Sunday, December 25, 2011

Bo's Christmas Skype!

This was the first time we got to Skype with our missionary! Oh my, this was so much better than just a phone call. Bo filled all those awkward silences with funny faces and his eyeballs filling up the camera! He's hoping that lots of those California folks come back from Mexico after the new year so that he has someone to teach.



Posted by Picasa

Christmas 2011

After the party the dogs came in and Captain finally pulled his stocking off of the mantel. He knows there was something good inside, but he felt so guilty because he knew he hadn't been givent permission to get it yet.

Here are the kids sleeping out in the family room. Ready to wake up early the next morning. I got a phone call at 5:30 from Cado saying, "Come wake us up!"

So, we did, but they looked pretty much awake already.

Dayton's Christmas goodies.

Cado's Kinect. I thought is was going to be a surprise, but he said he already knew about it because he heard me telling Carrie when we were exercising! I guess I need to talk quieter.

Mariah's surprises. Although, this year she actually knew everything that everyone was getting. She's kind of at that snoopy stage :)

Here are Cado's new cougar pajama pants. These should look good on those basketball trips.

And of course, some good "golden retriever" reading.

Mariah's zebra jacket that I plan on sharing with her!

And since Dayton is going to be an Aggie for a very long time, we decided to invest in some real Aggie clothing for him!

Finally, and most importantly, we got the jam! Yep, Santa had it hidden under the tree and it was the last present we found. You would think we would have known what it was...but we didn't....not until we opened it up! This jam is "priceless" in the opinion of the Law's and the Whiting's, so we would NEVER REALLY EAT IT!



After a long morning, sleep finally caught up with us.
Posted by Picasa

Ugly Sweater, Good Food and Bunko Christmas Party 2011

The annual Whiting's Christmas party was held once again, at our house this year. A new twist was added in that it also became an Ugly Sweater party...because that seems to be the latest rage. Needless to say, I thought I had this one in the bag!



Unfortunately, the Whiting's showed up (since it was their party) and stole the show with real blinking lights and all!



Here is our party pose...before the festivities began.



We had lots of good food. Mariah and Grace are nice and warm in their sweaters as they eat their hot soup.

Suzie read the letters that Bo's companions had written to her. She found that putting her mailing address on Bo's pillowcase really got her some attention.

Ronda said she had found a great sale going on at Walmart on these very special earrings. I'm sure this will become an annual tradition for her.





Blaine explained Bunko for the umpteenth time, because none of use can ever remember the rules. It was loud and crazy as 32 people moved around the eight tables screaming Bunko!

We had the annual White Elephant gift exchange.



The hot items this year were the ceramic giraffe and the butternut squash. There was a lot of trading going on for those.

The cutting machine was also pretty cool and the most impressive gift. Whitney held on to it for approximately two minutes before it was taken away again!

The swedish fish were also a big hit. I have decided that I always need to have a huge container of candies that the kids can throw to each other from all ends of the room. Last time we had M&M's that we found for months later, this year it will be swedish fish.

Here is the coveted squash. George took it from ME!

We pulled out Bo's guitar and Rachel played for our Christmas carols.

Finally, after the big crowds left, the little crowds stayed and played and played and played. 2011 is going out as another successful Christmas!
Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 23, 2011

Cranberry Salsa

I took this Cranberry Salsa to our first Hanukkah celebration tonight and it was a hit. I got this recipe from Christy Larsen and love it at Christmastime.

1 12 ounce bag cranberries
1/2 red onion
1/2 red or orange bell pepper
1 large granny smith apple
Cilantro to taste

Put the above items through a food processor to chop finely.

Add the following ingredients to a saucepan:
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. orange juice, add the zest as well
juice of one lime
Warm enough to dissolve the sugar but do not boil.
Pour over ingredients. Let sit for several hours.

Serve with tortilla chips.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Santa IS Real!

Posted by Picasa

He Has Died and Gone to Heaven!

Bo just sent some pictures of when he was able to go to the Fender Factory. I think he pretty much knows what heaven is like now.





Here is the car the Elder Fisher crashed.
Posted by Picasa

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Mariah's Christmas Party

Mariah planned a progressive Christmas party this year. She invited Mariah Jensen, Kennedy Powell, Kiley Todd, Katelyn Southam and Jordan Stevens. They went to Kiley's house for broccoli cream soup first.

Then they came to our house for fondue. Most of the girls had never done that before and they thought is was awesome. Kennedy was most "awed" by it.

They finished up with some nice "orangey" smiles.

There was lots of flashes in the car as I drove them to Jordan's house for dessert.

At Jordan's they had the most delicious cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy in Orem. Mariah could not get over how great they were.



On the way back to our house there were still more flashes in the car, but this time there were also purple stars on the girls' cheeks!

All in all, it was a wonderful food-filled, sugar-laced night!
Posted by Picasa