Recording of Leah singing Ave Maria

As a Sutliff Family Tradition (for all of you that don't know, Sutliff is Leah's maiden name), we have to prepare a talent for Christmas Eve to perform for the family. Leah usually does something musical and I take credit, but since we are far away this Christmas and away from family, Leah made a recording of herself singing "Ave Maria". She says "It is not perfect and I am not claiming it to be. I just really wanted to share this with my family and friends who have been bugging me to sing something for them. So here you go-please don't judge." (blah blah blah, Leah could make excuses forever about her voice- she is her own worse critic. I guess as a voice teacher it is hard not to be). Sutliff family, you can listen to it if you want during the talent show part of the evening-only if you want to.

Leah also put the song to a very beautiful video made by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints called "The Nativity." It took her a really long time to figure out how to do this, so for the sake of all her hard work and the opportunity to feel the Christmas Spirit, we suggest you check it out. We do not own the rights to the video- and hope it is okay that she did this and that she doesn't get into trouble!

We are sad we wont be able to see all of you this Christmas, but we will be thinking of you-- that we can promise. We are leaving today to drive to Canaan Valley in West Virginia to stay in the mountains at a Ski Resort from Christmas Eve-Dec 27 and then Leah will be flying to sunny California on December 28-January 1 to be with her fabulous family at Disneyland.

We hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We are grateful for our Savior and the amazing family and friends He has given us to help us be better people. Thank you for being one of our special people.

With lots of Love---The Stone Family (Paul, Leah, Jack & Charlie)

Washington Dc Tree

Paul and I went to the DC tree tonight. It was literally glowing with LED lights. I now feel very festive and patriotic.

National Tree facts:
The tree lights and display were shut down for the past 3 days due to the past snow storm. This is the biggest storm to effect the National Tree in 83 years.

The Christmas season following President Kennedy's death, the tree lighting was postponed to Dec 22 to respect the 30 days of national mourning. ( Kennedy was shot on Nov 22)









Also, Paul has been wearing this ugly snowman sweater for the past week because he says he feels festive and he thinks it is comfortable. Paul originally bought this sweater for me for a $1.50 at a thrift store cause I had an ugly sweater party to go to. I think all along Paul was planning on buying it for himself to embarrass me in public.



Merry Christmas!!
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My Hot Baker

(I stole this post from Shari Stone, I liked it so much. All photos by Shari Stone)

The area of Herdon is a quaint place with little streets and lots of little shops. Paul makes bread at Great Harvest between the hours of 4am and 12 noon. He rides his bikes through the woods and through the dell each morning. So if you live in the area go say hi to him and his crew. They will give you a free slice of bread to enjoy.

This is the Kneading Team of Great Harvest of Herdon. Kyle, Sally, Paul and James. They knead over 1000 loaves a day. Next week with the holiday they will pick up the time and pace up to 1500 loaves.

Paul, the Baker Man and his Cinnamon Roll Bread.

Paul kneading his orange cranberry size D loaves......................heheheheh! I don't know where he gets such skill cause I know he doesn't get that kind of full sized practice :)

Feeling Crafty

Paul and I survived Thanksgiving- luckily everyone brought some yummy food to share and Paul's mom cooked like Julia Child, so the food was fabulous. We had 20 people here, I guess 24 if you count all the kids too. We borrowed tables from the neighbors so everyone could fit in our family room. Thanks Shari for all your help!

Shari, Paul's mom, posing sexily for the camera while peeling sweet potatoes

The amazing 21 pound turkey bird

My Family Room filled from one end to the other with tables and chairs- real cozy!

I think we had at least 10 people at a time in the kitchen, lots of chaos, but lots of fun too.

Also, while Paul's mom was in town we did lots of sight seeing on the sunny days and lots of Martha Stewart type things on the rainy days. I sewed these pillow covers. For all of you who are laughing that I sewed, I want you to know that yes I own a sewing machine and yes I did these pillows all by myself. I also made window valences too! I know I know- amazing right?!

Here is my Christmas Tree- I love it. It is decorated like a May Pole. Shari did the ribbons and did a great job. I decorated the tree with all these old ornaments my Grandma Blanche Richards gave me as a little girl and added some fun colorful balls and such.

Also, check out my window valence in the background. Feel free to tell me how amazing I am. I hope everyone has their trees up and are ready for the Holiday. I am listening to Christmas music right now as I type this (Kristin Chenoweth's Christmas Album, song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" to be exact) sadly I wont be home for Christmas though. I'll be partying it up at Disneyland with my family after Christmas to bring in the New Year...Woot Woot...thanks Mom and Dad!

Love and miss all my friends and family.

xoxoxo