Wrapping up

It's been a year to remember. Over the past couple weeks we've spent time with family, gone skiing, sledding, seen a movie, eaten too much, and been spoiled (but hopefully not rotten!) by the generosity of others. 2008 is on tap to be even better! Happy New Year!
The Tree





















These kids made the "NICE" list!























Gator caught on quick!





















Uncle D & Bunch



















There was a "Snowbow" (it was snowing, not raining!)
We'd never seen one of them before!

I've got a golden ticket!

Okay, I'm definitely late comin' to this party, but thus far in my life, I haven't ever gone to a chocolate shop and hand-picked a box of my favorites just for myself. So last week when my darling friend "R" gave me a gift certificate to See's Candies, I went on down to the candy store, and with the help of the kind worker, picked out all my favorites from their wide selection of chocolates. And then, I proceeded to do what I have never been able to do to all the communal boxes of chocolates that have passed through my life...thus fulfilling one of my deprived-childhood fantasies:














YUMMY! ☺

For Sir Kelly Lee

Sometimes I create situations for myself. Like this story. We have a cousin who got a new email address and sent it to me. I realized I didn't have a postal address for their family, but rather than just ask for that too, I wrote him the following reply:

okay, now i have a real email address, so if you'd tack on your postal address, you'll become of the lucky jeuls christmas card recipients. people all over the world will envy you. you'll display it proudly on your fridge, or perhaps inside your bathroom medicine cabinet. when nosy people peak inside to see what drugs you're snarfing, they'll see my christmas card, and promptly forget about your drugs, so distracted and amazed, nay, green with envy that you got one. you'll hire security detail to stand outside the bathroom to check them when they come out. they'll know this, so they'll regretfully leave said card there, and go away plotting how they, too, could get their hands on this much coveted card. they'll start scheming on how to get into the family, believing this to be the best course of action. boys far too old will start trying to arrange to marry your girls. as for you, it'll become next to impossible for you to walk unescorted in public because people will try to get close to you in an effort to get on my christmas card list. it'll make our trek to Olive Garden look like a sprint in comparisson. all because you sent me your address.

Why I do these things is beyond me...but there it was. Now I had to come up with some magnificent Christmas card or lose face. So One night, I started this project. I took lots of old christmas cards, and cut them into 2x2" squares.











Then I hole punched 8 holes into each square.













Once completed, I laid them out in a grid on the floor, and then with a needle & yarn, I stitched these paper squares into what ended up being a pretty massive quilt-esque-thingy. This process took me all night. I do mean all night. I finished just as the sun cracked the inky black sky of night. I have no idea what demon possessed me. perhaps an attractive nocturnal vampire snuck in and bit me with crazy-insomniac-craft-venom fangs or something.

My original idea was to create an outrageous looking card to send to our cousins...you know, to make good on my ridiculous claim and all. But I spent SO MANY HOURS working on this, without any clear direction about where I was going with it, that it didn't really look anything like a card when it was done.

I hadn't decided exactly what I was going to do with it till my kids woke up in the morning and saw it. For some bizarre reason that is probably attributable to their unfortunate maternal genetic inheritance, they wanted to hang it on the wall...like a big, 2'x2' paper quilt.

So I ended up not sending it to our cousins after all. Sorry sorry sorry Sir Kelly & Stacy! I know that you're gnashing your teeth because you want it bad now, and it makes you even more insane to know it was intended for you, yet all you got was the same, vanilla card that everyone else got this year. And in a twist of irony, this year was probably the least interesting card I've sent in history. My deepest apologies for not coming through. I had all the best of intentions. And I'm up to my ears now with book deadlines. But someday I'll make good on my promise. And that's a promise!

Santa came to our house a few hours ago. The tree is buried in gifts. Auntie B will arrive in 8 hours and then we will enjoy opening our gifts. It is late, but I am unable to go to sleep tonight without jotting down a few of the countless blessings that have touched me this busy season.

• Music. Every year the thing that most reaches down into my soul and draws my spirit closer to my God is the wonderful music of the holidays. I'm not talking about the cheesy, amusing, somewhat silly Christmas songs, I'm thinking particularly of Handel's Messiah, or the Candlelight Carol, or All Is Well, or some of the standard favorites that I will never stop loving: Angels we have heard on high, The First Noel, I heard the bells on Christmas day. These are just a few of the songs that I can hardly sing or hear without feeling joy.
• Thoughtful people. My goodness they're out in abundance in my life lately. I have so many gracious, generous, lovely people in my life who express their love and friendship in the most amazing ways. I feel cocooned with kindness this year in ways I never have before.
• Brad. He keeps surprising me even after 20 years with the insights he shares, the gentleness of his manner. The tenacity with which he lives his life. I love the wisdom he possesses in so many realms.
• My little angels. Bunch & Gator are two great-hearted kids who are tackling their challenges and struggles with a willingness to grow and improve. I love these two munchkins fiercely, and they are priceless to me.
• My Heavenly Father. Most of all Him. I am continually amazed at his patience with me when I forget him, his endless assistance when I need help, his steadfastness as I struggle to stay close to him, and the loving presence he is in my life. When I survey my life, there is no way to miss how he has influenced me. I am happy, and I am filled with love and gratitude for him.
• And finally, this Christmas morning, I am grateful for my Savior, whose life I am celebrating today. The trinkets under the tree serve to remind me of the only gift that actually matters...and it's one that we've all benefited from. I love him, and am so grateful to him. So endlessly grateful.
  

Wishing you, my dear readers, the happiest Christmas ever today!

Newsweek Definitely Called This One...

...at least in my case it's positively, negatively, irrefutably, absolutely, undoubtedly, gynecologically, indubitably, convolutivly, ubiquitously, unquestioningly, incomprehensibly, crazily, cardiovascularily, kimberlyily, jonniebeanily, home-made-peanutbuttercup-fudgeily, sometimes-grumpily-motherly, i-need-to-get-solid-zzzz's-tonightily-true. and that's sayin' somthin'!

Accessing The Powers That Be

I've noticed recently that there has been a spate of publications that are all variations on a similar theme: The Secret, What the Bleep-Down The Rabbit Hole, Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't, The Prayer Chest : A Novel About Receiving All Of Life's Riches , The Purpose Driven Life, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment I could go on but I'll stop now.

I've read (or watched) most of the above titles. They've all been strongly recommended to me or heartily endorsed by people I love and respect. I've enjoyed the messages contained in them, and some of it resonates with me.

But I've arrived at the conclusion that they're all essentially angling for similar thing: how to tap into "the powers that be" to more fully get what you want out of life. There are different methods put out there about how this can be done. But at the end of the day, none of them strikes me as any more efficacious than humble, sincere, heart-felt prayer, coupled with living ones life as closely in line with that light inside each of us as possible.

Doing this, while keeping priorities in line and walking in faith, will, ultimately, be the key to a life well-lived, and well-loved too. So much of what is out there seems to be looking for a work-around, an "easy way" to get more of what you want. Hoping to find a shortcut to success, wealth, happiness and fulfillment. But in my experience, no matter the packaging, there is no substitute for genuinely communing with God...and the peace He gives and the perspective His way adds to ones life is irreplacable.

Oh it almost seems like yesterday...

...Twenty Years ago.

Today, Doc and I celebrated the 20 year anniversary of our first date. He invited me to the 28th Annual Christmas Around The World show...put on by the International Folk Dance team at our undergraduate university. So, I planned a surprise date for us and got tickets to tonight's show...the 48th annual production. Thanks to the people who made this event possible (Marie, N&S, Dave)...we really appreciated your support. It was a great night.

It snowed a lot today, so I took a picture of our little home, followed by a shot of us at the venue, and finally a self-portrait of us sitting inside before the show.

Funny, neither of us feels like we've aged at ALL. I'm sure that the teenagers in our lives would disagree heartily, but honestly, I don't feel twenty years older than I was when we met.

Magical Trees

Here are just 5 of the over 800 trees. Brandon's favorite was the Star Wars tree, I loved the "Under the Sea" tree that was all blue and sea life. Then was a most unusual fairy tree--it was turned upside-down. This was a magical display. The crowd was always 3 or 4 deep around it. I don't know how they got the tree to stand like that...very impressive. These were full-size trees, but there were also lots of miniature trees that are very cute too. Bunch is dying to do a tree for the festival next year. As I actually have created a tree from scratch in the past, perhaps this is something I could take on. At least a mini tree.

More Gingerbread Village submissions

For some reason these 4 pictures wouldn't go on the previous post...and now the images won't just open in a new window when you click them (you get a download window?!?!). I've tried to upload them over and over, I don't know what the glitch is...but apparently I'm not the only one having issues. Blogger-Help says this on it's "Known Issues" page:

Clicking on image uploaded through the post editor will show a file download box instead of showing the full-size image in the browser.

So don't bother clicking images for now.

Anyway, the first, a wizzard and dragon with it's hoard, was beyond description. Smoke came from the dragon's nostrils, and the wizzard's eyes were lit up. It's made of gingerbread, and surrounded by candy treasure.

I loved the 3 little pigs houses, and the quintessential "gingerbread house" too. And finally, someone made a replica of their own house--fun!

Ginger Bread Village submissions~2007 Festival of Trees

This week is the 37th Annual Festival of Trees, and I got recruited to volunteer at it. I'd never been to the Festival before today. People decorate and donate the most elaborate Christmas trees and other items which are then sold to the highest bidder. 100% of the proceeds from this event are donated to Primary Children's Hospital here...where any child can receive medical care regardless of whether they can pay for it or not. Over 800 amazing trees fill the Expo center, plus Gingerbread Houses, wreathes, crafts, gift items, candies, baked goods etc. The stages are a nonstop cacophony of singing, dancing, instrumental performances etc. by the children of this area. For 4 days, the public comes to see these amazing trees and support the children in most dire need, and all the staff are volunteers. Here are some of the highly creative gingerbread houses for sale. I loved the creativity!

Oddities

Get ready, get set! Slap your hands together and rub them back and forth in anticipation, because right now I shall confide the never-before-disclosed fact that if I've known you long enough, chances are there is a song that reminds me specifically of you. Exciting, no!!? Don't you feel all warm-cozy-special now?

Let's pause for a moment and ponder what this means: at any given moment in time, completely out of the blue I could suddenly hear "your song", and immediately I'm thinking fondly of you. I could be walking through the mall, or stopped at a light and the car next to mine is blaring it's radio, delivering clean laundry to my daughter's "radio-always-on" bedroom, sitting in church, messing around on my piano, on hold on the telephone. It could happen anywhere.

It's not that the lyrics, message, or even the melody have anything to do with you...I could have simply been with you when I first took note of the song. You could have sung along with the song within earshot of me. It could be the era we crossed paths during. You could actually loathe the song that reminds me of you (gasp!)

Some songs apply to a group of people. A very few people have multiple songs associated with them in my brain. If you're reading this and want to know what your song is (if any), feel free to ask in the comments section and I'll reply. If you want to change the answer you get, you'll have to work hard to put another song into my head for you ;-) So pick a winner!

As most of my readers know, I'm a flight attendant. Another oddity is that my brain associates my customers with whatever drink they ordered. So as they're leaving the aircraft, as my mouth is saying the words "good bye" and "thank you" etc., my silly little brain is actually thinking to itself, "goodbye coffee with 2 creams and 3 sugars", "see ya diet coke", "thanks for flying with us orange juice and cranberry mixed", " buh-bye FOUR Sky Vodkas before noon (I hope you have someone picking you up!!!)".

Do you do this or am I really the freak of nature I suspect I am?! ♥

What's in my bookbag?

Today I read the book selected for my November book group, The Hindi Bindi Club by Monica Pradhan. I was excited to read it because the woman hosting this month said she is going to make Indian food for us when we meet, which I've been a fan of since my brother in law made me wet chicken curry with onion nan. I've actually dreamed about him making this dish again...it was THAT good!

It was a fun book, and I enjoyed the things I learned about India, and also the various characters she develops in her story. I've always liked the Indian people that I've met, and I appreciate Indian culture. I learned that in the 1960's, U.S. Immigration policy changed to allow Indian engineers and physicians to come to America. This was referred to in India as "the great brain drain". That's why so many of the Indian's here today are doctors and engineers. When I had my emergency surgery last month, it was a wonderful Indian doctor who diagnosed and cared for me...which I really appreciated (before he came on the scene, the ER staff seemed to be treating me like a "drug seeker", so I was left writhing in more pain and sicker than I've ever been, on a gurney in the ER hallway for 8 hours before Dr. Tehar admitted me.)

It was a nice peek into another culture that I've been fascinated with for years. Can't wait till the book group to discuss it. The book also has various Indian food recipes at the end of every chapter...so if you're handy in the kitchen (which, sadly, I'm really not), you could make the dishes that they have in the story! Cookbook AND great reading! Bonus!!!

My dear old friends

Okay, so they're not living, breathing friends, but nearly as dear to me are my favorite hymns. I'm probably an anomaly in this regard, but throughout my lifetime these cherished tunes and lyrics have, on countless occasions, been the vehicle that draws my soul to God. I am forever grateful for the authors and composers who've written them. Their hymns teach me the gospel, remind me of truths I've forgotten, fill me with joy and love, and make me happy. Just like a good friend would!

It always makes my day when we sing a favorite during church. The odds of us singing one of them are pretty good because there are so many to choose from!

There is nothing more beneficial to me when I'm struggling with something, than turning my mind to a favorite hymn. Because of this, I've made a point of memorizing all the verses to most of the songs that we sing on a regular basis (favorite or not). I realized years ago, when I could sing along with countless songs on the radio, that there was no excuse for me to not memorize the hymns as well. This comes in handy during a hymnbook shortage.☺

One of my favorite hobbies is improvising the hymns on my piano. I love to play with the melodies and arrange them. Though I mess up frequently (I don't think anyone gets what I do out of my playing), the hymns are among my favorite things to play on the piano.

A small sample of my enduring favorites are listed below. Hearing them brings to mind various special experiences in the past, when the song lifted me up.

What do you think of the hymns?

• How Firm A Foundation This is my all-time favorite hymn. The last 4 verses are never sung, but they're very dear to me.
  
• All Creatures of Our God and King ©
• Each Life That Touches Ours For Good
  
• A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (this song is OLD! Written by Martin Luther, who was born in the 1400's. I Lo♥e it!)
• All Glory, Laud and Honor
• Our Savior's Love
  
• How Gentle Gods Commands
  
• For The Beauty Of The Earth
• As Now We Take the Sacrament
• In Humility, Our Savior
  
• For All The Saints
• Prayer Of Thanksgiving
  
• Be Thou Humble
• As Sisters In Zion
• Now The Day Is Over
  
• Joseph Smith's First Prayer
  
• He Is Risen
• Angels We Have Heard On High
  
• Because I have Been Given Much ©
• On This Day Of Joy And Gladness
• Redeemer Of Israel
• I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day
  
• Christ The Lord Is Risen Today
• Know This, That Every Soul Is Free
• God Is Love
• Where Can I Turn For Peace?
• A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
• God's Daily Care
• Press Forward Saints
• If You Could Hie to Kolob
  
• There Is A Green Hill Far Away
  
• More Holiness Give Me
• Teach Me To Walk in the Light
• We'll Sing All Hail To Jesus' Name

Golden Birthday

A Golden Birthday is your birthday when the day of the month you were born (eg: 11th) is the same as how old you are (eg: turning eleven). This past Sunday was Bunch's Golden Birthday. It was a particularly special day because she turned 11 on 11/11! So of course we had to have an eleven party.

My sister flew into town for the event as a surprise, and it was one whirlwind, fun-packed weekend for all. We met at our house and the eleven girls (of course) took a quiz about Bunch...which was very amusing. Then we headed over to a bowling ally where the girls all donned the crazy pair of socks that we'd put in their goody bag. Food, fun and bowling, followed by the giant eleven cake (see previous cake post) made for good times. Some of the girls can seriously bowl!

After the party my brother came for a visit, and the family went out to dinner at Sizzler (birthday girl's choice...she wanted to try their salmon). Once the kids were in bed for the night, my sister, brother and I stayed up all night talking, till my sister had to leave for the airport at 4:50 a.m. (yawn!) We hadn't had that kind of sibling-bonding time since, well, ever I think! I was tired that next day, but it was totally worth it. We all had a great birthday weekend.

Here's a picture of the sock-foot clan at the bowling ally.

Let's Eat Cake, Shall We?!!!

A major component of birthday celebrations around here is, of course, the cake. I have tried to make awesome cakes every year for the kids, which are kept secret till the big moment. The looks on their faces when I bring it out is always priceless, and makes all the effort worth while.

I don't have pictures on my computer of all the cakes I've made (eg: I'm missing the awesome candy train, and the sail boat), but thought I'd share a few of them here just for fun. So I present to you, selected cakes through the past 10 years!

Doc's 39th Birthday

Doc's 40th Birthday

Made for a friend September 2009

Doc's birthday 2010 (day before he graduated from Medical School)