William and I have some awesome memories from Christmas of 2013. We flew into Las Vegas on Christmas Eve. Michael drove us to my parent's home in St. George where we spent Christmas with them. It was the first time I'd been to my parent's there and I fell in love with their home and the St. George environment.

We spent Christmas morning with my parents and later that day Michael had to leave. He drove with Ron and Ronda (my cousins) to Salt Lake City and then flew to Canada the next day to be with his girlfriend, Arianna, for the holidays.

On Christmas day, we prepared a Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding dinner. (That's traditional for our family now.) My sister, Sue, and her husband, Dave, and their three children (Jase, Sydney, and Lexi) came over that night. I loved being with them. We played Christmas Bingo and had a blast. I don't think I'll ever forget my dad winning a party hat and acting crazy! It was also hilarious that my sister won three different lint dusters. We laughed and laughed!

While in St. George, we saw the movie, Les Miserables.  I have to say that's probably the best movie I've ever seen. I cried through much of it. There's so many great lessons in that film, and the teachings of repentance, forgiveness, and mercy conveyed in the film really touched my heart. I also was overwhelmed with the message of how deeply and dearly families love each other. I know it, but it was portrayed so beautifully in the film.

Another recreational activity William and I enjoyed in St. George was hiking the hill behind my parent's home. We had so much fun together, even though it was a bit cold.

While in St. George we were able to spend time with William's sister, Kari, and her husband Ron, and their children Lucy, and Jaynie. It was great to be with them as well. We also saw my Aunt Elaine in St. George and visited her home. We also visited my sister at her home. I wish I could have spent more time with my sister. The time went by so fast. 

I feel very blessed that we were able to be with my family for the holidays. It was such a treat to spend Christmas with them!

On December 27th we drove to Salt Lake City. I'm grateful we could use Michael's car while he was with Arianna. We stayed a few days with Laura Lee, a few days with Jeff and Jenn, and a few days with Ryan and Sarah. We loved doing that.

There is something heartwarming about staying with your children and seeing them in their own environment. We're so proud of each of them. We especially loved being with our grandchildren! They bring us so much joy!

On William's birthday, December 29 we spent the evening with William's parents and loved being together. We took them to a wedding reception in Bountiful and it was just lovely being with them. 

On December 30th, little Owen was blessed. It was such a wonderful day. We hadn't met him before this trip. It was so wonderful to have my parents and William's parents there for this happy occasion. Little Owen was just so sweet and he was an angel on the day of his blessing. Sarah held an open house afterwards and it was chaotic with all the children there running around, but it was such a happy chaos! 

All of Sarah's family were there for the blessing but Sarah's missionary brother, Hunter, and all of our family was there but our missionary son, Tanner. That is just so cool!

On January 4th we drove to pick up Michael from the airport. We then drove to my brother's home (Steve) to visit him, his wife, Michele, and all of their children. It was terrific to see them again. That evening we drove to Melissa's (William's sister) home and played Christmas Bingo. We also celebrated all the December family birthdays while there.We had a great time together. 

William and I then rented a car on December 5th and drove back to Las Vegas. We spent a night there and I flew back to Ohio while William stayed in there for a convention.

Favorite memories during Christmas 2013 include:

1. Owen's baby blessing - so spiritual and so precious!

2. Working out with Laura Lee (as my personal trainer) and working out at Jeffrey's home

3. Hiking the hill with William behind my parent's home 

4. Spending time at each child's home and loving the homes and environments they created

5. Christmas Bingo nights :)  Just too fun! 

6. Having all our family together for Owen's baby blessing (except for Tanner)

7. Helping Jenn watch Chloe because she had her tonsils out and was bedridden for days

8. Shopping for our children and buying them gifts for Christmas and Birthdays

9. Talking with Elder Tanner Davis on Christmas Day and feeling his sweet spirit

10. Eating Eggs Benedict (incredible!) with William in Las Vegas 

11. Watching Les Miserables with William and my parents

Least Favorite memories

1. William's bowel issues while at Marc and Laura Lee's (thank heavens Marc is a doctor)

2.  Laura Lee breaking her arm while snowboarding

Holiday Stress

Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. I love that they just kind of blend together for one month of celebrating. I love what each holiday stands for. I love the increased goodwill of men and women everywhere. However, my holiday month is filled with a lot of stress because that's when I work on selecting and ordering dance costumes for the upcoming dance recital.

This project is a very time consuming process. I price the costumes, size them for each girl, and get a costume paper to each parent with all the needed information. I collect the funds, record each payment, deposit the checks, and then order each costume, each pair of tights, the props, accessories, etc.,  This is all the while running the dance studio as usual.

Because I have so many students, it takes a very long time to do this by myself. Tonight, I just finished up the last costume order and I feel great relief. I also feel like I just ran a half-marathon. 

I wonder how I ever got into this dilemma which has been going on for the last 20 years. It seems normal to me now. I watch others who seem to have time and can relax more. I wonder how I can lessen this stress that takes over every year. 

I put off a lot of things during the holidays, including decorating and shopping. William and I have even decided this year that we wouldn't pull out the decorations because we're still working on our kitchen, and we'll be with our children for much of the holidays. I have the home looking a little festive, but there's so much more I'd like to do.

What adds to the stress is that the last few years I have to have the orders finished before Christmas. I can't seem to get the orders done any earlier no matter how hard I try. To add to my stress, I decided I needed to take an algebra test before Christmas as well. That was extra challenging. (I'm on a time line with this class and am behind in it as it is.)

My daughter-in-law thinks that I can do it all. I really can't. I have as much time as everyone else, and things will fall apart as I place some things at higher priorities at times. I juggle a lot and will eventually get to everything I want to do (like last night I finally cleaned out my fridge and cleaned my home). But a lesson to my children is that you need to prioritize and spend the most time where it matters. Time with your children and husband or wife matters most. Other things can wait. And sometimes one priority has to be at the top for a little while, even though other things matter more. Life is a balancing act, and our choices determine who we become and what is important to us. 

It's hard to simplify when you've committed to certain things. I'm committed to taking a college class and step by step earning my degree. I'm committed to being a professional dance teacher who is organized. I'm committed to other things as well—the question is, what do I drop, if anything? That is hard for me. Everything I do has purpose and passion. I'm going to have to look extra deep to find answers to this question. I've always been someone who puts a lot on my plate (ha, figuratively and sometimes literally). Demanding church callings also adds to the load, and they've been part of our family's lives, almost ever since we've lived in Ohio.

However, we're counseled in General Conference to simplify our lives. And so, I will begin to attempt this, even though at this point, I don't know how.

I would love to turn costumes over to someone (I've done that with the bookkeeping before) but it's not that easy. Another dance teacher in the area has her daughter now working for her and they're a team. That's really the ideal. 

I'm just trying to figure out a better way to work this system. I don't have answers at this point, just questions. But that's the beginning of discovering isn't it?

Now that the test has been taken and costume ordering is done, I will be able to enjoy being with my family 100% of the time now that these two major stresses are relieved for now. I'm really looking forward to relaxing with my family. I'll be able to spend quality time with those I so seldom see. I have the best family in the world and I'd rather be with them than anyone, period! 

I've felt the Spirit of Christmas this season. Thomas S. Monson says the Spirit of Christmas really is the Sprit of Christ. I have felt that deeply in my heart. I've committed to 26 random acts of kindness in honor of the Sandy Hook Elementary victims. I've been able to help and serve and give more at this time of year. I've thoroughly been moved by Christmas songs and have loved sharing the Christmas spirit with children. 

I am a blessed woman. I have an incredible life. And, I do love this time of year. Merry Christmas to you. 

Well, the story of out kitchen continues:

Six months ago, construction workers came to our home and completely gutted our kitchen. Our old kitchen was probably built in the 1940's. Anyway, as of last week, I finally have a kitchen sink, stovetop, and countertops. I've had a dishwasher and oven for about 6 weeks now. For the rest of the time I went WITHOUT any of those. Can I tell you how hard it was not having a working kitchen for that long?

The biggest thing, hands down that I missed was my kitchen sink.. William and I did so much work ourselves on our kitchen project including carrying in all of the cabinets and ovens and installing them; installing the kitchen floor; installing all the kitchen lighting; stripping the radiators and repainting them; tearing down walls and rebuilding new walls; painting the kitchen; plumbing work; hooking up the gas stove; etc., ).

We did hire out some work including dry walling, rebuilding the new ceiling, some electrical and plumbing work, and installing the countertops.

We still have a lot to do, but our kitchen is finally functional! We've been cooking in our kitchen this past week and have been loving it! We're both very happy with the outcome so far and feel very blessed!

There were many times I just wanted my old kitchen back. The inconvenience of it all is hard to describe. However, we are grateful we began this major project, especially because we found very old wiring in the ceiling (knob and tube) and it really needed to be replaced. (When we bought the home, we were told there was new wiring in it.)

We've done so much work on this 100 year old home of ours. It is completely comfortable now and feels so much like home.

I'm so grateful that we can prepare meals the normal way and have others over to share meals with us as well. Today we had the missionaries over, along with another friend, and we served salmon, butternut squash, baked potatoes, broccoli and carrots, and pistachio fruit salad. It was all delicious.


Here's a few photos:

On November 11, 2012 (11/11/12) Sarah and Ryan welcomed their second son to their family.They named him Owen Ryan Davis.

We are so excited to have Owen join our family and we can't wait to see him! He's so beautiful and precious.

We've had a lot of video chats with Ryan and Sarah since Owen was born. It's helped a lot!

Doesn't Sarah look beautiful after just giving birth? And can't you just feel the love?

Here's an update on our kitchen project for those who are interested. We are going into week 9 of this project. We now have most of the dry wall up and will mud and tape it this week as well as finish the dry wall in the pantry and back entry area (which has just been insulated). We took down a window, put up a decorative window, built a new floor in the back entry and pantry area, hung a hood, cut out a square opening into the pantry and enlarged the opening into the kitchen.

We tore down two walls since the last post because one wall didn't have insulation in it (it was an outdoor wall) and one had birds nests behind it. Ha, that's what you get with a 100 year old home.

I've painted a radiator and have two more to go. Hopefully this week all the painting will be done in the kitchen. We can start putting down tile - hopefully this Saturday. 

I am so DONE with this. I have tried so hard to be patient. We are very concerned about our kitchen cabinets being out in our barn. We have a dehumidifier in there, but hope they won't get ruined.

It will be so nice to be able to post an "after" picture. I'm hoping it's only about a month longer.

William and I are in week five of our kitchen re-modeling project. Everyone keeps asking how our project is going. Well, here's some photos to show you. 

We HAVE made progress. It's just very slow. I didn't think it would take so long to do what we've done so far, but every day we at least do something! Since my last post we've taken out a floor (old pantry and back porch area), taken down a pantry wall and ceiling, hung 12 canned lights, and opened up an entry way. We have another dumpster outside right now which is 2/3 full. 

We've hired an electrician and he's worked quite a lot for us. He's taking out all the old wiring. Our home is 105 years old, so whenever we start into a project, we usually open a can of worms. The wiring is one of the can of worms. The floor joists are coming out tomorrow and a new floor is going in. 

I have no electricity in some of our rooms still, but that hasn't been a big challenge. The biggest challenge has been not having a kitchen sink. Hopefully, we can start dry walling by next week!

I'm learning patience, tolerance, and will really appreciate our new kitchen!

I miss my kitchen - badly! I've been without my kitchen for 2 weeks now. I've been creative with meals and am proud of myself for what I've done so far. However, stuff is everywhere. I've been using my microwave for most of our meals, which also has a convection oven which I'm grateful for. We've grilled, used the electric fry pan, used the crockpot and eaten out a lot too. William has been framing in the back porch. I've been helping him. We are enclosing it and will make it into a mud room entry with cabinets. You'll enter it before entering the kitchen. We were able to get the door installed tonight. It took a lot of time and patience! William has worked so hard on it. We found knob and tube wiring in our kitchen ceiling (we ripped down both the drop ceiling and the plaster ceiling) which is very old wiring which was still being used. So, we're getting rid of it. We've hired an electrician and he'll be working on it tomorrow. Here's some pictures (especially for our children):