A wonderful day set aside to remember and commemorate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
He is the reason for this blessed season.

Too often we forget, what the true meaning of Christmas is.
Too often we forget, that it is better to give than to receive.
May we remember the Son of God and His life on this joyous Christmas Day.
May we make sweet memories with our loved ones to cherish always.
May we be aware of those less fortunate than us, so we can help brighten their day, too.

Have a spiritually, wonderful, and memorable day this Christmas of 2008!

I'm not a U of U fan by any means. They are the rival of BYU and I'm a true blue BYU fan. But, I'm going to be cheering for them in the upcoming Sugar Bowl because they have a new sticker, released Saturday, on their helmets.

Christmas is my favorite time of year! I love the sights, the sounds, the smells and the feeling of Giving that comes into peoples' hearts! This year I've had a tougher time getting into the spirit of Christmas. It was harder to decorate the inside of the house. It was harder to put up the lights outside. I almost didn't even put up a tree! I'm sure that it is because we will not have Michael, Kim and Sage here because they are waiting patiently for the arrival of our new grandbaby! We also won't have David, because as you all know, he is at the MTC. And to make it even harder, Scott and Steven both have to work that day! Yep! It could be a lonely Christmas around here! (Hopefully, it will be a low call day for service for both of them, so I'll see them some!)

Well, with Christmas fast approaching, I've slowly gotten the house decorated with my 23 (I think..) nativities of all sizes and shapes (mostly small!), put out some of the Stuffed Christmas animals, put up the family stockings, decorated a small tree, and put out the 27 candles..(A tradition we started our first Christmas, and add to each year! Hey, if the lights go out, we are set! OH, NO! I just realized we haven't bought one this year! Better do that in the next day or two!) I also went outside, went up on the roof and put the lights up there, as well as on the front of the house and in the front yard. I also have been listening to Christmas Carols almost every day since before Thanksgiving! (I started that early so David could feel a little Christmas at our house. I just lost the momentum for the rest, until these last few days!) I even got most of the Christmas cards out, just no "traditional" Scott Allred Family poem this year! This year, the usual traditions at our house, have just been harder!

But fortunately, the making of candies this year was one of the best I have had! A dear friend came and we became a "See's" candy store all afternoon. Caramels, fudge, toffee, peanut butter balls, "mounds" candy, and chocolate covered pretzels with candy cane pieces started multiplying on my counter!
It was a wonderfully "sugary" afternoon visiting and working away!

And....... it will be a "sweet" memory of this Christmas season!

As I have accomplished each of our yearly traditions, even though some felt like chores, I have begun to feel like it truly is beginning to feel like Christmas! I have been reminded that Christmas no matter where your loved ones are, is still Christmas. Christmas is what you have and feel in your heart. It is the time to remember the best gift that we could ever have received, the gift of our Savior, who because of His atonement gave each of us eternal life. Christmas is about Him. He is the reason for the season. He is the reason, my family, even though we're not going to be together this year, can be together for eternity! He is the reason to find Joy this Christmas season.

From my family to each of you:
WE WISH ALL OF YOU A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

EDITOR NOTE: A couple of My favorite Christmas songs this year:
"Mary, Did you know?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhmaHR1CRik
"Christmas Shoes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNsvE33pRSw&feature=related

"ALL MY BAGS ARE PACKED, I'M READY TO GO!" We made a quick trip to Utah and to the MTC to drop off "Elder Allred"!
It was great to have our whole family together for a few days. We even were able to do a temple session in the Provo Temple with our family. (We missed Kim, as she needed to stay home with Sage, but the rest of us were there.) It was so great to be in the temple with Scott and our three boys. What a special occasion for us. We also went to Thanksgiving Point to check out the light display and to see the reindeer. It was a lot of fun, but very cold! Another highlight, of course, was "Kneaders-All you can eat French Toast"! It is the best french toast there is!
As for Elder David Allred, he did great at the MTC and was one of the first ones out the door when it was time to separate from the family! I am so proud of him and the choice that he has made to be a servant of the Lord 24/7! I love that he is wearing the name of the Savior on his chest and better yet, his heart. If each of us were like that, our lives would be so much better! I'm truly going to miss him, but I am extremely grateful that I can say that I am his mom! He is such a wonderful young man! Go FORTH AND SERVE, ELDER ALLRED! The people in the Washington Spokane Mission are lucky to have you!

DAVID'S LAST HURRAH'S BEFORE BEING A MISSIONARY: On the Friday night before David was set apart as a missionary, we had a get together with his "buddies". They had a homemade pizza/soda and an "extreme "x-Box" night! My living room had 3 televisions, and 3 X-boxes, as they all played a game against each other. I couldn't believe how many cords were going across the frontroom floor. They all had fun and David enjoyed being able to spend some time with his friends before leaving. These guys have been buddies for a long time! They realized that this might be their last time of ever being together. David has been a great example to each of them, and I know that they appreciate his standards, even though they are not theres. David did missionary work every time he spent time with these guys.

We hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Soon to be "Elder Allred" spoke in church today. It was wonderful to have relatives and friends come and join with us in hearing him. He was also surprised to see the whole stake presidency in our ward today! Our Bishop had invited them to come and hear him speak. (I'm glad it was him speaking and not me!) David did a great job speaking about teaching with the Spirit and what we can do to have the Spirit with us. He is going to be a great missionary! I can't believe how quickly the time is flying by! He will be going to the MTC in no time!

As for us, I had a day off from school, Scott took the day off from work, Steven was off, and David didn't have to worry about "Jury Duty", so we had a low key day spending time together as a family. This is a rare occasion around here to have all of us home at the same time! So, we went out to the "Deer Club" for a few hours and just had fun cruising around on the quads!
It was so nice to be together as a family, out in nature and enjoying the scenery. The weather was nippy, but at least it didn't rain on us! We definately had a great time. We also just love that we live in such a beautiful place! (Those who know where we live, if you look closely in the picture of Steven and I, you can see the geysers up on the mountain!) Enjoy the pics!

Well, we did it! PROP 8 PASSED! WAHOO!!!! We worked hard and paid the price of standing up for what we know was the morally right thing to do. Fortunately, others agreed and Prop 8, which defines marriage as between a man and woman, passed in California! Thank you to all who helped in anyway to get this passed! We appreciated the prayers and support that was given to us by those who don't even live in our state.

So....what did you do for Halloween weekend? As for our family......we had lots of fun with friends! It involved LOTS OF FOOD! (We'll have diet time soon! lol) Here's a list of the fun we had! Homemade pizza (Hawaiian and pepperoni), football game (in the rain), Sci-fi movies (The guys! They got to give out candy, too!), homemade donuts (with vanilla, chocolate or maple frosting...YUM!), strawberry waffles with whipped cream, ping pong and ultimate ping pong! (everyone plays! You hit the ball on one side and move toward the other side in a circle. So much fun, but can get you dizzy!), Guitar Hero (I know some day I'll be famous for this! lol), Ultimate Trivia (I always lose!) Yes on prop 8 door hanger deliveries and putting signs up, too, in pouring down rain! (Yes, I was drenched!) We had a great weekend! I hope you did, too!

I have now returned home and am in total withdrawals from missing our sweet grandbaby, Sage! I had so much fun with her and I learned so much! "What I learned from 2 weeks with Sage"