Starting Off a New Year

It's the start of a whole new year and what better way to bring it in than to freeze your can off with your family?! OK, OK, I am the only one in the family that refers to 'skiing' as 'freezing your can off.' Whatever it was we were doing, I loved being up in the mountains doing it together. The only TOTAL bummer is that I forgot to charge up the battery in my point and shoot. I therefore have pictures like this:
Jackson and Jebb in their new ski outfits. This is the first time we have purchased matchy-matchy pants and coats. We bought them last spring on oober clearance with the intention of sticking them under the tree this year. Well, we hid them so well that we forgot all about them until we were digging in the 'ski clothes' container yesterday and found them. So, uh, Happy New Year! on that gift guys. ;) This is in the parking lot when we arrived, as is the next one of Elise the Ski Bunny.

While the three oldest kids sat in a snow bank waiting for me to buy their lift tickets, I snapped this one. I know it's not very good, no one is looking (they said it was too bright to look at me), but it's all I've got. (l-r Elise, Gabe, Seth, Jackson)

We met up with the Mann's at the base and it was off to the mountain for the older kids. John and I hung with J&J on the bunny hill. These are shots of the kids riding the bunny hill lift up to the BIG lift. Once again--poor shots at best, but I gotta take what I got.

(l-r) Kaeli, Gabe, some random boarder)

(l-r)Elise, Seth, GMann

I did manage to get a shot of Jackson and myself on our first ride up the lift. He was so excited! Then the final image before my camera refused to turn on was this one of John and Jebb getting ready to hit the slopes. I guess that although I didn't get many good shots, I at least was able to get shots of everyone.

It was such a nice day up on the mountain. We saw a bunch of people that we knew which I thought was terrific. Everyone had a great time and were nicely worn out by the time we returned home. I am so grateful for my family. They are my life and I feel blessed to be able to spend time with them. So far 2010 has been really great!!!

New Years Eve 2009

Since we moved into this home in 2003, we have had a New Years shin-dig. It usually involves kids with families, freezing cold temperatures, pinatas, bubble wrap, yummy food, resolutions, and tons of highly dangerous explosives and burning things (usually heavily mixed with aforemetioned kids). Oh what fun we had! We missed last year as we were in Utah, but we decided a couple of nights ago that we needed a little more firey danger in our lives. So in our typical last minute manner, we invited over some brave souls (mostly some families of our kid's friends) to ring in the New Year. (Note: We are getting old, and many of our kids are still young. This can present a problem when you are celebrating an occasion that requires you to stay awake into the wee hours. We therefore have made it our habit to celebrate the East Coast New Year at 10:00p CO time.)

While the friends and food are pleasant at a NY get together, our most colorful and sparkly part of the night is the awesome firework show that John puts on each year. Grandma Kristine manages to keep us flush in fireworks at ALL times, and we pull out the best ones to mark the start of a new year. I did not get any pics of the fireworks as I was comforting our dog, Daisy. She is terrified of fireworks, but everyone reported that they were the best yet. :) The finale was super-duper.

After John's little show, it really heated up as we passed out roman candles and lighted sparklers to small children. It's crazy, but soooo fun! Luckily there were no accidents and good clean, burning fun was had by all.



I tried to take a picture of the crowd around the fire pit, but it was really smoky from all of the sparklers, so I tried to turn off the flash. Of course the shutter opened for like 14 seconds and I cannot hold very still, so this is the best I got. :)

We made it back inside in time to turn on the TV for a count down. At the New Year we traditionally blow horns, yell a lot, and jump on bubble wrap that had been placed all around the room (thanks Lanae!). It's always quite loud and exciting.


And of course I always try my best to get a New Years Smooch (love that tradition!) from my number one guy--he's not just hot while exploding things. XOXO My blazin' babe!


We do this each year because our kids love it (well, shoot, so do we) and although you never know what the new year will bring, it's sure fun to welcome it with a bang surrounded by friends and family.

And So It Goes

I love to leave the Christmas Tree up until New Years because it just seems to stretch the Holidays out a little longer. This year we had a huge, beautiful tree which proceeded to dry out at an alarming pace. By Christmas Eve it had become a serious fire hazard and a spark within 15 feet would have surely set it ablaze. But I just wasn't ready to part with it and it's cheery white lights and red ornaments. So we have kept it up....until today.

Last night our boiler went on the fritz (which means no in-floor heat, which means a COLD upstairs). I went to light a fire in the fireplace and darn it, we were almost out of newpaper and kindling to get it going. I had a flash of inspiration and snapped a few small branches from our tree (it is never a good sign if the branches 'snap'). Ta Da! Those babies went up like Roman Candles! They were perfect little fire starters. So this morning....


Out went the tree. After removing all the ornaments and boxing them up for next year, Gabe and John made a quick exit. It was too wide for the door frame and bringing it in was easier than taking it out.


I decided I'd better put all of the Holiday decorations away and get ready for the New Year. But before I did, I wanted to remember this Nativity. I asked the kids to take out the Nativity sets this year (we have several....I heart them!) and after they were carefully unboxed, I let the kids set them up. Selfish-Mom that I am, I usually save this task for myself, I love arranging each piece so it can be seen as our family passes by. But when I let the kids arrange them, they all looked very similar to this one. All the pieces were in neat little circles with all eyes on the Baby Jesus. Pushy-Mom that I am, I was tempted to 'correct' the kids and encourage them to turn the pieces out so we could see their faces. But Starting-To-Learn-From-My-Kids-Mom that I am, I instead smiled and left them just like they were. It seems perfect that all eyes would be on the Baby! Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!

Heaven, I'm in Heaven

Those who know John and I know that for the most part, we get along quite well.

But we have a dark side to our coupledom.

If you have known us for any length of time, you would notice that our relationship has a gaping hole in our togetherness. Yes, it's true that while I am one who loves playing games, my husband does not share my enthusiasm in this aspect of our social lives. I know, I know, it is most amazing that we have managed to stay together all these 14+ years with this obvious mismatch. Good thing he the best kisser ever, or we might not have gotten off the ground all those years ago. Oops sorry, TMI. ;)

So today after church I experienced a little piece of heaven right at my own kitchen table. That's right, today we played a GAME!! And not just any game, but a BOARD GAME. And not just any board game, but THE FARMING GAME!! For those unfamiliar with the Farming Game, it is a board game that takes HOURS and HOURS to play! I LOVED IT!!!



John, Gabe, Seth, Elise, and I farmed for over 4 hours before Gabe accumulated the $250K required to win the game. I have to say though, it was a close game. We were all wealthy orchard owners by the end and it was a race to bring in the big harvest. The thing that made it so sweet was that all of us stayed happy and engaged throughout the entire game. I think it was a farming miracle. Yipee! :) So near the end of the game when John leaned over and asked if I was 'in heaven' playing this game, after I caught my breathe and dried the little tear that squeaked out of my eye, I just nodded, smiled, and embraced the warm, fuzzy moment.

Heaven? Ya, I think it will feel a little bit like this. :)



Sad Sidenote: To those familiar with the Farming Game, you will be saddened to see how the game has changed over the years. It used to have these super cool vinyl game pieces to represent portions of your farm, but they now have puzzle-like pieces instead. I was so sad to see that! I loved the vinyl pieces! Oh well, it was still oober fun to play!

Christmas Morning 2009

Christmas Eve 2009

As is our tradition on Christmas Eve Morning (this is the second year running...), we got up early this morning to head to our local WalMart. Each kid is given a $5 budget to buy gifts for their siblings. We all take a cart and split up to find our gifts. It is fun and exciting to hunt for our treasures. I loaded Jebb in my cart and we headed for the toy deptartment. Grandma waited at the door to hang with the kids who finished up their shopping. After each kid finds their gifts, we check out and double bag the goods.
After our shopping is done we head to Denny's for breakfast, then it's home to wrap! It is so fun to see the excitement each kid has thinking about their gifts. Every one pays close attention when their gifts are opened. It's a great way to inject a little 'giving' before all of the 'getting' begins.


Our Christmas Eve traditions are a little more established. After reading Luke 2, we get to open one present before bed. And ya, it is always pajamas.



I thought I was pretty clever this year when I got Gabe and Seth's PJ's. They were fuzzy and footed. The boys were super good sports. Gabe said he thought the PJ's made them look like giant babies. We cracked up because it was true and I made them let me hold them as we laughed. :) The rest of us enjoyed our PJ's as well--we had to pose for a few photos.




Then it was off to bed to await the arrival of Christmas Day! I can't believe Christmas is here already! December was a blur!

Christmas FHE

With tonight being the FHE before Chirstmas, I wanted to do something a little special. Last year when I tried to do this, it was a total and utter fiasco. So this year I waited until the very last minute to make sure the weather would be on my side. Then I invited over some super cool families (i.e. families that are nice enough not to tell me where to stick my last-minute Christmas ideas). FHE luck must have been on my side because not only did the weather hold, but John had to go to Farmington for a work thingy and was able to pick me up some Costa Vida yumminess--a.k.a. the sweet pork they use. ;)

After I heated up a storm, we fed the masses with Christmas Burritos (I have named them that only because it is the week of Christmas, not because they were red or green, although I should have gotten some fun colored tortillas....maybe next year). But as usual, I digress. John did get one lousy pic of me in the kitchen warming away while my friend Lori whipped up her famous salsa (I love her salsa so much that I did not hesitate to beg her to leave the leftovers behind for me to enjoy tomorrow--and true to her cool ways, she obliged). Oops, more digressing. BTW, did I mention how yummy sweet pork from Costa Vida is? OK, moving on.

Every family had participants in the Nativity Play. (find it here) The script requires over 2 dozen people, so it was fun to see so many of the kids anxious to participate.
Greg is not only a good dentist, but a great Narrator (he actually pulled 2 of Gabe's teeth this morning (digress)).
Our three wisemen looking for the star, and a hotel.
Our sweet Innkeeper's Wife helps Mary and Joseph settle in to the manger.
Our Angel encouraged us to Fear Not!
We had lots of adorable Shepherds that made their way to the Christ Child.

Once everyone arrived at the Stable, they all sang Silent Night and were joined by the audience as well. Everyone did such a great job! Our kids are at such a great age for things like this--old enough to read, but young enough not to think it's ridiculous. ;)



At the end of the night, we got a special treat. Lanae's little bro was in town with his wife and they both happen to be true-blue musicians. Natalie played her violin and Ross accompanied her, then they played a piano duet, 'Dance of the Sugar Plumb Faries.' It was amazing and our music room was filled with beautiful music.

Overall, it was a really nice FHE and although I didn't get pics of all the families that were here (I was warming food), I am so glad they were able to come! I felt so happy when I hopped into bed, it was the perfect FHE before Christmas. :)

Christmas Sunday

I love the Sunday before Christmas. You always know it is going to be wonderful and this week did not disappoint!

After some great talks full of heart warming Christmas stories, I got to participate in a musical number. I played 'I Heard the Bells of Christmas Day' on my flute along with Pam R on her flute and Patty J on piano. My legs were shaking so bad I thought I was going to fall over, right after I either threw up of passed out because I couldn't breathe. But once that was over, I was able to enjoy the last talk, again with the warm fuzzy Christmas stories.

I was super excited for Sharing Time. It is the program I posted last week, and I had recruited all kind of cool people to help out with it. Our guide was Diane F and she happens to be the grandma to several of our Primary kids. She did such a great job in her white dress and tinsel halo. :) Our Samuel the Lamanite is a great young man that is working toward his mission. The kids were pretty impressed when he cut the apple in half revealing the star. Our 'non-believer' was Brad B and he actually played his guitar and sang to us-amazing. I got a little tear in my eye! My oldest son Gabe teamed up with Kathy W as the 'believers' and they too did a great job-Kathy played a blind grandma and she had her part memorized-so good! Our angels were Callie B and one of her Young Women, Nicole G. They sang just like the angels they were dressed as. It was terrific!

The kids always enjoy dressing up and going on a 'journey.' It was fun to put a little Book of Mormon twist on it this year. I had to laugh when I ran into a lady I served with in Primary probably 10 years ago. She commented that she knew I must be in Primary when she saw my trademark container of fabric for dress up. :) I have gotten a lot of mileage out of the dollar fabric I cut up to use as costumes all those years ago. Our family used them every Christmas as well- I think every family should have some fabric in a box for times like that. :)

After church our friend Lindsay came over. She is a sweet girl that has developmental issues. She is a 24 year old that is like an 8 or 9 year old. I love having her over because she helps me remember how important it is to be 'childlike.' She is a great example to me. She says what she wants and has no guile. You never have to wonder what she would like because she will just tell or ask you. If you tell her no, she is never offended. She just smiles and moves on, not taking anything personally. I just love her and I have pondered a lot lately how I should be more humble and childlike. Elise loves her to come over because she will sit and play barbies, or style hair, or paint nails for hours on end.

This afternoon we loaded up the whole gang (Grandma Kristine is staying with us now) and went to an Old Folks Home to sing Christmas Carols. It was organized by our Scoutmaster and I am so glad we went. The ladies there really seemed to enjoy the kids. The home is actually only a few minutes from our house and I think we should visit there more often-that would be a great New Years goal.

After singing, we went over to the Mann's house for an impromptu game of Farkle. I can say that I HATE the game of Farkle. Hate it. OK, OK, I actually loved playing the game, but HATED that I got KILLED....TWICE!! I lost so bad it was to the point of being hularious! I enjoy most games, but man oh man, I sure hate to lose! :) We were loading up the kids to head home and I was thinking what a great day it was when the doorbell rang at the Mann's house. Out on the porch was the whole Farley clan singing Christmas Carols to all of us!! Could the day get any better?!

I love Sunday and always look forward to getting my batteries recharged. What a perfect Sabbath to kick of the week of Christmas. I love this time of year and the extra measure of kindness and brotherhood that it brings out. I am ready for the week and all of the Christmas Craziness that will surely be coming!

Kinda Crazy

This is a wonderful time of year. Going to the mailbox is such a treat. I love hearing from friends far and wide. I love seeing pictures and reading newsletters.

Sidenote: I know that those who send me Christmas cards are true blue friends. I know this because I have not sent out a Christmas card in 5 years! 5 years! That is terrible!! John shakes his head at me and says I shouldn't get ANY cards. :) So to all those who still send them-know that I LOVE them!!! :)

OK, back to my mailbox. I got several cards today, but 2 in particular caught my eye, and to me they were fascinating enough to document.

The first card comes from my older sister. She lives in Utah and has 4 beautiful children. Her only daughter married this year and it happens to be the picture she chose for her Christmas card. I looked at it and thought-'Ah, how cute. What a fun wedding that was.' And other such reminiscent thoughts of that wonderful June day.
Then I opened couple of other cards. A friend from high school, another from my mission. What a delight. It is fun to see the pictures and the personality of the different cards. Oh happy heart that I had.

Next in the stack was a card from my younger sister. She chose a picture of her family at Lake Powell-my favorite place on earth. How nice to see some of my favorite people in such a lovely, lovely place. The boys looked bigger since I have seen them last (OK, I saw them at Thanksgiving, but still...).
I was gazing and smiling when something struck me. I went back to my older sister's card and looked again. Then back to my younger sister's card. Was it my imagination? No, no. I think not. I set the cards side by side and, yes, it was the SAME background on both cards! My sisters had selected, from the myriad of Christmas cards available, cards that had identical black backgrounds. Same red bow. Same black on black lines. Same white 'Seasons Greetings' font and same white swirlies!
I know there are about a bazillion choices in Christmas cards out there because in an unusual departure from my Christmas card ways, I actually ordered cards this year!! I tried to order cards from a couple of different sights, but they all took too long to get printed and delivered to my house (I never said I ordered them early...). I was forced to go with the Walmart.com layouts. I found one that was similar to the one I liked on Shutterfly. Can you see where I am going with this? I originally chose the SAME layout as both of my sisters, but had to go with the Walmart knock off instead!!!
How crazy is that?! Three sisters in three different states without consulting one another, chose the same Christmas Card layout!! What are the odds? I am not sure, but I know it is definately odd!! The three of us like to think of ourselves as rugged individuals with our own unique taste and style, but after this year's Christmas Cards, I am not so sure.

Friday Before Vacation

The Friday before Christmas vacation is often a busy and fun one. This year was no exception. I helped Gabe's orchestra transport instruments to two local elementary schools. They put on a Christmas Concert at both Florida Mesa Elem (our school) and Sunnyside Elem. (the school district we technically live in). I so enjoyed going to the concerts and loved seeing Gabe play in his Santa hat. Elise (4th grader) got to participate on a couple of the orchestra numbers with the Middle School group. She did great-I tried to zoom in on her, she is sitting by her BFF, Afton. After the orchestra numbers, the 4th & 5th graders sang two chorale numbers that were just fantastic. They sang in Latin and they were about Jesus--I loved it!! They sounded so beautiful. Oh, it happens to be pajama day at the school in case it looks strange. ;)




After the concert at Florida Mesa, I loaded the cellos in my car and headed out to Sunnyside. But before I left, I handed off the camera to John as he was staying to see Jackson read in his Author's Celebration. John reported that Jackson did really well and had the best, most creative story ever. :) Jackson was so excited for this event and I am so glad John was able to break away from work to attend it.



I am looking forward to vacation this year as are the kiddos. Grandma Kristine is coming to live with us for a few weeks and should be here tomorrow. The ward Christmas dinner is tomorrow as well. The Holidays are here!

Jebb's Christmas Play

Tis' the season for Christmas Programs, fa la la la la, la la la la.

Jebb had his first Christmas Show today and it went well by preschool standards. Kids are so stinking adorable at this age that you know it's gonna be cute. Look at his cuteness! :)
Singing the song about being a tree. The song says they trees were 'gay' and it explained to me many conversations I have caught this last week with Jebb arguing about the meaning of the word with Seth. Funny.
This was Jebb as a Rhino pulling Santa's sleigh, not good as they demolished a house.
Santa actually came to visit the kids. He was very authentic. The kids loved it! I loved seeing the wonder on their faces-John wondered at the fact that Jebb looks cross-eyed in this picture. I think he is just looking intently at Santa...

It was a treat to see all of the preschoolers do their thing. I am glad our school still has Christmas Trees, Santa, and even some Christmas Caroling going on. I love the traditions of Christmas and I am glad they haven't all been eliminated yet--it's a bonus of small town living.

PS--congratulations to Gabe who made the A team as a 7th grader in Basketball this week. He's pretty nervous, but he's playin' it cool.

Locking it Down

Today there was a troubling incident in the school district. Someone called a bomb threat into the High School this morning. So they proceeded to evacuate the High School, Miller Middle School, Fort Lewis College, and the Courthouse. The remainder of the school district was placed in what they called a 'soft' lock down. This means each classroom locked their door, drew their blinds, and had to be very quiet.

While I understand the need to err on the side of caution, I hate, hate, hate that our kids have to participate in this. Not only am I disgusted with the bomb threat, but I do not like that we are teaching our children how to cower in their classrooms. I am not sure what the alternate should be, but I do not like lock downs-or even lock down drills.

I guess I feel like the odds of my kid getting bombed at school is just so minuscule that I think the fear we are teaching is not justified. Am I in denial? Is the world really so rotten that I need to be sure my kid has a healthy dose of fear? I'm not sure. Am I a fool to think that I would like my kids to be naive to some of the craziness in the world? Statistically it's highly unlikely they will ever face that kind of violence.

I want my kids to be able to function in the world, to talk to strangers even. Most people are terrific. I honestly don't know what I want to accomplish by this post except just to say that I think it blows we have to 'lock down' our children. I just don't like that this is where our culture has taken us and I wonder if we are reacting in the way that is best for their emotional and social health.

So ya-rant, rant, rant.