In the bird area of the reptile house.

Christmas Break

Our Christmas break included a lot of sleeping in, playing with our new toys and family fun.  The weather has been very mild and there is no snow so on Wednesday the kids and I went to the free day at the zoo.  It was just cold enough that we bought some hot chocolate but not cold enough to wear a hat. We all enjoyed watching the ducks slip on the ice and looking at the unlit zoo lights trying to guess what they looked like illuminated.

We were so excited to see "Native Sage Brush".  You don't get to see that every day. Oh wait....

After seeing the sage brush, I joked that next we'd see an scrub oak display.  Sure enough!

This light display made us laugh.

New Years

Cousins and friends playing Just Dance Abba edition.

My  brother David hosted a New Years party to make up for the Christmas gathering that we all missed because of my mom's surgery.  All of the Utah family was there except for my parents, as my mom wasn't feeling very well that day.   The adults visited while the kids played wii games. 

Kaitlin's new haircut. We thought she looked just like Rapunzel from "Tangled".

An Unexpected Christmas

Sometimes things don't go as planned, but that's okay; things seem to work out.  On Thursday afternoon I got a phone call from my brother.  My mom had been rushed in for emergency surgery and would be in the hospital until Christmas day. All the siblings were going to take shifts staying with my father. We had work and school on Friday so we couldn't go up right away, but as soon as we could we packed up the car and headed to the farm.  We visited my mother, who was recovering well and was told she could go home a day early on Christmas eve, and then we went to stay with my father. We got settled in for our overnight stay and tried to comfort my dad as much as we could.  He gets very anxious and confused when he loses sight of mother.  We had to keep telling him over and over why we were there and where my mom was.   The overnight went okay, and the next morning, Christmas Eve,  we were able to go pick up my mom at the hospital.  She was happy to be coming home and dad was happy too.  

Cousins feeding the Horses

We spent the rest of the day there helping my mom, who was still in considerable pain, and helping my dad.  It was a beautiful day, and when my mom went down for a nap we managed to take a walk out around the farm.   In the afternoon my brother and his family arrived.  We stayed a few hours longer, so Ruth and Jared could play with their cousins.  But as the sun started to get low in the sky we knew we needed to head home. 

It was Christmas Eve and so far we hadn't been able to do any of the things we had planned.  We got home in the evening, and it was too late to prepare the big dinner I had planned.  Our first two choices for restaurants was closed, and not wanting a long wait, we hit the Carl's Jr. The place was deserted and the young teens working behind the counter looked at us like we were crazy.  We were crazy because to celebrate the holiday we splurged and ordered anything off the menu we wanted regardless of price.  Super Value Meals all around! Even Jared got a huge bacon burger with onion rings.  Our burgers were surprisingly delicious and we had a good time making ourselves merry, all alone in the restaurant, while the employees, who wanted to be anywhere else in the world but there, looked on.

Chuck and Ruth won by 6 rows!

After our wild time at the Carl's Jay we headed off to the church building.  It had been  Chuck's assignment to set up the 200 overflow chairs in the gym in preparation for Sunday services the next day, but because of our unexpected stay at my parent's house, it hadn't gotten done.  Chuck was going to do it himself, but it was Christmas and so I say we could make it a fun family activity.  A race was declared and in teams of two we feverishly set up the chairs.  Chuck's extensive chair-setting-uping experience paid off as he and Ruth beat Jared and I by a mile.  All in all it took us less than 30 minutes and we had the place done.

By now it was getting late and we hadn't slept well the night before.  We finished off our Christmas Eve with looking at lights, eggnog and, a wild game of water splash categories and  some video games.   Not exactly the Christmas Eve we had planned, but a fun one and one that we will always remember.

We enjoyed opening presents early the next morning and then getting ready for the 9am service.  I sang in the choir and it was all very good and the messages were superb.  The rest of Christmas day we were able to do all our Christmas Eve traditions that we had missed. We played the bells, acted out the Christmas story and ate a big fancy dinner.  In the end it was a wonderful and very happy Christmas.

Often during these happenings I thought of the Savior.  How if He were here we wouldn't find him shopping during Christmas but we would find him serving others.   When it was time for the atonement he didn't say to his Father that he couldn't do it because it was Passover.  His preparations for that great event happened during the Jews most sacred time of year.  And so, perhaps, it is fitting that we were able to serve at this sacred time as well.

More Farm Pictures:

Climbing on the gravel pit.

Posing as if we were on our own reality show.

A mood shot.

 

 

 
David Archuleta

Before all of this happened, on Monday, Kaitlin, Ruth and I were able to go to the long awaited David Archuleta concert.  I'm going to let Kaitlin tell you all about it:

Okay, so first, we got lost. We were trying to get to cousin Dayne's wedding reception, and we drove all around this really adorable neighborhood but the address didn't exist! So finally Mom tossed her hands up (really quickly though, because she was still driving,) and said, "Forget it! We're going to David Archuleta!" to which Ruth and I promptly cheered.

We drove down two streets that took just about twenty minutes because of all the people, and then we parked. (There was one leetle parking spot and I was like, "Quick! There will be nowhere else!" So we parked there, only to find two rows of empty spaces waaay closer to where we wanted to go. Fail.) And we walked, shivering and giggling, to Abravanel Hall. It was full of either teenage girls and their moms (like us), old couples, and groups of older women. (there was this ticket guy that was really awesome....)

And so finally we were all seated and ready to go, the lights dimmed, and I'm about to jump out of my chair with joy, only to be faked out because there was the little intro act, who we actually really liked. Every time he said, "Alright, goodnight Salt Lake City!" (he said it five or six times), everyone cheered super loud. But when he said, "I'd like to play another song for ya'll." then there was not very much cheering. Poor guy. No one paid to see him.

Then finally FINALLY David came on the stage, all cute and bouncy, and cute. He sang Sleigh Ride first, dancing and jumping. :) And all the people cheered. So he sang that and Melodies of Christmas, and then sang a set of pop songs, which was a nice little walk down memory lane from the first concert we went to. And then there was an intermission and he sang a bunch of Christmas songs, some from his CD, some not. Some in foreign languages, some not. But the cool thing about David is whatever the heck he sings, he sounds beeeautiful! When he'd hit a high note, it would just ring so loverly! It was just great.

At the end, at his encore, he came back on stage and announced that he was going on a mission! So he's gonna be gone for two years, but that's okay, cuz we support him in his decision. And it was great. The end.

Our Favorite Gift


Of course our favorite gift this year is that our Grandma is okay, and it goes without saying that we are grateful for our Savior.  But the monetary gift that was the favorite this year was Pillow Pets.  It's amazing that this gift spanned the ages and was declared favorite by every child from the oldest to the youngest (even over Legos - which is saying something).   In the past two days I've performed two delicate Pillow Pet surgeries: a bunny tail liposuction and a panda tail reattachment.  Both procedures were a success.

The tail of Ruth's rabbit was hard like a baseball and totally unsuitable for pillowing. I extracted this huge pile of stuffing from the tail to soften it. The huge amount of stuffing in the tail  was a miracle of modern manufacturing.

Happy Birthday, Jared!

This kid gets excited about Legos.

Our little man turns 9 today.  He got out of bed this morning to discover a new bike. He was so excited that the was trembling.  The bike had everything he had wanted and he was thrilled.  When Chuck got home from his morning church meetings, Jared quickly opened his other birthday gifts. He was very excited with each one.  He's always been easy to please as far as gifts are concerned. At church, Jared played it cool and didn't tell anyone it was his birthday.  He didn't want the attention, I guess. 

Taking the new bike out for a spin.

At home, Jared didn't want to stop building his new Lego set when lunch came around.  He skipped Dad's Sunday Movie to play with his new toys, and even now as I type, he and Ruth are playing Lego Spinjitzu. Tonight we'll have his favorite dinner, chicken and rice soup, and a dressed up chocolate bunt cake.  Christmas birthdays come with a special set of challenges, but the ironic thing is that Jared has two friends that also turn 9 this week.  Crazy.

Scouting Awards

This week was our Cub Scout Den Meeting.  Jared was awarded his 6th Wolf arrow point, which is quite an achievement; none of our other Wolves have ever earned that many as far as I know.   He also earned his Geography belt loop. I was awarded the "On My Honor" award, for three years service working with the church's religious program for scouting (my years as Primary President counted).  It came with a knot for my uniform and a very nice medal.   Now that Jared has turned 9 he will move into the Bear Den.



Choir Concert and a Homeless Shelter 

Kaitlin had her choir Christmas concert this week.  It was very good and her choir showed a lot of improvement.  Kaitlin is really enjoying choir and is talking about auditioning for the more advance choir next year.  At the last minute she decided not to audition for the school's winter play.  She is thinking about auditioning for a community production in a couple of weeks.  Also, this week Kaitlin went to volunteer with her youth group at a homeless shelter.  They did some crafts with the children there.  It was a very eye opening experience for Kaitlin.  I guess the shelter was in ill repair; only a warehouse with mattresses on the floor. The children were dirty and didn't appear to be cared for very well.  But underneath  it all they were still just children, and Kaitlin made bracelets with them, talked with them and listened to them.  She came home feeling very blessed, and that the world was a very unfair place.

We are making these cute owls this year.

Christmas Preparations

I can't believe that Christmas is almost upon us again. It seems each year goes by more and more quickly.  There were some great deals out there this year so I was able to do most of my Christmas shopping online.  It's all done now so there is nothing left to do this week but enjoy Christmas.  We were able to do a few fun things with some friends this past week.  Outside of family time, visiting with friends is my favorite thing to do for Christmas.  This week we'll be busy making treats, finishing up our annual ornaments. We also have my nephew's wedding and the long awaited David Archuleta concert. It should be a fun holiday.

Lego Birthday

They had limited legos to build a bridge that holds an egg.

Jared's birthday isn't for another week, but because of the holidays, we had his birthday party early.  Jared and six friends took the "Challenge of the Spinjitzu"  to become true Lego Ninjago.  Challenges included putting the dots on the Lego, the Lego toss, build a bridge, and speed building competitions.  At the end, all participants were awarded the "Sword of the True Ninja" (balloon swords - they already had received balloon ninja headbands) and given a small building set to take home.   Having seven eight year olds for an hour and a half doing ninja stuff was a little crazy, but in the end they all seemed to have a really good time, and Jared got a couple of Lego sets as gifts so it was all worth it to him. 

Jared is totally Lego obsessed right now, particularly with the Ninjago sets.  He literally spends hours watching the reviews for each set on the internet, reading the Lego magazine, and watching the Ninjago cartoons on DVD.  He hopes to save all his money from Christmas and his birthday to buy one of the expensive fancy sets. Ask him and he will tell you all about the ones he likes.



Holiday Concert

This week was my community choir and orchestra annual holiday concert and sing a-long.  I think it's great that we live in an area where so many people care about the arts. There are some truly talented people that give a lot of volunteer time so that we can put on these free concerts.  We may not be the best choir ever, but we have a really good time singing together, and I think that good feeling rubs off onto our audience when we preform.  This was the last concert of the season for the choir. The city musical starts up in the spring. They are doing Annie and if our family doesn't get accepted to the Nauvoo Pageant (we'll find out in January), then Ruth and I will probably audition.  Ruth really wants to be one of the singing orphans.



Kitchen Bids

This week we got three bids to redo our kitchen cabinets and change the footprint of our kitchen a little bit.  Right now, if you are standing at the sink, you can't open the dishwasher.  Yeah, crazy, right?   We are hoping to change that little flaw, at sacrifice of counter space and our wallets.   But the kitchen is the heart of our home, so we think it's worth it.   It will probably take us a few weeks to decided, and then another month or two before the work gets done.

MantaRay Encounter

There was a free day at our local aquarium this week. We've never been, so Ruth and Jared and I tried to beat the crowds by being the first in line.  We got there 15 minutes before it opened and the parking lot was only half full. It was cold, so we were tempted to wait in the car but Jared insisted we get out and line up.  To our astonishment when we reached the doors they were open and there was a worker there who told us we could go ahead in. They explained that they didn't want us "waiting out there in the cold."  So for about 15 minutes we had free run of the place basically by ourselves.  Ruth had been there before so she guessed what the most popular exhibits would be and we went to them first.  We were to the mantaray petting area before the light were even turned on, and one excited ray swam up to us, surfaced, and stuck it's head right out of the water next to where we were standing. It freaked us out a little bit, to see it's white belly and little puppet mouth. I was the only one brave enough to actually touch the thing.  By the time we made it to the penguins the crowds started to come. And by about 30 minutes in the crowds were very thick.  Not having any strollers or little kids, we were able to work our way around the masses and see everything.  

Free Bowling

That's the playground there behind them.

Jared got a certificate for free bowling for his birthday.  We hadn't been bowling since his last birthday when we went with Grandma B. and Family, and we had such a good time then, that Jared was excited to go again.  We had a fun time, but we were done after only one game.  It was raining freezing rain, but we were across town next to this big wooden park so the kids wanted to play for a little while.  I sat in the car and ate twinkies we had purchased at the used bread store, while they played. It was freezing, and they were crazy. After twenty minutes they came back to the car with numb fingers and toes and wet behinds, but happy. 

Too Creative for a Kit

I picked up one of those gingerbread house kits at the store.  It's so expensive to buy the candy for gingerbread houses so I thought this would be a good alternative.   The kids and I went to work putting it together but ran into some trouble along the way.  I'm not going to go into a long story, lets just say we thought the kit was wrong, so we fixed it, but then it turned out the kit was right, we were confused and our "fix" ruined it.   In the end it took a few graham crackers and some extra frosting to put the thing together. But it turned out okay.  At times like these we remind ourselves that we are just making memories. 

Kaitlin and I are holding it together while Jared "glued" it.
We were laughing so hard because putting the thing together was a comedy of errors. 

The Oldest Mary and Joseph You Ever Saw

Chuck and I were asked to portray Mary and Joseph at our church's Christmas party this year.  I asked them if they knew I was almost 40, and they said "yes". Then I asked them, didn't they want a cute young couple with a baby, and they said "no" they wanted a couple with older kids that would be free to be in the play, so that's how we got the job.  We dressed up and just walked around and pantomimed while a narrator read a script and songs were sung.  It was awkward and a bit strange but we got through it without laughing, mostly.  Ruth and Jared also sang in musical numbers during the play, and one of the teenage girls portraying an angle stepped down on a broken Christmas light and dripped blood all over the stage.  It was all very exciting and entertaining.  Afterward we got many compliments on our performances. Do you think this will plant the acting bug in Chuck?  No, me neither.  (I wish I had a picture to show you of us in our costumes, we forgot our camera).