happy last monday of 2008!!!

okay, so i totally blew the once a week blog post... well, i will try better next year!! just thought that i would post a bit about my december and remind you to always be grateful.

today i saw the doctor from my surgery/procedure last week on my leg. he said everything looked great and continue to wear the compression hose on it. {i realize that i didn't post that i was having this done, but now it's over so i will post the results...} on the way home i stopped at a south county scrapbook store and got a ton of tim holtz yummies that i didn't have. love that man and all of his creativity, tools, etc...

i have been trying to get some scrappin' done but keep getting sucked into the living room as there is constantly someone playing guitar hero world tour. our oldest, josh, LOVES to do the band segment- 2 guitars, the drum set and a singer!! of course, i usually have to bail out whoever was the singer!! too funny... that was our family gift for Christmas and it was a real hit, or shall i say... I ROCK!! everyone has had a good time with it.

this evening we took down the tree, which is always the final sign that the year is ending and a new one is on its way... kinda makes me melancholy, i love having the tree up, but i also like everything back to 'normal'.

i hope that your Christmas season was a wonderful one, i for sure have enjoyed it to the fullest, even with being on limited use of my leg, it was still a great season. i have so much to be thankful for. in fact, this year my mother opted to not give money, gift cards or even purchased gifts for the adults in the family. she wrote in each person's card about how each of us has been blessed abundantly this year (and we have!!)so she selected items that were hers, my dad's or their's... and gave each adult a piece of sentimentality, i really loved it. i was overwhelmed with my gift, she gave me my dad's second wedding ring (his original he gave to my sister many years ago as it was bent). so my mom purchased him a new one with a small diamond in it. i don't care about the gold, the diamond or anything... i am just thrilled that she gave me a symbol of her love for the only man that she ever loved. i wear it with my wedding band as a symbol of their commitment that was an example to me for my commitment to my husband.

for so many things, i am grateful. i only have a couple of projects to post, it has been a busy month and mainly the things that i finished were for the 12 weeks of Christmas contest on the mosy scrapper. well, at the end of the 12 weeks, i won!! i am thrilled but more so, i am thrilled with all of the wonderful challenges that i finished.

i hope and pray that your 2009 is a year filled with blessings and gratitudes... take a moment each day and jot down a specific thing that you are grateful for. it will be a reminder of how good God is to you...

a couple of my last ones for this year:
*wonderful news about denise~that she made it through surgery.
*a nice quiet dinner at bread company reading a new scrappin book
*a safe surgery & a wonderful caretaker
*pain pills & sleep ;)
*Christmas at home with family-mom, leeanne & gabrielle, lonnie & myra joined us for lunch
*22 years of marriage to my best friend!! happy anniversary!!

see... i/we REALLY DO HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE!!!!


38 cards that i made and wrote in to each child on the "make a child smile" foundation membership list (a challenge from the mosy scrapper...)













gift bags {12} that denise asked me to make for her cookie exchange... how could i say no?? i had been asking what i could do for her for weeks, this THRILLED me to make for her.













a clock that i did for the last week of the 12 weeks of Christmas contest....















a layout that i did of sonja, denise and i. the background is copies of my & denise's facebook correspondance...