Surprise! Or not?

With this last Christmas season and my birthday, Valentine's Day, and baby showers in the near future I've been thinking a lot about gifts. Both giving and receiving. When it comes to Christmas, my mom asks for a list at least a month in advance and she never strays from the items on that list. She isn't big on giving surprises because she likes getting people what they want and doesn't like the risk of getting them something they already have or won't like. Now my mother-in-law is the exact opposite. She loves surprises! We usually send her a Christmas list, though I'm not sure she's ever asked for one. In her case, come Christmas morning, you never know what you're going to get. As for me, I think I'm somewhere in the middle. If someone has a list or mentions ideas of what they want, I usually stick with those items. I do like surprising people with gifts, but only if its something I know they will love. Which can be difficult to accomplish sometimes! So I wonder, what do you prefer? Do you like getting gifts you didn't expect or things you asked for? And do you give gifts the same way?

Feel Goods

Matt and I have had a blast teaching the Valiant 11 class this last year! Our class is a ton of fun and our kids are brilliant (sometimes obnoxiously so). Well, this last Sunday was our last class together since they will all be moving on to Valiant 12 and then mutual. Matt and I have been a little nervous about getting our new class next year because we have gotten comfortable with the kids we have and will be getting a couple new kids with some behavioral problems. Well, last week a member of the presidency pulled us aside and asked if we would be okay if they combined the Valiant 10 class with ours next year since the class is only two kids. One of the kids is only there every other weekend since his parents are divorced, so its basically been a little girl by herself most of the year. The little boy who comes every other week is autistic, so even though we're only tacking on two kids to our class, it will still be a handful. Good thing he adores Matt!

Anyway, on Sunday they gave us our new manuals and, much to our surprise, we are teaching the Valiant 9 and 10 class next year instead of the 10 and 11 year-olds like we thought. So we are getting the kids fresh from junior primary who just got baptized this last year. We were looking over the roll (since these kids are from junior primary we don't know any of them at all!) and four of our kids next year are younger sisters of the kids we had this last year. Funny, huh? I mentioned this to a couple of the girls sitting next to me during closing exercises and two of the boys sitting in front of me overheard. Their response was "Oh man, we wanted to be in your class next year!" Talk about making you feel good! I guess Matt and I have a reputation in the primary for being the coolest teachers ever. I can't say I blame them all for wanting to be in our class, we do have a lot of fun! It will be interesting to see what the new year brings and its always fun to see the changes that come with a new age group. Starting next week, we will have taught in Nursery, Sunbeams, CTR 5, Valiant 11, Valiant 10, and now Valiant 9.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...some hot pink pajama pants! They are long and super comfy! I've worn them to bed every night since. My pj bottoms were all starting to get a bit snug, so they'll never fit when I'm not pregnant, but they are perfect for right now!

My true love got a chocolate orange. It was the only approved treat for 12 days this year. Chocolate oranges are Matt's favorite and they are only around once a year.

The kids got some stuffed animals to rip apart.

We spent Christmas with my family this year and we had a blast! It is always fun when all six kids, three spouses, two nephews, and three grand-dogs get together. We stayed the night at my parent's house Christmas eve and spent all day with them on Christmas, with a visit to Matt's parents as well. We played a lot of games, the guys built an awesome snow fort in the yard with all the snow (I'm talking ginormous! It comfortably fit five adults inside), and we just relaxed together. Friday night a bunch of us went and did sealings at the temple. It was really fun to be able to go as a family! We were originally going to go home Friday, but it snowed a lot so we decided to stay. Then we were going to go home Saturday morning, but Matt went over to Logan and Kristine's to help with their basement. So we made it home Saturday night at about 5:30pm. I had a baby shower at 6:00. I think this is going to be our last year doing the whole over-nighter thing. We had a lot of fun, but by the end, the kids were pretty restless.

My roommates threw Raylyn and I a joint baby shower. She is also having a girl in February. The shower was going to be a few weeks ago, but the snow made us have to change the date. Thank goodness it didn't snow more on Saturday! Its always a blast to get together with my old roommates! Last time we were together, three of them were pregnant so it was fun to catch up and meet all their beautiful babies. Thanks again girls!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me...Snowman socks! They aren't only snowman socks, but they are snowman TOE SOCKS! If you can't tell, I really love fun socks!

My true love got the movie "Bullet-Proof Monk".

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!

I'm Back!

For some a week may not seem like much of a hiatus, but for me it feels like an eternity since the last time I signed on! I appreciate all your comments, but I feel like I need to clear a few things up. I LOVE when people comment on our blog, so please don't ever stop! I did not take a break just because of comments left on my postings. I took a break after multiple instances where people told me (through texts, e-mails, and phone calls) that my opinion was wrong and/or so offensive that I needed to remove it from my blog. Oh, and being told I'm a horrible person. That one made me feel super happy inside too. So please don't ever stop leaving me comments! I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, most of the time I can see both sides of an argument anyway. It's being told my opinion is wrong or rude that made me take a brief break. You (those of you who commented) are all right. If someone chooses to take my intended humor and twist it into something else, that's their problem. I've said my peace. I'm dropping the subject now.

Matt and I have been having a lot of fun with Twelve Days this year! It's really fun, and sometimes challenging, to come up with gift ideas for under $5 but I think we've outdone ourselves this year! We have given each other some really fun things! I also forgot to mention we had a "no food" stipulation this year since baby doesn't have much of a sweet tooth and Matt is trying to eat better. So here are the updates on Twelve Days:

The dogs, of course, have continued getting their Christmas cookies each day. Its really cute! They've gotten used to the time when we do Twelve Day gifts now, so they sit by the counter and look up at the box, just waiting for that special treat.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...A metal bookmark. It's pretty and has pink hearts on it! It's because all my other bookmarks tend to bend and tear. So thoughtful!

My true love got a yo-yo ball.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...a super cute snowman ornament.

My true love got a three pack of gum, so when he's tempted to snack he has something to chew on.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...A "grow-your-own" gingerbread man, snowman, and tree. Just add water! He also gave me some Christmas tree earrings.

My true love got a new beanie for snowboarding.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Fuzzy socks! I'm even wearing them right now! So comfy!

My true love also got socks! But his were boring and white. We had a mishap involving some cherry chapstick and a load of whites that left him with all pink polka-dotted socks.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...the movie "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". One of my favorites!

My true love got a long-sleeve blue shirt. It looks super hot on him.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...Pink princess silly putty! Oh yes, they make princess silly putty.

My true love got a Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer little golden book.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...An island calendar full of happy pictures of happy beaches and happy sunshine. I hate snow!

My true love got some new chapstick.

Only two days left!! Can you believe it? I'm so excited for Christmas! And also for New Years! Matt and I are having a party at our place this year. We're having a "Clue" themed party; beginning our night with a murder mystery dinner that was written by yours truly, followed by games like Clue and Mafia and then ending our evening with watching the movie Clue. I've made you all jealous now, haven't I? We actually still have a couple spots open for the murder mystery dinner, so if you don't have plans that night (or our plans sound like more fun) let me know! I would love to invite everyone, but I know many of you live too far away and others have plans with their families. If you're interested in coming let me know and I'll get you an invitation!

Whiplash

I really enjoy blogging!  I mean, I am super addicted and I love it!  I love feeling connected to friends and family members who I otherwise would not know the goings-on of their day-to-day lives!  I love having a place to write about my feelings and opinions, if for no one else but myself!  I recently discovered, however, that my opinions tend to be offensive to others.  When I share my opinion about something, I usually try to make it funny but I have learned that my sense of humor is completely lost on some people, as it differs from their own.  I said I'm not a big fan of trunk-or-treats, and you'd think I punched Mickey Mouse in the face.  We don't want to reveal the name of our baby until she is born, and people acted like we spit on the prophet himself.  I shared my thoughts on the Twilight movie, and I might as well have pushed a handicap child in front of a moving train.  Then I revealed I didn't like being harrassed by men in red suits (give me black any day of the week.  Brown, sure) but people seemed to think I was standing on my soapbox, burning bibles.  Well, hold on to your seats cause I don't like bacon, I think football is boring, and Robert Pattinson is possibly one of the ugliest human beings I've ever laid eyes on.  Having gotten that out of my system, I think it is time I take a hiatus from the blogging world.  I need to focus on my book anyway and it will give people time to recover from the verbal whiplash I seem to have caused with my tongue.    

On the Third Day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...two wooden ornaments and a 'JOY' sign with a snowman on it for me to paint!

My true love received the movie Fletch.

The kids each got another cookie.