Christmas in Half Moon Bay California

Christmas in a nutshell... at the Oakland Temple...
Shopping in San Fransisco the night before Christmas Eve...
Christmas Eve breakfast at the famous Alice's Restaurant... Daily walk's to the Beach!...Dinner with the Missionaries...Christmas day...

Off we go..

Just when you think all is good, we have a curve thrown at us... On our way home from work Monday Chris and I were one of the "lucky" ones to hit one of the many pot holes on the freeway :( I decided to take this "opportunity" to step outside to help/watch how to replace a flat tire while I had Chris at hand. After all, I have never experienced a popped tire before so I never new if it would be something I could do or not. Well, a half an hour later just as we wrap up we quickly discover that our car wont start... yep! Just our luck! Lucky for us, Josh came to our rescue, another car hits the same pot hole we did and pulls right in front of us. Only thing different was that our battery was punctured in the jolt hitting the pot hole. Josh let us sit in his warm truck while we arranged a tow truck driver to come and take our Honda to the repair shop. Fortunately for us, we were carpool buddies again with Ancestry being located in Orem and I still in Provo so with the generous help of the Whitchurch's, we had the Expedition for transportation :) While being faced with this unfortunate expense around the holidays, I can honestly say it still worked out for us to repair it and get a new tire before we left!

So, here we are now... at the airport you can see little Milo in his sweet new carry on bag! He did so fantastic on the plane!! We ended up with a 2-3 hour delay which landed us in San Fran around 1pm. We had to feed Milo some melon at the airport with his lack of energy but I couldn't have asked for a better dog to take with us on vacation!

Ready!?

Saturday Chris and I took Milo back to the vet to get his paperwork and sedatives for his first plane ride that he will be taking to San Fransisco Wednesday night! I am so grateful things worked out as they did which allowed Chris and I to bring Milo to California! It meant so much to me to have him with us first being just 4 months old and second him being our whole Christmas this year. It breaks my heart leaving him alone all day long day after day... it is so sad hearing him cry for us as we shut the door on him each morning. I am so looking forward to giving him this vacation to have us and another dog to play with (Bentley). The vet also was so kind to give Milo his first face trim so he can see again!!

As we checked off that errand Chris was also able to sneak in a guy's poker night! I got my visiting teaching done today before we visited Grandpa Mitchell while Tyrel, Jessi and the kids joined us their. During our visit, grandpa showed us his organ again lol and how the foot peddles worked while the piano book was noticeably on the same page. I think it is collecting dust but hey, it creates a good laugh on visits ;) Now it is just 3 days counting that we are off for the holidays!
Here is a picture of sweet Milo in his Harley Davidson Hoodie that we bought him to keep him warm about a month ago! The deal was that I couldn't give him a "cute" knitted sweater lol, he looks tough doesn't he? But still the cutest thing ever!

Christmas cards are out!

I have been mailing out our Christmas 2010 cards out in bundles but have not motivated myself to face the cold to pass out our Christmas cards and the printed Rudolph story out to our friendly neighbors... so finally I bundled Milo up in his little hoodie and we made our rounds to find that I picked the coldest night of the month thus far. Lets talk 9 degree weather with the wind chill. By the time we finished and I made it back into the house I found myself not being able to fight back the tears as my hands thaw out :( Sad I know but I am happy to say that we finally got all our Christmas cards out for the first time that Chris and I did our own. I kept waiting for a baby or something but a new pup will do ;) Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas this year!

**True Story of Rudolph**

A man named Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob’s wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer.

Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life. Life always had to be different for Bob.

Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.

Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift. But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined a make one - a storybook! Bob had created a character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling.

Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose.

Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day. But the story doesn't end there.

The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print,_ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book.

In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter. But the story doesn't end there either.

Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore, it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."

The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing.

GNO & a Jazz Game

Saturday night I had the chance to meet up with the neighborhood girls after missing out on them since last Spring. It was so nice to be able to mingle again, eat yummy treats and play a little Apples to Apples :) Some exciting news shared were a couple pregnancies that I had not known about. Looks like the Boogaards and the Dixons will both be adding a second child to their families this summer!

Tonight the fun continued for both Chris and I when we got a surprise call from our cousins Geoff and Emily Montague. Emily's parents have season tickets for row 25 in the lower bowl which was the closest Chris and I have sat at a Jazz game! Ashley Montague also joined us since her husband was studying for school. It was a real treat for us and we thoroughly enjoyed their company! Thanks for the great time Geoff and Em!

Daniel

Merry Christmas Daniel! You continue to be in our thoughts this Christmas season. The wreath turned out beautifully and Aaron was with us too. He was behind the camera...

Ancestry Xmas Party

Congratulations Chris as you completed your first week with Ancestry.com! We now celebrate by going to Ancestry's Christmas Party at the Zermatt Resort located in Midway :) It was so fun!! They offered great food in every room with plenty of variety. Some things Chris and I did was of course meet s few coworkers and watched some ACOM Commercial videos that teams put together. Spent an hour with the Hypnotist, browsed through the Comedy Sports room, the Live band playing, the Rock Band room and ended up at the Magician room for another hour. He was quit entertaining I might say and we got to bring home a new trick :) Chris of course new how it was done but the magician did a great job entertaining the crowd!

We ended the night moving to the Bernese Center where the casino was located and also for the company to make there announcements, give thanks and hand out prizes. It was very exciting for Chris and I to be apart of a company that does so well at taking care of their employees and appreciating not only the sacrifices the employees make but the families as well. It is so nice to feel apart of something so good! Both Chris and I have felt so incredibly blessed! We continue to discover the many "perks" Ancestry offers to us and the great insurance that we now have to be able to afford a family.