December Happenings

I absolutely LOVE these pics! Christmas time is such a fun, exciting, reverent time of year and I love every minute of every moment during the season. With the beginning of December being the end of Josh's school semester we don't get to see him too often so I and Maddy have been doing a few things to get into the spirit of the season. First my mom puts a tree upstairs in the loft for decoration and this year she let Maddy and I decorate it. So we put on our jammies and went to work. Maddy LOVED this, she was so careful with every bulb and everytime she hung one up she said "I did it mom!" very excitedly. It was just too cute!

For FHE one week we went to Ethel M. Chocolate Factory to see all the Christmas lights. Maddy has been so fascinated this year with the lights. She loves just riding in the car and seeing all the houses dressed up for Christmas. Ilove how excited she gets when she sees them, it's like she has never seen them before, each time we come to a new house. This was extra fun because a couple of my sisters and their families were able to come and my parents.

For the Moser FHE we took the opportunity to help decorate Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Waters home for Christmas. They are such a special couple and we just adore them. I like to take these visits and use them as photo opportunities. I want Madelyn to know how much she was loved by her great grandparents.

Then we come to the Winter Fest in Downtown Henderson. We LOVE the Christmas parade! It is so fun to me to take Madelyn to these because it supports the community and it's one of the ways we as a community share in the spirit of Christmas.

School is FINALLY done for the semester and we are ready to start celebrating the holiday with Josh!!!

Thanksgiving!!

So to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday week my brother-in-law Jerry and sister-in-law Shannon gave the biggest surprise to my in-laws. For 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving all the Moser siblings knew a FANTASTIC secret! Jerry and Shannon and their kids were coming for the whole week of Thanksgiving and my mother and father-in-law had NO IDEA! Jerry and Shannon have been living in Florida for about 9 months, while there our niece Brinley was born. Things being so tight my in-laws were not able to go out and visit when she was born so all they have been able to do is look at her, talk to her and wish they were holding her through Skype (we are so grateful for technology). The idea of them coming to Vegas for Thanksgiving has been tossed around for a few months but Jerry has been out of work the whole time they have been there and money for them was tight so the trip was cancelled, and all were bummed especially my parent-in-laws. We all missed them terribly but understood the circumstance. Well Jerry got a job offer a month or so before Thanksgiving and the trip was back on...hopefully. They decided not to tell my in-laws jut in case something else came up and they had to cancel again but all of us siblings were in the know and we couldn't wait to see the surprise pulled off! Well after 32 straight hours of driving the Mosers arrived late Sunday afternoon. They showered and got cleaned up at Aun Susan's and then headed to mom and dad's. It could not have gone more perfect. That day was Shannon's birthday and my in-laws wanted to Skype her and wish her a happy birthday. So while we all waited outside Jerry was talking to my father-in-law telling him they were ready and if they had their computer up. My father-in-law kept saying the computer said they were off line and he couldn't call them, Jerry was so good and insisted that they were ready to see them and he didn't know why they were having a problem, then Shannon and Cohen went running into the house and Shannon was trying to get Cohen to say Hi Grandma but instead he just ran around them for what seemed like several minutes. The first few pics are hilarious because you see Cohen with my in-laws and the don't even notice him. My father-in-law even looks at him but passes him off as one of the grandkids. Shannon, Jerry and Brinley were all standing in the doorway watching and staring at my in-laws and almost simultaneously my father-in-law noticed Shannon and my mother-in-law noticed Cohen and the tears just flowed from everybody. The cousins couldn't get enough of Brinley and they were all SO EXCITED to play and wrestle with Cohen. We were so glad they were able to make the trip and seeing my inlaws faces was totally PRICELESS. I am so grateful for close knit families on both sides and that the greatest joy is just being together.:)

For Thanksgiving every year we go to both families homes. We feel so blessed to have so much family in town that it is hard for us to miss ANYTHING that goes on in either family. This year we had an early Thanksgiving lunch with the Mangums which was fabulous and dinner later that evening at the Moser's which was also wonderful. You just can't go wrong when every place you go has such amazing food. :) I didn't get many pics but I did get a few. This year we feel so thankful for so many things but especially for the blessing of family, tithing, employment and education. Nothing this year would have been possible for us if not for these things. It has been such a blessing for me to be a stay at home mom. I have just felt so humbled to know that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to aid in raising our sweet Madelyn. Josh's schooling has gone so well and he is just getting better and better (if you can believe that, it's possible!) We are gratefl for his employment at the University and at the credit union. They both have brought great comfort and peace into our lives. We are soooooo grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Our knowledge and testimony of this great gospel has been a cornerstone in our family and we truly feel so blessed to have it.

Can you tell the girls could not get enough of Brinley? They were so sweet with her.

Thanksgiving night was really a lot of fun. We had Christy and Eric and their family staying with us and my nephew Austin came and joined the fun that night too. Austin and Brad wanted to get into the Black Friday spirit and convinced Christy to let them come with her at midnight to Wal-Mart. They first were briefed on how you don't go to browse the store, you have a mission and you go with the soul purpose of accomplishing that mission. They were given assignments of things to look for and they were to not wonder far from Christy. It was hilarious and so cute to watch them. They let me take some funny pics to remember this night by. Needless to say the next morning they decided Black Friday was NOT for them. :) But Brad did get a fun remote control car on sale. Ha Ha!! In the morning while Christy and Josh were out hitting the sales, we at home started a fire in the fire pit and rosted marshmallows for breakfast. It was such a great holiday!