December In Review

As most Decembers do, this one came and went faster than I'd like. To start things off, here's the one and only time you will probably see Leon this "wise" at a Neighborhood (a.k.a. Ward) Christmas party.

With all the things to do, there's nothing like the last minute to take a family photo by the tree.
Speaking of "last minute", Dallin had to make a pinata for his Spanish class that was due the day back from the break. We wanted to get it done and over with before Christmas break so we wouldn't have to worry about it. In case you can't tell, it's "Mr. Potato Head." This should be fun to bust open, huh?
The boys had entirely too much excitement on Christmas Eve.
You can always tell if it was a good Christmas by the size of the mess.

The day after Christmas we headed up to my grandmother's in Logan for our annual extended family Christmas party. We kicked things off with some sledding which featured the good ol' toboggan that has served the Eddington family well for MANY years (thanks to some tender loving care from some uncles).

Great-Grandma Eddington's party is a tradition that the kids all enjoy, especially the "ball tag" and the rough-housing in the gym. This year Great-Grandma made the older great-grandkids snow hats, which were quite a hit!

We spent several days up at my parents' house which meant a lot of good times with family. Admittedly, I'm not a very good baker, so Graham cracker gingerbread houses are the best I can do. We use empty whipping cream cartons for the structure of the house, but if you use enough frosting, you can make just about anything hold up.

Or, if you are my brother, Scott, you try to make a house without cheating, and use as little frosting as possible.

Now, no Christmas celebration would be complete without firearms, right? My brother Scott took the men target shooting and then felt the need to take the ladies, as well. We had a little bit of competition going, and it turned out that the ladies shot better than the men - who knew. Maybe us girls took it a little more seriously and weren't trying to be "Rambo".

Happy holidays, everyone! Now, on to the New Year!

Cookie Exchange

"Dinner's On Me" is doing a Cookie Exchange, and I got to thinking about the kinds of cookies that I actually make from scratch. I just made chocolate chip cookies last night and they turned out terribly, as usual. So, when considering what cookie recipe I could contribute to this Cookie Exchange, I really only have a couple of options. Lucky for me, one of the cookies that I can actually make well is Spritz Cookies. I only make these during the holidays, but they are so buttery and absolutely delicious, I'm thinking about making some right now.

Here is the recipe:

Spritz Cookies

1 1/2 cups margarine or butter

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

Food Coloring

Decorations - colored sugar, sprinkles, red hot candies, etc.

Beat margarine with mixer for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup flour, the sugar, egg, baking powder, vanilla, and almond extract. Beat till thoroughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Divide dough for as many colors as you wish; add food coloring as desired.

Force unchilled dough through a cookie press onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with colored sugar, sprinkles, or candies. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes or till edges are firm but not brown. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Makes about 84.

(No cookie press? Well, you should get one. But, if not, you can drop the dough by teaspoon onto the cookie sheet.)

Halloween

Another Halloween done and gone. Well, except for all the candy and endless wrapper trail. Last year's Halloween post still pretty much sums it up for me, but I'll spare the details as I've already ranted and raved about Halloween HERE.

Landon couldn't decide what to be this year. He wanted to be just about everything in the costume box. But, once he saw these skeleton gloves at WalMart, he just knew he was going to be a skeleton. Wouldn't you know it, there is not a skeleton costume in our stash. This meant that I would need to make one. Luckily, I'm pretty good with felt and glue.

Cameron, on the other hand, knew he wanted to be an alien for quite a while (either that or a doughnut, but I steered him toward the alien. I really had no clue how to make him into a doughnut). His costume was repurposed from a previous costume, and I think it turned out marginally well. I had a hard time coming up with something alien-like that wasn't scary or too sci-fi. Most kids thought he was a frog. Can't they read?
Now, I've always said that I appreciate Jayden's decisiveness and ability to express himself clearly. But, in this case, it was a bit of a challenge. He knew that he wanted to be "White Gandolf", which meant he also had some pretty specific plans in mind. We studied pictures of "White Gandolf" online to come up with the best costume I could muster. The beard and staff were a bit tricky for me, but in the end turned out to Jayden's satisfaction. Although, a lot of kids thought he was Santa. Hmm.
So, when I got to Dallin (who had no idea what to be), I was quite relieved to hear that he was contented enough just to be repeat "Indiana Jones" from last year. He's easy that way.
Instead of staying home and passing out candy, this year I got to go Trick-or-Treating with Cameron and Landon (the older two went with friends this year - sniff, sniff). Leon stayed home nursing a sore foot and I gave him plenty of instructions - make sure the Jack-0-lanterns are lit, stay close to the door so you don't drive yourself crazy, and watch the candy level in the bowl. I'd have to say that I actually enjoyed taking the kids around the neighborhood. It was a nice night, the kids were thoroughly enjoying themselves, and I got to wave to and chat with friends and neighbors along the way. In all, the kids had a great time and loved their costumes. What more could you ask for? Oh, yeah - candy! (And, yes, they got plenty of that, too.)

What's Different?

Can you spot the difference in the two pictures?

Yup, NO BRACES!

Oh, but don't worry, they will be back once all his teeth come in.

Apple Pickin'

Each year, those of us who can make it, get together to pick my Grandma's apples. She has 8 trees in her yard - enough for everyone to take what they want and to fill the trailer with 2000 lbs (yes, a ton) to press into juice.

Jayden WAS actually working, but stopped to be a "ham" when I asked to take his picture.
Grandma is 87 years old and still tries to do what she can out in the yard. She is really an inspiration to me and what I want to be like when I'm her age.
I really didn't take that many pictures, and asked my sister to take some for me. I guess I'll have to wait until she makes her "Apple Picking" post to see them. I'm hoping that, unlike me, she manged to get some cute pictures.

Happy Fall!

Extra Special Jazz Game

Nu Skin gave Leon two tickets to last night's pre-season Jazz game as a way of saying "thank you" for some above-and-beyond work he recently did. Now, these weren't your average "nose bleed" seats, these were extra special. We were first invited upstairs for a VERY nice dinner. Leon had about every kind of meat you could imagine (beef, chicken, shrimp, crab, cod, lamb, and buffalo). The dessert table wasn't bad, either.

Like I said, these were extra special tickets. We had courtside seats - first row - right by the Denver Nuggets' team - next to the basket.

(Tip Off)
(Some proof that we were both there.)

Our son Jayden is a HUGE Denver Nuggets fan -really don't know why. So, this picture is for him. Unfortunately, since it was pre-season, his favorites didn't play - guess they didn't want their best players to get hurt.

(Denver Nuggets - And, NO I didn't even have to zoom in to get this shot.)

We were sitting in front of a pretty hard core Jazz fan that kept heckling the Denver bench, especially Kenyan Martin, who was not playing this game. So, at half time when most of the fans went to concessions, Leon turned to Kenyan Martin (yes, he was just standing right there) and told him that our son is a BIG Nuggets fan. I took this opportunity to ask if I could snap a photo. He was a nice guy, even if he was being heckled pretty good by the guy behind us.

(Kenyan Martin and Leon - Leon is actually standing on the bleachers - about 12-18" high - pretty big dude.)

Sitting right under the basket, I could get some good shots - if only I had a nicer camera.

Denver has some pretty "colorful" characters on their team.

Oh, and there were some pretty good looking referees, too.

They all three looked pretty much alike, but they were all pretty "tasty." Hey, if the men can oogle at the Jazz Dancers, us ladies can oogle at the refs, right?

Dinner's On Me Giveaway

You need to check out this blog - not just for the giveaway, but for the great recipes and ideas.

http://www.dinnersonme.blogspot.com/

Sometimes It's The Little Things That Bring Me Joy

Okay, everyone has areas in their home that drive them crazy. Well, I've been cursing my pantry for years. I hated all the grocery bags stuffed in the corner, the fry pan and mondo tin foil that always fell at my feet, and the lunch bags and cooler that were just generally in the way of anything I tried to get to. Here is a picture of my annoying pantry floor.

Now, here is the solution to my problem: for less than $8 I bought this nice stainless steel grocery bag organizer that mounts to the wall. It even fit perfectly. It only holds about 30 grocery bags, but really, when have I ever needed more than that? I recycled a ton of bags, and now only keep what fits. I moved the annoying cooler downstairs in storage since I realized that I hardly use it, and the fry pan now fits so much better. I also installed wire shelving on the door for the kids' snack, freeing up space inside the pantry for other things like the annoying mondo tin foil. Ahh, so much better!

My other kitchen annoyance was this.
Now, some of you might look at the picture and wonder what exactly is annoying about it. Well, I'll tell ya'. The kids cannot reach the cups and drag a barstool over to the cupboard to reach them. The problem is that the barstool never made its way back to the bar, and was parked right by the dishwasher nearly all of the time. I got so annoyed with returning the barstool back to its home so I could load or unload the dishwasher.

Now, the solution: I was at my sister's house and she had plastic kid cups down in a cupboard where they could reach them. Now, why didn't I think of that?! I looked around my kitchen and really didn't have a lower cupboard that would work, so I used the bottom of the wire shelving that I had installed in the pantry for a few kid cups. It has taken a little retraining, but the kids are pretty good about checking the pantry shelf for a cup first before moving that annoying barstool.

So, what are the annoying areas in your house, and how did you solve it?

Leon's New Glasses

So, Leon got new glasses without consulting me, his wife. There is a small debate going as to whether these work for him or not. What do you think? Take a minute to vote (see poll in right margin). There are also some notable people with glasses like these, but I'm not sure if one would want to be in company with most of them. Leave a comment with your favorite look-alike.

Leon's new specs...

George McFly - suggestion courtesy of Tony Johns

Colonel Sanders - suggestion courtesy of Laurel

Drew Carey - suggestion courtesy of Deena

Malcolm X - suggestion courtesy of John Shurter

Nerd Poindexter - Suggestion courtesy of Jason Nelson

Pres. Kimball - suggestion courtesy of Jen

Nu Skin Lagoon Day

Just about every year that Leon has worked for Nu Skin, they have held their summer party at Lagoon Amusement Park. Now, this isn't your typical "Lagoon Day" that most employers do. Nu Skin actually reserves the whole park for just employees and their families. This means short lines!

At one point Leon took the older 3 boys off to do big rides, and Landon and I hung out in the Kiddie Land. I couldn't help think that this just might be the last year I will ever have a child who wants to ride these little boats. Landon loved it, but I think he was one of the biggest kids on the ride.
Leon and the boys rode "Rattlesnake Rapids" and got soaked. They were kind of irritated at me for not wanting to go on it with them, but since I only had a change of clothes for the kids, I wasn't willing to walk around the rest of the night in wet jeans. Call me a stick-in-the-mud, but I was a dry and warm one.
Of course, we had to ride the train.

As I mentioned Landon and I spent a lot of time together in Kiddie Land. Having a small child gives me the excuse to rides these types of rides - just my speed - without appearing creepy. If he grows at all through the year, he will probably be able to ride the big rides with the rest of the boys next year, and I'll have to suck it up and go with them - either that or bring some Dramamine.
Thanks, Nu Skin!

Yellowstone Reunion

This year my whole family (minus one brother, missed you, Jeff!) spent the Labor Day weekend at Yellowstone. We rented a cabin in Island Park for all 26, or so, of us and had a great time.

We saw some mineral pools,
of course, had to see Old Faithful,

fed some fish,

saw some waterfalls,

saw beautiful scenery,

smelled some pretty stinky stuff,

did a bit of hiking/walking,

saw some animals,

and some more animals,

learned how to fly fish (well, sorta'),

and zip lined.

Since we were there on Sunday, we went to a church in Island Park. We had no idea how many people were going to be there. We were among 1900 people, funneling into a regular-sized church building. Cars were double and triple parked in the parking lot, lined the streets, and filled local businesses. The chapel and cultural hall were filled to capacity, as well as every room, classroom, hallway, and even outside. People were sitting outside open windows to hear the service. We sat in a small classroom on kid-sized chairs and the children sat on the floor. As more and more people kept filing in, I wondered how and IF they were even going to attempt passing the sacrament. They actually did it, and it took over a half an hour. I've never seen smaller pieces of bread on a sacrament tray. This was such a remarkable event, that it even made the newspaper. It was incredible to be part of it.

In all, a great family reunion at a great place!