Night Before Christmas

Woohoo!!!! My man is HOME!!!! Hehehehe, this picture says it all :)

I drove to the airport Saturday night to pick up my sweetheart. Captain America's flight was supposed to get into Eugene Oregon at 12:07 AM, but it was delayed until 1:00am. I remember seeing people coming down the escalator, and they would come into view from the feet up. I remember seeing one guy with nice shoes, nice jeans, big muscles, and thinking - OH please, I want that one - hehehe. And guess what? It was Captain America!! Woohoo! I got the cutest guy on the plane :) Not that I'm biased or anything - LOL!

The airline lost his luggage (it went to Chicago - we just can't get away from that place - LMBO!). We had to go to Walmart to buy new Sunday clothes for Captain America. Luckily, most of his stuff was in his carry on bag. We left Wal-mart at about 2:30am, and got back to Florence about 3:30am. We stayed the night at my friend, Angie's house. She and her family went to Portland for a few days, so her house was empty. We got to bed at around 4:00 am, and then had to be us at 7:30 am to get ready for church. Here's a pic of us before church. We may be tired, but don't we look happy :)

Christmas Sunday was nice. The primary kids sang 2 songs (I'm the chorister), and did very well. I just love to hear the little kids sing. My friend, Maren, sang a solo, and was FABULOUS!!!! What a BEAUTIFUL alto voice she had :)

After church, we went to Coos Bay to renue our Temple Recommends, and decided that since we were already down there, we'd stay the night. Angie's house wasn't available anymore, so we didn't have a place to stay anyway. We stayed at Motel 6, and just relaxed as a family. It was kinda fun. And big, for a Motel 6. 2 queens, and lots of floor space. But, by about 11 the next day, we were all ready to come back to Florence. There's only so long that you can keep kids good in a motel room - LOL! We hit Wal-mart while we were in the city (hehehe- can you tell that I like Wal-Mart!), and stopped briefly to see a friend of Captain America's, then headed back to town. We stopped by my parents house to re-fresh our suit cases, and then my parents, my sisters family, and my family went to Abby's Pizza for dinner, then Christmas Carolling. That was a lot of fun. While I didn't get any pics of the group, I did get one of me. We all had these cute Santa hats that we wore.

After the pizza and caroling, we headed out to a different place to stay the night. We had a friend at church who managed some cabins/motel rooms on the lake. I'd seen her earlier in the week at the store, and she was trying to get some Christmas Cards made at the photo department. They were giving her a hard time, so I told her to just give me her media card, and that I'd do up a Christmas Card for her, and send it to the photo lab, and it would be cheaper because it would be developed at a 4x6, not as a Christmas card, and would be cuter, because I could use kits from Scraporchard. She just LOVED the cards, and when she heard that we were having "housing" issues, she offered us a night at the cabins. WOOHOO! See, when you do good things for other people, goodness comes back to you :) Words to live by :)

Here's a pic of Captain America and I at the cabin. I have individual pics of him and all the kids, but didn't really have time to post them all.
And here's all the kids at the cabin. Isn't that a gorgeous view of the lake! I just LOVE Oregon scenery :)
So, I got a call from another friend, Ann, and she said that a different family in the Ward was gonna be out of town for the WHOLE time that Captain America was here, and that she'd called them, and that they said that WE COULD STAY AT THEIR HOUSE!!! So, we're there now. And let me tell you, it feels SO nice. No more "house hopping". That was starting to get very weary. I must say, though, that I'm feeling VERY blessed right about now. There are so many people out there thinking of me, and taking care of my family. Thanks to everyone who sent cards, and well wishes, and have been praying for us.

Just need to share a quick story about the blessings of Tithing. I don't know how many of you "tithe" in your churches, but let me tell you, the blessings from it are real. In our church, we pay 10% of our income. And I know that we've been promised that if we do, that we will be blessed. But some times, I have a hard time remembering to pay it. I write out the check, and it just sits in my purse. And sits, and sits. That's not always good when you live paycheck to paycheck. Anyway, I had Decembers tithing (Captain Americas pay and mine) written out, and in my purse, and finally turned it in on Sunday. Money's a bit tight right now, but I knew that there would be barely enough to cover tithing. Anyway, I turned it in.

Well, on Tuesday, my mom called me from work saying that she found an envelope addressed to "The Hartys" in her car door. Inside was a note saying that "our service was noticed and appreciated", and it had a large amount of money. We don't know who it was from. Let me tell you girls, I believe in the power of tithing. I know that when you give to the Lord, he will give back to you. It was more money in the envelope than I paid in tithing for the month. I know that Heavenly Father works through other people to bless our lives. He does that for me, and he will do that for you, too.

So, THANK YOU to whoever left the gift for my family. We will be forever grateful! We truly appreciate you generosity! And thank you for re-affirming my testimony in the power of tithing :)

OK, on to WordArt :)

I thought that this would be PERFECT for all those night before Christmas photos that I will be taking! We go to my Aunts house for Christmas Eve, and open presents from extended family. Then on Christmas we all get together and eat Tacos. Yes, I know, that's not a typical Christmas dinner. Heheheh, we're not even Hispanic, which would make more sense. We just LOVE tacos. And I was in high school, I think, before I realized that not everyone had tacos on Christmas. hehehe.

So, click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

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