Christmas Eve ...part II

Our Conlin family party was at Robin's home in American Fork. Here are a few pictures from the Burkhardt residence:

Picture taken from Robin's patio door. The spire on the top of the Mt. Timpanogos temple is in the center of the picture.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Wooden nativity on mantel

Look at all those presents!

This is the huge, decorated Christmas tree in the entry taken from the front door. This was our tree. You have to admit that it looks and fits better at the Burkhardt home. There was a star on top of the tree and Ashlyn kept insisting there had to be an angel instead. At the Milligan Family Christmas Party, Marcia Sperry brought an angel as a white elephant. It now graces the top of this tree.

Christmas Eve...part I

Brooklyn's First Christmas...3 months old

Brooklyn in Santa outfit

Landon





Andrew looking mighty festive

Candace modeling a 'white elephant' gift

Another 'white elephant' ...nativity with black people

The following family group pictures aren't the best ones we had. Those shots didn't get cropped or fixed so these will have to do for now. On the left side of the entertainment center a poster with the 3rd Article of Faith is on display for Ashlyn to learn. She knows the first two. The primary kids in her ward were told that when they learn all 13, they can go to 'The Purple Turtle' for ice cream. Ashlyn is really motivated...a pretty lofty goal for a 4, almost 5 year old. The pictures are labeled from back row, left to right and then front row, left to right.

Jory, Brooklyn, Candace, Mason, Tanner & Landon

Robin, Katelyn, Andrew & Ashlyn

Courtney, Brandon, Jill, Kaden, Hailey & Natalie

Bryan, Kim, Riley, Ashley, Jayse & Brynlee

Grandma with two 11 year old granddaughters

The whole crew except Reed, who was taking the picture, and Jodi, Ty, Owen, Miles & Olivia who live in Oklahoma and didn't come home for Christmas. I was hoping they would surprise us!

House Update

There was a full crew working today so we left and went back after dark with flashlights. Windows and doors are installed, the heating contractor is mostly finished, the bathtubs are in and the electrician has been hard at work. Things are really taking shape!

SNOW!!!

It will definitely be a white Christmas. Reed has his work cut out for him in clearing snow...a long driveway that goes to the shop/garage in back, a triple wide driveway in front, a wide frontage in sidewalk, plus our neighbor's sidewalk on the way to our mailbox (which our neighbor doesn't take care of), and our patio. The work takes all day. The kids have enjoyed playing in the snow. They pack snow into large coolers and dump them out to be used as large blocks for their snow fort. Today while I was sewing and Reed was snow blowing/shoveling, Courtney, her friend McCall, Natalie and Kaden worked on a snowman. I gathered things from around the house to 'decorate' the snowman. I about died when I saw Kaden try to pull branches off our fledgling fruit trees for snowman arms. He was disappointed that all of our carrots were put in the crockpot as part of a casserole for supper so I found an old flashlight that was broken to be used for a nose.

Seasonal Sayings

At this time of year there are some statements such as:

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

Wise Men Still Seek Him

The other day I was browsing the hospital gift shop and I saw one that was new to me. It had vinyl lettering on a tile square which rested on an easel. I liked it. This is what it said:

Are you part

of the Inn crowd

or one of the

few Stable people?

Our Feathered Friends

We enjoy feeding and watching the birds that come our way. Our feeders are on the patio right outside our dining room window. We put thistle seed in one feeder and shelled sunflower seeds in another. We got sticker shock when we went to Intermountain Farmers Association to purchase a 40 pound sack of sunflower seeds this last time. We could have treated ourselves to eating out for a week for what they cost. Nevertheless, we still think it is worth buying the seeds without the shells as they are not so messy. Sometimes there 25-50 birds at a time fighting for a spot at the feeders. Their 'chatter' can be quite loud. Some of the grandkids have remarked about when sleeping at our house they are often awakened by chirping birds. We normally get lots of gold finches, pine siskins, house finches and juncos. Woodpeckers are fairly common and we have a host of other birds who are less frequent visitors. Sometimes Reed gets out his bird book to figure out what kind of bird is here. Today a huge hawk swooped down in an effort to get a quick meal...he missed. It has been snowing hard today and the birds are frustrated that the food trays are full of snow. I had to go out and rescue a bird that had become imprisoned inside the birdfeeder.

This bird is inside the birdfeeder. Time to refill.

Inside the feeder and nearly obscured by snow.

Views from inside the warmth and safety of the house:

My camera battery died before I got the pictures I wanted. We had birds colored with variations of tans, browns, whites, grays, blacks, yellows and red. Is it fair that the males are the pretty ones?

Foggy, Freezing, Frigid, Frosty!

B-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!!!

It was zero this morning.

Visiting Santa

These didn't scan very well, but oh well. Obviously I lived clear back in the days of black and white photography. Mother put these in my baby book. She wrote on the first one that I was 2 years old. We had gone to Sears and Santa happened to be there, so it was an unplanned visit. On the second picture I had just turned 10 and Mother wrote, "She still believed." Actually, I STILL believe.

Our 1983 Christmas Card

I believe this was in November and was the first snowstorm of the year. The girls donned their snow clothes and were enjoying playing outside in the white stuff. I hurriedly made some signs for them to hold and snapped a few pictures. This is the one we selected for our card:

Kimberly 11, Jill 9, Robin 7, Candace 6 & Jodi 3

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Construction Update

Phew! The house was wrapped and the roof was put on just in time for the first wave of storms. Without windows and with the snow blowing sideways from the west, snow still blew in the house. Today the plumbers and heating contractor were working. Here are the pictures of the back, the front, and south side of the home.