The Nutcracker

Taking the train in the big city....all part of the fun!

You should have seen the little girls eyes during the land of the sweets...they were enchanted!
Miriam promised to give me all her spending money if we could get this nutcracker that plays Tchaikovsky nutcracker march ( I think that is what it is). I caved, because I was enchanted as well!

Everyone loved it!
Thanks Grammie and Pappie!!

Christmas Night

Bub gets a fever and a rash.
Scarlet Fever, I guess thats the same thing as strep throat in little people.
No worries, we've been to the Dr. and he is already on the mend!
It was a sad Sunday though, or so Darin says...I was gone all day.
Thank heavens for Cailou and ibuprofen.

Christmas Morning

Picnic breakfast in front of the fireplace (an attempt to let Grandpa and Grandma sleep a bit longer)

Dad went up to check if Santa had come and brought back stockings to prove it! (a little something we learned from Cristin and Pete....also another attempt to stall)

Bub's dreams come true....flashlight AND glitter ball

Miriam's too....TREATS!

Christmas Eve

Miriam's Christmas Eve check list
1. Leave cookies for Santa
2. Hang stockings
3. Open one gift
4. Clean up the toys (assuming the gift is a toy I suppose)
5. Read the Nativity, sing the carols
6. Go to sleep


We managed all that and so much more!

Girls afternoon at the pictures.
The Princess and the Frog, loved it!

Chewy ginger cookies with Grandpa

Grandpa and Grandma, our captive audience for the "Miriam and Bub show" all evening
(all weekend really)

The Nativity

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!!

Late Gift

This song is Miriam's gift to her grandparents, especially Grandma Rass. Nothing makes my mom happier than seeing her grand kids cultivate a love and appreciation for music {or dance, or art, or organization....or anything really}.

Warning: if you are not a grandparent {or even if you are} this song is fairly long and may bore you, however there are some cute scenes at the end that are worth the wait. Also, we didn't get the copy of the music without the words, so there is background singing.

Bub at our annual outdoor Nativity

1 banana
8 oz of orange juice
2 slices of bread with 2 Tbs jam on each slice

That is what I had for breakfast this morning. All of that sugary stuff proved that I do not have gestational diabetes {yeah!} although, I should probably pretend I do and eat that way anyhow. The amazing thing about downing so much sugar on an empty stomach is that even though it made me completely ill at the time, 3 hours later I was ravishingly hungry. All I wanted was meat and butter.

I can't believe how calm and serene I feel this close to Christmas! Even with our anniversary taking up a free weekend, there is no need to rush out to join the crowds in the snow. Most years I wouldn't mind being out there in the excitement, having things to do places to go....but this year I am just too tired.

In fact, I think I am going to turn in early...that sounds nice.

We are off to start our celebration tomorrow so....

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

10 years ago....

December 17th 1999 we were here....

in Moab, Ut honeymooning at the most charming Bed and Breakfast.
These two pictures are the only two we have from our entire honeymoon {I guess we were kind of preoccupied}. We look exactly the same right? RIGHT? I mean except for the fake nails {first and last time I have ever had them} the huge hair, and the fact that Darin looks like he is 16.

Unbelievable. 10 years have gone by?

The traditional tenth anniversary gift is tin or aluminum.

Trust Darin to take that bit of information and create something wonderful!
He left this on my seat as we were leaving to celebrate our milestone anniversary. I thought it was 1/2 of the Chipolte burrito I didn't finish the night before until I recognized the swan shape {inside are the 100 things he loves about me}.


Arches

Dead Horse Point

"Island in the Sky" Canyonlands

It was lovely to be back at our honeymoon Bed and Breakfast. Darin had thought of everything and then to add to the charm, we were the only guests there! We had the whole house to ourselves, and the whole breakfast buffet as well. The memories, the views, the food...it was perfect. We wrote in the guest book we would be back in 10 more years.

We both had surprise gifts waiting at home for each other.
I actually received two surprises because Darin bought one to throw me off. I am sleeping like a baby on our new memory foam mattress pad. But then he got me the most thoughtful and wonderful gift, a perfect way to remember our 10th anniversary. He found and framed the Minerva Teichert print I have been wanting for about 8 years!

Darin seemed excited about my gift although it wasn't half as meaningful. I got us both Yukon Charlie snowshoes for the cabin. Here is to hoping we will get to spend lots of alone time using them!

and where were the kids during all this romance?
They were safely and happily staying with my parents again. It's so easy to have such wonderful get-a-ways when you know your children are having fun as well.

Thank you so much honey...that was just exactly what I needed.

Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String

I always sing {at the top of my lungs} along with Barbara Streisand when "My Favorite Things" comes on the radio this time of year. I don't understand why it is considered a Christmas song other then the line "brown paper packages tied up with string" or maybe "snowflakes that fall on my nose and eyelashes" but I haven't seen Sound of Music in years so maybe I am forgetting something.

Anyway....we have been keeping busy getting packages tied up.

and bows made

along with treats

and more bows.


I feel like we make a ton of little neighbor/friend gifts every year, and yet I feel like there are so many more people I would like to give to. How do you limit the giving of treats and visits? I think I put too much stock on my trite offerings, they probably don't bring as much Christmas Cheer as I think they do....and yet I worry so much that someone I love, or just like won't get something or will feel left out.

It's hard to worry about the world.

and speaking about worrying about the world, our Christmas card deliveries have been sparse this year. I am wondering if we have been taken off card lists, or if the bad economy and new technology has interfered with my love of receiving mail. worry worry worry

I can't be ungrateful however, because we did receive a package that included the book "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" from my mother-in-law...it's a beautiful Christmas book, and comes with a DVD.
Thank you!!

{my Mom is excused from sending cards this year as I am the one who dropped the ball on that one. The picture she needed is on our computer....sorry Mom}

Candy Creativity

Our "cookie hows" the kids decorated last Sunday


The creativity of our Young Women

We had our ultrasound last Friday

We are having a.....






BIG baby!!

We decided we didn't want to find out if we are having a boy or girl so all we know at this point is that we are having a big healthy baby.

So, I am either farther along than they thought (yeah!!)
I have gestational diabetes (boo!)
or
our baby is going to be big (as long as it's not too big I'm fine with that)


Exhaustion has set in.. but it's a satisfied exhaustion.
Tonight we took the kids out in the hustle and bustle of the city to participate in the holiday festivities. Darin took Miriam to redeem the IMAX certificate she received from school. They watched a deep sea adventure in 3D while Bub and I finished up some Christmas shopping. We waited for a hour to eat at Jason's Deli (the one downer of the night) and then caught Trax to Temple Square. The kids were overjoyed by the Trax surprise and ran around happy all evening. I usually don't like crowds, but the excitement of the season is contagious. It was fun to be among all the thousands of people enjoying temple square. It was fun, but I am also glad it's over....now that we've been to temple square, if I feel like staying home every evening till Christmas I won't feel guilt about depriving my kids of a true Christmas experience.

We saw the big man

Thanks to a tip from a good friend (thanks Stacie) we saw Santa without going to a mall, or waiting in any lines. Yeah!

Bub wants a "fas-ite" (flashlight) only he wanted it when he asked for it. The whole Santa will bring it on Christmas has been a hard concept. When he pleads for "fas-ite" I now say "when Bub? When does the flashlight come" and he answers "Kisstmas Sana I good boy".

Miriam asked for a sewing machine...one of those 8 years and older plastic machines that get terrible reviews and don't seem to actually work. We are going to try and hold her off with hand sewing and wait for her to be old enough to use my (my mom's) real sewing machine.

Baby It's COLD outside

We don't have a lot of snow yet, but it is ice box cold! We spent a good deal of the day out in it.

Bub shoveled in the morning
The kids and I ran to do an errand and randomly saw that a shopping center was having a Christmas Festival. We hopped on a horse drawn carriage ride, warmed up by an outdoor fire and then walked around the stores where each one featured a different treat. Miriam called it Christmas Trick-or-Treating but it was way better....we are talkin' cheesecake, sandwiches, chili, popcorn, hot chocolate, of course tons of cookies. The kids only wanted cookies and popcorn.

{Bad picture, so I doctored it up}

We rushed home to get Miriam to her choir's performance at the city park lighting ceremony.
Cold, crowded event, but Miriam's choir is so enthusiastic and fun it was worth it.

Then we took Dad to Dairy Queen because he didn't attend the Christmas Trick-or Treat and he was hungry.

We came home, got ready for bed, and gathered around the heat vent for prayers and good night hugs.

My days are filled to the brim with Christmas business among real life business, but anticipating the next fun event keeps me going!

Super Hero Day

Miriam's school had Hero Day in honor of Jared Vance, a second grader who recently passed away. If you want to feel the spirit of the season, and have renewed desire to express love this year, read all about Jared here. He was so young, so darling, and his time went so quickly.

All the classes in M's school participated in service project today to remember Jared and his desire to be a hero.
I didn't even know Jared, or his family but his story has affected me deeply.
I am grateful we were able to be a part of his day.

I know what it is like to have a boy with super hero dreams.

Project #2 Finito

Serving in Young Women's organization is a ton of work.
But work and service always bring blessings...always. Huge blessings in my life are the woman I get to serve with. We had a little get together tonight to assemble the girls Christmas gifts.
I forgot to take a picture of the gifts (to busy laughing and talking)...but did get one of the food before we got settled in. I didn't even get a picture of the amazing dessert side of the table, there was soooo much food.

I love it when service is so fun.

One project down....

I taught the Young Women (specifically Beehives) how to make fabric flowers tonight. The idea was that they could make inexpensive gifts for others (pins, hair bows, etc). We used scraps from my Mom, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother's old sewing projects.

They are a cinch and the girls loved it.

Here is the blog tutorial: Pink Paper Peppermints

On the First Day of December....

By putting off all housework, I had the tree up and ready to be decorated for family home evening yesterday. Part of the rush was that I had bought a Playmobil advent calendar for the kiddos. I knew they would love it and wanted to be able to use it on the 1st of December...I mistakenly thought Monday WAS the 1st of December.

It turned out to be a good mistake because we needed the rest of the evening to assemble the 95 piece advent calender in order to have it ready for December 1st. I didn't even think about having to assemble all the little boxes! It was a fantastic FHE activity in Mim's eyes, as she adores feeling helpful and Darin is wonderful at letting her help (I am a bit less patient). Bub was pleased as punch to run around the project nearly missing us with lacrosse sticks all evening.


For my record keeping: M's new ornament is the tiny fairies, Bub choose the school bus.

Thanksgiving 2009

Dinner on Danish Dishes.
Darin, my Dad and I were at the kid table in formal living room. I think we all fit in well there.
Wonderful food, funny conversation, a rousing games of the Farmer and the Dell.
Solid Thanksgiving day.

We had Erik and Kelly's beautiful home all to ourselves since they were gone for the weekend. We got the best of both worlds....rambunctious fun during the day and total peace and quiet at night! Thanks E and K!!

Friday, the men fixed my parents solar panels while the cousins ran around wild
The above picture is of Grandma's rock band (notice the rockin' ukulele).

Then Grandpa took everyone on a great hike to see the Rochester Panel

The girls (and Jared) saw New Moon.
I always was a Jacob fan.

Miriam cried as always as we loaded her into the car to leave.
My kids just can't get enough of Grammie and Papie's house.
Luckily Uncle Regan and Aunt Vanessa invited us over for dinner that night. A few dozen mini snickers and playing the Wii till 10:00 pm helped Miriam with her holiday let down.

Now the tree and our decorations are up and ready for Dec. 1st!!
But the bathrooms are a disaster, piles of laundry everywhere, my Young Women's project (which I need to teach on Wednesday) hasn't been started, library books are overdue, dinners are sketchy, Christmas cards are calling, cookies and hors d'oeuvres need to be planned and made for this weekend, and here I am blogging.
Typical.

Zion in the Fall

When friends of ours invited us to St. George to stay in their family condo, they said we were welcome to bring our kids.

Um...no thank you. This three day weekend makes up for months of not having a "date night" (one of my New Year's resolutions). We enjoyed ourselves so much, the day we arrived home we promptly found a babysitter and went on another date.

Thanks Erik and Laura for the invite.

So many huge thank yous to my Mom and Dad who watched the kids.