HomeMade Gifts....Christmas is coming WAY TOO FAST!

I can't believe Thanksgiving is almost here and I haven't even begun to come up with ideas for homemade Christmas gifts. I always do Cookies in a Jar, Fudge, Homemade Cocoa and RedVelvet Cake for friends and family. I've also made photo albums, knitted scarfs, The Living Christ picture frames, Christmas Potpourri and Tote Bags. I'm searching for something different this year that's quick and easy yet tasteful. Any ideas? What are you making this year?

Sometimes it's just not what it looks like....

When I first moved to the Winder Ward, the Stake Relief Society President was visiting and gave a lesson on gossip. One of the stories she told was of a sister in a ward that had milk delivered to her home each morning. It was delivered after her husband and children left for their day. The Milkman would always go in to the sister's house each day and stay for a little while. This did not go unnoticed by the nosy neighbor across the street. That neighbor made several assumptions about what was going on. She assumed that the sister was having an affair, and the neighbor quickly told all the sisters at church and pretty soon the rumors were running rampant. After the Bishop heard of this, he met with the sister in question and found that the milkman was her Father. His wife had recently passed away, so his daughter would prepare him breakfast each morning and have it ready for him when he delivered the milk. He would stay and eat and visit with his daughter. Imagine how the nosy neighbor felt after learning the truth~if only she could take those words back.

This is a great lesson that might need to be taught again in the Winder Ward. Sometimes when a man comes to church with a woman other than his wife, it's his sister that is in town visiting. Let's not be quick to assume and pass around wrong information, instead if we feel the need to make comments, be sure to find out the truth. Truth is Beautiful and Comforting! :) Happy Sunday everyone!

And the Winner Is....Flower Power! Groovy!

Miss Ann (2nd place), me (1st place), Kristy (3rd place)

1st Place in the Costume Contest at Work....who would have thought the power of those big bright flowers? Not me for sure. In fact since all of us in the ER couldn't come up with "hippie attire", we decided yesterday to go "Camo". We all had "camo", right? NO! Not me, but I just knew with all the hunters in my life I could easily come up with a costume. And I did, a jacket from my brother, a hat from my nephew, shirt and pants from my Dad--but it was all different shades and patterns of "camo", and nothing fit right--baggy in all the wrong places and boots that were way too huge for me. So at 10pm last night, I was thinking Flower Power... Groovy...Can You Dig it?...Let's Boogie~Happy Halloween 70's style! and went back to my original "hippie" costume, and much to my surprise, it won me 1st place. Thanks JoAnna for loaning me this costume! It was a fun day at work with all the goodies and great costumes.

Me and my dear friend Tammy~a RN in the ER

(We've been friends since 1st grade)

Front-Tammy, Kylie~Back-John, me

(some of the ER crew--love working with you guys!)

Lisa from the Lab looking sleepy!

Halloween Creepy, Crawly Goodies

A Sticky Sweet Mess.....

Me and Aunt Alice

Last night was our ward's Trunk or Treat and I got to make the Cotton Candy--oh yeah, it was a sticky sweet mess for sure~all over my clothes and in my hair! Thanks Joanna for showing me how it's done and after a few tries, I had my rhthym flowing! With the help of my Aunt Alice and my cousin's husband Daniel~this was a 3 person job due to the high demand, and bags that were too small (we know next year to get gallon size). It was actually so easy, just pour in the colored sugar and turn it on and it spun round and round, then voila' we had some yummy cotton candy! It was a fun night for the primary children, YW/YM that helped with the games and for our community. They all enjoyed lots of games, food and a hay ride. I didn't get to take many pictures since I was busy with the sugary pink fluffy stuff, but here are the few I did get to take. First few are of Jacob and the others are cousins:

Jacob

JoAnna looking Totally Groovie and her son Joseph.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of her van all decorated with flowers and fuzzies and glow in the dark things. She had "Simon and Garfunkel" playing and we swayed to the music as we gave out candy and glow in the dark bracelets from her trunk. They were definitely a hit with all the kids.

Charlie and Kelli Garrett and their Pirate Family and their Kangaroo they picked up in Australia on one of their many voyages and adventures!

This is beautiful Ella ~all pretty in pink in her little tutu~she is my cousin Erin and Daniel's baby.

I did not dress up this time since my Halloween tote is at my house in Auburn and I didn't have time to put something together or go shopping~lack of planning on my part:(.....however, JoAnna is letting me borrow her hippie outfit on Halloween for work (unfortunately, no time to make coordinated costumes as we had wanted to). Thanks JoAnna! Happy Halloween everyone!

Decisions, Decisions.....What will I be for Halloween?

Help! I need some fun ideas for costumes for Halloween this year. All of us in the ER are dressing up on Halloween day and we're trying to come up with something really fun to be while at the same time being functional in doing our job (being able to run around like crazy! ha ha). We're trying to all go with one theme, but we've been in a non-creative phase this week. What are you dressing up as this year and what ideas do you have for us in the ER? I know I have lots of creative friends out there--can't wait to hear your ideas! Thanks!

I've Been Tagged....

I've been Tagged by Cheril...to post the 6th picture from the 6th folder in My Pictures file. So here it is--I couldn't believe it was a picture of some of the Young Women at Girls Camp 2007, the year that Cheril was their Girls Camp Leader......The girls are doing their skit as a caterpillar--I made the caterpillar costume for them and their headband spots--they look pretty cute if I do say so myself! And since Cheril was their Girls Camp Leader and the one that tagged me-- I'm also posting my 8th picture in the 6th folder too--it's one of all the girls and Cheril in front of their Camp Flag. Cheril did an AWESOME job with the girls and made camp so fun for them! Samantha (lady bug),Megan,Cindi,Rebecca & Morgan

Cheril is on the back at the far right in the blue shirt

I tag Cecily, Jenn, Janeen, Mandy and Shannon. Thanks Cheril for this cute tag!

My Mom's Bucket List

On Saturday night my sisters and I took my Mom to the Alan Jackson Concert in Atlanta for her 65th birthday. This was on the top of her bucket list and not long after she had told us about her list, my sister Lisa heard about this concert and got us all tickets. We had a great time even with the mishaps from the rowdy crowd--some guys spilled beer on my jacket and splashed some on the back of my sister Ronda's dress--they were having a hard time walking--there was also a gal dancing all over the place (until the ushers would lead her back to her seat) and she kept telling us that she was sorry, but that when "Trace Adkins" came out, she just wouldn't be able to control herself--we just didn't have the heart to tell her that he wouldn't be coming out, that she was at an Alan Jackson concert! We wonder if she's still waiting to see Trace....lolol It was a fun concert and the best part was seeing how much my Mom enjoyed herself. Happy Birthday Mom--we love you! I'm sure our brothers will take care of the next item on your list--going to a Nascar Race.

Lisa, Cherie, Mom & Ronda