The Best Birthday Party Ever

This past Saturday, Takyra had her 8th birthday party. She invited two friends and they went to my salon and got pampered, then we went to Red Robin to eat, then we got lost. Literally. We were supposed to go see a play in Castle Rock. Well, the play was not where the website said it would be. I called back to the house and mom said she saw that it is supposed to be at the Douglas county fairgrounds. I pulled in to the parking lot of the fairgrounds and there was a long line...of grown men. Somehow I didn't think this was the play. I asked the most descent looking man passing by what was going on. "Cage fighting!" Umm, not the best idea for an 8-yr-old's birthdya party. I was at wits end. I was ready to bawl. the only thing that kept the girls' sanity is the DVD player I was smart enough to bring to tie up their time in the car. After asking about 4 people where the play might be held, I decided to try the street I had been up about twenty times that night. I know 4th street in Castle Rock all too well. I finally confessed to the girls I was lost and that we may not make it to the play. Luckily we had over an hour start getting there. we used up most of the time trying to find it. The girls were good sports and realized I was frustrated. But I really wanted them to see this play. I went to the corner coffee shop on 4th street and asked the two customers and the two workers all at once if they knew of the play. One of the workers knew. Amen! Praise the Lord! there are good people around during the hectic holidays. I had been on the right street, it was just blocked by a big hill with a railroad track running right through. The roads were all being redone and it was crazy, yet simple if you knew the area. So we made it in time.
The play was perfect. We saw "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." The girl who played Gladys Herdman was too cute and she was so serious about her part. The girl had to be no older than 6 and she kept the meanest look on her face. She was the angle of the Lord in the pageant and gladys believed the angel of the Lord must have had super powers, so she said "SHAZAM, I bring you good tidings of great joy!!!" Then it got to the part where Imogene Herdman finally realized how precious that baby, born so many years ago, was. I got chills up and down my spine. I cried. It was beautiful. Silly in all the right spots and then the true meaning of Christmas touches you so deeply. It is a children's book, but I recommend any adult read it. The girls loved the play. Their favorites and mine were Imogene and Gladys. Takyra loved her party and I would gladly do it again in a heartbeat.

Brrrrrrrrrr!

It is COLD! Sunday we went to cut down our Christmas tree. We went up to North Fork around noon and the temperature was already freezing. We figured out how easy it is for people to get lost in the mountains. Dad and I would walk and walk looking up at trees rather than down at the ground to make sure we were walking a straight line. We would find a tree, but felt there might be a better one if we just kept walking. Mom and Takyra were tagging behind. We finally found one we all liked, but dad kept on walking. He finally came back and we cut down our tree.
On the way back home, we stopped in Conifer at this huge sledding hill. There were about 40 people sledding, snowboarding, and tubing. Takyra and I walked quite a ways to get to the hill and by the time we got to the top we were miserable. It was so cold our faces were frozen. We sled down the hill and it was so much fun. It was a long run so we picked up speed and went a long ways. I think we went down about 5 times and on the last time Takyra wanted to ride in back of me, because she didn't like the snow hitting her in the face. It stung so bad when that snow blew up on our cheeks. Even though she had fun sledding, she was miserable from the cold.
The last few days have been freezing. Yesterday we hit 8 degrees for about 30 minutes then it went back down. This morning we are at -5. Brrrr! I love the cold, but the wind can be brutal and makes it not so fun. I'm hoping we get some good, wet snow so we can make snow bears. Stay warm and enjoy the cold!

Okie Holiday

Last week was a lot of fun in Oklahoma! Too bad it was a short trip and I spent most of it in the bathroom... doing hair!! What were you thinking? Ewww! I like that I got to make everyone beautiful, I just wish I would have had more time to enjoy everyone's company without looking at the back of their head.
The cousins have lost it! When I say "it" I mean their ability to stay up into the wee hours laughing hysterically. The last couple of times I have gone back we have turned in earlier than ever before. We played Cranium and Jennifer and I were doomed fromthe beginning. You have two women who never picked up a book in their younger years and the reading we do now, we probably don't understand half of it. Trivia is not my thing. Oh and yes, I mouthed the word "pig" to Jennifer for "pig in a blanket." It slipped, I was frustrated, but no one knew...until now. Cari and Sarah beat us. What does that tell you?
I enjoyed seeing the kids all getting along as well as that many 8-yr-olds could. Even better, the bond that Takyra and Brandon seem to have on these visits. Yes, that can mean trouble at times, but it was nice to see that each of them had something in common with another that helped them all come together as a group.
It was good to see everyone, even if only for about 30 minutes (Brad and Vikki).
Cari, I'm sorry, but I had to do it. Okay, I'm not sorry. This was too fun to pass up. Your fun with this wierd hat thingy was good entertainment for the whole group. Our livers are very healthy now!
I hope the next time I come to OKC I have time to enjoy the stay and maybe even go see some places I haven't seen in awhile or at all.

Gymnastics

Takyra had her first Friday night gymnastics class in the Blue level. She had so much fun. She loves that it is two hours long now. She loves to be at the gym. tonight she was doing front and back handsprings and back flips. Here is a picture I caught while she was taking a private lesson to get ready for the next level. Yeah hand stand on the vault!!!

Feel the Love

Well, I have just read Tarisa's and Cari's blogs. Wow! First of all, let's put some happy in this blog. It snowed here a couple of weeks ago and I caught a great picture of Takyra and Boomer. She was so happy to get to play out in the snow and I let Boomer out front to join her. Boomer loves to catch snowballs in his mouth. It is way better than his regular chew toys being thrown to him. My babies are so cute!!!
Second, if you see Sky High, the movie, one of the characters is from our church. His younger brother used to be Takyra's "boyfriend" Ben. Both Aaron and Ben Leddick are out in L.A. pursuing acting and producing careers. Aaron was recently offered a role for a film, but he did not agree with the content, as it went against his Christian values, and turned it down. Yea them!
As for the whole Christmas hoopla! Does Target have religious cards in their card section? Just food for thought. I know Walmart has Christian products. I was looking at keychains the other day and there was a whole section of keychains with religious sayings. Yea Walmart! Yes, I have bought my daughter Christmas presents. Yes, one came from Target. ( Hey it was cheap). So, why not shop at the Christian stores? Give them your business. I have received several emails from different people about all the things we Christians need to be "shouting" about. I remember the rally we went to as a youth group boycotting abortion. It was at the Oklahoma State Capitol Building, and we all had our sweatshirts with all the facts about unborn fetus' that make them human. Across from our rally, on the opposite corner were supporters of abortion, yelling and screaming. I know we were celebratory in our cause to fight abortion, but I don't remember standing up there yelling out and screaming my point of view to win the cause. In my last entry I commented on the strengths of people who have so many obstacles in their life, and yet they continue to give God all the glory. They aren't shouting their beliefs of "PRAISE GOD EVEN WHEN YOU ARE IN YOUR DARKEST MOMENTS!!!" They are peaceful examples of how we as Christians should live our lives. When you walk into the mall, do you like to be bombarded by sales people? "Buy this!" "Try this, you'll love it!" Don't we like the people who are respectful of our space and then find the opportune time to approach us and make a pitch? My point, yes, we need to act as Christians and get this country and the rest of the world back to the basics of God. BUT, if we start parading and shouting, we are going to turn more people away. There is a time for everything. Petition, petition, petition.
Regardless of what the Democrats of this nation think. I am honored to have a president who has such great morals and religious beliefs. I am not terribly worried about the atheists of the world while he is in office because I know he will not allow God to be taken out of our nation. Yes, we need to assure ourselves that once he is out of office the next president will not ban religious beliefs altogether.
Atheists need to place their money in their wallets face up and not turn the bills over(coins face down, I think). They can ask that their children be allowed to hold their ears during the pledge of allegiance at school. Guess what! The children of atheists probably don't mind saying the Pledge of Allegiance with the word God in it. We as Christians need to educate our children that not all people have the same beliefs as us, and that we are not wrong for our beliefs being different from theirs.
I love that there are still so many people who praise God. There are still so many more who need to know what the celebration is all about.