Todd's 25th Birthday

Happy Birthday, Toddy!  We love you!

Quilt

Two of my dear friends, Elise Larsen and AnnaRae McAllister, brought me this beautiful quilt. I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and kindness.  It represents many of my favorite things.  They included on the quilt the meaning of the blocks:

"Forget-me-not
We love Janet and we love to sew! This quilt created and sewn by AnnaRae McAllister and Elise Larsen, cam about because of our friendship, love of quilting, love for Janet and AnnaRae's trip to Alaska. Janet loves the forget-me-not flower because of the many spiritual and loving meanings associated with it .  The forget-me-not fabric came from Alaska and became the focal point for our quilt. (Alaska's state flower is the forget-me-not) All three of us love "all things blue and white." We wanted each block to represent Janet in some way and show what she loves.
Block #1 janet loves the mountains, cross country skiing, hiking and being in nature. She loves MIA Camp Shalom
Block #2 Cathedral windows and the cathedral shape are part of Janet's home decor.
Block #3 Janet's home and yard abound in beauty and flowers and beautiful colors. In addition to all things blue and white, Janet loves the color red.
Block #4 Each year at girl's camp Janet loves to look and the stars. She loves all things heavenly.
Block #5 Janet loves hiking to Lone Pine at Camp Shalom every year.
Block #6 The blue and white traditional log cabin quilting block represents Janet's cabin in Heber and our love for quilting and "all things blue and white."
Block #7 Janet loves the Savior and has a Jim Shore nativity similar to the one pictures in this block.
Block #8 Friends love Janet and Janet loves firends--lots of them! This block is a friendship star.
Block #9 The blue and white heart represents Janet's beautiful spiritual heart. We have both learned so many wonderful things from Janet.
Block #10 The "forget-me-not" block is for the Savior, family, and friends, and Elder Uctdorf's talk in RS 2011
Block #11 AnnaRae, Elise and Janet at Shalom 2011 "I Believe."
Block #12 All three of us love working i Young Women and love the YW values.
Block #13Janet loved visiting the Sacred Grove and tries to have a Sacred Grove experience each day of her life.
"Forget-me-not" quilt created and given December 2011. We love you!
Signed: AnnaRae and Elise

First Day of School in Utah for Buchanans

The Buchanans Have Arrived!

PapaRich and Connor, Abby and Andrew watching Mickey's Christmas Carol

The Buchanans have arrived after their five-day trip across the country.  We are so glad they are here safe and sound!  They'll be moving into their home tomorrow and registering for school.

Christmas Traditions

#1. We went to The Forgotten Carols on December 1st. Just Rich and I. We went last year and really enjoyed it, so we went again. It's a little cheesy, but that's what I like about it. I love all the forgotten carols! Michael McLean's shameless self-promoting is exceeded by his love of the Savior and the fact that he ends the show without applause and the true Christmas spirit.

 Rich and Janet at The Forgotten Carols

#2. We go to the Hale Center Theater in Orem every year for A Christmas Carol the whole family. But ever since we saw My Fair Lady at the Salt Lake HCT, Rich has been dying to see it staged there. We went Tuesday night and it was amazing. Really, the staging and actors are wonderful!

#3. Kurt Bestor is a favorite event for our family. We started going years ago and it only gets better. We love sitting in Abravanel Hall and enjoying the full orchestra that Kurt brings. We especially love seeing our ward member, Michael Dowdle. And we also claim Daron Bradford, who we were ward members with in student housing years ago. This year we had a special treat! Rich was chosen to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Every year Kurt chooses someone to read as he plays music to accompany the reading. We have always known that Rich would do a great job if he had the chance. He did a great job! In fact, on the way to our car people were commenting on how well he did and rolling down windows to tell him what a good job he did!

It was a fun Christmas memory!

#4. We will be attending HCT Orem's rendition of A Christmas Carol with the entire family again on December 20th.

Our Own Santa!

with Ryker Miller at the Ward Christmas Party

Rich prepared a comedy routine as Santa and had the whole crowd laughing.  He also shared this thought from President Faust:

"No one can measure the effect of an unselfish act of kindness. By small, simple things great things do indeed come to pass. Of course, gifts given and gifts received make Christmas special. For many children Christmas Eve is a very long night as they look forward with eager anticipation to the gifts Santa brings, which is why children love Santa Claus. Let me sare what someone once said about Santa Claus: First of all, he's a joyous individual . . . Next, Santa is interested in making others happy. He increased the happy moments in the life of everyone he meets. He loves his work; he gets fun out of his job. He is childlike, simple, humble , sincere and forgiving. Finally, he is a giver. His philosophy is to give himself away in service. He is a friend to everyone. He smiles, perhaps you and I could attain greater happiness if we emulated Santa Claus a little more, for this is the way of the Infant Jesus."

Picture from the TNI party at Costco