Merry Christmas 2011

I am going to try to catch up all the neglected pictures / events before the end of the year (so prepare for a busy  next week on here!) but I wanted to throw the pictures from last night and today on here before heading to bed.

Every year for a long time (or maybe ever?) we've been spending the evening of Christmas Eve at my in-law's house.  We eat goodies, do a nativity for the kids, listed to Pops read the Bible story, and usually do a white elephant gift exchange of some sort.  A good time is had by all.
Well, this year I was just walking in to the kitchen to make us an early dinner so we could leave to drive out around the lake.  I saw Lizzie curled up on the couch huddled under my cozy sweater; not normal behavior.  Sure enough, she had a fever.  So.... we ran to the store to pick up a few goodies to have our own at home and had Grandma come over to our house (she was going to go with us around the lake anyway, but we're super glad we had her to be our "company").

 Grandma played Christmas hymns for us on the piano.  We played a little white elephant game.  Sierra decided that day that she HAD to cuddle with Daddy all evening.  She even shoved things out of the way so she'd get her favorite place :)  I whipped up a cheeseball and we picked up dip and vegis / crackers to eat it with. We also had homemade caramel with sliced apples and little bottles of Martinelli's sparkling cider.  Oh, and candy cane truffles!  I made those with crushed candy canes on top; stir them into hot milk and you get amazing minty hot chocolate!  We also watched "Mr. Kreuger's Christmas" which the girls really love.  (Daddy also shown here playing on his iPad -- a bonus he earned from work!!!)

 The girls got to open their new pajamas and got dressed for bed (oh, you can see the box of See's chocolate's I'd been hoarding too).  Grandma got to play with Ginny and her cat wand (that cat can do the most incredible flips!).  Then Daddy read us the story from Luke 2 and Matthew 2.  Off his smartphone.  Cause we're so technologically advanced.  Grandma told the girls the story of "The Magic Curtain" -- a family tradition; and they were off to bed!

 The girls snuggled up in bed and fell asleep pretty quickly.  Well, the younger two did -- Kate had a hard time sleeping last night (what a surprise!).  There is a little lit tree in each of the girls' bedrooms.  I love how Lizzie and Sabrina tucked theirs next to a picture of Christ with the children.

Santa made his visit.  He filled the stockings and put three little presents under the tree (because they didn't fit in the stockings -- mostly because we looked EVERYWHERE and couldn't find our stockings, so I chased Grandma home and borrowed hers.)  Since we got the kitties early the girls knew we weren't getting big presents from Santa this year.

 The girls got up about 7:30 and ate the Frito's and played in the Phineas & Ferb activity book left at the end of each bed.  Then we ate some of the fancy breakfast Santa had left and got ready for church.
It was wonderful going to church on Christmas morning!

After church we came home and opened every individually wrapped present in the stockings, then the other things under the tree.

A few of kate's highlights:  Kate got toe socks she's been asking for (her sisters each got a pair of fuzzy socks too).  She also got a water bottle (from Lizzie) to go on her new(er) bike that has a water bottle holder on it.  She was very excited about a nutcracker Santa brought and the earrings with the promise that she can get her ears pierced.  (Hopefully that goes well tomorrow!)  She also got a little planner she was hoping for (the rest of the present from Lizzie) and a jewelry making kit from Sabrina.  She's particularly excited about making earrings she can wear eventually.

 Some of Lizzie's favorites are a computer chess game (it helps teach rules and possible moves, etc. -- great since she's always begging for someone to play chess with her!), an itty bitty "muttles" puppy (each girl got a different one), some lip gloss and nail polish from Sabrina, and a bell for her bike from Kate.  Another cool thing is "story dice": 9 dice with 6 images on each.  Roll them and make up a story including all 9 elements!  She's excited to try it out.

 Sabrina got the blanket (from Kate) she was hoping for, as well as a stuffed puppy (from Lizzie).  She was ecstatic!  She had a fever today, so she spent quite a bit of time with those two gifts.  She also got her favorite candy bar (each of us did), and a new winter cap (each girl did).  She loves an old fashioned wooden top and the thing she's been asking for for weeks: ice skates!  Of course, they came as ice skates for her build-a-bear rather than for her (much more useful that way ;))

 Daddy got a several goodies (cause he's impossible to buy for!) along with a couple of card games and Hungry Hungry Hippos.  Kate picked the hippo game for him because he keep singing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas".  So he got TWO!  I also got him a book by Henry B. Eyring he's looking forward to reading.

 I got some jewelry in my stocking (each girl had a cute flower ring in her stocking also) as well as a nice new razor (hint, hint? ;))  and some hand warmers to use while riding my bike (yes, I've been riding a bike around the neighborhood!).  The girls got me a pair of USB powered speakers since my laptop speakers aren't very loud at all so I'm always hauling around speakers to listen to shows or audiobooks while doing chores around the house.  I'm listening to Harry Potter book 4 even as I type right now actually.
The highlight of my gifts: Michael got me a purple ukulele!!!  I LOVE it!!!!!  I hope to learn enough songs on it to use it during singing time in nursery at church.  Besides: it's SUPER cute.  Seriously.  It's purple!

 a few misc. pictures cause those are cute girls.  Wish I had some fuzzy socks about now!

The piece de resistance: under the tree there has been a largish package from daddy and me.  We weren't going to be doing anything fancy like this on account of the kitties... but we had an opportunity and the means, so we went for it.  Daddy held the large gift and the girls each held their last gift from Santa.  I love the expressions on their faces!  They could not believe their eyes!  We got a BLUE wii!  It came with one controller / nunchuck.  The gifts the girls opened was a pretty PINK controller for each of them.  They're absolutely adorable.  We borrowed a wii play disc and they've played a great deal of cow racing and billiards this afternoon.

This pretty much wraps up Christmas -- Kate with her hat and wii-mote.  This picture just turned out really pretty so I had to include it.  We have had a very merry Christmas -- sickness and all.  We feel so very blessed to have so much family and so many friends around us.  We missed out on the family gatherings, but it was really kinda nice to just "have to" relax at home!

So Merry Christmas to All!  I'm headed to bed.

Denver, Colorado

For the first time in a decade, Michael and I went on a little vacation with just the two of us.  Technically I don't know that the one 10 years ago qualifies since Kate was there in-utero and kept me close to the saltine crackers... which means that our last all-alone vacation was our honeymoon.
True, Michael did have to do a training meeting for a few hours one morning since it was technically a business trip, but we'll gloss over that fact.
We spent 3 days, 3 nights in Denver.  The girls got to have a sleepover at grandma's house and a sleepover at their aunts' house one night and they had a great time.  Fortunately that all went well (especially considering that my mom had cataract surgery the same day we were leaving!).  Since we've never been on a family vacation, much less a "couple" vacation, we started feeling guilty about the fun we were having when we kept seeing things the girls would have enjoyed.  So we were really ready to come home at the end of it.
Here's a brief (ha ha!  as if I'm ever "brief") rundown on our trip:

 See that itty bitty pretzel?  Salt Lake City in one opening, Denver in the other.  Such a clever pretzel :P

Sweeping Generalizations:
* It is required that drivers shall drive at least 15 mph under the speed limit except in construction zones.  In construction zones drivers shall accelerate to at least 15 mph over the posted limit.
* There shall be a minimum of 1 King Sooper grocery store per square mile.  Starbucks density shall not be any less than 5 per square mile.  Starbucks and King Sooper may coincide.
* Specifications that parking spaces are limited to compact vehicles only are to be taken as mere suggestions.  As long as at least one tire is within the painted lines, you're good.  Good luck exiting and re-entering the vehicle.

Chuckles:
* We ate dinner the first night at the hotel restaurant.  There was an older man serving us (late 60's, early 70's-ish).  I ordered the seared salmon to which he heartily replied "Good for you!".  Michael ordered the pork chops.  He wasn't praised.  When he checked on us partway through the meal he commented on how much he likes both the items we'd ordered.  The salmon came with potatoes, tomatoes, green beans, and some sort of fancy olives.  He said that he likes the olives, but some people don't and it's okay if I don't eat them.  Good to know.  The meal was nicely portioned and I did enjoy the olives even, so I pretty much cleared my plate.  When he came back to bring us the check he broadly praised me with a "Good job!  You finished everything!".  I'm so proud of me for ordering, and eating my dinner!  I can only imagine how disappointed Michael must have been for not getting a pat on the head for his eating skillz.

* After dinner that first night we were kinda tired and didn't really want to go "out", but wanted to do something anyway.  We decided to watch a movie in our room... but we wanted movie popcorn.  Hmmmm...
So we looked up a nearby movie theater.  We went and Michael bought a bucket of popcorn.  Then we dumped it into the dry cleaning bag from the hotel and I went and got the free refill.  Problem solved!  We went back to the hotel and watched a movie while eating movie-theater popcorn :)

Aw, shoot:
*I was pretty horribly sick the first night actually.  Fortunately, due to the required density of King Sooper grocery stores, there was one not far away.  I drove over there during Michael's work the next morning for some medicine and some kefir.  After a morning nap I felt much better.  Phew!

Heel Click!:
*We visited the American Girl's Store at a nearby mall.  It was incredible!  I even got to bring home my very own miniature Samantha doll.

*During our mall wanderings (it was an easy, inexpensive-as-long-as-you-don't-buy-anything activity to do while chatting) we found some great prices on some dresses for the girls.  It's one of those things on "the list" of things we need to get sooner or later and they loved getting a present when we got home.  We also got some yummies from Godiva chocolate.  Most luxurious.

 Cinnabon!

*Friday afternoon we spent walking the 16th Street Mall.  Really it's a mile-long stretch of downtown with shops lining both sides and a walking only "street" (besides the free bus that shuttles you along the length).  There are restaurants, street musician, and souvenir shops and the weather was perfect for wandering the length.  We found some perfect presents for the girls here too!  A dream box for Lizzie (make a wish on it before bedtime) since she worries about nightmares, an amethyst chip necklace for Sabrina, and a fairy glass sculpture thing for Kate.

Various Others:
The food was just beautiful.

I want to eat this all over again.  Yum.

The Dodge Charger is a pretty awesome car to drive (Michael considers it at least a zillion steps above the 80's Chevy Celebrity he gets to drive these days)

The weather was amazing -- only the last morning while we were heading to the airport we had some frost on the windshield.

Pretty views from our 7th floor hotel room.

I am very thankful for a great vacation with my husband -- especially since it was free :P  It was definitely  time.

My 33rd Year

So here are the new goals for my 33rd year of life.  I decided to settle into fewer larger goals instead of lots of smaller goals this time to prevent forgetting what I'm trying to do, or feeling overwhelmed by too many things to accomplish.

1- Redecorate Girls' bedrooms.

When we moved into our new house Kate finally got her own bedroom.  After years of all three sharing a room (at their own request) we split them up a bit.  Kate's room is almost always perfectly clean!  Lizzie and Sabrina still have been sharing a room which mostly works well.  They like being together, but when it comes time to clean there is the perpetual cry of "this isn't my mess!".  So we're working towards a shift in our house where the playroom will be dissolved into smaller areas and Kate will move to a different room so Lizzie and Sabrina will have their own separate bedrooms.  We'll see how it goes.  Once they're all separate, though, I want to get their rooms looking nice.  Curtains, bedding, paint, etc. will help their rooms become more individualized and special. Hopefully this new sense of ownership for them all will help them take better care of their things.  And besides, it'll be pretty :)  Since we're in our OWN home now, I can settle into more permanent things!  Time to take advantage of that.

2- Read all of The Book of Mormon

I love The Book of Mormon.  I believe it it a true history of things that happened many hundred years ago and that teach us about how to be happy, how to live, and how to do what the Lord wants us to do.  It is a true, important book of scripture.  I'm just not great at reading it as often as I know I should.  I am shooting to read more than just the Book of Mormon by also studying the Doctrine and Covenants / Pearl of Great Price as well as the Bible.  I know searching all of the scriptures will help me be a better grounded, more faithful person.

3- Complete another year of scrapbooks / get another blog book printed

The hardest part of this is actually setting aside the money to get these books printed.  It's time for this to be a priority somehow.  The girls LOVE to sit and flip through books I have had printed and photo books.  I want them to be able to appreciate the photos and stories of years past, even now while they're young.  

4- Make a donation through Kiva  

I've always been interested in the microfinancing where a relatively small donation from me can help do a great deal of good for someone trying to improve themselves.  Time to get around to taking part!

5- Make a new temple dress and attend the temple regularly

I have a dress 75% of the way done that I just need to find and finish.  By the time school starts again next year in the fall it will be easier time-wise to make it to the temple regularly (all 3 girls will be in school all day then).  It's a bad excuse to not go regularly now when I have the temple so close by! 

6- Do “daily” (goal of 6 days/week) physical activity of any sort (yoga, water aerobics, walking, stationary bike, etc.)

I know that regular physical activity will help my body feel better.  I also know that losing weigh would only be beneficial also.  I'm going to focus first on getting moving.  It is HARD to get moving when everything hurts.  Especially when doing the wrong thing can start the pain up.  I'd rather revel in a low-pain day by not moving.  Being active will lead to more low pain or perhaps pain free days, even if I have to battle through some pain to get there in the first place.  Just have to start slow and be careful.

7- Recover photos and get ALL backed up (find what happened to the “lost years”)

I think I had all my photos on my old laptop.  I thought I had them available in other formats too, but now I cannot find them!  I know there are lots of things I'm missing and it kinda freaks me out.  Okay, I"ll be honest -- it REALLY freaks me out!  I need to do whatever it's going to take to recover those pictures.  (Anyone with skills of resurrecting hard-drives from dead computers want some cookies?!)

8- Update family's Emergency Preparedness

I have room for storing good preparation.  I have the knowledge of how we need to be prepared.  I just have to DO IT!  It would be a real shame to be stuck without things we need all because I never got around to it.  

9- Make and use freezer meals to provide more easy, healthy meals for hard days.

I have gotten "into" making freezer meals.  It's wonderful!  We have been good about getting batches of ingredients when they are on sale then putting them into meals.  With two extra upright freezers it would be a shame to not put that to good use.  There are so many things I can make to have meals prepped so we get a hot healthy meal at the end of a day instead of cereal or sandwiches because I'm overwhelmed or in too much pain.  The other night I was tired and hurting so we "had to settle" for meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, and fresh out of the oven baguette.  Boo hoo, right?  I spent about 5 minutes standing in the kitchen and had no extra guilt to carry around!  I even set up a group on Facebook to help keep me motivated and gather ideas and recipes from others too.  (If you're on FB and interested -- join us!)

10- Make birthday photo “cards” for BOTH families

For a couple of years now I've been posting a photo of the "birthday person" for each person in my family on their birthday.  It's been a really good way for me to remember each of my nieces, nephews, siblings (including in-laws), etc..  Also, they enjoy it :)  I love them all so much!
My husband's family... it's been hard to get it done.  I don't take as many pictures at things because they all live locally, so I don't have the same sort of pictures to draw from.  Also, my family is all involved in an online group so I send one email and it goes to everyone.  Pictures are all saved on an online group so anyone can see them.  It's all good!  It's so hard to get them out to the other family, though.  

So here's the deal: I've set up a Google group.  I will post a birthday picture for each family member on (or as close as possible to) their birthday.  If you Southern family members want to take part, join up.  If not, I'll be posting them for myself.  Email me for info for how to join.

My Time of Reckoning.

Why on earth have I bothered keeping up with 31 goals in a busy, chaotic year? And why have I bored both my readers with regular updates?


As a stay-at-home mother of 3, a homemaker, and a middle-aged-ish woman life can quickly become a bit of a blur.  One day to another of checking homework, making dinners, feeling guilty about the amount of dirty laundry,  can get you in a rut fast.  I decided it was time to get myself out of some of my ruts.  It was time to make some measurable growth and progress in various aspects of my life.  It was time to recognize the things I *do* accomplish as the year goes by in a blur.  
Without this list and set of goals I'd look over the last year and be able to tell you that I am more involved in the girls' school classes and we bought our own house and moved.  That's what sticks out in my mind.  That's pretty underwhelming.  Instead I have done something with MY life and I KNOW it.  
One of my hugest irritations is to hear a mother declare that her life was lost as she "wasted" it on raising her children.  For one thing: what better reason to lose your life for others???  For another thing: what more important work can you do than help prepare a new generation?  Finally: you CAN do things for YOU at the same time.  It may take some focus or preparation, but you can still "live your life" or "work for your dreams" while doing this significant work for your children.  
Setting these goals has helped me make decisions about what I want for my life and what dreams I may have had and how I can improve myself.  I know that improving myself is a blessing for my family also, especially as it is done while continuing to love them and keep it all in (hopefully) correct priorities.  
And why have i made you skip so many boring blog posts?  I need to feel accountable!  Otherwise it would be easy for me to let this all slide, like so many goals do.  I have been considering my goals for this coming year and how I want to set them.  I'll try to get them posted by the end of next week so I can get started on them.  Many will be repeats of what you see here because this is the direction I want my life to go!


With all that said -- here is my final accounting of my 31 goals for the year after my 31st birthday:


1- Sew at least one new item of clothing for me. -- l can only say this one got 80% done.  I never did accomplish those last details.  

2- Make great room (and/or family room) curtains.-- I am actually in the process of this project right now.  A painting project is making this happen sooner rather than later.

3- Go one mile (run/walk) in 12 minutes or less --  This wasn't going to happen.  Pain got in the way.  I'm working on making my way back to being physically capable of doing *some* sort of physical activity daily.

4- Clean out and sort jewelry boxes -- Did it.

5- Catch up one year of scrapbooks-- Not done all the way.  Oops.

6- Read the entire Book of Mormon -- I'm ashamed to admit that I did not finish this one.  I really should have.  I know everything will be better as I improve at this one.
 
7- Get a new family picture taken -- Did it.
 
8- Clean out my bedroom closet -- Did it.

9- Sort my craft type items (including sewing) -- Progress made, but not completed.

10- Make a new temple dress (does not fulfill goal #1) -- Not done.

11- Be involved in at least one PTA project at the elementary school -- I've rocked this one!

12- Get last year's blog book printed and bound -- Done, but not ordered (money is being saved for something else right now.)  At least it's done though!
 
13- Make some nice hair pretties for MY daughters -- Technically I've done some, but not what I'd hoped to accomplish.
 
14- Read some classic literature -- This has been a great project.  Part way into Les Miserables now.
   
15- Plant something and keep it alive -- Yard is looking good!  Not perfect, but good.  The three roses I got last year are even doing reasonably.  They were touch-and-go a few times, but rallied again.
 
16- Improve dysphonia to be able to sing again with less pain -- I suppose I'm to a point of needing to get some more professional voice therapy (I started with this long ago, but needed to spend some time working on it on my own).  I just can't get to the next point.  My voice box is so cramped into the wrong place it is just not working well.  Kinda frustrating.

17- Learn two new hymns on the piano -- I've done some fun playing on the piano, but didnt' actually accomplish this technical goal.  Oops.
 
18- Plan and enjoy a family vacation (even if it has to be in Utah County) -- Did it with a "day vacation" to Snowbird Resort this summer.  Even though it was a work activity, we took advantage of that ;)
 
19- Back up all digital photos on new DVDs (or other storage device) and store safely  -- I found my external drive again!  I seem to be missing some photos still and that kinda freaks me out.  Where are they?!?!?!

20- Participate in fruit and vegetable co-op when possible and learn new ways to enjoy produce -- We didn't do awesome at this, but we have been working on incorporating more fruits and vegetable into our meals.  A new project of freezer cooking has helped us eat more hot homemade meals even on bad pain days.
 
21- Create a 7 generation pedigree chart -- Did this, but then I lost it.  Cause I'm good at doing that.  I was able to find the basic information again, though, when Kate needed it for a Faith in God goal, though, so at least that's some progress.

22- Finish quilts for the girls' beds -- Didn't do this.  Right now we're in a drawn out process of changing bedrooms around.  After we're settled in there will be some gradual re-decorating being done in those rooms.  It's got to be gradual cause it adds up fast ($)!!!

23- Take a class through the community programs -- I am now settled in as a regular oboist for the American Fork City Symphony.  The oboist who has been playing with them came back (I was the only one for my first concert back) so I am playing 2nd.  It's most impressive that I'm making it to American Fork by 8:00 AM on Saturdays!
 
24- Follow FlyLady principles to get/keep the house in a happy state.  -- Doing decently most of the time.  I'm not incredible, but I'm getting there.

25- Read a book by a church leader -- Did it.
 
26- Spend $1,000 to improve financial outlook (pay off debt faster, put in savings, etc.) -- Did it.

27- Look at the stars more -- This is an ambiguous sort of goal open to subjective "done" or "not done".  In general this has been on my mind and helped me to remember to appreciate the joys of nature surrounding me.  I'll call this on "done".  
 
28- Clean the Sharpie "artwork" off the playroom walls -- Did it.

29- Update our family's emergency preparedness --  Only halfway done.

30- Learn to use the lenses and settings on my camera -- I've done a lot of work with my camera this year.  I haven't worked much with my filters and little lenses yet, but have worked a lot with the settings.  Because I most enjoy taking candid photos I keep landing back on my automatic setting, but I've done well learning about these things.

31- Return and report progress on my goals -- Done, and Done!

Patchy in October

An afternoon of photographic fun at Jaker's Pumpkin Patch.  The girls had a blast on the two little mazes.

 Lizzie learned that skirts and hay bales don't play well with your knees.

 We were entertained by the new growth on the hay bales.

 The little petting zoo featured (among other things) a ginormous pig and the classic Halloween kangaroo.

Naturally I made the girls sit together on top of the pyramid for a photo op.  They're just so cute!

The very coolest thing was the huge pit-o-corn.  Sabrina enjoyed doing "corn stands" -- head stands with her head supported in feed corn.

Lizzie watched all the other kids covering themselves up with corn.  She chose to go a slightly different route and buried her head face down.  O.o

Kate tried to dig to the bottom of the pit.  She didn't manage to dig it up faster than the hole filled in.

I stepped into the corn and immediately sank a full foot (well, both my feet about 12" deep ;))!  When we were done in the corn heap the girls' hair was a little... full of stuff.  BUT then the tractor was ready to take us on a hayride!  I sat on one side of the tractor with Kate and Lizzie while Daddy sat behind us with Sabrina.  SO MANY PUMPKINS!

Finally, here are a few favorite pictures:

 Kate's first flight!

and Kate's discovery of what happens if you fall part way through a hidden hole in hay bales!

At the end we got some pumpkins and came home where the girls painted them to go out front.  Shame I never got those photographed.  oops.   ☺