Christmas morning...let the insanity begin

Christmas Eve singing carols and telling the story of the birth of Christ

Christmas Eve dinner in Cali

Daniel singing the Hallelujah Chorus on the way to Cali

Singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve eve

Caramellos

Gingerbread houses

Ward Christmas Party

Snow in Phoenix

The Larsons told us that at the outdoor mall in Phoenix there was ice skating and snow.  We didn't know what to expect but decided to check it out.  The ice skating was actually skating on pieces of interlocked fiberglass.  And the snow was bubbles.  But that's alright.  We still had fun. 

Thanksgiving

That's all I've got.  No pics of the fabulous dinner.  

But Mallory decided that for Thanksgiving dinner she needed fancy hair.

I was happy to oblige.

Halloween

Mormon Helping Hands

Our ward had a great opportunity to clean up the cemetery in the city of Guadalupe.  The cemetery was very run-down and showed many signs of neglect.  A couple hundred church members showed up early Saturday morning to clean up the cemetery.  Armed with gloves, shovels, brooms, and lots of trash bags, we picked a spot and swept, picked up trash and debris, weeded, and chatted.  It looked like a daunting task, but with so many people helping, the change was quick and impressive.  I was surprised by the eagerness of the kids to help and touched by their respect and tenderness to the grave sites.  There were many tiny graves and numerous graves without markers.  We couldn't help but reflect upon how amazing, yet fragile this life is.