Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

Christmas Eve brought our tradition of Christmas PJ;s.  Kim's ended up being extremely large for him, but he was a good sport and modeled them anyway!  Everyone else's were pretty plain and boring and fit well. Tasha and Zane picked out PJ's for Hector that were so funny and perfect for him, Olaf pants that said, "I like warm hugs!"  Hector seemed a little emotional when he told us that he had never received pajamas before.  Zane made sure that he understood the responsibility of wearing them Christmas morning!  Jason had to work so he didn't arrive until just in time to open PJ's.   I'm not sure why he looks so serious in this pic, he was smiling!  After Santa came -  Look at all the gifts! Christmas morning was a little different this year.  I worked the night before from 11 pm to 5 am Christmas morning.  Shandra worked from 6 am to 10 am and Jason had to work the entire day.  RaeLynn was with he...

The Duerden Family Christmas party was at the Olsen's this year.  We moved all of the furniture around so that we could fit 3 tables for our traditional turkey feast.  It was so yummy!  Zane's friend, Hector, joined us and made Mexican Horchata for us - I must have drunk a gallon myself!  I attempted to create Sally's (my boss) ribbon jello.  It wasn't perfect, but it tasted great!  Zane was in charge of rolls and he was amazing!  He make wonderful rolls without even a recipe.  Of course we had to have our traditional Pistachio Pudding Salad.   After dinner we took down the tables in preparation for the Nativity and game time.   I read the Christmas Story from Luke and the kids used stick puppets to act it out.  It is always one of my favorite parts of our Christmas Eve.  Honestly it makes me a little sad that some of the kids and family don't understand the importance of Christ's birth. GAME TIME! ...

 Kim and I were asked to be in charge of the ward Christmas Party this year.  We were prompted and  fortunate to choose the very best committee members ever!  I ended up being extremely busy with both Eagle Gate and the Brigham Hospital so I wasn't able to be a big help but the committee far exceeded my expectations, picked up my slack, and pulled off the party to PERFECTION! We decided to do a "Grinch" theme, with a focus on how the Grinch was able to turn his heart to the real reason for Christmas - the WHO of Christmas - which is Jesus Christ. Nancy and Doc Moyle offered to be in charge of the dinner, and WOW!  Not only did they create a fabulous Who Feast complete with dessert bar, but they created an almost surreal Who village with decorations.  Marilyn was kind enough to step in and spend the day decorating.  She is marvelous!  We used some of Brook Burt's and Jodi Wilding's decorations. The Moyles also were able to locate and ...