This has been something I have looked forward to for years. There's always a marathon on New Years ever/New Years day on the Sci-Fi Channel. I've seen many of the episodes, but for some reason this morning almost all of them are ones I've never seen. They always wig me out a little and that's why I like them. Jake has been known to tivo them in the past, so I hope we does it again. Then again, I can always watch the ones I miss next year.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Yay! Twilight Zone Marathon!
This has been something I have looked forward to for years. There's always a marathon on New Years ever/New Years day on the Sci-Fi Channel. I've seen many of the episodes, but for some reason this morning almost all of them are ones I've never seen. They always wig me out a little and that's why I like them. Jake has been known to tivo them in the past, so I hope we does it again. Then again, I can always watch the ones I miss next year.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Reminiscing
On Friday night we were invited to play some games with some friends. We played a rousing few rounds of Pit, which I love. We had a little challenge and played a few silent round due to a sleepy baby, but I thought it made it more fun and less of a headache. Anyhow, we then moved onto Clue. I was excited to play and then realized it had been probably more than 10 years since I played it. I totally reminded me of a Christmas way back when Drew got it from "Santa". We played over and over. I didn't even come close to winning this time, but it made me remember that it is one of my faves. It's amazing all the strategies you don't see as a kids. With adults it's a whole new game. And we had a great talking about and quoting the movie.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
And we're back
WARNING: This will be long and contain exuberant amounts of pictures. This it what happens when I go home to Utah. Carry on if you wish.
We made it home after an okay flight, and as hard as it is to leave all the ones I love, it's nice to come to where your life is. All of our many many (too many) gifts made it home intact and it was like Christmas again opening the box and suitcases to find then. KC and I didn't exchange many gifts in Utah (except a rubix cube and a stapler) because we were waiting on our delivery here at home. I now am a proud owner of a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 MP SLR camera. Maybe later I will use it to not only have a reason to play with it, but to also show some of the fun gifts we received. Our Sony compact has served us well, but in the excitement of Christmas tree decorating, I dropped it and the ldc has given out. Matt, our camera guru, helped us pick out this one and I already love it. He also gave us some nice accessories he had lying around.I'm going to read up on all the manuals to assure KC this was the right decision. I was jumping up and down with excitement when we was opening the box. Merry Christmas to us!
So I want to use my schedule as a way to add details to our fun trip so I don't leave anything out. Picture can be viewed below.
I'll start by saying that the night before we left, we hung out with the Turpins a little to give the boys a little present. I think they liked Their ice cream ball a lot.
Thursday 12/20
-Fly out of BWI 12:10 pm, arrive in Utah 5:50 pm, picked up by Grahams:I wrote about our crazy flight before, but the layover took about 45 minutes to rearrange some luggage before we took off. It was pretty annoying.
-Go to dinner at about 8:30 (because of the delay with our flight and the crazy snow) at Los Hermanos with family: Lili, Jeff, Melody, Amber, Todd, Mom, Dad, and Mom R all made it. It was so nice of them to still come since it was so late because of our delayed flight and the snow. A huge plate of nachos is a great way to start a fun week. After we went home to hear a wonderful duet performed by the engaged couple (Lili and Jeff if you haven't heard). Boy can they sing. And he has quite a talent on the piano as well I hear. It's was great to get to know him a little. I tried to break him in as quickly as possible. My little sister REALLY likes him.
-Sleep at Melody's: We were pretty tired at this point.
Friday 12/21
-9:00 appointment for Mom and me to have our spider veins removed. (You may think this is silly, but it's true. I have them and I want them gone.): Yes I did this procedure and am so glad I did. The veins are disappearing before my eyes. Thanks mom! I so very much appreciate it.
-Last minute Christmas shopping, find out whose stockings we have from the Robinsons: We actually had a few bouts of last minute shopping, but it did get done nevertheless. We hope Casey and Nicole liked their stockings. We even managed to get an electronic dart board with the provided stocking budget.
-Amber and Melody's preschool program. 6:00 pm: This is always so fun. Especially since Allyson was in it this year. Amber and Melody go above and beyond with this preschool and I love watching the kids sing their hearts out.
-Sleep at Melody's: I LOVED waking up to Julia every morning (well I suppose she woke up to me since I was a little jet lagged). She is the happiest, funniest, most adorable baby and I'm sad she's not in my lap right now.
Saturday 12/22
-Annual get-together with Melody, Marianne, and Jill in the morning: I've only missed this twice in 8(or something) years. I don't know why we started it, but I am so glad we did. It started out as Chinese food for lunch the day before Christmas Eve. This year we did breakfast at Kneaders. The french toast is to die for! I like the change.
-Make cookies with nieces and nephews at Amber's: I wanted to bond with the little ones and what is a better way than baking. I loved all of their different decorating techniques. We had a blast.
-Emily's family party at Frisby's at 4:00: This a great way to see everyone at once. People came from high and low to this party and it was a great time. I especially loved seeing The Grandparents. They are such great friends of mine. I miss them so much being so far away. -Go to Robinson's at 6:00: Here we watched a pretty intense BYU game. I slept through most of it, but woke up at the most exciting parts due to outbursts from the fans. It's a great way to watch a game.
-Sleep at Graham's: Again, very tired.
Sunday 12/23
-Church with Robinsons, 11:00
-Eat with Robinsons: Janice made some very delicious tomato soup and rolls. Perfect for a cold and snowy day. We relaxed a little and chatted with everyone. We got to see Alicia and Dustin, KC's cousin and spouse who are probably in labor right now. If not, it's close.
-Annual Fondue at Graham's: This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. We were dipping rosemary, and french breads, cauliflower, and broccoli, ham, and little smokies, apples and I'm sure there is something I forgot. It was extremely delicious. And I must not forget the festive nog. We opened our traditional pajamas, which were robes for the girls and blankets for the boys for a change this year. We love them!
-Movie sleepover/ping pong tournament/Monoploy game at Graham's, where we will most definitely watch Pee-wee's Christmas special: And we did all of those things. The Monopoly wasn't until after I slept but I heard it was a doosy and Elise took it all. I played a couple rounds of ping pong, but mostly watched. We have some great players. We watched Love Actually, Elf, and clips of Pee-wee, and Muppets. We pulled all the matresses off the beds and pilled them into the living room where most of us slept (or at least tried to) through the night. I counted 9 adults and five kids in one house. It was quite a party. We missed the Turpins a lot so we had to watch them dancing on Cami's blog.
Monday 12/24
-Recover from Sleepover: Noboby slept very long or very well, so we were all a little groggy -Visit Grandmother: We met up with the Rejholecs at Grandmother's. It's always such a delight to see her. She was busy in the kitchen and let us taste some some of her treats.
-Big dinner with Robinsons (Rejholecs are coming too!): We had a meal complete with ham, Janice's rolls, mustard green beans, pretzel jello, salad, a funeral potatoes (aka potato nasty at my house) and a nice assortment of cookies for dessert. We played the chimes, sang carols and then with Nicole's dilligence in finding it, we watched Elf. I will never tire of that movie, EVER!
-Sleep at Robinson's
Tuesday 12/25
-CHRISTMAS!!: I woke up pretty early, as you might have read previously. At about 9:30, we ate the delicious breakfast casserole, and cinnamon rolls that Janice makes every year, and them started the gift extravaganza. It had snowed overnight and was so beautiful outside.
-I'm sure we'll do some giving and receiving of presents at some point: The Robinsons are always so generous with their gifts. We are always so gratful for how thoughtful they are. We absolutely love all of our gifts. We then went to the Grahams for more food and gift exchanging. It was so fun to see all the children and their new gadgets. The girls were doused in new pink attire, bags, purses, a even ipods and accessories for the ipods. Times have sure changed. We also received many heart felt gifts here. We are very blessed to have such great families. We ate some traditional pull aparts as well as the usuals (ham, potatoes, etc.) We watched Hairspray and laughed very hard. It was a nice day.
-Make sure to check into SWA to get in the A group: KC checked us in just in time. -Maybe a movie: We finally watched the Simpsons movie with the Robinsons. That was a long time coming and it was pretty funny.
-Sleep at Robinson's: It was qutie an accomplishment to pack everything we got in only the luggage we brought, but we did it.
Wednesday 12/26
-Leave SLC at 10:10 am, arrive in Maryland 7:00 pm. Bummer. Actually it won't be so bad because we'll have the cruise to look forward to! Hooray!: I'm always sad to leave everyone, but we we know we will see them again at the weddings in the summer. We love and miss everyone so much. Thanks for making Christmas so special to us. It is always nice to have my love to come home with me. He has been such an amazing husband and it was only 2 years ago on Christmas day that he proposed. I have been the luckiest and happiest girl during those years and I can't wait for more to come. And yes, the Cruise it coming up very soon and we can't even wait!
A side note: I got into a bad habit this year of stating many times that I in fact hate Christmas. As much as I dislike the stress of traveling, shopping, crowds, and lines, I had no reason to say this. That would be saying that I hate the reason for this Holiday that is Christ's birth and his life. These things mean more to me than anything else and I wish I would've thought twice before letting those dumb words exit my mouth. I don't hate the season either, I just have a way of exagerating my feelings. I'm working on it.
I've already done my bargain hunting, and got some great stuff. Now I just need to get this place back to normal. Unpacking is never fun. Happy New Year! ( If you made it to the bottom, you deserve a big prize)
We made it home after an okay flight, and as hard as it is to leave all the ones I love, it's nice to come to where your life is. All of our many many (too many) gifts made it home intact and it was like Christmas again opening the box and suitcases to find then. KC and I didn't exchange many gifts in Utah (except a rubix cube and a stapler) because we were waiting on our delivery here at home. I now am a proud owner of a Canon Digital Rebel XT 8 MP SLR camera. Maybe later I will use it to not only have a reason to play with it, but to also show some of the fun gifts we received. Our Sony compact has served us well, but in the excitement of Christmas tree decorating, I dropped it and the ldc has given out. Matt, our camera guru, helped us pick out this one and I already love it. He also gave us some nice accessories he had lying around.I'm going to read up on all the manuals to assure KC this was the right decision. I was jumping up and down with excitement when we was opening the box. Merry Christmas to us!
So I want to use my schedule as a way to add details to our fun trip so I don't leave anything out. Picture can be viewed below.
I'll start by saying that the night before we left, we hung out with the Turpins a little to give the boys a little present. I think they liked Their ice cream ball a lot.
Thursday 12/20
-Fly out of BWI 12:10 pm, arrive in Utah 5:50 pm, picked up by Grahams:I wrote about our crazy flight before, but the layover took about 45 minutes to rearrange some luggage before we took off. It was pretty annoying.
-Go to dinner at about 8:30 (because of the delay with our flight and the crazy snow) at Los Hermanos with family: Lili, Jeff, Melody, Amber, Todd, Mom, Dad, and Mom R all made it. It was so nice of them to still come since it was so late because of our delayed flight and the snow. A huge plate of nachos is a great way to start a fun week. After we went home to hear a wonderful duet performed by the engaged couple (Lili and Jeff if you haven't heard). Boy can they sing. And he has quite a talent on the piano as well I hear. It's was great to get to know him a little. I tried to break him in as quickly as possible. My little sister REALLY likes him.
-Sleep at Melody's: We were pretty tired at this point.
Friday 12/21
-9:00 appointment for Mom and me to have our spider veins removed. (You may think this is silly, but it's true. I have them and I want them gone.): Yes I did this procedure and am so glad I did. The veins are disappearing before my eyes. Thanks mom! I so very much appreciate it.
-Last minute Christmas shopping, find out whose stockings we have from the Robinsons: We actually had a few bouts of last minute shopping, but it did get done nevertheless. We hope Casey and Nicole liked their stockings. We even managed to get an electronic dart board with the provided stocking budget.
-Amber and Melody's preschool program. 6:00 pm: This is always so fun. Especially since Allyson was in it this year. Amber and Melody go above and beyond with this preschool and I love watching the kids sing their hearts out.
-Sleep at Melody's: I LOVED waking up to Julia every morning (well I suppose she woke up to me since I was a little jet lagged). She is the happiest, funniest, most adorable baby and I'm sad she's not in my lap right now.
Saturday 12/22
-Annual get-together with Melody, Marianne, and Jill in the morning: I've only missed this twice in 8(or something) years. I don't know why we started it, but I am so glad we did. It started out as Chinese food for lunch the day before Christmas Eve. This year we did breakfast at Kneaders. The french toast is to die for! I like the change.
-Make cookies with nieces and nephews at Amber's: I wanted to bond with the little ones and what is a better way than baking. I loved all of their different decorating techniques. We had a blast.
-Emily's family party at Frisby's at 4:00: This a great way to see everyone at once. People came from high and low to this party and it was a great time. I especially loved seeing The Grandparents. They are such great friends of mine. I miss them so much being so far away. -Go to Robinson's at 6:00: Here we watched a pretty intense BYU game. I slept through most of it, but woke up at the most exciting parts due to outbursts from the fans. It's a great way to watch a game.
-Sleep at Graham's: Again, very tired.
Sunday 12/23
-Church with Robinsons, 11:00
-Eat with Robinsons: Janice made some very delicious tomato soup and rolls. Perfect for a cold and snowy day. We relaxed a little and chatted with everyone. We got to see Alicia and Dustin, KC's cousin and spouse who are probably in labor right now. If not, it's close.
-Annual Fondue at Graham's: This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. We were dipping rosemary, and french breads, cauliflower, and broccoli, ham, and little smokies, apples and I'm sure there is something I forgot. It was extremely delicious. And I must not forget the festive nog. We opened our traditional pajamas, which were robes for the girls and blankets for the boys for a change this year. We love them!
-Movie sleepover/ping pong tournament/Monoploy game at Graham's, where we will most definitely watch Pee-wee's Christmas special: And we did all of those things. The Monopoly wasn't until after I slept but I heard it was a doosy and Elise took it all. I played a couple rounds of ping pong, but mostly watched. We have some great players. We watched Love Actually, Elf, and clips of Pee-wee, and Muppets. We pulled all the matresses off the beds and pilled them into the living room where most of us slept (or at least tried to) through the night. I counted 9 adults and five kids in one house. It was quite a party. We missed the Turpins a lot so we had to watch them dancing on Cami's blog.
Monday 12/24
-Recover from Sleepover: Noboby slept very long or very well, so we were all a little groggy -Visit Grandmother: We met up with the Rejholecs at Grandmother's. It's always such a delight to see her. She was busy in the kitchen and let us taste some some of her treats.
-Big dinner with Robinsons (Rejholecs are coming too!): We had a meal complete with ham, Janice's rolls, mustard green beans, pretzel jello, salad, a funeral potatoes (aka potato nasty at my house) and a nice assortment of cookies for dessert. We played the chimes, sang carols and then with Nicole's dilligence in finding it, we watched Elf. I will never tire of that movie, EVER!
-Sleep at Robinson's
Tuesday 12/25
-CHRISTMAS!!: I woke up pretty early, as you might have read previously. At about 9:30, we ate the delicious breakfast casserole, and cinnamon rolls that Janice makes every year, and them started the gift extravaganza. It had snowed overnight and was so beautiful outside.
-I'm sure we'll do some giving and receiving of presents at some point: The Robinsons are always so generous with their gifts. We are always so gratful for how thoughtful they are. We absolutely love all of our gifts. We then went to the Grahams for more food and gift exchanging. It was so fun to see all the children and their new gadgets. The girls were doused in new pink attire, bags, purses, a even ipods and accessories for the ipods. Times have sure changed. We also received many heart felt gifts here. We are very blessed to have such great families. We ate some traditional pull aparts as well as the usuals (ham, potatoes, etc.) We watched Hairspray and laughed very hard. It was a nice day.
-Make sure to check into SWA to get in the A group: KC checked us in just in time. -Maybe a movie: We finally watched the Simpsons movie with the Robinsons. That was a long time coming and it was pretty funny.
-Sleep at Robinson's: It was qutie an accomplishment to pack everything we got in only the luggage we brought, but we did it.
Wednesday 12/26
-Leave SLC at 10:10 am, arrive in Maryland 7:00 pm. Bummer. Actually it won't be so bad because we'll have the cruise to look forward to! Hooray!: I'm always sad to leave everyone, but we we know we will see them again at the weddings in the summer. We love and miss everyone so much. Thanks for making Christmas so special to us. It is always nice to have my love to come home with me. He has been such an amazing husband and it was only 2 years ago on Christmas day that he proposed. I have been the luckiest and happiest girl during those years and I can't wait for more to come. And yes, the Cruise it coming up very soon and we can't even wait!
A side note: I got into a bad habit this year of stating many times that I in fact hate Christmas. As much as I dislike the stress of traveling, shopping, crowds, and lines, I had no reason to say this. That would be saying that I hate the reason for this Holiday that is Christ's birth and his life. These things mean more to me than anything else and I wish I would've thought twice before letting those dumb words exit my mouth. I don't hate the season either, I just have a way of exagerating my feelings. I'm working on it.
I've already done my bargain hunting, and got some great stuff. Now I just need to get this place back to normal. Unpacking is never fun. Happy New Year! ( If you made it to the bottom, you deserve a big prize)
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
So I am awake hours before our breakfast is to be eaten, and presents are to be opened, just as I suspected. I've actually come to appreciate and count on this time I have in the morning that I wake up before anyone else. When I occasionally "sleep in" I feel behind and rushed, so this is my time to get myself together.
It's been such a wonderful Christmas visit here in Utah. I have enjoyed seeing everyone so much. All our hosts have been so hospitable, and we are so sad to be leavening tomorrow. For my own record, I'll make notes about everything on the schedule later so that I can remember all the fun details. There has been a little stress involved, but that is to be expected and it could've been much worse. Special thanks to Jonny for letting us pratically have his car while we were here. It was a lifesaver. I know it's not over, and the whole reason we are here hasn't even happened yet, but I just wanted to get a few notes down. We really have missed the Turpins and Drew. We did get to talk to both of the yesterday, and KC and I will be sure to show our videos and pictures around when we get home. It's always amazing how much the kids grow when we don't see them. Here are a couple pictures to tide them over. The kiddies and I had a cookie party and they all made the cutest cookies!
Julia is so cute and photogenic, she doesn't even need explanation.
Merry Christmas everyone!
It's been such a wonderful Christmas visit here in Utah. I have enjoyed seeing everyone so much. All our hosts have been so hospitable, and we are so sad to be leavening tomorrow. For my own record, I'll make notes about everything on the schedule later so that I can remember all the fun details. There has been a little stress involved, but that is to be expected and it could've been much worse. Special thanks to Jonny for letting us pratically have his car while we were here. It was a lifesaver. I know it's not over, and the whole reason we are here hasn't even happened yet, but I just wanted to get a few notes down. We really have missed the Turpins and Drew. We did get to talk to both of the yesterday, and KC and I will be sure to show our videos and pictures around when we get home. It's always amazing how much the kids grow when we don't see them. Here are a couple pictures to tide them over. The kiddies and I had a cookie party and they all made the cutest cookies!
Julia is so cute and photogenic, she doesn't even need explanation. 
Merry Christmas everyone!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas schedule updated once again
Well, a few adjustments have been made, but I am happy to make them. We are trying so hard to see everyone and do so many things. I hope we are able to make it all work. Everyone is being so patient (especially KC) with the craziness going on. Melody and Jonny have been nice to let us use their car to finally finish our Christmas Shopping and I consider that a HUGE accomplishment. We have been having the most wonderful time bonding with Julia and the Rejholecs and taking countless pictures, and we can't wait to see everyone else. This schedule can always be moved around, but I have to have it just to remember what is going on. Thanks for everyone's patience.
I am making this schedule to keep myself on track for the very few days we will be in Utah. There is always so much to do and it's hard to keep track of all of it, so this will be updated every time something is added/changed.
Thursday 12/20
-Fly out of BWI 12:10 pm, arrive in Utah 5:50 pm, picked up by Grahams.
-Go to dinner at about 8:30 (because of the delay with our flight and the crazy snow) at Los Hermanos with family.
-Sleep at Melody's.
Friday 12/21
-9:00 appointment for Mom and me to have our spider veins removed. (You may think this is silly, but it's true. I have them and I want them gone.)
-Last minute Christmas shopping, find out whose stockings we have from the Robinsons.
-Amber and Melody's preschool program. 6:00 pm.
-Sleep at Melody's
Saturday 12/22
-Annual get-together with Melody, Marianne, and Jill in the morning.
-Make cookies with nieces and nephews at Amber's.
-Emily's family party at Frisby's at 4:00.
-Go to Robinson's at 6:00.
-Sleep at Graham's
Sunday 12/23
-Church with Robinsons, 11:00.
-Eat with Robinsons.
-Annual Fondue at Graham's.
-Movie sleepover at Graham's, where we will most definitely watch Pee-wee's Christmas special.
Monday 12/24
-Recover from Sleepover.
-Visit Grandmother
-Big dinner with Robinsons (Rejholecs are coming too!)
- Sleep at Robinson's
Tuesday 12/25
-CHRISTMAS!!
-Maybe a movie.
-Make sure to check into SWA to get in the A group.
-I'm sure we'll do some giving and receiving of presents at some point.
-Sleep at Robinson's
Wednesday 12/26
-Leave SLC at 10:10 am, arrive in Maryland 7:00 pm. Bummer. Actually it won't be so bad because we'll have the cruise to look forward to! Hooray!
As you can see there is much to be added and conversations with the in-laws to be had before this is completed as this is mostly only the plans for my side, but it will just keep appearing until it is complete, and then it will be a great journal of all the happenings. If anyone on this schedule has a question or complaint, know that this is just an outline and a few things can be altered. I will be happy to make any necessary changes if possible. And I will desperately try to fit Cafe Rio and Purple Turtle in there somewhere.
We'll miss you TURPINS!
I am making this schedule to keep myself on track for the very few days we will be in Utah. There is always so much to do and it's hard to keep track of all of it, so this will be updated every time something is added/changed.
Thursday 12/20
-Fly out of BWI 12:10 pm, arrive in Utah 5:50 pm, picked up by Grahams.
-Go to dinner at about 8:30 (because of the delay with our flight and the crazy snow) at Los Hermanos with family.
-Sleep at Melody's.
Friday 12/21
-9:00 appointment for Mom and me to have our spider veins removed. (You may think this is silly, but it's true. I have them and I want them gone.)
-Last minute Christmas shopping, find out whose stockings we have from the Robinsons.
-Amber and Melody's preschool program. 6:00 pm.
-Sleep at Melody's
Saturday 12/22
-Annual get-together with Melody, Marianne, and Jill in the morning.
-Make cookies with nieces and nephews at Amber's.
-Emily's family party at Frisby's at 4:00.
-Go to Robinson's at 6:00.
-Sleep at Graham's
Sunday 12/23
-Church with Robinsons, 11:00.
-Eat with Robinsons.
-Annual Fondue at Graham's.
-Movie sleepover at Graham's, where we will most definitely watch Pee-wee's Christmas special.
Monday 12/24
-Recover from Sleepover.
-Visit Grandmother
-Big dinner with Robinsons (Rejholecs are coming too!)
- Sleep at Robinson's
Tuesday 12/25
-CHRISTMAS!!
-Maybe a movie.
-Make sure to check into SWA to get in the A group.
-I'm sure we'll do some giving and receiving of presents at some point.
-Sleep at Robinson's
Wednesday 12/26
-Leave SLC at 10:10 am, arrive in Maryland 7:00 pm. Bummer. Actually it won't be so bad because we'll have the cruise to look forward to! Hooray!
As you can see there is much to be added and conversations with the in-laws to be had before this is completed as this is mostly only the plans for my side, but it will just keep appearing until it is complete, and then it will be a great journal of all the happenings. If anyone on this schedule has a question or complaint, know that this is just an outline and a few things can be altered. I will be happy to make any necessary changes if possible. And I will desperately try to fit Cafe Rio and Purple Turtle in there somewhere.
We'll miss you TURPINS!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Almost home
Well, we are here at the Denver International Airport awaiting our flight in about an hour and a half. Luckily that have this free WiFi for everyone to use and it's been quite a nice way to use up the time. Actually, before I left home, I kept Matty's 100 things page open so when we were on the flight I could read it with out connecting. It has kept me with something to read while this slow connection tries to find everything I ask it to. Thanks Matt. Anyway, it was a semi-uneventful flight which is good. Quite a lot of turbulence and I was seriously afraid someone around me would puke. But no one did to my knowledge. Our shuttle driver from the parking lot was a character. In five minutes we learned how many years he has been married, how old he was when we got married (he was 19 and his wife was 16), how old he is now, how many kids/grandkids/great-grand kids he has and how he spends his time with them. One of his sons is a recovering alcoholic, so he drinks with his 28 year old grand son. More than you wanted to know? Me too. Anyway, he seemed to be filled with holiday cheer so it was alright. We almost volunteered to switch flight for a 100 dollar each voucher to put toward our next flight and get refunded for this flight, but a mean man stepped right in front of me and pushed his weight around taking one of the last two spaces they needed vacated. Anyway, we are almost home so all if fine and good. I had to take a few deep breaths and stop saying that I hoped that guy missed his flight, but now I'm fine. I stopped for a moment today in the midst of the long cramped and stuffy flight to realize hoe amazing it really is that this machine can carry hundreds of people every day across the country (to see our great families) in a matter of hours. It's easy to get caught up in the annoyances of it all, but I really am so grateful for the amazing resources me have.I'm very hungry and looking forward to our big mexican feast with everyone that can make it (see schedule). We can't wait to see you everyone!. Here is a picture of us awaiting our flight. Don't we look excited. . . (We really are, even in the picture doesn't show it. We just want to get this flying over with.)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Thanks
Well, I suppose this is a fix to my annoying blog annoyances. But, thanks to Hannah, my picture is nicely color corrected. She voluntarily made a few different versions of the picture (this one has darkened edges). I might switch them up. Thanks Hannah!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
I thought it was obvious
In our Christmas card we put this picture of us in the live nativity at the Washington DC temple when we participated last year. Apparently no one really knows it is us. So if you got a card, just know that that is not just any picture of Mary, Joseph, but it is in fact US playing them. Costco.com only let us print a certain number of characters, and I was too lazy to write individual notes. So now you know. Please pass the word along. Here is a link to the rest of the KCmatronics, as Matt calls them.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Grrrrrrrr!
For some reason Blogger has decided to do some weird thing and shrink my header photo. KC and I have been tweaking the html code left and right, and we are thinking it might take a while to figure this thing out. How obnoxious! KC likes it. He thinks it's mysterious. But I think you are missing out on very important elements of the picture, like the little boats perfectly placed in the picture, and our feet in the sand. One of these days we'll work it out. I guess at this busy time it's hard to dedicate hours to such a silly task. Until then, here is the ever-lovin photo.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Carrollton Ward Christmas Party
We had a splendid time at our ward Christmas party last night. We just got a new activities committee and they put together a great last minute gathering that I think everyone was happy to have attended. I got to the church at about 2 pm to help my friend with all the food. Janine is an awesome chef. She actually works in the food industry so she always knows what to do. She makes the best, non-typically Mormon food at all the parties so I was happy to help. She had several people make turkeys and we threw together some potatoes, stuffing, green beans, and all the rest. We had a huge dessert buffet that various people contributed to and everyone had plenty of food. I had to lead the music to the congregation, and the primary. Since we just had our program last week, we haven't had much time to practice any song for Christmas, but they did their best and that is good enough for me. There were presentations of different countries and how they celebrate Christmas time. And then we had a live nativity in Which KC and Andrew were Shepherds, and our friends the Murphys made a very cute Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and angel. Now it really feels like it's coming down to the wire with this whole Christmas thing and I hope I'm ready. I'm trying to not turn into a scrooge, but sometime I understand why the character exists. The stress can really get to you.
If you'll note, I added Cafe Rio, Purple Turtle, and Pee-wee's Christmas Special to my schedule. There has to be time to fit in those necessities somewhere.
If you'll note, I added Cafe Rio, Purple Turtle, and Pee-wee's Christmas Special to my schedule. There has to be time to fit in those necessities somewhere.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Almost done
So I gave my notice for my photography job a while ago. I work at two different hospitals and today was my last day at one of them. It's a pretty easy job that requires very few hours. I have enjoyed it very much, learned a little Spanish due to the location of the hospital and have learned a little about photography. It's just time to be done and move one. It's been about a year and a half and such a great opportunity for me. It's weird to think it's been that long. I'll miss a lot about it. The convenience, the flexible hours, the commute (remember how I walk to my main hospital) and seeing the happy (most of the time) families everyday. I have some other plans for the start of the new year so this is it for pictures. Only two more days next week and I'm finished.Another funny note, I for the first time, played Wii at the Drapers and have been sore ever since. I guess it's pretty good exersize and I actually had a good time playing it. I suppose not all video games are terrible wastes of time.
One more thing. WE WILL BE IN UTAH IN 6 DAYS! Just thought I'd add that.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Bright lights, big city
Who can name the movie?
So we ventur
ed to see the annual DC temple lights last weekend. We were with two other couples. One was married, and the other was on a blind date. The married girl set the single girl up with one of her friends and it actually seemed to go very well. We had Mexican food for dinner which is always fine by me, and then headed to the temple. They have concerts of some kind every night during the holiday season. This night it was an adult choir from Alexandria, VA. They were all so cheery-faced with their black turtle necks
under their festive sweaters. The music was...okay...but the best part was picking out
your favorite people to watch and let them entertain you the whole time. They used their (very decorated) music folders as props for actions in songs to add a dancing feature, and would add jovial chatter between songs to give a relaxed feel. You could just see the inside jokes oozing out of them any time the director would say something funny. They even informed us that they are going to be performing again next week
in their pajamas if we want to come. AND they they are hold auditions soon. Now, they were on pitch for the most part, but it didn't seem like you'd stand in line to audition. They did all seem happy and filled with holiday cheer, so it was fun and made for great conversation.
Well the lights were of course amazing. I don't particularly love the bright fluorescent purple, but the LED lights look pretty cool. We looked at a display of Nativity sets from all over the worlds and this one from India caught seemed to stand out a little. Compare the size of the baby Jesus to the rest of the pieces. I guess the maker was a little obvious about where they want your focal point to be. It's kind of freaky. We were laughing pretty hard. Now, we'll see if this night turns this blind date into something more.
So we ventur
ed to see the annual DC temple lights last weekend. We were with two other couples. One was married, and the other was on a blind date. The married girl set the single girl up with one of her friends and it actually seemed to go very well. We had Mexican food for dinner which is always fine by me, and then headed to the temple. They have concerts of some kind every night during the holiday season. This night it was an adult choir from Alexandria, VA. They were all so cheery-faced with their black turtle necks
under their festive sweaters. The music was...okay...but the best part was picking out
your favorite people to watch and let them entertain you the whole time. They used their (very decorated) music folders as props for actions in songs to add a dancing feature, and would add jovial chatter between songs to give a relaxed feel. You could just see the inside jokes oozing out of them any time the director would say something funny. They even informed us that they are going to be performing again next week
in their pajamas if we want to come. AND they they are hold auditions soon. Now, they were on pitch for the most part, but it didn't seem like you'd stand in line to audition. They did all seem happy and filled with holiday cheer, so it was fun and made for great conversation.Well the lights were of course amazing. I don't particularly love the bright fluorescent purple, but the LED lights look pretty cool. We looked at a display of Nativity sets from all over the worlds and this one from India caught seemed to stand out a little. Compare the size of the baby Jesus to the rest of the pieces. I guess the maker was a little obvious about where they want your focal point to be. It's kind of freaky. We were laughing pretty hard. Now, we'll see if this night turns this blind date into something more.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
I think I have a problem
Last night I needed a sweet fix. I needed one bad. It wasn't just any sweet fix. This is the problem I was talking about. It had to be a specific texture, temperature, and mouth feel to satisfy the need I had for something sweet. It is very unusal that we don't have something to quickly grab after dinner but right now it's really true. It was really cold last night and I had no desire to leave the house so I whipped something up. I call this Wassail Cake.
Now, I am not a huge fan of cake mixes, but even I know the value of convenience in times of need so I decided to use one in this circumstance. It was late, and I didn't feel like rummaging in the cupboards for all the ingredients. So, KC has a book called The Cake Mix Doctor. A lot of you may have heard of it. The Festive Cran-Orange Cake sounded like what I wanted and I had all the ingredients. But I mostly used it as a guideline. Here is the original recipe, and my changes in parenthesis:
Cake:
1 yellow cake mix with pudding (I used white)
1 cup fresh orange juice (when my only orange didn't yield enough juice, and I didn't feel like defrosting a concentrate, I decided to use the cold wassail in my fridge)
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c granulated sugar (I cut back on this a little since I knew the wassail was so sweet)
4 eggs (I only had three left and it was fine)
1 cup chopped dried cranberries (I only had fresh so I made a compote my cooking them with sugar a little water, and cinnamon until they were juicy, and sweet, and thick)
Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons OJ ( I used wassail again)
orange zest for garnish ( I put this into the cake itself, and used sliced almonds for the garnish)
Some quick instructions:
Turn oven to 350. Spray and flour a bundt pan. Mix the cake mix, oil, eggs, wassail, and sugar for a couple minutes in the mixer just like your friendly cake mix suggests. Pour half the mix in the pan, drop spoonfulls of the cranberry compote on the batter and slightly swirl to make sure all batter is covered. Pour the rest of the mix on top and bake for 40 minutes. When it's done, wait a couple minutes and then tap out of the pan onto a cooling rack. I needed mine asap so I didn't wait too long for it to cool. Glaze the cake and them top with almonds and a nice dusting of the good old powdered sugar. This should be done when it's fully cooled, but again, I couldn't wait. If you like wassail, you will love this. I know I did. In fact, I think I'll have some for breakfast right now.
I know I have a whole blog dedicated to food, but this was a special occasion.
Now, I am not a huge fan of cake mixes, but even I know the value of convenience in times of need so I decided to use one in this circumstance. It was late, and I didn't feel like rummaging in the cupboards for all the ingredients. So, KC has a book called The Cake Mix Doctor. A lot of you may have heard of it. The Festive Cran-Orange Cake sounded like what I wanted and I had all the ingredients. But I mostly used it as a guideline. Here is the original recipe, and my changes in parenthesis:Cake:
1 yellow cake mix with pudding (I used white)
1 cup fresh orange juice (when my only orange didn't yield enough juice, and I didn't feel like defrosting a concentrate, I decided to use the cold wassail in my fridge)
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c granulated sugar (I cut back on this a little since I knew the wassail was so sweet)
4 eggs (I only had three left and it was fine)
1 cup chopped dried cranberries (I only had fresh so I made a compote my cooking them with sugar a little water, and cinnamon until they were juicy, and sweet, and thick)
Glaze:
1 cup confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons OJ ( I used wassail again)
orange zest for garnish ( I put this into the cake itself, and used sliced almonds for the garnish)
Some quick instructions:
Turn oven to 350. Spray and flour a bundt pan. Mix the cake mix, oil, eggs, wassail, and sugar for a couple minutes in the mixer just like your friendly cake mix suggests. Pour half the mix in the pan, drop spoonfulls of the cranberry compote on the batter and slightly swirl to make sure all batter is covered. Pour the rest of the mix on top and bake for 40 minutes. When it's done, wait a couple minutes and then tap out of the pan onto a cooling rack. I needed mine asap so I didn't wait too long for it to cool. Glaze the cake and them top with almonds and a nice dusting of the good old powdered sugar. This should be done when it's fully cooled, but again, I couldn't wait. If you like wassail, you will love this. I know I did. In fact, I think I'll have some for breakfast right now.
I know I have a whole blog dedicated to food, but this was a special occasion.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
For crying out loud
First thing I heard when I turned on the news this morning was of the schools that are either closing early, or are completely closed today. Now, the only thing that is making this happen in the threat of snow. There might be some dust in the air, right now, but that's all. And, they are only expecting 1-2 inched accumulation all day. This would never happen in Utah. But maybe it's for the best since when I was watching the traffic report, many major roads are backed up with crashes from the light dusting. Come on, people! I'm excited for a little wintery snow to fall on us, but I'm not looking forward to the people that freak out and get in accidents in the freeway. I know all kids must be excited. I think I had one snow day growing up, and it was 2 feet or something like that.
Monday, December 03, 2007
When I reached in my purse...
...for a pair of sunglasses for my walk to work, I found all of these:
Now, I only purchased one of these. The others were gifts, or found in our car when we bought it (and whiped with alcohol before being worn). I try to keep one in each car, and one in my church bag, and purse, but I always walk inside forgetting they are still on my face. So if you are ever with you you can count on me having some for you to borrow.
Now, I only purchased one of these. The others were gifts, or found in our car when we bought it (and whiped with alcohol before being worn). I try to keep one in each car, and one in my church bag, and purse, but I always walk inside forgetting they are still on my face. So if you are ever with you you can count on me having some for you to borrow.
Sad day
Well, I don't want to sound too dramatic about something so trivial, but I was very sad when this happened. On Wednesday night I was relaxing on my bed when I heard the terrible sound of one of my prized dessert stands sliding off the shelf onto the slate tiled floor. I was yelling "NO!" as it almost seemed like slow motion when we both just watched it fall and crash into a million little pieces. I had placed a heavy platter behind it against the wall, and it slid down pushing the stand with it. I have several stands, but this was has sentimental value. When I worked at Just Cakes, I would eye this one everyday. The ladies I work with really wanted to get it for me for my wedding so they told me not to buy it. So they did give it to me and I've displayed it in my home ever since admiring it every time I see it. I have broken 3 important things in the last few weeks and this was just the last straw. I didn't even look the whole time KC was cleaning. There were tears involved. I felt bad to keep talking about it to my very understanding husband so I called my mom, and my dad answered so he got to hear all about it. Poor dad. He was very sympathetic too. What a guy. It is silly to get to upset, so I wrote this to move on. Here are the remains. The cute little top knob even broke into pieces. Sigh...
Sunday, December 02, 2007
A sweet song
I'm probably behind and everyone has been hearing this song for quite a while, but I only recently heard it and I really like it. I mostly listen to the news, my cds or am on the phone in my car. I rarely listen to the hip stations because I just don't love the music that is playing on them anymore (with the exception of Chritsmas music now. I do listen to that). But Every now and then there is something that catches my ear. I have never heard of this girl before, but I like how the lyrics makes me feel. It's probably a song my friends and I would've LOVED in high school since it describes puppy love so perfectly. It's so sweet and innocent. What girl doesn't love to be kissed on the nose. I Hope you love it too. I'd be interested to hear the rest of her songs. I like her style.
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