December Picture a Day Challenge

The past month I haven't been really inspired to write about much for some reason.  I have had many thoughts, but didn't feel the need to write it in the blog-o-sphere.  So the other day I was browsing around on a website and found something that I thought would be kinda fun...

Picture a Day Challenge for the month of December.

In November people write what they are thankful for every day, there is so much I could write on any given day the I think people would become bored with the sappiness.

So here goes...

Day 1

Your View Today

Sampson, Benji & Lulu...its a first, they normally hate being next to each other!

I had to post the dogs because they are the first thing I see in the morning when I wake up.  One if not all follow me around the house on a regular basis.  And they are the last things I see before I go to bed at night.  Why is that?  Because I have to tuck each one of them into bed (on my bed) in their separate spaces before I go to bed.  And of course that usually doesn't last very long because before long they are all cuddled around me under my covers. 

Day 2

Favorite Holiday Movie

This is a little difficult for me because I have grown up watching so many different holiday movies.  I remember the old movie about Scrooge being one of the first holiday movies I ever saw.  I also remember watching It's a Wonderful Life many times.  I can say that every year I watch these movies, but only seem to watch them once.  There are many other movies that I have watched that I totally enjoy like Elf, Home Alone, and Miracle on 34th Street. 

However, none of these movies bring me as much joy as.....

A Christmas Story

Day 3

Red

This is my dad who dresses as Santa Claus every year!

My choice for RED would be a red Santa suit.  I was looking for a picture of me dressed in my red Santa Run suit, but for some reason I can't seem to locate any.  So I went with my dad who is my families very own personal Santa Claus.  This is him I think last year playing Santa once again....

Day 4

Joyous

This day has been a little more difficult for me to decide on a picture.  But after lots of searching I found one that makes me laugh because the pose has now been going on for several years...

Although Adam may not show lots of emotions most of the time, every Christmas he gets very excited.  He may not like all the decorating and driving around to look at lights, but when it comes to family time and presents Adam is all over it!

Day 5

Today's Temperature

Yes that says 70 degrees!  Not quite a cold December.  More like Springtime weather!!!  I'm dying to dress warmer for cold weather, but its still short sleeve and light jacket weather.  Hopefully it will start getting a little cooler. 

Winter isn't what I remember it as a little girl.  When I was little I remember winter being absolutely freezing cold.  I always had a heavy winter coat, that I would wear everyday to school.  My kids didn't even own a super heavy coat until the past couple of years and that is only because we went to Utah in the winter time.  We didn't want them to freeze!

Day 6

Shopping

For this picture I didn't want to expose my shopping secrets just yet.  Yes, I have done some shopping, but I thought it would ruin the surprise to my family if I put a picture of shopping bags or places been shopping.

So I thought I would do the next best thing and post a picture of our bubbies on a regular shopping trip that make when we go to Utah...

Yes our dogs frequent Home Depot with us all the time when we spot there on our trips to the cabin.  They love hanging out in the shopping cart and LOVE the attention they get from the other shoppers.

Day 7

Bright

Finding bright normally isn't too difficult this time of the year.  But I had a hard time finding just the right amount of bright this year so far.  When I was growing up there was a neighborhood on Hondo Court that would decorate the neighborhood in a theme every year.  This entire neighborhood is what I would consider BRIGHT!  Every house had lights and something that was Christmas themed.  The neighborhood was so popular, people would go to see it from all over the valley.  Cars would be lined up just to circle through the housing area.  I have yet to see another Hondo Court in Las Vegas unless I am totally missing something somewhere. 

So tonight as I deciding what my Bright picture would be I thought of a house I see every morning when I take Nicole to seminary early in the morning.  I always see this brightly lit house, so tonight I drove over to it to have it as my Bright picture...

Up close it wasn't as bright as what it normally looks from a distance early in the morning.  But when I saw the garage door painted with the Charlie Brown Christmas characters it brought back the memories of Hondo Court from so long ago...



Day 8

Ornament(s)

This is a fun day!  I absolutley LOVE ornaments!  Especially giving ornaments.  When I was young, my grandma would give me a new ornament every year for Christmas.  So when I started having kids, I started buying them a new ornament every year.  I always have to find the perfect ornament for each person for that year...

Last year I bought myself an ornament because it reminded me of my little dog Lulu.  Last night when I was taking the ornaments out of the box to put on the tree, I unwrapped the Lulu ornament and held it up...I was talking about how cute it was, then all of a sudden from across the room Lulu barks a small bark!  I turned and looked at her and asked her if she liked it too..

Obviously she did because she didn't bark anymore and wagged her tail for approval!

(I am totally serious!  Lulu even smiles at us regularly!)

Day 9

Something I'm Reading

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to read 12 books.  I met that goal a couple months ago..

But I also set a goal to read the Bible (Old Testament) completely through.  I have been reading it all year, but may not be able to finish it by the end of the year...

Day 10

Wrapping Papper

I don't think anyone could have enough wrapping paper. Every year I (we) buy new wrapping paper, but still have an over abundance from prior years.  I know this sounds kinda lame, but I always try to use up the old wrapping paper because I get tired of mass amounts we seem to have left over every year.  But I (we) always seem to buy more....

A day late...

Day 11

Green

I thought and thought about this day.  The easy picture would be a green Christmas tree of course, but I didn't want to be that obvious....

So I chose something that the everyone at this time of year wishes they had more of...

Day 12

A Beautiful Sight

There are many sights that can be considered beautiful.  This could mean anything to anybody.  A beautiful sight to a man may be a woman's body and vice versa...There are many sight seeing places that I have been to that are beautiful.  But I chose to go in a different direction for today...

This is the Portland, OR temple.  It was a surprise to us when we pulled up to our hotel and saw the temple across the street after having such a stressful couple of days prior, when leaving Washington for good!

Day 13

Family

Any one that knows me can attest that my family is the most important thing in the world to me. This year has been a huge change for us.  Breanne married Tyler and moved to Cedar City.  Josh and Adam are now working in North Dakota.  I have been sad because I'm not able to see all of them on a regular basis....but I'm learning that sometimes that's just how it goes due to life circumstances....

Day 14

Christmas Tree

I love to decorate the Christmas tree...Seems like every year we end up with a different looking tree.  This year it happened again.  I started to decorate with what decorations we found in the garage, but for some reason it wasn't just right and felt like something was missing.  I was right, we were missing some ornaments. I forgot that there were decoration in the attic too...

Geez, how many ornaments does a family need.  (My mom and I started talking about this...I think between the two of us we have enough decorations for about 5 different trees!)  Needless to say, my dream of having a Christmas tree forest will one day come true, but for now with limited time one tree is good enough!

I missed a day because we went out of town and I didn't feel like taking my computer along with me.  Its been nice to not have to lug my computer around anymore since I have finished school...

Day 15

Favorite  Holiday Song

This was a hard one to narrow down.  Every year my favorite seems to change.  I have lots of favorites for different reasons.  Some I like because they remind me of when I was young like The Little Drumer Boy.  Others I like because I can act funny while singing them like Elvis Presley songs..I like to acti like I'm an Elvis impersonator (of which I SOOO am not).  I also like to hear the Lucy & Linus song at least once, so I cn dance like Snoopy when he was on top of the piano (No I don't climb on top of the piano), I just raise my head and kinda trot in place, if that's what you want to call it.

This years favorite....

I think the older I get, the more meaningful Christmas truly is.  With all the changes and experiences I have faced this year I have been able to contemplate more and focus of the true meaning instead of others instead of what my immediate family wants...

Day 16

Outside Christmas Lights

We were slow to put up lights outside this year.  Plus we have fewer people who are willing to make the effort to put them put.  I told my mom I needed to go for a ride to take a picture...

I was working on some stuff on the computer, then my mom opened the front door and said "Come Here".  So I got up and went outside...

This is what I saw....

Again I didn't post my day on time.  I fell asleep watching Charlie Brown and didn't wake up until the alarm clock went off...

Day 17

Presents

I thought out of the box for this one...

 We went to see the light display at the Speedway, I thought I would include some of the lights we saw that were lit up like presents...

Day 18

Stockings

I think this is actually the first year we (I) have actually hung the stocking by the fireplace.  Normally they're laying on the back of the couch...

 

 

So I'm s few days late, life kinda got in the way this past week, but I thought I would take sometime tonight to get caught up with my days...

 

Day 19

Candy Cane

 

Not one of my most favorite things in the world, it was a little difficult to take some kind of picture of a candy cane rather easily. 

 

 So one night while out shopping with Nicole we came across this...

 

 

Day 20

Tree Topper

 

There is a story behind our tree topper...

Honestly this is a very ugly tree topper!  We did have a really pretty one, but all the lights burned out on it and we weren't able to get it to work again.  Sooo...because of this blog challenge, my mom insisted on having a tree top!  The only tree topper she could find was this tinsel star!!! So the tree was without a topper until I think Sunday night when we finally decided to put the ugly thing on our beautiful tree....

 

 

 

Day 21

Peace

 

This was a little difficult because I wasn't sure how to really show a picture of Peace....

 

But this is the best I could do tonight...

 

This is Sampson...  He will not get out of bed in the morning because he is sooo peaceful in my bed sleeping!!!

 

Day 22

Tradition

 

Over the years I have tried to be consistent with traditions for my family.  I asked Nicole what I should post for tradition...she immediately said Pajamas!

 

I didn't think Nicole would appreciate me posting a picture of her in her cute new pj's, so I am posting mine that my mom gave me.  Every year since the kids were babies I have given them pj's on Christmas eve.  This year was no different...even the kids in other states received their new pjs with a note written on the tag to open on Christmas eve! 

 

 I think the pj's this years were all a success! (At least I hope)

 

Day 23

Scarf

 

This was easy because I LOVE to wear a scarf when its cold! 

 

 

Day 24

Favorite part of Christmas Eve

 

This year was a little different.  Half our family wasn't in town with us, so we decided to do something a little different.  This year we went to see the Magical Forrest.  I thought it would be fun to go to see since we none of us have seen it for several years.  Plus I wanted to find some way for Josh to feel a little more Christmas spirit since he has been so busy working in North Dakota and didn't really have the chance to enjoy much Christmas festivities...

 

But doing that isn't my most favorite part of Christmas eve...

 

The excitement of opening the one obvious present is my most favorite....

 

 

Day 25

Morning

 

So this may sound unusual, but I'm always the first one awake on Christmas morning!  I am always waiting for everyone to wake up!  This morning was no except...

 

I got up because I was tired of faking that I was still sleeping, so I got up and came downstairs to wait for everyone to wake up... I decided to give everyone until 8:00, if they weren't wake I would go upstairs and start yelling "IT'S CHRISTMAS!!" 

 

Thank goodness everyone started getting up...and get this it was 7:59.  Once I heard everyone upstairs I hollered up the stairs "IT'S CHRISTMAS, NOW COMMON!"