Christmas at Home -part 1 (Dad)

Wow - what a great month...

• First we setup chrstimas decorations, then...
• Christmas recital and took mom out to dinner for her birthday.
• Went down to see Rosey play her soccer/football games
• Party with the Stake Presidency - walk temple square
• Put up Christmas lights
• Bassett 2nd Sunday w/ Remington
• Finished the Basement Bathroom in preparation for the gang to arrive
• Max's Christmas band recital where he played his piano recital piece
• Ward Christmas party - Wendy led the primary's manger scene
• Bret speaks in YSA branch - Memories, Miracles, Gifts, etc.
• Stake Christmas Devotional - Pres Yorason speaks
• Nick and Stef arrive from St. George - Max helps N&S move in
• Baby Bret learns to Crawl - in front of our eyes
• We buy a bed foam topper so that N&S can be comfortable on the floor when B&K arrive
• Ward Christmas Program
• Blaine and Kristi arrive on Sunday - Gwen's first snowman
• Gwen, Blaine and Max build a super snowman
• Gwen has us build an extemporaneous manger scene
• Extended Winder Party
• Richie's live nativity play
• Christmas Eve at Bruce and Jeannies w/ Live nativity
• Open a gift
• Luke 2
• "The Nativity Story"
• Setup for Santa
• Christmas morning gifts
• Breakfast at Karens
• Lunch and Games at Mom's Bassetts
• Dinner at Mom Winders
• "Indiana Jones" at 10:00
• Games - Buzz Words, Balderdash
• "Batman - dark knight"
• Return things to the stores
• Janey worked at Smart Cookie
• Dad reorganized his hard drives for 2009
• Party w/ Dallin at Curt's to celebrate his leaving on his mission (went to hear him speak)
• Blaine recorded his MiniDV tapes onto  DVDs
• "KungFu Panda"
• "Horton Hears a Who"
• "Ghost Town"
• Games - Pictionary, Scene It
• Party w/ Layton Cousins (Wendy)
• Nick and Stef had her Brother's wedding to help with
• New Years Eve Steak party w/o Nick and Stef but w/ B&K and her parents
• Wendy Fed the missionaries

And that was the action in December. 

http://picasaweb.google.com/bretbassett/Dec08HomeForTheHolidays

http://picasaweb.google.com/bretbassett/Dec08

Can't wait for Christmas!!! (max)

Well, I would like to start off telling everyone how excited I am for the whole family to be here!!! I AM SO EXCITED!! I just got done Christmas shopping today and bought everyone a gift except for mom and dad. Mom said it would be alright if I didn't give her a gift...j/k. I just couldn't really find anything for them and plus, I was with mom and didn't want to spoil her christmas. :) I even got to buy Kristen a gift; I bought her a teddy bear that mom and I named Tender Mercy because it was on a random shelf in the toy section and it was a great price and it was just....a perfect gift for her! haha! We also got some M&M's to go with it. It was a good shopping day!
Last night was my Jazz Band Christmas Concert at Valley. We did really well I thought except we messed up on our very last song, but it still sounded pretty good. I played my recital peice in between bands and I did pretty good on that too, but I still did a lot better at the actual recital. It turned out to be a great concert!
Well I really am extremely excited for Christmas and for the whole family to be here. I can't wait!!
I love you guys,
Max

Thanks Wendy for the remodelled bathroom (Dad)

Some of you may not realize that this new project was paid for and driven by your mother.  With her cleaning $$$.   Thanks, Thanks, Thanks.  It's going to make our party next week all the more fun!!

Christmas at the "Stake" center... (Dad)

Well, for those of you who haven't read my previous blog about Stakes = Families, this post may be rough to follow.

As a Stake Presidency (Mom and I)  we want to organize some fun Stake events while the wards are closeby.  But we know that each ward belongs to 2 stakes, and so you'll need to decide which stake events you want to join in on.  Please let us know ahead of time which you would like to join in on and suggested days you would like to participate in.

Christmas Eve Party (Dec 24):

- Greet Bassett cousins

- Bruce and Jeanie are hosting at the cottage.  

- There will a wonderful meal, games, songs, bells, who knows what else.  

Christmas Eve night w/ Bassetts (Dec 24):

- Snacks at home

- Open Extended Bassett Gift

- Watch the Nativity Story

- Reading of Polar Express

- Setting up of Santa Gift locations

Christmas Morning (Dec 25):

- Santa gifts

- Bassett Family Gifts

- Friend Gifts

Christmas Breakfast (Dec 25):

- Greet Winder cousins

- Great traditional foods

Mid afternoon at Grandma Bs (GA) (Dec 25)

- Visit w/ Grandma B

- Lunch foods

- Games

Dinner w/ Grandma W (GA) (Dec 25)

- Visit w/ Granda W

- Greet Winder Cousins

- Great traditional foods

Morning training camp w/ Bassetts (TBD)

- We could do a nice breakfast together

- Training on the use of Picasa

- Training on the use of Blog slideshows

- Training on Linked-In

- Training on Cooking, Food Storage, or whatever else

- Training on use of cameras, computers

- Bowling

Family Home Evening w/ Bassetts (TBD 1-2 evening):

- Special Dinner

- Each ward do 1 or 2 talent presentations or spiritual thoughts

- Play any new games

- Play Dad's new Q Game

Movie Afternoon w/ Bassetts (TBD - 2 or 3 afternoons):

- Go watch movies of choice:

- Twilight, HS Musical 3, Madagascar 2, Bolt, or others

Evening DVDs w/ Bassetts (TBD- 2-3 evening DVDs):

- Watch DVDs in the Bassett Megaplex

- Choices include: 

- Journey to center of earth, Kung Fu Panda, Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, New Indiana Jones, Andromeda Strain, Meet Dave, Wall-E, Hellboy2, Emma Smith, Forbidden Kingdon, Prince Caspian, Church Ball, 21, Get Smart, Barnyard, and 3 new mystery movies which won't be revealed until Christmas Morning.

New Years Eve party w/ Yorgasons (Dec 31):

- Steak Dinner

- Games

- Fake Champaign

- Pots and Pans

Any other ideas?  Again, please let us know which events you'd like to join, and preferred days for any of them.

Loves.

Dad

Merry Christmas with Miracles, Music, Memories and Gifts! (Dad)

All,

I had the chance to speak this week in the YSA Branch where our YSA attend.  I love speaking at Christmas and Easter, cuz it gives me a chance to ponder and study topics which are so beautiful that I am uplifted w/o exception.  This year was no different.  Let me share with you my comments which I gave to the YSA.  Enjoy.

http://bbbmetaphors.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-christmas-miracles-music-memories.html

Loves.

Dad

Rosey's teams (Dad)

Since most of you are too far away to enjoy Rosey's games, here's the run down. She was invited to be on the intramural girl's flag football team called "Cowgirls". They beat everyone but the "Thundercats." The Thunder cats have beat the cowgirls like for the championship for the last several years, and so they were determined to win this year. No luck again. In the final game, they could have tied it up in the final second with a pass to the end zone. However it was dropped, the game was over, and the Thundercats won again. BYU track team, cheerleaders and even Cosmo were all cheering for the Thundercats...but Rosey's team came sooo close. What a great game.

In Soccer, Rosey threw a team together at the last minute, and they have won every game but one. Who would have known. Now on Thursday they play the final game for the championship. We're cheering for you Rosey babe!

Amazing Grace

A Christmas Quote

Last night we had a great time at the First Baptist Church of Burnett's "Living Bethlehem". The whole thing was really remarkable--people from all over Texas come to walk through a veritable town of old buildings full of old candles and doodads and hundreds of actors. It really feels like you're on the set of Luke II and we had a great time and want to make a tradition of it. Anyway, I could go on and on (like my video I took of it does) but I actually wanted to share a quote from the program they passed out. I thought this was great to get me in the true Christmas spirit. It's credited to 1926 by Dr. James Allan Francis:

"A child is born in an obscure village. He is brought up in another obscure village. He works in a carpenter shop until he is thirty, and then for three brief years is an itinerant preacher proclaiming a message and living a life. He never writes a book. He never holds an office. He never raises an army. He never has a family of his own. He never owns a home. He never goes to college. He never travels two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He gathers a little group of friends about him and teaches them his way of life. While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turns against him. One denies him; another betrays him. He is turned over to his enemies. He goes through the mockery of a trial; he is nailed to a cross between two thieves, and when dead, is laid in a borrowed grave by the kindness of a friend.

"Those are the facts of his human life. He rises from the dead. Today we look back across nineteen hundred years and ask, What kind of trail has he left across the centuries? When we try to sum up his influence, all the armies that ever marched, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, are absolutely picayune in their influence on mankind compared with that of this one solitary life."

Dec Cartoons (Bret)

Hi All,

Enjoy another batch of New Yorker Cartoons. You may want to grab a piece of paper to jot down favorites as you go....it's sooo hard to remember which is your favorite, and I do enjoy listening to what you like.

Loves.

Merry Christmas from the Bassetts (Bret)

So here's what we propose sending out this Christmas. It goes out next Friday along with a picture from our Disneyland trip. Let me know if you have any changes you'd like to see made.

********

Really all we want to say is "Merry Christmas". We could say it in a dozen different languages, we could say it in bold letters, or in multicolored letters of different fonts. But it really all means the same thing. We love you, we hope your Holiday season is sweet, and we are so happy we can call you our friends and family.

With that out of the way, we'll go ahead and dismiss those of you who don't care about all the rest of the 'newsy' stuff that has come to be associated with annual Christmas letters. Go. No I'm serious. Put this letter down and go put your feet up on that ottoman in front of your TV and watch "A Christmas Story" for the 100th time. Or go sit in front of that fire with a cup of hot cocoa and read Charles Dickens' - "A Christmas Carol". But do something and don't feel an ounce of guilt…no…really.

Okay, for those of you still with us, here's what the Bret and Wendy Bassetts were up to in 2008.

Bret and Wendy went with his brothers and sisters on a Mexican Riveria cruise to celebrate his mother's 75th birthday. We were also able to be all together with our kids and grandkids at Disneyland and in Salt Lake when they all come home for Christmas in a couple of weeks.

Blaine and Kristi are still in Austin…but in that summer heat something magical happened, and they are now expecting baby #3. That gives them Gwen (4 and as smart as a whip), Bentley (1 and the sweetest, slobberiest kiss you could dare hope to be slobbered with) and baby coming in February 2009.

Nick and Stef have been in St. George the last 3 months raising my new namesake - Bret. He's coming along just fine. Stef graduated this year from UVU and Nick has been interning at IHC as the CEO (or at least you'd think that for how nice everyone has been to him) actually he's in corporate finance.

Janey started school at BYU again this fall. She changed her study to Speech Therapy and is enjoying it so much. Before that she was living with us and working as a baker at 'Smart Cookie'. While we miss her and her positive, helpful spirit around the house, we're so happy to see her having successes in her school as well.

Rosey plays on 3 intramural sports teams (Soccer, Football, Basketball) at UVU and with her schoolwork and her social calendar she is busy indeed. She also found a good friend at the temple who keeps her happy. His name is Jeff, and to be exact, they weren't actually in the temple when they met, they had summer jobs as gardners on Temple Square. And as you can imagine, pulling weeds in those beautiful flowerbeds can be very romantic.

Max - We enjoy him in our lives everyday as he is still living at home. Max was on the volleyball team, played trumpet and was one of the big stars of our LDS Stake play this year. One of the fun things recently is that he was given the coveted "last spot" on the Christmas piano recital (while still in 9th grade).

Thanks for hanging in there with us. We hope you'll send us a Christmas note as well. One that is choc-full of news and happenings of your year. We would love to get caught up. That is if we're not busy watching Flick stick his tongue to the flagpole after succumbing to a triple-dog-dare. Or wiping a tear as Ralphie gets his 'Official Red Rider carbine action 200 shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock'.

Love,

Adding a slide show... (Bret)

Hi Family,
You'll notice the new "UTAH BASSETT" slideshow on the right>>>>

It's the pictures of our November which are out in our Picasa's web album. Of course a lot of those pictures are of mom in Austin with BKGB...but they are of the Bassetts living in WVC.

I'm hoping Blaine and Kristi will periodically update their "TEXAS BASSETT" slideshow, and that all of you will create and update your own slideshows so we can see your pictures.

My dream would be that we would have the following slideshows constantly being updated month after month...
- Utah Bassetts -
- Texas Bassetts
- BYU Bassetts
- UVU Bassetts
- St. George Bassetts
- Reunion Bassetts (pictures from our latest get together - so right now it's Disneyland but soon it will be our Christmas pictures)
- Extended Bassetts (pictures from latest Bassett, Winder reunions or big gatherings)

The cool thing is that all you have to do is put your pictures out on your google web pages site. And then when you're ready to update come out here and update your slideshow...by pointing to the web album out on your web page.

What do you think? If you are game, I'll describe how you can update your own slideshow...

This is just my dream...if any of you have other ideas let me know.

Loves

Update (mom)

Hi guys,

Just a quick update now that the internet is working again. Dad and Max stayed up until midnight last night to get it working. Thanks!

Right now we have a "worker guy" in our basement from a company called Whitewater. They are putting in a new, white, sparkling, wonderful, clean shower. Aren't you all so excited to come and visit us? Problem is, he is in and out with all the supplies so the door is open and I'm afraid that not only mice will sneak in, but other stuff, too. I just killed a big wasp. And I am freezing because it is only in the 40's. But no matter, I am so thrilled to get this project done. Mr Ward, our main construction guy, is in Disneyland this week but he was here in the house as we left for St. George last week. Good thing I trust him so much. He was getting everything ready for this shower guy. Then Mr. Ward comes back the end of next week and will hopefully finish everything up before you all come. I hope nobody minds that we spent all our Christmas money remodeling the bathroom!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend with the Yorgs in St. George. Janey and the Yorgs travelled down on Tuesday and then we brought the two Gwens and Rosey and Max on Wed. It was pouring rain on our way into St. George and I got really nervous on the drive. Before we even went to the house we stopped at Nick's IHC work to see his office and meet Carter and Don. That was really fun for me. Sometimes as a mother you don't get lots of payback, especially when the kids are young, but hearing from coworkers and bosses how much they love your son and what a wonderful worker he is just made my day. We know Nick is great but it is so fun to hear it from others! I loved seeing Nick's office, too. We took Nick to lunch and then he took off for SLC to be with Morris's.

We had such a great weekend with grandma and the Yorgs. There were 13 of us sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. Grandma had bought a 22 lb. turkey and Uncle B treated us to a $63 honey baked ham so you can guess what we ate most of the weekend! We also made 7 pies. Oink Oink!

The whole weekend was so relaxing and fun. The kids got in several football games out back. Only once did the ball go into Tom's yard and unfortunately he was looking out his window. Gwen was voted to hop the fence to retrieve it and thankfully we never heard complaints from him. (Perhaps he is softening?) We all went to the movie Twilight. Course we had to wait until Nancy and Katherine finished reading the book. Dad, Brent, Rich and Max (we had four men to our nine women) went to the new James Bond movie. That took them several tries because of sold out theaters, but they persisted. We even got in some shopping on black Friday and found good deals at the outlet mall. We put together several puzzles. Grandma W loves puzzles. Sunday we went to Nick and Stef's ward. Since Nick teaches the 14 year olds he got to teach Max, K&C and Richard. For once we heard no complaints about going to Sunday School in a strange ward. N&S really do have a nice ward. Yorgs headed home straight after Sunday School and we stayed to help N&S move their stuff from the condo to the "mansion." Like I said, a great weekend.

Monday night was the Winder Team scone night at the Country Store. We went over to get scones and hot choc and then came home and got all of our Christmas decorations up. Our house looks so fun and Christmasy but we did miss all of you. At least Max didn't have to argue with anyone about who got to put the star on the tree.

Last night was the Christmas piano recital. It was different having it on a Tuesday but there had been scheduling problems and it worked fine in the end. Sarah had to combine her harp and piano students so there were 20 people on the program. And guess who was last?? Our little Max!!!!! He is not Sarah's oldest student, but Sarah said he earned it because he had worked so hard. He did such a great job with Holiday Medley. He even had it memorized and just seemed to be enjoying playing it. He even got a standing ovation at the end (well, from one person, grandma Bassett!) My buttons were busting. You would have all been so proud. You would be interested to know that Sarah and Nancy Steffenson did the Sleigh Ride duet. Sarah said no piano recital would be complete without it. Course, it seemed a little slow and there was no "ole" at the end! Afterwards we took grandma Bassett to Marie Callendars for dinner for her birthday (Friday is the big day if you want to give her a call) Janey had come for the recital so she joined us, too. It was a great evening.

That wraps it up. Tonight Rosey has a football and a soccer game so we are trying to head to Provo to see both of those. They may be her last. When shower guy leaves I am heading out Christmas shopping.

Love you all. Love Mom

Elder Wirthlin (Bret)

As you probably are aware by now, Elder Wirthlin passed away last night in his sleep. I loved him. His sweetness was so pure. I'm sure he had his grumbling moments (in fact I heard him once when I was in the Church administration office and he was complaining to his wife because he didn't want to go for his daily workout) but that is expected when you're old enough that everything hurts.

But his sweetness was in his willingness to share with others, and his kindness to everyone. He visited our Stake Conference, and he was so open to let me speak as long as I wanted, or to ask me personal questions about my family etc. Wendy fed him and the rest of the Stake Presidency and Elder Pingree and his wife. We invited Ned and Gwen to that dinner, and he remembered Grandma and how she had tended his kids when he was a newly married man.

Anyway - he lived to see the BYU/Game + 1 week after, and then passed away. I'm sure that was part of his arrangement with the Lord.

Loves to all.

Winner! (Kristi)

Well, I don't have too too much to say, but I noticed if I posted right now I would win the December first blog post contest. So while I wait for the oven to preheat I will post a little update about our family.

We had a really fun Thanksgiving; spending it with our good friends the Jacobs (Brian and Ralphie), the Bradshaws (Bart and Janssen) and the Fergusons (Ferg and Meleah). I was in charge of rolls, mashed potatoes and a dessert and I think it turned out alright! We had a fun talent show where Blaine played and sang the newest Ben Folds song he has been working on, everyone was duly impressed. I then recited the fifty states in alphabetical order in 19 seconds. You guys are lucky that such a talented person married into the family!

Though it is hard to be away from family it is nice to have traditions here. Our Thanksgiving last year was much the same as this one and it is nice to have gatherings to look forward to. We are sad to think that the Bradshaws will be gone next Thanksgiving (moving to Boston); but we look forward to meeting new friends and providing a makeshift family for those who need one during the holidays. It is really fun to see how different wards/neighborhoods are outside of Utah. Everyone had somewhere to go on Thanksgiving and someone to share the time with. Random groups were made and all were taken care of.

Our kids are growing like weeds. Gwen's favorite thing to do these days is to get all of the blankets and pillows and towels, etc. from the whole entire house and build little forts and mountains and piles. It is very fun, but man, I do not like the cleanup process. Every day I fold about twenty blankets and place them in closets and on beds only to find them in a heaping pile the next day. At least she's happy, right?

My week to help out at her preschool is coming up and that also aligns with my major project I am helping with at her preschool for the year - - the Christmas singalong. I am excited about all of it, but I am sure it will make for an exhausting week! It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the extra 50lbs I'm lugging around and the crazy little boy I keep at my side.

Speaking of, we really do think Bentley might be a little crazy. He is just so loud and funny and always cheerful. He loves to give hugs and kisses (mostly to girls - Gwen and I, much to Blaine's dismay) as we sat in church on Sunday he gave me about ten hugs and slobbery kisses and then turned to Gwen. Eventually though he gets bored and a long kiss can turn into a sharp bite in no time. So before we knew the sweet little scene on our bench turned into a nightmare as Bentley bit hard onto Gwen's cheek, leaving four very distinct tooth marks and one sobbing little girl. Blaine took her out and brought her back, fully recovered (minus the teeth shaped bruises) a few minutes later. As a peace offering Gwen gave Bentley a hug, and he gave her a kiss, then two, then...CHOMP. Another bite, about an inch away from the first one. More screaming. And now a full day later you can still see two perfect little bite marks on Gwen's cheek. Oh well : )

It is much cooler these days and we have been enjoying getting out to see the town a little bit more. We went to the botanical gardens at Zilker Park, which was SO fun and so free. We loved it. Then the next day we went to SeaWorld to use our season passes for the last time this year. It was fun because they had some different Christmas shows going on, etc. THere was all sorts of Christmas merchandise as well. My favorite was a Santa hat where the top red part was shaped like a whale tail.

Then we went to the Riverwalk. That is seriously one of my favorite places. We'll definitely venture to San Antonio the next time y'all come visit. It's especially fun in the winter time as they decorate all of the big trees with twinkling Christmas lights. And it wasn't even freezing this year as it was last year with Nick and Stef. We had to pay $10 to park and got kind of lost but eventually descended down to the riverwalk (Downtown San Antonio looks like a normal city but then you go down a flight of stairs and you are on the riverwalk. I am not sure how it all works, but I love it!), and then we walked about twenty minutes in one direction trying to find a restaurant we had a gift certificate for. Eventually we turned around and walked all the way back to the stairs we had come down on, then found that if we had walked the other way the restuarant was right next to the stairs, just on the opposite side! Had to be there I guess, but it was pretty funny. At least we got to walk around the river though. It's beautiful!

Bentley refuses to have anything to do with walking, but he is joyful as could be. He loves babbling. We have to laugh because we recently watched video of Gwen at Bentley's age. She was saying "one, two, three" and " Ho, ho, ho" and "puppy" and all sorts of stuff and Bentley just rambles and intonates "DADA" in about a hundred different ways, but so far Dada (and the occasional mama) is all he has to say. Oh and "uh oh". And I kind of think he says "up" but it usually gets blended in as Uh oh. So whatever. We love him so much! And we are nervous for the news sister who will not be able to defend herself very well from Bentley's persistant "love".

We are excited to come for Christmas, though I am quite nervous to be leaving my preferred provider network so close to having a baby (ie I am scared of having the baby in Utah since it would cost us a fourtune!). Hope this little bun will stay in the oven until at least mid-january! I have no reason to believe that she wouldn't, but you know me, I always have to find something to worry about.

Blaine and I are doing well. He is finding direction in his project at work, so that is good, and I am feeling great! My only complaint is that rolling over in bed hurts SO bad. But other than that I am doing really well and think I have been really blessed that this pregnancy has gone as good as it has.

Anyway. I win the December contest. Hooray!