Christmas house swap

Do any of you have family who live in the area between/around Lehi to Sandy that would be interested in a house swap during the Christmas holidays? I'm not sure of our exact dates, but it would definitely be from Christmas Eve through the following weekend and then a few days either before or after that. Our house would then be available the same time for your visiting family's use. We have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a king size bed, toddler bed, crib and futon/couch that sleeps two. The house is almost completely kid-proofed and the heating is paid so you can turn it up as high as you like and pretend you're having Christmas in Hawaii! We're looking for a place to stay in Utah because my in-laws just moved to a retirement community... If you're looking for extra space for your guests and they'd like to swap, send me an email at treebop at hotmail.com Thanks!

Pennies for heroes

My husband's extended family never ceases to amaze me. I got this email from his cousin and thought I would pass it on.

"Hi Friends-



My brother, Mike, who was a police officer for several years, started a charity which is “dedicated to providing help to the families of our fallen military men and women, fallen law enforcement and fallen fire fighters who have died or sustained serious injury while doing their duty to protect America.” The following press release Mike wrote is one example of how they work. I thought I would share for anyone shopping on-line for Christmas gifts!

 Krista

On Friday 10/29/10 we went into the home of slain Sevier County Sheriff’s Deputy Franco Aguilar to re-insulate it. We had learned that Franco’s wife Jamie was spending approximately $250-$300 a month on heat bills last winter. In the attic we were able to seal it (we found birds living in the attic space) and then blow in 2 to 2.5 feet of new insulation, significantly raising the R-value. The professionals who assisted us think it will cut her heat bills by more than 50% this winter.


Franco is one of four police officers killed in Utah this year. They are a fraction of the 140 that have died thus far in 2010 nationwide. In addition to the police officers, there have been 71 fire fighters killed. Many of these heroes leave behind loved ones like Jamie and her kids who need help. Last week alone, there were 9 police officers killed, leaving 14 children, and 10 grandchildren.


This Christmas, if you plan to buy anything from any of the following retailers, you can help these families by purchasing your items online & through our website. It will not cost you one penny more, and you will be helping us improve life for these people.


Wal-mart


Amazon


Sears


Target


Buy.com


K-mart


Office Max


Office Depot


We will add additional stores upon request. You can find our site at www.penniesforheroes.org. Thank you!

(You can also purchase gift cards to be used at the store if you prefer shopping in person rather than online.)"


What a great way to help those in need this holiday season! I know that a lot of you have either done all your shopping or are almost done; but if you want to help, all you have to do is go to their website here , click on "donte by shopping" and shop away.

Jenny Childers

NO ZUMBA AGAIN!!!

Sorry Ladies, I work this Tuesday so I am not able to do Zumba Tuesday.  If anyone know of a Priesthood holder who is able to be there for us Wednesday I am able to teach that morning. 

Thanks,
Kellie.
kelliejh(at)yahoo.com

Glitter Trees Reminder :)

Just wanted to remind you of the Glitter Trees craft project that's happening this Tuesday, 7 pm, at my house.

 

Any questions, you can email me at debrarivard at hotmail dot com.

See you then!

Dresser?

Our little Alyssa was climbing up our dresser and it fell on top of her. She was not seriously injured at all. But Chris had to pull the dresser up off of her and I've always heard horror stories of kids who do that and have to be hospitalized or have died so it really scared me. We've said a lot of thank you prayers that Heavenly Father kept her safe. So for the safety of your kids, please anchor your dressers and bookcases to the wall! Walmart sells a pack of 8 brackets for $4.98 HERE.

That being said, we have a very useless broken dresser that is doing nothing for us. If there is anyone who is getting rid of a dresser or would like to sell us one for cheap, we would appreciate any help. If you have anything, you can contact me at tewinters1[at]yahoo[dot]com

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you're enjoying some good food and the company of friends and family today.

Madrigle Dinner

The orchestra is having a fundraiser called the "Madrigle Dinner". The dinner will have a renaissance theme and will have plenty of music, fun, and good food! Each ticket is $15 and must be paid for in advance. Anyone who wants one can contact me. The thing is, since I'm performing, I need a costume....quickly. Does anyone have an old halloween costume of winter ball/prom gown?  Thank you!

Andrea P. (daughter of Pilar P.)

baptism

Janette and Daron B. will be baptized Sat. Dec. 4th at 4 PM at the Stake Center.  There will be an open house following the baptism at Chelsie L.'s house.  Come help welcome them to the ward!  Dessert provided.  If you would like to help, give Chelsie a call.  Thanks!

Small Boxes Needed

Hi Ladies,

I am trying to put together some centerpieces for the Ward Christmas party on Dec. 3rd.   I am looking for boxes that I can wrap up to look like presents that are not too big for the center of the table.  If you have any PLEASE call or email me!

Thanks,
Kellie Wright

kelliejh(at)yahoo(dot)com

Book Club Suggestions

Are you looking for a great book to read? How about one that we've read that you forgot the name? You asked for it- here it is!

Ventana Book Club List of Suggested Reads
(Thru December 2010)

(Any listed books are recommendations by members of our book club. While we've tried to select books that are clean, personal preferences vary and memories may be faulty. Please carefully consider any book on this list before reading, as you would with any other recommendation.)

*“bold” denotes a book we’ve read and discussed

Classic
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

Self-Help
Strangling your husband is not an option by Merillee Browne Boyack
How to make friends & influence people by Dale Carnegie
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (?)
The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Fiction/Historical Fiction
Papa married a Mormon by Fitzgerald
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Captain Correlli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Gurnsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
These is my Words by Nancy E. Turner
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Princess Bride by William Goldman
Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer
http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/paths-of-glory.htm
The Poison Wood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Sci-fi/Fantasy
Wings by April Lynn Pike
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
The Host by Stephenie Meyer
Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien
Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Dune by Frank Herbert
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

Movie Books
Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
The Soloist by Steve Lopez
Into the Wild by John Krakauer
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy,
Catch Me If You Can by Frank Abagnale, Jr.

Academic/non-fiction/biography
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers - Muslim family amidst Hurricane Katrina destruction
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt
My life in France by Julia Child
Driven- biography of Larry H. Miller
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell- on first impressions
Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
Man’s search for Meaning by Victor Frank
Even Silence has an end by Ingrid Betancourt-Columbian hostages in jungle
Nurture shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Queen Noor- Leap of Faith by Queen Noor
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
Cheaper By the Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond
Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hal & Denver Moore

Next 3 Books for Book Club

Book Lovers,
Here's the lineup for the next 3 months;
December 16 at Debra R's house: The Life of our Lord by Charles Dickens
*** This is a nice short summary of the New Testament that Dickens wrote for his kids/grandkids. EASY READ!!! Great for Christmas!

January 20: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

February 17 (discussion led by Melissa Spencer- still need a host house): How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Any volunteers to host/lead discussion for January or February?

Enjoy!
Melissa

Half-sies??

We are renting an aerator for $90 to aerate our lawn this Thanksgiving weekend.  (kind of a lot for one family) It's supposed to be done at least twice a year.  It's good for the grass...(loosen up compacted soil)  Last spring we had a few families join in, and each family was able to use it for $20. (This way we can all use it...and split the cost) So, we are going to do that again. 

 

Or, if you know you are out of town, (or don't want to aerate yourself), let us know and Brad can come by and do it for you while you are gone for $20.  Friday or Saturday is when we will have the machine.

 

rogersareblessed (at) gmail (dot) com

Christmas Parade in Corrales

Corrales has a little Christmas Lights Parade on December 4th beginning at 5:30pm. Tractors and flatbeds with hay are decked out with lights and more. We always like to go; it is a fun kick off for the holidays. And don't forget to bring some hot chocolate and blankets while you enjoy it!

The parade starts at the rec center and goes to the fire station. Get there early to grab a spot.

NO ZUMBA AGAIN!!!

No Zumba again this week!  Sorry, I have Parent/Teacher conference on Tuesday at 9AM!

Eat lots of good food and we will Zumba next week!

Kellie

Glitter Trees

If anyone is interested, I'll be making these at my house on Nov. 30th at 7 pm.  They're really, really easy so anyone can do it :)  If you're interested, email me at debrarivard at hotmail dot com. 

Basketball Scrimmage

This Thursday, Nov 18th at 7 pm at the church.

Any women/young women interested in playing basketball please come. Even if you don't know how to play....come and learn. It is such a fun sport!!! Invite your friends too :)

Holiday Traditions

With the holidays quickly approaching, I thought it might be fun for anyone who would like to, to share some  favorite family traditions, recipes and craft projects.  One of our family favorites is our own homemade advent calendar.  We have come up with a list of 24 activities to do throughout the month of December.  Each year we go over the list and decide if we want to change any of the activities with new ones.  I originally got this idea from a good friend and took her ideas and changed a few that worked better for our family, you could do the same.  After we have decided on our favorite 24 activities, Jon and I strategically place each activity printed on a small piece of paper and a treat for each child in the advent calendar on a day that works best for us to make sure we have time to do the activity.  The kids absolutely LOVE this tradition!!  I have included our list of activities for you to get started with.  They are in no particular order.

One other tradition we have is that every year we get a new Christmas story book.  These books are only brought out during the holidays so the kids really look forward to reading them.  (If you shop at Deseret Book after Christmas you can get them for 50-75% off and put them in storage until the following year)

Set up Christmas tree
Set up nativity
Decorate Christmas tree
Read the first Christmas story
Open a new Christmas book (we collect a new one every year. I will usually go to Deseret book after Christmas and pick our book for the next year –they are usually 50-75% off by then)
Read Christmas stories (from the collection)
Watch a Christmas movie
Camp out under the Christmas tree
Drive around to see the lights in your pj’s while having a treat (popcorn)
Indoor snowball fight (with wadded up paper)
Reindeer rides ( just like horseback rides)
Sing Christmas songs
Go to the temple and see the nativity
Make your favorite holiday treat
Take a treat to a friend or neighbor
Draw names for sibling gift
Shop for sibling gift
Write a letter to Santa
Do a service project
Go to a free holiday concert (Christmas devotional works for us)
Make a holiday craft (We will usually make new ornaments with the kids to add to the tree)
Make/decorate a gingerbread house
Make and hang snowflakes (or you can do window clings)
Hang the stockings
Call grandma and grandpa

Zumba Canceled

Sorry all my Zumba buddies... There will be no Zumba tomorrow. Have a great week! :)

Come, Follow Me

A lot of you have asked me for my blog address...and I honestly can't remember who. So I figured I would toot my own horn  put in a plug for  beg you to follow casually leave it here on the blog for those of you who asked.

If you didn't ask and could care less, ignore this post completely. In fact, don't say hi to me in the halls at church. Because I don't want to follow you either.

Ooops...There Goes My Mind

Enjoy...or don't.

Just don't tell me.

stef

(ps, there are some really great blogs in our ward. You can find their links if you click on the names of the people to the right. Their profiles will appear and their will be a list of blogs that they contribute to. In case you want to stalk. Just saying.)

Change***SABRE Compact Pepper Spray with Pink Key Case - Supports National Breast Cancer Foundation

Anyone want to order this mace as seen in last nights self-defense class at Enrichment??? Amazon has it for 7.55 each and I have free shipping. I will order tonight at 9:00. Amazon can change their prices at anytime and this is less than the Big 5 price of 10 each, so I want to order soon. I tried to order 10 since I already have that many orders, but it only lets each person order 3! So, does anyone else have free shipping this month??? Thanks! Susan jsturner1@q(dot)com


Cool style and hot protection are combined in SABRE's most popular product. This attractive, pink compact pepper spray delivers a strong balistic stream to reduce wind blow back. Providing extremely practical protection, SABRE permits distance from your threat with its ten (10) foot range, and its quick release key ring and attachment clip ensure its accessible when needed! Help fight breast cancer as sales of this product support the National Breast Cancer Foundation! Size: 1/2 oz. Item not available to ship to DC, Hawaii, Massachusetts, or New York.

Recommendations for an eye doctor?

Do you know of a good optometrist here in Alb, preferably on the Westside? Any recommendations? Please email me, rachaelboyle(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thanks, Rachael B.

Book Club!

This month's book club will be held next week, Thursday, November 18th, at 7:30 at my house (this is Sara Rauch). I live at the Passey's place, or you can just look me up in the ward list. We will be discussing "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer. It's the harrowing but fascinating story of Chris McCandless, "a 24-year-old from the D.C. suburbs" who denounced the comforts and opportunities of his upper-class life to live as a vagabond and ultimately lose his life in the Alaska wilderness. It's a really interesting and quick read, so you still have time! I think we'll have some great discussion. Feel free to bring treats to share if you want to. Hope to see you there!

Basketball Scrimmage

This Thursday, Nov 11th at 7 pm at the church.

Any women/young women interested in playing basketball please come. Even if you don't know how to play....come and learn. It is such a fun sport!!! Invite your friends too :)

ZUMBA

Kellie was kind enough to find a sub for next Tuesday's Zumba class. However, we need a priesthood holder. If you can get someone to be our priesthood holder, please either leave a comment or email me (sorria9(at)hotmail(dot)com). I will update this post when we have found a priesthood holder. Thank you ladies!!

Question

Hey is there anyone out there who loves to clean?

Okay. Dumb question. Let me rephrase that. I need help keeping up with my house. Just once a month. Okay, maybe twice a month.

I am willing to pay. Not a lot, but enough. I hope.

That or I would be willing to do some kind of house cleaning prgressive dinner type thing. Start at one house one week. Then the next week we work on someone elses'?

Does that make sense?

If you are interested in either of these two ideas, email me (stef.burns@gmail.com)

stef

Zumba is ON tomorrow!

Zumba is on tomorrow at the chapel.


8:45AM......hope to see you then!

Sorry!

I checked the messages from my old broken phone today, and apparently I have missed all kinds of calls and messages from people in the ward the last couple months!  So sorry!  My new number is in the ward directory online.  Thanks!

Kristie L.

Needed: 2 large glass drink dispensers

Hello Everyone! The Stake Youth Fireside is this Sunday, and I am trying to find 2 large glass (or pretty plastic) drink dispensers. We are serving water in them to go with our 600 homemade cookies as refreshments. Whew! Well, if anyone has one of these you would let me take please call me (in the ward directory), or email me at sbikhazi(at)gmail(dot)com

Thanks a ton!
Sacha B.

Preschool

I am going to start teaching a 3 year old class and a 4 year old class this January.  They will run through the end of May.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to call or email me.  :)

The 3 year old class will be Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30-11:00. 
$75/month, $35/registration fee

The 4 year old class will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12. 
$150/month, $35/registration fee

Registration for next Fall has already started.  I only have 2 openings left in my 3 year old class, and 5 openings in my 4 year old class.  (Class size = 8)

Thanks so much!!

debrarivard at hotmail dot com                               702.292.3084

Basketball Scrimmage

Anyone interested in playing basketball? Not in a league, just scrimmages at the church near Volcano Vista H.S. If so, let me know days and times that would work for you. I'm hoping to get something organized by next week.

Halloween Candy Donation

If you are looking for a better option than letting the kids eat all their candy...donate it in return for money!!
All the candy that is collected is sent to our troops serving our country,
The following link will give you all the details...

http://www.sandiasmiles.com/treats-for-troops/

FHE Blog

Just thought I'd share a cute blog I found:

http://fheinasnap.blogspot.com/

She's got some great FHE ideas. Short, simple, and to the point. Not too much preparation involved, which is right up my alley! There's usually an object lesson of some sort, and she includes ideas for treats.

We used one of her lessons tonight, and it was very well received. Hope this helps someone!

Toy Story 3 Coupon

Toy Story 3 comes out tomorrow. Here is an $8 off coupon for the combo pack that expires November 8th.

Zumba Tomorrow!

Zumba is ON for tomorrow at the Chapel.  

8:45AM.

See you then!

Cute Spider Tutorial



Photo via eighteen25.blogspot.com

 A few people at the Burns' Halloween party asked how I made the little spider family. Here is the tutorial. I didn't take a picture of the ones that I made (wish I would have), but I just made the "baby" spider a little smaller and then hot glued a bow to her and the "mama" spider.

Yes, Halloween is over, but save this in your favorites for next year. Cheap, easy, fun and my kids were able to make them too. Hardest part is getting the buttons in the right spot for the eyes!

Needed: Cooler

Sacha B is looking to borrow a cooler that is at least 12 inches wide at the base (preferably wider) and at least two feet long. If you have a large cooler this size or larger that you would let her borrow for a few days (Dec 2 - Dec 6) please email her at sbikhazi{at}gmail.com or give her a call from the ward directory.  Thanks!