Christmas Season...and a lot of pictures

We love Christmas time! I took 112 pictures while on vacation so beware!

Before we left to visit our family in sunny AZ we had our own little Christmas at home. It is so fun now that our kids are older. Before going to bed on 'Christmas Eve', we put cookies and milk out for Santa. Garrett looked at DJ very sternly and while pointing his finger said, "Don't eat it Daddy!"

Opening their presents.
Garrett lined all of his old and new (Christmas) cars up in a line. (This is his favorite thing to do) He was very proud of it. I'm glad I'm not sitting in one of those cars. Talk about traffic!

And then we flew to AZ. We spent the first little while visiting with my parents. Dad showing off his hand muffs! Funny father.

Shelley's tree is growing big. All the light blue coloring is new growth.

Daddy throwing up the kids in the air. They love that!

Then my family had our Christmas party. We had a delicious chocolate fountain. We played our white elephant game and just visited. It was very fun!

The white elephant gift we brought for the game...

How do I look blonde??? This was the white elephant gift I got to take home!

The next day we had DJ's family Christmas party. Maelie and two of her cousins. We ate a great dinner, acted out the nativity, and then played a white elephant gift exchange game.

Garrett as a wise man

Maelie was one of the 4 angels. Too many kids, so you have to double up roles. However we had only one Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.

Meet Rudolph. This deer sits in the Palmer home and every year is very festive.

On Christmas day we had fun opening presents. Every one of DJ's siblings were there which was really neat.

After the morning chaos, we went to visit my sister Shelley's grave. We were able to sit down with Maelie and Garrett and teach them about death and the resurrection and about Christ. We read from the scriptures some verses about the atonement. It was a really neat experience. What better thing to do on Christmas. I am so grateful for my Savior and ALL he did for me.

A very happy boy!

We went to Bounce U to celebrate DJ's brother's graduation from college. It was so much fun and we had the burns to prove it. I learned quick to raise my arms as I went down the slide.

In the Bounce U chair!

We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast with Kristen and Gary one morning. As you can see, the kids LOVE them.

DJ flew home on the first to start school on the 2nd and i flew home a couple days later. I was very nervous to fly home by myself with three kids, but they did AWESOME! They loved take off and landing. While we were waiting in the plane to take off, Garrett said, "it's not working" and as soon as we started he said "yeah, it's working"

Maelie asked "are we going up a mountain?" when the plane was initially taking off. It sure feels like it.

Now we are home. We are very thankful to all those who allowed us to stay with them. We had a great time!

I put Sterling in his bouncy chair and this is what he does now.

He won't lay flat on it anymore, he wants to sit up! Wow, 4 months and growing!

Back to blogging

Wow, almost a month of not posting. That's a record!

I got this from my mom and thought it was really good.

I Wonder

What would happen if we treated our scriptures like we treat our cell phones?

What if we carried them around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through them several times a day?

What if we turned back to get them if we forgot them?

What if we used them to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated them like we couldn't live without them?

What if we interrupted our favorite program to take just one verse?

What if we gave them to our kids as a gift?

What if we made sure our friends and family were on the same plan?

What if we stepped out of a meeting, just to read one encouraging verse?

What if we used them when we traveled?

What if we used them in case of emergency?

What if we interrupted our dinner to read them?

What if?

Merry Christmas! 2007 Newsletter

December 2007

Dear Family and Friends,
The year 2007 is almost over and we want to share a few of the things that have happened with us this year. We were able to spend 4 weeks this summer with family in Arizona. Then on August 31 we had our third child, Sterling Vaughn Palmer.
DJ completed his first year of Dental School at Temple University and started on year two. He was commissioned as an officer into the Air Force in January. He is the first counselor in the Young Men presidency in our ward. He loves working with the youth in Philadelphia. DJ is a great husband and father.
Debbie loves her role as a wife and mother. She is busy taking care of and loving three wonderful children. She is the Young Women president in our ward and loves the young women she works with. This year she was able to attend Youth Conference and girls camp. Debbie enjoys reading and playing on the computer in her spare time.
Maelie turned four this year and started preschool. She enjoys her classmates and teacher and always comes home very happy. She can write her name and has started reading small, easy words. Maelie is a wonderful big sister and loves playing with her brothers. She is a huge help to her mom.
Garrett turned two this year. He is the comedian in the family. He can get all of us rolling with laughter. He likes to play with his cars and to be outdoors. Garrett likes to play with Maelie which includes dolls and princesses, to his father’s dismay. Garrett is a great cleaner and that helps his mom a ton.
Sterling is a very happy boy. He gets a lot of attention from his sister and brother. He is such fun to have around. His parents think he is growing too fast, but are enjoying every minute of time with him. Sterling, like his brother, found his thumb and uses it to comfort himself. He is a wonderful addition to our family.
This year has been a great year for the Palmer family. We want to wish all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and hope for the best for everyone in the new year, 2008!
Love,
DJ, Debbie, Maelie, Garrett, and Sterling

Santa Claus!

On Saturday we had our ward party! We ate delicious food and had lots of great company.

Sterling was loved by many!
The kids got to hit a pinata. Here is Garrett giving it a try. I think he missed the first swing and then hit it the second swing.

Maelie taking her swing.

And last but surely not least, Santa Claus!!!! The kids told Santa what they wanted for Christmas and in return he gave them a candy cane! Come on Santa!

Snowball fight!

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab

This was fun!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1200400420

OR

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1200885398
(the 2nd one features Sterling

Tagged

I've been tagged.
What is his name? Denver J. Palmer
How long have you been married? 6 years on December 26th
How long did you date? We dated for four weeks! Engaged for 2 1/2 months
How old is he? 27
Who eats more? He does
Who said I love you first? He did. I had a hard time saying those three words at first because my family wasn't one for emotions, but now it's easy.
Who is taller? He is when we're standing, but I am when we're sitting. I have a longer torso than he does. He just has long legs.
Who sings better? We're equal
Who is smarter? He is definitely smarter in science, but I LOVE math. So to answer the question, it depends on the subject.
Who does the laundry? mostly me
Who does the dishes? mostly me. He tries to help when he can, but is usually really busy.
Who cooks dinner? I try. He enjoys cooking more than I do and he can make some killer meals.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
Who pays the bills? I do.
Who mows the lawn? If we had a lawn I think we would have to take turns because we both love to mow lawns. I loved that chore growing up.
Who drives when you are together? both, but mostly me. I love to drive!
Who is more stubborn? Me. It's a Windsor thing.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? DJ.
Whose parents do you see the most? We try to make it as equal as possible
Who proposed? DJ
Who has more friends? I do. Only because I'm home with kids and have other moms to hang out with. He is a very fun person to be with and makes friends easily.
Who has more siblings? I do. I have 15 and he has 7.
Who wears the pants in the family? Me

CA visitors!

We had a great time with our visitors. My sister, Sherri came with her family to pick up her son who was finished serving his mission in the Bronx. We had a lot of fun visiting and seeing sites. We went to Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, and Valley Forge. They got to tour some of New York City and see a broadway show.

Here are all the boys reminiscing. My brother-in-law and my three nephews.

Here is the RM!!! with Sterling

My nephew Daniel stayed with me while my sister went to the NY temple. He was a lot of fun to have around.

I was going through the pictures that Maelie took and came across these two pictures below. They are the only ones I have of Sherri from her visit and Maelie took them both. Both times she has the exact same tilt of the head. I thought that was funny.

I got to meet my great nephew (my nephew Joseph's baby) Thomas and my nephew's wife, Lisa for the first time. Their baby was born on September 1st and Sterling was born one day before him. However, their baby is quite a bit taller. Here they are standing next to each other.

Look at that height difference. Thomas is going to be a tall boy! Here they are face to face.

And of course, one of them together, smiling.

My nephew's wife, Lisa (which makes her my niece now) and our 3 month old babies.

I had so much fun! I love having company. It gets so lonely out here so far from family. I'm already planning things to do and see for the next time you come Sherri so now you're stuck! :)

Thanks for coming out and congratulations Elder Hampton on completely your mission!

Best Friends!


Mom, you're taking another picture!!!!

Garrett's favorite pasttime. Playing with cars!

Gingerbread houses!

Traditions! On Friday we made our gingerbread houses.

Caution! Hard hat area! Construction workers are very busy this Christmas.

The building of the future!

Our houses! Garrett lost his roof. His ground around the 'house' is very beautiful.

Garrett was busier eating candy than decorating.

Maelie on the other hand ate maybe one or two pieces of candy and used the rest for her house. A very beautiful house!

My dream home!

Don't ask me what this is. I don't even think DJ knows :)

Sterling's very first toy...A toothbrush!!!

Thanksgiving weekend

On Thanksgiving day we had three other families over for loads of food and fun. Below is a picture of 2 out of the 4 babies that were there. Sterling is one day older than Ashlynn (the baby girl).

Then on Friday we had family pictures and after that we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for more food and fun. The kids LOVED it!

Chuck E. Cheese was walking around and came and gave Maelie a big hug and she got a picture with him. Garrett was petrified of him and stayed as far away as he could!

On a roller coaster!

We are a pizza loving family!

Then that night we busted out the Christmas decorations and went to work. We first set up our Christmas tree.

All finished!

Sterling's first Christmas!

At the end of the fun-filled day, he was still full of smiles!

Then early Saturday morning we drove to DC . DJ met with the Temple President and was set apart to be a temple worker. We went to the commissary on base and bought a lot of delicious food we normally don't buy. We made dinner in our hotel on base and enjoyed the rest of the weekend. On Sunday we attended church in DC. It was funny because we got there and there were a lot of old couples and no families. We just assumed that the families would be coming later because we got there about 20 minutes early. Time passed and no families or kids showed up. Then a couple came over to us (wearing missionary tags) and told us that this was a couple missionary ward and that they were excited to have us and to see little kids. Sacrament meeting was SILENT! Our kids did very good being quiet. At the end of a hymn, though, Garrett sang the note a lot longer and louder than necessary.