Guardian Angels

Sunday my sister was heading back to Texas, so we left church a little early and met my family at the Golf Course where my brother works to say goodbye. We were on our way out and I left first with the kids, while Brent was still inside with the keys. Hannah was standing on the drivers side and I had Ben on the passengers side. At some point Hannah calls out to Ben and he goes tearing off around the back of the excursion. Meanwhile, I've looked through the back windows to see a truck, driving WAY too fast in a parking lot (probably 30 mph) coming straight for my son. I realize that timing is that Ben will hit the corner of the car at the same time the truck will. I screamed out his name and he turned and looked at me then took 1 step toward me as the truck whizzed passed him. HE and I were both so scared. He ran to me and I to him and we just hugged each other for about 5 minutes. Brent came out and saw us and I explained what happened. He had to take Ben from me. It was WAY too close of me and I cried non-stop for about 30 minutes after. I don't know how many times that day I prayed a thankful prayer to my Heavenly Father for saving my son. I knew there were angels watching over us, I just never knew how close they really were.

Christmas Eve at Reich's

Christmas Eve church service

Every Christmas Eve we attend the First Presbyterian Church's service. This is the church I grew up in and where my parents still attend. It is usually a very nice service with lots of Christmas carols and a short message or story. I love going to it because it really puts my heart and mind in the right season for Christmas. It is always the beginning of our two day Christmas celebration and is very special to me.

Here is my sister with Colby, my brother Adam and girlfriend Ashleigh, and the kids and I at the beginning of the service.

At the end of the service, there is a candle ceremony where you are to "take the light of Christ to the World." Every person gets a candle and they dim the lights. This year is the first year I let the girls hold a candle. They thought it was very neat to see the whole chapel filled with candle light. Once we got outside (where it was freezing!), we blew out the candles to avoid any was burns or the lighting of someone on fire.

Traditions

Every year since Brent and I have been married, we have had a special Family Home Evening the Monday before Christmas with the Riddle, Silcox, Noll, and Romney families. We have a progressive dinner where we do something at each home. We have loved this tradition and miss those who can not make it each year, or who have passed and are no longer with us. This year I only got a few pictures at the beginning because I spent so much time visiting! My sister Christie and nephew Colby went to the first house (Robert and LaNell's) to catch up a little with everyone.

Hannah with Colby

Christie with Ben

LaNell gets to hold Colby too!

The Christmas spirit

Every year for Christmas Brent and I try to do something nice for a family that is more in need than we are. We did do that again this year giving someone in our ward a very nice present that was needed. (I don't want to say what it was because that just doesn't feel right.) This is the first year though where friends of ours gave us things THEY thought we needed, or at least could use. We were so very thankful for all the wonderful gift we received, but these were very special to us because they were "out of the blue" or "I was just thinking of you" kind of gifts.

Present #1
One of the brethern in our ward loves cowboy boots more than Brent does. He had purchased this pair of boots, but they were 1 size too big. He wasn't wearing them and gave the to Brent after only wearing them a few times. Brent was so excited because not only are they expensive, but they were a color he had been wanting for some time, but didn't feel like he could spend the money.
Present #2
One day at work my friends and I were joking about our clothes (and basically how I didn't have any!). It was cold and I was in capri's because I had only 1 pair of jeans and they were dirty. (Brent bought me a few new pair before Thanksgiving, so please don't worry about me! I'm warm and clothed!) Well my three good friends pooled their money and bought me a gift card to the mall for $100!!! There was one stipulation though, I had to spend it on my self and not a penny was to go to anyone else! That included family, students or anyone else that I think needs something more than me. It was very nice. I still have it because I haven't had a chance to go to the mall yet, but I will go!


Present #3
My new friend that just moved to town and is going to Fit For Eternity with me was worried one night that I may not have clean water to drink in the depths of the evening out here in my trailer. She saw this and picked one up for me! Now I realize it is not worth $100, but it meant so much to me that 1) she thought of me when she saw it and 2) she was concerned about my progress in weight loss and felt I had to have it to get all of my water in! I absolutely love it, especially because it is PINK! I have used it every day since I recieved it and think of this dear friend every time I use it!!!!

Slow and steady wins the race...

I have started my Fit For Eternity group again. We are a merry little group (4-5), but I really like that it is different people this time. We get together every Tuesday at a friends and we have all split up the topics so I don't have to be in charge all of the time. It's so Wonderful! So... so far I have lost 7.5 lbs in 3 weeks. I go to the gym 5 times a week and work out for an hour each time. I really like taking classes because I can't quit in the middle and look like an idiot or slack off. So I HAVE to push myself. I haven't been great at counting calories or anything, but I have tried to eat the same or nearly the same breakfast, lunch, and snacks each day. Weekends I try to make healthier choices, but I don't say that "I CAN'T" have this or that because then I think about it all the time!!!! Christmas Eve I'm working out, but I'm going to enjoy my holiday season and not worry about what I'm putting into my mouth. I hope every does the same!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas

My kids with their cousin Colby.

Merry Christmas

Writing a letter to Santa

I bought this book last year about writing a letter to Santa. We always write letters to Santa and hadn't had the chance yet. So we read our story book and wrote out our letters.

Danielle and Hannah knew just what they wanted and Ben, well he didn't really pay any attention to us. Dani wrote her letter all by herself and I helped Hannah. The girls were so excited. In the story, the letters fly away to the North Pole by magic to Santa's workshop. They couldn't wait for Santa to hear how good they have been.

Another tradition we started was the Elf on the Shelf. It's a story about a little elf who comes from Santa to "watch" and make sure little girls and boys are being good. Each night the elf flies back to tell Santa if the children have been good or bad. Then he moves to a different in spot in the house to watch for the next day. The kids then have to wake up and find the elf! The girls also loved this idea and started talking about all of the good things they were going to do so Santa would know they were good. They named him Hopper. Welcome to our family Hopper!

Hannah's Chirstmas Program

I love preschool Christmas programs. Hannah didn't sing probably more than a few words because her shyness came out. But she looked very cute doing it!

Holiday Fun

The last four years I have participated in a holiday cookie exchange. Every year I sign up. I make anywhere from 6-15 dozen cookies (and wonder why I signed up again!) But I remember every time I go and see all of my friends. I had such a good time this year, and I even tied for best tasting cookie! I've never won, so even though I didn't take anything home (weren't enough gifts) I felt a huge sense of pride that people liked something that I made. (I don't make much people, so I was pretty proud!) Thanks Ben and Leslie for taking the pictures!

My packaging

My cookies. They are so easy!
2 Ritz crackers, a little peanut butter in the middle, covered in milk chocolate!

Christmas is in the air.... and it's COLD!

Every year I take the kids to the holiday parade in downtown Tracy. They used to do it in the morning, but in recent years have moved it in the evening to coincide with the tree lighting. This year started at 5pm and was about 46 degrees. Yes, we froze. But our tradition was kept alive!

My kids with the Hatches.

I took this picture of Anson. Remind you of anyone?
(We were really cold!)

What to do on a Saturday afternoon?

Saturday afternoons can be kind of slow for me and the kids. Today wasn't any different. I decided to call some friends and asked to watch their kids for them for a few hours so they could have some time to run errands alone. It would also give my kids something to do to pass the time a little. They jumped at the chance to be alone, and Sydney and Camden came out to play. Everyone wanted to play outside, but it only lasted about 20 minutes at 45 degrees. Once inside the girls started to talk about playing dress up, and I had the idea to put on a fashion show. I made a runway with letter blocks and the kids all picked out an outfit. Here are my girls doing their "walks".










Then we had a dance party where we all just danced around.


Then Dani and Sydney decided to play rock band. I got video of that too, but it was a little long.

Overall our long, boring, Saturday afternoon turned into quite a fun time! Thanks guys for coming to play!

It's Christmas time!

Setting up Christmas at Grandma Reich's