12 days of Christmas for Elder Jones

I decided to send Elder Jones a "12 Days of Christmas" package.  It was really fun wrapping all the gifts.  They were just little presents, but they turned out pretty cute (if you ask me)...  :)

 

My friend, Jana, taught me how to make these very cool Missionary Envelopes.  I made 12 of them...one for each day.

 



 

Inside each envelope, I placed a little card with a scripture printed on it.  Each envelope had a number on it, just like with the presents....

 

You get the idea, right?  Each day he gets to open a present (1st day, 2nd day, 3rd day, and so on) and reads the scripture with the corresponding number from the missionary envelope.

 



Here is a list of what I sent him...(present and scripture for each day).

 

12 days of Christmas for missionaries 

1.   2 Corinthians 11:1 "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly; and indeed bear with me."  (chocolate covered cinnamon bears)

 2.  3rd Nephi 12:6  "And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."  (capri sun)

 3.  Luke 9:24  "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it."  (life savers)

 4.  Proverbs 16:13  "Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right."  (blistex)

5.  Matthew 4:19  "And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  (sweedish fish)

 6.  D&C 121:9  "Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands."  (hand warmers)

 7.  D&C 105:35  "There has been a day of calling, but the time has come for a day of choosing; and let those be chosen that are worthy."  (extra gum)

 8.  Psalms 126:5  "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."  (tissues)

 9.  Alma 32:42   "And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet."  (M & M's)

 10. Psalms 18:8  "There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it."  (red hots)

 11. D&C 50:24  "That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."  (flashlight)

 12. 1 Thessalonians 5:24  "Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss."  (kisses)

 

 

Merry Christmas to my sweet missionary, Elder Jones!  We love you son!  :)

 



Temple Square 2013

 

We decided to take a trip to Temple Square with the Johnson clan, while Wendy and Anthony were in town.  Coincidentally, we chose the BUSIEST night to roam the grounds.  It was so crazy.  Still, the kids had fun...

 

Kyle, Jacob, and AJ

 

Most of the cousins...

Kyle, Josiah, Jacob, AJ, Moriah, Alexis, Caleb, and Joshie

 



Look at that smile!  Way to go Dallin!

 



 

Grandma Johnson and Melissa

 



 

 

The Siblings...

 

Wendy, Gina, Melissa, and Brad

 



 

 

Great "candid" shot of Riley!  I love this!  And there's Anthony in the background...Is there something on your mind, Anthony?  :)

 



Gina and Riley

 



 

Todd and Melissa

 



 

 

Brad and Michelle

 



 

We went to the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial building and was able to look out over Temple Square.  It was a beautiful view!

 



 

Oh Christmas Tree!

 



 

 

And then it was time to say goodbye to all the cousins.  It was a fun evening and a great Thanksgiving/Christmas weekend with everyone. 

 



 

And this is what happens when your son stays up WAY too late playing with all the cousins for several nights in a row...Jacob was zonked about 1/2 hour after we got home.  So cute!

 

 

Merry Christmas (almost)!



Thanksgiving 2013

 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

 

 But first a picture of Dallin, Kyle, and Brandon in front of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.  We went there the day before Thanksgiving to do some baptisms, since Kyle just turned 12...sadly, the temple was closed and just an hour before we got there.  Oh man!  We get points for trying though, right?

 

 

 

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year!  It was the Johnson's turn, so we figured out a way to get everyone downstairs...it actually worked out pretty well.

 

 

And are you noticing all the cute table decorations? 

 



Guess who put them all together?

 



Yep, you guessed it...Todd!  I bought some random things at the dollar store and just hoped they would all come together.  Todd surveyed the items and then went to work.  He did a great job!  (Or maybe it was just that I picked out wonderful things?)...hmmm, I wonder..

 

Also, we used the Air Hockey table for all the food.  It worked quite well...

 



 

 

Once we got seated, it was a little more crowded!

 



 

But the cousins didn't seem to mind...

 



 

 

Wendy and Anthony

 



 

 

Melissa and Todd

 



 

Michelle and Brad

 



Grandma Johnson

(I don't know why I didn't get a picture of her and grandpa together...frustrating!  And Gina was there too...where is her picture?)

 



After we ate dinner and cleaned up the basement, we went upstairs and had our family Christmas party.  A little crazy, I know.  But this is when Wendy and Anthony were here, so we decided to do it all at the same time.  We couldn't have our Christmas party without them.  It was tons of fun.  The adults, including Brandon and Riley, participated in a "White Elephant" exchange.  We got decent gifts for each other, but we played it "White Elephant" style.  It was really fun!

 

 

(Oh, there's Gina on the right and Riley on the left)...Everybody was there, except Eric of course.  And we definitely missed him...

 



 

 

The cousins had drawn names and the opened their presents too...

 





 

Oh, here's Grandpa...a close up even!  :)

 

 

We had a great time.  We ate early in the day, so those who had planned to go shopping could go around 6.  (Brad)  Ha!  :) 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  We really do have a lot to be thankful for!



A couple more ugly ties!

Here are a couple more ugly ties I sent to Eric last month. 

 

 

Horses and...buildings? 

 

 

And sailboats and...little houses?

Those are pretty ugly!  I don't know if Eric has had a chance to wear them yet, since he got hurt.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures again from him soon!  Until then...enjoy these! :)

Kyle turns 12! Happy Birthday son!

 

Kyle turned 12 years old on November 19th.  Oh my word!  How is it possible that this is my fourth child to pass the sacrament and move into Young Men's?  I am freaking out just a little bit.  Kyle was so excited to turn 12.  He could hardly wait.

 

He is totally into minecraft these days, (remember the Halloween post) which is a computer game that he plays way too much!  But of course, he got a minecraft shirt with a "creeper" on it.  Pretty creepy, eh?  :)  He also got a minecraft book, which tells all the secret moves and plays.  I didn't get a picture of that...duh!

 

 

Yes, I made that cake!  Pretty impressive, eh?  NOT!

 



 



 

Kyle had a good day and last Sunday he passed the sacrament for the first time. He did great and he was a little nervous.  I'm pretty sure every new deacon is afraid they are going to drop the tray...and actually, the parents are a little scared too!  :)

 

 We tried to take all the kids to the temple to do baptisms for the dead the day before Thanksgiving, but the temple was closed.  Bummer!  So, we'll have to try again soon for Kyle's first time.  We love you Kyle!  What a sweet young man you are growing up to be.  We are so proud of you! 

Happy Birthday son!