We wish you a merry CHRISTMAS!

  Dear Readers,


a blur of our tree



   I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! We sure did. In fact, I'm quite reluctant to admit the celebration is over. I'm happy, though, to reminisce through this post.

Benjamin has been excited about
Epic Mickey all year.
It's a little less accessible than we have hoped for,
 but with a little teamwork he's doing great!

 

                                          . 

  Honestly, the whole month of December has been fantastic. Filled with wonderful Hallmark moments and decorated with Christmas cheer, this has been one amazing season. The boys were stars in Snoopy!The musical. Benjamin made the audience hoot with lines he made up! Mason sang a solo about how Snoopy didn't love him any more (he was Charlie Brown), and made many eyes shed a tear.
    Cate was in the Nutcracker this week, and was the cutest mouse and snowflake ever!    Here's some of my favorite parts of Christmas:
1. Mom and Dad took me out to eat last week just us, and that was really amazing. I also got to sneak in Cate's week by spending some time with Mom while Cate practiced.
  2. Benjamin, Mason ,and I were so blessed in that we were  able to give 13 small farm animals, a custom fit wheelchair, life-saving medicine, 4 Bibles, and 100 dollars to help sexually exploited girls to World Vision.
 3.  I worked really hard on a cross-stitched apron for Mom, and seeing her open it was a gift to me.
     One more - I got a camera for Christmas! A lot of these photos are from my camera! I think Mom is as excited as I am - I won't use hers all the time!


  So, we had a really amazing Christmas. And now we are going to Jacksonville for MSU's bowl game! Whoo hoo! I will blog later with lots of pictures and a review of the book "Oogy." Mom and Dad gave me this book about a dog who was injured in a dog fight and now has special needs, and I would love to share with you! And while I'm at it, I might share a story out of my "Sister Freaks' book from Uncle Len.

I recently learned we've been renting my sax and violin for so long
we own them! I had an early Christmas gift.

 Don't you love Christmas?

  Your Blogger,

  Claire

 P.S. Scroll down for a picture of our gingerbread house - we've started a tradition that is now my favorite! Even though it's not perfect, we had  a blast making it and the gingerbread snowmen appreciate Dad's engineering advice, I'm sure!

                                         





Santa brought lots of goodies for Cate!

    


Another one of my favorite things - making this  wonderfully unperfect gingerbread house!



Gifting

Dear Readers,
 I love Christmas! The smells, the weather, the music, family, the celebration of our Savior's birth, and yes - gifts. Well, as much as I love giving and recieving gifts - I should really say THE GIFT. Christmas never fails to bring out a cheeriness in most, have you noticed?  People world-wide might believe their feeling of joy is relief in a break from school or work. Or maybe a warm cup of hot choclate or new puppy fills their heart with cheer. All these things are great, but I know the secret to good cheer at Christmas. I know why the cashier seems more perky in December than the rest of the year. Are you ready? It's -
 
                             JESUS
    Yep. Somehow, we tend to forget the HOPE and JOY and GRACE  God has blessed us with. I mean, for me, it's always in the back of my head, but when school has me stressed and I blow up at every one I see (not that this ever happens) , I'm not exactly thinking "Gee, God gave up so much for me, I could at least be nice to my poor brothers."  But at Christmas, it seems I'm compelled to hug my brothers and that bomb inside me seems to turn into a sugary batch of Christmas cookies. Ahh...I'm sure everyone around me (and you, too if I had to bet.) would rather have me  acutely aware of the love of our Savior all year - not just in December.  That will be my new year's resolution, I think.

 Merry Christmas, to all of you! Your Blogger,
                                                 Claire
By the way, I sat down to blog about my piano and violin recital, but God gave me these words instead.
 Look for that soon!

Noel in ASL





Dear Readers,

This weekend was absolutely wonderful. My wonderful  family ran all over town for me on Saturday and didn't complain once. Thank you so much all of you - you're so supportive!

After violin rehearsal,  we ran home and drove to Rosson House for Arizona Friends in Sign. We were

 signing  there in the morning and at Glendale Glitters that night.




Aren't they adorable?!







  My friend, Jamie, and I signed Frosty the Snowman as a duet. It was amazing... 

 



I'm signing "Sleigh"



I joined AZ Friends in Sign because ever since I met a girl in my third grade class who was Deaf, I have loved sign language and had a desire to serve the Deaf. This group has been really great for me to have a part in, and I love it. Our group goes to nursing homes, girl scout meetings, the fair, and others. We go to teach people who want to learn sign language and to increase the public's awareness of ASL and Deafness, as well as to reach out to the Deaf Community.  How many of you, my wonderful Readers, know sign language? It is really such a wonderful skill to have and truly a gift to give to others.

  Before I let you go, let me say one quick thing. One of my mom's friends has a Deaf friend. One day my mom's friend asked his Deaf Friend what his dreams were. He said "In my dreams, everyone signs."

  They made that dream come true on the television show Sesame Street, why can't we make it true???

  Your Blogger, (who would love to teach all of you sign language)

Claire

Arizona Friends in Sign