FAMILY HOLIDAY TOGETHERNESS CONTINUES

CHRISTMAS DAY

The family came back over to talk to Scotty on the phone in Brazil!

Jenn and Jordan waiting for their turn on the phone. They've kept a busy 'family' schedule for the Christmas holiday weekend, zig-zagging across the valley to attend everything.

Charlie talked to Scotty, mainly because she likes talking on the phone. She was 15 months old when he left. He'll be amazed at the big 3 year old when he gets home.

Catherine was so nervous to talk to Scott, but after a few moments it was like the good 'ole days.

Jenn & Brad visiting.

Bekah wasn't able to join us Christmas Eve, so she opened her presents after the phone call.

December 26th -- Next gathering: Marx Family Christmas Party. 75 of your closest relatives.

Matt & Ashley

Hallie, Brad & Kara

Our family with Ron's parent's.

December 28th - Going to the movies as a family. We usually do this on Christmas afternoon, but with Scott's phone call it didn't work out this year. Instead we went on Monday night to the movies. With the kiddos along, we went to The Chipmunks. It was 80 minutes of squeaky, falsetto chipmunk talking.

December 29th - The family fun for the week wasn't over, Drew and Charlie spent the night. I can't believe I was lucky enough to snap this shot of Charlie getting grandpa to dance!

CHRISTMAS EVE - THE DINNER

This year's dinner had some good and bad points. Christmas blessing #1 came when I was grocery shopping. I have wanted to try prime rib for several years, but the cost has scared me away. This year I went to Sam's Club and bought a pot roast and figured I would make other nice dishes to go with it. Needed Garlic. Which meant I had to stop at Smith's on the way home. In SC's defense, they sell garlic - but it's about 30 cloves, for only $3, but still, what am I going to do with 30 cloves of garlic??? As I walked into Smith's, they had moved a refrigerated thing at the front of the store where you that had various items for a Christmas dinner. I stopped to look at the meat, it was the prime rib roast - but they had the manager's marked down sticker on them. I couldn't believe it. Right there was the roast that was normally 9.99/lb. on sale for 2.99/lb. I was so excited. Merry Christmas to me, and thank you Smith's butcher.

That was a good point.

Mid-day on Christmas Eve was time to start cooking. I've had double ovens in the last 3 houses, so I didn't stop to think at all about my oven situation. This house has one...small...oven. Whoops. Once the roast was in, nothing else would be cooking. Had I thought through my logistics the day before, I would have sent Ron to storage to find one of my roasters. But now we'll have to deal with the one oven situation. I fixed the potatoes, and drove them over to Ashely's to bake. I adjusted the vegetable dish I was going to make and just steamed green beans....pumpkin pies did not get baked.

That was just a point where I was irritated with myself for not thinking of the oven situation ahead of time.

Ashely walked in and asked what she could do to help. She was kind enough to get the deviled eggs ready.

I placed the plate in the fridge to stay cool until dinner was served. Nothing worse than warm deviled eggs. But the fridge was kind of full. I put the plate on top of a container of sour cream. That was surrounded by towering yogurts.

A few minutes after the fridge door was closed there was a crashing sound. The plate of eggs fell down the back of the fridge. So plate of eggs ruined. Smeared yoke filling all down the back of my refrigerator. Cleaning the fridge wasn't on my to-do list, but guess what I did at 11 p.m.
This was a bad point.

We had a kid's table this year!

The menu:

• prime rib
• glazed carrots
• steamed green beans
• potatoes au gratin w/mushrooms and blue cheese
• cranberry salad
• jello with stuff in it
• crescent rolls

The dinner, if I do say so myself was yummy. Not because I enjoyed it that night (i never enjoy it after I've cooked all day..) but on Sunday after church Ron and I had the leftovers and it was great.

You might ask - where are the Christmas plates? The Sunday dishes are blue, couldn't use those (blue plates would have clashed with Christmas tablecloth), the china is still packed away. I had Ron take me to the storage trailer to get what I thought was the bin of Christmas dishes, but when I opened it 30 minutes before the food was ready to set the table, it was only the dessert plates, and two serving bowls. So no Christmas plates this year. That was a bad point.

It turned out to be a lovely meal, everyday white corel plates and all.

UNWRAPPING CHRISTMAS EVE



Ashley and Jenn both at 6 months. March madness is on it's way.


The girls with the My Favorite Things of the year gift:

• vanilla candle
• flat cheese grater (you know how hard these are to find?)
• Extension cord - but not just any extention cord, the plug is flat so it fits nicely plugged in behind furniture, and the other end will take a 3-prong plug. One day this year they'll all reach for this extention cord and thank me
• utility scissors, because you just can't have enough scissors around the house
• Ferer Rocher chocolate candy
• Crisper baking pan
  
  

Drew as Bumble Bee

a quiet moment at the end of all the excited unwrapping time.

This is the closest picture we have of Drew opening up this present. It was a shirt. A rather cool shirt with a Tiger, and his name spelled in the stripes of the tiger...but his initial reaction was of great disappointment that it was clothes. Funniest moment of the evening. I must add that after 4 days, this has become his favorite shirt and he has been spotted wearing it 3 of the 4 days.

I like this picture of Kara taking a picture of Brad

Charlie & Hallie

Necklace No. 47 . See Explanation.

Next year I think we will definately add singing. I could have done three different songs on the harp - so my goal for next year is to have 3-5 good Christmas songs the kids can sing. Even if they complain about doing it.

Two year goal: have enough/old enough grandkids to act out the nativity.

Hallie is F.A.M.O.U.S.

The first week of November, Ron & I traveled down to San Diego to visit with Brad and Kara and Hallie.

Hallie is growing up so fast. Isn't this just the cutest picture of how she puts away her shoes when she comes home!

That's just to catch you up a bit on what we were doing when I wasn't blogging. On to how Hallie is famous.

Back in the beginning of August when I was in San Diego, Brad and I had this conversation:

Brad: Have you heard of some lady that was in a bad private plane crash and blogs about it?

Me: Nie-nie?

Brad: What?

Me: That's her blog name. Stephanie Nielsen.

Brad: Oh, whatever. Well, we're going to her sister's house for dinner Friday night.

Me: Thinking hard. Hmmm. Don't remember any of her family members that live in San Diego. We continue on chatting a bit. He tells me about this couple in his ward that they enjoy doing stuff with.

Then I put the pieces together.

You mean Elizabeth?

Brad: Yeah, the Bryants.

Me: YOU KNOW LIZZY WRITES?

Brad: who?

Me: Lizzy Writes, About Whatever She Fancies. You know her?

Brad: um, I don't think so.

Me: No, that's Nie-Nie's sister-in-law. Oh, my gosh. I didn't know you knew her. That's right, they did move to San Diego, he graduated ASU and got a job here, she's pregnant with a boy and just had the most darling baby shower...

Brad: You'll have to talk to Kara, I don't know all this blog stuff. [which is a total lie because I know Brad is a closet blog reader...]

Me: That's so weird you know Lizzy Writes

Brad: That's so weird you know more about our friends than we do.

Me: You're going over there for dinner? That should be a treat, she looks like a great cook.

Now. To tell you the truth this conversation really bugged me for a while. I have a list of blogs that i read. Many of them are extended family to keep up with their lives. Then there's another list of blogs I have come across as I've stalked, and literally, peaking in on these blogs is pretty much like stalking someone. But they write and put it out there, so I feel o.k. stalking. Lizzy Writes just has cool style. She enjoys cooking and entertaining and so I peak in on her blog to she how she's given the latest halloween party or whatever. I just like her style. but she was just someone out there. Not someone that knows my son. That makes her real. Can you stalk a real person? That thought kind of creeped me out.

Great. My son has become friends with Lizzy Writes and now I'm going to have to stop reading her blog cause that's just weird. I broke up with Lizzy Write About Whatever She Fancies.

I vowed to stop clicking in on her blog which worked for a while until curiosity got the best of me one night and I wondered if she'd had her baby yet. You know what I saw? Kara in a picture! Yep, there she is 2nd from the right. During my absense (of a couple weeks...) she had changed the blog name and layout, but it's still Lizzy Writes to me.

This week - Hallie got a shout out in Lizzy Writes! I was scrolling through the Decked Out Lizzy Writes abode, and right there next to the wooden nativity for little hands to play with was Hallie's name. I only know one Hallie. Sure enough that link clicked over to Brad & Kara's Blog.

Thank You to Lizzy Writes, aka Simple Fancies, for watching out for Hallie and providing a nativity for her to play with. I have my own simple wooden nativity just waiting for her little hands to come play with on the 23rd.

(And now, since it's after 8, I'm going to try and track down Miss Hallie who is actually here for her aunt's UNLV graduation....I would love to get a quick hug and kiss with that little cutie before she flies away)

I love Macayos - almost as much as a pure native does. Did you know our new habitat is LESS THAN A MILE from a Macayos? Whoo-hoo. For the last 4.5 years when we've trekked across town to sit down at Macayos I would try and convince the waitress and powers-that-be that the northern end of town needs a Macayos. May I suggest Decatur & 215. But now, we're less than a mile away again.

Non-LV readers don't know about Macayos. It's a half step up from La Tolteca (without the ability to buy tortillas by the dozen, salsa by the quart, and chips by the pound) You know...I actually should do a whole post on the greatness that is La Tolteca, and how there are no corn tortillas in my freezer, therefore a trip south is in order, or someone driving by needs to pick up a few dozen for me...

Back to Macayos and why my sink looks like this.

A week ago Saturday I kept busy all morning and at 3 layed down for a nap. Big mistake. I was more tired than I realized and woke up at 6:30. Who wants to fix dinner on a Saturday night, starting at 6:30? So I say to Ron, "We should just go over to Macayos."

Ron panics. Thinks quick. He needs to nip this in the bud or it will be Macayos for dinner 3 nights a week. To which he responds: Don't we have leftovers in the fridge?

And I'm all like, It would be so much faster just to go over there.

And He's like, I know there's steak in there, some roast beef.

And I'm all like, Yeah, there's meat. But there's nothing else.

But he's all like, we shouldn't waste the food.

And I'm all like I know how to pick my fights and $25 at Macayos tonight just isn't worth it.

So....I took potatoes, peeled, boiled, cut up, cooked, mashed, served.

Fixed vegetables.

Heated up the roast beef.

30 minutes later Ron had a complete meal. My sink that was totally clean at 6:30, was full of dishes again.

And I was all like, pollo espinaca would have been so much easier.