A New Year.

So long 2011

and Hello

2012!

I like the even years.

I have no idea why. I think I just like even numbers.

I kinda want to have another kid so I can have an even number. I do recognize that is a messed up reason to have another child but still I like even numbers. I mean everyone has a buddy at Disneyland. And that my friends is super important!

So today's the last video.

It's kinda sad, I know.

I got one for ya.

It's so NOT original,

but it is appropriate.

Do all ya'll know about this song? I sure didn't. Let me tell ya about it. I totally learned everything from Wikipedia (which I realize is NOT the most reliable source). But it's what I got. So here ya go...

Auld Lang Syne is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song. It is well known in many countries, especially (but far from exclusively) in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight. By extension, it is also sung at funerals, graduations and as a farewell or ending to other occasions. The song's Scots title may be translated into English literally as "old long since", or more idiomatically, "long long ago", "days gone by" or "old times". Consequently "For auld lang syne", as it appears in the first line of the chorus, is loosely translated as "for (the sake of) old times".

The lyrics go like this...

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
and surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine^† ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Dear 2011,

It's been real. Over all I'd say we had a blast. We had a blast cause we lived. We were happy and sad, excited and tired, we loved and disliked. We lived...and we lived loud. So thank you for the opportunity. On to 2012, may you bring me and my family much happiness. May we serve and love others. May we remember what is very most important.

Much Love,

CoRi dAwN

She came home for Christmas

My

 AlYsOn KaTe

left BYU and came home for

Christmas!

And she is going to have

to leave soon.

I just absolutely loved

having her here and so did all

of her siblings.

She is a gift.

And when she's gone I'm gonna cry.

She is gentle (mostly, ummm don't mess with her new itouch), she is fun, she is great to shop with (especially if you're buying her something), she loves to laugh and smile, she is a really good sister and a fantastic daughter. The best thing of all is that she loves Jesus and it shows.

Every time I heard this song this year I thought of her. I hope I get to spend Christmas with her (and all my kids)

 every single year.

Dear My AlYsOn KaTe,

Thank you for coming home and not being married and spending Christmas with your in-laws. :) Thanks for being such an amazing sister. All of your brothers and your sister completely love you. You are a good example to them and I am thankful for that. You are a very special person. I want you to never ever settle for anyone ever treating you like you aren't. I love you much.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

I've had fun.

I have had just a tremendous time

finding and posting all of my

Christmas

videos this month!

And since flash mobs are currently

all the rage, I thought I better

post a video of one.

Dear Flash Mobbers,

That looks like fun. I wanna be in a flash mob! To the brother that started it...you musta been really nervous... I'm sure I would've been pittin out also. But you did good. I certainly enjoyed watching. Thanks.

Love,

CoRi dAwN



It's the last day....

Of Chanukah!

My friend Andrea recommended this to me.

It's cute.

So in honor of the last day

I give you this...

Thanks Andrea for the suggestion!

Dear Chanukah,

I gotta say, you win! Eight nights of celebration!! That is awesome. I so wish Christmas was eight nights. I'd be completely broke, but it'd be fun.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

And So This Is Christmas. I Hope You Had Fun.

I'm not sure how all ya'll are getting along, but these last few days have totally wiped me out! I can't believe just how tired I am. We have some very lovely guests staying with us and I have enjoyed them so much that I don't want to sleep. I want to talk and laugh with them. But tonight I think I might just collapse.

Seriously collapse.

But Before I do I want to share this with you.

Oh and let me introduce you to our visitors.

Brandon and Kayla

My nephew and his very lovely wife.

He is one lucky man. That Brandon sure is.

Dear Brandon and Kayla,

You guys are just a lot of fun. And plus you two are very cute. Thanks for taking time to spend with me and my family. We sure have enjoyed your company. Always laugh. Together. Oh and sing. Loud.

Love,

CoRi dAwN



Just for the fun of it.

Well this is fun if you have an extra 9 minutes to waste on laughing.

Dear Kid History,

Ya'll make me kids laugh so much. I love to hear my kids laugh, so thanks.

Love,

CoRi dAwN





What Child is This?

 Beautiful.....

Dear Jesus,

Thank you.

For everything.

Love,

CoRi dAwN



All is calm, all is bright.....

Silent Night.

Holy Night.

I have had such an amazing day.

I hope everyone has had a day as

lovely as mine.

I woke up early, really early for a night nurse...6 a.m.

And I woke up in the arms of my Mike.

And we laid there and listened to

Christmas music on my phone.

It was perfect, I fell in love..AGAIN.

And then we wrapped presents and listened to more Christmas music.

More in love.

And then we prepared for our annual

Christmas Eve

party at his parents house.

Mike washed my car, put gas in my car, shoveled out someone who needed it,

and made all four of the casseroles.

With a smile, In case you were wondering.

And yes...I fell even more in love.

And boy oh boy

did we have fun at our little party.

My little Jarret. He has more Christmas spirit than anyone I know.

Bryant is super cute and just a bit weird.

I think Jarret was getting ready to fart on me,
cause that's what he did.
I was not so happy.

Mike and Dawson playing the Minute it Win it Christmas game.

Alyson and Emilee with more fun and games.

Grandma reading "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"

Mike reading from the scriptures
More Love comin' his way.
I tell ya he is awesome.

All of my sweet children, some smiling and some practicing their kill shots.

Once again my Mike being the sweetest most kind human ever.
Helping out his sweet brother~ Santa.
Or is it Uncle Marc?

Denver's very own city and county building.
It is always beautiful on Christmas Eve,
we should know cause we drive past every single year!

Another one for your enjoyment.

And from my very own

Nativity

atop my fire place.

The Baby Jesus.

Dear Love CoRi dAwN Readers,

Thank you for enduring all of my crazy videos this month. The month is not over yet so you will have the opportunity to see a couple more. I would like you to know that I love Christmas, I love it because of all of the tradition and love that seem to just happen. I love because I love Jesus. And I am grateful for Him. I am grateful for His birth, His life, His death, and His resurrection. I also want all ya'll, and Mike, to know that I love Mike. He is more than I deserve.

Friends, sleep in Heavenly peace tonight because all is calm and all is bright.

Christ the Savior is born.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

Come Let Us Adore

HIM!

More of my new favorite...

Eclipse.

Dear Family of mine,

Please let's remember what Christmas is really about. Let's try not to get caught up in gifts and sledding and fun. I mean those are all great but let us please remember the baby Jesus. And let's be more thoughtful.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

It's Beginning....

To look A LOT like

Christmas!

Here at my house we have at least a foot of snow, and I'm so not impressed. I have a list a mile and half long of things I really need to get done before Christmas. And what is also super fantastic is that my washer is broken and I MUST go out and get a new one. My laundry is in a HUGE pile. With 7 people, laundry is something you really don't want to let get out of hand. And I am guilty of letting lots of things get out of hand.

Check out my sweet Mike with the neighbor's

snow blower...he looks hot as a snow blower,

maybe I'll get him one for Christmas.

I'll bet the Y (Go Cougars) hat is keeping his head warm but he should really cover his ears.

Since it is beginning to look like Christmas.

I give you this sweet sound.

Dear Mike and Michael,

Mike, I just heart you!! You are so sweet to snow blow. And you look dang hot doin' it. I really do have the best husband ever!

Micheal, sing to me! Your voice is smooth like butter.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

I'm a day late.......

It was pointed out to me that I missed the

very first day of

Chanukah.

Dang! I'm sorry.

I am I must admit a little confused by the different spellings.

I remember celebrating with my neighbors when I was little, it was fun.

I found an interesting web site with

lots of good information on celebrating

Hanukkah-Chanukah,

check it out.

In honor of Chanukah, I offer you a little Adam Sandler.

I sure hope none of my Jewish friends (or any of my friends) are offended by him.

So today the whole family is headed downtown to see

"A Christmas Carol"

at The Denver Center for Performing Arts. 

That should be fun if I can

find something to wear.

Dear Adam Sandler,

Thanks for the very fun Chanukah song. I am glad you can laugh at yourself. I think when we stop laughing at ourselves we are missing lots of opportunities to laugh. And what a shame that is.

Love,

CoRi dAwN



You've got my attention....AGAIN!

ChEcK iT!

Dear Piano Guys or perhaps I should say Cello Dude,

Holy Moly. I love this! A lot! I just gotta say...I don't think it's fair that some people (YOU) have so much musical talent and I've have none. Unless of course you call loving music a talent and then I am actually very talented. But anyway, Thanks again for entertaining me, you amazed me!! Again.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

Let there be peace on earth and

Let it begin with me.

The past few days, I have had a need

for peace!

The past few days have been a reminder

that LIFE IS HARD SOMETIMES.

Dear Blog Readers,

Let us walk with each other in perfect harmony.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

Our Ward Christmas program

is today. One of my favorite Sundays.

I get to hear Mike and Alyson sing in

the ward choir.

Yay Mike and Alyson.

I so wish I could sing.

Well I *can* sing, I just can't sing well.

I actually sing the best

while I'm driving in the car.

Alone.

I'm sure I'll be completely entertained

by our Ward choir but the best choir ever

just happens to be,

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Enjoy.

Dear Ward Choir,

I sure hope today goes perfectly for you all.

Remember that one time....

Love,

CoRi dAwN

I almost the end of the day and I bet....

You thought I'd miss my daily video.

Nope, not today.

I might someday but not today.

Today was more than AmAzInG!

Today Alyson, Emilee, and I went

SHOPPING!

And boy did we have fun!

We went to Aspen Grove and completely

enjoyed ourselves.

And after that we went to

Deseret Book , Kohl's, and

my favorite... Hallmark.

And while we were in the car

we rocked out to Justin.

Oh and while we were shopping we bought my dear friend

Rochelle 

a Justin Bieber ornament.

That was nice of us.

Dear Alyson and Emilee,

Today was so much fun. Thank you for helping me spend my money ;) I had a huge blast with you and I am more than ecstatic that you two are my daughters. I love both your giggles, you're cute.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT!

Seriously kid of mine.

You better watch out.

So I have a kid who is learning how to live life. And it seems they are choosing to learn the hard way. Making dumb choices that have consequences out of their control.

And embarrassing me all along the way.

So in honor of this kid of mine

I have chosen this video...

Dear Kid of Mine,

Look I love you....A LOT! And I recognize that you are growing up and learning all about life lessons. But could you please think about your actions and all of the possible consequences. It would help make life so much easier. Just sayin'.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

"I have no gifts to bring"

While searching for videos to share with all ya'll I found this little gem.

This guy is captivating.

I have completely enjoyed watching his video.

By the way...

He's 16! And a junior in high school.

Started drumming when he was 4.

This article says his dad got him started.

Good for his dad.

The article also says he

produced, directed, and edited the video.

I'm impressed.

Sean Quigley said this, "Drummer Boy speaks to me so much. The whole song is a story. It's about this boy who gets word of Jesus being born and he goes to see him and he doesn't have anything to give him; he's like 'I don't have money, I don't have gifts to give you. But I can play my drum and that's more than enough."

awesome.

Dear Sean Quigley,

You rock! I see you're from Canada, I love Canada. I hope to go there some day. I also recognize the people from Canada don't mind being cold but ummmm... as a mother and nurse I think I should tell you to wear some longer pants. I would hate for your legs to freeze. And I agree, that is more than enough.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

P.S. For 16 that is some mustache.

Emilee is 11!

I don't know why these kids have to grow up on me, I don't like it.

Happy Birthday darling Emilee.

I love to see you laugh.

Dear Emilee,

I hope your birthday is full of surprises. I hope you get lots of birthday wishes at school and I hope you know I think you are way too special to be mine, but I'm grateful anyway. I love you more than you'll ever know.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

I'm in Love, I'm in Love and don't care who knows it.

That's right,

I'm in love with

The Piano Guys.

Time and time again they amaze

me with their talents.

Please enjoy their latest.

Dear Piano Guys,

I'm hoping my dear husband doesn't mind me being in love with you, I'm thinking he'll be just fine. Anyway I want you to know that I have watched every single video I can find with you guys in it. You're great! Plus for old guys you're cute.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

For my dear friend Elizabeth

Ya'll I gotta tell you about my friend

ElIzAbEtH.

Some nights I get super lucky

and get to spend a whole 12 hours

with this amazing girl.

She is dang funny.

We've bonded over our love for

singing and dancing.

That is...

We Sing and Dance while being nurses.

I'm pretty sure we should keep our night jobs but still it's fun.

Last night I asked her what her most favorite Christmas song

was and she answered with this.

Dear Elizabeth,

You'll never know how much better you make my long nights. You may also not know that when I see you and your cute dance moves my heart smiles. You should know that you deserve to be the happiest girl in the world. I want you to know also that I believe in taking risks and I am glad to call you friend. Oh and lastly, you might just give the best advice EVER!

Love,

CoRi dAwN

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do you hear what I hear?

Today I heard lots of

Christmas songs

while doing lots of Christmas shopping.

It was nice.

If I could go back to any time in history

and have any experience ever...

I would choose to be a shepard

in the fields the night the Savior was born.

I would love to hear and see

what they heard and saw.

Dear Eclipse,

Good Work! And ya'll are dang A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

In our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy.

It's Christmas.

The lists are long at my house.

And my kids are getting excited.

Gosh, I'm embarrassed to say that even

my list is kinda long.

Number one on my list is a Kindle Fire.

I don't need it, I just want it.

I actually don't really need

most of what I have.

I think tonight for family night we will work on another kind of list.

I think tonight we will work on a

SERVICE list.

We will discuss who we can serve 

and how we want to serve them.

Surely, in my world of plenty I can

spread a smile of joy.

And so can you.

Dear Band-Aid,

Oh my gosh how I love the 80's. Ya'll are super entertaining. And the hair...great hair. My favorite line.....

"Tonight thank God it's them instead of you."

Makes me think.

Thanks for feeding the world.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

It's my Dad's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my Dad.

My Dad is an awesome dad.

He has the best laugh ever!

Really truly

the very best on the planet.

His hands are big and strong.

And those hands are always working on something...

fixing something

or serving someone.

He is a good example.

He lives a Christ like life.

And plus he's handsome.

And most important..

He's mine.

When I saw today's video I knew this one was for my dad. You see he would give away the very best of what he has to help someone in need!

Dear Dad,

Happy Birthday! I hope your day is filled with laughing while playing with some of your grandkids. I hope you get a milkshake. I hope someone tells you they like your car. And most of all I hope you know how much I love you. And miss you. And I wish I could be with you today.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

Sleep and Dream

Today while I sleep and dream

I hope I hear this.

Dear Celine,

In my fantasy life I sing like you....mixed with a little Reba.

You do impress me with your talents.

Thank you.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

With Peace and Love You'll Never Be Poor!

Hey Ya'll, I am tired.

I got home this morning and fell asleep

in the garage. I only stayed there for

thirty minutes but wow I cannot wait to

go to bed.

It was one of those nights, last night.

One of those nights where I spent a lot of

time thinking about life.

What would I do if.....?

How in the world did I get so

lucky to have such an awesome family?

Just how strong am I?

If I had to title last night,

I would call it...

PULSELESS ARMS, FAMILY,

AND HARD DECISIONS.

Today's video was stolen from

Alyson's blog.

And the purpose is to lighten my mood.

And to inspire thought.

Thoughts of what Christmas shouldn't be.

As always,

Enjoy.

Dear Patients,

You amaze me and I love your families. If you want to fight, then fight on friend. I and others like me will be standing in your corner helping you win. If you are just too tired, that is OK also. I and others like me will be standing by your side helping you rest. God Speed.

Love,

CoRi dAwN