Adios 2008!

How did we ring in the New Year?

...10 times I prayed Damian wouldn’t get caught for setting our garden on fire or let it spread to our garage- definitely on Smokey Bear’s naughty list

9 slices of pepperoni pizza

8 minutes talking about the 8 + 8 = 16 states we visited this past year

7 minutes watching Robbie Maddison set a world record for jumping his motorcycle- I’m grateful I just have a pyro and not an Eval Knieval

6 Wii competitions

5 bowls of Moolineum Crunch ice cream…my fave!

4 loads of laundry- celebrate good times, c'mon!

3 kids begging and pleading to light fireworks

2 adults emptying and cleaning out spoiled contents of freezer…again

1 value sized pack of fireworks

...HAPPY NEW YEAR!Hang on tight for a wild ride in 2009!

(this is how Landon spent 40 minutes 'watching' fireworks)

Blessings...

I haven’t even unpacked yet, but I felt a burning need to clean out my cupboards, the kids toy bins and the kitchen drawers as soon as I got home. No, I am not nesting or pregnant. Just weirdly me, I guess. Oh yeah, all my Christmas decorations got packed away today too! Eden hung in right there with me the whole time without even complaining. Today has been a day of miracles all around!

Tonight our family had an appointment with the bishop of our church to declare if we are full tithe payers for 2008. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we agree to pay ten percent of our annual income back to the church. The money is used for people in need, church maintenance, and to build new buildings.

Landon slept through our meeting and the cool object lesson the bishop shared with the kids. After he talked about faith and trust, he brought out a potted plant and a spoon. He asked the kids if they trusted him to eat a spoonful of dirt. They both declined. He then explained how our Father in Heaven sometimes asks us to do things that we don’t understand. He explained that we should always trust the Lord and have faith in Him, because He always has our best interest in mind.

He told the kids that the plant was fake and the ‘dirt’ was actually smashed Oreos. Carter lunged for a spoonful, but Eden passed again. It was evident by Carter’s smile and offer to have seconds that the ‘soil’ was indeed sweet. It is such a humbling thought to know that we can give a little back to the Lord, where all our blessings have come from! How SWEET!

SNoW & mOre SnOW!

We got all decked out to go sledding this morning. Mel and Steve took us to this awesome hill. To be honest, I was a little nervous…for my kids of course. It had been a long time since I went sledding, and I was sure I had never been to a hill that steep. I kept thinking as I watched kids flying down all around me that I could do it if they could. I was surprising myself- I am usually the thrill seeking type!

I think it was the story that was fresh in my mind of my newlywed parents going sledding. They were with a group and got cruisin’ so fast that mom broke from the group and slid the rest of the way down the hill on her face. A trip to the emergency room later and after my dad’s description of her sweet face looking like ‘hamburger’, Mom realized it would be months before she would look the same. I would venture to guess she hasn’t been sledding since.

I pushed away the vision of ground beef and pushed myself down. It was awesome! Once more down and I was a sledding fool. I couldn’t wait to try the different types of sleds, but after a couple of times back up the hill I was sucking wind. Did I mention it was a really big hill?

Since my perfect body is in perfect shape, I am sure it was my dad’s borrowed parka that was slowing me down. I wasn’t willing to take that off and get hives, so I had to mentally prepare myself to suck it up- ok, suck wind.

Before I had a chance to plan our next run, Landon waddled over to me and told me he was cold. Being the responsible mother that I am, I went on a search for snow clothes in Texas before we left for Utah. I bought some on sale for Landon, but later found out that 'snow' clothes in Texas don’t quite cut it for the real snow of Utah. The poor kid was freezing. We got to spend the next hour watching everyone else from the car, but we were warm. Everyone had a blast!

We caravanned to Park City to spend the evening with the Nichols in their beautiful new home. They were my second parents growing up, and their kids are some of my family's best friends. It was the first time we were able to spend time together in YEARS and relive some memories. It was so much fun!

They haven’t changed at all- especially Tanner. His wife, Katie, was telling us about his latest white elephant gift: His Pet Fart. Yes, Tanner proudly kept a log of his cuisine and jarred all his gas. In case you were wondering, yes it does work IF you use the jar with a rubber seal AND yes, he still is my friend. Some things never change!

Paige made some yummy tortilla soup, and they asked us to bring dessert.

Here is the apple cake recipe that I made. It got rave reviews:

Apple Brown Betty

Courtesy of: Jill Parkinson

Cake:

1 c. sugar

1 egg

½ C chopped nuts

1 C flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

¼ C butter

2 C. shredded apples

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. nutmeg

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and beat well. Add apples and remaining ingredients. Bake in a 9x9” pan, well greased and floured at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until done.

Sauce:

½ C butter

1 C sugar

1 C evaporated milk

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

Combine in a saucepan and stir constantly over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve cake in individual pieces. Pour sauce over cake. Optional: Top with whipped cream.

As if our Christmas wasn't Merry enough!

We LOVED getting to visit with Damian’s Grandma today. She is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. Her love for her family has always been obvious to me, since the very first time we met. I know it must have been a difficult Christmas for her since she lost her sweetheart last summer. We talked to her about how she was doing and she gave some really sweet advice. She told Damian and me, “Never take for granted that you have each other.”

When Damian and I met, he was living with his grandparents. He was able to help around the house and the yard, in exchange for rent (although I am sure his grandparents never would have accepted any money to have their eldest and most favorite grandson live with them). I am also positive that he received much more love and wisdom than any amount of labor he could have provided them. They are both such wonderful people!

Grandma has always been so kind to me and has treated me like family from the beginning. (Even if she kept the picture up of Damian’s ex-girlfriend on their wall until just a couple of years ago…I am sure she just forgot it was there, right?) She was more than willing to let me ‘heart attack’ Damian’s room with 101 reasons why I loved him, and she is the one that helped Damian pack a picnic dinner the night he took me to Whiskey Springs to ask me to marry him. It was even in Grandma and Grandpa’s house, after spilling five gallons of white paint on their brown shag carpet, that Damian and I decided that we should get married.

After Grandma loaded us all up with hugs, cookies and clementines, we broke off a souvenir two foot icicle from her garage and said our goodbyes. We headed a few miles down the road to visit Uncle Bean and Aunt Ruth. They are renting a huge beautiful house that the kids made the most of as they ran from room to room finding all their stashed candy. Jeff and Ruth are cute! They are so happy together. We had a great time chatting with them and Julie when she stopped by. Bean and Ruth, we owe you some candy canes and M&M’s and it is a great thing you don't have any downstairs neighbors!

What a

blessing

it is to have

family

that you really

love

and enjoy

spending time with!