Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Here are some of the highlights of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2008.

Christmas Eve was spent out at my grandma's house in Ashland. She made a delicious meal and the kids had fun opening a few presents from the Great-Grandparents and wrestling! Later that night we were able to read from Luke 2 and Emily told us that she likes Mary because she wore a blue veil. Good to know she's paying attention and all :-).


Christmas morning brought some "pretty amazing" gifts, according to Emily. Christian got a train table from Santa (which is now currently our new coffee table). Emily got a plasma car from Santa. Both kids got some cool new sleds from Grandma and Grandpa Lindseth (which Emily insisted upon opening each gift on top of). We didn't take too many still shots of the morning b/c we were able to capture most of it on our new video camera from Mom and Harvey! It feels great to be able to make some memories!



After we had our own little family time, we drove over to my mom's house, opened up some gifts there and had a very yummy brunch, while listening to Swedish music (a family tradition). One of the Christmas traditions from Cubby's family that we are keeping up with is the making of cinnamon rolls--the recipe I used this year was from another Munch and Mingle and they were sooooo good. I do, however, need a good icing recipe (the one I used was okay, but not up to par with the rolls). Anyone have a good one? Once brunch was over, it was time to head home and collapse! After a good rest, Grandma and Harvey came over for some enchilladas and some more playtime before bedtime!

Whew! It was such a whirlwind of a day, but watching the kids' faces when they first came out on Christmas morning made it all worth it. The "magic" of the Christmas season was seen in their eyes and Cubby and I loved every minute of it!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Baking Days

With this cold and snowy weather, we have been doing some Christmas baking. On Wednesday, Emily and I made Peanut Butter Blossoms...yummy...She helped me mix the ingredients, roll the dough into balls, and then put Hersey kisses on each cookie. This batch makes a TON of cookies and so I was suprised that she stuck with me through it all! And, don't you just love the sight of cookies, all lined up neatly in-a-row??? Delicious AND organized! (Yes, I realize I'm a big nerd.)

Then today, we made some Peppermint Bark. This was the first time I'd tried this, and it turned out to be fun for the kids. Here is what you need:

*hard peppermint candies, crushed (1 lb was too much, next time we'll crush about 1/4 of it)
*1-1 1/2 lbs white chocolate chips
*1 cup puffed rice cereal (aka Rice Crispies)
*1 double boiler (the one pictured is on-loan to me from my mom; it was my grandma's, isn't it cute?!)
*1 little boy (or girl) who likes to use a hammer!

Here is what you do:

Crush candies and set aside. Line cookie sheet with wax paper. Place white chocolate into double boiler and heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth (4-5 min). Remove from heat and stir in cereal.
Pour mixture into lined cookie sheet; use a spatula to spread evenly to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle with desired amount of crushed candy. Cover with wax paper and press candy gently in.
Chill in freezer until firm (about 20-25 min). No more or candy will become soft. Peel off wax paper. Break apart into pieces. Store at room temperature.

I got this recipe from a Munch and Mingle that I'd gone to. There was not a name on the recipe, so I'm not sure who to give credit to. It turned out pretty good (like I said, I think we used too much peppermint) but Christian had a great time crushing them!

Weekend Update

It was yet another busy weekend! Here we go.....

Friday night was our ward's Christmas party, "Christmas Around the World." Emily invited her friend, Nicholas, from preschool. His mom, Julie, came too (his dad stayed home w/his sisters who are younger and needed to be in bed). The kids really had a fun time---whoever brought mac-and-cheese and hotdogs was a genius. I brought some Yaki-soba, a Japanese dish that my brother was sweet enough to go out and shop for me and tell me how to cook it. It's kind of like a Japanese ramen, but with veggies and it is way better.

Anyhow, here are the kids watching the program (notice how Christian is among the "big kids").

And, here is Christian with Anna. I really should devote an entire post to this. He just is so crazy about her--it's so funny. She is sucha' sweetie to play with him and include him in her play.


Saturday rolled around and I got to go out with my friend, Amber, and run a 5k indoors at the fieldhouse on base. Time-wise for me, it wasn't awesome, but, we both had fun and got t-shirts and a goodybag for doing it! (They were doing drawings for ipods and restaurant gift certificates, but we didn't win--bummer!) Anyhow, thanks, Amber, for inviting me along!

Meanwhile...Cubby was helping a family move into their house and my mom and Harvey were playing with the kids. Harvey even had the kids solo for about an hour or so--THANK YOU!!! They had a blast and all of the toys out reflected that!

Saturday afternoon I was able to go out and get my hair done (ahhhhh.....) and that evening, Cubby got to go out with his friends, Roland and Barry, to a Creighton basketball game! (And I am so glad that he got to go!) Cubby needs more "guys nights out". Sure, he plays basketball Tuesday and Thursday nights, but to be able to go out and do something different was, I think, well-deserved!

Sunday came and went with crafts in the morning and church in the afternoon--Christian is adjusting to nursery. He really loves his teachers and only cries for a few minutes when he gets dropped off. I hear that once the food gets passed out, he calms right down. Go figure! He always answers in the affirmative when asked if he had fun in nursery. Hurray!

And that about does it for our weekend update! Oh wait, two more side notes:

1. It is ZERO degrees outside...and windy. It's colder than cold.
2. Our Christmas shopping is done! Now, on to the wrapping and baking!

The Nativity, plus one

Now, which of these little figurines was more-than-likely NOT present on that Holy Night?

Amidst the "Madness"--A (Good) Time Out Needed!

Last week, my friend, Candis, invited us to the Children's Museum. They have a pass that gets friends in too and since Emily begs me to go every other week or so, we were so excited to go! (It also happened to be Taitum's birthday, so we were happy to celebrate with her!)


Emily, Taitum, and Christian had such a good time together! One of their favorite rooms was the "ball room." They found tubes that blast air out of them and had fun making their hair fly. Christian just thought that making a ball float was the coolest!



With everything that has been going on around here lately, it was great just to get out and "play"--everyone, parent and child, definitely needs playtime!

Birthday Madness!

Yes, folks, it's that time of year again...no, not time for Christmas (yet)...it was time for Emily's birthday! She turned four this year and boy-oh-boy, we celebrated! Her birthday was on Monday and we had a family party, complete with just a "few" presents, which she has loved playing with all week long!


Then, this morning was her much-anticipated friend party. We had a Princess Party and all were asked to come dressed as their favorite princess. Emily really wanted to invite ALL of her friends, but because 30 children just wouldn't fit in our house, we had to narrow it down to just five of the little girls (b/c "boys aren't princesses, mommy") that she plays with most often or plays with a lot in preschool.


We colored, danced, and played a few little games before opening presents, eating lunch and cake, and then just letting the girls play a bit. They loved Cubby being any villian and chasing them down the hallway into Emily's room. Their little screams were ear-piercing! Soooo much fun.

I'm so glad it's over though...can I collapse now?!