Christmas events

Christmas Eve was spent with the Bores and Raineys and gobs of yummy, fattening party foods (since each family has their traditional favorites). We read Christmas stories to the kids, they opened PJs, we sang songs; great fun. (best picture I got of the girl's PJs was the next morning playing their harmonica and kazoo)

After we got home we were up till 2 am wrapping gifts and laying out the Fisher Price village we got them on Craigslist. We are night owls and definitely could have had all this done quite a bit earlier!! 4:43 am: Odessa is shouting next to our bed "Santa brought us a bunch of new toys!" Stephen apparently did not even register this event. Somehow I managed to get her back to bed quickly. I was EXTREMELY lucky that she was ok with it still being night and that she needed to sleep some more. 7:32 am Ada comes out of her room and I intercept her before she heads into the living room. We had to keep her busy for almost an hour while we waited for Odessa to wake up. Needless to say, we went to bed by 10pm that night and slept till 8:30 the next morning!!!
Opening presents took forever since the girls wanted to play with things as they opened them. We just took it slow. We even broke for breakfast in the middle. Yum. Sticky buns and cream cheese eggs and special bacon : ). Don't forget hot chocolate with a candy cane in it.
We took it easy the whole day, took a short walk and a drive to drop off treats to a friend, it was a beautiful sunny day.
Saturday we spent moving more stuff: Stephen's co-worker and his friend brought a truck and they loaded our car and their truck twice. I am really starting to think this move will be more smooth than Queen Anne to here. Stephen has been great and taking loads every day.
In the afternoon we needed to get out of the house and since the ham that I was too lazy to cook on Christmas (we had all those Eve leftovers) was going to take 3 1/2 hours to cook, we decided to just go down to the Seattle Center so the girls could ride the carousel and see the train and village. We ended up at Yummy Teriyaki (that's really the name) for dinner (long story involving a craving for sandwiches and closed Quiznos- grrr). The girls begged to use our chopsticks and amazing!- they actually did ok with them.









They had a TV in the restaurant with a football game on. Odessa really made the owner laugh when she started shouting during a play: "go! go! go! Oh no, he MISSED!" when the ball sailed out of a players reach.
To wrap up this much too long post: Today we finally cooked the ham and made the awesome Cooks Illustrated scalloped potatoes (thanks Beth!) and took them to our friend's on Capitol Hill for a much belated Christmas dinner. What a great way to finish the weekend. Although this weekend had many moments when we wished we were with extended family, our lonely times were filled by friends.

be seeing ya

So, I might as well post that we are moving. Not far. Very soon. We'll be renting the upper level of a house here in Magnolia, just a block and half away actually. Easy move or hard move? lol.
The owner of the house rents the basement to her son who is kind of the one who swayed her in our direction, nice, huh? He met the girls and I gave him an out before we signed papers. "Are you sure you want these 2 dancing on your ceilings?" Turns out he has 2 little kids (about the same age) who live with their mother in Spokane and he visits most weekends. Not home a lot, understands kids- this should work out.

I was telling my friend that the kitchen is probably 3 times the size of my current kitchen. She candidly pointed out "well Tara, that's not hard to do". tu che. There is a lot more space for not a lot more money which is the clincher for renting houses around here. We are very excited. But not excited to be out by Jan 1st. What a rotten time to be up and hauling the Christmas tree to the dumpster, the day after Christmas? Our landlord was a doll and let us out of our lease a little early- yes, we have been here almost a year! So there may be a quick post after Christmas while I procrastinate packing, but the blogosphere may not hear much from me for a while. You know how it is to get connected on the other end . . . . . sigh . . . . why do I do this myself?

I kid you not and "oh crap"

And you thought I was exaggerating about the tree. Shame on you.

This is what happened when I tried to WATER it. Ungrateful bush.

After about 2 months, the chart is complete! Does that mean she's potty trained? Not really. Pretty close though . . .
Does that mean that mom has to cough up and fulfill her side of the promise that she could get all the rest of the Princess dolls? Yes. Totally does.

feeling like Alice in Wonderland . . .

because my apartment keeps getting smaller and smaller with additions like the biggest tree we have ever had (in the smallest apartment). It's also the spikiest tree in existence and leaves red welts and draws blood on contact (keeps the girls out of it). Of course Paul Bunyan insisted on cutting down a live tree and since funds were short, I opted for the $10 permit to get a tree of our own verses the $40 tree farm tree. Of course we could not hike far with the kiddies. I remember having the exact same thought last year "they are too young for this!!"The Christmas season keeps getting better and better. On the drive home from Boise, Stephen and I mused that it felt like we'd had Christmas while there. There were presents, good food, good football, family and trees and decorations. Christmas candy topped off the holiday. How fun to have weeks more to celebrate!

Thursday was the busiest day ever . . . . I got up early to make a casserole for Stephen's pot luck only to have him call in sick with a terrible head cold . . . but I took it down to work anyway. Then I snagged the kids and raced to the church to join in the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Christmas party (I am thinking of joining and went to check it out . . . ). I left the party early to arrive late to a friend's surprise birthday party . . . . nacho bar! She'd been craving them, best birthday food ever. Later that night Sarah hosted a Favorite Things party for all the ladies. You bring 4 of your favorite thing under $5. You explain it and also any brilliant gift ideas you have received or given so we can glean gift ideas from each other. Then everyone draws a number 4 times as the bowl circulates the room and you get 4 different other favorite things!! SO FUN. Highly recommended party idea. Everyone goes home happy with most, if not all, their gifts. Food and lots of laughter rounded out the night.

Saturday we attended a fun party hosted at a lovely condo downtown overlooking the water and the lights of the city. It was a fun night to visit with friends and make some new ones. . . . I love the water and watching the ferries. I got teased that there is a character on Grey's Anatomy who is ferry obsessed. I am not surprised they weaved that into the show. They are lovely to watch at night.

on a completely different note: (a religious one, so be forewarned)
I recently bore my testimony at church that I used to think trials were a sure fire way for me to draw closer to God. I have been cruising along so well for so long, God feels a bit distant. We have been blessed in so many ways the last 5 years . . . .
Well, I have had a few trials in the last few months that I thought for sure would humble me. But it appears that my theory was flawed. Turns out that when I previously drew closer to God through my trials, I was doing a lot more spiritual things like reading more scriptures, taking religion classes, serving more people, praying with more fervor. Turns out you can't just hope the trial will make you feel closer to God, you have to take the steps closer to Him first. And maybe you can feel closer to him without the trials after all.That's my thought on God this Christmas Season. Have a nice week before Christmas . . .

Thankful for . . . .

We were in Boise Tuesday-Sunday and it was a fun trip. I got to hold my niece Finley for about 45 minutes straight one day, we went to Festival of Trees and I got white chocolate mousse TCBY (no trip to Boise is complete without it). Odessa's birthday was the day after Thanksgiving, so we had a little doggie-themed party with her cousins. Here is the week in review- too bad I was too busy eating to take pictures of the delicious dinner my mom, sister and I prepared.

I'm thankful I found someone on Craigslist who had tickets to the BSU Nevada game. It was Stephen's Christmas gift. (note brother-in-law Ryan's envious eye in the photo). Go Broncos. We heart BSU.

I'm thankful even 8 yr old cousins are willing to craft doggie collars and pose as puppies

I'm thankful doggie breadstick bone relay races were a hit. But "Cat, Cat, Dog" was way more popular.

I'm thankful my mom has kept the 1970's booklet that shows you how to make any animal out of a 9x13 cake. (his 3-D ear is hard to see through the coconut)

I'm thankful for a mom who was willing to have 5 cousins have a sleepover and wake up and make a graham cracker gingerbread houses (Ada's house had just experienced a candy avalanche)

I'm thankful Odessa likes meat. She is not a big breakfast or lunch eater, but loves meat. She always wants a bone to chew on. This turkey was baked Monday night after we got home so I would have leftovers and really, you can't get cheaper meat all year long.
Tonight when we read a farm animals book Odessa pointed to the turkey and shouted, "hey, we ate him!" A discussion then ensued about how if we were to eat that turkey he would have to be killed first (wanting her to understand the circle of life and all). She was fine with this: "Maybe we could chase him with a knife. We would have to run fast."

I am thankful that out of necessity I discovered mashed potatoes are even better when you throw in a sweet potato and even a yam.


I'm thankful I was slightly crazy enough to dye my hair while in Boise. I like it! this particular photo is for my sisters, you know why.

Side note: We had a not so nice experience when we arrived home Sunday night about 8:30. I opened up the fridge and discovered you should never leave a turkey thawing without a big pan under it. I almost closed the door and pretended I didn't see it. I am thankful I had enough bleach to make the kitchen and whole apartment smell like a cheap motel pool and wipe out all lurking turkey juices. Bletcchhh.