Our annual family party

WE always have such a nice time at Kristen and Todd's home! We fry scones with cinnamon, honey or powdered sugar toppings! The kids have such a great time being together and then we have them in act the Nativity story. They do such a great job. Even little Nate got into the act!
We miss Melissa's children when they are not here.
By the way, when is the eating going to stop? but it's so good!
have a wonderful Christmas everyone,
by the way Carolee and Jeff have some great news concerning his lab tests. What a wonderful blessing.

Happy Birthday Carolee

It's Carolee's Birthday Well December 14th is another special day. My fourth daughter Carolee was born. I have to tell you those were the days when you didn't know what you were having and when number 4 girl was placed into my arms, I was NOT one bit disappointed. Carolee was the cutest little thing ever. I remember being in the recovery room with Bill and he held her for two hours and she was just a calm sweet baby girl. ( This was the first C section that Bill was allowed to see, and all he would tell me about the operation was, " boy you are sure going to hurt tomorrow, you can't believe what they were doing to you!" weren't those words of comfort?But a miracle happened, I felt no pain having Carolee. You see, at the time Bill was the Bishop, it was tithing settlement, he was needed for the ward, and I had 4 little children under 6 years old and I felt great! I remember that so well, because I knew it was blessings from above, plus two months previous I had just lost my mother to Lou Gehrig's disease, and I was given special comfort.Carolee was really special because after Kristen was born and having so many complications with her the Dr. and told me I couldn't have any more children. Somehow I just knew there were more children to come into our home, so when Carolee arrived it was another sweet blessing from above.Carolee was tiny and all her big sisters just loved her so much.
Carolee was so fun to raise, she was obedient, and about as cute as they come. She had long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Her best friend was Jason Briggs, and they played outside constantly. She loved her big sisters and really loved her baby brother when he came a few years later. Carolee was always very smart and loved to talk! She was also very strong willed and somehow did not comprehend the word No when she wanted something!
Carolee was a parent's dream to raise, she always wanted to do good in her life. When she got married it was hard for me because I just was sad to have her leave home. It was a great blessing to have her and Jeff and two children live with us once again for 4 1/2 years while he was in school. They were great to have in our home.
I continue to be very proud of her in how she has conducted her life, she is raising a sweet family, she has been so supportive of Jeff during his long hours away at school and on rotations that have taken him away. She has great faith in the obstacles that have come thier way. I'm so happy that I was blessed with my number 4 daughter. I love you Carolee

Kristen's Birthday

Today, I'm very grateful for the birth of my 3rd daughter Kristen! ( actually everyday, I'm grateful for her birth) but I would like to remininse a bit on Kristen.
Wow, what can I say to share my feelings on this special daughter? First of all I want to go back to my pregnancy with her. When I was only in my 4th month I discovered that I had a very serious condition called placenta previa. In order to save her life I would from that day on have to stay in bed 24/7. Now you must realize how difficult "mentally " that was for me since I had a 2 year old and a 3 year old at home! But we wanted this baby to be born healthy, so to bed I went. It was a huge challenge for me, and at times very discouraging, we were living away from both of our parents so we hired a teenage girl to come over every day to be with me and the kids until Bill got home from work. All of my kids know how much I love to stay busy so it really was a test of my faith to follow the Dr's orders. During this time though I put to good use because I started doing family research and genealogy! and this was the year I made all those Christmas stockings that hung on our fireplace for so many years!
Finally the time came when the Dr. said that the baby was big enough to be born ( plus he examined me and said, I was a bomb ready to go off!) so the next day she was born. Complications set in and I wasn't able to come home from the hospital for 9 days. But my health was spared and we were blessed with the cutest little red head ever!
From the very beginning Kristen was such a good baby! She loved to sleep! yea! but as she got older her two big sisters just loved her so much. Kristen has always been our peace maker in the family and so fun to be with.
Kristen was our shy one and very tender hearted. I don't believe Kristen has ever had a spanking. Her heart was just too tender. Kristen was so fun to raise, she always had many friends, the years just went by too fast!
Kristen has the most beautiful hair, I love her read hair, I love Kristen! She is a wonderful mom to her children. Her children excel in all that they do. She and Todd are wonderful parents and raising a strong gospel centered family.
I'm so very grateful that Kristen was sent to our family! She has been such a blessing, all of her siblings and to her mom and dad.
I love you very much Kristen, I hope you have a wonderful day!

oops

I meant to say Nate instead of Mack, even though Mack was with us at the party.

Our grandsons and daughters are so cute.
We are so lucky!

Birthday Celebrations

we had a fun time on Sunday evening. Ryan and Taryn and Mack, The Biehns, and the Thompsons were able to come over. We ate some great food, some great desserts, and the grandkids had a great time playing together. We always miss those who can't be with us.
Christmas will be here before you know it!

Poor Mack

well, my cute little grandson has had a heck of a week. He broke his arm last week, and all week long he was in such pain, then he tripped and fell on his cast, and he cried for about 2 hours, so they took him back to check on it. The Dr. felt he needed pins put in to hold it in place. The reason he hurt so much was because it had slipped out of alignment. So last night or should I say morning ( at 1:15 am) he had surgery. Poor little guy, he's such a sweetheart, and when they don't understand why they hurt it makes you feel so bad.
Today Grandma is going over to help Kristen while she gets some sleep.

Life does bring it's challenges, but thank goodness for good doctors and insurance!
Sunday we will celebrate Brooklyn's 5 birthday, boy that five years has gone by so fast! She is a sweetheart. Trevor just turned 11 years old and he's such a fine young man, and super athlete.
Julia will turn 6, and she's a happy bright little gal, who loves makeup!

Next Friday I will celebrate Carolee's and Kristen's birthdays with lunch with the girls and a cookie exchange party! We McCooks love to eat!

yeah, it rained

What a surprise to have rain today. Long over due, and now it's beginning to feel like winter just might come! I love to drink hot chocolate.
Bought some pretty poinsettas today, I want to start doing some baking but I need to clean out my freezer, ( that is not a fun job, a big jar of homemade jam spilled in my freezer, and if the word sticky comes to mind .. oh my)
I've been looking up blogs and I'm very impressed what good cooks there are out there, yum.
Some of my girls will be coming over to do a cookie exchange and then celebrate Kristen and Carolee's birthdays, I'm looking forward to that.
Well not much else news except Dad and I got the tree up and we are all decorated!

Yippee all my shopping is pretty much done and wrapped and the Christmas cards are ready, I guess that is pretty discusting huh? But that's what you get when you don't have little ones under feet all day.