It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

All smiles for the camera, Anna and Megan are being sweet girls in anticipation of Christmas. Anna is sure to ask every day what number is it now Mommy? We proceed to glue a cotton ball on Santa's beard counting down the days until Christmas. Last night we had a family Christmas party with the Clayburns. We all had a nice time. Anna and Megan exchanged gifts with their cousins. They both loved their presents: A littlest pet shop puppy and a Dora ABC book/magna doodle. Earlier in the day Wayne and I took them shopping to find gifts for each other. Anna is excited to give her sister some dishes so she can cook. Christmastime is busy, fun, full of traditions.
I have been reflecting about the wonderful life I am blessed with not just now but everyday, all year, the past, present and future. I don't know why or how I am so blessed. I am blessed with the knowledge of the gospel, its teachings burn within my heart. My children aren't perfect but they are precious and sweet and full of love, a gift from Heavenly Father. My husband is patient and kind and good, devoted and hard working. I have good health, a nice home with all of my needs met and more. My family and friends are considerate, kind and always willing to help out. I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for all of these blessings, even when I am not always deserving of such a life. I want to live each day to be more deserving of these beautiful blessings I have been given, by focusing on the important things in my life and in the lives of my family and praying that I can be an instrument in the Lord's hand for good, as so many others have been for me.
We love you all so very much and hope that you too can reflect on your blessings at this blessed time of year.

And the Snow keeps coming Down

We have had another big snowstorm in the Uintah Basin.

Wayne had fun making this huge snowman for the girls at his parents house.

It is a winter wonderland here, keeping us inside our cozy warm homes.

Anna and I made gingerbread men last night with Grandma. As we were mixing the dought she wanted to taste the molasses. "It's umdulicious" she said. After the mixing was done she wanted to lick the bowl and 'spinner' and 'scraper'. Her favorite part of cookie making! Megan joined in and also enjoyed. They made a pretty messy sight. What fun! Hope you are all well. Love, The Clayburns

Santa didn't come...

We had a big snowstorm on Friday night. Anna was pretty excited, she looked out the window and said "Now it's Chrismas mommy!" but when we woke up the next morning she was sad. "Mommy Santa didn't come." Kind of cute. We have explained that snow dosen't mean that it is Christmas, just winter, and we have made a little count down chart for her.

We had plans to go cut our Christmas tree on Saturday, but with about 5 or 6 inches we decided it would be too hard, so we broke down and bought one from the nursery. It is very beautiful and smells wonderful. We took the girls out in the snow to play. The girls loved sledding on the oil well hill a couple of times, but didn't last too long in the cold and wet.

This week really feels like winter; very cold and the days are shorter but longer when we are stuck inside. Wayne has been busy on his project: a pavilion/storage shed/temporary carport. He was able to get the trusses all up this week. It is exciting progress for us, and will be very nice when it is finished.

We hope you are all doing well, and enjoying this season.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving together. Grandma and Grandpa Wayment and Jan and Gary Davis with Carson and Katrina joined us at Mom and Dads. It was so nice to visit and enjoy each others company. Anna and Megan had a lot of fun. Anna especially had fun with Katrina calling her "Aunt Katrina", and coloring and playing together. Adam and Carson had fun staying at his apartment and playing games together. Jan and Mom and I joined the frenzy on Black Friday, it was fun and I was happy about the deals I got, but more important just having a good time together. Grandma even joined us on Saturday in Roosevelt for a little shopping. Wayne has been busy building a pavilion/storage shed. On Saturday he was able to complete the trusses with help from Dad and a good friend JR Bird.The girls had fun baking cookies. We made reindeer, candy canes and a Cookie star tree. Fun, a new tradition!We hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. Love you all, The Clayburns

Happy Halloween

Anna and Megan had fun trunk or treating with Grandma and Grandpa at the church on Halloween. Anna was Ariel and Megan was a butterfly. Grandma took some cute pictures. Anna said "This is the best Halloween ever!" Mommy had to come home from vacation and take the candy away to be disperesed in smaller more infrequent amounts.
Now Anna is getting excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Goodness all these holidays at once! We were reading a Thanksgiving story where the family ends up eating sandwiches. Anna said, "Thats silly. You can't have sandwiches for thanksgiving!"
Almost everyday she sees a new commercail and says I want that for Christmas, we'll see! What a world we live in. I am realizing more and more how true it is that time we spend doing things together is more valuable than what money can buy. I just need to work on my habits of thinking I need stuff and replacing that with spending time playing, imagining and creating fun together.

Our Vacation

Wayne and I had a wonderful time on our vacation. We went on a Royal Caribbean Eastern Caribbean cruise. It was from Sunday to Sunday. We flew to Orlando and took a bus to Port Canaveral, where we boarded the Mariner of the Seas cruise ship with about 3,700 other guests. It was a crazy day. We were told that there was a tropical storm and we wouldn't be able to go to the port in the Bahamas, but instead we could go to Peurto Rico. That night however, a woman who was celebrating her 65th wedding anniversary fell down some stairs and we returned to Port Canaveral so she could get help. She broke several bones, but was going to be okay. We were not able to go to Peurto Rico.
Days at Sea
We had a total of 4 days at sea, more than we wanted, but the cruise ship was very fancy and nice.
There was of course lots of food. We went with Wayne's Mom and Dad and their friends Keith and Linda Neilsen. Keith and Linda had been on a cruise before, but it was the first time for Wayne and Steve and Connie. One night Keith ordered escargot (snails), No one else was brave enough! But we had delicious fish, and other meats and fancy appetizers and desserts: creme dulcie, baked Alaska, mousse, baked puddings, shrimp, lobster, lamb, I loved the chilled soups: strawberry, pear, peach, apple. We definitely gained weight!
The ship had a miniature golf course, but it was kind of hard to play with all the rocking and wind. We also enjoyed ice skating, sun bathing, swimming, exploring, watching flying fish, playing cards, climbing the rock wall, going to a couple of shows and resting and relaxing. I loved the Ice Show, a kind of Ice Capade figure skating, they were amazing! We also enjoyed the Love and Marriage game show.
The weather was humid and warm. The ocean was a little rough. About 9-12 ft. swells at the worst. We watched the whole front of the boat rise up and down several feet. The water in the swimming pools looked like a wave pool, and on the last day they closed the pools because it was too dangerous.
At Port
On Wednesday we stopped at St. Thomas, a US Virgin Island. Wayne and I rode on a tram to the top of the mountain with a lookout view of the island, that was pretty. We did a little tourist shopping and riding in one of the hundreds of cabs. Our favorite part of the whole trip was the snorkeling excursion. We went on a catamaran out to a little island Trunk Bay. The catamaran rose up and down much like a roller coaster on the rough water, and drenched us all. By the time we got to the island Wayne and I were rubbing salt off our faces. But it was sunny and exciting! The tour guides showed us all how to use the snorkel gear, and warned us about some of the dangers: sea urchins, and stepping on any part of the federally protected island. Many sea turtles live there, and they said if we were calm and did a sort of dead mans float, that the turtles might surface right close to us. One did right next to Wayne. I dove down to the bottom and got within about 3 feet of one, it just stared at me and sat there. We also saw sting rays, and tropical fish in the coral reefs. We wished we could have snorkeled longer than 1 hour, but the catamaran and crew were waiting to slowly take us back to the ship so all could enjoy the free rum punch, a highlight for everyone but us it seemed. Wednesday was also Halloween and a lot of people on the ship dressed up, it was fun.
On Thursday we stopped at St. Martin. This island is half Dutch and half French. Wayne and I walked around for some shopping. They have some big resort/hotels and casinos. And sandy beaches. We went on an excursion called Treetop Adventure. We rode on a tour bus up into the mountains (hills). They have a zipline/rope course. We were in harnesses with some safety ropes/clips and a little pulley with a snap. We climbed to the top of a tree (about 35 feet). Stood on a platform and snapped ourselves to the cables then went flying! We would stop ourselves by grabbing the cable with our gloved hand. There were many bridges, cables and obstacles and several ziplines. It took about 1 hour to do the whole course. It was fun, hot and humid. Steve and Connie and Keith and Linda went on a jeep tour of the island. They stopped at Orient Beach on the french side. It was a nude beach, and some people were. Listening to them, I'm glad I didn't have to see that! But they had a fun adventure. Especially trying to drive with all the islanders. It seems they don't have many rules or laws about driving.
The worst part of the trip was the flights, we had about 7 hours at the Orlando Airport. It took about 15 hours coming (red eye flight, once was enough to learn they are not for us!) and about 19 hours returning home! Not so fun. Next time we will book travel on our own. We also missed our girls, and were very glad to see them again.
Well this kind of turned out to be long, hope it was interesting to you. We had a great time, and look forward to vacationing again someday hopefully with our family and friends, so start planning and saving!
Love you all, Wayne and Stacy