December Doings

I figured that since the year will be ending in a mere 6 hours by my watch, it's about time to recap some of the month's activities. Not that I've been that good at posting regularly to begin with.



This photo was taken the weekend when Caroline was baptized. I think we have our holidays a little mixed up at our house. This is Lexi, Braeden and Ella dressed up in Halloween Costumes (which were never totally put away where they belong) in front of the Christmas Tree. Merry HalloMas!

Tandy wrapped up my mantel while she was here. Nick helped her install the stuff and I had to wait until Christmas morning to unwrap the mantle. I did not peek. Not even once.

December started out very nicely with the baptism of our oldest grandchild, Caroline. I can't believe that she is actually eight years old! Time sure does fly by. I didn't think to bring the camera to that happy event. We did hurry right back home after the ceremony and her confirmation. Mike's Mom had an event to go to, and so did Nick. Caroline enjoyed her day, I think. She has a big and supportive family.

School ended mid-month and we headed to Southern California for Damian's homecoming (see previous post).

My friend and neighbor gifts (just the jelly jar, not the decos) that didn't get delivered (some of them) until closer to the New Year and never got the hot rolls to go with them, either. But it's elderberry jelly, homemade and very pretty and VERY tasty.

We have a lot of friends and neighbors.

Then there was Christmas! We love Christmas. Doesn't everyone? I do get a Bah Humbug spirit about me occasionally when all the commercialism takes over and all I can see is shopping and spending (both things that I really don't enjoy very much). But I love the lights, music, food and family. And, of course, the REASON we celebrate. I also love our sweet neighborhood and Ward with all the sharing that goes on. Eric wasn't here to put up our outside Christmas lights! Needless to say, they never got done. But our tree was nice. And we had lit-up reindeer in the bedroom windows that looked all right.

We made Caroline suffer through Christmas morning at our house because we wanted to wait for her Great-Grandma to come over, and we ALWAYS eat breakfast first. We have a yummy breakfast casserole on Christmas morning. She was happy with just the stocking at first, but then was kind of chomping at the bit. It was fun to see the kids (old and young) unwrap all the presents. I particularly enjoyed the gift that Tandy put together with some of the other kids. I have a new mantle display! The old swag is gone. It's only been there about 15 years or so. Ugh. My NEW mantle display is gorgeous. The finished product:




Yes, Gail actually got a "Cozy" for Christmas. It's like a Snugi, only better. ;-)
Jonathan got this WONDERFUL airplane toy from one of Damian and Tandy's kids and he absolutely LOVES it! He plays and plays and plays with it and is so happy! It's cute.
And Caroline made this really cute picture ensemble for me of her and Jonathan. It's in a tray and embellished very nicely. Gail took the very professional-looking pictures. Zoom in, it's really nice.


AFTER Christmas, I hosted a brunch on the 30th for my friends. These are ladies in the ward that I went walking with every morning for years and years. Only it's been years, jobs and kids since we've done that, and I've missed my buddies. We referred to the walks as "therapy" and "Walkie-Talkies," so this was a nice continuation of our talks. Truly, we just don't see enough of our friends, do we? And what better time to gather than the holidays--AFTER the hustle and bustle are basically over. Especially for Jan, who not only had a new grandbaby born weeks before Christmas (a living at home temporarily couple) AND Christmas AND a wedding the day after! Yikes. That makes mine seem rather tame by comparison. I served Quiche Lorraine and it turned out perfectly, if I do say so myself.

Tonight is New Year's and we're going to ring in the New Year by playing games, setting off home made fireworks(? a little leery about that one--I'll keep you posted) and eating lots of yummy snacks we've been accumulating and making. Every now and then Gail or I will say, "OH! I know what else we have that I forgot about!" and name some other nice good treat like Aunt Jannea's or Gayela's fruitcakes, or the shrimp ring that was in the freezer...and we have chips and dips and crackers and home-made cheese balls and artichoke dip and guacamole and . . . .well, TOO MUCH good stuff. I'm glad the next day is a play day.

and then it's back to the grind. I love holidays. :-)

Welcome Home!

Damian got home from Afghanistan on Thursday this week. Mike, Nick, Mike's Mom and I traveled to California to spend some time with him, his family AND my extended family. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. Duh. I remembered the night before we left as I was laying in bed, but didn't get right up to put it with my stuff, so it got left behind.
We waited until Friday morning to leave because Nick had to work until midnight on Thursday. Mike was wanting to leave at midnight, but I talked him out of it. We ended up spending two hours in St. George waiting for a broken thermostat in the engine to get repaired. Good thing we weren't out on the road in the wee hours of the a.m. when that happened!

Got to Temecula in the late afternoon-ish. Fun times. Saw a LOT of picutures that Damian had taken, and he told us about a lot of his experiences over there.

Saturday afternoon was my Sorensen family get together. It was a smaller group than usual. We've lost two family members this past year, so that was sad. And the northern CA folks didn't make it. But it was still a nice gathering. (I'll e-mail you names later, Mom.)

Sunday, we enjoyed church with Damian and his family. Lots of Christmas programs. Next year, their ward meets at 8:30 a.m. I told Tandy that they should all just sleep in their church clothes. Ha. OR--it could be the "year of the Muu Muu and pony tail." She didn't agree. ha. 8:30 is ridiculously early to get self and 3 kids ready for church, fed and out the door. Yikes.

So, we'll be heading hom to Cedar on Tuesday, un less the weather scares us home more quickly. There's supposed to be snow on Tuesday in Cedar...but not as much as our missionary in Washington DC got! Blizzard conditions out there--2 feet of snow.

Gonna go play with grand kids.

UPDATE: For photos, check on Suz's and Tandy's blogs! Good job, ladies! And Nick. Damian, Ella and I had gone for a walk around the BIG block, looking at Christmas lights, so we were absent when the group photo was snapped. But Nick photoshopped us in! Just like that! What a talent, to tweak history like that. (Hey, we walked in the door within a couple of minutes after it was over and folks had started to disperse) They did try to call me--My cell phone was in my purse. Under the stairs. In the house. ;-)

Sometimes

Sometimes, you just feel like this.(Click on the image, and hopefully you can read it)


Especially around the holidays.

But isn't it fun?