A Good Christmas

We didn't get to join the Hales for the Christmas Eve program, because Clint was sick and barely able to stand for a minute at a time. We had our quiet, traditional Eve here. We watched Luke II, then read it and sang a very tiny bit. Then the boys got to open their new PJs and books. This year I got all the books and videos at the library sale. The boys loved them! Tal got a graphic novel adaptation of The Hobbit. Cole got the Gnome Book, Jack a hidden dragon book and Trace got Make Way for Ducklings. Much higher quality books that I could get on sale at a store, and the boys didn't even comment on the fact that they were used.

Aunt Jenny was kind enough to give us some of the fried ice cream that she'd prepared for the Huntsville Mexican feast. I'm pretty sure you could die from that stuff. It is that good. That will have to be a tradition! Cole and Tal could not get past their reservations about the brown stuff, but Jack, Trace, Clint and I devoured ours.

Here is our Christmas morning feast. Birthday cake for Jesus, jerky, and OJ.

The Cub Scouts go Live on TV!

When we lived in Memphis one of the members of our ward was a weather woman on TV, Jill Margetts. When we got here to Salt Lake I saw her picture on a billboard and realized that she had transferred to a Salt Lake City station. I talked to her on Face Book and she invited the boys to the station. They were so good. They were on the edge of the set during a broadcast and were completely silent. Then Jill brought them to the green wall and she did a live shot with them. She said, "Are you boys excited for Christmas?" They yelled Yeah!!! Then she said, "The question is will it be a white one? I'll tell you after this break." It was a very fun experience for the boys.

Temple Square Lights

We went to Temple Square to see the lights for family night. By Jack's request, we took Trax from the downtown library. "In my whole life I've never got to ride the trolley!" Since I rode the Trax with the cub scouts last year, they changed the lines, so we had to transfer at the courthouse. I think that made it more fun. I love public transportation. Clint was not excited about the extra hassle it provided, (it did add an hour on a school night), but he did seemed to enjoy figuring it all out. At the end of the ride Jack said, "I hate trains they make me fall down!" I had to laugh, and said, "Jack, you are the reason we are on this train!" Temple Square itself was as lovely as usual. It wasn't too, too cold. And we got to see the nativity and all the lights on the main square. We dropped into the Tabernacle for a bit too. We went up to see the Christus with 300 other people. It's a good thing we live so close. We'll have to come back for our own private viewing.

Elementary Christmas Concert

The fourth through sixth grades had their Christmas Concert. I'm always impressed when my boys sing all those words! It's a blessing to be in a school with choir, band and art instructors!

Jack's First Grade Carols at the Care Center

I drove over to the West Valley to watch Jack's grade sing at a nursing home.

He was surprised to see me. That night at dinner he recited one of the poems.

I made a little snow ball,

As perfect as can be.

I thought I'd keep it as a pet, 

And let it sleep with me. 

I made it some pajamas, 

And a pillow for his head. 

Last night it ran away, 

But first it wet the bed!

Cole's Birthday

Cole woke up early the morning of his birthday. Just in time to see this lunar eclipse! The boys were so jazzed. It was their first time seeing an eclipse.

When you are speedy like Cole you can open all your presents in under 30 seconds.

Family cake ceremony. Can you believe Cole is 9?

A week later he had his party at Laserquest. 

The traditional Laser Quest mummification by TP.

Suiting up.

Noah, Jack, Sage, Cole and Bridger. (Talmage was home sick)

Back at home, opening his friends presents. All the boys got LEGO mystery minifigures.

Cake ceremony with friends. We love our Cole.

Clint's Getting Older and Stronger

We were having a Family Home Evening about the things we appreciate about our birthday boys, Dad and Cole. And we got to wondering...with Dad getting old and all, could he still do a push-up with the boys on his back?

Yep! And come to think of it, last time Trace wasn't up there. That's more than 170 lbs. of boys! We're going to make this a yearly tradition.

The night of Clint's birthday we had the Strongs and Nielsens over for the cake ceremony.

It looks like Clint doesn't like boys spitting on his cake. Happy Birthday, Clint! 42 looks great on you!

Christmas in the Glen

This year we were so excited to go to the live Nativity in the Glen because Clint was going to be in it! He wouldn't tell us which part he was so we were in suspense. Cara and her kids came up from Lehi, and luckily the Pulsiphers and Browns arrived at the same time and helped Cara and I keep track of our seven kids, which can be a trick in a massive crowd lit only by candlelight! It was magical as last year, and this year we were layered much better and were comfy in the bitter cold.

BYU Basketball beats the Oregon Ducks!

Talmage is not mad. He's trying to look like the fierce BYU fan he is. We got free tickets from our friend, Dave Nielsen, who works at the Church Office Building. Tal and Jack were stoked and spent the hours prior making fan flags and designing their face paint. What you can't see in this picture is that Tal's shirt could fit a 300 lb. man--it was the only one for sale at our local grocery store. It's time for a trip to the BYU Bookstore!

The game was in the Jazz' home--the Energy Solutions Arena. I'm such an alien to Salt Lake City I thought it was a new name for the Salt Palace and I took the boys on a hike around four blocks before we ended up at the arena, which was exactly across the street from our parking lot! It was about 30 degrees with a chilly wind! The boys didn't whine much at all, but I'm sure that this experience will increase their mistrust of my sense of direction! At least the parking attendant liked the boys' face paint and let us in the lot for free.

Festival of the Trees

I haven't been to the Festival of the Trees since 1987, when my Laurel class put together a tree, under the artistic direction of Lorna Rich. I was so excited to take my boys! We probably saw about 20% of the thousands of trees, then we were pooped! The boys favorite were the Lego trees, no surprise. Jack also liked the Plaid Christmas, as he's really into the Irish these days!

Welcome Home, Elder Jacob McKay!

It was such a treat to be at the airport to see Jacob put his feet on home ground. Any time my boys spend around the great McKay boys (and girls) is time well spent.

This is what we've been listening to around our house. Our family is working on memorizing the 23rd Psalm, so I was poking around You Tube to try to find a good vocal rendition of it. I like this even better than the John Rutter version, forgive me, but it really is beautiful and the 70s rock edge makes it attractive to the boys. The boys have been singing it around the house. It's especially hilarious to hear Trace sing, "The Lord is my Scheffner."
Keith Green! I'd never even heard of him, but what a beautiful talent and voice! I bought his greatest hits CD.

Old Fashioned Cranberry Relish

Clint's Mom was reminiscing about a cranberry relish that she remembered making as a girl. It had a whole orange with the peel and everything. Magical Google found it for us. It is wonderful. 

Cranberry Relish Recipe

Prep time: 15 min.

Ingredients:

            2 cups washed raw cranberries

            2 skinned and cored tart apples

            1 large, whole (peel ON) seedless orange, cut into sections—remove green stem.

            ½ to 2 cups sugar

Grind it all up in the food processor (or an old-fashioned grinder, if you have one). Be careful not to over-process, or you will have mush.  Mix in the sugar. Let sit at room temperature until the sugar dissolves—about 45 minutes. Store in the refrigerator.

We did one cup of sugar. Next time I'll only do 1/2 cup. 

One day I'll get some good skiing shots

But until then... here are the boys skiing this Thanksgiving weekend. They are using poles for the first time.

Jack

Tal

Happy Birthday Haley

It was Haley's 13th birthday on November 13th. We celebrated with cake and invited the Pulsiphers over to share it with us. Then we had our annual watching of the Haley video. The boy's favorite part is when she is hunting for eggs in the playground behind our house in Maryland. Trace has been talking about Haley a lot lately. He tells his friends, "Don't do that or my big sister Haley will beat you up!"

Jack Has His Two Minutes of Fame

It was Jack's big day in his homeroom and he got to read a book he created all about himself. Afterwards he asked if there were any comments or questions. About seven kids raised their hands and said, "I've been to Jack's house and held Jack's rat." The teacher finally said, no more comments like that. But there were at least four other kids who could have said the same thing. Someone said, "Man, you have a lot of playdates!" Jack is a very friendly boy.

Why We Had Kids

A little higher, Trace.

Halloween

Trace chose to be a skeleton! Luckily I'd made this for Cole years ago.

Talmage is Aries, the God of War. You know he loves Greek Mythology, right?

  

Cole was a ghoul, because his Mom was too cheap to make him a new skeleton costume.

Jack is an Irish Warrior. We had to google reenactors for this one. They wore animal skins and plaid, or went naked with blue face paint. We chose the clothed version. He's wearing a "coonskin" hat under his helmet with the tail tucked in!

Here are the boys at their school parade.

Tal's best friend, Isabella, went as Demeter. They share a love of mythology.  Her mother is a clothing designer.

I talked to the mom who made this from scratch. It's paper mache on the head, an elaborate cage and strap system to attach it to the head, all covered in feather boas!