Christmas 2008

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebrations:

Christmas Eve:

We spent Christmas Eve enjoying the company of both friends and family. We started off the night visiting with friends. Some families that we know from our ward got together and enjoyed some delicious food and conversation. The kids ran around while the adults talked. It was wonderful! Thank you, Amanda, for inviting us! Afterwards, we went over to my Dad's house and met up with my sister, my brother and his wife. We read the story of Jesus's birth together and then let the kids open up one present (it just so happened that each present turned out to be a brand new set of jammies).

Christmas morning:

On Christmas morning we woke up early (but not as early as I was expecting, thankfully) and opened up the presents from Santa and the ones from our family at our house. We then quickly headed over to my Dad's house (as my little niece was impatiently waiting for us) where we opened up the rest of our presents. I was in charge of Christmas breakfast and I decided to bake homemade cinnamon rolls. I was a little nervous about it because I had been playing around with several recipes but hadn't found one that I really liked. Thankfully, the rolls turned out beautifully. I was so proud of myself (my cooking/baking has come a long way in the seven years I have been married). I meant to take a picture, but forgot. Sorry -- you will just have to imagine the best cinnamon rolls you have ever seen or tasted and then you'll be somewhat close to my culinary masterpiece. j/k.

After presents and breakfast we set about playing with our hoards of toys. Santa had been very generous with our family -- He brought us a Wii plus tons of accessories and games. I don't know who enjoyed playing with it more -- my brother, Ryan, or the kids. We had a blast! For dinner, my sister and I teamed up to cook a delicious feast of prime rib, potatoes, salad, rolls, asparagus and a decadent triple chocolate trifle dessert. Everything was spectacular. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas and I feel like it will be the beginning of a good new start to 2009 for all of us.

This picture was out-of-focus and it wouldn't let me fix the red eyes, but I thought it summed up the frenzy of Christmas morning present-opening very well.

Gotta love both the hair and her insistence on wearing the new gloves she had received in her stocking.

You can't see it very well, but Travis insisted on opening up his presents by smacking them with his beloved hammer. It was hilarious.

Enjoying the "big" present from Santa.

Alyssa opening up a huge pile of presents at my Dad's house.

Coriel and her pile.

My brother, Ryan, and his wife, Dusti at my Dad's house on Christmas morning.

The best seven years of my life

Yesterday Kip and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary. We didn't do anything too fancy -- we just had a quiet dinner date and then we picked up the kids and took them to the Temple to see the lights. To many this would seem a dull way to celebrate as important an event as an anniversary. To me it was perfect. In a way it very much symbolized the kind of people Kip and I are. We aren't too flashy or outgoing. No one would ever pay money to see a Hollywood depiction of our lives. There isn't a whole lot of drama in our lives. We are just two ordinary, hard-working people who genuinely enjoy spending time with each other and our kids. Some might label our lives boring; I prefer the word steady. I whole-heartedly love my life. I wouldn't want it any other way. Thank you, Kip, for being my handsome, brilliant, patient, loving, kind, considerate, diligent, wise (and the list goes on and on...) leading man in our very un-Hollywood love story.

The Cutest Shepherd Ever!

My friend, who just happened to be substituting in nursery last week, sent me of this picture of Travis playing the role of a Shepherd during his nursery lesson on Sunday. It was too cute not to post. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Few Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures of the family decorating our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving Adventures

I know this is a little late, but I just wanted to update you all on our Thanksgiving adventures. This year Thanksgiving was a time of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever planned and cooked a complete Thanksgiving meal on my own. I am happy to report that everything went pretty well. I was completely up for trying new and different ideas.

For the turkey, I experimented by using a brining (sp?) technique (kind of like a marinade using salt) and it was really fabulous (if I do say so myself!). The brine was the key -- it made the turkey so moist and delicious. I will definitely do that again in the future. I also used a stuffing recipe similar to what my mother-in-law uses and although it wasn't quite as good as hers, (as that is utterly impossible) it was pretty decent.

The only casualty of the night was the rolls. I underestimated the prep time and tried to make up for it by putting them on top of the oven to rise faster. I ended up cooking half of the dough and it was a complete mess. I ended up just bagging them and using a pre-made set of rolls that I had bought just in case. I always have trouble with rolls! However, I am no quitter so I am determined to try it again (and hopefully get it right) this Christmas.

On Black Friday there was no way I was going to subject myself to the horrors that accompany any kind of shopping venue, so instead, we went downtown to visit the newly reopened American History Museum. Unfortunately, the National Mall was not any less crowded than the local shopping malls. We didn't stay too long and vowed to come back on a day that wasn't so crazy. Here are a few pictures from that day: