Home is Where You Hang Your Heart, Merry Christmas 2008.

Cookies and Milk of Deliciousness

So, sit back, grab some cookies and milk and get ready cuz you're in for the long hall. This whole blog thing is strange because I find myself having the incredible urge to blog about everything I come in contact with... Like, that actual twin-sized bed complete with pillow and blanket I found in the bathroom in the BYU ROTC building, and dumb boys who think it's really macho to wear shorts in 20 degree, snow dampened weather, having fun without a date on Friday night, and other random quarblings of my mind. Well, I took 2 weeks to post about Christmas, so unfortunately you won't be favored with the in depth details of my opinions on those subjects, my deepest apologies.

Dos Familias

For those of you who may not know me as well as others, my family situation is unique, and as you may guess, effects my Christmas times on many different levels. When I was 17, I made the decision to move out of my house where I was living with my mom and brother to finish out High School in the Tuft Family home. There, I had the privilege of being brought up with one of my best friends, who is now no less than my sister, and trusted church leaders. Little did I know, they would eventually become a second family to me. The Tuft family has been a saving grace in my life and has modeled for me what a loving, happy family situation can look like. So, who says that your home has to be where you are directly linked to another member by blood or marriage? Whomever does is sadly mistaken. My home is found where I am surrounded by people I love dearly, and who return the same sentiments.

Sub for Santa

Anyway, this Christmas was full of chocolate, laughs, babies, and shopping! I loved every minute :) First was probably my favorite experience of the season: Sub for Santa. I am a sucker for service and children, so the two combined makes for a tingly, warm feeling all over. I work for APX Alarm in Provo, UT, and the company is LOADED. The good news is, they love to give back to the community. They decided this year to shoot for a goal of $50,000 raised to help less fortunate children have a better Christmas. With APX matching every dollar we donated, we raised over $100,000 to spend on the kids! 75 families from Utah Valley, 65 all over the United States, and another 75 in Canada!

So, we shopped, and shopped and shopped. We were all assigned two kids each. Then we wrapped:

I had two kids from Lincoln Elementary School in Salt Lake City. The school is located in the same area as the homeless shelter and the IRC (International Rescue Committee) Headquarters for refugees, so all of the children came from low income homes.

Here is a pile of presents! Times that by four and that's how many presents we bought! The entire gym was filled :)

Here is another pile... They each got their own sack:)

Here are all my coworkers and me playing Santa Claus... APX for life!

We were able to go the next night to deliver the presents to the different families, and it was an amazing experience. About 2 weeks later, we made the trek to SLC to watch the Lincoln Elementary School kids open their gifts. There was a huge assembly for each grade level where we put thier gift bag in front of them and watched them squeal as they opened up presents:

These are the kindergarteners. The little girl with the glasses and striped sweater was stinkin cute.

By the time we got to about 4th grade, I was beaming. I had really experienced firsthand what "a universe in every heart" meant through each one of those beautiful children. There was a little girl in particular who was a refugee from Africa. Since the children were in great need of clothing, each of them were supposed to have received at least one item of clothing. I watched this little girl open her gifts, and was sad to see that she didn't get any clothes which she clearly needed. The bank that ran the "Christmas Wishes" program for the school brought extra gifts for situations like that. I went over to the stage and got a pretty cream sweater to give to the girl, and found out later that Bobby, our photographer took a picture! She was beaming:

That's me with the ponytail and the black shirt, and she is the one in the purple. Isn't she so beautiful?

I sure did get lucky to work for a company who takes so much care to help others. I wish everyone could have been there to experience the feeling that came from seeing the faces of those children light up that entire gym. I have decided to make Sub for Santa a family tradition from here on out, you should too!

Christmas, Arizona Style

So, I went home to Arizona to spend my fourth Christmas with the Tuft Family, and it was full of mad fun times. Gini is the oldest sister in the family, and one of the best moms I have ever known. She has seven kids, with one more on the way-- woohoo! The boys love to dance for me, so it was one of the first things we did when I got there:

The twins showing off the moves they learned from Uncle Nathaniel. Hyrum on the top, and Jarom on the bottom, and Pumpkin is watching next to Hyrum.



...And Hayden and Blue all snuggled up watching the fun!

Christmas Eve

Tradition in the Tuft Family is Asian food on Christmas Eve since 3 of the 6 husbands went on their missions to Asian lands :) It's always delicious. This year was no different. Also, the new tradition has been to switch off years doing talent show one year, and nativity story the next. Thank goodness this year was the Nativity... it's always easier because I don't have to do anything! This year was special too, because we welcomed little Cutler Clawson Tuft into the family, son of Heber and Helen Tuft:

Here's pretty Rachel with little baby Cutler. Is he not so handsome?



Sisters

The brightest star and the cutest sheep. Tate and Dixon in all their glory.



The whole lot of em, minus Kenzie :( Blue just wouldn't have the sheep dog costume!

Later, we played outside, and then headed to Rachel and Nathaniel's for movie night :)

There we are! Gotta love those timer pictures...

Christmas Day was next, and was loads of fun. I was with Gini's kids when they opened up their presents on Christmas morning which is always so fun!

Blue would not let go of his cars... they had to be IN his hands or else... :)

A few days later, we went to do a re-creation of the Polar Express. We all drove about 3 hours to Williams, AZ to take a train ride at night all dressed up in our PJ's just like in the story. It was so fun to see all of the families there, and to see all of the kids get so excited! Heck, I was excited!

All huddled up in the cold!



Quinnelly and me on the train :)

Santa came around personally and gave bells to everyone, just like in the story. Here is Kenzie with her bell from Santa, and Gini with Blue who loves his bell!

There were some more pictures that were taken with the other 9 family cameras that I will post later...

Well, friends, I hope those cookies and milk hit the spot! Moral of the long story is, family is wonderful. Everyone deserves to be a part of a loving family setting, even if they aren't related by blood. To sum it up in the famous words of the Beatles, love, love, love, love is all you need.