izzy's hair party

that's right. izzy's hair always has a party during naptime. well, luke's decided to join in the fun.

santa's #

last night we were trying to get max to stay in bed. this kid has issues with staying in bed...seriously. any tips would be appreciated. anyway, he had come up about 10 times and i started in on the 'santa won't bring you any presents' threat. he didn't seem to buy it at first. i told him i would 'call him right now and tell him you weren't listening and to put your name on the naughty list.' max, very seriously, asked, 'you know santa's cell phone number?!' i tried to hide my giggle and said, 'yes, and i can call him right now!' then max asked me for the number. smart kid. i fibbed my way through that one - saying i couldn't tell him, it was only for parents to know. watching the wheels turn through that kids head was priceless. love this season for the magic.

neighbor gifts 2008

this year my list of gifts given to neighbors went from 'anyone and everyone in a 3 block radius' to actual neighbors. i decided i didn't need to make 60+ gifts. i opted for 30 instead. here is what i gave. and to those of you who got one, i hope you enjoy it!

really, it's just a pretty way of packaging up 'yummy holiday smell'. (it's all about presentation, really.)

take an orange, a lemon and a lime. slice them up and layer them in a quart sized mason jar. add a handful of fresh cranberries on top. fill the jar with water and put a lid on. in the spice bag i put 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 whole nutmeg and a couple of tablespoons of mulling spice (bought at the local nutrition store). cinch the bag strings, tie around the jar, tie ribbon around the jar, add a cute tag and voila! just dump the contents of the jar and spice bag into a small saucepan. put on the stove to simmer on low and enjoy the smell. pretty simple and let me tell you, it smells wonderful!

thanksgiving #2

mike is a fabulous cook. i'm so-so. surprisingly, neither of us have ever cooked a turkey. well, mike decided that last sunday was the day for him to take a stab at adding to his culinary skills. mike always cooks on sunday. he is wonderful! it's so nice for me to not have to worry about sunday dinner. even if i have something planned to fix, he'll usually come in the kitchen to help and end up taking over and finishing it up. i love it. (thanks, honey.) anyway, he decided we needed a 2nd big thanksgiving dinner. here are the results. it was delicious!!

now i guess it's my turn. i have images of christmas vacation running through my mind. maybe i'll try next year.

rs enrichment

somewhere in all of these festivities we had our annual relief society enrichment dinner. which i was in charge of. sort of. that's a whole different story. anyway, here are some pics from the evening. really, i just took care of the decorations, a small program and the gift we gave each sister. simple. a little brown kraft paper and fun ribbons with empty boxes and there you have it!

for our gift i (with some help) painted 2" wooden blocks, sanded the edges, made them look old and then tied ribbon around to look like a gift. get great instructions on how-to here.
i attached a tag that said:

an act of service you can give

to family members where you live

leave this present, then depart

the truest gifts come from the heart

the idea is this. i make max's bed and leave the present on his pillow. he then takes the present, and picks up mike's shoes that are always left in the middle of the floor and leaves the present there. mike then puts jake's coat away and round it goes. the hope is that we will all look for ways to serve each other throughout the season. and remember the true meaning of christmas by looking for ways to give of ourselves.

tradition

we have very few traditions. well, no really big ones anyway. i didn't have many growing up either. this is one we have started and, even with my attempts to skip this year, still happened and probably will for years to come. i doubt mike and the boys will let us ever not go cut down our christmas tree. this year was easy...we found the perfect tree right away!this is what we'll end up keeping:

mike revving up the chainsaw:

the cut:

and max just having a good time:

mike & luke

loading into the trailer with helpers:

luke was trying to put grass up my nose. what a sweet boy.

he thought it was hilarious.
a fun tradition. maybe i'll remember to take a picture of the tree all lit and decorated. it really is a good one!

thanksgiving

this year for thanksgiving we went down to st. george with mike's family. his mom has a time share down there and we each had our own condo to stay in. it was nice! there was lots of relaxing and food. here are some turkey day pics for you to enjoy:

friday mike and i took the kids on a few little hikes up snow canyon.

fun until i saw this. i was nervous and jumpy the rest of the time. (yes, it's real and about the size of my hand.)then on saturday - a drive through zion national park

and over to see some property mike's mom and her husband own.

a long day...and here's the proof. all in all it was a great trip. fun to spend time together as a family and fun to see mike's mom and cliff (they live in california.) we have so much to be thankful for and it's good to be reminded.