december 2009

i have had so much to post throughout the month of december that i have just put it off. the kids have been out of school the whole month of december - which we ALL just LOVE! it has been a fun-filled month without much stress & primarily FUN on the agenda. we did so many things & had alot of good ole' family time eating, playing games, eating, watching movies, eating, reading stories, eating, did i say eating???? LOL i thought i better do a quick post to wrap up 2009 ...

the month started of, with keegan's baptism. it was a great day & we are so very proud of her. i did a slideshow of her from when she was born up until she turned 8 - it was so fun to do. i went through thousands of photos & reminisced - narrowed it down to 300 photos of her. we did not end up showing it so i guess i'll just have a head start on it for when she gets married (which will be in 30 years if her dad has anything to do with it!) here are some pics of keegan in her baptism dress doesn't she look like an angel?!





steve reading christmas stories to the kids. my sister-in-law gave us years ago a compilation of christmas stories to read - 1 a day for the month of december. we don't read 1 a day (life is just too crazy for that) but we do read them in clusters throughout the month.



we did candy jars for some of the manufacturer's offices that we work with & some of our most favorite neighbors. they were really fun to make & was unbelievable at how much candy we needed to fill al the jars. we had to make several candy runs as we needed more of this & that. but no worries, we still had enough candy left over so the entire dredge family stayed on a sugar high for at least a week.





we went to grandma & grandpa dredges on christmas eve & was glad to get some pictures of them with the kids. we don't see them very often, so when we do it is really nice!



the kids on christmas morning. crew is not pictured because he peacefully slept until 8 am christmas morning & the rest of us were up at 5am. we were all sad to not have crew during the christmas morning chaos but we sacrificed so he could get his beauty sleep - hahaha




christmas afternoon we all headed up to salt lake city mission - this is where they provided dinner for all the homeless in the salt lake area. they shuttled people in from many of the half-way houses & shelters. we had bought some hooded, zippered sweatshirts & took them down to give them to those in need. we were there for about 2 hours & what an eye opener it was. jake LOVED every minute of it. he talked to everyone & wished them a merry christmas as he gace away the sweatshirts. keegan was shy & scared - wondered why we had to give all 150 of the sweatshirts away ourselves (she wanted to just put them on a table & leave). brock was a litle freaked out (not sure if it was becausehe was so out of his element or if was the lack of sleep) but as long as he had a cookie in his hand he was ok. crew loved it! he loves people & action -there were plenty of both. steve & i were surprised a little at what a rough crowd it was & were very glad for the opportunity we had. obviously, no pictures from that event but we will always remember the experience as part of our christmas day.



i LOVE this ... a little background. i always send out a holiday greeting to my customers. i am very aware that not everyone celebrates christmas so i have always sent a message like the one above.

EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. i get emails from customers telling me they are offended because i do not beleive in christ, i have taken christ out of christmas, i am compromising "christmas", etc. it seriously, totally stresses me out. i always feel like i can't even do a little gesture with nothing but good intentions without someone being offended. i wanted to send this
BUT.
did not have the nerve to send it - maybe next year - LOL!

Another holiday season is upon us. Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.
AND.
MERRY CHRISTMAS - i believe in JESUS CHRIST!

we did not do christmas cards this year for family & friends - we did thanksgiving cards. and i really liked having it crossed off my list before december. steve had to comment that it didn't matter WHEN i did something, it was always a day later than when i wanted it done. so true! the cards were mailed the day before thanksgiving - LOL! one of these days, i will just accept the fact that i thrive on the adrenaline of getting things done in the nick of time :)

we closed the year with festivities that included food, family & fun. my mom & sister & her little family came over for a fun night eating, playing games, eating, laughing, eating, visiting with family, & did i say eating?? speaking of eating, i am DONE. just the thought of eating makes me weazy - i am ready... more on that in my next 2010 post. we brought the new year in as a family (minus crew - he was getting more of that beauty sleep :) i got a really funny video of the kids celebrating with their sparkling cider but not sure how to put it here ... i'll work on it?! hoping that the blog isn't as neglected in 2010 as it has been these last several months.

anyway... goodbye 2009. you were fabulous. but we are going to move on to a even better 2010!