Merry Christmas!

Here are some pictures for friends and family who live out of Bakersfield.

We love you and wish you a very

Merry Christmas.

This is my mom with Levi.

A Visit with Santa

The Delgado boys each had a turn sitting on Santa's lap at our ward party Friday. They decorated cupcakes and sang. For dinner we brought potluck soups and desserts and salad and drinks were provided. It's always fun to celebrate the season.

Hog Harvesting

Some friends of Ryan asked him to harvest three pigs and deep pit the meat for them. He got to keep one for doing the work. It became quite a project and several people came to observe or help. We had ribs from the pit for dinner Sunday. Most of the meat is cooked, packaged and in the freezer, but, we still have the bacon curing.

Crafty Days

Thursday, December 11th and Saturday December 13th Jocelyn and I some of the ladies in our ward got together to make some Christmas crafts. We did nativity finger and hand puppets, paper globe topiaries (as seen on Heather Bailey's blog), traditional or nativity theme lighted glass blocks, glass etching, hooded bath towels, and cookie cutter ornaments. Above is pictured Heather, Jennifer , Jocelyn, Jennifer with Emma, and the kits for the hand puppets.

Nativity Celebration

Here's a few shots of the Community Nativity Celebration from last week:

The early morning unloading crew.Starting Jocelyn's set-up plan.
Tablecloths and trees next.

With the fluff and 350 nativities.

Some of the Thursday night performers:

Four of my grand kids dressed up to have their picture taken. Aren't they cute? Will and Ed adamantly refused costumes. Ed preferred to unwrap the wise men's gifts:

They all loved the Little People Nativity.
And the puppet show in the children's area.

Jocelyn did a great job. It was beautiful. Now we figure we qualify for the "do not contact" list next year.

Guns and Ammo

It's an unknown fact that I like guns. I shot in competitions in high school, but that was YEARS AGO. David invited me to go with him to the range the Saturday after Thanksgiving Gaye had picked up her new shot gun and was going to try it for the first time, so girls were allowed. I really don't like shooting shot guns, so I started with the 22. It was a different kind of range, targets, and rifle than I used in the old days, but still fun. I tried all of David's guns and liked the 38 special Smith&Wesson best.

Watch out burglars! Gaye has experience now.Karl even came along.

Oscar, Andres, Steve, Jordan, Peter, Kyle, David J., Jason, Maurice and Mike were also there. I think it would be more fun if we got a competition going.

Who needs TURKEY?

The Bunting's did not go hungry on Thanksgiving. Those of you who know us can affirm we like to eat. We had a wonderful feast. Our tradition is to eat dessert after the dishes are cleaned off the table and the food is put away. By that time, your food has "settled" and you feel like eating pie. As I looked over THIS, I wondered "Who needs turkey?
Ryan had to work, but stopped in briefly. He requested a pecan pie this year. I decided I like it too.

Jared should be related to Steve N. They both love cream. Steve, do you like peas too? That's Jared's favorite non-sweet food. I remember when John was little he asked me for some "PLAIN" pie. We had about ten choices, as usual, so I tried to find out which he wanted. He said no to each as I suggested it. I finally figured out he wanted a bowl of cream.

By the way, in case you are wondering, I have plenty to be thankful for. David and I have commented to each other many times over the years that we are truly blessed in so many ways it's amazing. I look at the wonderful children we have and the grand kids who are the best looking and smartest I know. (Notice I didn't say best behaved. I would have, except today they made me yell at them for throwing popcorn kernels all over the carpet and banging on the woodwork with my meatball maker.) I am so grateful they live here and I can see them all the time; that they are here to spill on my carpet and write on my walls. What if they lived far away and I could only see them once in a while? See how blessed I am? And I love how David helped me drill holes in all the shower blocks for Super Thursday/Saturday. He spent more on drill bits than the blocks cost, but it was ok because the women in our ward need the time together to make stuff. And he went out and got Chinese food for dinner because I had no time to cook. I had been looking for clear glass plates for days so the ladies could do glass etching and cutting out felt for the nativity puppets. I have said it before: He is irreplaceable. He doesn't care that our Christmas tree is still not up.

Turkey Art

The day before Thanksgiving I watched Will, Ed and Jessie while Karrie did errands. We enjoyed the day with some of the Delgado cousins doing turkey art while the older siblings were in school. Each kid had their own styleof coloring, of course, and all were posted on my fridge for Thanksgiving.

Ed's style. Enough said.

Nina's Birthday

My mother's birthday was the day after we returned from the funeral in Utah, so the grand kids helped me decorate her cake with gumdrops left over from our Enrichment holiday cookie decorating activity. We enjoyed a nice dinner together. Anita, Randy, Yvette and Gus joined us to help her celebrate 83 years. We love you lots, mom!

Uncle Harold's Funeral

David's Uncle Harold passed away recently at the age of 93, so David, Karl and I made the trip to Saint George, Utah to attend the funeral. The Smith family is known for their longevity. It was wonderful to hear all the nice things said of Uncle Harold and to visit with the other family members who attended.

Trip to Mesa

We recently took trip to Mesa to see David's Uncle Paul and his wife, Melba. It had been a long time since we had seen them and David also wanted to help Uncle Paul with some family history. They live across the street from the temple, so we took the opportunity to go there and also to the visitor's center where we saw the Joseph Smith video and the beautiful Christmas lights. While were sitting around talking one afternoon,Uncle Paul taught me how to make his famous hats so I could come home and teach Ellen. He's made over 1000 of them to give away to family and friends. We also took them out to lunch to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary.

David and I are in front of the the visitor's center reflecting pool.

Aren't the lights pretty shining in the water?

Our last evening there, we went to Organ Stop Pizza with Paul and Melba and some of their family. It was quite an experience. This guy sits on a stage in a huge room with a balcony and plays requests from the audience. The organ also controls lights, mirror ball, puppet stages, other musical instruments, flags etc... It was amazing. I asked Melba if she was dying to get up on stage and play the organ. She was.

6 Random Things About Me

I was tagged by Randy quite awhile ago and did not have time to respond, so I'll do it now:
1. I'm afraid of dogs.
2. I have a secret ambition to learn several languages. I know it will probably never happen, but I would like to at least learn one enough to be somewhat fluent.
3. I have never made Chow Mein and have wanted to for over a year. Anybody have a good recipe?
4. I am anti-social and prefer small gatherings. I would rather be in the kitchen than limelight.
5. I love poetry. When I was in college, sometimes I would go to the library and read John Keats instead of hanging out in the lounge at the Institute. (I guess that's proof I'm anti-social.)
6. I broke my back when I was sixteen by falling out of the cab of a red 1949 truck as it turned a corner.
I tag Carla J., Angela, Lee, Anita, Jeremy and Ryan.

Halloween

I joined Jocelyn and the boys at 8:15 Friday morning for Orangewood School's Halloween costume parade. Jared got to hang with Nathan for a stroll around the blacktop.

Spencer followed Dracula in the parade.

Jared decided he preferred swinging...

...and sliding to walking and watching.

The alien mom and her youngest karate kid.

After the parade, Jocelyn and I spent the morning going between Nathan's and Spencer's classes. Nathan's class had a camp out complete with paper bonfire and tents. Nathan's teacher, Dr. Neal, read a couple of stories and then sent the kids to their tents.

I took Jared home for a lunch brake and returned at 12:30 to hold Levi while Jocelyn got the class treats ready. While I was gone, the class used compasses for their fun math treasure hunt activity. I read to the group in Nathan's tent until school was dismissed. Everyone had a good time. All the white karate outfits were covered in bright orange frosting.

After arriving home, David and I (mostly I...David napped) vacuumed and washed the Jeep and truck and got cupcakes and chili ready for the annual "Trunk or Treat" party. While I was washing vehicles, I think Jocelyn was washing the bright orange frosting and playground grime off the karate kid clothes. David had put his "bean less" chili in the crock pot Thursday night so he only had to add the finishing touches. Jocelyn took the boys to Granny's to "Trick or Treat" and then we set up our "trunks" by 6:00 at the church parking lot. I passed out treats and showed Halloween movies from the back of my Jeep with occasional help from Nathan and Spencer. I bought David the Frankenstein costume for $3.00 and even had green make-up for his face (donated by Jocelyn), but he wouldn't wear it. He did agree to put it on for 30 seconds for this picture. I was a witch.

Here's the Delgados at the end of the party, tired but happy.

Temple Security

Last Tuesday, while I was working at the temple, we got word that a group of Prop 8 opposers were going to deliver a petition to the prophet between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. In order to avoid any problems, they beefed up security and posted these guys at the front gate, which was half closed.

I came before the security detail arrived, but I heard that they screened those who drove up and planned to escort the petitioners to the area where the church is behind the temple for their delivery. We heard a megaphone during the morning, but it could have been coming from the school next door. When I left at 11:45 all I saw was these guys by the fence and someone talking to a television camera in front of the temple.

Support for Prop 8

Stephanie asked David to build frames to support some large signs she made for Prop 8 and to deliver and install them. Here they are Stephanie:

If anyone drives down our street,

they won't have to wonder how we stand:

Sunday Gathering

Some of the Clements joined us Sunday afternoon for some talkin' and eatin'. Jason's family, Aimee and Cooper were in town for Randy's dad's wedding, which was Saturday. We enjoyed seeing everyone again and since it was Hailey's birthday, we found candles for the Texas sheet cake and sung to her. ( I can't believe she's 12!!!) The kids ate and played in the backyard, while the adults finished off some apple pie in the house. We talked politics, church doctrine and got the scoop on the wedding and Lindsey's baby shower. Everyone left tired and happy. I killed at least 17 flies this morning.

Green Insulation

Friday, David and I helped Ryan and Karrie insulate the floor of their house with recycled (mostly) celulose. It was a tedious, but rewarding job that would have gone faster if the machine that squirts the stuff had a better blower. I fed the hopper and Karrie squirted until almost dark, then we switched. Ryan and David followed behind us with the plywood flooring. Kacy came to help after school too.