Whew! December is a busy month for us-an anniversary, Christmas, and Lucy's birthday. This holiday season was wonderful. Lucy had so much fun her first Christmas, and she is now 1 year old! Lucy especially enjoyed all of the holiday goodies.

Lucy found a candy cane. As you can see, she liked it a lot!












Lucy posed for a picture in the Santa dress that Mommy wore when she was about this age.










This is what Christmas is all about.







Twas the night before Christmas...Grandma and Grandpa helped Lucy act out the nativity story while Daddy read from Luke 2. Thanks Grammie and Bumpa for the Fisher Price nativity set!


















Lucy was so excited to see what Santa brought her. She woke up at 6:00 in the morning. Lucy and Daddy stop for a picture before going downstairs.








Santa brought Lucy an Elmo airplane.
















Uncle Jonathan gave her a kitty. She loved it so much, that she gave it a kiss.








Santa brought Lucy a toothbrush because he knows how much she likes candy!








Lucy enjoyed pulling things out of Daddy's stocking.








Lucy loved the Fisher Price Little People from Grammie and Bumpa!

















A cute outfit from Great Grandma and Grandpa Brown

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

“Maybe Christmas Doesn’t Come from a Store”

You may all recall these words from Dr. Suess' book "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." It is a favorite story for many of us at Christmas time. The powerful message behind this story is that Christmas has a meaning that is far more important than the fancy paper, fun presents, and excited children. Dr. Suess shows how the Grinch realized that Christmas was about something more. For anybody interested in maybe learning a little bit more about Christ's birth, read these words spoken to some BYU faculty in the 1970's ("Maybe Christmas Doesn't Come from a Store").
See Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas for more.

I know that Christ, the REAL Christmas gift, is the Son of God, the One who lived and died for us. He made it possible so that we can return to God's presence someday if we will just obey his words. I'm grateful for Him and his sacrifice for me. "Let earth receive her King!"

What Christmas Means to Me

What a wonderful time of year this is! Christmas is my favorite time of year. It is because we take the time to commemorate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Last year, as I was "great with child" I pondered on the birth of the Savior and gained a greater understanding for his mother, Mary. As I neared delivery, I didn't have to travel on a donkey. When the time came, I simply slid into the car and Jay drove me a few miles to the hospital. I gave birth in a clean, warm hospital with doctors, nurses, and an anesthesiologist. Mary gave birth to the Son of God in a cold, smelly stable with only the animals and her husband Joseph to attend her.

Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was born in the most humble of circumstances, yet He is mightier than us all. Without Him, without his Atonement for our sins, we would be forever separated from our Heavenly Father and subject to Satan. Although I cannot fully comprehend the immense suffering and pain that Jesus endured, I do comprehend His love for me. I feel His love in my daughter's smile, as I kneel to pray, and when I read His holy words in the scriptures. We are so blessed to live on the earth today, to enjoy the blessings of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He bled and died on the cross, but that was not the end. He lives! He rose the third day, and we too will live again. Death is not the end. My Great Grandma Dorothy passed away on Christmas Day 1993. I remember her death not with sadness during this season, but with hope as I know that I will see her again someday.

This Christmas season, I plead with you to get down on your knees and express gratitude to your Heavenly Father for the many blessings that you enjoy, especially for the birth of His Son.

Decorating the Tree

For Family Home Evening, we decorated the Christmas tree. Lucy was very helpful at taking the ornaments OFF of the tree, but she didn't want to put her ornament ON.









Daddy was so sweet. He bought Lucy this ornament. It is a yellow chick. He knows how much she loves her "Chirpy Chick" book.









After we decorated the tree, we placed presents under it. Lucy crawled under the tree to make sure that she had some presents under there.

Lucy Sits on Santa's Lap

While we were in Utah for Thanksgiving, Lucy got to meet Santa Claus. He was at the Springville City Building the day after Thanksgiving. She was a good girl and didn't cry-she didn't act too excited either. Santa told us that Lucy asked for a brother. Santa should check with the parents before making any promises!


















Okay, I will pose for one photo.









If I could just get my shoe off...









"I'm outta here!"


















Afterwards, Lucy shared a donut with Grammy.









She liked the donut more than Santa.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The only regret is that we didn't get more pictures. When I got home, I found out that I hadn't captured everything I wanted to. I wanted to get a picture of the feast that Mom W. made, but I didn't want to interrupt dinner. I wish I would have. At any rate, we made some great memories.

This is Lucy's Thanksgiving dinner. Her favorites were the stuffing and the olives.









Grammy let her have a taste of something yummy!









The best part of our trip was spending time with our family. Aunt Kimberlee was great at entertaining Lucy.












Sweet little Ali.









"Superman, Batman, with Utilities" aka Jonas wanted a picture with his candy cane.












Elijah found a great new hair product.












It tastes great too!












Jocelyn joined us. We are so glad she did. It was fun to catch up with her, and she was great with Lucy.








Lucy enjoyed playing with Grammy's Little People Thanksgiving set.

Ruby Red Slippers

Lucy fell in love with a pair of ruby red slippers that a little girl from our ward was wearing at the Halloween party (see the video in the Halloween post. Great Grandma Beri took note of Lucy's affinity for the red shoes (Grandma LOVES shoes too) and bought Lucy her very own pair!












Grandma also remembered the lyrics of an old song. It goes

"Put your shoes on Lucy, don't you know you're in the city

Put your shoes on, Lucy, it;s really such a pity

that Lucy can't go barefoot wherever she goes

"cause she loves to feel the wiggle of her toes"









Thanks Grandma!

Happy Halloween

Halloween brought lots of treats for the Winterton family. Lucy was adorable in her witch costume. She wasn't too keen on keeping her hat on, but we managed to get a few pictures before she ripped it off of her head.

On Friday, we went to our ward Halloween party.

Jay dressed up as a BYU Cougar fan, and Angela dressed up as a Skyline graduate. One of the ward missionaries went to Skyline. He instantly recognized the sky blue gown. It was pretty funny!

At the ward party, Lucy found some friends. Three little girls tried to crawl around on the floor with her, but they kept getting in Lucy's way. Finally, Lucy swatted one of the girls away. It was pretty funny.


On Saturday morning, Angela made pumpkin pancakes. While she was cooking breakfast, Lucy climbed into the cupboard. She is wearing the Halloween jammies Grandpa Todd gave her.

Halloween night! Lucy loved every second of Trick-O-Treating! She smiled, squealed, and kicked her legs with excitement. We hit a few houses in the neighborhood and got just enough candy to satisfy mommy and daddy's sweet tooth. Maybe not Lucy's though.


Check out this video of Lucy Trick-O-Treating.



This is a picture of Lucy in the Halloween dress that Grandma Leisa made for her. She looked adorable in it!

Halloween 2009 was a smashing success!

Mom, Trick or Treat?

This morning, I was busy making Jello for our ward Halloween party. Lucy was in the kitchen with me, playing in the drawers. I purposely filled the bottom two drawers in our kitchen with things that Lucy could safely play with. The other day, I decided to put some chocolate in one of the drawers...BIG MISTAKE! When I turned around to check on her, Lucy had found my Halloween Lindt Truffle, unwrapped it, and was happily devouring it. She was too cute to be mad at.



Photos of the Chocolate Kid


























Lucy tried to escape from the tiled kitchen to the carpet. Mom wouldn't let her, and she was quite upset.