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!