Christmas Day Program

We went to my mom's side of the family this year on Christmas day. We had a wonderful brunch with lots of good food, a great spiritual program with really touching stories, lots of musical numbers, and tons of laughs. We did presents, white elephants, and as everyone else does at Christmas time stuffed our bellies past the point of full.

 Sitting around telling stories...

 Mom and dad ready for a nap. Wrapping all night, and helping Santa makes you that way, or at least I hear!

 This year my grandma and grandpa Holliday sent us presents. Each one of us got a box of "stuff". Grandma went through some of her things, and put things in a box that she thought we could use more. I got a whole box of sewing things, patterns, thread, and this funny bandanna.

Doing white elephants, I got a gift card to McDonald's, and Caitlyn got a gift card to wal-mart. I never heard of gift cards being white elephants. That was a neat twist. =)

Christmas Day!

Christmas morning my mom came in my room waking me up at 5:30. We slowly crawled out of bed and went up to Santa's deliveries. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas morning.

 Daddy picked out this cute scarf, and sweater for me. I love them!

 We got a new straightener and look at that cute chair I am sitting in for my room!

 Here is Duke being his wild self, getting into everything!

Ipod Touch was Caitlyn's big present. She was so surprised! I got lots of gifts, a beautiful bouquet of Daisies, and 1000 piece puzzle from Jared, Rascal Flatts Cd, Despicable Me, Gift cards, and lots of memories. This year Christmas was fantastic!

Christmas Parties!

One of the best things about Christmas is the time we get to spend with family. Christmas Eve night we had family over for White Elephants, Games, Food, and Fun. Here are a few pictures of our party.

 Maddy got this snowman as her white elephant. It was a hit! People were bidding on it. 8 dollars, but Maddy stayed strong, and she took home her snowman. Perfect size for her!

 Doing white elephants is so much fun. So  many random things!

This is my cousin Melissa and  her husband Chris newest family member. Sunny! She is so much fun. She can whistle, and sing you a song. But watch out for the evil kitty Duke, Duke thought it was snack time. Don't worry Sunny was saved!

Biggest Project I have ever Done!

Each year for Christmas I spend months doing projects. For the first time ever I didn't have any stitchings to do this year. All the families had their own, and the newly wed couples I finished this summer. So I started an experiment... A quilt! I have never made a quilt before, and had no idea what I was in for. Let alone a symbolic quilt with extra details added. I got started October 2, and finished it December 23.

As you can see each orange square has a stitching symbol inside it. Each one represents an memorable event. The quilt turned out being the size of a full bed. It was darling. I tied the green back to the quilt with the red yarn, and the clipped the quilt to make it ragged. Lots of time put into something you weren't very sure would even turned out was frustrating getting so close to christmas, but to my surprise it turned out absolutely darling!!! Here is the final picture.

It was so exciting to have it done, and the best part was giving it to my best friend for Christmas. Jared, loved it! He was so surprised, and excited to get something so meaningful.

                                               MERRY CHRISTMAS JARED! =)

SNOW DAY!

You know it's exciting when you wake up to this in the morning!

But what's even better is when your mom comes running down the stairs yelling, the cars are stuck, the cars are stuck!

Not only did my mom get her car stuck, she got mine stuck to. Next thing we know school is canceled because the buses are stuck to! I am a senior and it's my first snow day. I can't even wait....

Caitlyn was the dedicated snow blower. She spent hours outside doing this. My job was to save the trees! I took the broom out back, and brushed off the limbs of the pine tree. Next was all the trees and bushes out front. Look how much snow I had to trudge through. It came all the way up to my knee!

Totally a lot of snow, and thank goodness we had no school! It was fantastic. Great way to start Christmas break early! =)

Festival of lights!

I guess it wouldn't be a Christmas tradition if we didn't do it every year, so this year we went to see the lights. Here are some fun pictures, of the new things there. =)

DAVID ARCHULETA!

After looking at the gorgeous lights on temple square, and getting frost bite it seemed, we were lucky. We got to go to the best Christmas concert ever! We got tickets to go see David Archuleta sing with the mormon tabernacle choir at the Conference center. It was freezing, but man alive the music was incredible! Not to mention our Utah American Idol star was there to perform. My mama leaned over and said, "He is the cutest guy ever, and he can sing!" Then she winked. haha I don't think I will marry David, but he is one of my favorite singers. Here are a few pictures, hope you can see them, if not I am very sorry. Enjoy! And hope you are getting ready for the Christmas season! =)

Christmas Surprise!

My little sister Caitlyn, has been playing the violin for a few years now. She has gotten so good. It's fun to see the improvements. Well she tried out for the solo at her concert, and when she got it, she kept it all a secret. Well the night of her concert mom and dad had no idea what was in store. The lower grade orhcestras performed, then Catie did her first song. After the song she stood up. Dad looked so confused. I ran up to the front to video it, and when her teacher announced Caitlyn Madsen as a soloist my dad freaked out! His face was priceless, unfortunately I didn't capture that picture. Caitlyn did great, and my parents were very surprised it was wonderful!

=) good times!

Adventures of high school dances...

This morning I was abruptly awakened by my mama, when she came running in with a chocolate countdown to Christmas with my name printed big and bold on the front. I opened each one, and it said, Brooklyn will you go to the Yule (Christmas) Ball with me? The following letters were scrabbled...

                              B   L   A   Z   A   H   E   C   Y    L    R   A   L   S

After much thinking, we got it. Zachary Asbell. One of my good friends. He was my trek brother, and so I am really excited to go. I gave him a poster that said, HO HO HO Who wouldn't go? Then I got a picture with Santa holding a sign that said YES.

Thanksgiving 2010

I have so much to be grateful for as always. I would like to share just a few items I am grateful for.
A- ability to learn, pray, and grow
B- beautiful nature surrounding us
C- character of each person is different
D- decisions we make, that make us stronger, mistakes help you learn...
E- excitement and experience each new day brings
F- family and friends
G- God gave us a body, and that's it's healthy
H- happiness
I- incredible joy and peace that comes from the gospel
J-joy and purity of children
K- Knowledge, learning means so much to me!
L- life itself is a huge blessing to me
M- my five senses. The world would be so boring without see, hear, touch, taste, and smell.
N- numerous talents each person has
O- our leaders in church, and our country
P- Priesthood. This has blessed my life in countless ways
Q- Quiet assurance of the spirit
R- rough spots of life, that help us become even more beautiful butterflies.
S- Savior's sacrifice for me.
T- Temples. They bless my life each week, and lift my spirits
U- Ultimate challenge of enduring to the end.
V- vibrant colors of the sunsets
W- willingness of others to help, and hopefully my willing heart to help others as well
X- X-tra blessings I enjoy each day, running water, heater, clothes, food, shelter, freedom, etc.
Y- YOU!!! If you read my blog, you mean a lot to me, and I am grateful for you.
Z- Zoo. You might think this one is kinda funny, but I am serious. I love animals, and the purity they have. I love all God's creations.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Hunts of the Year!

This year we have had many blessings. Hunts of the year. Oh my goodness opening morning Caitlyn shot her elk, and closing day dad shot his massive bull. Thank goodness for the awesome experiences. Thank you Heavenly Father for blessing us with safety, meat, and lifelong memories.

CAITLYN'S FIRST HUNT!

Caitlyn with her PROUD daddy! Oh man we were so happy.

Daddy's dream hunt. Looks like work. haha we are just grateful for it to be dead, on closing day. Nine long days of being alone, and missing him here at home. Can't wait to see you dad!

Look at our caveman! He looks happier than a little boy in a candy store. He had success, and many lessons to learn. We love you dad, and are so grateful for your determination. WELCOME HOME!

Blessing...

On October 31st I was blessed with the opportunity of speaking in church. Yes it truly was a blessing. I had so much inspiration. When I was first asked to speak I was incredibly nervous with my topic, but I prayed to take it from another perspective, and the Lord greatly blessed me. Here is my talk:

In seminary a few days ago we walked into class simply to see the board split in two columns with a heading for each column. One side said, “Girls” and the other side said, “Guys”.  Class proceeded on like usual. We started with a hymn, prayer, and thought. Then our seminary teacher stood at the front. He asked all the young woman to write qualities of a young man. The board was covered. A few things written on the board were: charming, strong, tall, handsome, buff, and romantic.  He asked all the young men to come to the front, and write one quality that they look for in a girl to date, and later marry. Each young man put a quality. The list went as follows: Good cook, confident, outgoing, tall, smart, funny, flirty, and one word was written large in the middle. HOT. The boys sat down, and reviewed the list for a few minutes to see if there was anything they wanted to add. One young man sitting in the front walked up to the board crossed out HOT and wrote Beautiful. Young men I want to tell you something that every young woman wants you to know. No young woman wants to feel like an object. She wants to feel loved, protected, and appreciated. When you look at the pop up that is inappropriate instead of exiting immediately you then make a woman an object. Pornography becomes an addiction, and takes away ones agency.

The world we live in today is challenging, but there is hope in these trying times. I was asked to speak today on something that 25 years ago wasn’t even an idea. Pornography is taking over the lives of individuals, and as youth we hear about the counsel to not to get engaged with it, and to immediately walk away from temptations of pornography. Today I would like to take this subject from a different perspective. I will talk to each the young men, and the young women.

Young men, each Wednesday you stand up in opening exercises and repeat important words. We, young women listen to each word you say very carefully. You say, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight”. Here you are promising God that you will keep yourself clean, and will stand strong when temptation comes. In the scout law you list qualities of a worthy priesthood holder. “A scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.” Vaughn J. Featherstone said “being reverent and clean complement each other.” If you are clean spiritually, physically, and morally you are reverent. The spirit dwells with you, and your testimony becomes stronger. I know that worthy young men have been trusted with God’s valuable keys of the Priesthood. You have power with those keys. Stay worthy to hold those keys, and don’t give into temptation. D. Todd Christofferson told a story of his mother. She had cancer in her neck, causing much pain to use her right arm. After surgery, her husband took her one day to the store in town. He asked the man at the store to teach his wife to use a machine that would simply roll the clothes straight. She could sit, and use her knees to move the bar to iron the clothing. Her husband simply walked over to the counter, and paid for the machine in cash. On the way home she asked her husband where the money had came from. He explained that for two years he had gone without lunches, and had put the money in a safe. He knew how much pain ironing caused her, and so he saved up every penny for the machine. Sacrifices like these mean the most to the ones you care about. Become a man who watches and protects womanhood; don’t take the women in your lives as something for granted, they are chosen Daughters of God.

Young women, God has trusted you with a precious gift. You have a body, and that body is sacred. Satan tempts us with our bodies, because he is jealous. He has no body, which makes him work even harder on yours to make you mistreat it. Piercings, tattoos, and immodesty are a few. When you use your body to get attention there are 3 things you are doing. First, you are mistreating a gift from God. He did not give you something so precious for you to ruin, or take it for granted. Don’t miss use it! Second, you are attracting the wrong kind of crowd. Pornography is a huge issue for all youth in the world today, and to think that individuals are attracting the wrong crowd breaks my heart. Third you are hurting yourself. The moment a picture is downloaded it is instantly accessible to everyone anywhere in the world. Don’t even think about putting that power into the computer mouse.

Virtue is a huge quality. Loving, and respecting yourself enough to stay virtuous is only hard if you have not made the decision now to always be a virtuous woman. Satan can only get you with temptations you have not made a clear stand on. If you know for a fact you will never smoke, that temptation is never a problem, but if you are unsteady about your decision of modesty and respect for yourself he will trap you so fast. Make the decision now to be a virtuous woman.

Now back to my seminary class. Our teacher then erased the boards, and wrote two new heading. “Elect Lady, and Worthy Gentleman”. He then asked us to come up and write qualities again. The list changed dramatically. The qualities underneath Elect Lady were: she focuses on the qualities of the future, modesty, her priorities are straight, she is focused on the light of Christ, she takes care of herself, she has a good attitude, she loves kids, she is forgiving, she has a willingness to learn, she is strong in the gospel, and has a testimony of Christ, she is understanding, virtuous, and supportive.
The qualities underneath Worthy Gentleman were: reliable, willing to sacrifice anything for his family, loves me no matter what, is always there, has a desire for the temple, return missionary, loyal, serves others, integrity, sincerity, smart about life, hard worker, respects womanhood, and a worthy priesthood holder.

The first list was based on looks, while the second list was based on who you really are. Pornography takes your ability to choose righteousness away. Don’t get sucked into Satan’s trap. It destroys you now, and forever. Make sure the door to pornography is locked, and shut tight. Don’t ever twist the knob even just a tiny bit because Satan will take advantage and welcome himself right in and get comfortable. Stay strong! If you stay righteous you will attract the right kind of person, who has the same desires as you do. Never be afraid to stand up for the truth. The Lord is on your side, he knows the trials you are facing. The world is hard, but with the Lord nothing is impossible.

I know these things are true. I know that prayers are answered, no matter how insignificant they may seem to us, the Lord really cares. I love life, and am so grateful for the experiences I have to learn, and sometimes teach. I know this gospel is true, Jesus is the Christ, and I am a Daughter of God. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

King of the.... Hill?

Dad has now found himself a new 4-wheeling buddy. We woke up this morning to find Moose asleep on the 4-wheeler. What can we say, we all love the mountains!!! Good luck Daddy on your big hunt!!

Sleeping Beauty!

Sleeping Beauty had lots of visitors yesterday. Her wicked step mother was also here. But thank goodness she had her 'fairy' godmother here as well. Halloween was great.

Sleeping beauty awakes! It was so much fun to have the ward trunk or treat, then the storm came rolling in. But don't worry we stayed home for the first time in my whole life, and handed out candy to the cutest trick or treaters! We had everything from Elvis, lady bugs, and Prince Charming come by. Happy Halloween to everyone!!!

"The Duke"

Our new family member! This cute and cuddly little siamese kitten is the newest member of our family. We named him Duke. He is one month old, and he loves to play. It's so cute, his eyes are super crossed eyed, and he walks really funny. He is adorable. =)

Miracles....

I can fully say I believe in the hand of God and the power of miracles! yesterday we received wonderful news. My sweet Grandpa Holliday went to the doctor. Many of you know he has lymphoma cancer. They told him it was incurable, and that they would do chemo therapy to see if they could slow down the mass of cancer. The doctor did the scans, and all the tests, and his mass is nearly gone!! Tears filled my eyes, and still do fill my eyes, because we have prayed, fasted, and much more praying for him to simply be strong, but to heal was not on our agenda. God knows each of us, he knows our struggles. Listen to him, and you will be happier. I know the Lord has blessed my family in numberous ways! Grandpa we celebrate, and we love you!!! Still praying, but our prayers are of great thanks. Wishing you the best of luck, keep your faith...

Senior Pictures!

My mama is a photographer to the bone. Yes we had no idea, but look how cute these turned out!

Well that's me! Smiling away. I love being a senior. Lots of new adventures, as well as responsibilities, but it's great. I love life! Change is good. Here is a great quote, "If nothing changed there would be no butterflies!" It's so true.

Gardner Village!

Every year my mom and I love to go to Gardner Village and see the witches at Halloween time. This year we had a fun friend join us for the trip. Lots of new witches to see this year. We loved them all. It is great to see the creativity of people, and how it all ends up working together. Here are a few pictures.

Thanks mom for the awesome time! I love you!!!