Happy 2008

We are back in Vegas. It's nice to be home. We have been in Utah and had a great time hanging out with my family. I feel bad at how much we overtake my parents house. We are used to our kids running around but they are not. Sorry for the chaos, parents! And the mess, and the fighting, and the crying, and the torturing endured by kitty blackness, the spills, the snow tromped into the house, etc. Ahhhh memories...
As I drove home yesterday I was doing a mental inventory of this past year. We have had a fun year of growth. Elliet starting Kindergarten, the twins first preschool, first trip to Disneyland, fun trips with friends... it has been wonderful. I can't help but be grateful for the blessings exhibited in our lives. My Mom's health improving (we ate waaaay too much this past week and I loved having an accomplice), spending time with her and working to feed everyone this week with her.... I love my Mom and was glad to spend one last Christmas at home with everyone there. Also, my sister-in-law Jessica has had some health issues since the birth of their new baby Graham. This should be a special time for new mothers to have at home with their first baby and her health has been so bad that she hasn't been able to do much for him, let alone herself. We have been praying and fasting for her and even though there are still many questions, she is very slowly improving. Enough so that she could leave the house this week and do all that the holidays demand visiting two families. She was such a good sport and would come to the house almost every night to be with us. That speaks volumes about her willingness to be with us this week. It was such an example to me about how our actions illustrate our devotion. She probably doesn't think there was much to her suffering through, but I saw her and Marty make tremendous effort in doing things together with us and I love them for that. I want to take that with me into this year (starting tomorrow!). I hope I can be a better Mother to my kids and make good choices in how we spend our time and putting what is important first (Can you say family prayer and family night?...now say the word "habit"). It's hard because it first comes with disciplining myself! Ah well... here goes. Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Eve/Day

Merry Christmas!
We had a great Christmas in Utah this year. I mentioned before that we don't plan on traveling much anymore for Christmas, but this year we decided to have one last go and it has been great fun.
Before we left, we crammed in a few last minute traditions of our own. Pictures with Santa (should I make that a tradition? I don't know yet) and driving through Sunset Park to see the light parade. Well, really we are the parade driving through this huge park with all kinds of light designs. It's always corny and fun. This picture illustrates one of my favorite designs. There were blue fins that lit up in sequential order and then ended with this last blink of a huge Jaws head emerging from the 'water'. So funny. Maybe I will do that in my yard next year. "Merry Christmas? I'll show you Merry Christmas! RAAARRRRR!"
After the game we headed to Provo. On Christmas Eve I shopped with my Mom and Sister to get some last minute gifts and groceries. When we came home the snow started to fall and the kids wanted to go play outside. I had ordered winter coats, gloves, etc. for them but it hadn't arrived yet. As I was stalling with an explanation, Mr. UPS knocked on the door with our box of items. Perfect timing! I opened it right there and put the stuff on, crossing my fingers that it would all fit as I pulled each thing out. They went right outside and played in the backyard. It was beautiful. One of the reasons I wanted to come up this week was for the kids to play in the snow. Check! They had a great time.
The rest of the night we ate yummy chili and clam chowder, watched Scrooge and wrapped for a long, long time. We always do this to ourselves. I had most of my things wrapped but there are always little things that you have to throw together. It's kind of fun, though. We're not the only ones who do this, right? .... right?
With all the family here together this year, we had a pretty hefty area of gifts growing. We decided to make a separate area for the kids so they had their own little tree and their presents below. I hung the stockings on the railing next to it. As usual when they are young, you end up buying more than you need because usually one gift gets all the attention. Luke's GeoTrax was the winner this year. It has been going all day. Sadie just had fun opening everything, she wasn't even that thrilled to see what was inside.... she just set it down and pulled something else from under the tree. Elliet wanted a horse stable and Santa brought it! (And she had a heck of a time putting it together the night before too- what a nightmare) But go Santa! She loved it. It's a monster, though. I don't know how we are going to get it home.....
The afternoon was spent picking up all the shredded paper mess that was put on the gifts not eight hours before and playing with new things. Well, me helping the kids play with new things.
Then that night we had yummy dinner and a ginger house contest.
Speaking of Grahams, look at Grahammy! He is just the cutest. Marty was trying out the new Bjorn and Graham likey.
Our contest was brutal. One package of crackers and one bag of frosting per participant. In retrospect we should have put a time limit on it because people got waaay to crazy. I am going to have to document the results later, as I have already put enough pics in this post. But here are some teasers. Cody obviously went for the structurally sound execution using pretzels as 2x4's. Richard went very modern and added a George Nelson porch lamp. Note the three drilled holes in the angular side wall. Sheesh. Only my family. Seriously, we weren't talking. We had the Grinch on in the background and it was competitive work, sawing (yes, sawing!) and sanding for precision. Are we lame or what??
All in all, it was a wonderful year. I was so happy to be here and share Christmas with my family. We are blessed to have a warm place to be, food to eat, health and family...I could go on and on. Can't we all!? We are all so blessed. What greater gift could we have then to know that this is a small taste of things to come? A little of heaven on earth. I missed Jacob this year. I wish he could have been here but what a joy to know that we can be with him again. It is a marvelous blessing.
Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Santa and the Fam

Merry Merry!
Friday afternoon we decided to take the kids to see Santa.
We went to a new mall about 10 minutes away that had a special little house just for Santa. Waiting in line is always fun with young kids (:I) but they managed well enough. By the time it was our turn, Sadie did not want to sit near him at all so the photo became the whole family, not just kids. It's a good thing I showered that day. Ha! Plus, we memorialized another fun Elliet outfit combination. Snowflake tights! So apropos.
We love our kids and all their quirks. Elliet keeps telling Santa that all she wants is a horse stable. This is going to be a fun Christmas!

Last night Scott and I went to the BYU game with some friends. We had a great time. And now, we leave for Utah! I am so excited to have our family be with my family for Christmas. I think this will be the last time we do this for a long while. We are so blessed to have good family relationships and amazing friendships. I am grateful for this wonderful time of year, for it's magical giddyness and spiritual goodness. Merry Christmas!

NYC Cap

Okay. I figured I better get these up now or it will be too late to finish my 'journaling' of this trip.
Sunday and Monday were fun play days. We went to church that morning and wow- the ward choir was something fierce. Seriously, people, what do you expect from tons of talent in a city like this? Well I wasn't thinking that when they all stood up in their matching sweaters... but it was incredible. Plus, it's always cool to go to church when you travel. I love that feeling of home anywhere you go. So wonderful! We even crossed paths with some old SF acquaintances... small world.
This picture is of Scott and I trying to take a photo with something cool behind us. I said "Let's ask someone to take it for us". Scott said "Nah- we can do it. My arms are long enough".... and here's what we got. Oh, what's that you say? You can't see what is behind us? Hm... wonder why. But look at his face. He had so much fun doing it.
We walked all over the city that day and unfortunately didn't get back to the hotel to change so I had to tromp all around the town in my skirt and heeled boots. Drafty!
We saw some groovy stuff though.
Checked out Wall Street and the Stock Exchange. We are such tourists with our cameras and eyes drawn upward. Still fun to feel the energy down there.
Then you look up and see the Trinity church just looming between the skyscrapers. Love that! The mix of modernism and then you turn a corner and see super old architecture.
The church has a very cool looking graveyard. I simply had to get a photo of this for Halloween inspiration. Don't judge. You must admit it's all neat and gloomy in the cloudy weather.

















That evening we went to the Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular show. Now this was fun. It had it's corny moments but was just good old classic family fun, Rockettes and all!
It feels all old school inside and when you sit down, here is the stage sitting before you. The hall is very large and open.
The Rockettes did a lot of their traditional outfit changes and line kicks (Juls- right up your alley). One of the coolest things I enjoyed was their version of the Bethlehem story.
It was beautiful.
They had an angel come down from the sky and she was so colorful. She looked like something from an old painting. And the rest of the scenery throughout was very simple.











Then they had the people traveling to the city to be taxed and there were all these amazing costumes crossing the stage, including camels! I had to get a picture of that one. My kids would have loved to see that.







And the scene when they arrive! It was stunning! Angelic singing and everything. I was so impressed. Here, in this time of all the PC regarding "Christmas", was a beautiful and appropriate portrayal of the story. So great.








That night we went back to our hotel and ended up eating in the "View" restaurant that was atop the building boasting 360 degree views of the skyline. Well, it did not disappoint! I think that was the highlight of the trip for me- just kicking it at the window with Scott, trying to decipher what building what which from the tiny graphic on the napkins and eating yummy buffet food (and not so great buffet desserts).
The next day we fit in a quick one hour glimpse of the park from the overpriced horse carriages. But our feet could take no more so it was nice to be driven around. That park is amazing. Now I know how people can live in that city. It was therapeutic to be among trees and grass. I can't wait to see it in warmer months. How romantic!
And my final picture not only demonstrates how picturesque the city surrounding the beautiful park can be, it is also to show you the two tiny speared buildings were the ones in Ghostbusters that the Stay Puff Marshmallow man scaled. Yeah?! Follow me now? Ahhh NYC. So fun. Thanks, Scott!

Right Brained

Being creative has it's price. For instance:
Bad hair dye, wearing sweaters knit with cat hair, airbrushed paintings of wilderness wolves, super long fingernails complete with scenery and piercings, mini skirts on older women.... you catch my drift.
Sometimes it's our clothing. And unfortunately those choices can occasionally lead to photographs. Moments that will NEVER leave you again.
Well, I caught a good one the other day.
I never know what Elliet will come down the stairs looking like. And, hey- she's in Kindergarten. Who cares. Usually she will go to school in her interesting combinations. This day I had to intervene only because she has put on the pants she wore the day before and they were really dirty. But what do you think? Interesting, no? It's like her yellow kitty is an accessory, tying in the yellow stripe sleeve accent. And pink toe socks? Shut Up! So now.

Creativity also has it's glorious side.
When I returned from our trip last weekend, I noticed Elliet's entourage of horses looked more majestic than usual. And this is why: She had taken hair bands and had looped them around the ears, then slid a feather down under the band so it stood upright on their heads. I was so impressed!
A-"Elliet? Did you do this?"
E- "Yeah..."
A- "Where did you get that idea? Did someone help you think of that?"
E- "No, Mom... it's on Cinderella...." (Said in a 'sheesh, how pathetic' tone)
I was seriously blown away. She's a clever one.

Back to the "bad" creativity. As you know my creativity gets me into more things than time can allow. Baking at Christmastime is one of them. I enjoy it so, but you read how my attempt at spritz cookies turned out. I was determined NOT to be matched by a cookie press! So I did it again. And I feel that it is my duty to share what I learned so other poor, creative souls such as myself will not have to endure the rejection.
Here is a picture of that first attempt. Look at the things! My spread out blobs. What is their motivation? Don't they desire to shine? (I must say, they are delicious, though, so they are winning in the end by being eaten all up).
Anyway, I then tried the recipe in the actual Blueprint mag. They were better. Then I tried the recipe that came with the actual cookie press. Genius thinking, I know. It took me a while. But Ding! Ding! We have a winner! They looked the best. And then after all that I was too pooped out to frost them all cute so they only got a sweet little glaze and some sanding sugar. You don't need to see them.

My point is... um... stay creative! It is rewarding and you'll learn much along the way. Esp. the "Do Not's".

Cultural Tights

The other day I got to thinking about the Nutcracker.
Do you remember seeing that as a kid? How sad for Clara, the little girl, who received her nutcracker from that weird old guy with the eye patch and how it broke... and the HUGE Christmas tree all lit up as she fell asleep.... magical!
I remember watching an old version of it as a kid and always liked it. Our family was never one of those fancy attendees where it's a yearly tradition to get all dressed up and go.... but the music is so amazing.
Anyway, there I was, thinking (ow), and thought it would be so fun to have my kids see that now. So as I have been looking for it, they are hard to come by. You can't rent it from Blockbuster or Hollywood... I could buy it but which one to get? I decided to check my Tivo listing and what do I find? Ovation TV is doing a programming special called "The Battle of the Nutcracker" and they are airing a few versions of the classic that you can watch and then vote on. Hey! Free choices! So show your kids some culture and dancing (the girls will love, the boys maybe not- but you never know...if they do like it, hide your nylons) and enjoy! Click on the picture to see the show times if you are interested.

Baking Tragedy #2

Alright.
You know what lesson I am learning the hard way this season?
That all the money dumped into good marketing and editorial magic WORKS and makes you a SUCKER.
Case in point: Spritz cookies.
The latest issue of Blueprint (Um... it's a great one- pick it up) has the most adorable cookie-press cookies. Don't think granny, kids. They are SO now. At least, that is what the magazine says. So I believed. Oh- I believed with all my little Christmas heart and I went and invested in a simple press just to try (Sucker I tell you!).
You saw what happened to my gingerbread houses! I am emotionally fragile. But how bad could it be? How bad could someone really screw up pressing dough from a tube onto a pan? Oh, plbth. Please. Don't insult me.
Well let me tell you something. Life will give you lemons and they are bitter and sour.
And those little cookies might look all happy and innocent as they smile at you all neat in a row, ready to bake. But nooooooooo. They are naughty and spread and blerb together and what once was a 'wreath' now looks like a big zit with a burned whitehead... Not pretty. Not even with photo shop and glossy printing.
*sigh*
I am going to try again. I think it was my dough. It had to have been. And maybe hot cookie sheets? As you swap back and forth? And humidity. Yeah- that's totally a factor here... AND altitude. But it wasn't me. Can't have been. They were baked with love and laughed in my face. Bad, mean cookies!

Not Haute

You
have
got
to
be
kidding
me.





Betcha they'll never go on sale.
Betcha they'll sell right out of these babies.

Merry Christmas from New York

Well, there is no place like home for the Holidays. Why do you ask? No rats.
Look at the visitor on the subway platform we saw today. Yikes! Of course, I still had to take a picture...
We are having a great time. Not much to report other than lots of walking and shopping and people watching (and rat watching).
Here are some fun things we have seen so far:

Mr. Rat waiting for the L train.

A very real replica of the famous photograph. This street vendor was selling small versions of this on the sidewalk behind the truck.

Here is Scott. We are subbing. See Scott wear scarf & hat & gloves. It is COLD. It is WINDY.

One thing we did hear was how fun it is to visit during Christmastime and we have not been disappointed. The city really does go all out. Even the unsightly construction scaffolding has been made merry with lights. I guess Cartier can afford that, though.

This is an enormous star hanging IN THE MIDDLE of an intersection, all made of 16,000 crystals and weighs 3,300 lbs.

The Plaza tree! But I will try and get a closer look before we go because there were way too many annoying tourists here... I mean, how irritating!

The trees around the plaza are wrapped up the wazoo. Almost every branch has lights on them. Incredible.

So it may be lame to blog while visiting NYC but my feet won't go another step tonight.
Merry Merry! More to come tomorrow. Maybe.

Dough-ble Trouble

Look at how easy it would be. It seriously cranks out tiny, fried donuts in less than 50 seconds. This is bad.
NO one get me this for Christmas.

The Foolish Man Built

Yes.
Yes I did.
I did that.
Le me esplain...
This past Sunday I wanted to make Gingerbread houses the with kids. They are getting old enough to try some fun holiday traditions and I thought this would be fun. (Fun???)
I figured I would just cut out some squares, some roof pieces and boom. Easy peasy.
It actually wasn't too bad. I whipped together the royal icing, made it extra thick to fulfill it's cement role, and off I went. The kids all sat on the counter and watched me build the houses. They took me only a few minutes to do each. Then we could decorate!
Well, as they started to take form, my enthusiasm began to decrease significantly. They weren't cute houses, they were low income houses. Ginger Ghetto. Frosted Peaks Trailer Park. In fact, I feel bad for the poor Gingerbread man who has to live in my house. It's drafty, it has gaping openings in the roof, no cute curtains or candy sidewalks... it is a structural mess. I need to call Ty Pennington. Maybe he can build this unfortunate resident a three story dream home.
Fortunately, the kids knew no different so they were happy with their outhouses.
Anyway, I ran some errands yesterday and when I walked in the door to Williams Sonoma, I heard it... the Christmas song singing just to me.. "Do you see what I see!" and do you know what I saw? THIS!
It was made for me. Look at the sound, sturdy construction of this house and it's handsome gingerbread owners. You can tell they are well-to-do in their flashy clothes and well-kept landscaping. They even have trees! Well, I want to keep up with the Jones'es just as much as anyone else, so I slapped down my cash and bought them. Now I'll show the gingerhood who will have a good house this year. It will be off the hook. Maybe I'll get all wicked crazy and make a cookie H3!

Tis The Season

This has been a crazy week.
(When do I not type that?)
But the recovery period one must overcome after being out of town is tiresome. So that is what I was doing this week: Overcoming. Catching up. It felt like I wasn't accomplishing anything but was constantly busy.
It's not just me, right?
Today I finally feel like I am getting some control...like folding the laundry that I did on Monday, cleaning the dishes from Wednesday (ew, I know), that sort of thing. Super duper fun.
Last night I tried to have fun with the kids and we decorated the tree. As you can see, they were all festive and wore their birthday suits in honor the true meaning of Christmas. It was kind of fun to see them be so excited to help and I had a grateful heart for the wise designers who invented plastic ornaments. They were all clumped at the bottom of the tree, 3 or 4 on the same faux pine stem. Pretty funny. At least it's done!
Same with the outdoor lights. This was something I needed to do earlier this week since cold weather was coming. I like hanging outside lights. Isn't that geeky of me? But it is NOT fun when it's super cold and my fingers get numb and since I can't feel them, I scrape them to raw flesh shoving my lights in those darn white clips and then shove again onto my scratchy tile roof.... but I still like it. Merry Merry.
I have been thinking this week about fun Christmas things to do this month. Movies I want to make sure we watch, music to listen to, recipes to bake and things to create! I saw this tree the other day and wanted to copy some of the vintage-y looking ornaments. I really like this look right now. The fine glitter and faded tinsel, the ribbon and old clip art. Who knows WHEN I would make something like them.
I really want to start having one night a month just dedicated to this sort of thing. A time slot for doing whatever random, seasonal project I want. I even want to have friends who have this same desire to join me. It will be a snazzy craft club. But it needs a better name than that. Ideas?
I do need help in the movie dept. Here are the movies that are making up my list. Tell me what I am missing (Juls):

1-Elf
2-Albert Finney's Scrooge (Best, hands down)
3-Nightmare Before Christmas
4-Groundhog Day (Hey, it's cold and snowy)
5- Just Friends (Ryan Adams is sooooo funny)
6-A Christmas Story
7-It's A Wonderful Life
8-The Grinch (Animated classic and Jim Carrey's)

And music! Oh how great is good Christmas music. If I get the energy I may even torment you, my readers (all three of you) and share some of our fave's on a silly online player. They are so funny. Don't you worry- we listen to silly stuff, here. Nothing too serious- I won't be forcing Celine Dion down your throat (and sorry to those of you who like her stuff).
Some MUST HAVES are Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass Christmas Album, some Frank Sinatra and Burl Ives, Ferrante & Teicher Christmas and more. Oh man, I think I will have to make a silly playlist for my blog this month and irritate you all to death.

Gobble Recap

What a fun week. The day before Scott arrived in Provo I got to shop with my Mom and Julia in SLC. It was nice to spend that one-on-one time with them before the crazy Thanksgiving madness. We especially had fun walking through Anthropologie. That store is so inspiring- the people that design the interior always amaze. Here are a few shots I stole that interested me.
First, the dishes. I thought this was such a good idea to do with the Thanksgiving dishes. My Mom said no.
Next, check out the chandelier made with straws. Is that not ingenious!??! Magnifico! I love it. I want to do it. It looks like a deli jellyfish.
I don't know where I would put something like this. If I ever own a store one day...well, I never want to do that but if I ever fulfill my dream of being a buyer for a cool store, I will also have a say in the creative coolness of said store (hey, it's my dream) and will hang it there. And you can all come see

Thanksgiving Day had some fun in store. We started the day off with a 4 mile run. I challenged Julia to this about two months ago and the day finally came. And Rich joined us, too! We got there around 7:15 and picked up our numbers. Then we sat in the car, blasting the heat, and avoided the impending doom of 28 degree temps that awaited us. We weren't aware of the 'organization' that the women were supposed to start somewhere else. This was made known to us by all the men we were standing with about 2 minutes before we started. Nice. See left photo for details.
Then we were off! And thankfully we warmed up soon enough. Rich took off and I never saw him again. Juls dropped behind me with her friend, Hannah, who showed up as well. I came in a couple of minutes after Rich and we ran back for Juls. She did it in 50 minutes. Not bad for her first time! Look at her stride.... It was fun.
The rest of the day was spent up with the Leavers at Todd and Kelsey's house. I am a loser and didn't get any pics of the rest of the day, but the dinner was great. We all stuffed ourselves silly and relaxed the afternoon away watching Galaxy Quest. That movie is so great.
Friday was a special day. I finally got to meet Jen's (Scott's sister) newest addition to their family. Boy #3! His name is Trey. Don't you fret- that oxygen tube is a small precaution. He's a little tiger inside, I'm sure of it. So cute.
We had a little Bday party for Jen, as her Birthday is coming up this week. She is getting soooooo old! (haha!-jk) It was fun to all hang out and laugh at stupid stuff.
Saturday Scott went to the big BYU game. And wah-freaking-hoo that they won. I thought it was over when the Utes got that touchdown. But we overcame and conquered! Very fun to watch. The night was spent hanging around. Marty and Jess stopped by so I snapped a little shot of Graham. Oh dear me- is your mouth watering? is he not such a cute tootsie roll? All these babies are so cute. (Don't get any ideas. So cute for everyone else)
And now we are home. I have a huge list of things to catch up on.
Is anyone else feeling a tad overwhelmed? Do I just do this to myself?
Christmas cards, my lesson that I have to give in RS on Sunday, Enrichment to prepare for next Tuesday, leaving for NYC on Thursday!?, VTing all done and reported, filters need changing, decorations need to be up.... so I blog. I blog it all away and ignore my responsibilities.
Maybe I can find some cute shoes on Zappos....