Taking it All Down

It's kind of sad when it's time to take down the Christmas decorations. It feels like the end of something and the house feels a little empty. But then again - it's kind of exciting because it's the beginning of something too. A brand new year is coming. What will the new year bring? It's up to us to fill it with love, service and good memories. This next year I'm going to try to remember what Elder Wirthlin said, "Come what may - and love it."

Reaching Upward

Abe took Austin, Andy, and Aaron to Action Sport's Rock Wall yesterday for a boys-night out. I loved it! I stayed home and tried to get my head together after the Christmas Crazies. I always thought Girl's Night was great - but I have to say ...three cheers for boyz night out!

Way to Go Austin!

Here's an amazing catch at the Turkey Bowl! Thank you Iva Hawkins for e-mailing it to us!

Christmas Morning 2008

The kids were up by 6:00 am. We stalled them until 8:00, but not before a picture on the stairs in those Christmas Jammies.

My Dad & Mom came to celebrate with us!

What a great day! I'm sleeping in tommorrow!

Give What You Can

Thanks to Renee - Our family visited the most interesting Christmas Display in Bakersfield. It's located a little bit west of the bike path entrance on Coffee Road . You've got to go see it!

While we were there, a homeless man came up and asked us if we liked what he and his wife had done. They watched Charlie Brown's Christmas at a nearby church and wanted to give something special to the community. They decided to turn something ugly into something beautiful. They found an old dead tree and after three months of digging through trash cans, did just that; they turned an old tree stump into something you've never seen before. Their theme caught on and many of us have added to their art project. I think it is the most beautiful Christmas Display in all of Bakersfield.

Here's a poem Elaine Davis pointed out to me that reminds me of what Christmas is all about!

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

Lets all give what we can this Christmas!

Christmas Ornaments

We have made ornaments each year for several years. Andy, Aaron and I decided to try to find them all and take a picture - maybe we've shared a few with you.

Children Learn What They LIve

I love this:
If children live with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If children live with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If children live with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance,
They learn to love.
If children live with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty,
They learn truthfulness.
If children live with security,
They learn to have faith in themselves and others.
If children live with friendliness,
They learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
by Dorothy Law Nolte

Real Life

I found this in my files when I was cleaning yesterday - if you can't read it - the last box says, "Man! Kissing underwater looks so great in the movies!" Isn't that the truth! Real life isn't always what we expect - but as President Monson says "Find Joy in the Journey!"

The Last Straw

To counter act the "tradition-al" fights. We've started building a " soft bed" for the baby Jesus with straw. I'm sure most of you have heard of this, but after we read the book,"The Last Straw", we picked family members names from a hat. Then we spend the week doing nice things for the one we picked. Each time an act of service is done, a piece of straw is added to the manger. It's been wonderful to watch the kids sneak into each other's room and do quiet acts of service. It's really true that when we help each other, we feel love for each other more. Now believe me it's far from "the Brady Bunch" around here, but every act of kindness helps and like my blog title says, "Pressing forward - never giving up!"

Do you have any great ideas to add love in your home this season?

Christmas Tradition-al Fights

After days of trying to figure out what to write in my family blog - I've finally decided to use the blog to help me solve a Rodriguez Family Christmas Traditional Argument: Who's turn is it to put the star on top of the tree this year?

I'm going back into the depths of my Christmas pictures for proof of "who dunnit" the last few years? I'll post as I find the pictures of Christmas Pasts to solve the mystery!

Are your Christmas Traditions riddled with spats? :)

I started out with an organizing blog & then realized I had to have a family blog so I called on my blog fairy and she granted my wish!

Copy and paste the code below into your HTML/JavaScript to add a JOY button to your blog:

<a href="http://justorganizeyourself.blogspot.com/"><img alt="JOY" src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj227/ewhites/73f4a1a9.png" /></a>