Holly Jolly Christmas

Merry Christmas! We are loving our time in CA with my family. We arrived Saturday. We went crazy and decided to have a party on Tuesday. We made two enormous lasagnas, garlic bread and salad and more desserts than you could shake a stick at (as my father would say). We had about 40 people come. EVERYONE we invited. It was so much fun. I was able to catch up with lots of old friends. We played "I never" and a TRUE White Elephant. The most fun was this game my mom got in a magazine. She wrapped a 10 dollar bill (the players didn't know what it was) in like 10 graduating boxes. Then everyone in the circle would roll the dice really quickly and pass it along. Anyone who rolled a 6 would get to try to unwrap it really quickly. The catch was that you had to wear oven mitts while you were the one unwrapping. It was a blast, people were dying laughing. And apparently we've been ordered to have this party every year now-so there you go.

We spent Christmas Eve in a pretty traditional way. The kids acted out the Nativity and they enjoyed that. Samantha and Livvy were shepherds and really got into their part. Tommy refused to be one of the sheep, but that was okay. My dad was the funniest Wiseman you've ever seen. Then we had our almost annual talent show. I helped the kids do a rousing song and dance to Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer. Tom reprised the chorus of dead cockroaches. David and I performed the Beaver Dance. My dad played Jingle Bells on his comb wrapped in seran-wrap. It was awesome.

Today was Christmas, it was love and fun all around. Tom made a most wonderful dinner and we had a pretty spectacular morning. It is better to give than receive and all that, but I'll tell you the "Santa gifts." Samantha could open her own Disney store with her Princess paraphanalia and added to it with a Princess tent and Sleeping Bag. Tommy was the winner with the best reaction when he saw his track and moving cars (very awesome with hills, tunnels, gates, etc.) and he just flipped out. I can't describe it in words, but it was darling. Eliza got the most beauuuuutiful dress and a little swimming pool with swimshade for next summer. It was a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy these fun pictures.

I've never...actually yes I have.

I saw this fun tag on Heather's blog. This is pretty fun to see what people have done. All you do is bold any of the items that you have done.

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band (what about an orchestra?)
4. visited hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to disneyland
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited paris
13. watched a lightning storm at sea
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. seen in person the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the mona lisa in france
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch-hiked (but Tom has)
23. taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden in a gondola in venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or a sunset
31. hit a home run (in the park)
32. been on a cruise
33. seen niagra falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied (when I was little)
38. seen the leaning tower of pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen michaelangelo's david
41. sung karaoke
42. seen the old faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant (my mom did when I was little and I've never forgotten it)
44. visited africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. received a prestigious award
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the sistine chapel in person
50. been to the top of the eiffel tower in paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. got flowers for no reason
64. donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a nazi concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guards in london
77. broken a bone
78. been on a speeding motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. read the entire bible
86. visited the white house (just the outside)
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone's life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. lost a loved one
94. had a baby
95. seen the alamo in person
96. swam in the great salt lake
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee
100. learned to play an instrument

YOU do it too. I mean it. I want to hear what you've done.

Blessed

We had Eliza's Blessing Day last Sunday. It was a nice day without much pomp and circumstance. Tom gave her a beautiful and simple blessing. Unfortunately I had to hear about it from others because Tommy was screaming about the fact that his dad had walked away. I heard part of it anyway. It's interesting what difference a year makes (a year plus really). It seems like just yesterday we were in Virginia blessing Tommy. Then it was a circle comprised of entirely friends and we had a great big luncheon later that day. Eliza had Tom's Uncle Quinn and two members of the Bishopric and later we went to Tom's Grandma's for dinner. (I know that doesn't matter, I just think it's interesting).
She wore the dress that Samantha wore. I also wore it in fact. My great-grandmother on my father's side made it for me. A lot of my cousins and all my sisters wore it as well, but I was the lucky one who got to keep it! Here are some pictures of my darling little baby. I think she's the sweetest, smartest, cutest, most lovable baby ever and I am so, so grateful to have her in my life. I was surprised when I found out I was expecting her but she's been the best little surprise ever! Indeed, we feel very blessed to have her.

To show the length of the dress.

At Grandma's house.

Four Generations (but not all pictured :))

My Cute Family

AKA...I was bored.

Many Pictures, Many Thanks

Thanksgiving was so fun. I am so glad that my children have so many cousins and that they have such a great time playing together. Here are many, many of our pictures.

The much-maligned "kid table" Thankfully they're still young enough to like it.
The beautiful table setting.
The kids on the way to see Madagascar 2
Daddy and Tommy bowling. That metal thing is to roll the ball down for really little kids. I think it was that apparatus that made Tommy's score higher than both mine and Tom's.
The cute kiddies bowling.
Playing outside with Grandpa
My cute kids
Taking a walk on Thursday. Trying to work off our huge calorie intake. I don't think the walk around the block quite did it.
The beautiful girls in their beautiful skirts.
...And the silly picture.
My little angel.

And the boys too.
Rachel holding Eliza
On the train
Cute cousins at the train station
Emma with Eliza
The main entertainment: Playing games together.

I would have liked to be Alice

So I like the Twilight books but I'm not obsessed. I've haven't seen the movie yet nor have I ever been to a website for them. But I saw this on my friend's blog and had to find out who I was in the books. So I guess I'm Esme. Not terribly surprising considering I'm a mom :).

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Do-over

I was tagged, but I've done it. So this is the original post. It mutated so here's the one add-on.

8 Things on my Wish List:

1. Wait for it...my house to sell
2. To sleep for 10 straight hours
3. To catch up completely on scrap-booking
4. More local friends
5. More storage tubs
6. A sink that didn't leak
7. To be 10 fewer pounds
8. Clothes! Shoes! Skirts! Dresses!

So there you go.

The Happiest Place on Earth (Sometimes)

Well, we just got back from a totally fun trip to California. I must say, I'm awfully proud of myself for traveling across the desert by myself with three kids. I don't know that I should be proud of myself, it might mean I'm mentally unbalanced, but I'm going to go with "brave." While there we had the chance to use our Disneyland passes again and it was a blast. It was a gorgeous day and we never waited more than 5 minutes for a ride. The biggest obstacle to riding more things was...us. We were two adults (my mom and me) and 4 kids with one being a newborn and we both worked really hard to have fun :). Between feedings and potty breaks and complete meltdowns from my kids I'm surprised we did as well as we did. We were able to ride the train (supposed to be a method of transportation-NOT a ride, but Tommy loved it), the rocket cars (twice), Buzz Lightyear, the Carousel, Dumbo (twice), and the Haunted Mansion. We also saw Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Chip and Dale, and Wendy Darling. I'm still just not willing to wait hours to see actual Princesses, and my kids don't care that much-any character will do for them. We had a lot of fun and I'm hopefully going to be able to go with Tom in February. I took very few pictures and they're all terrible but I was holding Eliza for all of them.

Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby

So my friend wrote me the other day and said "Why don't you post more pictures of Eliza, don't you love her, do you really have a newborn? You're a bad mother for not posting more pictures" (She didn't say anything of the sort but I'm sneaky like that). So here's some pictures of the cutest little baby ever.

Eliza and her adoring father

This is from a failed photo shoot, I wanted cute naked baby pictures. How does Anne Geddes do it?!?

A semi-cute one. I would love to take a photography class. Nothing serious at all, just enough to know how to get cute pictures of my kids.

Her first smile on camera. What a doll!

GO COUGARS!

In celebrations of BYU's great year in football I have a video to share. The Halloween stuff is still out so Samantha donned a costume from past years and ran around the house doing this. I had her reprise it for posterity. By the way, she's known this song since she could sing anything, since she was a little under 2 I think. You might want to turn up your volume a little bit, she's kind of quiet.

Different State, Different Ward...Still a Winner

We had our ward's Halloween party and Chili Cook-off this weekend. I made a delicious white chili that's my friend Delee's recipe. When she moved into our ward in VA she created an upset when she beat out several of the traditional winners at that chili cook-off. Then she won first place again the next year. Well, on Friday I won...third place. I'm sure it would have won first if Delee had made it, I didn't have the magic touch or something. But it is GOOD! I hope she won't be mad at me, but I think it should be shared with the world (she posted the recipe on her blog so I don't think I'm sharing top secret stuff). Not only is it so very yummy, but it's incredibly easy.

Delee's White Chili:

Saute 1 lb of chicken cut up in chunks and 1 medium onion in 1 1/2 TBS of oil

In a large pot put:

Sauteed chicken and onions
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 can chicken broth
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup water
1 can chopped green chili's
1 can Mexi-corn
1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp pepper

Boil all ingredients

Just before serving add:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup sour cream

You can serve with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

All Grown Up

Yesterday was Samantha's first day of preschool!! I had no intention of sending her this year but a lady in my old ward called me up and asked me if I was interested in filling a spot in her afternoon class. Samantha is a little tired of me lately so I gladly accepted. Her teacher, Miss Barb, was a teacher for public schools and now runs a small preschool out of her home. Samantha is obviously going in late, they're already on letter "G", but Samantha knows her letters and the teacher acted impressed with her yesterday so I'm not worried about the late entrance. And of course, even though Samantha didn't know this lady she walked right in, never looked back at me, and didn't want to leave when it was over. She's thrilled to go again tomorrow. She's my big, grown up girl.

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Unspectacular Quirks

A fun little tag from Julie.

The rules are:
*Link to the person who tagged you...Julie
*Post the rules on your blog
*Write six random things/unspectacular things about yourself
*Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
*Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

So, here are my unspectacular quirks...
1. I'm working through all the Newbery Award and Caldecott Award winning books. Tom says at my current rate I'll be done in about another 8 months. That's at 2 books a week.
2. I don't like restaurant Italian food. Unlike Mexican, seafood, or Chinese where you can't duplicate it at home I'd much rather eat my own lasagna, spaghetti, Alfredo, etc.
3. I follow the exact same routine to get ready/shower every morning to the point of it being OCD.
4. I also (per Julie) do not know my right from my left and have to hold out my hands to see which is which (your left hand forms an "L")
5. I actually like cleaning bathrooms. They, unlike cleaning kitchens, or dusting, or whatever look cleaner after you're done. I love it.
6. Nothing makes me as happy as throwing things away. If I can sell, donate, or throw away something it usually makes me happier than having the object ever did.

I tag: Megan, Krystal S., Krista, Michelle, Katie, Heidi

A Farewell to Sadie

Our family dog Sadie passed away today. She went peacefully and without much pain, probably of a heart attack. I was fourteen when we got her for Christmas, I had been asking for a dog for 10 years. She was a beautiful 1/2 Rhodesian Ridgeback, 1/2 German Shepherd. Mostly we talked to her in gentle derision citing her stench, her fleas, or just yelling "OUT" but we loved her. We will surely miss her.

Sadie: October 28, 1997-October 20, 2008

In Three's

An actual tag from my friend Megan

3 Joys:
1. Family
2. Faith
3. Brownie Sundaes

3 Fears:
1. Failing my children
2. Bees!
3. How long I will have to wait for my house to sell (this is an important distinction from actually being worried my house will never sell)

3 Goals:
1. Unpack the last box
2. Run a marathon (fake goal-not working toward it, but I'd like to)
3. Lose baby weight

3 Obsessions:
1. Reading
2. Reality TV
3. Blogging tags obviously

3 Surprising Facts:
1. I want to run for school board after living here for a year
2. I visit the library every week and put all my books on hold so I don't have to look for them with kids
3. I try a new dinner recipe every week. I only end up liking a small fraction of the new ones.

3 people tagged:
1. Delee
2. Krista
3. Laura

Duck, Duck, Goose

Here's some of our Family Home Evening fun. If you don't think Tommy is funny, then I guess you don't have much of a sense of humor :).

From Heather

Two Tags from my friend Heather that I'm participating in because I'm narcissistic:

8 Things:

My 8 favorite TV shows-
House, Bones, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Survivor, So You Think You can Dance, Biggest Loser

8 Favorite Restaurants-
VA-Amory's, Lobscouser
AZ-Pedro's
CA-El Farilito's
UT-Los Hermanos
Anywhere-Chili's, In-n-out, PF Changs

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

Selling my house!, Sleeping all the way through the night, Never bringing a diaper bag anywhere (a long ways off to be sure), Halloween, Going to CA/Disneyland in a month, Thanksgiving in NM, Christmas in CA, making friends in my new ward.

8 Things that happened yesterday-

Went grocery shopping, nursed endlessly, watched tv, made dinner, read to kids, cleaned kitchen, picked up toys, checked email

Picture Tag

This is what you do.....You go to your pictures area on your computer and pick the 4th folder and 4th picture and then explain it! Here's my picture:
This is my cute Samantha in July '06 (She was 16 months) in our apartment in VA when we first moved there. My sister Katie was visiting and our apt. complex had a pool. We went swimming. It was obviously very windy.

If you like to talk about yourself (like me) then post to your blog as well!

Count Your Blessings...name them one by one

My little beautiful Eliza Delee is a month old and I can't believe it. It's hard for me to sit down and blog though. Plus-have you ever noticed how after the enormous of excitement of having the baby and sending the pictures and making the announcements...your life slows down and you don't do much for a while? That's me anyway.

Things have been hard this month. Most know, but those who don't-the house we rented when we moved here went into foreclosure while we were still living in it so we had to move, with a two week old baby. That was very hard and that means a new ward, and starting over, when I had just barely started to make friends. I'm still worried about my house selling. Or maybe worried doesn't cover it adequately. So...I'm a little lonely and a little scared. BUT, I have a lot, lot, lot to be grateful for. Every time I turn around there is someone or something making my life easier, and making my burdens lighter. So I've compiled a list of things that I'm grateful for. This isn't everything, and it's not even the big stuff. It's the little stuff that has really counted for me lately. It's a random list but it's sincere.

1. My mini-van: I am indeed grateful for my car. Without that car Tom couldn't have easily been Scoutmaster or done his shed. If we didn't have that mini-van we couldn't fit all of our children in one car. I love that car and I love what it represents.
2. General Conference: I'm sure others feel this way but each and every one of those talks were specifically for me. I gathered such strength and comfort from them and I can not wait for them to be printed in the Ensign so I can read them again.
3. My "Baby Songs" DVD: Tommy isn't a big TV watcher but he loves this DVD and he wakes up at 6:30 every morning. I pop this thing in and sleep for another hour. It's saving my life.
4. A one-story house: I always thought I loved two-story houses, because that's all I've lived in. Turns out that having a one-story is totally awesome. In a two-story everything is always in the wrong place, but now-everything is close. No more going up and down stairs. I suppose it helps that it's a rather large one-story. Only a couple hundred square feet smaller than my house in VA.
5. Extended Family: My husband's uncle and cousin spent all of Thursday night the week we moved helping us. I don't know what we would have done without them. The next day Tom's dad finished moving us. For me, it was nothing short of miraculous all that they got done and I'm not being cliche. I don't know what we would have done without them.
6. My breast pump: It's my breast friend-oh yeah-I just said that. I have an unhealthy love for it. It's saved me from soreness and misery and using it early has made for the best experience of any of my kids yet-plus Eliza hasn't had weight gain problems like the other two-HOORAY!
7. Tom!: I said it wasn't going to be the obvious ones, but seriously-I can't leave him out. Having him coming home at the end of the day is what gets me through some of the harder moments. He picks up all my slack and then some. I love the guy and I'm thankful he's who he is and how much he helps me.
8. Not having any friends: Okay, so this one is tongue-in-cheek but hear me out-I don't have any money but not having any friends means I don't go anywhere and therefore don't spend money. Ditto on gas money. I don't have any obligations to overwhelm me. I don't try to do more than I'm capable of. It's actually working out for the time being. Hopefully I don't have to be grateful for this forever.
9. Scriptures, prayer, church and so forth: I've learned a lot since moving here, and I'm learning to not have any control and how to lean on the Lord. This has been good for me.
10: This cute bunch: