My favorite Christmas Books

One of the great traditions of Christmas that was done by my mother was the reading of Christmas Stories. I love it. Every year we would get a new book and add it to the collection. My mother had the most wonderful reading voice.

"The Three Trees One of my favorites
"The Crippled Lamb". This is my new pick for this year. Tear jerker.
"Great Joy". The pictures in this one are amazing!
Fond memories of "The Other Wise Man". My mother used to read this to us every Christmas Eve. It can make me cry just by looking at the cover. If this is the only Christmas book you ever get, it goes beyond Christmas Day and focuses on the life of the Savior.
The Gift of the Magi. Old standby. I bought this the year I was so very poor during Christmas. It was a wonderful way to remember that no matter how bad it gets, it's not that bad.
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree. Once again, cute pictures and fun for kids.
Another Childhood memory. The Sweet Smell of Christmas. A scratch and sniff book. WANT IT. LOVE IT!!!
Anna's Christmas List Miracle. Beautiful Book
The Christas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey helps us remember that the atonement of Jesus Christ is for all of us - those who have sinned, those who have been sinned against, and those who are grieving for the innocent loss of life. Beautiful message.
The Little Shephard Girl. Sweet message, beautiful pictures.

Family Party Part 2

Happy Christmas Kiddo...
Bridger gave Aiden a wonderful blanket and Aiden loved the blue sparkly wrapping paper.
Aiden got Tyler for Christmas and Tyler was such a good cousin.
Bridger and Aiden. And the blue, red, train blanket. And Cousin Mike looking stoned...
The nativity cast!
Beautiful Cousin Laura.
Sleeping baby Jesus.
The little guys had a lane to themselves...
Such fun bowling!! Thanks Teresa and Scott.


My family is loud. Very loud. Lots of kids. Lots of loud adults. And I love every one of them.

For our Family Christmas Party, the Derus were in charge. That means it was FANTASTIC. We went bowling, did a "couples round-robin", then lunch, nativity, and presents.

Fam Party Part 1

We had the Biddulph family Christmas party today. It was wonderful. Loud. Chaotic. But wonderful.

But regardless of that, I am on day 3 of being really down. I don't know if it is the holidays or other things going on in my life. For the first time in many years, I am ready for a big, major change. (Okay, not that having a baby and being a single mom is no a huge life change.) I mean, get away from what is uncomfortable for me here in Utah.

I am also really tired which is probably contributing to the sadness.

Off to bed I go.

The Spirit of Christmas

My latest domestic endeavor. And it is yumm-o.


This is the first year I have baked or done anything home made for Christmas. This year, I am stretching my domestic muscles and, surprisingly, it doesn't hurt as much as I thought.

For Thanksgiving, I (along with helpers) made an entire dinner from scratch. Turkey, pies, everything.

For my family this year I am doing homemade apple butter (along with the annual donation to the Christmas Box House).

But I don't do those things. At least I didn't do those things. Now, I realize that when I have someone to do them for, I REALLY like it. I think I like being a mom that can be professional when the time comes, but domestic when I want to be. Happy medium.

The balance that I have is this: Today I went to see a patient. She had a massive surgery right before Christmas. Gross, cool wounds, lots of health issues. I love it. I love taking care of people. I love being in the healthcare field. I love knowing what I know.

Then I came home and started the cooking process and turned off the "business brain". I snuggled my son to sleep. I started some laundry. I snuggled Aiden BACK to sleep. And I love this just as much. No, I love this more.

Now the house smells like apples. I love that, too!!!

I know a guy...

This morning, I received a letter from my nephew who is on an LDS mission in Brazil. He is a gem. I love him dearly. It was in response to my letter to him in November. It is Braydon and he is so good to write.

HOWEVER!! He wrote an amazing letter that included his testimony... in Portuguese. I don't know Portuguese. YIKES!!! Good thing I know a guy who does. I will have to sit down and work it out. The funny thing is, I never pictured Braydon as a super religious missionary, but in reading his letters, he is amazingly spiritual and I am SO proud of him!!

See his website at: http://www.missionsite.net/elderderu/main

More from the letter were the following lines (and anyone knowing Braydon will not be surprised):
-My spirits are high and the ship is in ship shape
-And by the way, the Zulu uprising is over... over!!
-I am in a new area where there is a McDonalds and a Pizza Hut. Closer to Christmas and I am hitting those babies up... ha ha. I'm really craving a Big Mac ha ha.

He also drew this picture...

I love it. So funny. In case you can't see it, the caption is "Elder Braydon Deru. The "Brotha Snowman".

And the following picture was included with the caption "Shouldn't I cook this first?"

Heaven in Ogden

Mom and Aiden at Ogden Lights
Uncle Chris and Aiden. Uncle Chris feels much better this time seeing lights...
Soooo..... cold....

Great sign on one of the "houses"




It is one of my favorite restaurants. Lee's Mongolian Barbecue. OH MY HEAVENS!!! I love it. Biggest dive in Ogden... best food in the world. It is in the part of town where you have to count your hubcaps before you leave - and take your mace with you.

But afterward, Aiden, Uncle Chris, and Mom went to see the Ogden lights. It was so fun. Cold, but fun. Mr. Aiden loves the lights.

Best $3 Investment Ever

For Christmas, Santa was going to bring Aiden a bath time bubble maker. However, Santa could not figure out how to wrap this gift, so it ended up in the bathtub tonight blowing bubbles all over.

It was $3 and when I bought it originally, I thought, "it is probably broken and will be dumb." Ah, the simplicity of a $3 toy - and the joy it brings.

Aiden is one of those babies that you have to work really hard to get any emotion from. So when he was looking at the bubbles in awe, that was cool for Mom to see.

He found out quickly that they don't taste all that great, though.