Snow Day...Sledding in Orem

Being in Orem for a whole week, living out of suit cases and eating other peoples food is fun for a time, but when your kids start to get sick, and you don’t have sufficient snow gear it get’s old, but we did keep ourselves busy and ended up staying through the first.  The kids loved the snow and were excited to go sledding.  Jack was really sick that day, but wanted to go so bad so we let him.  (Yeah probably not smart parents, but hey they only see snow once a year!

First we had to shovel the driveway….

 

Bennett kept falling on the ice, but he would always get back up and try to run to me.  Silly boy!

I love the picture of Nate helping get Jacks hands warm…yes insufficient snow gear :)

Then it was time to go sledding.  Thanks to my sister all of our boys were dressed in nice snow pants or old "Uncle Andrew” snow suits with pink boots!!

Love it!!

Maddie still had jeans on, but she said she was ok!!

 

 

The kiddos always have so much fun with their cousins!!

Aunt Mandy was supposed to have her baby before we left….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bennett was frozen by the end, but man, he sure looked cute!  I love his big cheezer!

 

 

 

 

And of course you can’t go play in the snow without making a snowman!!

 

 

 

 

I just love these girls, they are the greatest sisters in the world!!

Nate of course had to teach Bennett how to eat snow!!

 

So then he kept trying to feed it to him!

 

Right at the end I decided to sled down the hill once…yup that was it after that.  It hurt to bad to get up!

Grandma's Jellied Carrot & Pineapple Salad (aka Orange Carrot Jello)

Over Christmas break my sister put together a fun dinner to remember my grandmother by. She passed away a few years ago and I miss her dearly.  Her only child was my dad, so we were hers.  She loved us and cared for us so much.  All the married couples up until she went to live at a care center lived in her basement for at least a few months.  8 months after we moved in she fell and broke her hip and lived in a care center until she passed away. 

 

For over 15 years of her life she would serve Sunday dinner to us. (about 8 years of my life and then every so often after my parents divorced.)  She wasn't an amazing chef, she was just grandma and she made good food. 

 

Here is one of her traditional meals that we had that my sister did at her house over Christmas...Spinach Souffle (Green Giant Brand), Bread Sticks (Rhodes brand or from a Can) Chicken Spaghetti (funny story, I actually hated this growing up because of the cream of mushroom soup.  When I told my family that at dinner mouths dropped, and my sister felt bad, then my brother said he hated it also...haha! But we ate it and my taste buds must be different now because it was delicious!)  and of course Grandma's Jellied Carrot & Pineapple Salad (aka Orange Carrot Jello) served with a dollop of May on top! I love that word "dollop".

I was in charge of the Grandma's Jellied Carrot & Pineapple Salad.  It looks weird, it sounds weird, and it tastes awesome! (I even like to add the Mayo, weird huh!?!)

 

Grandma's Jellied Carrot & Pineapple Salad

• 1 Package Orange Jello
• 1 Cup Boiling Water
• 1 Cup Canned Pineapple
• 1 T Vinegar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 cup drained crushed pineapple
• 1 cup grated raw carrot
• 1 cup grapes (halved or quarted)

Make jello with boiling water and juice.   Add vinegar and salt. Chill until slightly thickened.  Add carrots, grapes and pineapple.  Chill until firm.

And yes my grandma would serve it with a dollop of Mayo on top.  Weird but good!

 

Here is a plate of what our dinners would have looked like, and we always had a tub of butter going around the table to dip our bread sticks in.  And of course Grape Juice mixed with Sprite!

Let me know if you try this and what you think!  I think you will like it!

Christmas Night

We made it to Orem, and went straight to Nate’s parents house to have a little get together with his whole family.  The kids got some really nice gifts and we enjoyed some yummy food!  At 5 we headed to Grandma’s to have Christmas with my dad.  Then to moms to eat dinner do the nativity and then the big gift exchange!

Jack and Grace were Mary and Joseph, Bennett was Baby Jesus, Maddie and Sam angels, and Talmage a Wiseman.

 

 

Maddie got really into it!!

Maddie and Sam were really excited about their Movies  Mom and Marv gave them!

Lovin Grandma’s Matching Jammies!

Andrew Loved the Snuggy we gave he and Dasha!

It was a really fun night, always ends late, and the kids are beyond tired, but they had so much fun being with their kids!!