Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday. We are healthy and happy and had a great time spending Christmas with our family. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandpa and Grandma's for dinner (pizza, yeah grandma for doing an easy one), and our traditional nativity. We don't have the attention span for reading the scriptures so we just dress all of the kids up and sing the nativity song from the primary book. This year Mark, Melissa and Wesley Roberts were visiting from Texas and staying at Grandma's for a couple of weeks. The girls (Reah, Lara and Mel)were home for the night too and with our family and Trent, Jenny, and kids it was a houseful. Then we came home and got ready for Santa's visit. The girls almost spent the entire night in their beds but not quite. When we woke up this morning at 8:30 (yeah girls!) we were pleased to find that Santa had made it. The girls got a haul of baby dolls, clothes, dress ups, a table & chairs, food and dishes for their kitchen, art supplies and backpacks. Daddy got new scriptures with type big enough to read and a new briefcase to take all of his stuff to church in and mom got a new Kodak printer. Then we went back to Grandma's house for breakfast and to see what all of the cousins got. Wes got a Wii and I had fun trying it out for him. . . That is so on my list for santa next year, right after the new camera I want that costs about a thousand dollars. I guess I'll have to be really good or win the lottery next year. The girls got new dresses and coats that Grandma made them and I can't wait to dress them up. They are awesome. I'll post pictures after church on Sunday. I am thinking of having professional pics taken just because they are so cute. Then we went to St. George to visit with the Lindberg clan. We met at Shannon and Ferris' and opened even more presents. Our girls are spoiled! Grandma Lindberg had way too much fun shopping for little girls clothes at Osh Kosh. They loved all of their new things and Aunt Shannon gave them new baby dolls which they loved. Mike and Kristin came too and it was fun to visit with them for the afternoon. There was snow on the ground so we went to play in it. They both loved it and Anya had to do this funny little grunt everytime she threw a snowball or got hit by a snowball. There is a lot of snow on the mountains around us and I am hoping to talk everyone into a visit to Utah Hill tomorrow to play. We came home and crashed in front of the TV to watch "Kung Fu Panda" with daddy because he didn't get to see it in the theater with us. We loved it as much this time as we did when we first saw it. And already the day is over and both girls are in their own bed, hopefully for the night. We have stayed up way too late again but hey, no work tomorrow! Thank you to all of our family and friends! You wonderful people that we are surrounded by that made this one of the best Christmas' ever. I can't believe it is over already and hope that I can keep the spirit of Christmas alive in our home for the entire year. Love you!

Snow Blessings

Yesterday they called it a snow day and no one in Clark County had to go to school. It was an answer to my prayers for two reasons. First, my sitter had surgery on Wednesday and my mom couldn't watch my kids either and Gary was supposed to work. The snow day made it so that I didn't need a sitter. Second, I got to go to Danna's preschool Christmas party. I had forgotten all about it until Wednesday night and was bummed that I was going to miss it. In the end it all worked out so that I got to go. I have been able to make it to all of her fun events this year and it has been a blessing.

Girls' Day out

Monday the girls spent the day with Ryan and Amanda and had a ball. I was so excited for them to be able to spend the day with their brother and sis-in-law. Ryan and Amanda survived the day too. They went to St. George and went Christmas shopping for gifts for Gary and me (yeah! what sweet children we have!), lunch at Applebee's (Yes, Ryan, Anya is a piggie girl), and to see a movie. They didn't get home until 6:30 in the evening and I got to have a nap!!!! What a wonderful gift to me. Here are some pictures of their adventure.

Busy Weekend

Christmas came early at our house this weekend when our brothers came to visit. Ryan and Amanda came from CA Friday evening and Mike and Kristin joined us on Saturday afternoon. We had fun visiting and eating and having family gatherings. Sunday after church Grandpa and Grandma Lindberg, Grandpa and Grandma Reber and Aunt Shannon, Shaun, Melysa and Nikole came for dinner. Because we were all together and it wasn't someone's wedding we had Aunt Shannon take pictures of us. I'll post them later. They turned out awesome! Everyone was a good sport and wore white shirts and jeans because I asked them too! We had such a good evening visiting and catching up. It was the first time the boys really had a chance to share mission experiences and they all had a good time Saturday night staying up playing games while the babies and old people went to bed. Today Ryan and Amanda are taking the girls for a day full of fun. I am so excited for them. I think they are going to see the movie "Bolt" and maybe Christmas shopping. I told them to take their time because I would love to go home and take a nap. I am getting so old!

Christmas Letter 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
It is time again to reflect on the past year and think about all of the wonderful things that have happened and all the growth we have made. It has been a very busy year and one that will have wonderful memories for us forever.
The year began with a fun trip to Disneyland for Christy, Danna and Anya with their friends the Kizerians. Gary stayed home and enjoyed the peace and quiet and got homework done. The trip was a lot of fun. The girls loved visiting with the Princesses and riding the rocket ride. All too soon it was time to go home and for mom to go back to work.
In March Gary had a trip of his own to Ecuador to pick Michael up from his mission. We hadn’t been able to send him to get Ryan and very much wanted him to have the experience of visiting one of his son’s missions. (Maybe someday we’ll be able to go visit the West Indies with Ryan!) It was an exciting trip with visits to families Mike had worked with, getting wet after standing under a tree filled with Iguana’s (use your imagination), missed flights and 1:00 am arrival times. We were glad to have them both safe and sound. We turned around two weeks later and made a trip to CA for Ryan and Amanda’s marriage in the LA temple. What a great trip! Much of our family made the trip as well and we had a wonderful time celebrating their marriage and are excited to have Amanda in our family.
Michael didn’t waste any time after his mission and we had another wedding at the end of May when Mike and Kristin were married in the St. George temple. What a wonderful experience to have both boys back from their missions and married in the temple. We had a great time visiting with family again and have enjoyed having Mike and Kristin so close as they have made their home in St. George while Mike goes to school.
Summer quickly came and went with a trip to CA to visit Ryan and Amanda and taking Gary to Disneyland so he could enjoy the girls and their excitement. Ryan and Amanda spent one day with us and it was a lot of fun although it was the hottest day ever with 100 degree heat and 98 percent humidity. We survived even though daddy wasn’t too happy about it. Danna wants to go back and asks about it almost every day. As soon as daddy is finished with his homework it is back to Disneyland for the Lindberg family.
Fall returned and Christy began her second year teaching at VVHS in Mesquite. She got a new principal, Mr. Wilson, who was Gary’s boss last year at Mack Lyon and she has enjoyed this year greatly. Mr. Wilson is a lot of fun and makes life exciting with his community feeds, fun activities and student support. It is exactly the kind of place every teacher dreams of working in. Gary continues to work on his degree although the program he was working with has finished. He is picking up days here and there in Mesquite to sub but keeps busy doing his homework and keeping the house running.
Danna and Anya have a new babysitter this year and love going to the Clevenger’s every day. In fact they often ask to go on Saturdays. Shane, Jen and the boys are just like a second family and have been a great blessing! It is comforting to know that the girls are loved and well cared for. When we left Vegas we tried to get Tutu to come with us but she was too attached to her own grandchildren to leave. In the Clevenger’s we have found the next best thing and feel very grateful to Heavenly Father for inspiring them to move to Beaver Dam. We look forward to building friendships with them and other families that we have met in our Littlefield Ward.
I am sure that this letter could go on and on with all of the fun adventures and wonderful experiences we have had this year but we must let you go. Please remember that we love you all and are grateful to have such wonderful support in our lives. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and look forward to sharing a Happy New Year with you all!
The Lindberg Family
Gary, Christy, Danna and Anya

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Slacker

It's been over a month since I last blogged and I keep thinking of things I need to blog about. So, I hope I can get caught up tonight. First, Thanksgiving was wonderful! All of Gary's siblings, his parents and most of his neices and nephews came to our house for Thanksgiving. I had never hosted Thanksgiving so I was a little nervous but things went well. Michele and her family stayed at out house which was a wonderful excuse to clean house and get organized. I was so thrilled with the way it cleaned up that I took pictures. Almost every room in my house was clean at the same time and I promise that doesn't happen often. I even called my mom so that I would have witnesses. (I must admit here that Gary did most of the work while I was at school. He is wonderful!)
Thanksgiving day was a lot of fun visiting with family and eating all of the wonderful food. I especially loved Greg's Corn Thang. Maybe I will share the recipe later. Friday morning instead of going shopping with all of the money none of us have we hung around Littlefield and let the city kids ride horses. Cassie and Jessie were thrilled! They are both horse fanatics but have never ridden a horse before. They kept saying that it was the best day of their lives.
Friday afternoon tragedy struck when Anya was running down the street in front of the house. She tripped and shattered one of her front teeth. So that afternoon was spent running to the dentist, who was a sweetheart and opened the office just for her. So now, she is a toothless girl. It didn't stop us from taking pictures Saturday of her and Danna in their Halloween costumes. They were so cut I just had to get pictures of them and Michele is a wonder with the camera. I wanted to get pictures of them in their Christmas dresses too but they had enough of pictures after the Halloween costumes. Then we went to St. George to visit and do a little shopping.
Sunday morning, early, all of our company left, and cleaned the basement before they went. I told Greg that now I am afraid to visit them in CA because he spent all of his time here cleaning my house. Michele even cleaned my fridge! They are wonderful company and Danna misses them terrible. She is already planning for when they can come again. I vote Easter break! The weather will be nice and we can go exploring!

Too Much Cinderella

Tonight Danna was playing with a pink fairy wand that was supposed to go to the Halloween costume I was going to wear. She turned and looked at me and said, "Bibbity Bobbity Boo. . . I'll turn you into a pumpkin." Later she turned her dad into a prince and when I complained she agreed to turn me into a princess. Do you think she has watched too much Cinderella? Unfortunately the past two days it has been "Nanny McPhee" and the evidence of that was seen at dinner tonight. Check out the movie if you don't know what I mean. Our kitchen greatly resembled the kitchen when they were going to boil the baby. Spaghetti everywhere! No more movies here. At least none tonight!

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The Best Birthday Ever

Today I am another year older. I would tell you how old but it really starts to freak me out now, especially because I have two little kids and most of the people my age are seeing their kids graduate from High School. What can I say, I'm a late bloomer. I have been thinking today about what a great birthday it has been. I have everything I ever wanted, a wonderful husband who is kind and considerate of me and my feelings, two beautiful daughters who bring me more joy and happiness that I ever imagined was possible, a nice house and a good job that can pay the bills. This week I have been given an great gift. I have gotten to play stay at home mom with my kids. It started yesterday because Anya had to go to the Dr. and I wanted to take her in instead of Gary having to do it. I don't know, it's a mom thing. So I called in sick and had Gary as my sub. (An awesome perk, having a hubbie who is a substitute teacher.) So I got to take Danna and Tag to pre-school, dropping them off at 9 and picking them up 11. A job that regularly goes to my wonderful sis-in-law Jenny. Danna was so cute, "You come pick me up mom?" Yep! "You give me kiss by mom." Of course! It's the little things that she and I miss. After preschool I deposited Danna and her friend at the babysitter, Tag at home and ran Anya into the Dr. Yes, she has strep too. I knew that was coming because Danna tested poss. for it last week and the Dr. wouldn't give me meds for Anya at the same time. Oh well, home again to pick up Danna. Stopped at Grandma's to visit and decided that I wanted to stay home for the rest of the week. (Only 3 days as Fri is off for NV day and hello! built in sub.) Gary agreed to it so I am going to enjoy it. Anyway, this morning, day two of the stay at home mom thing. . . Got the girls up dressed and fed for much of the same routine although no Dr. appt but trip to St. George with Grandma to visit the Aunties, Reah, Lara and Mel and have lunch for the b-day. On the way out the door I couldn't resist taking pics of my beautiful Halloween girls. . . I must admit they are very cute and I am loving this little break from reality. My house is still not clean and there are many projects that I should be working on but I did get to make cute treats for Danna's Halloween party tomorrow and will even get to dress up with her and attend. I may not be able to be there all of the time but when I am there it is going to be GOOD!

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Be Safe

For the past two days my school has been participating in the "Every 15 minutes" program. For those of you who don't know what it is about the premise is that every 15 minutes someone in the US is killed or injured because of alchohol. Yesterday morning the grim reaper claimed 28 students at VVHS. Later the entire school witnessed a rescue call for a drunk driving accident in front of our school. In the "accident" were five of those kids who had already been pulled out of class. It was hard to watch students who I know pulled from the wreckage of the cars. One of them was field sobriety tested and then arrested for drunk driving. On was taken away in a body bag by the local morticians and corriner (sp) while three others were taken to the local hospital in ambulances where one of them later "died". Today was the culmination activity where we held a mock funeral for all of those who "died" yesterday. We watched the footage of yesterday's event. It was all filmed and put into a news report format. We heard from a mother who lost her only child to a drunk driver five years ago and from our principal whose life has been greatly impacted by drunk driving in his life and who obviously cares about the students of this school. At this point My head hurts from crying so much and all I can say to my students as they leave my class is to be safe this weekend. I am so grateful for this little valley where life is sometimes so crazy but where I know everyone puts the lives of our children at the forefront. So my wish for all of you, all of my friends and family to please be safe. I don't every want to witness these events in real life.

New movie based on great book.

I love movies that are based on great teen liturature. I read this book several years ago and enjoyed it. I read it again the week and still loved it. I can't wait to see the movie.

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Daddy Taught Me

At dinner Friday night daddy was teaching Anya what a pig says. . . Then Danna had to get into the action too. It was so funny I had to get a video of it. I hope it works.

Busy Weekend Doing Nothing

Well, not really nothing. . . just nothing all that productive. Saturday daddy needed to get some homework done and that never goes very well with all us girls around so we went to Grandma and Grandpa Reber's to hang out for the day. We watched movies and played outside and sewed princess dresses for Clarissa's birthday party (and Halloween.) Danna loves dressing up as a princess and Anya hates it. This should be interresting. Then daddy came down and had dinner with us and helped us take tubbies. Then he went home for more homework and we snuggled up on Grandma's couch and watched a movie. Finally daddy came and helped us home and we slept in our own beds. Sunday was church of course and then Mike and Kristen came down for dinner and a visit. It was nice to see them as it had been awhile since we had gotten to chat. Kristin is working at Target now and Mike is working for Washington County School District, Target and going to school full time. He is thinking of being a special education teacher. He is excited about getting his schooling started. We are proud of him for thinking thing through and figuring out what will best provide for him and his family.

Danna Doing Homework

After Danna did her homework we had to take a picture of her with it on the fridge. She thought I was being excessive and just wanted to go to bed. Then Anya wanted to get in on the action too. She is getting tired of Danna getting to do everything without her.
This cute picture of Danna on her first day of preschool. She was so excited to go and take her backpack with her. Such a cute girl.

Danna's first homework

Today Danna started her early childhood pre-school class. Daddy took her and momma helped her with her homework. The assignment was to draw a picture of herself. She had a lot of fun doing it. She knew that she had brown hair and brown eyes and pink lips. On her shirt she had Cinderella (blue), Sleeping Beauty (pink) and Belle (yellow). She is a very smart girl.

2 Weeks In

It's two weeks into the new school year and this is what I have learned so far. . . Don't get excited about your schedule. . . it will probably change by the end of the day. We are going through lots of changes at VVHS. Schedule changes are pretty typical at the begining of the school year but this year has been excessive. I was pretty excited for a couple of days because I had 7th and 8th periods off but I think when I go back to school tomorrow I will have 1st and 7th off. Because I am not sure I can't be late even though I really want to be just to prove a point. . .
I have also learned that I have an amazing husband. Last weekend was the Jensen Reunion on Kolob mountain. Somehow while we were there I really messed up my back. I couldn't do anything but lie flat so it was really good that we had taken the monster van. We decided Sunday that there was no point in staying up there because I wasn't getting any better so Gary packed us up and we came home. Monday I spent taking muscle relaxers and anti inflamatories on a regular basis and lying on the bed watching tv and reading to the girls. By Tuesday I could at least stand and it has gotten better every day although I still get "frozen" up if I sit for too long. This whole week Gary has picked up the slack. He has worked really hard to stay on top of the laundry and has been the go to for both of the girls because I have been too afraid to lift them. He is wonderful! And his reward for it. . . He has caught the girls' cold and is now feeling under the weather. Poor guy. Maybe I'll get ambitious tomorrow after work and make him home made chicken noodle soup. We can always dream!

The new year has begun. . .

So, It was back to school for mom (Christy) this week. Teachers returned on Wednesday and the students will return tomorrow. The good news is that VVHS has a new Principal, Mr. Wilson, this year and he is making life exciting and a lot more fun. I look forward to working with him this year. Gary worked with him last year in Moapa and loved it and Mr. Wilson really liked him. He is working on finding Gary a long term sub job for the year as we found out last week that he won't be able to do his student teaching until next summer. Anyway, it looks like our summer is over too soon but we had lots of fun. We went to Disneyland with Ryan and Amanda in June and had a blast even though it was the hottest day of the year. We stayed overnight with Uncle Greg and Aunt Michele where Aunt Michele taught us how to eat the top off the chocolate covered donuts. (mom says thanks Aunt Michele) For the fourth of July we went to Mesquite and stayed at the Oasis with Grandpa and Grandma Lindberg and the Emery's swimming and watching the fireworks. We worked on getting our house more organized and mom even had time to work on scrapbooks. We spent a lot of time going to the pool with friends and loved swimming a lot. Anya thinks she can walk all the way across the pool without drowning and keeps testing her theory. Before next summer she will have swimming lessons. All in all we feel very blessed to have had such a wonderful time together.

Long Couple of Days

It has been a couple of sad days here in Littlefield. Sunday we got to church and noticed that a lot of our family was missing. Brother Layton started sacrament meeting and announced that our cousin Arica Stats had lost her baby that morning. Tayler Ann was four months old and a beautiful baby. She went to bed healthy and happy and didn't wake up the next morning. It has been a trying time for my Uncle Jeff, Aunt Vicky, Arika and her kids and Nikell and her family. It has also brought back a lot of memeories for my extended family of when my sister Danna passed away. It has been hard to think of things to do to show them all our love. I asked today for some pictures of Tayler so that I could make her mom something to keep close and remember her by. This afternoon Aunt Vickie brought up her camera with a lot of pictures of Tayler and her family and I am going to put together a scrapbook for Arika and her kids. Hopefully they will be able to look at the pictures and remember what a beautiful addition she was and will always be to their family. Hug each other close. Remember to tell each other of your love and remember we here in Littlefield love you all.

false start

Okay, I had every intention of starting the blog clear back in April but somehow life got in the way and I got frustrated with the posting pictures thing. In the meantime we have had a super busy, but fun summer. Mike and Kristin got married in the St. George Temple on May 31. Gary and I took the girls to Disneyland in June. We celebrated Danna's 3rd birthday in July as well as me going to girls camp for a week and Danna and Taggert being in a performing arts preschool for 2 weeks. August came and went way to fast and now we are getting ready to go back to work. I hate the thought of leaving the girls but we have wonderful friends who are babysitting them for us this year and they are not allowed to move ever, or at least until the girls both graduate from high school. I am commiting myself, once again to keeping up with the blog in order to keep friends and family in touch with what we are doing in our lives or at least keeping track of it for myself. And, my goal for the week is to figure out how to add pictures. . . I know . . . I'm lame. More to Come. I promise.

Ryan and Amanda's Wedding

Last weekend we made a quick trip to California for Ryan and Amanda's wedding and it was awesome. We stayed Friday night in the LA temple appartments along with Grandpa and Grandma Reber, Trent, Jenny and kids (Tanner, Taggert, and Whitley). (As well as Ryan and Mike's friends Harvey and Kyla) Saturday morning we got up and hung around until it was time for the wedding. Mike's fiance Kristin was a lifesaver and came to watch all of the kids (Danna, Anya, Tanner, Taggert and Whitley) while we went to the wedding. (I don't know what we will do next month when Mike and Kristin get married.) The wedding was beautiful and it was fun to finally meet Amanda's parents. Afterwards we waited patiently for Ryan and Amanda to make their grand entrance and took pictures. Then we rested for awhile before making the trip to Simi Valley for the reception which was beautiful. Amanda and her parents had transformed the recreation hall into a wonderland. The colors of electric blue, fushia pink and lime green were awesome and everyone had a great time visiting and dancing. I even got Gary to dance with me. Our girls loved the dancing part most of all and having Uncle Anthony and Aunt Alysia to wait on them hand and foot. Too soon it was time to clean up and go to the hotel in Simi Valley. The next morning we went to the Ronald Regan Presidential Library with the Reber's and Grandma and Grandpa Lindberg before making the long trip home. It was a quick trip and hard on us all but a lot of fun and we are looking forward to everyone coming this direction next month for Mike and Kristin's wedding.