Christmas Surprise

This year Christmas came with a fun twist. My parents surprised my children and came for Christmas. My children have been hounding my parents relentlessly to get them to commit to come to Houston for Christmas. All of them made phone calls , e-mails, and text messages hoping to recruit them for the holiday season. Joshua was by far the most engaged. When he felt to much time had passed away for them to purchase a decent priced airline ticket, he got online to research a train ticket and found out that there was not a stop in Houston, so he turned to a bus ride.

My parents arrived Tuesday, December 21st. I told the kids that I had a few errands to run and I would be home soon. When we pulled into the driveway, My Dad called Joshua on the phone and told him to open the door, Joshua said, " yea, right. So my dad said again, Joshua come open the door and help me carry in my luggage, Joshua's reply was whatever papa. SO, my dad rang the door bell. Joshua opened the door to his surprise there were his grandparents standing on the doorstep. When the children heard their voices, they ALL came RUNNING into the entryway to properly greet them. They were all shocked that we were able to plot such a surprise. Nathaniel asked if they were an illusion.

One of the fun traditions we have is making gingerbread houses. My mom started this enjoyable tradition when i was young and we have carried it out every year. Of course you have to have darling Christmas music in the back ground. Gene Autry is one of our favorites.

Along with the surprise visit, PaPa took the boys goose hunting. ( Joshua tried to use this to lure PaPa down to visit.) My Dad is an avid hunter, so this was another surprise for the boys.

As we can see, they were successful in their first goose hunting adventure.

Our succulent Christmas Eve dinner. It is ALWAYS a pleasure to spend the holidays with family. We thoroughly enjoyed having them in our home for the celebration of the birth of our Lord.

Santa Visit

Our ward had their annual Christmas Party with a surprise visit from Santa. The younger kids got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas.

The Primary children sang 3 Christmas songs. Here are the older boys in the Primary who were reluctant to stand with the younger primary children to sing.
Isabella loves the Christmas songs and has been practicing them at home. They all did a wonderful job singing. I always love to hear and watch the primary children sing.

Traditional Sugar Cookies

One of our fun family Christmas Traditions, is making my Great Grandmothers Sugar Cookies. The fun story behind these cookies, it that my great grandmother ALWAYS had these in her cookie jar. My mother recalls that they were never frosted, just sprinkled with sugar. After Great Grandmother had passed away, someone had discovered some left over cookies in the jar.

We like to play christmas music and everyone joins in on the fun of selecting a shape, cutting them out, and then frosting them. I think these are absolutely the BEST sugar cookies I have ever had. They are soft, fluffy, and just delicious!

Here is the scrumptious recipe:

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup shortening

1 cup milk

4 cups flour

2 Tablespoons Baking Powder

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon extract

Cream together sugar, shortening, then add eggs. Add milk and mix together. Slowly mix in the 4 cups of flour and other dry ingredients. Then add 2 more cups flour. ( may even need 1/2 more cup of flour)

Roll our and cut into shapes. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool and frost.

FROSTING:

1/2 cup melted butter

4 cups powder sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 to 4 TBS milk.

Crazy Geometry projects

As many of you know, I HATE school projects. I know that Hate is a strong word, but they actually put me into knots. I feel that they are busy work for parents. At any length, Alexander was assigned this project by his geometry teacher. The students had to build a structure out of spaghetti noodles that would support a 4 pound book. They are given more points if it will support more weight. FORTUNATELY for me, Howard was home and he and Alexander designed this master piece. As you can see in the picture, it did indeed support a 4 pound book. Now, the suspense of waiting to actually hear just how many books it did hold. Who would have thought that spaghetti noodles would do such a thing ?????

Well done boys!

Father and Son Camp out.

Howard took the boys on the Father Son camp out last night. The boys ALWAYS get very excited to go camping with their Dad. The boys worked very hard gathering all the camp gear together. They returned home safely, unharmed, bones in tack, smiles on their faces, eager to share their experience. Isabella and I did a girls night out with dinner and the movie Mega Mind.

Halloween

Our ward had it annual trunk or treat party. It is always a lot of fun for the children. We don't know all of our neighbors very well, and the trunk or treat provides an environment of people we know much better. We gave away over 200 pieces of candy. Nathaniel was a scary skeleton and Isabella was bouncy Tigger.

District CC meet.

Alexander competed in his District Cross Country Meet yesterday. It was a hard day weather wise to run in. It was 92 F and very humid. Alexander ran superbly. He took 15th over all and came home with a medal. His finishing time was 19:33 for a 3 mile. Alexander has improved so much over the season, his times have gotten faster with each race. WELL DONE ALEXANDER!

Girl's Weekend

It is ALWAYS a special treat when I get to spend time with family. Girl's Weekend are very hard to pull off. So many different schedules, husbands schedules and of course our children's schedules. BUT, It happened! My sister Allison and I were able to arrange our flights to arrive into S.L.C. at the same time. Our mom picked us up and we immediately began shopping. That evening, my sister Camille and sister in-law Erin met us at the Bombay House for some delicious Indian cuisine. We spent the night in a local Hotel and hit the shops early the next day. So much fun, THANK YOU LADIES!

None of this would have ever happened if it were not for my darling husband. His schedule is next to impossible. He made huge sacrifices for me to be able to leave town. I appreciate him so much. He completely took over with the wild schedule, cleaned the house, and did laundry. Thank you honey.!

September....Where did it go??

Alexander's Cross Country Season has kept us busy with meets every Saturday,( except 1 on a Thursday), many pasta nights, Selling T Shirts for a fund raiser at the Region 4 preview, and of course driving all over Houston to cheer him on. He is competing on the J.V. team and runs a 5K. His time has gone from 22:07 to his latest time of 19:42. He has made lots of improvements and we are very proud of him.

Gram came down to celebrate Nathaniel's birthday, but she would not pose for a picture, She was the one taking the picture. We loved having her here for a wonderful visit. She ALWAYS spoils us! Thanks Gram ! Nathaniel got a pogo stick for his birthday, luckily for us he has NOT mastered stairs! Knowing him, that day is not far off!

Nathaniel turned 10. He wanted an Army tank for his cake... UGH! I am not very creative, but it still tasted good. Hard to believe 10 years ago we were blessed with the cute little boy, He is always happy and energetic, not to mention nimble! We LOVE you Nathaniel!

Howard turned 42 this year. We had just a little family celebration. Happy Birthday my Love! Don't know what we would do without you. You are an amazing father and husband.

Nathaniel was awarded his Bear on Howard's birthday! Way to go Nathaniel, he worked hard to pass off all the requirements.

Pasta Night

We hosted the Cross Country Team Pasta Night this past Friday. This has become tradition for the team. The Boys get together to "Carb" load the night before their meet.

WOW! Was this an eye opener for me on how much food teen age boys will eat. We fed 19 starving boys, who ate 80 servings of pasta, 4 loaves of peasant bread, green garden salad and 6 dozen cookies. Luckily for me, Howard returned from Africa, just a few hours before we fed the boys. Could't have done it without his help.

More Idaho Fun.

Alexander and Joshua enjoy visiting with their fond friends.

These lovely ladies were my close friends in Utah. We have kept up our cherished friendship even though I live in Texas now. I look forward to our lunch date every year.
Chris and Erin had a fun family BBQ on their huge deck. Which was topped off with their annual kickball game. This year Chris, Jake, Bid and Noah , challenged the kids. It was a very exciting and funny game to watch. Maybe the men will win next year.

Nathaniel, Triston and Noah enjoying their Hamburgers and anxiously awaiting the kickball game.
Biddy being the clown

My Mom and I made these cute pillow case dresses for these darling granddaughters.

My sister and her husband live is a small town that puts on a fabulous 24th of July Celebration. We have made it a tradition to go to Mendon, watch the parade, eat fondue, play in the park and watch fire works. We ALL had a great time. Great company and food, what else could you want?

Gram giving the kids a ride around the yard in her wagon.

Papa and Isabella at the horse shed. Isabella begged Papa to ride his horses. She is anxiously awaiting her turn.
Joshua, Nathaniel and Gram also waiting their turn on the horse.

Joshua was the only one who did not want to ride John.

Papa got out the old suburban to take the boys to one of the local reservoirs to swim, canoe, and fish.
What is a summer without a drive in movie? Another one of the fun things we get to do. It actually cools off at night and we take blankets to wrap up in. We loved Toy Story 3.

Great Cabin Memories

Looking up at the cabin from the Meadow.

George and Helen at the annual Deck Dance. The children have a great time putting together a dance that is held on the deck. Usually a lot of fun for whole family.

THE BENSON'S

Stan, Lesley, Kiersten, Kathryn and Anna. Lauren and her husband Dan were missed this year. Maybe next year the army will let them have a few days at the cabin.

THE FINE"S

Cassie, Corynn, Hannah, Loralee, Steve, Sharlee, Kayden and Britton. The entire family made it into the cabin this year ! YEA!!

THE McBRIDE'S

Ashley, Rhiannon, Lisa, Clint, Kendrick, Nick. How nice it was to also have their entire family at the cabin.
Nathaniel decided not to ease into the ice cold creek water. He just took the plunge! He also came up out of the water trying to catch his breath it was so cold.

Sharlee actually dared to leave her muddy hand prints on Howard. Lets just say that revenge was Bitter Cold.

Alexander just relaxing and taking a float down Horse Creek. I love how clear this water is.

Nathaniel thinking he is pretty neat hauling tree limbs to the burn pile.

These are the Hikers that actually made it to Horse Creek Butte this year. So glad you actually found it this year Steve ; )

Corynn, Lesley,Britton, Cassie, Hannah, Anna, Kathryn, Joshua, Alexander, Kiersten, Nathaniel, Kayden, Steve. ( Howard took the picture)

First Day of School

I don't know for sure what it is about the first day of school that I dislike so much, I think it is actually letting go of my children, knowing they are a year older, and have advanced a grade, which in translation means another year closer to leaving home. Alexander started his day very early with seminary 5:40 a.m. He is a Sophomore this year. Once again he is on the Cross Country and track team. I am sure he will have a great year.

Joshua is going to Wood Creek Middle school this year, It is a bran new school that opened this fall. It is close enough for him to walk with his friend Wesley Brown. Joshua was very anxious this morning because he is unfamiliar with the layout of the building and he changed his schedule which will be given to him today at school. So he is unsure of where he is to go and what his class schedule is. Joshua is my worrier.
Nathaniel started 4th Grade. I was thrilled to learn his teacher was Nancy Grant. She is a fabulous teacher, however she had a horse riding accident and broke her pelvis and hip. We are not sure when she will return to school. We are praying for a speedy recovery. Nathaniel was very excited for school today. He and Alexander picked our shirts that are almost identical, from 2 different stores.
My baby started Kindergarten today. She has been waiting for this day since she turned 5 in January. The last 2 weeks she has been asking how much longer until I go to school. She is thrilled to have Phoebe Siders be in her class. Ms. Lavonne Williams is her teacher. I had the privilege of walking both Nathaniel and Isabella to class today. We dropped Nathaniel off first so Isabella knows where his classroom is. Then my stomach sank, I had such and empty feeling walking Isabella to class. She of course gave me a hug and a kiss, (Nathaniel was way to cool for that.) I could feel the tears start to well up and I left her at school. Luckily I ran into someone I knew which distracted me enough to stop thinking about myself and coming home to an empty house. WOW ! what a feeling to have all 4 of my children is school. If I could only freeze time and keep them young and innocent forever.

OLIVER

When Oliver became quite sick in May, we were very worried that he was not going to be able to make it to his favorite place in the world... The Cabin. He slowly made improvements but not without side effects. He was still having problems with his back left leg. There were some days that he could not even walk on it, and other days he was fine. We took him to the cabin anyways. What is a family trip without the family dog? Oliver LOVED to hunt chipmunks, squirrels, or anything that moved. Last year when we arrived at the cabin and opened up the back to let him out, he had killed a chipmunk is seconds. He loved to go on hikes, walks and runs with anybody. He loved being outdoors. Oliver liked to sit on the back porch and just watch for a chipmunk to move and then the chase was on. Oliver even "team" hunted with the Benson's beagle, Cedric. Once they had trapped a chipmunk in a pipe. Oliver lifted up one end of the pipe while Cedric waited at the other end for the chipmunk to come out.

Oliver getting his loves from Howard. He loved people and was always near by laying under your feet or putting his paws on your leg to get you to pet him.Oliver stayed very close to the cabin this year because of the problem with his hind leg. This was the first year he did not go on the backpacking trip with the boys. One year Oliver and his brother, Hershey, warned us of a large black bear that was on the trail ahead. They kept the curious bear at bay.
Oliver started to have even more health problems into the trip. His left side of this face began to droop and he drooled. We think he had a stroke. He just went down hill from there.
We were able to get in one last family outing. We drove to Oreana lookout and took Oliver with us. Here we are at 8075 feet in elevation looking out over the mountains. This was July 4th.

Oliver getting the love and affection he enjoyed. We had to put him down later that day after our excursion. We are happy to know that Oliver is in his most favorite place in the world. He loved the cabin. We were all very sad to lose such a sweet, gentle, easy going dog. He was perfect for our family and will be missed.

The kids made a big grave site where Oliver's buried. Oliver was born

October 31, 1999 and died July 4, 2010.