I love Christmas! The Christmas trees, the gift giving, the lights, the songs. It's all magical, and I love it! This year for Christmas, Scott and I decided to give our neighbors a framed picture of Jesus Christ, a Book of Mormon, and our written testimonies. They have been wonderful friends to us for several years. We love them. After writing our testimonies down, I felt prompted to share them with more than just our neighbors -- I wanted to share them with anyone who reads my blog (which is basically our family). What better time to share our testimonies of Christ than at Christmas? So here are Scott's and my testimonies that we shared with our good neighbors. May we all remember the reason for the season. Merry Christmas!!

SHANNON

I was raised in the LDS faith by two wonderful parents, and from a young age, I gained a firm belief of who our Father in Heaven was, who Jesus Christ was, and who I was -- a child of God. But then a period of my life came where I lost that faith, not just of my religion, but of all religion. I began to doubt even myself and my divine nature. I came to a point where I had to know, one way or another, whether Jesus Christ lived or not, whether there was a purpose to my existence or not, and if the faith I had as a child was true. I began to pray. My first prayer at this point in my life was very difficult. I felt silly kneeling down and speaking to a God I did not know even existed. But I was willing to try because my desire to know was strong. My answer did not come with that first prayer. But I continued to pray daily, and I also read the scriptures daily. One day as I was praying, I felt very warm inside, like someone was hugging me tightly with so much love. As I sat there crying, I knew Heavenly Father had spoken to me. I didn't have all my questions answered, but I knew Heavenly Father was real and He loved me.

I believe in the power of personal revelation and that each person can receive direct communication from Heavenly Father in their effort to find truth. I believe Heavenly Father knows each of us personally and that He loves us individually. I believe each of us on Earth is a child of God. I believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I believe there is also a prophet on Earth today, and his name is Thomas S. Monson. I believe the Holy Bible is the word of God. I also believe the Book of Mormon is true, and it is the word of God. This book truly testifies of Jesus Christ and His divinity. I believe families can be -- and are meant to be -- together forever when they are sealed together with the proper authority in one of the Lord's holy temples. I believe in our Savior, Jesus Christ, that He was born in a lowly stable, and that angels appeared on Earth to proclaim His birth. I believe He was the Son of God, that he lived a perfect life, and most especially, that He suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for each of us, individually, so that each of us could repent of our sins and someday return again to live with our Father in Heaven and be as He is. I have felt my Heavenly Father speak peace and truth to my heart many times. I know He is real.

SCOTT

Because of the love I feel towards you and the feelings I have about the gospel of Jesus Christ, I want to share them with you. First off, I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He lived and died so that I can repent and be forgiven for mistakes that I have made and for ones that I will continue to make. I know that He wants us to try to be better and so we have a church that helps us do that. I know that the authority to act in God's name (the Priesthood) is real and can only be found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. With that authority we can be blessed, baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. I know that with that authority we can also be married (sealed) for time and all eternity. I have prayed about Joseph Smith being a prophet and I have felt the truthfulness of that. Through those feelings, I can say that I know Joseph Smith is and was a prophet of God. God's church and priesthood were restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. I have read the Book of Mormon many times and I have prayed about its truthfulness as well. I know the Book of Mormon is other scripture from our Heavenly Father. I continue to read and pray, and I continue to feel that I am going in the right path. Thank you for letting me share these most precious feelings of mine with you.

It was Wally's birthday last Saturday, December 10. It was his first "friend" party and I have to say I think it was a success. He was so excited for it. He talked about it every day for like three weeks beforehand. The kids and I made a pinata! It was the first pinata I've ever done on my own. It took all week because you have to let it completely dry in between stages, but it was really pretty easy to do. Messy, yes, but no longer intimidating. Growing up, we always did a pinata for part of our Christmas Eve celebration, but it has been quite awhile since I have been home for Christmas. And as I said, I have never done one all on my own, so I was nervous about it. (Although I would have never admitted it to Scott) But it was a huge success and I took pictures! I think we were all pretty proud of it. It is a bumblebee, just in case you couldn't tell. It held up pretty well. The kids all had fun whamming it.

After it was all over for the next several days, Wally kept saying, "I'm so big. I'm already four. I'm four now, huh?" Scott and I have unintentionally taught our children to say "huh" after everything they say. I think we started saying because we wanted verification that our children were listening. Now the whole family does it all the time. A little buggy sometimes, but it's a habit I bet we won't soon break. And we only have to blame ourselves. Have you ever noticed all of your children's bad habits can be linked directly to yourself? That's how I feel...

Anyway, Good Times!! It was fun to do Wally's birthday this year. I have kind of forgotten it the past few years with Christmas and all, but this time we went all out for his birthday and he had a ball. The Spiderman costume is his gift from Scott and me. My sister in law Meghan has one for her kids, and Wally is always wearing it whenever he goes over there, so we got him his very own!! He LOVES it. I have pictures of him sleeping in it. He went Christmas caroling in it. And he wanted very much to wear it to church, but we have to draw the line somewhere. It's fun to give something that is so much appreciated. :) Sure love my little ones.

Halloween is over!! I had fun; I always have fun coming up with costumes and carving pumpkins (Scott's least favorite part I think). Here are pictures of all my little creatures this year!! Erin was a witch. Zach was Two-Face (from Batman). Wally was a dragon. Richie was a spider. And Russell was a bunch of grapes (which Scott commented was maybe a little feminine). I am also posting a picture of our pumpkins that we worked so hard on this year. I am not very artistically talented, but I love it. It is so much fun creating something and looking at it afterwards all finished. So maybe my little Zach does get some of his love of art from me. (Every day, he comes to me and asks, "Mom, can I be crafty?" Which means he wants to make crafts, but I'm never quite sure how to answer that one.) Anyway, that's why I love carving pumpkins! Can you guess which child designed which pumpkin?

But I feel especially glad this year that Halloween is over. Maybe it's because I have such a new little baby. Maybe it's because I'm not quite feeling good enough yet to be tromping all over town with my husband and five kids for hours on end, everyone eating candy to the point that these same kids are bouncing off the walls and I feel like throwing up, and then coming home to try to find some way to entice them to go to sleep. I also think I came down with some bug that night. All day yesterday I still felt achy and tired.

Today is better though! The kids are dressed, I am even SHOWERED and ready before noon, my Thanksgiving wreath is on my door and my Halloween decorations put away, and I may even get to that mountain of laundry on my bed. I just feel excited for Thanksgiving. I was thinking this morning that I think Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the cool weather outside but no kind of obligation to go out and stay in it until I'm sick. Thanksgiving season to me is perfect... crisp cold biting the air, beautiful fall colors, drinking hot cider or hot chocolate bundled up in a blanket. And then the actual holiday! Lots of family, lots of food, lots of love and fun, but without the stress and financial strain of Christmas. Don't get me wrong -- I love Christmas! Scott has laid down the law that I can't play my Christmas music while he's at home until after Thanksgiving... but I play it plenty when he's not here!! :) I love LOVE Christmas music and the wonderful feeling in the air. Thanksgiving gives me that same wonderful feeling, but without all the commercialism. I just really feel relief that Halloween is over and I can rest a little, and excited for the wonderful Thanksgiving season!! In conclusion, I am going to sing you all one of my favorite songs that I think will put us all in the right mood....

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,

Jack Frost nipping at your nose,

Yuletide carols being sung..."

Ok, ok, honey. I'll give it a few more weeks. :)

Baby Russell came into the world on Monday, October 10th! He was beautiful and healthy, and BIG! He was 9 lbs. 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. A little chunk. Did I mention he was beautiful? I know I shouldn't say that about my little boy, but he is just such a pretty baby. Pretty, pretty, pretty!!! He is a good sleeper during the day. :) My mom has been here for a week and has been such an amazing help. She leaves tomorrow morning. My kids have fallen in love with her all over again, like they do every time. I think the whole family is going to cry for a week when she leaves. I wish she lived closer, but it is really wonderful that she came to stay. I sure appreciate and love my mom!!

The other kids adore Russell. No jealousy so far, even from Richie. They gather around him and coo and talk to him in baby voices. Wally and Erin are always asking to hold him. Zach and Richie just like to sit and pet his head softly. They are so sweet to him. He is such a good baby, very even-tempered. Without the baby monitor, I can't even hear him crying. I'm sure he'll build up his lungs in this loud household though.

Today is my due date. I am excited for State Tennis this weekend, but sitting here this morning with my huge belly... I can't bend over. I can hardly sit down. Or stand up. My back hurts and so does my stomach. My feet are disgusting and swollen. Mostly I am just tired of feeling so HUGE. Ugh. I am not excited to go through labor and recovery. I finally packed my hospital bag today and remembering what is going to happen... does not make me happy. BUT I am still ready to be done being pregnant. I want to exercise and be skinny again! Part of me definitely wishes this baby would come today. It is my due date after all. We will see if I make it til Monday. FIVE MORE DAYS LITTLE RUSSELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's almost time....

I went to pick up Wally from pre-school today at my friend Trish's house. He left the house before me and ran outside to get in the car. When I followed him out, I heard him yell to me in a panic, "Mom, Richie is DEAD!!!" I have to admit my heart skipped a beat when I heard this. I checked and Richie was still just sound asleep, apparently oblivious to all the yelling and pushing and who knows what else Wally was doing to try to wake him up. I showed this to Wally, and he was greatly relieved. Laughing, he told me, "Oh, that was funny."

I totally forgot I haven't blogged anything about Erin's baptism!! My sweet little baby girl, Erin, was BAPTIZED this last Saturday, Sept. 24. I still can't believe she is old enough for this. Scott and I took turns crying through the whole thing. (Don't tell him I tattled on him) We could feel the Spirit so strong. Erin has such a sweet, tender heart and a clear testimony. I am so grateful to be her mother. She teaches me I think way more than I teach her. She was so beautiful in her white dress. My mom made her this dress. She did such an amazing job with it!! Everyone commented on it. It was a very happy, special day.