Easter Sunday

We spent a fun day as a family today. The Easter bunny dropped off a small basket with enough goodies for the kids to make them feel remembered. (He had “early Church” so had to come back on the way home to hide the eggs. … You can’t say that our kids don’t have active imaginations!!!) We heard wonderful messages about the atonement & resurrection of Jesus Christ during sacrament meeting. … seriously some of the best talks I’ve heard. Scott & I taught Sunday school together on the law of consecration, tithing, & whatever else came up. Finally, I played the piano for Primary. I hadn’t practiced in a while but luckily we played the same song over & over & over & over…

 

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Marathon Weekend

 
 
 
 

Can you see the smiles? Scott completed the National Marathon in 3:21.44 and qualified for the Boston Marathon in the process. The amazing part? He was smiling the whole time & got to even run for several miles with the mayor of D.C. He didn't really know who the guy was but people kept saying "Hello Adrian!" (everyone knew him) so he (Scott) finally figured it out. Scott felt strong for the entire marathon. His slowest mile was 8:01 & his fasted was 7:04. So what does he want to do now? Run another marathon, of course.

Lisa & Crystal were awesome & we all just loved the whole experience. It was fun to have two additional family members hanging out with us for the weekend.



The boys and I had a blast riding the subway and chasing the runners. After the race we drove over to Alexandria & visited my favorite pizza place - Bertucci's. The pizza was 16" across & brick-oven fired. We then parked the van at the hotel & left to meet our friends the Rankins at the Lincoln Memorial. It was SO GOOD to see them. We walked around the Lincoln Memorial & then the Korean & Vietnam war memorials. We disembarked at the wrong subway station and ended up walking A LOT on the way to see the Rankins.



On Sunday we went to the Richmond, Virginia Branch. The building was very non-descript old building, in the middle of a poor part of town, with VERY limited parking. The people were very friendly. So many people stopped & introduced themselves to us. The speakers happened to be visitors - we were glad that we were not the ones called on to speak!

At the web-site MapMyRun, I input the roads that we walked on & figured out that on Saturday we walked for over TEN MILES!

Washington DC

Last Thursday we drove to Washington DC with our three sons & two friends whom we would gladly claim as daughters. The purpose of the grand adventure? To run the National Marathon and to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is the only race in the United States that requires a qualifying time in another race; Wikipedia says that that fact makes it the "people's Olympics".

What's cooking Wednesday (almost)

Tonight I was desperate for a fast dinner. In the refrigerator? Dubliner cheese from the tasty-tables at Costco & chicken-apple sausages (fabulous!). I looked at the web-site for the sausages & found a great salad - which I tweaked because it wasn't for a grade. I called Scott to grab spinach on the way home. Here's the rest of the recipe (my way):

Apple Sausage Salad

4 Chicken-Apple sausage links (when sauteed they taste like bacon)
4 oz. Dubliner cheese (or goat cheese)
2 apples, cored & sliced thin
Bag of spinach
4 Tbsp. Walnuts (mixed with craisins, optional)
Ken's Lite Honey Mustard dressing

Slice sausages into small rounds; saute in a bit of cooking spray for 5-7 minutes. Layer spinach, sauteed sausage, apples, cheese, walnuts, & then honey mustard dressing. Yummy & ready in under 15 minutes. WW points? 6 for 6 servings.

I'm published! ... well sorta

While helping a friend with her algebra today, I received a knock on my door & found my favorite postal carrier with a package for me. I couldn't imagine what was in the box. I tore it open to find a new cookbook - for free - for submitting a recipe for the Worldwide Web Cookbook. I submitted a recipe for Pulled Pork sandwiches (page 146).



When I heard about the project & submitted my recipe, I thought, "OK, sounds fun." I didn't realize the book would be hardcover, spiral-bound with beautiful photos & even a cute font. I almost bought the book on Friday before I realized I would soon own one.

If you're in Utah, there's a great event next Wednesday with demonstrations of recipes from the cookbook. Tell them I sent you (or not...) --

³Confessions of a Chocoholic Cook² is a free cooking event in which community members will be taught simple but tasty chocolate recipes from author and cook Deanna Buxton.

The event will be held at the SCERA lobby (745 S. State St., Orem, UT) and will begin at 7 p.m.

Some of the recipes that will be taught and demonstrated include Chocolate Pancakes with Grandma's Syrup, Snickers Salad, ³My Most Favorite Cake² and Fudge Cookies.

The event¹s recipes are based on the book Worldwide Ward Cookbook, which features recipes from all over the world.

³Confessions of a Chocoholic Cook² is open to the general public, but those who want to attend must RSVP by March 16 by emailing covenantpromotions@gmail.com.

Participants are also encouraged to email their best chocolate/dessert recipe ahead of time to be included in the recipe-swap table at the event.

Reedy River 5K race

Yesterday, I went downtown & ran with several of my girlfriends. I had a blast & was miserable all in one grand occasion. You will need to read the pictures uphill to understand what happened. ... My phone went dead but we managed to meet up before the race. My calves have been KILLING me but I thought I would try running & just see what happened. My best time ever was 33:11 so I just wanted to beat that. (Well, I really wanted to beat 31:00 but didn't hold my breath.) I ran & my calves were fine most of the way. I walked for a little bit at the water stop but it hurt to walk & hurt to run so I just ran & ran & ran. I decided I would rather hurt for a shorter amount of time. When I rounded the corner & saw the finish line I wanted to sprint but my legs said no! I don't remember much of the race - but when I heard Crystal cheering me on I was SO excited.

My official clock time was 32:56 and the GPS watch said 32:23 for exactly 3.1 miles. Whatever?! I beat my old time by 15 seconds or more. Hooray! I had a blast with my friends & probably look forward to doing more races. But never a marathon - and you can quote me on that one.

Want to see my new favorite gadget? It's almost midnight & I can't figure out how to upload another image to facebook but you can see it here.

Snow Day

 
 
 
 

The weatherman had been predicting snow for quite a while but we did not want to get our hopes up. The kids heard about the trick of wearing your pajamas backwards for more snow while in Primary on Sunday. They came home & put their pajamas on right away. Voila! Snow!!!

First Grade sweetness

Click on the picture for a close-up view.

Jared has a homework assignment each night to draw a picture & write a sentence with 4/12 spelling words. I love that they capture the innocence & beauty of first grade. His spelling words are spelled correctly but there is some creative spelling going on for the rest. I guess I could correct him & make everything perfect, but *newsflash* perfection isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

If you need a translation:
We can say anything.
Put your food on your tray.
We can play with are frends.
You can yous gray.
Bee, go away to your bee hive.

I have been working on a picture-a-day project for the year & have done a pretty decent job of capturing the mundane. Somewhere along the way though, I lost track of adorable hug-hug-kiss-kiss Jared. My new resolution for today is to take a cute picture of each of my kids... eyes opened... smiling... perfect. Wish me luck!

Marathon Weekend

 
 
 

I spent a great weekend in Myrtle Beach with two amazing women last weekend. Danielle & Lisa both ran in the Myrtle Beach marathon. They both met and exceeded their goals. I chased them around the course & saw them at miles 4, 10, 16, 22/23, & the finish line. I had a lot of fun, rang my unique cow bell, & just loved the whole experience.

As I drove down Kings Highway at about 7 a.m., I felt the enormity of the distance that they were running. Twenty-six miles is a long way! Amazed is the word that kept coming to me through the day.

Hanging out with my friends, walking on the beach, eating amazing food for almost every meal (I missed breakfast!), and talking and talking and talking. Loved the whole experience.

First Five ...

So I got this from Bonnie's blog who got it from Misty's blog, and the only reason I'm doing it is because I really want to see what Bonnie will create. I'm not as creative as her, so beware. And I definitely not as good at time management... and a million other things.

Lucky you!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year.

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be photography or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may sew or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so, and leave a comment telling me they did, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! (Or maybe Not so fabulous)

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Groundhog Day

Do you remember the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray? It is one of my favorites. I forgot about it until too late today. We turned it on in time to see them kiss, kiss, kiss, & wake up to a whole new day. Gretchen Rubin talks about a perfect day in her blog today. She also poses the question, what would your perfect day look like? She says that for most people, it's a lot more attainable than you would think.

So, what would your perfect day consist of? I haven't really taken the time to figure it all out but for sure it would include all of these folks, good food, lack of deadlines, and down time.

 
Click on the picture to see enlarged views. I especially love Jared's face in every single instance. :)
Almost every Sunday night we host home evening at our home for a group of young single adults from church. We split a lesson & have a treat & a game. Last Sunday was the funniest game ever since Brad & Connor did team charades. Jonathan & Jordan argued about which item is more bitter - pennies or mustard? Jordan pulled pennies out of his back pocket & they each tasted them (ew!). Then they each ate a teaspoon of mustard (ew!). When all was said & done, Jonathan decided to choose stomachache.

Wednesday - What's For Dinner? and a few cooking mishaps

I just started WW a few days ago & have been retraining myself to eat much healthier foods than I've been heretofore shoveling into my mouth. In general, I am an all-or-nothing eater - very healthy or very not. My new best friend? SOUP! Here are a few (two) of my favorite soup recipes - both with a Mexican theme.

WHITE CHILI (Betty Crocker's cookbook)

1 T vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups chicken broth
2 T chopped fresh cilantro or 1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 T lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 teaspoon red pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 can corn, drained
1 can great northern beans, drained & rinsed
1 can butter beans, drained & rinsed
2 cups chopped chicken breast
TOPPINGS (below)

Heat oil in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook onions & garlic in oil, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.
Stir in remaining ingredients except chicken. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes. Stir in chicken; simmer until hot. WW = 6 points + toppings

Toppings: shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, chopped green onions, diced tomatoes, fresh cilantro, sliced avocado (the best!), sour cream - for sprinkling over the chili.

BLACK BEAN SOUP from CL January 2003
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=698615

8 servings
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (I skip this ingredient frequently.)
Cooking spray
2 cups coarsely chopped onion (I loved frozen onions! They make me cook more!!!)
1 cup chopped carrot
3/4 cup thinly sliced celery
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 cups water
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans vegetable broth
2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added plum tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
8 lime wedges

Remove 2 chiles from can; reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use. Finely chop chiles. Heat a large Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic; sauté 8 minutes or until onion and carrot are tender. Stir in chiles, cumin, basil, oregano, chili powder, and bay leaves; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in water, beans, broth, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat; discard bay leaves. Place 3 cups of soup mixture in a blender. Let stand 5 minutes***; process until smooth. Return pureed mixture to pan, stirring to combine. (I use an immersion blender & just blend up some of it. ... still chunky.) Ladle 1 1/4 cups soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 1 tablespoon yogurt and 1 1/2 teaspoons cilantro. Serve with lime wedges. WW = 3 points!!! 169 calories, 1 g fat, 10.9 g fiber.

*** If you choose to not let the soup cool down for five minutes, it will be really hot & the steam/heat/whatever will build up in your blender with the lid on & EXPLODE onto the kitchen ceiling, cabinets, & floor while the missionaries waiting for dinner look on in stunned amazement. Really, it could happen!!!

*** One other bad cooking experience - I was making pork chops (although I don't know why, we never really make pork) for the missionaries & I burned the pork chops. The smoke detector started blaring loudly for the whole neighborhood (it was part of an alarm system). I decided to open the front door & then use a large flat object to fan the smoke towards the door. Oh-Jenna-the-most-clever, what did you use? A box of cereal. An unopened box? you might think. Oh no, open! As I fanned the smoke detector, Special K cereal flew EVERYWHERE in all directions. Once again, the missionaries were able to view this.

BEFORE...

 

You may not be able to tell my face is contorted as if my body is being ripped in half. Nothing really hurt, I just couldn't catch my breath. I even saw the guy with the cannon-sized camera & I couldn't smile.

Everyone needs a before picture & THIS IS DEFINITELY MINE. Tonight, I hopped in the car & drove to my favorite WW's leader's meeting. Over-priced babysitting but something's gotta give. I felt pretty strong at this race & yet looking at my picture (especially this lovely one) makes me think that some things have to change - and meetings help. The leader Julie is HILARIOUS - she totally gets cheating & eating & doesn't waste time filling you in on what to eat at the Super Bowl party.

Fingers & toes crossed. Pen is juiced up & food journal sitting in the kitchen with the points book.

Greenville Downtown 5K

Last Saturday I showed up & ran the downtown 5K. Downtown Greenville is such a cute place - I was super nervous & annoyed at everyone & definitely not in the mood to run. That all changed when Lisa showed up & asked if I wanted her to run with me. (YES! YES! YES!) She is a strong runner (runs marathons!) and sacrificed getting a nice time to help me be successful.


The race started on the Liberty Bridge. The first mile was crowded - 2500 runners signed up & they were all right around us - but I was able to keep a pretty good pace. I wore Scott's Garmin watch & put the little pace guy on the speed that I needed to finish in 31 minutes to qualify for the National Marathon. Running with Lisa helped me keep going when I didn't really want to. She said all the right things, "You look really strong!" and "Wow! You're going really fast." We saw Scott right before Mile #1. Jared wanted to run with me but I couldn't even slow down to give him a hug. I kept running until the first big hill hit & I had to slow down to a fast walk to catch my breath. I ran/walked a bunch of times before I could start running for real again. My pace slowed down significantly & I saw my pace guy dash off the face of the watch for the last time. There were FOUR HILLS~! At the water station I picked up a cup & threw it towards my face to ...? I don't know what I was thinking but it went up my nose & down my front. I don't think one drop got into my mouth. There were great supporters along the way - the cow bell fans & then people with a boom box blaring "Eye of the Tiger" on one particularly offensive hill. The people/fans really made the face - so much fun. We finally passed the Thomas McAffee mortuary & started up the UGLY hill by the baby BiLo. I told myself that I would run 100 steps & I did. I made it halfway up the hill before I had to walk for a few steps. One guy was there saying, "Once you hit the light, it's all downhill!!!" Lisa gave me a few nudges for my 31:00 goal but I just didn't have one more ounce of energy to give to it. Main Street is a pretty short road in a car but on foot at the end of a race it felt like miles!!! The photographer for the newspaper managed to catch a moment on my face when I was really struggling. We finally made it towards the end. Lisa was talking (mid-sentence) when I saw that the clock was shortly going to change & I sprinted off so that my clock time was less than 34 minutes. My chip time ended up being 33:10. Happy days! A personal best!!!

What? It's Saturday, this Saturday?

I know I signed up for the race & all but I didn't realize that IT is THIS Saturday. Whew, slipped right by. Better go & run a few times. I am not cut out for consistent-results-producing exercise. I am surrounded by running geniuses however.

100th post! An ode to oatmeal!

Revised to adjust the font... it was too big & I couldn't change it without reprogramming in HTML.

On a blog I follow the author got a great deal on oatmeal & so posted her favorite oatmeal recipes. I am going to copy her - I think oatmeal is great too. Scott is the true oatmeal lover in our family - he eats it every morning with chunky peanut butter stirred in. What are your favorite oatmeal recipes?

MULTIGRAIN PANCAKES
1 cup bleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup each cornmeal, whole wheat flour, & old-fashioned oats (for one-cup total)
4 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk (BTW I use real buttermilk!)
1/2 cup low-fat milk
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil for brushing griddle

*Heat large nonstick skillet or griddle over low heat while preparing batter.
*Mix flour, cornmeal, whole wheat flour, oats, sugar, salt, baking powder & baking soda in a medium bowl. Microwave buttermilk & milk together in a 1-quart Pyrex measuring cup to room temperature, 20-30 seconds. Whisk eggs, oil, & vanilla into the buttermilk & milk. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Return batter to measuring cup, stirring in a teaspoon or so of water, if necessary, to make a thick but pourable batter.
*Increase heat to medium & lightly brush skillet or griddle with oil. Pour in batter, about 1/4-cup at a time, working in batches to avoid overcrowding. When pancake bottoms are golden brown & tops start to bubble, 2-3 minutes, flip pancakes & cook until golden brown on remaining side. Serve hot.
*from The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight & Eating Great cookbook by Pam Anderson

PENNI BODILY'S APPLE CRISP
4 cups apples, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Place apples & dried cranberries in bottom of 8x8-inch pan (or whatever size pan you have). Mix dry ingredients together with butter; cut together using a pastry blender. (A food processor makes this dough too fine.) If you don't have a pastry blender, use two knives to cut up the butter. Sprinkle butter mix & walnuts over apples. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream or Cool Whip.




GRANDMA’S WAY TO START THE DAY GRANOLA

10 cups regular oatmeal
2 cups almonds (slivered or sliced)
2 cups coconut
2 cups brown sugar
3/ 4-cup oil
1/ 2-cup peanut butter
3/ 4-cup honey
3/ 4-cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix oatmeal, almonds, coconut & brown sugar. Heat oil, peanut butter, & honey, water & vanilla in a pan until peanut butter dissolves. Pour over dry ingredients & mix. Spread on two large cookie sheets. Bake at 250 for 45 minutes. Let cool. Add dried fruit. Serve with milk or yogurt. Wow!


Mary SANT’S HOT CEREAL

1/3 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup Grape Nuts
2/3 cup water
cinnamon
sugar
dash of salt


Microwave for 2 minutes on high. Throw hard Grape Nuts on top.

Pam NEAD’S HOT CEREAL

1-cup steel-cut oats
1/ 2-cup 10-grain cereal
1 tablespoon flax seed
1-tablespoon millet

Bring to a boil. Cover & let sit 15 minutes. (Rice cooker, anyone?)

Well done!

Our friends' son Kenny returned from an LDS mission to Montana last week. We were able to sneak over to their home & visit him for a few minutes before he jetted off to BYU the next day. I was (almost) speechless at how much he has changed. It was fun to see him - it's amazing how they leave as young men & come back as grown men. I can't say what I am feeling very well - but it was awesome to see him.

New Year's Eve Eve beach trip

Brandon & Rachel had fun flying Brandon's very cool new kite.

Tanner - what happened to your beautiful smile???

Yes, it is January & we are wearing our swimming suits on the beach!


Before we drove home from Florida, we had to make a trip to the beach. We love just hanging out in the sand & the sun, hearing the waves, & sometimes seeing seagulls. On this day, we flew kites & found almost 100 sharks' teeth. The Guana River Preserve between Ponte Vedra Beach & St. Augustine is a beautiful place & the lack of other visitors made it even better.

Resolutions

OK, so as usual I have a million (and one) things going through my head. I hate the idea of making a resolution & then not keeping it. My friend Bonnie listed a bunch of things she was working on though & I like the thought - here's some of the plan. This is a long and self-centered post so you can just skip the rest & make a clever comment at the end if you desire.

I am taking a picture every day for the entire year & making a yearbook from it. I am planning on making the pages digitally & having them printed in a bound book at the end of the year. I still have to decide if I want to make the pages 8.5x11 or 12x12 or something different.

I signed up for the Biggest Loser contest at The Gym. This year the program includes keeping a food journal & a cardio log (very clever & helpful). The results of one day of journaling? I am starving to death!!! I am thinking of munching on anything. I will probably whip up some vegetable soup & tilapia tomorrow. I did sneak in 35" of Wii Fit today while the kids were at school as part of my more-active-lifestyle plan.

I am going to run the Greenville Downtown 5k at the end of the month. If I can finish in under 31 minutes, I will sign up to do the National Marathon in D.C. with Scott. If I cannot, I will just go & cheer him on (& eat lots while not journaling my food at the race). My feet are not very excited at the prospects of going longer than ten minutes right now.

I have been organizing a few areas in the house. So far, this means that my cookbook cupboard & my clothes closet are looking pretty spiffy. The verdict is still out on the 200 other areas that need a little work. Hopefully, I can take BabySteps (yea FlyLady) & make some good progress.

I am trying to empty out the freezer. I have been storing food in the freezer & we've run out of room ... & the food is getting older by the minute so we're trying to eat what we have. I am sure that there will be financial benefits, but mainly I am just interested in having room to store the ice cream that I'm not eating. Along the same lines, I am trying to increase our food storage by shopping the good sales. My new favorite shopping blog gives coupon links with the sales. My goal is to leave the grocery store with a 50% savings - stock up at b1g1f prices with coupons & save a little extra for produce & milk.

I am trying to read the scriptures more. We are studying the Doctrine & Covenants in gospel doctrine this year & I am learning a lot. Also, I am helping Jared read better with a BYU independent study class about reading & the Book of Mormon. It only involves tutoring him twice a day for two weeks & then 30" 3-5 times a week for the rest of a semester. (?!) He is a pretty good little student & reading help cannot hurt.

In case you're still reading ... Okay, I promised Scott that I would be in bed by 11:00 p.m. so I won't be so grouchy in the a.m. so better toodle on along. What are your goals or plans this year?

Happy New Year!

I wish that I had something profound to say about the New Year - for that you should visit my friend Liz's blog. She is full of wisdom & perspective. I have hemmed & hawed about a New Year's resolution & have decided to jump on the scrapbooking world band wagon & take a picture every day for 2009. That's the official goal. The unofficial hope-I-make-it-but-don't-want-to-feel-like-a-loser-if-I-don't goal is to make a book with all of these pictures in it - a year in the life version of 12-on-the-12th.

We decided to save the BIG present for after Christmas. The kids would have totally ignored everything else that they received & we just wanted to shake things up a little. We were the last ones out the door on the way to Florida & left a few more boxes under the tree. Hopefully, the video will load & you can share the joy of kids getting something they never imagined possible. (After HOURS no video. I will move on to plan B.)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve photos

This is the beautiful nativity set in the family room. There's a new beaded garland that I found at Costco the other day - garland was too thick for the depth of the mantle. We moved the leather sofa beneath the mantel so there would be walking/opening room.

This is a new nativity set that Scott gave to me. It sits on top of the piano. Next year Scott will build me the creche like the set. The official Willow Tree creche is $89 - I am thankful to be married to a wood-worker.

This is the hand-carved olive wood set that Scott brought back from Jerusalem when he went in 2003.

Luckily, people don't expect lights along the very top roofline in our neighborhood. The ones that we do are scary enough. This is our house on Christmas Eve. We were kinda hoping for a little snow flurry but it's not happening.

On Monday night we were invited to our friends' home to eat with the missionaries, go caroling, & act out the Christmas story. It was a ton of fun. Along the way, we have tried to teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas. It seems like this season has rushed by without having time to do the things that make it feel Christmas-y to us. We only baked one evening. Next year we are going to plan ahead - don't we always say this? But I think that we really will.

Tomorrow we are feeding the missionaries after they call home. I do this because I love them, but also because someday when my boys are far from home on Christmas day, I hope that someone will take them in, feed them a great meal, & let them use their phones to call home.

Merry Christmas - hope yours is merry & bright!!! I can't wait to see my kids' faces tomorrow.

Kids hung out & watched the extra video on Kung Fu Panda.

Umm... don't change into your jammies while mom has the camera out. Every Christmas Eve the kids get a new pair of jammies. And usually mom & dad if we're on the ball.

We had to take 6-7 pictures to get this one. Jared could not keep his eyes open. We finally told him to close his eyes until we said "3" & then open them. He popped his eyes & mouth open. Too bad we already did Christmas cards - this is a keeper.

Stockings were hung by the gas fireplace with care. Family room was rearranged so there's room for chaos in the morning.

Christmas card

Click on the picture if you want to read the gory details - mostly just the good stuff.

I totally lifted this idea off of Kerri Bradford's blog... saw the idea, bought the template, & cranked them out. Costco even printed them up at 5x7 for 38 cents each & threw in free envelopes ... another reason to love Costco. I am thinking I will address these on the way to see Bret. Too bad they won't work for next year too, huh?

Cool Christmas lights video

We have decked the halls with lights, garland, a beautiful artificial tree with a kajillion ornaments, set up the Santa mantel in the kitchen, & put up four beautiful nativity sets. I will try to post some pictures later - but while reading through my Google reader list (146 posts behind@!) I surfed into an amazing Christmas light show. Umm... our lights don't look that great but usually we remember to turn them on!!! :)