Gingerbread Houses

Mike grew up making gingerbread houses every year, so naturally, this is a family tradition of ours too. It was a lot of fun, and Elsie especially enjoyed it. We pulled out all the candy and tried to set it aside for the actual decorating. Elsie would have none of this. She wanted rewards, immediately and dived right into everything. There was absolutely no stopping her while she shoved and crammed her mouth full of chocolate and goo. She was quickly a slobbery mess.
My favorite, though was when she found the cinnamon bears and shoved one in her mouth all in one bite. I warned her that it was hot, but she kept chewing anyways. I kept asking, "Is it hot yet Elsie?" Nope, she was not giving me any satisfaction of being right. Finally, after a minute or two, she couldn't take it any more and spit it out in the garbage. I thought this would be a lesson and she'd steer clear of the bears, but she must have tried another, because I have been picking up bits of cinnamon bear throughout our carpet throughout the past couple days. It was fun watching her and building the houses as well. Mike was the expert, for sure!

Christmas Magic!

Oh, the joy of having a 4-year-old for Christmas this year! Peter is absolutely loving Santa Clause. One day out of the blue he says to me, "Mom, do you know who I'm going to marry when I grow up?"
"No," I reply, "Who?"
"Santa's wife!" and then after a moment of reflection Peter added, "That is, if he dies that same day."
This dialog has been followed by all sorts of questions about Santa's reindeer, the sack he holds his presents in, and of course the mystery of the chimney. Well, a few days ago we went to a Christmas party at a friends house where Santa was also visiting! Peter was thrilled to see Santa and sit on his lap. Later on in the evening, Peter must have been thinking. He walked up to Santa, tugged at his belt and said, "Santa, how do you get your reindeer to fly?"
"Christmas Magic!" was the wise response.
Peter then came to me with a grin from ear to ear and I said, "I guess Santa really is magic, huh!" Peter replied, "Then his sack must really hold all those presents!"
A couple weeks ago Peter dressed up as Santa for our ward talent show and he and I recited 'Twas the Night Before Christmas together. He was the cutest Santa, don't you think?

Tradition gone wrong

Well, I know it's awfully late to be blogging about Thanksgiving when Christmas is right around the corner, but this is worth mentioning. This year was the year to spend with my husband's family, which is always an adventure, as there are 9 children in his family (7 of them brothers). So, there Thanksgiving tradition has always been to play a game of basketball while everyone else slaves away in the kitchen. With a bunch of competitive brothers playing to be the victor, it can get quite aggressive. As a matter of fact, Mike came home with a huge, swollen, black and blue ankle. I was just sick, knowing how long those can take to heal. Come to find out later, he actually sprained both ankles. However, as much of a bummer as this was, Mike fared well. Later on in the day, they brought the basketballs out again, only to have another brother brake a rib! So, I'm wondering, was this football, or basketball? I hope this tradition tones down in the future!

Highlight #7 - Halloween!

This is the final highlight I want to write about. I have a friend that says she loves Halloween so much because there is no pressure to find the deeper meaning of this holiday. It is the perfect holiday before Thanksgiving and Christmas, that's for sure. I love Halloween because of all the fun traditions that take place - pumpkin carving, harvest time (as I mentioned earlier), pumpkin and apple goodies, parties, cute costumes (I'm not into the scary thing), and fun paper crafts my kids love doing. Also, in my community they put on a "Pumpkin Walk" we go to every year. People throughout the community create a scene made out of pumpkins and squash. So, we walk around looking at the different scenes and carved pumpkins lining the walk, and at the end we get a little cookie. It's a great family event, plus it's free!
However, being due November 1st, I really did not want a dual celebration of birthday and Halloween. So, I was so glad when he was born on the 28th! Although this Halloween was a bit overshadowed by Kimball's birth (rightly so, too!), I wanted to make sure Peter had a chance to see his friends in their costumes and have some fun. So, on the morning of the 28th, I threw Peter and impromptu Halloween Party. It was so funny when all his male friends showed up in spiderman costumes and the lone female was a princess, or the damsel in distress. We played games, did a craft, and sent them home with pumpkin bread. I had a lot of fun with Peter and his friends. One of the moms offered to take Elsie home with her, which I gladly accepted, which is why she's missing in the pictures.

Highlight #6 - Grandma's Funeral

Okay, so this might sound a bit demented, but it was hard to dround in my sorrow's when my 91 year old Grandma, who felt like her life was an overdue book, finally passed away. It was a highlight to go to her funeral, reconnect with with 39 of my 41 cousins, aunts, uncles, and immediate family, and to reflect on her stalwart life and think about how I will carry on her rich legacy.
Just as my mom said when she spoke at the funeral, my Grandma was a "Lady". She was sweet, loving, endearing, always looking her best, and always seeing the good in others. As my uncle put it, "There was no malice in her heart". These are the things I will take with me and work hard to become. This is the legacy I have to look to and rise up to. What a life she lived, and what a posterity she has left behind, with 7 children and 41 grandchildren, and a generation of great-grandchildren that is still in the making. All of her grandchildren felt so loved by her, as she always kept up on all of our day-to-day lives and I'm sure we all feel the weight of her legacy, that we may become more. I hope I can continue this tradition of hers and pass the same feeling onto my children as well.

Highlight #5 - 50th Anniversary

Mike's parent's celebrated their golden 50th anniversary this September. What an amazing thing! All the sibling and in-laws worked hard and put together a dinner a program to celebrate this event. It was so fun to hear all the stories about each of the siblings growing up. Mike helped put a video together with pictures and videos of his siblings sharing stories. He grew up in a family of 9 siblings, and they all managed to come. Can you imagine the mayhem that goes on when they all get together? One sister-in-law put together this beautiful quilt with everyone's handprints on it and a family tree of all the children and their spouses on it. Then we all helped tie/quilt it together. It was beautiful and she did a great job. It was fun to finally be giving to my in-laws because they are such giving people themselves, that I am too often only a recipient of their kindness. Here are some pictures of their posterity.

This is all of Mike's siblings. I think I got the handsomest out of the bunch!

This is most everyone - children, in-laws, and grandchildren. You may not be able to see anyone.

This is our family picture. I seem to be looking at something other than the cameraman, but it was the best picture we took.

Highlight #4 - Harvest Time

Well, I never thought of this as a "highlight" before, but then I realized, what would August and September be like without the wonderful harvest? We grow a garden, and Mike's parents have a small orchard, so in the fall we have a plethora of produce and I am in the kitchen canning like mad! This year wasn't too bad - I decided to give myself a break, being pregnant and all. It was the year of the jams though. I canned rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb, raspberry, cherry raspberry, and apricot. I think my favorite is cherry raspberry. I'll have to do more of that one next year. Mike is really great at helping out too. He's a great sport at peeling and helping me get the job done when it's late at night. He's great. We also canned peaches, cherries, cherry pie filling, and apple pie filling. I love watching the kids run around eating peaches and apples from the trees, and stealing corn out of the garden. Don't you just love the pictures? This year
there were lots of cherries and my kids loved them!