Today UPS was my friend

On Christmas morning after all the presents had been opened, Rick handed me an envelope that had a letter on the front that said "What can brown do for you? ....disappoint" Inside the envelope was a picture of my favorite silver ring from Tiffany & Co. Rick couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes as I looked at the printout of my present. It just was not the same as handing me a little blue box. I was a little sad that it hadn't arrived, but I was so touched that Rick would buy this ring for me - AGAIN! You see, this is the same ring that he bought for me last Christmas.

One morning I was running late to go visit someone from church and I grabbed all my jewelry to put on in the car. I guess the ring must have dropped out of the car when I stepped out, because I haven't seen it since then. I spent hours searching everywhere it could possibly be, but eventually I knew that it would never be found. It was so upsetting to me that I couldn't even look through the Tiffany brochures that came to my house way too frequently.

To add to the frustration of not getting the ring on Christmas, Rick couldn't remember the size he ordered last year, so he guessed that I would wear a size 4 - NOT! My finger wasn't even that small when I got married. So when the ring finally arrived on the 26th, we decided to go to San Diego to exchange it for the right size. I didn't mind that - who doesn't enjoy browsing in Tiffany & Co.? When we got there, and figured out what size would be best, they didn't end up having any in stock - bummer again! So they had to find one from another store and send it next day air. Well, it finally arrived and I'm so excited to be wearing it right now!

I am so lucky to have an amazing husband who, instead of getting upset with me for loosing the ring, loved me enough to re-buy it for me. This ring could be made of platinum with diamonds all over it and it wouldn't be any more special to me. Thank you Rick for making my Christmas so wonderful!

There's no place like home for the holidays!

We had a wonderful Christmas day! Everyone slept in until after 8:00 and patiently waited to go downstairs. When we were all ready, the kids rushed to see what had been left for them under the tree.

Parker got a memory card with his stocking (he's just so easy to please!)

Erin got P.S. I love you with hers

and Bryant got a new bike to ride to school every day

Coco and Tigger even knew they had presents under the tree

After opening our stockings and Santa presents, we picked up Dee and then had our traditional pigs in the blankets for breakfast - YUM!

After breakfast, we continued opening presents. I think the kids were all happy and, as always, spoiled a bit too much.

Parker couldn't believe his luck with getting his very own ipod!

Doesn't Bryant's new suit look great over his Christmas pjs?

Erin was excited that her sweatshirt "even smells like Hollister!"

Rick couldn't wait to get cozy in his new super king sleeping bag

The kids all show off some of their loot

In the evening, we all went to see the movie Bedtime Stories and loved it! Before leaving, Bryant and Parker put on their new sweatshirts and just had to have their ipods, too.

Christmas Eve at home

After arriving home from RSM, we just couldn't end the night without reading the story of the birth of Jesus in the book of Luke. So Rick gathered everyone in the living room and we read some scriptures fortelling His birth and then Rick read the account in Luke. We closed with our feelings of the real meaning of Christmas and what the Savior means to us.
After the kids went to bed, Santa made magic happen at our house and I took some pictures before the craziness of the morning hit.

Christmas Eve in RSM

This year we decided to go to Bobby and Kelly's house for Christmas Eve since it was the only way we would be able to see them due to Bobby's work schedule.

Before we got to their house, we decided to take a detour and take the kids to see Rick's office. We thought we had timed things perfectly, but just before we arrived, Rick's captain showed up and told everyone to go home and enjoy the holiday. Rick decided to stay behind since the kids really wanted to see his office. When we got there, Rick showed us the display cases with the old police cars and equipment. Then he took us back to his "authorized personel only" office where the internal affairs investigators work. I think the kids liked seeing Rick's work, but it wasn't nearly as interesting as going to see him in his patrol car with all the cool equipment.

After the office tour, we all left together and headed south to RSM for the rest of the evening. We had a great ham dinner, opened Christmas pjs (thanks once again for your work of love, Mom!), ate dessert and headed home. It sure was nice when we only lived half a mile away and could just walk to each other's house, but at least we live within an hour's drive of family and are able to spend some holidays together.

Our family, Dee, and the OC Chases

Poor Bryant thought he was being tortured by having to sit with the little kids

The kids were so excited to get their pjs!
Erin got a beloved Twilight calendar

Parker and Shannon are such good play mates - they even play with their webkins on the computer when they aren't together.

All the kids goofing around in their cozy pajamas

The 5th annual Chase family Christmas caroling FHE

Today it rained.........and rained...........and rained. So much that we had to change some of our plans. We decided not to go caroling during our annual Christmas caroling family night. The majority of adults preferred to be nice and cozy inside next to the fire place. Instead we sang Christmas carols in the comfort of our family room. I think the kids liked it every bit as much as when we go to other houses to sing.

I think everyone's favorite part of the night is always the white elephant gift exchange. It's especially fun with a large group. Some of the older boys got things off to a good start.............. and then someone took a present from Braden who just didn't understand the concept of someone stealing his present.

Lucky for him, he got it back!

According to Emmett, it wasn't a good white elephant exchange, it was a GREAT one! I think all the kids got something they liked and so did some of the grown ups (someone has to rescue the "special" presents from the kids).

A special thanks to our wonderful friends who helped make our Christmas season better by spending the evening with us!

Our stake community nativity festival

Each year our stake puts on a Nativity Festival (formerly known as the Creche Festival). For the past 3 years, Erin has sung in the youth choir which always involves a couple of months of practicing every Sunday evening. She got all dolled up for the performance with her hair in curls.
The rest of our family participates in the Nativity Festival by dressing up and playing the roll of the innkeeper's family. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to slow down and soak up the true meaning of Christmas. Here are some pictures Erin took of us on Saturday night.

Bryant and Parker played games with Zack Duvall watching over them. They enjoyed teaching other children how to play, too.

This year my role was to put oil in the clay lamps - over and over and over again

Rick got to grind wheat with a rock. He has a much greater appreciation of how hard it was to make a meal back then.

I was able to get one picture with Erin in it

Let's just call it a field trip.....

The boys didn't go to school today and I must admit, I felt a bit quilty as I called their school attendance lines. But I have to say, I believe in taking my children out of school anytime I want, as long as it doesn't hurt them academically. So because they are doing great in school, they deserved another trip to Knott's Berry Farm! This time Erin had to stay at school (it's just too hard to miss a day with her work load), Dee joined us, and Emmett was the only member of the Rock family who was willing to sacrifice the Chaparral CIF Finals football game to go with us.

The day didn't go quite a smoothly as last time, it rained briefly just as we got in the park and was much colder than we thought it would be. I also lost $30 that must have fallen out of my pocket early in the day - big bummer for me! But despite those glitches, we all had a great time!

Here are some highlights from the day:

The poor boys thought they were being tortured by having to go see Santa - but how else will Santa know what they want for Christmas??

Dee told Parker he could pick out anything he wanted for getting straight 5's (A's) on his report card. He missed his honor roll awards assembly today since we obviously weren't at school! Anyway, Parker found this cute little stuffed animal hedgehog in the Mystery Lodge gift shop and just had to have it! I'd say this boys is pretty easy to please! (the hedgehog has now been named "Magic") I love that Parker still wants his stuffed animals - it makes me feel like I still have a little boy!

Parker and Emmett took Dee on the Hat Dance

We went into the "bug house" and looked around for a few minutes. Just as the boys were getting ready to leave, we remembered that there were lots of cool things to see hidden in drawers throughout the room. So we spent at least another half hour checking out things like petrified wood, different animal hydes, fossils, and bones. This is the part that could definately be classified as a "field trip"!

Before we left, I dared everyone to hold a walking stick (something I would NEVER do myself). The boys were very hesitant, but Dee set the example by going and picking one right up and showing the boys how to do it - GO DEE! The boys were finally willing to try, but Bryant and Parker would only hold them on their sweatshirts - much more than I would do! EWWWWWW!

Here's my favorite ride picture. It's not very clear, but I love the interaction between Bryant and Parker. Sometimes I think they even like each other!

Christmas band concert

Bryant had his first band concert of the year and it was very impressive! It started out with a quick PTSA meeting, where Bryant was asked to lead everyone in the pledge. Then the jazz band played and Bryant had his very first trumpet solo with that group. The jazz band has been meeting every Tuesday and Thursday before school for practice. It's been a pain in the neck to take him with his bike in the back of the van, but the pay-out was worth it. In my opinion, the jazz band by far sounds better the any other group at the school. After the jazz band finished, beginning band played (it wasn't toooo painful for my ears), followed by intermediate band (which Bryant is in), and then the advanced band. I can't believe the improvement that Bryant has made over the past year.

A Santa in need

Last Friday was our ward Christmas party and things were going so well..........until the long delay while everyone was waiting for Santa. It seems he had some trouble getting to our party. But never fear, with the help of 3 firefighters, 1 policeman, and 1 US Marshall, Santa finally made it to our party!

After seeing Santa, Dallin got some practice using the super cool police baton.

Don't ask.....sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words!