December - No Judging

Last Sunday I had a great lesson in Relief Society (the part of church where the sisters meet together for a lesson) taught by one of my awesome counselors, Laura. The lesson was about being happy with who we are, striving to be our best selves, having confidence, and not judging ourselves or others. It is a good topic to be reminded of, especially for girls.

As was discussed in the lesson on Sunday, we, are often judging ourselves. Why? Because we tend to judge others. So the easy solution is to stop judging other people and we won't be so inclined to judge ourselves or feel a lack of confidence. Definitely easier said then done.

It got me thinking about myself and how often I judge others. Too often. I have been trying to be better in this area for quite some time and I think I am making progress. Small progress, but progress none the less.

It also got me thinking about my blog. I have been procrastinating posting about Christmas and Beth and my (Chris, notice I didn't say me and Beth's) birthday. Now it is February and I had decided not to do a post about it anymore, because I was worried about what will people think. Seriously? That is lame of me. So, I am moving forward with confidence and the feeling that no one is judging me.

Beth, Chris, Caitlin and Ashlee as well as Katie and Ryan came a few days before Christmas. It is always fun when family comes, and more so at Christmas. We jumped in right away with fun busyness; eating, wrapping presents, making yummy treats, sewing pajamas, going to the temple, playing games and dress-up.

On Christmas Eve Dan, Erica, & Alyana and the Allen's over for dinner and a fun filled evening of activities. We pulled crackers (a type of Scottish present) before dinner, played chimes, sang carols, acted the nativity, had a $1.00 gift exchange, ate peppermint ice cream dessert and performed a ravishing rendition of "Christmas is Upon Us".

This is a song that we, the Bishop Family, have been performing (singing really) for years. We used to sing it every year with our cousins in Rawlins and it has been ingrained in our heads ever since. I think, judging from the pictures, the Stevens, Allen's and the brothers-in-law had fun learning and participating in the song that we love.

The performance included:

Santa and Snowmen

Reindeer

Trees

Elves

Dolls

Christmas Day is always an exciting time when little kids are around. We took our time opening presents and enjoying the time together. Below Ashlee is sporting one of my new pairs of shoes from myself. Yep, that's right, there was a present wrapped under the tree to myself from myself - two pair of shoes. It was awesome; I think I'll keep that tradition up. Caitlin and Ashlee are beauties in their princess gowns.

After Christmas we continued to busy ourselves with all kinds of fun. A birthday party for Ryan in Sierra Vista, football bowl games, another trip to the temple, the park, and a sleep over with Caitlin and Ashlee at my house.

At the park we played a game of horse shoes, girls vs. boys. It was a very close game, but in the end the girls pulled it out with a ringer (by me!). We were pretty excited to get the W.

The boys were not too excited to get the L, but they tried to be good sports.

On New's Years Eve...Beth and my birthday, we celebrated in true birthday fashion. We made an awesome pork burrito dish for dinner and had banana royales for our birthday treat. Brenda came from the valley with three of her kids and Erica & Alayna came over to help us celebrate our 30th birthday and ring in the new year.

We spent the evening playing games and eating and we all made it to way past midnight...1:00 does count as way past in my opinion.

Hopefully 2011 brings some new challenges and exciting adventures.

The 4th of July...one of my favorites

Back in the Laramie days, the 4th would have meant BBQ-ing with our “family”; aka some awesome families whom we got together with often.

In AZ it is not quite so fun to have an outside BBQ in the middle of the summer, but the 4th of July is still one of my favs.

I can’t lie, part of the beauty is the day off from work that it offers. But, I really like the history and pride that comes with this holiday. It’s great thinking back on the founding fathers and the inspired and awe-inspiring men they were.

I also love the patriotic songs playing on the radio, sung in church, etc. This morning I played The Star-Spangled Banner on the piano and, like always, as I got to the middle of the song I sang the words to the 3rd verse in my mind (yes there are three verses to this song).

Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"

I wish that we could sing these words more often, but sadly if most of the country knew of this verse it would probably be changed or banned. On second thought, I’m okay leaving this verse a secret. It will, however, always be the best part of the song in my mind and the best reminder of why the 4th of July is one of my favorites.

Merry Christmas

I love that there is a special time of year especially to remember Christ and his birth

and spend time with family.
Oh that I could keep more of the Christmas spirit all year long.

I did it!

I stayed home this year and handed out candy to trick-or-treaters. This may not seem too shocking of a task unless you are familiar with the insanity of my subdivision on Halloween. A newish subdivision, sidewalks, and houses which are fairly close together = ideal situation for trick-or-treating. Each Halloween it seems that 1/2 the valley takes advantage (1/2 is probably an exaggeration). Usually there are students from the college criminal justice department who stand on the corners amidst flares and direct traffic. This year there were no traffic directors, however still plenty of people, cars, and chaos. From about 6:00-7:00 I had a pretty steady stream of kids coming to my door...344 to be exact...until I ran out of candy and had to turn people away. It was actually a much more pleasant experience then I was anticipating and I enjoyed seeing all of the kids in their costumes. I also got tons of compliments on my pumpkin. I'm not sure how much they count coming from kids under the age of 10, but I was glad they liked it.