Ornament Exchange

For those of you who don't already know, every year for the past 9 years now, my mom has an Ornaments Exchange party with my sisters, Grandma and some times cousins.  A long time ago a few ladies in my ward started this.  It got so big and changed so many times that my mom stopped going and decided to do it with her girls instead.  We were all excited because for many years we have all helped her make her decorations for the Sisters in our ward.  So 9 years ago we had our first one as a family.  I have gotten so many cute and fun ornaments over the years.  My sisters and mom always make such cute things.  Some of my favorites over the years have been.....

• Gold beaded glass ball that Jocie made

 

• Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell, rock that Rebecca made

 

• Blue snowflake chime Emily made

 

• Personalized wreath Mom made for each of us

 

• Hand made snowman that Deloris our cousin made

 

• Painted Santa spoon Mariann made

 

• Beaded Star TaNiesha made

 

• Bird house Lea made

 

• Glass heart painted on the inside that I made

This year was no different, a lot of cute and fun ornaments that I will cherish forever!  

• Grandma Watkins made a decoration with a Glass Basket, bird and trimmings in it

 

• Mom made many different ornaments but we got to choose 3, these ornaments were from a wreath she made many years ago

 

• Lea made a cute Sparkly Christmas tree decoration

 

• Rebecca made a One Horse Soap and Sleigh

 

• MariAnn made a cute crocheted Snowman glove

 

• I made Snowflakes, which Tanner made for me last year in his 2nd grade class

 

• Emily made a hanging decoration that says Joy

Thank you everyone for the fun memories and priceless decorations/ornaments that I get each year!

9 Years Old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tanner celebrated his 9th birthday on Saturday.  This year we decided to throw a birthday party for him, since we have managed to get away with it in years past with just a family/cousin party!  He wanted to do a Pokemon theme... shocking it wasn't a Transformer theme.  So we tried our best.  We gave each of the kids 2 Pokemon cards and they were thrilled.  We also played "Pin The Tail On Pikachu" (ohh I so wanted to type "Pekah-chu").  Darin did a good job drawing it on a paper and I colored it in.  10 of the 14 kids we invited showed up and they had a blast.  We sent them on a scavenger hunt and fed them pizza.  Tanner was so happy to share his birthday with some of his friends.

We can't believe we have a 9 year old!  Time flies by too quickly.  On Saturday Tanner came in to wake us up.  I told him to quit growing that he has to stay 8 years old forever.  He said he couldn't do that because next year he was gonna be 2 digits and he has to get to 2 digits!  So cute :)  We have enjoyed having him in our family.  He is so sweet, thoughtful such a good kid!  We love you, Tanner!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!