Merry Christmas

From our house...

... to yours!

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas

10 things...

10 things I'm loving RIGHT now...

1. My new Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD playing while surfing the net.

2. Feeling the warm air from the heater blow on me, warming me up from a FRIGID day at work.

3. The feeling of satisfaction on my homemade Christmas cards. That last little bit of bling made the world of difference.

4. Finding new recipes to try out and feeling confident that they will be keepers.

5. Chap stick for my dry windburned lips.

6. That big hug from my boss. I love that he makes all his employees feel wanted AND needed. Love that man! (and super bummed that there will be no auctions for TWO weeks).

7. The big pile of my childhood classic Christmas movies I picked up today. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (both versions), The Muppet's Christmas Carol, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Clause is Coming to Town. I can't wait to add them to our Christmas movie collection.

8. Anticipation of NOT having to cook dinner tonight! Yay for the ward Family Christmas Party!!! and hopefully great photo-ops with Santa again.

9. That itch to add to my Christmas book collection. I have two. Yes, you read right. Two books. I need some serious help in this department. Especially since we are a family of readers.

10. Coming home from work and finding that the two olders are playing nicely and the baby is napping. I have no idea what happened while i was at work but I'm take in every second of it.

(thanks Kim for a bit of inspiration)
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On another note... something i noticed today that made me a little sad.

I've been reading all over the place how people aren't excited about the holiday season this year. That times are tough, therefore, putting a downer on all the usually chipper festivities. Yes, I've noticed that times are tougher. We are actually living it right now. We are struggling to live from month to month. But for the life of me, i don't understand why that should make such a HUGE impact on the holiday season. I believe that Christmas is in your heart. We don't need all the fanfare to make Christmas, well... Christmas.

Which brings me to what i noticed today that made me just a little sad. I was walking through Wal-Mart picking up that last little bit of stuff i need to do some baking and noticed that there was NO music playing. What's up with that? Are things so bad that we can't even enjoy a little Holiday music? I immediately came home and dug out all my holiday CD's and started listening to them. I've never noticed how much i missed all the music until there isn't any.

December Daily - Day 13 - 14

Day 13: the Parade of Lights that only Daylon got to see and the nasty stomach bug Rianne picked up














Day 14: Cleaning up the basement and fixing up the fake tree down there

December Daily - day 12

Day 12: Rianne's Birthday party celebration



















Photo book inside the envelope:

December Daily - Days 10 - 11

I really am keeping up on this, it's just harder to update them all the time.

Day 10: Relaxing eveing reading books













Day 11: Rianne's Birthday

Playing For Change ~ Peace Through Music

For some reason, this reminds me of Christmas
Music is so universally unifying.
i just love grandpa Elliott

If you want to see the full Bill Moyers Journal interview,
go here---> Playing For Change

To learn more:
The Playing For Change website.

and he was such a GREAT Santa!

This last weekend we went to Tooele to visit my family. It was the weekend of the Mauch Family Christmas Party (mom's side of the family). It also marked the birthday celebrations for my Dad (on the 15th) and Rianne (on the 11th). Unfortunately not much birthday celebrating happened. It was just too big of a weekend to shove it into one full and 2 partial days (late Friday, all day Saturday, and part Sunday). Rianne did get some pressies from Grandma and Grandpa Mac. There was a homemade cake but no candles, no singing and not even a bite of the cake till we got home. All in all..... the birthday bit was a bust (but Rianne thinks the opposite. She loves that she gets to celebrate her birthday with Grandpa Mac and in Tooele. Daylon doesn't get to do that. And truthfully, I'm so glad she gets to have that experience for herself)

Saturday was a big day. It was the first Christmas party since Grandma Mauch passed away. Spirits were up and not much mourning at all.

Highlight? that's easy. Santa Claus!

And he was such a PERFECT Santa!

Sam keeps talking about HoHo and his "hi" (translation: phone)

Rianne was absolutely cute (and bashful)

And Daylon... he loved every bit of it!

More from our trip:

Christmas tree hunting

It seems as though our weekends are filling up and the sooner we found our tree the better. And even though work is hard to find lately, it seems as though DarRell is so incredibly busy and is having a hard time keeping up. So him working as much as he possibly really cuts down on time we have to go out and do things as a family, especially during daylight hours. So we took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday and spending time with his family to go out and find a tree.

We took off early Saturday morning and headed up to the old deer camp territory. This year, after last years success, we opted for a balsam tree rather than the reliable old pinion pine (gahhh... i think! All these tree names are confusing my poor tired turkey and stuffing bloated head). Anyways... we headed up flat canyon where we knew there were a bunch of little ones to choose from. It didn't take long to find the one we wanted. The pickings started looking better and better after the weather started getting colder and the storm started moving in. Fortunately we found the PERFECT tree before resorting to something just OK.

It didn't take us long to hurry and cut the thing down and get out of there. Good thing we got out when the getting was good because the storm started moving in along with lots of people coming up with the same ideas in mind. As we went down the mountain, we passed at least a half dozen, if not more, vehicles coming up. The ground had started defrosting and getting muddy and people were sliding and tearing up the roads to get up high. We were fortunate enough not to have to deal with the crazies up there. We pretty much kept ahead of the storm as it moved in and got home just after noon.

DarRell has got the tree set up in the tree stand now. Although it's still sitting out on the front porch. I think I'll spend the day today making a place in the living room for it so that we can bring it in tonight when he gets home from work, and then start decorating it tomorrow night as a family.

Tomorrow is the first day of December which means i get to start on THIS! I'm super excited to start filling mine up! I'm hoping to update every day here if i can. Look for it.

Christmas

It was a Christmas to remember for us all. Huge milestones for most of us.

This is the first year we've had to deal with the "is Santa for real" issue. I find it almost annoying that it's already upon us. I like to blame DarRell for it though. I was wrapping presents with Daylon when he told me his dad told him that Santa wasn't real. Trying not to show that i was super annoyed by the fact that DarRell told him that, i asked him what his dad had said and then set out to do some major damage control. I spent the better of an hour talking to him, explaining that Christmas is about giving. That we need to remember "The Reason for the Season". Explaining that Santa was a real person and that that we are carrying on his tradition, and to PLEASE not ruin it for the two younger kids. When i finally confronted DarRell, he said that Daylon was starting to ask questions and that he was worried he was going to get teased in school for believing. My first thought... EVERY child has questions, that doesn't mean that you need to crush their belief in Santa. There are so many ways to get around the topic tactfully then to come right out and say that there isn't a Santa at all. With all the damage already done, and with me trying to put the pieces back together again, i guess i can say that I'm glad that it was Daylon. I think he got what i was trying to get across. I think he gets it more than a lot of adults.

I loved Christmas with Sam this year. He had a blast and I'm really loving Christmas at 19 months. It makes me sad that we'll never be able to do it like this again. Everything was "OOOHHH" or "WOW!" with him... LOVED IT! Nothing is more magical than Christmas through a child's eyes. I've tried to etch in my brain how special these times are but already things are starting to fade.

Another milestone... the addition of another Christmas tradition. Christmas Eve dinner went over very well. Instead of crown roast of lamb we had a lamb loin roast (just cause the butcher said the meat sent to them doesn't include a good crown roast). We ate in candle light and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. I think every year we will try something new to eat though. I'm thinking of making a album that consists of a Christmas cookbook of true and tried recipes. It'll be a ongoing thing but i got a few good recipes to start with.

All in all it was a good Christmas. I got DarRell a REALLY good back massager along with some camping goodies. The two older kids got heelies. Rianne got a portable CD player. Daylon got a PS3 video game with a paddle. Sam got some really cute toys. DarRell and I pitched in together and got the family a new PS3. We had considered a Wii but we had all these PS games and our old system when out of commision a few months ago, so that helped in the decision. DarRell got me some good pots for my new pot rack. We all got a few other small odds and ends (although I got NOTHING scrappy, *SIGH* can you beleive it?)

So, from our family to yours... i hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

Christmas pretzels

I'm finally getting into the Christmas season. Now that Rianne's birthday party is finally over with and most of the other big celebrations are behind us, i feel like i can finally relax a bit and enjoy it all.

I did a bit of "baking" this morning. It wasn't baking exactly but i did use the oven to melt the chocolate. This is the first year I've really done anything like this for Christmas. It was fun. I think I'll do it again next year. Daylon and Rianne both loved them. DarRell thought they were just OK. I guess I can't out do my mother's pretzels, at least not according to DarRell. Me... i loved them. Even more than my mom's.

My intention was to give them to people at work for Christmas but now I'm not so sure. I think I'll keep them and give them to family for Christmas instead... if they don't all get eaten first. I'll still give out chocolate covered pretzels for Christmas at work, but they'll be the ones i bought that are individually wrapped. That will be a first for me also. I always feel so guilty for not getting anyone at work anything for Christmas. It won't be much, but this year, it'll be something. It's just so hard to buy something for a bunch of men... grubby ol' cowboys at that. Although, the office ladies will like it, and i guess that is who i should be most concerned about.

UGHHH...... does this sound so bad or what? Feeling like i have to do something? It's not that really. I just feel like that since I'm able to, why not. It doesn't need to be something spectacular... just something to say Merry Christmas. I am going to enjoy it this year.

And next year, i'm going to be even more prepared.

*3BT
~Christmas music constantly playing on my computer
~watching Christmas movies every night with the kids. I LOVE doing this! We've been through all three of the Santa Clause movies, Elf, It's a Beautiful Life was on the other night, The Grinch, and a few of the classic cartoons that they've been playing on tv. And then some not so Christmas movies: High School Musical 2, Pirates of the Carribean At Worlds End, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheniox. Up next? A Christmas Story. And i'm on the lookout for more to watch... any suggestions?
~knowing all my Christmas shopping is done. Now my favorite part: the wrapping!!!

Exhausting, THE tree, and snow...

The Christmas holidays are so exhausting!

I LOVE this picture. It's not often i get pictures like this... definately one to cherish.

A few tree pictures that i should probably update again cause now we have popcorn and cranberry garlands all over the tree

and our first snow storm... which was actually before Ali moved. The snow was all gone by the end of the weekend.

This is Sam's first snow that he can remember...... he LOVED it, cold and all!

Even with a big truck to push around.

3BT:

~A Christmas card from a VERY dear friend. It's GREAT knowing that i am still in his thoughts. I really need more friends like him around.

~Christmas lights on in the house at all times. Nothing gives you the cozy feeling more than a house lit with Christmas lights.

~Our great neighbors, The Ericksons. I hope that we keep in touch. We coldn't have asked for better neighbors and we are crushed to have them gone.

The tree is up!!!

We've finially got the tree decorated. Actually we've had it decorated for over a week now. But now i've got all the christmas stuff up and most the boxes put away again. I do want to find a few more Christmas things to put up but otherwise we are done decorating (unless you count the outdoor lights. It got too windy, rainy, and snowy before we could hang them up). I can honestly say that i love this tree even more now. It's such a beautiful tree!



Sam even got into the spirit of decorting the tree. He was so careful. He's so into the lights and the pretty decorations on the tree. This is going to be such a magical year with him!
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It has been a good month for scrapbooking. I got a ton done. Granted most of it was cards but, very productive never the less. A total of 34 cards and 11 layouts. WOW! I think that may be a new record! And i'm off to a great start this month. I've already finished 3, with a fourth almost done! I'm using a bunch of DT goodies left over while waiting for my new shipment to come. I'm hoping our new basement set-up will give me more time to work now that i've got a place for the kids to play nearby. We set up the tv so that they can watch movies if they want to. I'm REALLY hoping that comes to a end soon though. Hopefully the sheetrockers will be here soon to finish up our basement. I'd give up my scrapping space in a heartbeat if we could get this basement finished.

*3BT:

~Daylon, who turns on every christmas light we have when he first gets up in the morning. It's such a beautiful sight to get out of bed and be welcomed with the glow of little colored lights.

~the best neighbors a person could ever wish for. They are moving away to Montana this week and we will all miss them so very much.

~finially a normal morning after over a week of our world turned upside down due to lingering ickies. Makes you truely appreciate the well times.

school pictures and Christmas tree hunting

School pictures are in!!!

Amazingly enough, all three of them turned out wonderfully!!! All three were smiling. No screaming and crying, no goofy smiles, and no crooked glasses. I can't ask for better! WHEW! Now lets just hope for the same for next year!

We went Christmas tree hunting yesterday afternoon. It was such GREAT weather. Warm (almost too warm), no wind, sunny... just beautiful. It seemed kinda weird though. It was September weather in the end of November. It just seems like there NEEDS to be snow on the ground and be all cold for us to go tree hunting. It almost seems so wrong for it to be so warm. Almost.

We found a cute little tree (OK - so it was really tall, we ended up cutting off a couple of feet to make it fit in the tallest part of our vaulted ceiling) in a grove of quake trees.

This is the first year we went for a different type of tree. This year we got a balsam fir rather than a Pinyin pine. I think i really like it... even better than our traditional Pinyin (shhh... don't tell DarRell that, i had said something earlier about screwing up our tradition). I miss the distinct smell of the Pinyin but love the tall sturdy, and skinnier balsam. I think i could get used to it. The kids had a ball looking for one. Just about every tree we passed Rianne would shout out "STOP!!! I found the perfect tree". She was the one that ended up finding the "perfect tree" and thank goodness! I was starting to wonder if we'd find anything we'd like before the day was over.

It's not decorated yet. We've decided that we need to get a few more matching light sets to cover the whole tree. So it looks like tom arrow after i drop Rianne off to school (that is if she makes it due to her hacky cough... why is it always worse at night?) I'll be off shopping for new Christmas lights!

I just can't wait to get all the Christmas stuff up. There is nothing like sitting in a dark room with a big cup of hot chocolate looking up at a big beautiful lit Christmas tree!

3BT:
~being up in the mountains again and seeing how much the kids love being there
~a big beautiful tree sitting in our living room waiting to be decorated
~Sam LOVING the lights. So much even that he sits and jabbers away at us. I like to think he's saying how much he loves the lights!