May we all remember the true meaning of Christmas!

I love Christmas! This year has been a bit different than years past... I am not sure if I have been more busy or what but I have not been as excited about Christmas this year. I am usually the one that has it all together, I love searching for that perfect gift for my family and friends and can't wait to see the reaction to the gift that was given. I guess maybe it is because I don't feel like I accomplished the perfect gifts for everyone this year. I know it can't be perfect every year but I really like to try!

Here are some pictures of my cute parents and sister when we visited Temple Square last week. We had a great time and ended up at the Garden Room for dinner at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. It was a really fun night!









Ok.. I don't want to be a downer on Christmas Eve so let me share with you what helped me get into the Christmas spirit! At church yesterday we had the traditional Christmas program in Sacrament meeting, which was a great way to start the day. I love Christmas music so that
always helps me get in the mood! We were also fasting for a family in our ward that had their baby 3 months early, he has a hole in his heart and is fighting for his life. Then in laurel class, each of the girls prepared a 2-3 min lesson on their favorite talk from this past General Conference. It was such a neat experience seeing each of them share their testimonies about the gospel and Christ, and each of them had a unique experience to share. I left church feeling uplifted and excited for Christmas - remembering why we really celebrate this holiday, it is because of Christ. I love spending time with family and creating new lasting memories.



Here is the last picture we took after we ate dinner at the Garden Room overlooking Temple Square. Isn't it beautiful!!

"Without Christ there would be no Christmas, and without Christ there can be no fullness of joy."

~President Ezra Taft Benson Christmas Devotional December 1985

I hope we all remember the true meaning of Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

What would we do without wonderful friends and family?

"I don't know what would have become of me were it not for the kindness of the friends I have in my life. They have lifted my head and given me a cool drink of water when I was exhausted and thirsty. They have opened their homes to me as well as their hearts. Help me to bless them with kindness in return."

~Author Unknown

Brad had an unfortunate ATV accident on Tuesday the 18th. He was riding his ATV with a friend and as Brad was riding along he hit a jump in the dirt road that caused his handlebars to hit him just below his nose. Then as the front end came back down to meet the road he lost his balance and flipped over the front of the machine and landed on his tail bone. We spent 2 hours in the ER getting 11 stitches. The following day we headed to the dentist to get his tooth pulled back into place (ouch!), and then to the chiropractor to see what damage he may have done to his tail bone. Luckily for him he wore his helmet which helped him avoid a more serious injury. Overall, he is doing great! He is very stiff and the pain in his tail bone comes and goes, there was no fracture which is fabulous but it is tilted, which means lots of future visits to the Dr. (This is a picture of what I saw when I got home.)

We were touched by the many friends and family that called, emailed or stopped by to see how Brad was doing. Because of the timing of the accident I missed the YW activity that evening which was caroling around our neighborhood. I love to sing Christmas songs so I was a bit sad to have missed it. My cute leaders and girls stopped by to sing to us - they sounded beautiful, it was the perfect way to end a stressful evening.


We feel so blessed to have the wonderful friendships both in our ward and those we have had for years. The news spread throughout both our families and our ward. Our cute home teacher called to see how Brad was doing and he and a neighbor came over to give Brad a blessing. We are so grateful for his friendship and always being willing to help. (before stitches)



(Here is the new Brad with stitches)

We are so grateful for all our wonderful friends & family and pray that we will be as kind when needed to provide comfort to one of you!

Cutting our Christmas Tree

Ok.. so cutting a Christmas tree has been a tradition in the Bennett family for over 20 yrs. I was told in order to marry into the family I had to keep the tradition going. Of course, I said anything to get the man of my dreams and now 5 yrs later I still love the "experience" of cutting a tree. I just don't love the time it takes to put lights on every year. I would be happy with an artificial pre-lit tree but that would never fly with my sweet husband.

So a couple years ago we agreed that if we were to continue the tradition he alone would be in charge of the lights every year. He does a great job wrapping every branch and doesn't complain even though it usually takes several hours to complete. Last year was the first year in our new home and we have a 20 foot ceiling where we put our tree. Brad of course wanted to get the tallest tree possible, last year that was about 14 ft and this year it was 16 1/2 ft. It took him over 12 hours to put 3500 lights on our tree this year! Yikes! We had one partial strand burn out and he hasn't found the energy to get back on the ladder to fix them or add another strand. Hopefully, all lights will be functioning by Christmas. :)

Here are some fun pics from our adventure cutting the tree this year. We always go cut our tree with Brad's family the Friday after Thanksgiving. Usually, there is snow but this year we were lacking; we had to carry our tree out rather than drag it. It made for some fun hiking back to the truck. (FYI -If you click on the pictures you can see the larger version.)

Here are Monica and Chris' kids Lily, Emma, Alison & William and us with our dog Abby.

Here are the "boys" (Dave (Megan's hubby), Will, Paul (dad), Brad & Chris(Monica's hubby))
and the "girls" (Brad's sisters Nicole, Monica, me, Karen (mom), Megan and Monica's kids Lily, Emma and Alison)

Just some fun pics of the day..... not sure what Brad is doing?? Alison and Lily are having a staring contest... Emma just wanted to be in the picture!

I had this post written over a week ago but wanted to post pics of the final product.. so here is the fully decorated tree and mantel.

On Monday night Brad was working late and my sweet brother had dropped off a 16ft ladder (I had requested a 12 ft but he felt the 16ft would work best... until he came into the house and realized how GIGANTIC the ladder was!) Anyway, I only had 4 hours from when I got home from work to use this ladder before my brother would be picking it up the next morning. Originally, my mom was going to come up to help but something came up and she was unable to make it. I called around to find someone who could come over to help. Those that came were so kind to drop what they were doing and come over for 30-45min, before heading back to their families for FHE.

First I needed help to get the ladder into the house.. our neighbor Porter came over to assist me- we only hit the railing once.. oops! Then our friend Tasha and her son TJ came over to help decorate. She loved climbing up and down the ladder trying to scare me since I was balancing on the top attempting to get the star to stay put! TJ just laughed at us and would hand us beads to hang. Sonia also came over and helped with the ornaments. When she had to leave, I was left with Brad to finish -there was a Jazz game on so trying to get him to focus was not an easy task. I tried to get the final touches complete on my own but have been moving ornaments around all week to try and make it look balanced.

It has been an eventful couple weeks, filled with lots of memories!

It isn’t defeat, but rather your mental attitude toward it, that whips you.

Quote for the day.... I ran across this recently and thought it would be a perfect post for today!

"There are many things in life that you cannot control, but you can always control your attitude toward them. Defeat is never permanent unless you allow it to be so. When you have a positive attitude, you will recognize failure for the impostor that it is and realize that it is really a learning experience, a valuable lesson that will help you succeed with the next attempt. Ask yourself: What could I have done differently that would have altered the outcome? What can I do in the future to minimize problems and mistakes? What did I learn from this experience that I can put to good use next time? If you approach obstacles and setbacks with a positive attitude, you will be surprised how quickly you can turn defeat into victory. " -Napoleon Hill

I have been trying to have a more positive attitude lately and have noticed a big difference in how I react to even the smallest issues. It is not easy always looking at the positive side of things but it definitely takes less energy!

I have started asking myself... what am I supposed to learn from this experience? Sometimes it frustrates me not knowing what I should be learning right at that moment.. but occasionally you have to get through it first and yet the lesson still may not come for a while after that.

Most of you know we have been trying to start our family for close to 4 yrs now. We still have no idea what we are supposed to learn from this experience, but we sure have enjoyed the journey! Brad and I have had the opportunity to serve in various callings in our church that involve the youth and have been very blessed to develop the relationships we have with the other leaders and youth we have served. I am confident the Lord has a plan for us and he will allow us to grow emotionally and spiritually from this experience. I know after all we can do the Lord will provide a way!

Anyone else have times like this?