Friday's walk down Memory Lane 12/30/2011

This week's walk down memory lane features:
Mom and Dad, younger (about to have Anjee, my sister just older than me)

It's Mom's and Dad's 41st wedding anniversary this upcoming week.  I wonder if at the time this picture was taken they could see 40 years down the road?  Did they know they'd still be together?  Could they see their 5 children and 20 grandchildren?  Could they see the trials and struggles that they would have to overcome together?  Young love is so romantic and beautiful, but enduring love of 40 years fills it with an additional grace, wisdom and strength that make it awe-inspiring to behold.  Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!

Friday's walk down memory lane 12/23/2011

Family traditions:  Acting out the nativity on Christmas Eve.

Every year my family, like many other families, will read the scriptures associated with the birth of Christ from the New Testament and act out the nativity.  When I was younger, it was my dad who read the verses and my siblings and I who acted out the nativity.  I guess he wasn't always the narrotor though.

That's quite the head of hair baby Jesus has there.  Oh, and there's Smoky as a puppy again.  Funny how I never saw him in these pictures until this year.   

The most fun we had with it was when we were all in college.  This was taken during my winter Break my freshman  year while attending BYU.  My Aunt Nora was visiting and helped us ham it up and my new brother-in-law Michael was in on the fun. 

When Grandkids came along they were the baby Jesus.

The picture below was my first attempt at it without my siblings. That's a squirming baby Jordan wrapped up in a pillow case acting the part of baby Jesus, the nativity and nutcracker were the wisemen, the book filled in as the shepherds and his stuffed animals were to be the donkey and sheep.  I guess I felt I had to get a little creative with the props...a little too over the top looking back at it now.

Now my kids take over and there's no need to improvise much with our props...and there's never a fight (like there was in my own family growing up) over who is going to be Mary (one of the positives about having four boys and one girl).

The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, really was a miraculous event.  The simplicity and humility that surrounded this event make it even more beautiful than it already would have been.  The greatest of all, our Saviour, was born in the humblest of circumstances.  I love the song from the Children's primary Songbook entitled Stars were Gleaming.  Let me share the first verse with you below.

Stars were gleaming, shepherds dreaming and the night was dark and chill.

Angels story rang with glory.  Shepherds heard it on the hill.

Ah that singing, hear it ringing, earthward winging, Christmas bringing.

Hark and we can hear it still.

When I take time to reflect on the birth of our Saviour I truly can "hear it still".

Merry Christmas!

That's the way the Christmas ball seems to be bouncing.

Brad always teases me when I try to use trite quotes in my everyday speech.  Instead of the correct "water off a duck's back" or "fish out of water" with me it comes out mixed up "water off a fish's back" and "duck out of water."  So I'm glad my title sounds okay.  The saying is "that's the way the ball bounces", right?

It all started with my Christmas letter paper.  I needed to buy some so I could get my Christmas letters sent off and was planning a special trip to Michaels to get the job done (15 miles down the road) when I spotted some at my local Walgreens.  With the time and mileage I would save, I didn't even think about the quality of paper I was purchasing until I opened my package at home.  After all, paper is paper right?  When I pulled out my paper to start printing and noticed it was thinner than an onion skin, I began to worry a little.  20 failed prints later, I was finally able to figure out how to get the paper through my printer without tearing and sent my letters off.  Thankfully, this year I remembered all the people I wanted to send letters to as I had no more paper at the end of my printing for extra copies. 

Then there was the fondant.  I always mess up the fondant.  I don't know how others can keep it from crystalizing, but I can't.  In the past, I've just not attempted to make fondant because it has caused me such grief, but this year I couldn't resist the challenge.  Maybe the higher altitude and dryer climate would cure my fondant's crystalizing plague.  It didn't.  I made two different batches, talking to my mom over the phone as I made the second, and it didn't.  This wouldn't have been so bad but like I said in my Sunday post, my caramel also failed me.  And like I said in my Sunday post, my caramel NEVER fails me.  I could have given it away, dipped the apples in it (oh, and the apples that I bought at Costco for the dipping were mushy.  Costco never has mushy apples, what's up with that?), but then I think more than one of my friends would have chipped a tooth or two.  That's how hard my caramel turned out. 

Brad sent me to Kohl's to buy a gift for his assistant who has been working extra hard since they are short one assistant.  He wanted the gift to show his appreciation for how hard she has been working.  I am a terribly indecisive person, even when buying things for myself, so after two hours I finally had something picked out.  Jacob was ecstatic that we could finally leave the jewelry section and return home so he could play with his batman.  When I reached into my purse to take out my keys...they weren't there.  I had left them somewhere in the store.  After a  thorough search of the store and inquiring at customer service and every register for turned in keys (all of which lasted an additional 30-45 minutes), I decided that it was necessary for me to lay down on the muddy, wet with melted snow ground underneath my car to access the spare key.  Key in hand I decided to inquire at customer service one last time only to find out that yes, someone did indeed turn in my lost keys and I had to return to the cold, hard, wet winter ground to resecure my spare key in its hiding place.

While wrapping up the Christmas presents last night, I ran out of wrapping paper and I still have half of my present to wrap. 

Finally, to top it all off, there was the burnt caramel popcorn.  Brad had been complaining this week that all the treats that I make for Christmas always go to other people and never stay in the home.  I do this on purpose.  I don't want to gain any weight over Christmas so I make my candy, have 1 or 2 and give the rest away.  It's a perfect weight control regimine for me over the Holidays that still allows me to enjoy my favorite treats.  So, with Brad's complaint I decided to make his favorite treats yesterday.  I made spritz dipped in chocolate, chocolate caramel corn, pumpkin bread, almond roca and maple fudge.  Everything turned out and in my mind I made a mental note to make all of these things for treats next year, leaving out the fondant.  I'm still undecided on my caramel.  With how well it all turned out I felt on top of the candy making world...until this morning.  To set up the chocolate on the caramel popcorn, I decided to put the tray in fridge...and then forgot about it overnight.  When I went to take it out this morning, it was soggy and no one likes soggy popcorn even if it is covered in caramel and chocolate.  Discouraged, I had a sudden stroke of genious remembering that you could crisp up stale tortilla chips in the oven.  I decided to try it with my popcorn...and one of the trays burned. 

With the way the tide is flowing (Hey, I got that one right too!), I think I'll just have Brad make the rolls for Christmas Dinner.

On a brighter note, it is a winter wonderland outside today.  We got a foot of snow overnight and it is quite the sight to behold, my pictures just don't do it justice.

Sunday Reflections 12/18/2011

I can't believe Christmas is a week away.  I just started my candies last night.  I battled the altitude and after 4 failed caramel attempts(I've never had my caramel fail me) I ceded the battle to the altitude.  I'm just not sure if there will be goody plates from the Belts this year.  Well, maybe a few of the easy candies and cookies, but let's face it, only the hard to make candy tastes really good.

Speaking of cooking, Jordan is really into making fried eggs.  Yesterday he made the whole family breakfast...fried eggs and chocolate milk.  I know, it's a really healthy meal.  What can I say?   .  He was so proud of his efforts, that even I swallowed one down (minus the yolk) just for him and I don't really like fried eggs.  Now he says he just needs to master pancakes and his cooking repretoire will be complete.  If only I could have two things I cooked well and then my cooking repretoire would be complete:)

Jake is so friendly.  When we go out together to the store he is always making new friends, adults and children alike.  He talks to them about everything.  He tells them how he wants to buy something, but his mom won't let him and how he opened all of Grandma's Christmas presents that she sent to the whole family and how now Santa might not visit him now.  He shares with him the story behind his sunglasses that have one fake lens made out of moving tape and one real lens in them.  He tells them how he's not in school yet but all his brothers and sister are and how he doesn't wrestle like his brothers because Mom didn't buy him wrestling shoes.  He tells them all about our dog Red and how he's a puppy and so he eats his mittens and jumps up on everyone.  If you want to know anything about our family, just make friends with Jake.  He's glad to share.  When I listen to him, it makes me a little sad to think that he's my youngest and there are no 3 year olds behind him.

Friday's walk down memory lane 12/16/2011

Family traditions:  Santa Visits and Christmas Pajamas

I don't really remember going to visit Santa that much as a child, but I love the above picture of my sisters and I so I'm putting it in.  Do you think Santa really wears Kurt Rambis glasses...must be a fan of his.  And uh, Santa, your mustache is falling off. 

The Christmas pajamas were a tradition and sewed by my mom.  I don't have many pictures of the pajamas she made but just like the Christmas dresses, they always matched my siblings.

That's our dog Smoky in this picture.  He died sometime when I was 13 or 14.  He never actually lived in our house.  He was an outside dog, but my parents must have made an exception here when he was a puppy.  He must have been a Christmas present.

I don't make pajamas for my kids, I buy them.  Mom always comes through with the homemade pajamas for me though, so my kids get two sets each year.

Sunday Reflections 12/11/2011

To start this week off we had another snow day.  Even better than last week and the friends, this snow day coincided with Brad's day off from work and when Dad doesn't work, the kids are home and there's snow we're all having fun.  In the past, we've had to travel to find good sled hills, but here they are just in our back yard. 

Also with Brad, nothing's is fun unless it's challenging and of course, he had to choose a challenging path right through the some scrub oak bushes which led to some fun crashes too.

As we were sledding and Brad was looking at the hill we were sledding on and the powdery snow he thought that perhaps Kenzie, Ben, Riley and I  could all have our first experience on snow skis right there in our back yard too(Yes, I've never been skiing). 

With no ski lift Brad got a good workout toting the kids uphill in their skis:)

All this makes me realize how fortunate we are to be renting this home that has all the surrounding unoccupied land ...even if we sometimes have to deal with the cows that graze there.



Friday's walk down memory lane 12/9/2011

I love seeing the Christmas dresses during the holiday season.  It's even better when a little sister or two is dressed in the exact same dress.  It brings back memories of my own childhoood and the matching Christmas dresses my sisters and I wore (and the matching suits my younger brothers wore), all lovingly made by my mother. 

Eventually we outgrew wanting to wear the dresses my mother made.  The picture above was the last set of the matching dresses.  I'm not quite sure why my sisters weren't in the picture with me, but I know they each had a dress just like mine.  I must have been in the 5th grade here, so Anjee would have been in the 7th and Missy in the 8th and I'm pretty sure that we all told her it was time to stop making the matching dresses.  We were much too mature by then to be seen matching.  I know none of us appreciated the hours spent by Mom making these dresses, but looking back now it's a way I can see that she showed her love for us.  No time spent was too much time.  And when I see those sisters now dressed up like my sisters and I were so many years ago, I can't help but smile and feel the spirit of Christmas rush into my heart.

Of course, eventually Mom had Grandchildren ...

and they got matching outfits too:) 

Sunday Reflections 12/4/2011

I don't have much time today so let me just post a few highlights of the week and some pictures I've been meaning to put up for a while.

• We had a snow day on the 1st of December and a two hour delay on the 2nd.  What better way to bring in December, right?  Even more, they had good friends over to play in the snow with on the 2nd because I was watching my friend's children while she had her baby.  Friends, snow and no school...sounds pretty good to me:)  Red LOVES the Snow. 

•  Up until the recent snow the kids have been riding dirt bikes, riding dirt bikes, and riding some more dirt bikes.  Here are a few pictures Brad took of the kids catching some HUGE AIR!! 

• We put up our Christmas tree today.  I tried to get some pictures of the kids in front of it.  Here is the fruit of today's labor.

• Dad woke up early and surprised us with homemade cinnamon rolls yesterday.  He's been baking a lot lately which I appreciate.  In fact, today he made us Amish apple bread.  Here's some pictures of the whole family eating and one random "wook mom, I'm fwying!" picture of Jake.

• Mckenzie and I went to see the musical Fiddler on the Roof last night.  It was done by a broadway traveling group and we both loved it. 

Friday's Walk Down Memory Lane 12/2/2011

Today's walk down Memory lane features:  Brad, age 31

Location:  Las Vegas, Nevada

During Dental School, as if he didn't have enough going on already with his studies, Brad decided he would go crazy if he didn't have something to help him blow off some steam and so he decided to build himself a new motorcycle.  Apparently all the years he had been riding he had never had the pleasure of being able to afford a new motorcycle so he always fixed up old stuff and made due the best he could.  And even though he still couldn't actually afford to go to the motorcycle store and buy a "new" one he decided he would just build one instead.  I mean, he didn't fabricate the motor, or the pistons, or mold the plastics, but he put a super powerful motor from a bike no longer in production into a light, modern aluminum chassy that apparently would be that much faster and funner all at the same time.   He cannibalized one bike for the motor and pipe and then assembled everything else piece by piece to have his own homemade super bike, an AF CR500.  He probably wouldn't like my description here of how he just put different pieces together, that makes it sound like it was an easy little puzzle he completed on a Sunday afternoon and it wasn't.  He had to weld and make other special modifications just to get the motor into the new frame.  In the end, it turned out great and provided him with a badly needed stress reliever during a particularly hard time in Dental School.  Brad truly amazes me at what he can do when he puts his mind to it.  He has put several thousand hard off road miles on it since and it still runs today.