merry christmas in reverse

christmas night, 7 worn out grands with damma and pop pop

LOOK AT THE CAMERA ^&$*&#*@!@!***

cute matching cousins

christmas morning all 7 grands FOCUS!!

christmas eve libs with granny

grandpa wayne and inder bellies

cousin oaklee, indie, and baby "macaroni"

the cutest darn grandpa in the world reading the christmas story from the bible

libs, baby sage (snaggle), chase the wiseman, gg, and havey baby

casey was the narrator for the nativity play and libby was mary!

i felt left out so i photgraphed myself during one of the carols, i wish you could hear how pretty i was singing!!

LISTEN TO ME!!!!!!!!!!

"for behold i bring you good tidings of great joy. . ."

angel buddies

christmas craft night

peace dude!

that's the best shot i got of the night, ahhhhhh!

hope you all had a grand christmas! love to you all! (all 2 of you that is) ((that wasn't meant to exclude anyone))  :)  if you didn't figure out by the title, i'm a super-struggler when it comes to computers, once i got half way done with this post, i realized i was not doing it chronologically! well, as miss ann says, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!!!! 

all she wants to do is dance!!!!!

the whole fam dam!

proud mama!

santa came at the end of the show!

we're getting there!?

jacee and libby working the camera!

sarah russo and brooke irvin my AMAZING presidents! 

bree and whitney, odc grads! beautiful girls!

so excited!!!!

crazy kids! kristen, whitney, ashley, sarah

my little kare-bear (kara hill) miss this one like crazy!

baby hill (ali)

"prince jake" keep your eye out for this guy, he's going to be famous!

backstage!

orem high school dance company (odc) christmas concert friday + dance showcase concert saturday  = hollie in chaos/crisis mode!  (nothing really new there)

both shows were awesome, so proud of ALL my dancers (especially one named liberty!)

ps i even edited the red-eye for the first time for this post, like i said, baby steps!!!

swords, mouths, sticks and stones

i have a friend who wrote this and it rang true in so many ways for me. i am guilty in so many ways.  i'm sorry for my sarcasm, i'm sorry for people i've hurt.  underneath my tough-girl attitude is a person who truly loves and cares about individual people as well as the masses!

thoughts by kim curtis:

"the sword of thy mouth"

there is an old saying that i have loved for many years.  i recognized it as something that was not only true, but also a wise reminder of the power of ones words.  the saying is,

"sticks and stones may break our bones. . . but words will break our hearts" 

i have thought back to the many people who have come in and out of my life. . . even those who passed by for only a brief moment.  each one, unique in their gifts and different from each other.  but still, everyone of them had one common gift, the sword of their mouths.  the power to defend, honor, lift and protect OR bruise, wound, or even slay.  how wise is the reminder to "think before you speak." 

if you think back on your life, i bet there are many remarks that you will remember, both good and bad.  they stay with us, they change us, they shape us.  most of the time, we don't know how we affect others and we may never see it with our eyes.  but we can rest assure that kindness ALWAYS wins.  it is a bright and shiny sword that can be used to bless and strengthen others.  to keep it hidden is such a waste and to use it to hurt or humiliate is a shame.

"out of the abundance of the heart. . . the mouth speaketh" (luke 6:45) our mouth speaks volumes about our hearts, i even believe it can reaveal ALL things.

so, my thought for the week, think before you speak.  lift your sword for good and be a blessing to all who come in contact with you.

back to hollie

 when i read these words i felt sucker-punched!   please forgive me for my biting tongue.  i'm usually just trying to get a laugh!  i will try harder but sometimes i feel like the snake who everyone knew when they picked it up! i am what i am, but change is possible, as obama has proven!!!  (now hurry and go buy your guns, see i can't help it) i thought this was a great message, especially this time of year when we can get caught up in the chaos the christmas season brings.  peace out! 

gni girl's night IN!

damma painted fingers and toes!

praise the lord i didn't genetically pass down my hammer toes!

joshy come home!!

we love our joshy kiss kiss!
and isn't it great that the pictures turned out miniature?! that's the beauty of blogging with me, you never know what's going to happen with the darn pics!

hmmmm which one?

my mom had two different angels to chose from for her christmas tree. one was homemade circa 1970, the other was super fancy, it was a toss up, but we ended up going vintage this year.

we're so cute!

flashback monday night!!! brit and peeps wedding reception, dec. 28, 2004 couldn't help it, they're so cute when they're not killing eachother.

r.i.p. mira aka mirna all dogs go to heaven, right?

thanksgiving

food comas!


cuz mckenna, me fake smiling, lizzy, and mashy bay


show and telling grandma and grandpa and mckenna my trip to japan. ber putting up with indie!


happy thanksgiving--dysfunctional style!!!