Game Night

We held a Family Game Night, which included Pass the Pigs and Apples to Apples Junior!

Crew is passing those piggies!

 Oh, silly Daddy.  He's rollin' those pigs on a reckless streak!  But he almost has enough to win the whole game if he can just. hang. on....

 PIG OUT.

 And a hilarious round of Apples to Apples!

Three cheers for game night!

Merry Christmas in Kuwait

Our kids were really happy to be able to send a very special Christmas package to their Uncle Jason, who is spending his holidays serving our country this year.

Merry Christmas, Uncle Jason!

Melktert

Our Young Men and Young Women at church enjoyed a very special African Christmas celebration this month as their combined activity.  In preparation for our event, Kinley helped me make South African "Melktert"!  So much fun and really delicious too!  I combined a recipe that I found online with a recipe that came from a South African friend's "ouma"!

Ingredients:
6 Tbs butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
6 egg yolks
2 cups cake flour (yes, cake flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups milk
6 egg whites
2 Tbs cinnamon sugar

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the cake flour, baking powder and salt, and stir until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and milk. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks using an electric mixer. Fold into the batter. Pour into the large casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed, and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top.

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes on 375, then reduce temperature to 325 degrees. Continue baking for another 50-75 minutes (I know, it's a wide range, but I made several and it was a little different each time), until the center is set when you jiggle the pan. Serve warm or cold!!

Temple Square Lights

We were really excited this year to take our kids to see City Creek and the Lights on Temple Square!  We went on a Saturday night and had so much fun!  We plan to make it a yearly tradition... like everyone else in the state!

Gardner Village

We went with some friends to see the elves at Gardner Village

There were several elves doing various activities, like this one below.  There were not quite as many displays as I remember from their Halloween witch decor, but worth the trip.

Luckily for Tanner, he found his name on the nice list!

And Crew found a larger than life sugar rush.

Say "cheese".... and mean it!

A morning well spent burning off energy for the kids that are out of school for the whole month of December!

BYU Basketball Game

After two years in a row with our kids out of school for the whole month of December, I don't have any idea how we will ever be able to stomach a traditional school schedule.  We've really enjoyed our late nights and  freedom to celebrate the holiday season to exhaustion!

On one such an evening, we went to a BYU basketball game.

Gooooooo, Cougars!

The weather was pretty awful that day, and we struggled with the decision to go.  In the end, our spirit of adventure trumped caution.  Foolish.  The roads were as wild as Crew's behavior while we at the game...

 We did have a good time, even if Crew was rather... Crew-like.

It was an evening worthy of Jingle-themed song-writing!  Because honestly, college basketball isn't really my thing.  I clapped my hands and pretended to be cheering for the Cougars while I was really composing this in my head:

"Crawling through the snow
In a silver mini van
To BYU we go
Because we are such fans.

We made it here in time
To see the Cougars play
Defying death on I~15
White knuckling all the way!

Oh!

It's been fun, but I'm so done
Crewzer is a nut!
Up the bleachers, tears again,
"Just sit down on your butt!"

Cougar tails and kettle pop
The big kids make me laugh!
I think I can, I think I can
Make it to the half..."

Festival of Trees

We took our kids to the Festival of Trees!

We went in the middle of the day on Wednesday, before the crowds 'o madness descended on the Expo Center.  We saw some very impressive displays!

Including one scene that reminded us of cousin Annabelle.

And a special horse-shoe tree that Grandpa B. would like!

I think that some day we will donate a mini-tree in memory of our mini-angel baby, Dex.  Of course, I will have to overcome my "I Hate Primary Children's Medical Center" biases in order to donate a tree to them with an honest and forgiving heart.  Someone asked me the other day about our NICU experience there with Crew and I couldn't get through my description without swearing.  Twice.

So..... for now, we will be inspired by others who donate to this great cause with their amazing trees and displays!  And we will continue to contribute through our entrance fees.

Superman and Star Wars

And a police theme in memory of an officer killed earlier this year in the line of duty.

It was a great adventure.  We spent about 2 hours there and didn't see everything!  Three cheers for new traditions!

Christmas Oranges

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is reading "Christmas Oranges" by Linda Bethers and Ben Sowards.   After we read it as a family, we share a chocolate orange!  This year we tried the white chocolate and it was delicious!

My Least Favorite Things

My Least Favorite Things

Rain spots on windows and hairballs from kittens
Rusted out kettles and one matchless mitten
Brown paper food wrappers thrown on the floor
These are a few of the things I abhor…

Loads of wet laundry that don’t find the dryer
Mean girls and bullies, the kid that’s a liar
Children who leave all their food on the plate
These are a few of the things that I hate...

Time wasters, weirdos, and chicks who dig drama
Sleeplessness, bloating, and unresolved trauma
Dieting, lost shoes, and wrinkly clean clothes
These are a few of the things that I loathe...

When the kids cry and the fridge stinks
And it’s me to blame!
I simply remember these horrible things
And then I don’t feel so lame!

Candy Cane Mani-Pedis

Kinley and I found the idea for candy cane mani-pedis on Pinterest so we thought we'd give it a whirl!

Soaking her piggies before a sugar scrub, reading The Innkeepers Wife aloud to me.

We nailed it.

And I mean nailed it.

The Karate Kids Part 2, Yellow Belts

We are so proud of Kinley and Tanner for earning their YELLOW belts!

Tanner has really loosened up over his months in the dojo.

 We are very proud of him for working so hard to earn his yellow belt!

 Kinley loves karate even more than Tanner.  She is especially proud of her crazy strong kick power!

 Way to go, Kinley and Tanner!  Thank you, Master David, Sensei Jessie, and everyone at USSD Studios!

The Karate Kids Part 1

This summer we enrolled both Kinley and Tanner in a local karate class!  They absolutely love it.  Like.... super duper love.  And I love that it's something they can do together so I'm not running all over town to separate extra curricular activities!  I have always liked the idea of karate, ever since I took one semester of instruction in college.  This was finally the year that the stars aligned perfectly!

Meet the karate kids.  Their first day in the dojo!

We love our karate studio!

December to Remember

The kids are out of school for the entire month of December.  We had made grand plans to help this be a "December to Remember"!  We kicked of the month by decorating the Christmas tree!

Kinley was a big help: finding all the hooks and spreading out the boys' ornament clumps.  She comes by her OCD honestly.

Crew was beside himself  with glee over the tree decorating!  He was master of the candy cane placement.

Yeah, it's not the tallest tree ever... but we love it anyway.

Because they have no school tomorrow, we thought it would be fun to let them sleep out in the livingroom tonight!  Bring on December!!!