January 2016

Before we saw the new Star Wars movie, we wanted to see the old ones. We watched the original trilogy as a family, then the kids watched episodes 1, 2 & 3.

Watching The Empire Strikes Back, I was reminded of a favorite family story:

When I was young, my mom was teaching primary and was telling the scripture story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with flannel board figures. She got to the part where they were in the fiery furnace and King Nebuchadnezzar saw four people instead of the three he had thrown in. She

asked, "Who do you think was in there, keeping them safe?" and added the bearded, dressed in white, almost luminescent angel figure. One little boy raised his hand excitedly and shouted out, "Obi Wan Kinobi!"

On January 2nd we saw the new one and it didn't disappoint. The kids even got special shirts for the occasion.

And stopped by for some fro-yo afterward.

  

Took some phone pictures of Sarah's gorgeous family pictures at mom and dad's.

 

  On the 11th I took Christian to S EP conferences. Here he is posing with his classes in version art. His is the one on the top row third from the left.

 

  January 17th I took a selfie because I thought my make up looks good that day. It's hilarious how dirty my bathroom mirror is!

 

that afternoon Christian sewed a Jawa character from Star Wars. Just for fun. By himself! Turned out great!!

 

  The 18th was Martin Luther King day, and we went all out! We started off with a lesson about brown and white eggs. They look different on the outside,

but are the same on the inside!

We mixed them into crêpe batter, cooked them up and filled them with cookie butter! I figured they had a good combination of skin colors and topped with some hearts for love and racial equality. Yes, I know sometimes it's a stretch!

As an activity, I gave the kids some of these "splat balls." They are kind of egg shape to begin with, but made of very thin silicone material so that when you throw them on a smooth surface, they splat and you can see the yellow yolk rubber ball inside.

Later that afternoon we watched Selma (about Dr. King in 1965 leading a campaign to get equal voting rights) and cooked up a soul food lunch of chicken & waffle sliders and fried okra.

I made a paper peace dove, but the kids weren't interested in doing this craft.

They did, however, like making splatter paint peace signs and playing with an MLK paper sack puppet.

For dessert that night I took many colors of fruit and blended them harmoniously into a smoothie!

The kids were tired of my crap and just played video games instead of posing for my last picture 😂

 

  On the 19th, Christian played with a pack of confetti shooters and became confetti hair man.

Here is his sidekick, confetti hair dog.

 

That afternoon I took the kids ice skating at station park.

Afterward, we treated ourselves at Harmons bakery and are upstairs.

 

January 26th was Australia Day, and it was time for more celebrating! I didn't actually do shrimp on the barbie because our barbecue was out of propane, so I tried this lemon garlic shrimp recipe instead. (Poor Faithie Lynn has still not been feeling well and hasn't been to school since mid December 😥)

We had fairy bread appetizers and beef pies for dinner.

We topped the night off with a pavlova shaped like the country of Australia!

 

A few days later we finally got around to the craft – – a plastic cup wrapped with paper to look like a kangaroo with Joey in the pouch. You poke four holes in the bottom of the cup and tie to cut rubber bands through them to form an X. To make it jumped, you push it down on top of another cup and release!

  

I was going through some of Tony's family photos, making a slideshow for Larry and Lana's 50th anniversary party, when I came across this gem! (Tony with his sisters, Tina and Tammy in the mid-eighties)

 

I love Mr. Rogers and superduper love this quote!

 

  I was so excited that Faith finally felt well enough to attend church on the 31st then I took a picture of them! Unfortunately, it was just a good couple of hours ☹️

Elf on the Shelf 2015

Such fun with our third year of elf on the shelf! Here is what he got up to:

December 1- Hermie returned and surprised us with a mini pancake breakfast and hot chocolate

2-in the master bedroom closet near the medicine cabinet, covered in Band-Aids

3-in the master bathroom commode cabinet inside a roll of toilet paper

4-hanging from our entryway light

5-riding a Christmas ball on the back of our playroom tree

6-changing the wax in our scent warmer

7-hanging out in Noah's Ark on Christian's bedroom shelf

8-writing in Santa's sleigh on top of our entertainment center

9-appearing to defy gravity, but actually lying on saran wrap over the powder room toilet

10-playing the piano in the office/music room

11-rolling down the entire staircase in a roll of toilet paper

12-hiding in a pasta jar

13-getting a piggyback ride from Santa on our antique stereo in the office/music room

14-there was a big storm that previous night, so we think it must've sapped our elf's magic! We found him on the floor where he apparently fell from atop a Santa

15-upstairs in the playroom, reading a toy catalog

16-stuck on Faith's bedroom curtain rod, apparently in the middle of a parachute jump

17-in the top of the pantry

18-in the garage, on top of the refrigerator trapped in Skittles' travel purse

19-in a stocking on the railing

20-inserting cookies into the VCR

21-presenting a special surprise of spaghetti covered in syrup and candy, even with a bag for Christian to take for lunch!

22-sunbathing in the family room on a box of Christian's kinetic sand

23-playing twister on Christian's bed with a scary action figure

24-using his own mini potty on top of that powder room toilet. There are even chocolate chip poops in there and a roll of tiny little toilet paper!

(The potty was a popular theme this year. Maybe because Christian is a Cub Scout?😂)

He was gone by Christmas morning, but left behind a digital picture of his goodbye.

December 2015

December 5th I went to the festival of trees early with Brandi and we volunteered as hosts for three hours. In the afternoon, Tony and the kids came up and we toured the trees. The kids got scones with chocolate and Bavarian cream!

 

Loved seeing all the trees and the play house up for sale.

 

 

 

The 6th was Grammy's birthday,

 

and we also celebrated grandpa Braegger's, which is the 8th.

 

December 7th we went out to Chili's with a gift card I'd gotten from my work,

 

and then to the Terrace Play House to see Scrooge.

 

Here's a gorgeous sunrise from the 8th.

 

On the 11th, The kids decorated gingerbread snoopy dog houses. Faith didn't finish hers because she hasn't been feeling well, again 🤒

 

I saw this on Facebook, loved it, and immediately posted it to my page! Hardly anyone understood the reference 😠 (please look up "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and "Dennis the constitutional peasant" scene right now if you don't, either.)

 

The 12th was our ward Christmas brunch.

 

That afternoon, we rode the front runner train into Salt Lake.

 

 

We ate at Tucano's,

 

played at the planetarium,

 

and enjoyed the lights at Temple Square.

  

 

 

 

We walked over to the city Creek mall and saw the fountain show with cool fire:

 

And played on the new iPads at the Apple store.

 

 

It was a super fun outing!

 

Here's Skittles on the 13th trying to share her daddy's breakfast.

 

That afternoon we took the kids ice skating at station park.

 

 

Early morning on December 14th we got a lot of snow. While I was working, the kids were out playing in it and sledding on it! Here is my view out our front window:

 

Had to snap a pic of this snuggly bunny on the 18th.

 

On the 20th, Tammy Took the kids I skating again! Faith loves it and can never get enough!! I was so glad she had a few good days and could get some in.

 

 

On the 21st we took Faith to primary children's hospital to see a pediatric neurologist, Dr. Candy, who was recommended by her regular doctor.

  She had to have an EKG before starting some medication that we hope will leest manage her terrible chronic headaches.

We made a quick stop by taffy town and Christian had to make a funny face for the picture.

 

That afternoon after arriving back home, I met up with my Riot girls and we brought gifts to our trainers! Caught Kristin at home,

 

but had to go to Joann's fabrics to find Tiffany! (The beanies were their Christmas gifts to us)

 

That night we ate at Lee's Mongolian

 

and wanted to tour the Ogden Village, but it was too rainy and windy. Instead, we went to the Royse city offices and watch their big tree and little trees set to music. Even laid down the backseats of the car and had sleeping bags for the kids to hang out.

 

 

I got an early Christmas gift from Tony of a laptop and a printer. While I was working, Christian hooked up the printer for me on the 22nd. I love how big he is getting and that he's wearing a headlamp to assist him with this setup!!

I wanted to make sure that I put this palm in my blog book because it's one that I and my siblings all memorized and we were young:

 

And I didn't get to go to pack meeting because of work, but Christian became a bear scout 🐻

 

We put together neighbor and friend gifts on the 23rd. Here's Christian hamming it up for the photos:

 

We made Christmas cheese ball for them, added a variety of crackers,

 

and wrapped in pretty cellophane.

 

The weekend before, the kids had a sleepover with Tammy and Tony and I took a quick trip to Wendover. It had been years and years since he had been there, but he had points that we used for a free room, free buffet dinner and breakfast, and some leftover to go shopping in the gift shop!

 I had been wanting some mistletoe to hang by her front door, but ended up deciding on this beautiful "kissing ball" which I argue is not mistletoe because it doesn't have white berries!

 

Some cute gifts for my friends: (I somehow missed getting a picture of Jenn's fun treats that she made)

On the 23rd we went to this is the place for their candlelight Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

Faith wasn't feeling well, so we just stop by Zupas for some soup and Christian got his crème brûlée all over his face!

 

He got home and finished his craft – – spreading peanut butter on a pinecone and covering in birdseed, then we hung it outside.

 

On the 24th The kids finished off their chocolate advent calendars. This is a tradition we do every year! When I was a kid we burned an advent candle, instead.

 

We took Skittles and finally made it to the Ogden Village to look in all the little houses.

 

 

 

 

Then we went to mom & dad's Christmas Eve party where we ate delicious appetizers and played some minute-to-win-it games.

 

 

 

When we came home, we took some family pictures.

 

 

And Dusty kicked back under the bedroom tree :)

  

Christmas morning came bright and early!

 

Santa brought Faith wireless earbuds and an alarm clock and Buddy a Yoda electronic toy.

 

 

The pets and parents were not forgotten!

 

We gave the kids something they really needed:

 

When we finally left the house, we went to the parents'. Mom enjoyed her special gift of Hillary Clinton toilet paper!

 

 

Here is one of mom's gift to me. I love how much effort she puts into her gorgeous giftwrapping!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian stayed up half the night assembling a giant Lego set. Here he is on the 26th--still in bed in the afternoon!

 

Unfortunately, this is starting to be me:

 

New Year's eve was fun, as usual!

 

After enjoying Chili's ribs, we played games and partied it up!