Merry Christmas to All!

Let it snow! and snow... and snow... was the theme for Christmas this year. We spent a week in Idaho with my family (the Lovell's) and I am not sure that it ever stopped snowing. I think we cleared the sidewalks at least three times a day. We took advantage of the snow and spent a freezing afternoon on the ski hill.

My parents planned a fun evening at the Mountain River Ranch. We braved the terrible weather to enjoy a sleigh ride, delicious dinner and some entertainment. Before the show ended, the roads were closed, so we had an exciting drive home. It's lovely weather for a sleigh ride!The whole gang waiting for dinner
Curly and Lettie weren't fazed by the scarey roads

You know what they say about frightful weather... it makes the fire delightful. Snuggled in the cozy house, we enjoyed Christmas feasting and gift giving. My brother gave Curly a new helmet to go with the "pink princess bike that has a basket" that Santa procured (qoute from Curly). The card on the gift read, "Every princess with flaming hair should have a hat to match." Lou loved the helmet... we think it's cool too.

For the sibling gift exchange we decided to require home-made gifts. This is the magnet board we made for my sister.

And the gift that keeps on giving... My rubber sister performing "the basket." She's done this since she was four... and now twenty years later...It's painful to watch.

On Christmas day we braved the blizzard to make a snow fort and take a sledding expedition to the park. What a Winter Wonderland!

Another Christmas comes to a close and it always makes me sad. I am so grateful for the family and friends who give us wonderful memories to enjoy all year. Merry Christmas!

Tis the Season...

...for tickle wars with Grandma,


adorning and adoring Gingerbread houses,


sitting on Santa's knee,
feasting on frozen delicacies,

making snow lanterns,

and white winter weddings (in the bitter cold).

Tis the season to enjoy family and friends and the wonderful Christmas spirit!

Holidaze

Why is it that the holidays are the busiest time of the year? I've had good intentions to post for two weeks now, but time has not allowed for it. I spent the week of Thanksgiving in Idaho, the first few days at my parents and the rest of the week with Fisher's family. Fisher's family goes to Grandpa Lake's house EVERY year for Thanksgiving and this year was no different, except that Grandma Lake wasn't with us this year. We missed her and were often commenting on what she would be doing if she were there. It was interesting to watch Grandpa without her. They had been married for more than 70 years and he misses her greatly but this year was the first that Grandpa got to cook the stuffing in the Turkey - the way he wanted it. Grandpa also told a few stories that I never would have heard when Grandma was alive...they were pretty entertaining. Curly and Lou loved playing with their cousins. Curly and her peer cousins set up a "hair shop" and insisted on fixing everyone's hair. Curly kept saying "You look stylish!" Why, thank you. Fisher enjoyed Christmas tree hunting with his dad and siblings and I enjoyed seeing family and a change from the normal routine.

A few pictures:

Curly and her cousins at their last day of ballet

Lou wouldn't have anything to do with her dinner after seeing my sis's boyfriend deliver tapioca cups covered in whip cream (she had her wisdom teeth removed). Grandma finally gave into her pleas. yummy

Lou with her great grandpa Lake

Looking Stylish

Making gingerbread cookies

AND Fisher is officially almost done with his last semester of classwork. He defended his thesis yesterday and passed with flying colors! The end is in sight.

This weekend we have my niece Letty staying with us and my mom watching her while her parents are on a trip. Curly and Letty have had lots of fun today making gingerbread houses with Grandma C and basically leaving a path of destruction wherever they go.

And the Grand Finale

Apparently not a fan of green pie

Joy and Tears, and the "Bee" in Curly's nose

It's amazing the range of emotions we can experience. And even more amazing that the physical "symptoms" of opposite emotions can be the same. Tears, for example, can represent happiness or sadness. This week was full of ... well, it was just full. A lot of things happened. Today I enjoyed basking in the glow of twenty Primary children singing their hearts out and saying their parts perfectly. As the "writer/director" of the Primary Program I could not have been more proud of the children in our ward. The final number, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me", brought me tears of joy that quickly combined with tears of sadness when I realized this might be my last Primary Program in our ward. The tears flowed more freely when a little five year old threw her arms around me in a tight hug on her way back to her family after the meeting. Such a sweet experience it is to serve in the Primary.

Another joyful experience has been helping my cousin prepare for her upcoming wedding. This week I was able to help do some shopping, prepare flowers, and help do her hair and bridal pictures. One thing I love about weddings, is that it reminds you of your twittery engagement days. What a joyous time of life.

Now I come to the comedic moment of the week. During an atypically peaceful dinner (Curly had been excused from the table), said redhead came into the room hysterically shouting, "Mom, there's a bee in my nose!"
"A bee in your nose?" I asked incredulously.
"No, a beee in my nose!"
After a few more repetitions of this interchange, we figured out that she was saying, "There's a bead in my nose." I guess putting a bead in a round hole provides the same entertainment as doing a puzzle. Fortunately after a few hard blows, the bead flew free and the funny ordeal was over. I have to admit that we were all laughing pretty hard... which I guess is why I enjoyed a repetition of this event a couple days later during "nap time." This time the bead was a little farther up and took quiet a bit of forceful blowing before it was released from it's slimy cell. I think I have found all the nostril shaped objects in our apartment and they are safely put out of reach from the hands of a curious preschooler.

Hey Baby!

I am the proud aunt of this adorable new little boy. Fisher's sister and her husband had their first baby this week!

Curly welcomed this baby with greater enthusiasm than Lou received at her birth.
And we had our first snow storm this week on election day. We love to play in the snow and I love it even more that all the snow melted and it's nice out again.

Over...until next year

I did get Curly to smile and even wear her hat, which really makes the costume. She was Strawberry Shortcake and Lou was a Strawberry (sometimes mistaken for a Tomato). No more costumes that require hats for my children. We carved Fisher's huge 110 pound pumpkin and used it as our trunk decor for the Neighborhood Trunk or Treat. We even had dry ice steam and spooky music this year. Halloween was fun, but it is kind of a relief to have it over, don't you think? Here's a few pictures from the Halloween Season.

Our Ghost Family

A visit to Gardner Village with the Cousins

Anything hiding in there?

The finished product

That's one scarey witch

Strawberry Shortcake and Her Strawberry

Happy Halloween!

Pernicious Plumbing Problems

Okay, so maybe pernicious is a little strong, but this week we haven't been haunted by ghosts or goblins, we have been haunted by bad plumbing. Curly and Lou both have had the stomache flu, wreaking havoc on their "pipes" - yuck! I am hoping I am spared. To make matters grosser, our kitchen sink suddenly became plugged at the precise moment I was cleaning up a "flu mess" (if you know what I mean). Anyway, Fisher (my hero MacGuyver) once again saved the day by his persistence. We thought we were doomed for the plumber and even Fisher gave up, but his hours with the drain snake must have paid off because alas - the water flowed freely once more. Needless to say, all the excitement has left us all feeling a bit worn out and Curly has yet to smile today... I am hoping to get a good Halloween picture, but we shall see.

Daily Deliciousness

I usually post about the exciting events in our life, but there are so many delicious experiences I have everyday that deserve posting and are very often neglected. Here are just a few:

Curly and her friend, Bitty "swimming" on the kitchen floor. Very entertaining.

My day to teach Curly's preschool. Our theme was dinosaurs. The children got to make dino prints with these foam feet. After preschool we took a field trip to the Natural History Museum.

Curly in her new dance digs ranks with one of the cutest things I've ever seen. She can't help but "dance" when she is wearing them. She is taking a community ballet class for eight weeks. She might not be the most graceful in the class, but she certainly is the most energetic.

My sister in law suggested I sell the bows and headbands I make for friends, so I am giving it a go. I have a few at a children's store and a few online - check it out if your interested.

It was very joyous for me to finally finish this pillow I embroidered as a wedding gift for my best friend.

Lou's hair in two full pigtails is also one of the cutest things I've ever seen, wouldn't you agree!

Curly and I having an evening "reading party". Curly thinks that she needs to read novels, if that is what I am reading, so she pulls our books off the shelf and flips through them pretending to read aloud to herself.

Curly and Lou painting with pudding - a very fun activity - but also very sticky.
Bathing afterward is required.

Lou loves this little backpack and often toddles up carrying it and babbles as if to say "Can you put this on me please?" Then she struts around in her big girl back pack until it requires removing.

I love having these little moments everyday to remind me that life is delicious!

Washington Weekend

If you haven't figured it out yet, we really love road trips and decided it was time for another one. (We actually really love our family and decided the 10 hour drive was worth it). We headed up to Tri-Cities, Washington to visit Fisher's brother and his family. C and S were wonderful hosts. They planned a couple fun activities, but not so many that the trip was stressful. We kicked back and let the kids play. We drove to a nearby cemetery and fed the swans in the pond.


We attempted to visit the local pumpkin patch but thought it strange that a pricey admission was required to visit the patch. Instead the kids played with the sprinkling of pumpkins left outside the patch for just that purpose maybe?

Lou loved the round, orange balls. A perfect little chair.

Too heavy!All four cousins

S and I enjoyed working on a couple crafts together. We modified this cute "Boo" blocks idea from Tanya's blog.

I love fall decor!

Fisher enjoyed having a break from school without too much homework. He played with the kids a lot, watched movies, and played games. This weekend he is on a fishing trip with his Grandpa, dad, and brother. Fisher's first two years of PT school were intense. This year is much lower key, but still busy. He is always so focused on school and the free time he has is spent playing with Curly and Lou or helping me. Even though I gave him a hard time about leaving me alone for the weekend (sniff, sniff), I'm glad that he can go and do something he enjoys for a few days. But, I really miss him! Luckily for me, my parents decided this weekend would be a good time to come visit! My parents, brother's family, sisters and I all met up for dinner tonight. It was fun to catch up with each other.