Hyrum wishes he hadn't broken all of our electronics

so he could actually get toys for Christmas this year!

All he wants for Christmas

Thomas has become camera shy as of late, so it took a few tries to get him recorded.

I still think it is as cute as ever!

Dear Santa

We tried to type out their Santa Clause letters, but it was much better to watch it in person!

So we decided to video tape it for everyone to enjoy!!

We welcome any return letters if you so desire!! Enjoy the Joy of Christmas!

Christmas spirit

Nothing brings Christmas to life like young children!!

Thanksgiving, and so much to be Thankful for!!

It was a crisp, thanksgiving morning! It just Felt like Thanksgiving!!

Thomas found the parade on the internet, oh, so nice to see the parade! And our American Elders were so happy to come to a real Thanksgiving celebration, that showed up a half hour early for the event!

We had six guests, plus our family. It turns out, when you live n a land that does not celebrate, you can draw quite a crowd for the feast! And we loved every minute of it.

Thomas made most of the food while the kids were at school, we all know he is the real cook of the family. And I was a able to find yams, so we had yams with marshmellows,(this was a special request from our Mississippi Elder, he calls it yam cassarole.) I made a blue berry chesse cake because our elder from Utah asked for a blueberry pie.

I found no blue berries, so I used blue berry presserves for a cheese cake. The only other things I could not find were stuffing and cranberries, we survived with out it!!

It was a great holiday, and we hope to make it home for one of these holidays next year!!

I didn't get to e-mail you and say what I am thankful for on Thanksgiving day, so I will do it now! Come on, you all knew I was going to do this!!

I am thankful for quiet moments, when the kids are in bed. For a safe, sound home that protects us from the dangers of the world, a vehicle that runs and gets us everywhere we need to go (it seems to have a bubble of protection around it!) I am so grateful for the smell of, and the heat, coming off a running, working Dryer!! I am grateful for great garage sale deals and out door market places! I am grateful for a dish washer!! And a bath tube! There are so many things we enjoy, that we now understand to be True blessings!! I am grateful that Thomas was one of the twenty students that passed the genetics class, and not one of the one hundred and twenty that will have to redo the final or take the class again.I am grateful for kiddie tables at a thanksgiving feast! I am grateful for computer Spanish programs so I can learn my Spanish.

But most of all I grateful to be a part of, have a knowledge of, and a desire to live & share the true gospel of Christ. I am grateful for the missionaries who knocked on the Harpers door, and opened a way for the O'Kelly girls to enjoy the eternal blessings of our heavenly fathers plan. And I am grateful for mom who prayed, and had faith to be baptized! She may not know exactly how much that one faithful decision made a difference in some many lives!

We love you and pray you have a wonderful holiday!