Secret Santa's

This was such a special experience for us to do service to someone in our Ward. With Ryan in the Elder's Quorum, we've been meaning to fellowship two couples in our ward who haven't been feeling very included or have made any friends. Ryan's favorite thing that you did during the Holiday's was the Reindeer Feed out of Muddy Buddies. Unfortunately, I made the first batch, and it disappeared!! They are just too good! I made another batch and also included a Sugar Cookie mix, cookie cutters, and sprinkles. My favorite memory during the Holiday's is making sugar cookies while listening to Christmas Music. We enjoyed this time to think of others and brighten their Christmas. We hope to make this a yearly tradition of celebrating your birthday as well as helping others feel the Spirit of Christmas. We truly are so blessed to have such wonderful parents (and in-laws) who support us and pray for us daily. We love you and are so grateful for everything you have done for us.

Our Little Angels

The Explanation:
This year for our family service project we decided to pick an angel off of the Salvation Army Angel Tree. We wanted to do something we knew Joshua could participate in and enjoy. We chose a 3 year old little boy, so we knew he and Joshua would probably like a lot of the same things! The picture above is Mom explaining to Joshua what we were going to do. (I would love to know what was going through that sweet little 2 year old brain of his at that moment!)



Joshua fought taking a nap that day and so this is what happened as soon as the car started moving!



Chase enjoyed the ride!
Our first stop: (one of my favorites!)

Chase was happy to be out of the car and eager to shop!


Joshua was not. We decided to just look around for a while until he woke up. He didn't wake up until we were ready to leave (however, Mike and I had perused the aisles and didn't see anything so we continued on our journey.)








Josh woke up in time for our next stop and had a little energizing snack as we walked into the store.
Our next stop:
Joshua checking out the toy aisle:
Chase holding the merchandise:
Mike explaining to Joshua why we couldn't open the toy he picked out. There were some tears a few minutes after this that I didn't catch on camera.
Joshua helped put the presents up on the belt and quickly forgot that they weren't for him when distracted by a box of colorful goldfish for a snack!
Joshua with the gifts he helped pick out. This little boy will end up with a Cars toy, a Magic Writer, and 2 shirts. Joshua picked out the blue shirt! After this picture we packed everything up and dropped it back off at the store. Overall, it was a great experience. I don't know how much Joshua understood, but when we told him it was time to put the toys in the bag for the little boy, he didn't even argue. We were glad that we were able to help make the holidays brighter for another little boy. Thanks Grandma for giving us the opportunity to do so! We love you so much and hope you have a Happy Happy Birthday!!!!

A Note about Pictures

I wanted to make sure we were clear on pictures and projects. Of course, there are service projects where it would not be appropriate to document with pictures. I had thought this in my head but didn't relay it to everyone and Ryan brought it up while we were talking this last week. We are supposed to do our alms in secret and this is why I have made this blog just for our family and maybe we need to go ahead and make it private. I didn't want to broadcast to anyone but our family the things we are doing. However, if there are certain things you can document with pictures go ahead, otherwise just tell about your projects and include of picture of you/your family! Good luck everyone!

A New Idea

We all know how difficult it is to buy presents for mom and dad! They are to the point in their lives where if they want something, they can just go get it. After a conversation with mom this past week, I asked her if she could give me any ideas for her birthday, to which she replied she didn't want any presents, but an act of service done by each family. When dad found out about her idea he wanted in as well! So, this is going to be our birthday blog from now on. When Mom and Dad's birthdays come around, we will be ready with service projects galore documented with stories and pictures. The projects don't have to cost any money, just be creative, have fun, and remember why you are doing them! It will be fun to add to this blog throughout the years. Here's to Mom and Dad whom we love so much!!!!