Silent Night -- Crazy Day

The day before Christmas started out with Ross going to his last day of work.

He took some gifts to the staff and turned in his keys and computer.


Thus end 36 1/2 years of employment with LDS Family Services.

And then we celebrated Christmas Eve
The family that live in town came for our traditional dinner
but this is a time when we miss have the rest of the family with us.

We ate,
(Heather note the vinyl on the wall)

and we ate,

and we ate.

And then we celebrated the birth of Christ

with our own version of the nativity.

Marissa was the narator.

The kings (Clint and Dave) are still in the east.

Hailey was our angel.

Becca was Mary and Rupert Shane was baby Jesus

(Caleb was a king but came early to visit)

He has had a cold and has found a way to save on tissues.

Zachary was Joseph

Mitchell was our sheep.

Mason was the perfect the shepherd.

Following our magnificent production and singing of carols,

we had chocolate cake and the choice of egg nog, sparkling cider or sprite.

And then every one left and it was just the old folks at home.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Happy Birthday Ross

Yesterday was Ross's birthday.

Every other year he has received at least one new white shirt.

Now that he doesn't have to wear a clean white shirt every day to work,

he got a new set of sweats and a windbreaker for his walks.

Here he is talking to one of the kids on his big day.

Wirkus Christmas Party

Sunday night we went to the Wirkus Home for their annual -- much anticipated and much loved--Christmas party. We ate German food, read the Christmas story and sang songs. Mostly we just enjoyed being in their home and visiting.

Andy, Janice, Paul, Emma, Phil, Tim, Jessi

Ahlstrom Family:
Marta, John, Camille, Annie, Sam and Hannah

The Sorensens:

Clint, Caleb, Becca and Mitchell

And the Clement family

Dave, Marissa, Hailey, Darci, Mason and Zachary

(Maybe Dave had too much to eat!)

Ross and Susan were in attendance but they were the picture takers not the takees.

Gingerbread House

Alex, Ben, Grandpa and Grandma made a gingerbread house.

It was hard to not eat all the decorations.

Snowed In

We are currently in Portland playing with Alex and Ben.

Steve and Heather have run away for the weekend.

We had planned to go to church today--but

everything is cancelled due to the snow!!!!

This is not Utah!

Tis the Season

Friday afternoon Ross and I went to the Festival of Trees.

It is truly amazing to see the variety of displays.

Saturday morning Hailey was baptized.

Dave dressed (in)appropriately for the occasion.

And then he repented.

Hailey looked like a little angel

A Thanksgiving Tale

Over the river and through the woods

to their grandparents house they came.

They ate

And they ate

And they ate

Then Grandpa washed the dishes

While the boys watched tv

Till they saw a promo for a movie -- and left!

Then the children could have quiet time

Before the shopping plans began.

The end of the story--

till the

traditional turkey and cranberry sandwiches Friday morning.

Best Husband Ever

Obviously there is not much going on at our house

if this is all we have to tell!

One morning Ross got up quite early and not wanting to wake me

put on his shoes to go get the paper without turning the light on.

What a guy!!!

This and That

This is a new project for the newly retired and his daughter.

A piano duet!!!! That is Zachary in the very first pile of leaves with
many, many, many yet to come!

It's a Done Deal!

It is official. Ross has retired. This is picture at his openhouse held Oct 31. What a wonderful experience. This a picture with Scott and Lynne Peterson. Ross and Scott worked together when Ross was in Provo.

More Fun

Here is a pictoral recap of the past week.

Last weekend I went with Jeri, Shelley and Deb down to Jeri's new home in Fairfield, Utah -- about 3 hours away. We had a great time giggling and watching movies. The Albrechts have a beautiful new home down there. They will use it as a retreat until Karl retires.

Last Monday night we had Family Home Evening at our home. We had a small pumpkin harvest -- just enough for each of the children to have one. We had them draw numbers to get their pumpkins and then the parents helped with the carving. Here is Mitchell's first reaction to pulling out the pulp and seeds.
Somehow Calab ended up with the largest pumpkin! We had quite the variety. After pumpkin carving we made spudnut donuts rolled in sugar. After everyone went home Ross and I swept and mopped the floors -- pumpkin pulp and sugar all over the place!

On Thursday Ross and Susan drove to Idaho. While we were there we took a ride up to the Teton Valley. This is a view of the Tetons from the Cache Clawson Cemetary. We also stopped at the Victor Emporium and had Iron-port with Cherry drinks.

Grandpa Wirkus and Ross visiting at the cemetary. The weather was incredible.

We also took a ride out to Roberts. This is the Clement homestead.

Emily Jenkins Murray and her five children came to see Grandpa Wirkus while we were there. Grandpa took them all for a ride in his trailer.

Susan followed along behind the trailer on a bicycle that Grandpa Wirkus found in the dumpster.

Then we did an archeological dig and found names carved in the cement step of the playhouse. There was also a date showing that the cement was poured on 16 May 1953.

Maryan, Susan and Annette were the only children when the playhouse was built.

Then we found the same names and foot and handprints on the cement in front of the fireplace.

This shows that the fireplace cement was poured on 25 April 1953.

The footprints and handprints don't show up quite as well.

Now we are home again.

Ross goes back to work for a couple of weeks and then retirement officially begins!!