January & February in 100 Words

This is for all of you who given me flack about not updating our blog. Really, nothing noteworthy has being going on around here. January and February are pretty dry months. Apparently, this is a trend since last year's February post sounds very familiar. I feel that any blog entry needs a picture, but as I went through the camera I only found a few sledding pictures from January (very typical) amongst a LOT of jewelry and Craigslist photos. So, unless you REALLY want to see the roofing nails that I'm selling on Craigslist, this photo will have to do:

So, do I get my $3.00?

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?