Hailey's Birthday at the zoo!!

For Hailey's 9th Birthday, we packed our suitcases and without telling her where we were going, we all jumped in the car and headed north.  We stopped for pizza and then checked in to a hotel in Anthem.  We then told her we were going to the Africa Wildlife Park in Cottonwood, AZ the next day and she screamed!  You know . . . . HAILEY LOVES ANIMALS!!  It was a hit!  We loved the birds (they talked so much) and the tiger squirted nasty stuff from his behind at me.  But other than that, we had an awesome time!!! Happy Birthday Hailey!

Spencer and I snuggled together during the trip to phoenix

When we got there, I was so exited. I love animals and I loved to go to zoos. It was so wild! We went through the entrance and the first thing I saw was the monkeys. that was only part of it! I couldn't wait to see more.

This was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. We got in a big golf cart thing, and we drove to the giraffes.We each got some celery and carrots. I held it out to the giraffes big mouth. Then, this huge, blue tongue shot at me, taking the celery into its big mouth. I could feel the slobbery tongue lick me, but i didnt care. It was super fun!

This is when the slobbery blue tongue shot at me!

I also loved to look at the zebras. Their black and white stripes hypnotized me. They were very cool to look at.

I was having so much fun at the zoo!

This rodent is only found in Argentina. How cool!I wonder if Kohler saw one.

Looking at the tigers was very fun. My mom was trying to take a picture on her phone, then suddenly the tiger turned around, lifted his tail, then the tiger shot gross stuff from his bottom right at mom! She barely dodged it. It was so funny!

Other than the tiger squrting mom, we had a fun time looking at the tigers. One of the tigers yawned, and i could see the razor sharp teeth.

I like the lions. Their fluffy manes make me want to go up to it and hug it. It was the best zoo day ever!

Fun pics of December

On the first weekend in December, Tom and I flew to California to help my parents with a Christmas Concert for their Nativity Festival.  It was held at the Stake Center in Merced and my parents were the main chairpersons of the entire event.  They had worked for an entire year planning and organizing literally hundreds of stake volunteers.  The church was decorated to the hilt, gingerbread cookies were made and bagged with cute little ties, lighted Christmas Trees and poinsettias were everywhere you looked, and over 400 nativity scenes were on display for the public to enjoy.  It was truly an awesome sight!

 On Friday and Saturday evenings, there was a free concert for the public to attend.  Tom and I performed both nights and it was a lot of fun for us.  I played an organ piece called, "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella" as well as played a trio (piano duet and organ) of "Sleigh Ride" with Molly Rowan and my mother, and a piano/organ duet with my mother, "Joy to the World" in true Bach style!

 Tom sang, "After December" and also sang a duet with Mary called, "No Room for the King."  Tom was flawless and the duet was the perfect way to end the show each night.  Dad helped my mom so very much in this entire endeavor.  He carried his cell phone around (and actually answered it!) putting out small "fires" which naturally occur with an event of this magnitude.  But my mom had this event so well-planned that the fires were minimal and everything really ran like clockwork.  All of their hard work paid off!  Dad did help run the sound for the concert each night and I had a lot of fun sitting by him and helping him find the "play" button on my phone when he got nervous! ha ha!

 Isn't this a truly beautiful sight?  The Stake President, President Stuart Schofield, complimented my parents over and over again.  His counselor, and my parents good friend, Steve Rowan, told me, "We knew how we wanted it to look and we knew we wanted it done right.  So, we knew who to ask . . . YOUR parents!"

 The track lighting was made especially for this event.  Each of the pvc pipe/rope barriers were made especially for this event.  It was spectacular!

For a Family Home Evening in December, our family went and served at an organization called, "Feed My Starving Children."  It is a charity, non-profit based organization that runs entirely on donations to help pack meals for children all over the world. When we got there, they did a demonstration for everyone of how to pack the food and when the staff member asked for a volunteer, of course Hailey raised her hand!

 It always feels so good to do for someone, what they cannot do for themselves.  Serving is truly the BEST way to feel the Christmas  Spirit!

 When Tom and I were performing at the Nativity Festival in Merced, Hailey was performing in the Queen Creek Christmas Parade!  We were really sad that we missed the performance, but Kelsey was a trooper and acted just like her mom.  She did her hair and make-up (which is not easy) and both she and Spencer drove out to the parade to support her and cheer for her.  Kelsey said she did an amazing job!

 That night I let the girls go have a fun night together.  Kelsey called me in California and asked if I would pay over the phone for them to paint some ceramics for a fun "Girls Night Out."  Of course!!  Spencer was at home, in heaven, playing X-Box with his friends online.  Yes, we are in that stage again---trying to always monitor his play time.  But when he spends time with the family and gets his piano and homework done, it's a fun outlet for him and his friends.

 Tom's mother was in need of a new car pretty badly.  Her old one was just run into the ground and it was time for a new one.  Her favorite car is the Kia Soul so Tom and I looked around for one that she would like.  We found one and bought it early in December but wanted to give it to her for Christmas.  So, Kelsey was able to drive it to school for a few weeks and fell in love with the little car.  She called it her "Soulmate".  Get it?  Kia SOUL?? ha ha!

 I hosted a luncheon for all of the Relief Society Presidents in our Stake.  We all sat around and talked about what things have really helped us and it was such a great time to be able to talk with other people who are in the same boat as you are.   

 Even though the cranberries and limes were pretty in the water, they made the water taste a little bitter.  I think next time I will do red strawberries or something a little sweeter.

 I had a lot of fun putting together a "Marshall Family Cousins Memory Game" for each of my sisters and my brother's family.  I gathered photos of each of the cousins-- even Suzanne's unborn child was represented by a photo of little baby feet!  There were 20 cousins in all.  Then I doubled it to make 40 photos so each photo would have a match.  Multiply that by 6 games (one for each of my siblings and one for my parents) that left me with 240 photos to laminate and cut out.  I worked on that project for several nights and each night I would look at the faces of those cousins and floods of happy memories filled my mind.  It was a labor of love for me. When I was finished, I wrapped up the games with pretty bows and mailed them off to everyone.  The game was a hit with all of the cousins!  It thrilled me to hear how much everyone loved it!

 For our Christmas Relief Society Service Project, the sisters put together over 200 blessing bags for the homeless.  The blessing bags were filled with toiletry items and snacks.  

 We also worked on tying quilts and sewing baby blankets.

 It was so much fun to get together with other sisters, visit with each other, and do service for others.  It was held in Sis. Seiter's beautiful new home and it was the perfect day to have it there with the weather being so gorgeous!  She opened up her large pocket doors and we filled her family room out into her patio with sisters!

 Tom and I performed at another Nativity Festival here in Gilbert.  It too, was decorated to the hilt and over the top!  We performed by ourselves for 30 minutes, playing piano solos, and accompanying Tom singing.  Actually, it was really fun to do.  I love performing with him!

 Our ward had a Country Christmas Party and boy was it a huge success!  We had country dancing, western BBQ, and even Santa paid us a visit!

While we were at the Christmas Party, Tom was up in Utah surprising his mother with a BRAND NEW CAR!

 He didn't even tell her he was coming.  He called her when he was almost there to tell her he came up for an orthodontic meeting, kind of a spur of the moment thing! ha ha!  Then he asked her if she could come outside and meet him by the car to help carry in some gifts he brought.  (sneaky, huh!)  When she walked outside and saw the ribbon on the car, Tom began to laugh and said, "Mom, this is your NEW car!"  She began to cry and just couldn't believe it.  

 Meanwhile, back at the Ward Christmas party . . . we are dancing the night away!

 Spencer was a good sport to get out there and dance.  He even danced the western swing with me!  What a sweet boy.

  Our neighbors, the Scrantons, joined us that night and it was so much fun having them there.

At the end of every year, we host a luncheon for our amazing staff.  This year we decided to do something a little different.  We went to a beautiful resort and had lunch at the spa.  Then we treated our staff to the spa treatment of their choice, plus let them have the rest of the afternoon off to sit by the pool, relax, or do whatever they wanted.  The staff loved it!!!  I think we have now set a standard for something that will definitely be repeated.  They deserved it though.  They work very hard and we are so grateful to have them on our team!