CONTAINER & PACKAGING CHRISTMAS PARTY

Scott loves his job.  It's been wonderful working for such a fun company who encourages personal growth and learning!  And he loves his employees.  So it was extra fun that Scott got to organize a Christmas party for the group.  Everything was great!  Dinner was divine!  The photo booth was a hit!  Scott's decorations were amazing!  The games were hilarious!  And the people are all incredibly wonderful!

The Crew

Scott made these incredible center pieces!

Who can make the longest reindeer antlers?

So funny!

Perhaps a tie?!

Speed wrapping!

Carrying peanuts!

HURRY!

Paige is always so thoughtful!

She always gets me a new nativity!

I love her!

The gang!

SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 24

Goooood morning! 

 

9 days until Christmas! I have had a weird dream every night this week. 

This week, it snowed 4 inches and then froze over. Luckily the day it snowed we were able to shovel our whole street's driveways and sidewalks. It was a fun job and it reminded me of the warehouse, sometimes it just feels good to get out there and work!

We are in full swing for Christmas! A sweet lady in one of our wards, gave us a nativity, a small Christmas tree, stockings, and other various important Christmas-y things! We were so grateful! This week is crunch week! We have planned every spare moment, with service, contacting, and doing other missionary like activities! We are excited to see what all this effort brings come next Sunday aka Show Time. :) We have set a good goal, and we plan on accomplishing it. So, I invite y'all, wherever you may be, to invite a friend to next week's Sacrament meeting. It is a simple invitation, "My church is holding an amazing worship service full of songs about Jesus Christ, this Sunday, at 9am. Would you like to come?" :) 

We have met a couple of really cool people this week! The other night we met a sweet sweet couple: Don and Caroline. We knocked on their door, and they immediately welcomed us into their home. We talked with them for a while about faith in God and the Spirit of God. They shared their testimonies with us, and I found myself crying as they described how he has helped them through some of their hardest trials. I testified of my belief in God, and how he has helped me, and how he helps me every day. It was so good! They invited us back for hot cocoa this upcoming week and we plan to share the new nativity video with them. I am excited to get to know them better, and to hopefully show them the fullness of the truth that the gospel of Jesus Christ holds. 

We got to go to the temple this week! It was so good! My goodness, I love the temple. Without fail, joy and peace fill me everytime I go. This time was no exception! The Twin Falls temple is so beautiful, I think it is one of my new favorites. :) I am so grateful to be in a mission that has the ability and the allowance for us to go every month. 

Sidenote: I found my new passion this week. There is a family here in Kimberly, who is remodeling their home. This week we got to go over and help. My goodness, it was so much fun! Sister Osborne says she could see me flipping homes. So, look out world, Sister DeGooyer the author and flipper of homes! Seriously though, I loved it! 

I hope your weeks have been wonderful! Keep praying and reading your scriptures, it brings so much joy, peace, and clarity. I love y'all so much! 

Sister DeGooyer 

Snow! 

I'm a pro 

Santa and Mrs. Claus 

Classic 

Making jewelry with my district 

Road Trip to Poky

Caulking 

OH, HOW I LOVE MY Y.S.A.s!

Scott and I LOVE serving in the Louisville YSA Branch.  I honestly feel that these "kids" are "MY" kids!  I love each of them.  I could point out wonderful virtues and life lessons I have learned from each of them. 
Soooooo we invited a few of them over for dinner and games.  It was so much fun!

Our sweet sister missionaries!

I love these girls!

The Candy Bar Game
(Basically just an excuse to eat chocolate!)

A Gift Exchange

Joseph rocked the antlers!

And then on Saturday, Alexis chose to be baptized!  She is so truly amazing!  Her testimony is so heartfelt and sincere!  Her baptism was truly a special day that we got to participate in!

Me - Alexis - Scott - Sheila

Alexis really rocks!

And today... we had our Christmas celebration with the entire branch!  I'm so blessed with these associations!

MY KIDS!

Susan won the Ugly Sweater Contest for the Girls.

Anthony won for the Boys.

Scott and I are truly blessed with these Y.S.A.s!  We love them so much!

"MY" KIDS - I'M SO PROUD OF THEM!

My recital two weeks ago was WONDERFUL!  I love all my students!  And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach these great kids!  Their hard work and effort paid off! 

NATIVITIES

Last week I participated in the Festival of Nativities with our community. It was an amazing experience! Scott spent 2 whole days decorating my corner.  He used 90 of my nativities. (Only part of them.) Then I was able to bare my testimony of the Savior every day of the event as I organized the story tours and took many people around the display. It was thrilling! Looking back: Scott and I decided our talents were best used the way they were. He is truly a genius when it comes to decorating. And I'm passionate when talking and meeting people - especially when it comes to sharing my testimony. We were both "used" correctly - and we both compliment each other well.
Here's some of my display:

This whole corner is mine!

Sheila gave tours also - missionary prep.
She was out of her comfort zone, but she conquered!

She is truly a beauty!

This is the very first nativity that started my collection.

I saw this nativity at a craft fair with my mom when I was 12 years old.

I fell in love with it.  But it was sold.

Mom convinced the creator to make another one and drove
over 10 hours round trip to get me this precious display.

Grandma T put this homemade nativity 

out on her dining table every Christmas. 

I spent hours looking at this precious nativity.

When she journeyed on, I inherited this beautiful display.

It's one of my favorites!

It reminds me of her AND my Savior.

Katia's nativity!

When our daughters were born, we got each daughter

a nativity for their first Christmas.

It's a wonderful tradition!

And, yes, we already got our grandson one!

This is my newest nativity.

It is really traditional, which I love!

The symbolism in these displays makes it even more dear!

My wonderful mother-in-law gave me this Jerusalem nativity!

Made of real olive-wood, this nativity is dear to my heart!

I love that my mother-in-law loves nativities as much as I do!

Scott REALLY loves gnomes.

Who knew we could find a nativity consisting

completely of these silly creatures!

This one makes me smile!

Being creative is AWESOME!

Scott made this one-of-a-kind nativity out of bottles from work.
I love the creativity.

I love the uniqueness.

I love my husband's quirkiness!

I am truly blessed!  God lives!  Jesus Christ lives!  Because of Easter, we celebrate Christmas!  And I am truly grateful for Him!

SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 23

Katia is always winking...
I reminded her last week:
"A wink is the same as a nudge to a blind wombat."

This mama is sad because there was no letter this week. 😢 But I did get lots of pictures of my baby girl!  😃 According to our phone call, she is busy, happy and well!  That's all I can ask for!  I love this sweet missionary!

The backyard....

Service with a smile - wrapping gifts!

The Kimberly Nativity Display

Katia thought I should own a chicken nativity.
I wish I did.  It's awesome!

The Live Nativity
And my daughter is an angel!

An Angel with an Alpaca!

Driving to Pocatello for the night.

Temple Selfie

Lots of progress has been made on the temple in 3 weeks.

A surprise visit from the mission president and his wife!
Katia loves them so much!

I'm sure she is contemplating how life without Dr. Pepper 

(and the gospel) would be devastating!