History in the Making

As I stood in my living room today with my kids and participated in the inauguration of our 44th President of the United States Barack Obama , it hit me that I was participating in a turning point in history. What a great time to be alive! I was moved today by the words that were spoken, by the call to action of each and every citizen of this great nation, and felt so blessed to live here in the United States of America at this time in history. No matter what your political views, surely you will agree that today was a great day for America! I am looking forward to a future of hope, action and change.

"We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations. God bless America." ~President Barack Obama

"Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ." ~ invocation at inauguration offered by Pastor Rick Warren

I echo that prayer as my own. And God bless America.

Anatomy lessons at bedtime

The following is a conversation I had with my two-year-old Aleise as I lay by her to put her to sleep last night:

Aleise (feeling my eyebrow with her finger): What is this?

Me: That's my eyebrow. You have one, too. (I show her her own eyebrow and she feels it)

A: Where is your snoozer?

M: My snoozer? I don't think I have a snoozer.

A: Where is Daddy's snoozer then?

M (growing more perplexed): I don't know where Daddy's snoozer is either. Where is your snoozer? (thinking the answer might shed some light on this quandry)

A (very distraught): I can't find my snoozer!! (And, a minute later,) Where is yours liver?

M: My liver is inside my body by my stomach.

A (aghast): Did you eat it?!

My daughter is a cutter

not the kind that inflicts damage upon herself, but the kind of scissor-obsessed destructor that cuts anything she can find.

and cuts

and cuts. After a bad stint with said scissors and some beatiful hair which required a serious discussion, she has now limited herself to paper. Do you have any idea how far-reaching the term 'paper' can be? tissue paper, scrapbook paper, checkbooks, school lessons, stickers, stamps, bits of string and ribbon....I recently bought two spools of ribbon for a craft and later found the entire two spools snipped into lengths of less than two inches all over the living room floor. Some have suggested that we simply hide the scissors...and then I ponder on how long she can be quietly entertained with just a pair of child's scissors and a stack of scrap paper. I think I will just buy more paper!

A New Year

YUM!! I love or traditional New Year's day meal. Mom's enchiladas and tacos can't be beat!!

And then we go play in the snow. Kevin took Porter and Emily snowshoeing this year. The plan was for the rest of us to meet them on the mountain later and go sledding. Well, we parked right beside them but didn't meet up with them for about an hour, when they finally came down the mountain, cold and ready to go home. Which was fine because Aleise was ready to go after five minutes! She wouldn't even stand in the snow but was carried around by Papa. That is, when she wasn't sitting in the "warming shed" with me. As for me, I have no idea why I live here because I have no use at all for this fourth season we call winter. I don't like a single thing about it! Seriously, if we didn't have family here, I would head south in a heartbeat!


Emily wanted her dad to take her hiking and cook her something on his little camp stove (read, can with holes poked in the sides and a tea light) so they snowshoed about 150 feet up from the parking lot, made a lean-to and melted some snow into tepid cider, and came back down. We are wimps but they had fun!

And now....Here is a look back at some of our favorite things from 2008:

* Family Vacation to California! The first time the kids had been on a plane! Playing on the beach in San Diego, going sailing, visiting the zoo, and Disneyland!

*Kevin and Kresta going to Cancun! A trip Kevin won through Campbells (we LOVE soup!!) What an amazing week spent in a breath-taking place with wonderful people! Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime memory!

*New renters in the basement. Okay, so they moved in at the end of the year last year, but it has been great to have them living below us. They are like an extra set of grandparents for my kids and we love them!

*Grandma and Grandpa George going on a mission! We miss them, but love getting their letters and knowing that they are serving the Lord in Missouri.

*Good jobs! What a thing to be thankful for at a time like this! Kevin works for a great company and has a wonderful boss. He has also been able to work part-time for more great people. And Kresta loves her job as copy editor for the local newspaper.

*Reconnecting with old friends! Kevin had a little reunion with his old friends from high school this summer. It was so fun to get together with old friends and make some new ones! And, thanks to technology, Kresta has been connecting with lots of old friends, too.

*First family camping trip! Our little family of six went to the hills for a couple of days this summer. Some enjoyed it more than others, but it was certainly noteworthy!

*Roaring Springs! It is becoming a tradition to make several trips to this waterpark in a summer. Kevin's company party is held there and the kids can get free tickets through a reading incentive program in school. As long as we don't witness any drownings, it's great fun!

*"Our Temple" in Twin Falls! A temple so close that we got to watch being built is such a blessing! We each got to write our name on a small rock that was then placed under the foundation of the building. We really feel like it is ours.

*A new prophet, President Thomas S. Monson! The man who will be the prophet through my kids' youth. The one they will really remember and who will have a big impact on their lives and their decisions.

And, in 2009, we can look forward to Emily getting baptized, having no one in diapers in our house, a trip to the Oregon Coast, girls camp, and spending Thanksgiving in Bear Lake.

Temple Square

Just a picture post of our fun night at Temple Square following the George family Christmas party. Visiting after Christmas is so much easier! Not nearly as many people. But enough that we did manage to lose one of our group for a few minutes. Yep, it was one of mine!

Some of our group waiting for the others.

A very cold Christ child, his face covered with snow, in the outdoor nativity.

My family -- plus an extra?

Riding TRAX to see the lights. It was the highlight of the trip for some, they couldn't wait to get on again.

Family is what it is all about

And there is plenty of family to go around at the George's! Our family Christmas party was held at Paul and Diana's this year, with Grandma and Grandpa being gone on a mission. While we were all together, we took the opportunity of a little photo shoot.



Here are the George kids: Shauna, Sherida, Jeremy, Kevin, Paul and Michael

Here is our little family

And here are all 20 cousins, ranging in age from 13 years to 5 months! What a great family!!

Christmas at Last

Christmas came and it was wonderful! The season seemed unbelievably short this year and it was all over, with everyting packed away again, much too quickly. I loved spending time together with those I love so much. I loved making them special gifts and the anticipation of giving them. Most of all, this year I really realized the great gift given to us by God -- the gift of this amazing experience here on earth and a family to share it all with. I became more aware of every single day being a gift from Him. I hope to be better about appreciating this life I have -- the good and bad and hard and humbling and ugly and awesome--every minute.