Christmas in New York and Ephraim

We started off Christmas at home with our ugly Christmas tree in Ephraim. On Christmas morning, the kids unwrapped their gift: Wicked Tickets in New York! We flew out on the red-eye that night for 4 days and 3 nights of pure New York City.

But before we left, we had a fun afternoon with our new friends in Ephraim. We had Christmas brunch at the house, complete with 3 kinds of quiche, gazpacho, breakfast casserole, grapefruit, and fruit sangria. Then with full stomachs we embarked on a four-wheeling and sledding extravaganza. It was bitter cold, but we had a great time.

We came home just in time to leave to New York in the SCARIEST storm of the season. I was crying, saying the rosary, you name it. Just get us to the airport in one piece! There were 8 of us crammed in the 4 runner with our luggage on our laps to the ceiling. I'm convinced the weight in the car was the only thing that kept us on the road.

In New York, we took in fifty degree weather while we shopped, saw musicals, ate until our insides screamed, and stayed up til wee hours of the morning. We ate New York pizza at Angelo's, Sushi at Ruby Foo's, Brazilian and Italian food, and even street vendor kabobs and hot dogs. We went to 2 musicals: Wicked and In the Heights and we roamed the streets of Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown, Broadway, Central Park, 7th Avenue, and Times Square. It was an eye opening experience for the kids. There were more people living in one building than live in the entire city of Ephraim.

Now we are back and need the vacation after the vacation to recover. But no complaints. It was great.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Whitney and Hannah

The Boys Together at Last

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (great til we had to cut 2 ft off the top

Yes, the dog's tail really did get spray painted red

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:

One dog with a tail spray painted red
Three boycrazy teenagers
Four strings of lights that went out on the tree
Five doctor appts. in one week
Six kids coming to our house for Christmas (YEAH!!)
Seven presents that were returned to sender instead of forwarded to Ephraim
Eight loads of laundry in one day
Nine trips to the Athletic Center for swimming and racquetball
Ten strings of lights Kevin hung outside
Eleven basketball games Hannah cheers in during December
Twelve foot tall Christmas tree with a 10 foot ceiling in the house

Recovering from the Bowl Game

Where do I start? Are we sad because the touchdown that was in bounds was called back? Because the field goal kick hit the post and bounced OUT? Or because the blocked field goal became a live ball when we touched it in the endzone and the other team scored a touchdown? Or because we somehow lost a critical 10 seconds off the clock when it was restarted at the end of our run in the 4th quarter?

Well, I know one thing. Those boys played their hearts out! In a double overtime loss, Snow College lost the National Championship by (as Maxwell Smart would say)..."just that much". But I have nothing but praise for the team. What a class act.

Kevin looked the part. He was meant to do this job. We had such a ball at the banquet and watching the game with family and friends. We got to have dinner with Dave Checketts and we were treated like royalty with our box seats and great food catering from start to finish. What a fun tradition.

All I know is next year...WATCH OUT! This is our title to win.

3 Very Special Guests on Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year consisted of 3 particularly special blessings: The long awaited arrival of Jantzen after many months apart, a new little one from Gabe and Kristen--baby Elli, and Aubrey fresh off the European tour with Blake and the band (their band is called Taught Me).

It reminded me that family trumps everything! They are the greatest gift and they are what makes special days so special.
We stuffed ourselves with the traditional fare, then played games and visited late into the evening. Grandma Lind made our 4th special guest...who would have known she would be with us this year after a coma and life support? The day after Thanksgiving we moved her from the assisted living back into her own home. She is my hero. Meanwhile, Kevin took the younger two girls to Logan to be with Grandma and Grandpa White's house for graham cracker (gingerbread) house making, all the mashed potatoes you could eat, and Football games galore. A bit untraditional this year to be apart, but it was perfect in it's own way for each of the kids.

To top it off, I made 3 homemade pies--Coconut Cream, Banana Cream, and Cherry. AND THEY ALL WORKED! Watch out, Paul Deen. I'm on your tail, baby.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Twilight Party

To celebrate the big opening of Twilight, we headed to American Fork for Sushi, and then on to Paiges for the big extravaganza. At 11:15 p.m. (cough, sputter) we headed to the Gateway. I didn't think I could stay up that late.

We all swooned to Edward and Jacob with the rest of the audience. It was well worth the 2:00a.m. finish time.

SNOW BADGERS #1

A RARE MOMENT WITH KEVIN AT THE GAME

BADGER PRIDE

Today was the final game of the season and the Badgers won Mesa in a blowout 65-20. Adding to that, Navarro, which is currently ranked #1, just lost their game, meaning that Snow will likely climb to #1 in the polls tomorrow.
The Top of the Mountains Bowl at the Real Salt Lake Stadium will be the National Championship game. Kevin is stoked because Badgers may win the National Championship the first and only time since he played in 1985, and during his first year as Athletic Director at Snow. Pretty cool, even for someone like me who doesn't like sports.


WE ARE WINNING--CAN WE HANG ON TO THE LEAD?

JAMAICA AND NICHOLAS AT THE GAME

AFTER THE GAME--HAPPY FOR THE WIN--


Mom, Dad, and Jamaica all went to the game and had beautiful 60 degree weather and blue skies all day. It couldn't have been more beautiful...unless I had a fly rod in one hand and a fish in the other.

On the home front, I am gradually adjusting to life in Ephraim. I still take on one work day in Utah County each week, but when I'm here, I am making an effort to get to know people, exercise, etc. The pace is sloooower. Let's just say... I get to walk alot. Makes the time go by. The kids are doing great and are very active in everything. Small towns agree with them.

11 more days before Jantzen comes for Thanksgiving! You don't think I'm excited or anything?!

HANNAH IN HER CHEER OUTFIT

KAYLA GETTING READY FOR PLAY DRESS REHEARSAL

Goodbye Alpine, Hello Ephraim

Well....Ephraim here we are! We moved in on Halloween and watched the election unfold in a new home--a memory that will stick forever. It's new beginnings all the way around. Today, we are on Day 2 of a complete water outage here. Someone hit the main water line and they have been trying to fix it since yesterday afternoon.

Here is what I've learned in 4 days at the new home:

1. It's pretty cool when you can stand in the master bedroom and see every room in the house.
2. Don't under-estimate the frustration that comes from living next door to horses when your dog has a "thing" for rolling in warm horse poop.
3. A smaller house can get stinky when you can't flush toilets, wash dishes, or shower for 2 days.
4. How is it possible that we are in a smaller town but the girls are twice as busy as they were in Alpine? Hurray for cheer, musical theater and violin.
5. Intelligent, fun people live in small towns too. I've met the nicest people!
6. When I design my own home, remind me to put the light switches for the kitchen IN the kitchen (instead of one in the living room, one in the dining room).
7. This move reminded me that when you having nothing to do, it's the time to do all the things you said you would always do when you "had some free time" (banjo, write a book, start an online flyfishing store)
8. Fancy televisions require fancy technicians to set them up. And sometimes they still don't work right so you have to use the 10 inch TV from the dorm rooms anyway.
9. Be grateful for working washer and dryers!
10. Take what you own and cut it in half, then cut it in half again and you still own too much stuff.

THE ANNIVERSARY DINNER

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We celebrated our anniverary last night. Pretty interesting when you have no restaurants in town and the water isn't working. We melted ice cubes to cook with and made dinner anyway. A down-home anniversary with Gentry as our waitress. Take a look at the funny menu the kids made (click on the picture to enlarge).