Christmas Letter 2009

Dear Friends & Family,

I hope this letter finds you well. Not much has changed this year but wanted to give you a little summary of our family...

This year Robert worked 3 months at the Grand Canyon and is now in Ft. Bliss, TX. He hates working away from home but we are grateful he still has a job in this tough economy. Thank goodness for cell phones and email so we can stay in close contact while he's away. He continues his schooling with online classes and is doing very well. He loves shooting in his spare time and had a successful elk hunt last month.

I continue to work for a doctor's office from home, doing medical filing online. I love the flexibility of being able to choose my own hours. I'm in my 8th year with Gold Canyon and have a team of 64 demonstrators. It is a busy hobby and social outlet for me. For fun, the last couple of months I've been attending Zumba classes. I didn't know it was exercise or I wouldn't have gone in the first place, but I had so much fun I can't bring myself to missing it. It's more of a party than a workout, an hour of modern & Latin aerobic dancing twice a week.

Keeley (11) is advancing in her piano lessons with Grandma Merrill. She is playing hymns and "The Entertainer" and sounds so beautiful. She started middle school this year and continues maturing into a sweet and thoughtful young lady. She loves babysitting and helping with her young cousins. I asked her what she enjoys besides Taylor Swift, texting and Twilight and she said "that pretty much covers it".

Devon (10) loves playing football with his friends. He also rides quads and goes paint balling for fun. In the spring he was a great baseball player and was chosen for the All Stars team. I asked what he wanted me to say he's been doing all year and he answered, "Rockin' out!" which is indeed the truth as he's been taking guitar lessons for about 8 months and sounds amazing. His favorite songs to play are 21 Guns, Enter Sandman and Crazy Train.

Cody (5) started kindergarten this year. He loves learning and practices writing letters and numbers. His favorite parts of school are getting to use the computer and finger painting with shaving cream. He likes to watch Spongebob Squarepants and play with cars and tractors and our new puppy. He loves games - Checkers, Connect 4, and playing on the computer.

Alayna (3) has been attending a preschool this year. She loves the crafts and friends there. She is a big help to Mommy with cooking and chores, particularly dishes and laundry. She likes to play dollies, Barbies and dress up like a princess. Her favorite color is pink and she makes us all smile daily.

Gunny is our new chocolate lab. He is 5 months old and we should have named him "Shredder" since that what he does to everything in our back yard. He loves to play ball and frisbee with the kids and go for weekend walks with Robert.

This month we are trying to center our thoughts upon the Savior through scriptures about His birth, by giving Him a special gift by trying to live the law of love, and listening to sacred Christmas music to help us remember Him. We are so very grateful for our bounteous blessings of health and strength, a beautiful home, having a family, and the love we share. We bear testimony of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer, that He lives and loves us. We hope this Christmas season will be a time of tenderness, peace, and love for all.

Sincerely yours,
The Didion Family

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Yah, I know we were cuter than scary this year. All the kids were happy with their costumes.... except for Keeley in this picture obviously. She got over it. Dev was a ?Clone Trooper (pardon my lack of Star Wars knowledge), Cody- Darth Vador, Alayna- Cinderella and Keeley a Heavenly Angel.... not. She palled around w/ a good friend that was the devil and ended up having a great time.

Daddy Daughter Prom

Last weekend we had a Daddy-Daughter Prom night for our achievement day girls. Nights like this make me love my calling. It was so fun to find an idea and see it come to pass. It was even more fun and more beautiful than I had envisioned. Everything turned out very well. Thank goodness for Fayith, she was the saving grace for this activity. She worked hard before, during and after - going above and beyond her calling to help make it wonderful.

The missionaries did the lights & ladders. They put up lights in a diamond shape above us, then icicle lights around the gold doors and across the stage front. It added a lovely ambiance to our special evening.

The decorations were a sweet success. Everything was hot pink and light pink and it was so pretty. Our centerpieces had a jeweled scepter and salt water taffies on a pink fabric square. Great big thanks to Amy for consultation and providing decorations.

The boutonnieres and corsages were crafted by the girls as an activity prior to our prom with the help and direction of Sisters Staggs and Thompson. Thank goodness for Sister Merrill's presence that night to help us pin everything on!

I didn't get a picture of the refreshment table, we served pink punch (of course) made from raspberry sherbet and sprite - and each of the girls brought a plate of cookies. We served in pink cups and pink plates & napkins. Everything was so pink and pretty!

This is just before the dads were arriving. I wish I could have captured the feeling and excitement as dads would come in those doors looking for their "dates". The dads all looked so very handsome - all in their Sunday best - most in suits. It was fun to see the macho guys holding hands and visiting with their little sweethearts.

Rewinding a little bit - every girl knows the best part of prom is the getting-beautiful part. It was no different for our pretty primary girls. The girls came early and we asked the young women to come fix hair -- and they didn't let us down! The smell of hair spray filled the air. There were lots of ringlets, twists, bobby pins, teasing and other beautifying going on. It was so fun!!! We planned 30 minutes but needed an hour for this. You should have seen the transformation in the girls - they stood taller and walked with more bounce after their salon sessions.

Barbie, Emma

Jessica, Keeley, Ashlyn

Madison, Taryn

Jessy, Ashlyn

Danielle, Rachel

Oops, I got caught kissin on the job!

I learned we need more lights for pictures. The flash wasn't enough, I'm so sad these are all so dark.

Melanie was our guest speaker at the end. She talked about how girls like to dress up like princesses and how special we feel when we put on a pretty dress and get our hair done nicely. She talked about how we really are daughters of a King and should try to remember every day. She read the words to the song "Daughter of a King" and passed out crowns to all of the fathers to crown their daughters.

We played a little game "Are You My Daughter?" Where the girls sat in a circle holding pillows in their laps and a blindfolded dad had to walk around and tap each girl and ask "Are you my daughter?" and they would answer yes or no in a disguised voice and the dad had to decide if it was really his daughter.

It was a cute game and the girls had fun trying to trick the dads. I couldn't believe how hard it was for the dads. One dad got it, one dad didn't and one dad had to go around the circle about 3 times before finally deciding.

I had another game but we didn't do it because I was worried about the time. We should have done it. It was based on the petal picking phrase "He loves me, he loves me not" and the girls would have stood in a line and gone one by one telling something about their father "He Loves It, He Loves It Not". Oh well. Next time.

Our dance instructors were my parents - taught basic dance etiquette - how to ask, to say "yes" how to hold each other and how to go back to your seats. Our music was Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. I couldn't get any good shots of the dancing because of the low lights. It was so cute to see all the dads walk to the daughters and ask for a dance, and all the sweet slow dancing and conversation between them. We had a "ladies choice" song for the girls to have a chance to ask. The last song was a fast one and it was so fun to have everyone - dads included - out on the dance floor.

Madison, Keeley, Katrina, Rebecca, Brooklyn
Danielle, Caroline, Ashlyn, Lorina, Emma

Pumpkin Patch 09

My mother-in-law is making a family tradition of going to the pumpkin pumpkin patch together each fall. This year Alayna, Cody and I were the only ones that could come from our family, and Gretchen's family and Jan. It was a warm, tiring day but we had so much fun!

We had to stop in the sunflower field for our picture. It's so beautiful! I love the huge, bright sunflowers there.

And I look so funny in this picture, what am I saying or doing? I think this is the pumpkin Cody decided on BEFORE the pumpkin he really decided on because ours is much bigger than this!

Except for me, this picture in the patch is the closest to a group picture - Dan is holding London
The hay ride is the best part if you ask me. Love riding in the breeze and looking at the beautiful fields of tomatoes, squash, peppers... and of course the huge pumpkin patch.
The kids love all the tractors and long trailers.
Alayna loved having a cousin to play with this year. She played a bit rough for Kytalin's liking.
Cody was such a strong, tough man. He pushed this heavy pumpkin in the awkward cart across the parking lot for us.
Happy Fall!!!

Apple Annie's

It's fall break and we needed something fun to do with cousins so we headed to Willcox to visit Apple Annie's orchard. It was beautiful weather and there were no crowds.

Grandma & the kids had a very fun time picking apples to fill the buckets and cart.

...except for Keeley. She was having a bit of a bad day...

I'm so glad Erin brought her kids to visit us. It made our fall break a hundred times the fun.

Shiner

THIS IS WHY YOUR CHILDREN SHOULDN'T SLEEP WITH YOU!!!

3pm -I can open it now. Purple on top and green on the bottom.

7am - This is as far as I can open it! Swollen shut!

Last night while I was sleeping I heard a rustle-rustle-clunk next to me. Part of Alayna's body had hit the wall at our heads and I thought she was rolling off Robert's side of the bed. I jumped up to help her and she was just laying there, nothing wrong, maybe the noise was just from kicking a blanket off or something. I laid my head back down and fell asleep as quickly as I had woke up. Then I felt a hard, heavy, quick WHACK across my left eyebrow. I think I have a high tolerance for pain and usually endure my children's blows in silence but this forced a loud "YOW!" out of my voice box. I cupped my hands to my forehead as if to hold it together. The pain was great enough to fully waken me and I laid grasping my head, wondering if I would soon feel the wetness blood gooshing out. It felt like a sharp enough whack to split me open but it didn't. I marvelled that Alayna still lay fast asleep without crying for whatever part of her just hit me. I was trying to figure out how this happened. How could she bonk my head with such incredible force while both of us were laying down? I also wondered if she had knocked me out when I was helping her not roll of the bed and if I was just barely "coming to". I felt my eye swelling under my hands. It seemed to swell out very quickly and my curiosity got the best of me so I got up to look in the mirror. It looked like I had pulled my eyelid over a golf ball! Maybe not a full golf ball size but somewhere between a gigantic grape and a golf ball. It took over an hour to fall back asleep and this morning when I got up my eye was still swollen, not protruding so much, but enough that I can't open it. I won't be able to wear my contacts today which means I can't wear my sunglasses to cover this bad boy up.

I remember being in Jr. High and wishing that I could get a really bad black eye. It sounded so cool and tough. I walked in front of the swings once at recess and got kicked in my eye, and even though it hurt pretty good it didn't hardly color. I put purple makeup on it the next day to enhance the bruise and make it look worse so I could show off for my schoolmates. Unfortunately my dream of a shiner is long past and this is the last thing I wanted to wear around this week!

Princess Party

A certain little beauty queen at our house had a recent birthday. It was a special day with lots of pink. Between conference sessions we had both sets of grandparents join us for sloppy joes, macaroni salad and pink lemonade.

Grandma Merrill made the dreamy pink Barbie cake.

She opened a few... okay I mean "many"... presents.

Barbie dolls, a Barbie horse, Barbie clothes, Barbie DVD... etc.

It was a happy 3rd birthday for our little princess!

Side note - we celebrated Sunday while Daddy was here. Then on Alayna's "real" birthday, she woke up and asked, "Is today my birthday?" Yes. "Where's the decorations? When is the party? Can I open more presents?" It was confusing for the poor little thing! Luckily, she got to go on a birthday date with G-ma Wiley, shopping and Chuck E. Cheese's to make it feel like a special day.

Airplane

Yesterday I was driving and this random memory popped in to my mind. It's silly, I don't know what prodded it to reveal itself but I thought it was sort of funny and decided to write it down.

It was my first plane ride. I was 14 bound for E.F.Y with Eldon, Tyson, Cami, Nathan and some others. For fun we decided to make puppets out of the barf bags to pass time. We all drew funny faces and the boys were disguising voices as the puppets spoke to each other. I finished mine and thrust my hand inside to join the fun - when I learned that someone had used my barf bag. Yes I stuck my hand inside of it and found a blob of a stranger's brown, chunky spew. Ew.

A Day

Today was just a day. The computer system at work was down so I had an unplanned day off. Amazingly, and completely out of the norm, there was absolutely nothing on my calendar, so it was really, truly a day off. It was a bit difficult to enjoy it because I knew that even though I was off the work was still piling on and when the computers are running again I'm going to be slammed. I realized what a slave I am to my job. It's a good job and I love it and very lucky to have it. But today I had a chance to remember what it was like before.

I got my shower and dressed before the kids went to school. I helped look for shoes and clean papers out of back packs and pour cereal and some of the other "normal" things the kids usually do for themselves when I am working. I caught up on my candle blog while Alayna was at preschool, it has been suffering so that felt good. I caught up all the laundry. I dusted my piano and played some of my favorite songs. I cleared off a very cluttered counter area that I don't usually get to. I watched Barbie and the Three Musketeers with Alayna and even sat through the "bloopers" and giggled at them with Cody. I crocheted. I cleaned off my desk. I sang. I played hopscotch and drew on the sidewalk with Alayna. I helped put the collar on the dog, scooped poop, fed and played with him (yuck). I accompanied Cody in feeding and watering the chickens, gathering eggs, and walked over to Uncle Larry's with him so Cody could show me his chickens and eggs. I watered the back yard. I did an extra load of dishes and helped Alayna put them away. I whistled. I swept. I took a nap. I made a "real" meal for the kids (I don't usually when Robert is working out of town) then I sat down and enjoyed it with them. I finished decorating for fall and I lit a yummy candle to top it off. I've planned a family home evening to make up for missing last night and I carried my great big Keeley in the house like a baby when she got bad stickers in her feet. I've wiped some tears, snuggled and hugged, laughed and played a little more today.

All this and still, throughout the day I found myself thinking, have I done any good in the world today? I kept feeling the urge to get out of my house to serve someone some how since today I didn't "have" to be here. I even racked my brain who I could do what for - and nothing came to mind. In the afternoon I finally realized the good I'm doing today is within the walls of my own home. It was really nice to spend some *extra* quality time with my children and in my home. I think I did do some good today, even if it was for myself. I needed a day and I'm glad this is where I am.

"No success can compensate for failure in the home" --David O. McKay -- I'll try to do better!

Apple Farm

Yesterday Alayna's preschool class had a field trip to the Suhr Apple Farm. It was a very sweet day. We all drove to the Sunsites area (out in the middle of nowhere) (beautiful nowhere) to Miss Angela's parent's house. Miss Angela, who I failed to capture on camera, is a very gentle, cheerful, patient woman. She let Alayna in the preschool even though she is still pretty young and the preschool was already pretty full. Miss Angela charges a pittance for the energy and time she expends. I love and appreciate her very much.

When we got there, I was impressed how seamlessly the activities were. Everything was planned perfectly. I was noticing because I used to teach preschool and mine was always so disjointed. This was fun and relaxed. We first gathered around a picnic table in the shade where Mrs. Suhr taught about apples and worms. She showed some rotten apples and yummy apples, and cut an apple sideways to show the star in the middle.

Yah, this is Cody. I let him ditch kindergarten for the day so he could join us. I could tell he was soaking everything up just a bit more than the preschoolers. He was in total awe and enjoyed every single moment. After Mrs. Suhr taught about apples, the children got to make apple prints with finger paints on craft bags.

While the bags dried, Miss Angela gathered the children in a circle to read a book about an apple farm. Then they formed a line to see a tractor like in the book. Each child had a chance to sit on the tractor and steer...

...and then we took a walk to the big chicken coop. There were about 50 chickens and roosters and all the kids got to feed them bread crumbs. There were beautiful roosters with big, fat, combs. All the children got a chance to hold a fresh brown egg.

Then we got to walk into the apple trees and pick our own apples. "Turn the eye to the sky". Cody really got into picking "real apples off real trees". He filled his bag, then dumped it in Alayna's and then went and filled his bag again.

When our bags were full we sat in the shade and enjoyed a picnic lunch together. It was a lovely morning of fun and a beautiful way to welcome fall!