Last Post

...of 2008, of course! I know I've really been slowing down in the blogging department. It is what it is, and hopefully things will get better, but I'm really not sure that they will... until summer comes! I sure have enjoyed the break and "sleeping in" til 7:30. Leisurely mornings are my thing!

So I just have to post the pictures of our Christmas fun. One of the best I'd say! I had 347 pictures from the two days. I realize now that I have extra because Haley had the camera for awhile. I got it down to 272. Don't worry, I won't post ALL of them!

Christmas Eve is always fun. Our traditional dinner is homemade Clam Chowder and Cheese soup served in bread bowls. Peppermint Bavarian is always the dessert. Since my parents were leaving 2 days after Christmas for their mission, they were a bit overwhelmed. My big sis made arrangements so that all the kids would take care of the dinner, and mom wouldn't have to worry about any of it. I got to make the Clam Chowder for the second year in a row!

My mother kept tradition alive by wearing the same earrings my grandmother (who passed away in 2007) wore every Christmas. Thank you mother! We loved seeing them again!

Every year my sisters play the "Sleigh Ride" duet on the piano. And then we sing some of our favorite Christmas songs around the piano. Some of which are, "Were you There", "Baby What You Goin to Be", "White Christmas", and my dad usually plays and sings, "Oh Holy Night" for us. Although we didn't get to it this year!

After all the fun at my parents, we headed home (we're 3 minutes away - nice hu?). The kids anxiously awaited their Christmas Eve gift. The 4 oldest knew what it was - it's what they get every year on Christmas Eve!

Next we lay out our stockings, have family prayer, and then the kids go to bed. This is our other Christmas tradition... they all sleep in the same room together. It's one of their favorite things to do! Zack and Seth share the biggest room... so this is where they all ended up!

Our Christmas morning rule is, stay in the room until 7am. Last year WE had to go wake them up! This year, by 7:00, I already had two kids in my bed. Logan was already awake and fed, and Seth had crawled in at some point in the wee hours. Haley came in at 7:00 on the dot. All the other kids were still sleeping. Since it was 7am, we let her wake the other three up. Then Roman gathered them on the stairs for the annual picture:
Then it was off to the living room to see what Santa brought. We let them go through their stockings for a few minutes, then this year we went from oldest to youngest in opening our Santa gifts, one at a time. After the Santa gifts, the kids gave their gifts to each other. (Earlier in the month, they drew names. I took them out on two different shopping trips to purchase their gifts for each other. They even wrap the gift themselves.) They get so excited to give their sibling their gift - I love it! This year Aaron had Zack, Zack had Megan, Megan had Seth, Seth had Haley, and Haley had Aaron (they drew the names that way, can you believe it?!).
The kids were happy about the little Christmas they had. After the gift exchange, we had our big Christmas breakfast of homemade Orange Julius drinks, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, and toast. Yes, we eat grits (me and the kids "contaminate" them with brown sugar and butter). This is our traditional Christmas breakfast - we've been doing it since 1995. After we ate, the kids played for a bit with their new things. Then we sat them down in the living room and Roman gave them each a card that had "directions and hints" to go find something. I got the idea of a scavenger hunt from Monica's blog (thanks Monica!) - But put Roman in charge of it. They were told that once they found the item, to go back to the living room and sit on the couch and wait. Off they went! Aaron had the hardest time since Roman sent him on a wild goose chase.
When they were all back, they sat together on the couch... the anticipation was killing them. When we said, "GO!" they opened the gifts all at the same time. The gifts were various Wii accessories and games. It was so fun to watch their faces!

After it processed in their brains, Zack said, "but we don't have a Wii!". We then told them there was one last present in the house and it was up to them to find it - with no clues (Roman hid it under Aaron's bathroom sink-yum). It took them awhile. We had to start giving them clues to narrow down the whereabouts. Finally, Haley found it, brought it back to the living room, and they ripped it open and were thrilled to see a Wii.
We've had a blast with it ever since. The kids have been beating Roman in all the Wii sports games. I even beat him in boxing! My arms sure were sore though! What I loved most was that the kids were truly pleased with what they had already received (which really wasn't much). They were content. The Wii was the cherry on top! And I'm glad we got it because we've all been playing it together! Even Seth has gotten into the action - his favorite being the boxing. You should hear the "tough guy" sounds he makes!

Later that day we returned back to my parents house. The grand kids exchanged their gifts to each other. This takes awhile (I like it that way), because we had each different age group of kids sit in the middle of the circle and exchange their gifts to each other - complete with hugs and thank yous. We did the same for the gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

After the kids got their gifts, they went off to play (OK, the teenagers didn't go play - they sat around and talked instead). The adults headed to the living room to exchange our gifts. I told you about the gift I was working on for my parents. Here it is:
I got this idea from Janet's blog (again - isn't she so handy?). My parents loved it and took it with them when they left for their mission. I sent smaller copy of it to my nephew who just went to the MTC the week before Christmas! He is the one making the "annoying" face on this gift. He's a funny guy, that Jared.

Jim and Marji had us this year, and I'm so lucky they did! Check out the cute "Y" she made us! We both love it so much! Just earlier in the week, Roman gave me his Christmas gift by hanging things in my kitchen for me (the walls have been bare since I painted last summer, if you recall!). I still needed something on my big wall, and this is PERFECT! Maybe he'll hang it up for me tomorrow! They also gave us a Cocomotion, along with my most fave cocoa - Stephens French Vanilla!! Yummy! We've really enjoyed it this past week! THANKS JIM AND MARJI! It's WONDERFUL!
And lastly, my parents gave each of the kids a beautiful "antique" looking picture of the temple we were married in. On our canvas it says, "The Yoder Family, Established 1994, Boise Temple". It is a beautiful gift and I'm excited to have it in my home! Thanks mom and dad! My mom also had a bunch of the old 8mm film of our family movies put on DVD, and gave us each a copy. That has been a lot of fun to watch! It was just a wonderful Christmas - a great way to end 2008 - which has been quite the year of growth for me! How lucky and blessed I am to have the gospel in my life to keep me focused on whats important. It has made my marriage strong, it has taught me to be forgiving, it has led me to be a mother to six beautiful children... something that I absolutely cherish - my children. I'm so lucky to be their mother. Yes, that means I'm lucky to be the one to do their laundry, to wipe their booger noses, to clean up their spills and teach them to pick up their rooms. I love to snuggle in bed with them on Sunday afternoons, and I love hugging them in the morning. I'll take it all - the good and the bad, as long as I get to be their mother, and best of all, I get to be Roman's wife. What a blessed year it has been.

Watch out 2009 - here we come!

Photoshop Elements

I must say that I am so very thankful for my Photoshop Elements software! When I first got it I was overwhelmed and frustrated with it. Then I started searching and found so many wonderful free tutorials! One of my faves can be found here at Shabby Princess (they have free downloads too!).

PSE has opened up a beast inside of me. I have found a new passion. I love creating, and I absolutely LOVE doing it digitally! IT DOESN'T ADD AN OUNCE OF CLUTTER TO MY DESK! That was one thing I struggled with as far as stamping and card making and scrapbooking goes. So this is the wonderful alternative that I've found!

If you haven't already - go check out my design blog to see a few things I've created thus far. It's just so dang fun. You can see a slight progression in my abilities. My first few were pretty, whats the word, boring, off, unappealing? I don't know... anyway, I've been learning more and more techniques and tips, so it's been more rewarding to make beautiful things!

Here is the most recent creation. I do love this card, but I'm not sure if it will be the actual one I send out (just because I guess I want a little of the "surprise" factor). This one was pretty quick and easy to throw together. But I just love the colors and the stripes! I found this pretty awesome website with color palettes you can browse through and get the RGB codes. Here are two of my fave places in my reader that have great photoshop elements tips:
http://blissfullydomestic.com/channel/photo-bliss/
http://digitalphotographyformoms.net/

I've also used PSE to create my blog headers and the background for this blog. When I have some time (when will I ever?) I'm going to make buttons for my frugal blog and my design blog. I wish I didn't have all of those other responsibilities so I could just have this kind of uninterrupted fun for one whole day!

By the way, you can go here to see how a bunch of other ladies are being their own version of "Blissfully Domestic"! I do so in a digital sort of way, does that count? :)

Looking For The Good.

I'm still alive, and have so much to say about this past weekend! Just a very quick synopsis, I stepped into this Friday morning...
(That is water coming up from under the laminate floor, in those non stuck seams that I've had for quite awhile!)

Things haven't been the same since.

That, turned into THIS:

Yes, two owners ago (know them, and I truly do love them) put the laminate flooring on top of the existing carpet. The water traveled about 12 or so feet from the (unknown) leak in the refrigerator waterline.Look at that lovely green vinyl - under that ugly grey carpet. That lovely green vinyl saved our floorboards!

So now we are trying to live in a house with a kitchen that is all tarped off with two big fans and a dehumidifier running 24-7 (since Friday night). I've got pictures to show and stories to tell, but in the end I am grateful for this big fat mess (eek!). Do you recall how I hated my kitchen floor? At least I can say goodbye to it now (hopefully not at the sake of my sanity)!

Anywho... too much to do at the moment. I DO have a long list of gratitude's for this entire mess. Clues: weather, money, Dave Ramsey :) More to come, hopefully by Wednesday evening!

PhotoScape.

I challenged myself to post everyday through Thanksgiving, on something that I'm grateful for. So far I'm averaging every other day... not too bad!

So here is my next grateful thought. I am grateful for this little tool - it is a free program I downloaded called PhotoScape!

This is the program that I use to make these fun little things:

And I can easily do a screen capture like this:
This is such a fun and pretty easy program to figure out! I haven't really needed to look for help or tutorials, I just kind of played around with it and figured it out. One thing I have learned (thank you Janet), this is VERY IMPORTANT to know when making collages, after you pull all of the pictures in, change the size to 300%. This way when turn your lovely blog into a book one day, the pictures will be a much better quality (you can read about and see Janet's book here). So I am very grateful to Janet who introduced me, a total stranger, to PhotoScape (I found the link way at the bottom of her blog). I am also grateful for the nice people at PhotoScape who share this program with all who want to use it!

Please note:
Janets blog is a whole lot of fun. But if you go there, you really should leave a comment. You'll have to read what she thinks about people who don't leave comments here (see #6). She puts it just perfectly... I'm starting to feel that "vulnerability" - I see many people who look at this blog, or my photo card blog (yes, I know you're there), yet never leave comments. Some days, one starts to feel like what you're writing is stupid, boring, lame-o, or what you've created isn't really all that great. Then one gets this thought in one's head "they don't like me!!!" ;) Luckily for me, my self esteem is not based on comments on my blogs. But a comment sure does make one smile! And it's nice to know that someone (even a perfect stranger) likes what you said or created! She says it so much better... go read it.

So, are you posting what you're grateful for too?

Seth.

Even though he is the most high maintenance two year old I've ever had, I love him to pieces. He tries my patience like no other. So I guess you could say he's teaching me a lot. He is an informant who needs to tell me of his every move and is the kid that says, "mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" (you get the picture right). He's persistent, independent, energetic, yet clingy. He loves him momma (that's me). You have to "work him" in just the right way so he feels like it was HIS idea... not moms. Reverse psychology works very well on him. Forcing him doesn't. He has cute little habits, like the way he caresses his skin with the ruffles of his "dee dee". And then in the wee hours of the morning, he'll come in my bed and try to caress my face the same way, which can be very irritating at 2 am! But if I think about it, and try to be patient, I recognize that it is an act of love. It is something that comforts him, and he is trying to give me that same sort of comfort and security. He loves his Bahpa and gahma. Bahpa is his very best friend. He is his shadow and loves to go to his house and hang out with bahpah. I'm am grateful for this little man. He was an angle baby right when I needed one... boy did I need one that year. And now he is difficult, yet loving. I love this picture of him. He looks so serene.

Think Giant.

Thank you to Monica for giving me a quick post idea.

I am thankful for my cousin Spencer. He is amazing. He lives in Utah (Salt Lake Valley) and has the cutest little family. He has his own company and does "Professional Wedding & Event Videography". He is one of the foremost reasons I got into all this digital design stuff, he introduced me to this whole aspect of my life - something that I LOVE doing now! I think it all began when I attended his little sisters wedding reception. There was this beautiful video playing of the bride and groom. It had pictures of them growing up, dating, and then there was footage of earlier that day when they were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. I remember just watching it and being in awe. That was like 7 or 8 years ago? I can't remember for sure! It was my first exposure to this kind of stuff. Shortly after when we in town, I watched a football film of his nephews football team and it was sooo awesome! The list goes on and on.

He is an award winning creative genius! He has such an artistic eye when filming events and weddings, and I love to watch his creations.

This is his blog. This is where he posts and I get inspired. He's got a slew of wedding films, bridal films, date films, sports films, you get it right? Go check it out and be inspired and jealous that you don't have something that captured your wedding day so beautifully! While you're there, you have got to watch one of my favorites... he posted this little personal film that he made of his 2nd born and I must say it is the most beautiful thing! It brings tears to my eyes every time I watch it. He captured that day in the most amazing way.

Be sure to check out the sports films as well. They are awesome to watch. He inspired me so much that I attempted to make one for Aaron's football team last year as well. I can't post the thing because it is 40 minutes long and a massive file size! Some day I will have to post my very first video I made. It is titled "The Snowman". Got to find the little thing first!

If you live in the Salt Lake Valley, you've got to have this guy create something for you! (By the way, if you're on Facebook, you can become a fan!)

My little cous is one person who inspires me in this digitally creative aspect of my life. Who inspires you?

ps - I'm going to attempt to do a daily GRATITUDE POST up until Thanksgiving. This will be an interesting challenge since I've barely been posting these past two months! I'll do the best I can!