but saw me with a dude, so wrote me off. I saw him at a FHE dating game, and although I was with another dude, I wrote him in my footnotes to get to know. What wonderous things were to occur just because of that night.

So, I'd like to pause to give gratitude to those individuals with whose actions lead to our coming together. Thanks to Bri for bringing Mike as your wingman. Thanks to Lori for bringing the guys over and asking me to be your wingwoman. Thanks to MCC 2nd ward, and FHE's. Thanks to Mike for keeping a history of our courtship and engagement. It was so fun to reminisce with you. Thanks for a decade of laughter, love and passion.

A tax deductible Christmas Gift:

Heifer International: You donate livestock to a community. These animals help families become self-reliant. Heifer International also provides training to these communities. The gift is passed on when the initial gift recipient agrees to donate one or more of their animal's offspring, or the equivalent, to another in need.

I love this organization and the good it's doing.
http://www.heifer.org/
You can buy a flock of chicks for $20 or a heifer for $500. It's a great way to help international.

Double the Trouble, Double the Fun!

I've been doing babysitting trades with my friend, and things are double the fun around here once a week. Our kids are super close in age. Hendrix (3) Gideon (2) MilaBelle (12 months) Arabela (11 months) They play great together,I get more done when my kids have someone else to play with and its so nice to have free babysitting when I need to work and/or run errands.

I see into the life of someone with twins; everything is done in swifts:

The Girls eat...

The Boys play...

The Boys eat...
The Girls play... Followed by buddy bottles. This is an old picture, I think both girls are trying to kick the bottle early. You go girls!