What do you love about Christmas?

I know its a bit late...but I love Christmas and am sad that the season went by so fast... The holidays for me were such a whirlwind of activities. I went from one activity to the next without any real time to think about what actually needed to get done. It seemed I left everything to the last minute and even had to put on hold some of our normal holiday traditions. No worries...my new years resolution is to start planning for the holidays in about March. Maybe that way I will be ready when they arrive!

This year Whitney and I decided to give each other homemade gifts. It seemed as though he knew what he was going to make for me since before Halloween. I tried my darndest to get him to crack (it has worked every other time), but this time his lips were sealed. On the day before Christmas he told me that I was not allowed to come home until 4pm. That was unusual...he must have been up to something so I questioned him further. He still wouldn't budge, but he told me that no one was coming over. So I went to lunch that day with a friend from work and happened to drive by the house (it wasn't on purpose...I live about 1/2 mile from where I work and you can see the house from the main road) Guess what I saw? yup you guessed it... a car that looked strikingly like his mothers.
When I got home she was gone and I had new shelving in the laundry room. Thank you so much! That was incredibly thoughtful and exactly what I wanted.

But wait...Whitney wasn't done. He got me the leather bound set of church history books (SCORE!), some jewelry, a cute outfit (thanks again to his mom), a computer, and my most favorite gift of all...a homemade scripture case with pictures of the Savior, of us and my family on it. I couldn't have asked for anything better myself. It meant the world that he would take something that I treasure so much (my scriptures) and combine that with the people that I love the most. If there was really a "perfect" gift that would be it!

As for my homemade gift to him you might ask? Homemade Salsa and chips! I know it seems a little lacking and it is...but he LOVES it or he just tells me that. Either way I know he still loves me!

Here are a few photos detailing our Christmas day:

Congratulations ASU graduate!!

I am so proud of you Whitney and everything you have accomplished. ASU will miss one of it's finest...but I can now say...welcome home! All of the papers you had to write (and I had to edit), the projects that you had to stress about, the powerpoint presentations you had to create, the computer malfunctions you had to endure, the miles you had to drive, the meals you had to skip, and the nights you hardly got any sleep... are all worth it in the end! Four years of hard work has finally paid off. A bachelor of science degree in construction management!

Who would have thought hard hats would come in so handy? It was about the only way we recognized Whitney...well that and the fact that he was larger in stature than most of his Indian engineer friends. I love you!

Congrats!! Whitney Buhn...(pronounced BOONE). Sorry about the delayed celebration. We almost didn't recognize your name!




Now you are on to your next big adventure. CORE is lucky to have you!

1...2...3...Shopping?!?

This year for the holidays CORE was having a toy drive for kids. Whitney and I decided that we wanted to participate and since we are severely lacking in the "cool toys for kids" department, we decided to invite Jayce and Kamee with us to show us how to pick out "cool" toys. Before we embarked on what some may have considered "mission impossible", (shopping for toys with kids?!?) I briefed the youngsters on the purpose of our shopping trip and explained that some little kid's parents can't afford to buy Christmas gifts and that we were going to buy some gifts for a little boy and girl their age so that they had something to open on Christmas. Before we left the car I thought we needed a peppy type cheer to really get us in the mood so I said "put your hands in and on the count of three say... "Shopping"!! Whitney gave me the most pathetic look...All you could come up with was shopping? I know it was lame ...but it didn't matter. The only thing that did was finding the perfect toy. We all parted ways and...

the boys found...

A Soccer ball and some transformer toy

And the girls found...

A barbie and stuffed puppy

We sure had a fun time...maybe this is the start of a tradition for the years to come!!

I love seminary!!

It only took 7 years since I graduated from seminary to love it...but I do!! This year has been so much fun. I have a great group of students who are absolutely amazing. When I get to class every morning they have the class set up and everything ready to go...I almost feel like some of my college professors that just walk right into class, pull the lesson plan from their roller bag (I haven't digressed that far yet...) and then say let's get started. Its great.

This year I wanted to do something special around Christmas time and knowing how musically gifted my students are I suggested something of a musical morningside. That is about where my input ended. The students ran with it and came up with all of the musical numbers and the entire program. We made cute invitations to invite family and friends....


and had a great turn out. It was more of a success than I could have imagined. I hope that everyone left that morning feeling as edified as I did. Thank you to all of my students who bore testimony of the Savior through both music and written and spoken word. You bore a powerful witness of the Savior's birth, life, death, and subsequent resurrection...what a wonderful reason to celebrate.

I love my job...

I love my job for so many reasons...the greatest of which is probably free tickets to great events! No worries Bishop...having a great boss is still high on the list!



When I found out that Celine Dion was coming to the valley I told Whitney I would love to go. (I wanted to see her show in Vegas, but we never had a chance) As luck would have it Whitney never had a chance to buy tickets because the concert was sold out in a matter of minutes. I was disappointed, but quickly got over it. Then I met Judy from Cigna...boy has she got the hook ups!! She called in a few favors and got me suite seats to the Celine Dion concert. Whitney was quite the trooper and joined us old ladies for the night! Thank you hun for entertaining my childish fantasies! I owe you some tickets to the FBR open...I'll see what Judy can do!

Moms Work Party

My mothers work always rents out Castle and Coaster for their employee appreciation celebration. They have been doing it quite a few years so all the family attends and we have a great time. This year was no exception.


Fun and food thats how we roll.
Kamee and her Daddy along with Mom and Mindee. This was her first time on a roller coaster and she was not even scared.

Mom and Cardon, Hana and I are in the back hanging on for dear life.

Kamee enjoying a ride on Dad's scooter.
Mom and I more alike that I will admit to.

Jayces first time on the free fall. He does not like scary rides and I belive that this counts.

Creating a Masterpiece

Last year my mothers Christmas gift to each daughter and daughter-in-law was that sometime soon we would go a pick out a ceramic Christmas Tree to make and have as our very own. It must have been the constant bickering about who was to receive her tree at the time she passed that spurred her on to making it happen.

We were supposed to go in July but were sidetracked by dads illness. So our tree making began in October. We attended classes and learned to scrape, sand, and wet down our Christmas Trees. Some were more patient than others. I was in the later category. It was like I had the patience of a gnat. We had a great time as we sat around laughing and covered in ceramic dust.

For anyone who knows my mother, she likes things a certain way and does not care to be rushed when she is painting. Also she is sort of a perfectionist.
The stess of sanding her christmas trees has made her eyes cross. I hope she loves this picture.

My sister and sister-in-law showing us the right was to get things done.

Living Waters

Having spent all day downtown, Whitney and I had some time (actually quite a bit of time) to just sit and ponder. During these quiet moments my mind was often drawn to the sounds I could hear... families laughing, missionaries teaching and singing hymns, children splashing in the newly formed puddles, and also the voices of those who would try to distract from the spirit of conference weekend. As noisy as you can imagine our surroundings must have been there was one sound that captured and held my attention. No matter where we were on the grounds, I heard it. At times, our surroundings became so noisy, that it became difficult to hear, but nevertheless, if you trained your ears and really listened you could hear it. I was deeply impressed with how many places you could hear the sound of WATER. It was used everywhere. It was used in the landscape, in the architecture, on the seating outside the conference center, at the drinking fountains, in the reflection pool, and so much more. We even heard the young man in the Salt Lake temple watering the potted plants.

Maybe it is the seminary teacher in me...but my thoughts went in this direction...

Why Water?

Why so much?

What is the significance?

I thought about the MANY references to water in the scriptures. I thought about how it is used in saving ordinances (both in and out of the temple). I thought of the prophecies of water and how it will eventually flow from the temple in Jerusalem to heal the Dead Sea. So many ideas ran through my mind. The more water I heard the more thoughts kept coming.


Having studied and taught the New Testament this year, the story of the woman at the well came to my mind. She went to draw water at Jacob's well where she was instructed by Savior (whom she did not know) to give him a drink. The woman, confused by his request, desired an explanation and in the course of the conversation she comes to know that she is speaking to the Savior (a prophet) who can provide "Living Waters" that shall be "in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life"


Am I thirsty?

YES, I want to drink from the "Living Waters", and like the Samaritan woman I want to share it with others that they too may "come see Christ" and "believe on him"

How grateful I am that I had the opportunity to take a sip from the fountain of Living Waters this weekend.