Christmas Holiday 2011

Happy Holidays 2011!!! Another year is about to end and another one is about to begin.  Every year Christmas comes and goes, faster and faster.  I must be getting old because I remember when I was younger and it used to feel like an eternity passed between each Christmas.  I love everything about Christmas and the Holidays!  The spirit, the family, the friends, the service, the gifts, the feelings, and most importantly, the birth of Jesus Christ.  I admit that I do love all the treats and the shopping and the fun and the stress that surround Christmas but I feel like we found a really good balance this year of the things that mattered most.  I LOVED having Christmas on a Sunday this year!  Our sacrament program was wonderful and I loved the spirit it brought into our home and family for Christmas Day!  We recently finished reading the Book of Mormon as a family and I feel like that really helped keep the spirit strong in our house this Season.  I get warm fuzzies just thinking about how much I've loved the this past month!  Here are a few of the  fun things we did:

John and I went to a really fun sweater party and white elephant gift exchange at our good friend's - Mandy and Justin's house.  It was a total blast!  We ate a lot and laughed a lot (mostly over the white elephant gifts:)) John and I scored big time - we came home with a New Moon board game and a mini massager. My friend, Melanie, was nice enough to loan us the awesome sweaters we wore.  She also gave me a fantastic white elephant gift to give away - I won't say what it was, but it got lots of attention!



We got an early Christmas surprise!  Two weeks before Christmas we added a new little puppy to our family. She is a salt and pepper purebred miniature schnauzer named Trixy (Luke named her after the girl on the Speed Racer movie).  Our good friends (and old neighbors), Nathan and Jeanie, were kind enough to breed their dog, India and we were lucky enough to get one of her cute puppies.  I've always said that I would never have an inside dog, but we instantly fell in love with this little girl.  It is like having a baby in the house again (the whining and the potty training, etc) but she has been a truly joyful addition to our house.  Kaycee and Luke are great with her and they are definitely doing their part as responsible owners.  Isn't she so cute?

 On the 21st we headed out to Christmas Meadows to have some Christmas fun with my family for a couple of nights.  We stayed in a really nice cabin together and it was great because it snowed lightly the whole first day we were there.  We had a beautiful view out the back windows.  It was so nice to see some snow before Christmas (since it was obviously not going to be snowing around here anytime soon!).  We drank lots of hot chocolate!!! All the cousins had a blast playing together and they all spent the first night sleeping together in the loft!  The kids loved being thrown on the giant love sacs and they loved riding down the stairs in their sleeping bags.  They went crazy and had fun!

 

 We went snowmobiling all day Thursday. We had 5 two-up snowmobiles so there was plenty to go around. My first time out I only lasted an hour because it was soooo cold (0 degrees)! I added to my clothing on my 2nd trip out (including hand and foot warmers) and was much warmer and had so much more fun! I also learned that driving was the way to stay nice and toasty! There were hand warmers on the machines and your feet were next to the motor so they stayed warmer. It was beautiful country and it was so fun to explore! John (Mr. Outdoorsman himself) was on the machines for almost 5 hours straight before taking a break to eat. Then he was right back out again for another couple of hours! The kids also played in the snow; snowball fighting, making snow angels, building a snowman and going tubing.



 The nights were really cold so we stayed inside and watched movies and played games.  We also had a fun little Christmas party.  Most importantly we made some more great memories!  Thanks mom and dad!

 We had a really low key Christmas Eve night this year.  We went to see The Muppet Movie with Blake and Tyler and Raleigh in the afternoon (it was a fabulous movie and I highly recommend it.  Reminds me of my childhood).  Then I made a mini feast of our traditional ham, twice baked potatoes, broccoli, Christmas punch and rolls.  It was weird not to be having a big party (at my house) but it was also really nice.  Andrew and Grandma Chamberlain came over to have some snacks, watch Alvin and the Chipmunks the movie, watch the kids open their traditional PJ's and read the Christmas story with us.  It was really fun and we were glad that they could come over.

On Christmas Day, we went to church, opened presents, visited John's family and had brunch, and then went to my cousin, Bethany's house for dinner.  Sorry I don't have a lot of pictures.  I think I was just enjoying the day too much! 

We had a wonderful Christmas and I am counting on a fabulous New Year too!;)

Totally random!

I know this is random but I just wanted to mention that our Ragnar team (the Jug Luggers) took third place in our division at the LasVegas Ragnar.  We were sent these bronze batons.  Our team kind of had to laugh about that because we think that the other teams in our division must have been really slow considering the fact that our van 1 was lost from their teammate for over an hour and then they were late at an exchange point. It's totally awesome and totally funny!  It's great!!! 

Quick November

I can't believe November is over and the Holidays are here!  November went by so fast!!! It was a great month and a really busy month too.  We just had a lot of random stuff going on.  Some of the highlights include Young Women in Excellence and John turning 38.  Kaycee went to her winter overnighter 6th grade camp and John went as a volunteer.  They both had a blast and I'm glad they got to spend some daddy/daughter time together.  John took a few pictures :

 I had Thanksgiving at my house this year for the very first time.  It was a lot of fun, and a LOT of work!  My mom and dad stayed with us (thank heavens) and we started all our prep work the day before.  I am so glad my mom was able to help - I don't know how anyone can pull Thanksgiving off without some major help in the kitchen.  The food was delicious!  We brined the turkey the night before and basted it in butter. It was the best turkey I've ever eaten!  The downside is that a lot of my family members were sick or had been sick and not even half of the food was eaten. We had lots of leftovers.  It's crazy how you spend days cooking and preparing for Thanksgiving and then the meal is over in 15-20 minutes. 

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a centerpiece so I borrowed the idea of indian corn and gourds in a trifle bowl from Martha Stewart and I loved the way it turned out.  The best part is that our centerpiece was completely free!

18 lbs. of perfection!

After dinner we decided to keep the mess going and make gingerbread houses. This has been a tradition ever since I was little.  My mom bakes real,  mini gingerbread houses every year to decorate.  It's one of the grandkids favorite traditions.



Kaycee, Nat and Luke's houses

Thanksgiving night (when I was so tired I wanted to die), John and I went Black Friday shopping at Walmart.  This was my first year of actually going to the store.  We hit the 10pm and 12am sale.  It was a total rush!!! I loved every minute of it.  As long as you are a team player, you are good to go.  We weren't out to get any of the big ticket items this year and we got everything we wanted.  The next morning we took the kids out to go Black Friday shopping.  It was a blast!

I spent the rest of Thanksgiving cleaning my house and putting up Christmas decorations.  I love the spirit Christmas brings into our home.  It gives me warm fuzzys!

It's Autumn Time

We have had a lot going on this fall!  I do so love the fall.  I especially love fall cooking - pumpkin bread, soups, caramel apples, autumn fruit dip, hot chocolate, spiced cider.  Yum!!! The weather has been playing the usual tricks - jumping from hot to cold and back again.  The colors of the trees are beautiful and I am so excited to carve pumpkins!  The one part of fall I hate - the dreaded sinus infection!  I'm dealing with it right now as I'm typing.  I get one every fall and every spring with the change of the weather and usually one more in between.  I've been to the ear, nose, throat doctor and have medication but it doesn't really matter.  I can always tell when one is about to start and then I know i'll be miserable for at least 2 weeks.  I'd honestly rather have the flu or strep throat - at least they go away faster. The headaches and sinus pressure are so miserable.  It hurts to chew and I want to cry because I can't taste the food I eat.  Not to mention the constant blowing of the nose!  Ok. Enough complaining....

So, moving on.  Luke had his first Pinewood Derby!  He was so excited and it's all he could talk about for weeks.  He had a lot of fun!  He is so dang cute in his scout uniform!  

Luke insisted on having a Speed Racer pinewood derby car.  John cut it out and Luke helped him paint it.  He won the most original design.

Speed Racer



Luke wanted to win first place really, really bad.  He ended up taking first in 1 of his 3 races but he didn't win overall.  He was pretty bummed about it but now he's looking forward to next year's derby!

Kaycee was crowned "Otter of the Month" for November in Mrs. Hackings class.  Mrs. Hacking said she chose Kaycee because she was responsible, getting her work done on time, finding new things to do, and always enriching her learning.  She stays on task, is friendly and helps the other students.  We are so proud of Kaycee!

Kaycee was also chosen to be on the student council this year!  She attended the Student Council Leadership Conference at BYU two days ago and loved it! He favorite speaker was John Bytheway. She had fun meeting students from other schools and she asked me if she could type her notes on the computer.  She is so perfect for the job!


Kaycee Otter Award

A new tradition we started last year was to attend Oddysey Dance Theater's THRILLER every October.  Last year we watched our first show at Kingsbury Hall in Salt Lake.  It was so spectacular that we decided to make it a tradtition.  This year we decided to watch Thriller at the Franklin Covey Center in Provo.  We had front row, center seats.  We loved it again!!! This time I brought my camera.  You can't take pictures during the show but they have zombie's walking around at intermission and at the end of the show.  They do every kind of dance like pointe, modern, stomp, tap and irish riverdance. The special effects are awesome and it's so funny and a little scary at the same time.  Because we sat on the front row we got to interact with some of the characters of the show.  A werewolf came down and sniffed John and said that he stunk.  Lorena Bobitt (thank heavens my kids have no idea who she is) held John's hand and then brought Luke up front with her and danced with him.  The whole crowd went wild and Luke just kind of looked down and smiled.  I know he thought he was cool.  It was so funny and so cute!


All the zombies are part of the cast, they are some of the dancers. They are really freaky and won't talk with you but will hiss at you and jump in your face.




They have freaky eyes.




Theses werewolves were hilarious and amazing stomp dancers.




In front of the Thriller poster!

We had a family Halloween party at aunt Josalyn's house! It was a warm, beautiful day and we all had fun getting dressed up.  I was a lady bug, Kaycee was an 80's rocker, Luke was a Michael Jackson zombie and even John dressed up at the last minute as a nerdy 80's b-ball player.

Kaycee won the most original costume, Luke won the scariest costume and Luke's random pumpkin that he carved at a friend's house won 1st  place:)!!!

There was a cake walk



a  fish pond



and Kaycee's famous face painting station




Everyone kept telling me that Kaycee looked 16 in her costume.  I wish she would quit growing.  She's only 12!




All the little boys - including dramatic Luke!




All the girls!

 Kaycee was nice enough to allow me to run in the Las Vegas Ragnar this last weekend - starting on her 12th birthday!!! Luckily Kaycee was well taken care by Grandma B in St. George.  She was served a favorite dinner and her favorite dessert, brownies.  She also got to see The Lion King in Vegas.  She had a fun birthday!  Vegas Ragnar! Wow! What a thrilling experience.  It was so much fun! I was on a team of all girls.  There were 12 of us total - six per van.  I was in van 2.  I was runner #7.  I had the longest, hardest legs of the race.  My first leg was 6.1 miles, labeled very hard, my second leg was 6 miles, labeled hard and my third leg was 10.2 miles labeled very hard.  I trained very hard all summer (starting in June) and all my training paid off!  All of my legs were uphill but it was my first leg that was the hardest.  It was so burning hot and my body had a hard time adjusting to the temperature.  I got totally dehydrated and I wanted to die (literally) but in the end I pushed through and did it!  My second leg was awesome and my third leg rocked.  It was straight up a canyon for 6.5 miles but I didn't walk at all and then I booked it down the 3. 7 mile hill.  It was an amazing experience and I would totally do it again.  It has definitely taken a toll on my body (the lack of sleep, etc).  I wanted to feel proud of myself and I do.  I had a lot of fun with my fellow "jug luggers" and it was great getting to know the ladies in my van.  We went through a lot together in a short amount of time. 


Coming through the finish line!




My team.  The Jug Luggers. Our motto was "Running is hard, running with jugs is harder".  The finisher medals were awesome!  From left: Amy, Stephanie, Michelle, Amy, Kara (our team captain), Erica, me, Jessica, Emily, Stephanie, Marie and Tiffany




My nickname was Nugget Natalie

 We had our annual primary program this month.  My kids both did a wonderful job!  They both had their parts memorized and they both sang the songs really well. This was a big year for us because it was Kaycee's last primary program.  She is now in Young Women's.  Because it was her last program, she had a big part in the program.  She presented a New Testament to our ward mission leader, she led the whole primary in the 8th article of faith and then she wrote a talk about an experience she had with faith.  The whole program was wonderful and all the kids did a great job! It was awesome!


I love these two!

Yep.  Kaycee's officially a YW now.  She attended her first activity on Wednesday.  We did a murder mystery dinner.  Bradley Buff was killed during the Miss Hollywood pageant and we had to figure out who did it.  Kaycee was Petunia Peacock - the reigning Miss Hollywood who was also known as "quick hands" for her piano playing ability.  She was funny and played her part really well.  I was a detective.  In the end it was discovered that it was Rhonda Rainbow who committed the murder.  Some mother's of our YW hosted different parts of the evening at their houses (drinks, appetizer, salad, dinner, dessert).  It was a fun night and the girls had a lot of fun.  I am so lucky to be in YW! 



John carved these awesome pumpkins for the kids.  They each picked out a design this year - nobody wanted to carve a regular old jack-o-lantern.  John does a good job.  The kids loved them.  Luke picked the wolves and Kaycee picked the cat! 





The kids had fun trick-or treating with their friends.  They got a lot of treats including 3 big candy bars, scones and cider.  We love Halloween candy at our house.:)




Luke and Karter had fun.  Everyone was giving me a hard time for "driving" my kids around on such a beautiful night.  We had a lot of ground to cover and I had a sinus infection.  Go figure!