Fantasy 9

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

Nine mystic mermaids

Eight hearty hobbits

Seven dwarves a-mining

Six flying horses

Five magic rings

Four mountain trolls

Three phoenixes

Two forest fauns

And a unicorn as white as the snow!

Fantasy Christmas 8

 Eight hearty hobbits

Fantasy Christmas 7

 Dwarves

Happy Double Birthday

Happy double birthday to my big sister Christine and my little brother Christopher! Hope it’s been a great one for you both.

Fantasy Christmas 6

 Six

Fantasy Christmas

 Five magic rings 

The 12 Days of Christmas - My Fantasy Way 4

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

Four mountain trolls

Three phoenixes

Two forest fauns
And a unicorn as white as the snow!

The 12 Days of Christmas - My Fantasy Way 3

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: 

Three phoenixes

Two forest fauns

And a unicorn as white as the snow!

The 12 Days of Christmas - My Fantasy Way 2

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

Two forest fauns

And a unicorn as white as the snow!

Party at Kneaders

Had a fun little Christmas party at my work this evening. Absolutely delicious food (and loads of it!) and good clean fun with friends and associates. 

The 12 Days of Christmas - My Fantasy Way 1

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

A unicorn as white as the snow!

Ward Christmas Breakfast

Today was the day of our ward Christmas party. 

This year we held a breakfast at the Stake Center, and it was just me and Chris this time. Michael had to go to work and Corie didn't want to get up so early in the morning. Plus, Lizzie had come over for a sleepover and she didn't want to come to the breakfast either, so Corie stayed home with her. Mom eventually caught up with me and Chris after dropping Michael off. 

I did save a bit of chocolate muffin for Mike, Corie, and Lizzie; those muffins are huge. 

After we ate, there was a nice 12-minute clip about the Savior, of which I played a small part. Then the Primary kids performed a very nice version of "Silent Night" with their own little bells, and finally I participated in a little ornament painting craft. That paint was trickier to use than I'd thought, but it was still good clean fun...or mostly clean! 

Decorated Tree

Ta-da! The tree is officially decorated! It may be smaller than our old tree but it still looks very nice and some of those ornaments take me way back. 

I'm partial to the "Santa, Do You Take Bribes?" because that was bought in my WSU college days. When I saw it, I just had to have it for keeps. And of course, we always have to put Mickey and Minnie Mouse close to each other.

Putting Up the Tree

A few family photos while we enjoyed our Christmas tree, as well as some classic Christmas songs on my Smartphone. We'll add the official ornaments tomorrow.

Mather Family Party

Tonight was the night of the annual Mather Family Christmas party. Since I work in the daytime anyway, this was perfect for me. 

Aside from a nuthouse at work (I'm used to the Christmas crowds but they never cease to amaze me; everybody wants everything all at once) and getting briefly lost on the way, not to mention narrowly avoiding a wreck because another car ran a red light, it was fairly smooth sailing. We had a great time seeing everybody, with plenty of hugs to go around, and the food was delicious.

Good news for Mom, too: she's making excellent progress on her diabetes, to the point where the doctors are going to try to ease her off insulin (she'll still need to take special medication and watch her blood sugar) and it's possible her diabetes could be reversed altogether. I'm well aware that reversed diabetes is not the same as cured diabetes, but knowing the doctors are happy with what they're seeing is very heartening indeed. Goes to show healthy habits do pay off.