Not Your Typical Nativity

Since we were at my sister's house for Christmas Eve, we got to participate in their traditional reenactment of the Christmas story. This is what I love about my sister's family.... As you can see, it's a family which consists of mainly teenaged boys (the only sister was at her in-laws that night), and most teenaged boys would have an attitude about having to dress up, but these guys have such good attitudes and just go right along with it and enjoy it. Even my 24 year old nephew playing the donkey. It's a good thing I like them all so much, otherwise I'd be seriously tempted to post these pics on Facebook and tag them all!!

A mother of 8 playing the virgin Mary...you've gotta get creative with what you've got!

This little shepherd looks sad... maybe he slept through the angel's announcement of the holy birth.

Feliz Navidad, Joyeaux Noel and a Happy Kwanzaa, Too!

We got together with my sister Lorna and her family for Christmas Eve this year. Lorna had a fun idea to do an "international night" and try dishes from other countries. The main "dish" that Alex was intrigued by was his cousins gingerbread house. He just couldn't resist.

Steph made Flautas from Mexico. Steve made southern style Mac 'n Cheese. Of course "the South" is not international, but believe me, some of the food they eat there is pretty out of the ordinary so we decided to include southern food in the menu.

My brother-in-law Paul is from Finland, so he made a Finnish sugar cake. Lorna's holding a Finnish dish that I can't even pronouce, let alone spell. It's a rice pudding type mixture baked in a rye dough. She also made Piroshkis (sp?) and Teriyaki kabobs from Guam.

My nephew Josef served his mission in Taiwan, so he made fried rice.

This California girl occasionally tries to appease the Southern blood in the family, so I made a Banana Pudding which is a big dessert in the South. We were all completely stuffed...way too many carbs in one sitting, but everything was really good and we had fun trying new things!

CHRISTMAS CAME EARLY THIS YEAR....

Christmas, as far as I'm concerned, came a few weeks early on December 12, which is when Steve got baptized!! We're all so excited for him and he is so happy and enthusiastic and so eager to continue to learn and grow. Steve asked my brother Brett to baptize him. (He also warned Brett that if he dropped him, he was taking Brett down with him!) We all breathed a sigh of relief that he was successful on the first try.

I'm so grateful that my parents and brother were able to make short notice plans to be out here from California to share this special day with us, along with all our local friends and family.

It was great to have Jordan be there with us...I think this is the first "all 5 of us" family pic we've taken in a long time!

These are our two missionaries that have become like part of our family. We adore these guys.

Love these 3 gorgeous kids and love this picture...

The Polar Express!

Last Tueday we took a trip to the North Pole via the Polar Express! (Make that Heber Valley Railroad's version of the Polar Express.) I was so excited to take Alex because he loves trains and he loves the movie Polar Express. The kids dress in their jammies and get served hot chocolate, just like in the movie.

Alex didn't seem quite as mesmerized as I'd hoped he'd be... I think he was just not too sure what to make of all the commotion.

Doesn't Steph look thrilled to be there?! I guess it's karma, since I wore the same expression many times on family outings when I was a teenager and my brother was a little kid. Too bad there were no hot guys on our train, that would've perked her right up! Actually, after a "gentle" reminder of, "You may not be around next year to see Alex do these fun things...", she had a change of heart and a change of attitude.

This was Alex's reaction when Santa approached him..."maybe if I hide my face behind this paper, he won't see me and he'll go away."

With a little coaxing, I got Alex to take the bell from Santa.

It was definately a fun way to kick off the season and get into the Christmas spirit.

Turkey Day Tuckered Him Out

This is Alex, my little pie-making apprentice, covered head to toe in flour. As I've mentioned before, he loves to help me in the kitchen and was a huge "help" with making pie for Thanksgiving.

At Thanksgiving dinner, he added to the ambience by providing some "relaxing" background music.

All that hard work just wore the poor kid out and he slept through dessert! He's already talking about "Kitmas" and loves to see the Kitmas yites (lights) as we drive through the neighborhood. I have a feeling this is going to be a fun year for him.

My Buddy

For those of you who live in Utah, you know how the dry air and cold weather combined can wreak havoc on your skin. Well, apparently Alex decided to take matters into his own hands....

"Otion" (lotion) on the face, "otion" in the hair, "otion" just about everywhere. Luckily for me, I was at work so Dad was on clean-up duty.

Excuse me while I get emotional for just a moment... Last weekend my parents were in town and as my mom and I were watching Alex play and just be his cute little self, she said to me, "Don't you feel blessed?"

It took me back to several years ago, I remember crying to her on the phone after one of many failed pregnancies. She reassured me, "it will happen". I hoped it would, but wasn't all too sure. I'm not sure why it took so long for him to be sent to us, but not a day goes by that I don't feel gratitude for the joy he's brought to our family. Better late than never, right?!

Senior Pics

Props to my nephew and sister for asking me to take his senior pictures. (For the record, I do not proclaim to be anything remotely close to a photographer...I just have a nice camera and sometimes get lucky with a good shot or two...) Anyhow, being a typical 18 year old boy, Erik had no desire to suffer through getting his pictures done by some stranger, and my sister Lorna had no desire to pay for pictures done by some stranger, so they asked me to do it for them. I was more than happy to and had a good time doing it. Turns out, they were actually doing me a favor, because when Steph saw Erik getting his pictures done, she decided she would be ok with letting me do hers. Senior year comes with lots of expenses, and I was thrilled to have the chance to eliminate the cost of pictures off that list. Steph is so photogenic and we were happy with the way they turned out. Here are a few of my faves...