Christmas Eve

We stayed at the cabin until Christmas Eve this year.  I never would have thought it, but we did end up having a Christopher's two sisters come up with their families, without a hitch!  So, here are some more pictures of us playing in the snow.

I love this pair of pictures.  This is the shot I wanted to get:

And then this is what happened next:

As Kaitlyn reminds me often, "snow is slippery."

They loved hanging out with their cousins.  And Kaitlyn loved making snow angels all day, despite the fact that her puny weight had no impact on the frozen snow.

So beautiful!  You know, when you don't have to deal with traveling in it too much.  Thankfully our neighbors were making trips up and down all day, and so the road was well packed down.  They just bought a cabin near us, and he owns 4 snowmobiles.  So we watched all day as they got everything up for their family party that night - presents and instruments and not one, but two Christmas trees! 

Well, as for us, once we finally got down, we headed to the annual party at Grandma's house.  This year, my sister-in-law Betsy came well equipped.  She had made about 20 costumes for all the little kids to wear in a nativity scene!  I was amazed when the little bags, each labeled with a part, kept coming and coming out of her box.  They were all simple - but that made it easier for them to fit on any size child that picked it out that year. 

So after everyone got a part, then all the kids got to act each scene out . . .

. . . while my brother-in-law read the story.  Perfect!

Everybody especially liked when Mary had to ride on the donkey.

After the nativity scene, it was time for the annual concert.  My husband and all of his siblings played horns quite seriously growing up, so usually a couple of them end up playing some songs for everybody.  It gets funnier each year as we get further away from high school, when most of them stopped playing.

But it is still a hit!

And then Santa comes!  Amazingly, Tyler was the one that ran up and got really excited to see him. 

"Tyler, are you excited for Christmas?"
"Yeah."
"Have you been a good boy?"
"Yeah."
"Tyler, do you ever push your sister?"
"Yeah."
Yup, totally true.

Kaitlyn was pretty excited too.  Especially when he gave her candy.



What a busy day! 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Ever since we got the cabin, we have been daydreaming about coming up here for Christmas.  Last year we flew to Ohio instead, though we did get to come here for New Years.  But getting here last night was truly an adventure.  In retrospect, we should have seen it coming.  But who ever sees problems coming?

See, we get up to the cabin by snowmobile.  Snowmobiles are very good at going across hard, icy snow.  They sink in powder or slush, and they weigh 800 pounds or so.  That makes picking them up and out of their obstacle hard.

And earlier this week, we got a foot of snow in the valley.  That's about 3 feet up here.

Then, the day we came up, it warmed up and rained.  It was still pouring rain when we got up here.

That makes 3 feet of fresh, slushy snow, if you are counting.

First the truck got stuck.  We took the snowmobiles off the trailer and drove them up past the parking lot, then walked back down.  Then the empty trailer got stuck, so we took it off and left it by the side of the road.  Finally got the truck to the parking lot.  Then we loaded the kids and all our food and clothes in the snowmobiles and headed up.  Both snowmobiles got stuck about 15 feet from each other, 1/3 mile away from the cabin.  We sat the kids on mine, got his unstuck, and then he took off.  I thought we were going to switch the kids over to his and get mine out, and he thought he would just run the sled of stuff up to the cabin and come back to help. 

Well, he got stuck at the cabin and couldn't get out when he turned around.

When I realized he wasn't coming back, I knew I couldn't manuver the stuck snowmobile with both kids.  That meant we had to walk.  A third a mile, in 3 feet of snow, up the hill.  (I sound like an old geezer.)  The part that upset me the most is that their snow boots were at the cabin, and daddy had driven off with their gloves.  They had hats and thick coats with hoods, but they were wearing their fake cowboy boots and jeans. 

I gained a new appreciation for pioneers last night.  Or anyone in the vast history of the world before motorized vehicles.  Carrying and pulling those poor kids up the hill and knowing their fingers were bare made me cry more than once.  But we only had under a mile to go.  And there was a dry and relatively warm cabin at the end of the road.  With dry clothes to change into, and tons of firewood to make a fire.  How many of them could say that?

I tell you, though, Tyler is the trooper of the universe.  I have always said that he wouldn't complain if you locked him in a room with no objects or windows or anything for an hour, and I think last night was worse.  I mean, the kids sank up to their knees with almost every step.  And while I could carry Kaitlyn some of the time, I just didn't have the strength to carry Tyler.  Tyler cried exactly once, when he fell down more than halfway up.  It made me cry, too, that things had finally gotten to him (Kaitlyn had been beside herself most of the time, poor dear).  But then he stopped a minute later, and when I asked if he could keep walking he said "yeah."  So onward we trudged.  Kaitlyn made a valiant effort to keep going and sing Christmas songs with me, but who on earth wouldn't complain about that trip?  Only Tyler.

So I guess that's what I gained this Christmas.  Perspective.  Thankfully, we did make it up, and since it was warm enough, no one got frostbite or anything.  That was a wonderful blessing.  The kids were happy and watching a movie within an hour, so all's well.

 This morning, things were better, weather wise.  Christopher got everything unstuck, including the ditched snowmobile and trailer.  And the kids have had a blast, helping daddy shovel snow and staging a large snowball fight.  (I don't know who showed Kaitlyn to throw snow at people, but they think it is hilarious!)  So I'm looking forward to spending some time buried up here with our tiny, Charlie Brown Christmas tree.



Disneyland!

Brace yourselves, folks.  This will be picture heavy.  But that's the way I like things. :)

We went to Disneyland again this last weekend with DigiCert.  What an amazing company Christmas party, as always!  It is crowded this time of year, but the kids are loving it more and more as they get older.  One of my favorite things to do is to dress them up in Disney costumes.  They love it, and we honestly didn't make it more than five feet on the first day without someone saying "Look!  Woody and Jesse!  So cute!"  So, ya know, that was my ego stoke for the month. :)

Since it has been three years since our first trip, it was fun to compare pictures a bit.  That first year it was only Tyler, and I was due with Kaitlyn the next month.  What a cute little man!

By far, my favorite moment of the trip was on the carousel right here.  I took pictures, and then climbed onto my own horse.  And then, when the horses started moving, Kaitlyn took off her hat and started waving it around, rodeo style.  Let me tell you, I have never shown her how to do that in my life.  She either picked it up from watching a rodeo months ago, or watching Toy Story.  I have no idea.  But it was awesome.  Yee-ha!

There are some pictures you aren't allowed to leave Disneyland without taking.

And then we saw our first character.  I was a bit worried, because lately Kaitlyn has gotten really shy around new people.  We'll tell her we are going to meet someone, and then when we get there she will hide behind my legs in terror.  So when she told me she wanted to give Daisy Duck a hug, I figured it would be a good trial run.

And low and behold, she did!  She just walked right up to her and gave her a hug, and then smiled and posed for pictures with her.  Hooray! 
Next, we had a fun scavenger hunt with our friends in Toontown.

And then we actually managed to get fairly good seats for the parade.  Which, by the way, I'm fairly certain hasn't changed in three years. 

After a nap time, we went down to the hotel lobby to meet Santa.  Kaitlyn liked that a lot, too!

And they liked their candy canes that Santa gave them, too.

Daddy had some work to do that night, so we headed out with friends.  Yes, we went on a carousel again.  In fact, we rode on a carousel four seperate times before leaving.  My kids like carousels.

And the next morning, it was finally time.  Any time anyone asked Kaitlyn what she was going to do in Disneyland, she would say "meet Tinkerbell".  As if there is anything else to do there.

And Tinkerbell was adorable with her!  She asked if Kaitlyn had made her shoes out of flowers "just like me" . . .

. . . and if she made her skirt out of leaves too.  Kaitlyn thought that discussion was fascinating, and said "yes" every time.

And then Tink had Kaitlyn put her hand on her hip for this picture.  It wasn't the usual amount of attitude because Kaitlyn was just so dang happy.  That alone made her costume worth it.

Did I mention she likes carousels?

Another one of our traditions is the "Small World" ride.  My mother has a select number of things she hates with an absolute passion.  She will send plates back in a restaurant if they come with watermelon.  She won't touch camping with a thirty foot pole.  She is terrified of bridges.  And if you start humming "It's a Small World", she will shriek and cover her ears.

And so, every year, we call her from inside the ride and hand the phone off to one of our kids so she can't hang up on us.

We're so nice!  (Sorry mom, but it's hilarious.  I swear it is because we love you.)

Anyway, Daddy was thrilled to take Tyler on the bumper cars again.  It is the only ride that he is tall enough for that Kaitlyn isn't.

On the second bumper car ride, I watched a friend's litle girl so they could all do the cars together.  Kaitlyn loved rubbing her peach fuzz hair.

And this is what Jacie thought of that.  Also, notice that Kaitlyn stuck her beloved Boo toy in the grid while they watched the cars go around. 

That night, we had the big company dinner.  The kids got "makeovers" first - Kaitlyn had her hair done with green glitter, and Tyler got a cool Pirate hat and eyepatch.  This was Tyler's funniest moment that weekend right here.  He decided to use not one, but two forks to carry the chicken tender to his mouth to eat it.  You go, kid!

They had this show going on to entertain us, with these pirates that . . . took over this lady's wedding, best I could figure out.  I was a bit distracted, because Kaitlyn was absolutely terrified of the pirates.  When they first came out, she literally dove under the table and hid, crying.  And then they kept coming back.  But finally on their 4th or 5th trip out in the show, they came around and gave each of the kids some "loot" with fake jewels.

Suddenly, these pirates were okay guys. (The guy in the middle is actually the CEO, by the way, not one of the actors.)

On to the next day.  I can't tell if Tyler is happy to see Lightning or just squinting in the sun.

And then we had the breakfast with the Princesses.  Kaitlyn was in heaven!

She would give each one a hug, and then smile with this dazed look while they talked to her.

 Tyler showed no interest at all until Snow White came out.  And then he reached across to her until I got him out of his chair.  He didn't want to talk to her or look at her, really, just kinda grin and lean in towards her.  Such a funny guy.

I thought that was odd, and then looked through my old pictures of that first year at Disneyland.  And, lo and behold, the only Princess he paid any attention to was Snow White.  Apparently we have a crush going on here.

It was just about time to run off and catch our plane, but we did have time for one more character visit.  While we were in line, Kaitlyn looked at me and said "Mommy!  I need my costume."  Yeah, sorry little lady.  But at least she got to meet Jesse.

What a wonderful trip!

And you know what I decided was the most magical part?  In all three days, my kids did not soil a single peice of clothing.  Nobody puked on a plane, no one spilled their food.  No exploding diapers, not a single potty training accident.  I cannot tell you how happy that made me!



Projects

First of all, I should follow up on the windows.  They came back last Saturday, as promised, and everything looks great now!  Not only did the three guys from earlier that week come, but the manager and one more worker as well.  So they fixed all the ones they had done the last time they were here, and got all the rest in.  Fourteen windows in total, in one day.  Whew!  Now Christopher just has to put in a new window sill, since we had to take out the tile for them to get the new windows in properly. 

In the meantime, I have been rather busy lately!  I have a few large projects on the horizon, so the first one I wanted to knock out was our Christmas card.  For the sole reason that I could.  Once I had the family picture - which is usually the hardest part - I could just get that done and out of the way.  I haven't gotten them sent off yet, but they are printed and ready to go! (This is the front cover, then inside, then back cover, in case you get lost.)

So, what are the big projects?  Well, this is one of them.  We are going to Disneyland with Christopher's work group again this holiday season, and since I helped out with a sewing project last year they asked if I could help out again.  Last year was 5 bibs for the new babies.  This year it is 25 bags!  I tell you what, though, once I got my supplies cut out, I found a method that takes me only 15 minute a bag. SUPER easy, and I think they look great.  They are even reversible!  I was impressed that Jo-Anns had not one, but two Mickey and friends Christmas fabrics.  Awesome.  The company logo will go on the outside later.

But you can only do so many of those in a row.  So I decided to make myself a bag.  At one point I was entertaining the idea of making this bag for everyone.  I'm glad I didn't, because they take an hour or so instead of 15 minutes.  But I still wanted one for myself!  And by golly, the bag is just as easy and great as they looked in the pictures.

Besides the awesome fabric, what I love the most about this bag is the number of pockets I put on the inside.  Now there is a seperate pocket for everything - hooray!  That was what I changed from her pattern.  I did the pockets on the outside like normal, but then on the inside there is just a large strip that goes along the entire bag, with vertical separations where I needed them.  Well, that, and I put a leather strip on the bottom to prevent wear and tear.  Because I still own way too much leather for anyone's good.

This bag makes me very happy!



Windows

So, ever since we bought our house five years ago, we have known that someday we would have to replace the windows.  They are double paned, but the seals are almost all broken.  That means that water vapor can seep in between the panes, and can't escape again.  So we are left with a hazy view.  Not to mention that all of our screens are either broken, missing, or being used for bird nesting.  This is the window where I actually saw a bird taking the screen apart for its nest.  Nice view, eh? The right side is just window, with a broken seal.  And the left side is the side with the screen on it.

In addition to the aluminum double pane windows, we have these storm windows as well.  They are plasticy sheets of sorts that attach to a frame with magnets, so we can take them off to open the window if we want to.  Or open the door - yes, they block the sliding glass doors as well.

We have finally broken down and bought new windows!  We'll do two sides of the house this year, and then the rest next year.  And for once, Christopher decided to let the company install them, instead of spending a year trying to install them himself after work each day.  I just wish that, for once, he was happy with the job that the professionals do.  Three guys came yesterday and replaced about 1/4 of the windows in our house.  Unfortunately, the first problem we ran into is that the window sill is ruined where the storm window used to be.

This is a new window.  You can see the ugly brown line where the old storm window was.  We can fix the drywall okay, but the tile is another matter.  That is going to have to go.

The other problem is that the new windows are thicker than the old windows.  That makes sense - they are nice and thick vinyl windows so we get the tax credit for them.  But the problem is that the guys explained to Christopher that they don't cut into window sills, generally, and it would be a big mess with the tile.  So they would stick out "a bit".

Now, one of the trim peices is missing here, but you can see what they meant by "a bit".

And here is another window with the outside trim already on.

So our choices were to re-tile the window sills eventually anyway (to get rid of the ugly line ) and replace all the trim in the house (to make it thicker to cover the windows), or just take out the window sills before the guys come back on Saturday to finish more windows and make them do these ones over again.  We will also have to take the trim off (we can just put it back on later, without replacing it) so that they can get in there with the caulking.

Thankfully, when Christopher talked to the manager and showed him pictures, he was okay with making the guys do it all over again.  I feel kinda bad making them take them out all over again, but . . . we are paying a lot of money to have the windows put in, and we do need them put in well.  And if the sills look bad anyway, there's no use trying to protect them.

But, boy, is it going to be a lot of work this week.  And really messy - taking out tile is never fun.  Poor Christopher.

Family Pictures

Family pictures are tough.

Here is a list of my problems:

1.  The more I learn about photography, the pickier I get.  That means that a lot of the cheaper photographers are out, because I look at their work and cringe.  I'm not saying my work is perfect - some of my work makes me cringe.  But . . . still.  If I'm going to pay you, you should be really good.  And you should match my style - a lot of people are really into sunbursts and tilts and everything, and I'm not.

2.  I have invested a sizeable chunk of money into my photography equipment.  That means that I get really cheap when it comes to paying for a photographer to take pictures of my family.  I've tried, but I just have a hard time paying someone to do something I have the equipment and the knowledge to do myself.

3.  Tyler doesn't look at a camera on a timer.  In fact, it is really hard to get Tyler to look at a camera with a person behind it.  Tyler is doing better and better with engaging with the people around him, but it still isn't all that perfect.  So if I'm in the shot, Tyler's not looking.  I mean, let's think about this from a kid perspective.  Why on earth should he smile at an inanimate object?  Especially the 14th time someone has asked him to do it in the last hour?

4.  I finally did break down over the summer and hire a friend to take pictures of my family.  We scheduled - her brother-in-law died in a car accident and the funeral was that day.  We rescheduled - it rained.  We rescheduled - it forecasted rain.  I finally told her to just forget about it.  I felt squeemish enough paying someone, so at that point I gave up.

5.  I need this picture to go on my Christmas card.  That means I need the actual image.  That means I can't use a photographer that only sells prints.  I know why they don't want to hand out DVDs with images.  It is their art, and they don't want people to mess with it.  But . . . I need the image.

With all that in mind, here is what I got this morning.

Basically, I had to take many of each shot.  I would take some on the timer, so I was in it, and then some with me behind the camera and making Tyler and Kaitlyn smile.  Then I photoshopped them together so everyone was smiling.  They aren't perfect - some people are more out of focus than others, and the highlights and shadows kinda bug me on the last one.  But I'm pretty happy with them!  I'm just glad my hubby put up with me trying to cram this in before we rushed down to the BYU game.  I just knew that another 60 degree and cloudy Saturday morning wasn't going to come around again before Christmas card time, so it was now or never!

How it Went

Well, this is how we started out Trick or Treating:

Yup.  It hadn't rained in week, and won't again for a long time, but the universe decided to rain just in time for Trick or Treating.  I guess that is the "Trick".  I was just glad that A) it wasn't snowing and B) it stopped when we were halfway done.

The kids had a lot of fun!  Tyler actually picked up on it better than Kaitlyn did, which was impressive.  She was a bit shy about saying "Trick or Treat!" and "thank you!" but Tyler got the hang of things pretty fast.  He also figured out that if you reached in and grabbed two, nobody makes you put the extra one back (even while Mom is apologizing).

And then, on Sunday, Tyler got to be in his first Primary Program.  Once every year, the regular adult version of church is replaced by handing over the microphone to the kids aged 4-11.  And it is always fun to see.  Some types of performances become regular:  there is the kid that gets too nervous and cries about not wanting to say anything (which, this year, was actually an older girl), the kid swings side to side as she talks (which was adorable!), the older kid that is supposed to write his own heartfelt message but ended up telling a random story with no point, and so on.  Which one was Tyler?

Why, this year, Tyler was the kid that bolted towards the microphone as soon as it was his turn (and a couple of times when it wasn't), grabbed the microphone, put is right up against his mouth and shouted as loud as he could.

His part was "God speaks through prophets", but upon grabbing the mic he started out with "JESUS SAYS -" before the little helper quickly whispered in his ear "God speaks -" "GOD  - SPEAKS  - THROUGH  - PROPHETS!"

Christopher and I were laughing so hard, my eyes were watering.

I mean, just watching him on stage the whole time had been a hoot.  He's pretty easy going about things, but he was sure fidgety.  We laughed as leaned to one side and another, tried to move the chair in front of him whenever the occupant stood up, or even tried to find out what was under his chair while sitting perched on top of it, bum sticking up in the air.  So by the time he actually ran for his moment of glory, we were in hysterics.

Ah, the joys of parenting!