Let 'er Rip!

I had this idea to make a "Santa Line" for the girls to run through and get to their stockings. It served many purposes. It kept them in their rooms until we were ready to get up and open the stockings and Santa gift. Plus, since we weren't opening all the presents on Christmas, it satisfied the need to rip some paper on Christmas. So we put this wrapping paper up across the space in between the living room and their rooms.We had to leave a space at the bottom for pet crossing. I called it the "SANTA LINE" (think POLICE LINE-- DO NOT CROSS tape) and wrote on the back that they could not cross it until 7:05 AM. We had the alarm set for 7:00 in our room, then went and got the camera ready and waited for them to come out. It was like a football team crashing through the paper banner for the big game! We loved it and highly recommend you try it at least once in your life.

Christmas in Columbia

We had a nice quiet Christmas at home with the girls. With the girls getting a little older, it was a little different this year. They never even asked to put up their tree in their rooms. This is the first year we haven't made the traditional "Christmas Countdown." I think they did enjoy shopping for each other and buying presents for each other, grandparents and for jared and me using their own money they had earned. And the biggest difference was that Santa had to get his own snack and milk from the fridge! He did leave the evidence behind in the kitchen; brownie crumbs and cup he drank out of--right on the kitchen counter. The girls are growing up all right! They only opened stockings and gifts from each other. Jared and I opened out gifts from them and from each other as well. Grandma had sent one gift home with me to wrap up for them, a rubiks cube that makes the most annoying electronic sounds EVER!! Oh well, they love them! Since Santa brought the Wii Fit, that is what they did most of the day! In the evening we went to go see a movie, The Tale of Despereaux. It was very good. Madison and I had both read the book before. It was a nice day! I did not take too many pictures, but here are a few pictures from the day.

Merry Christmas!

Party On, Dudes!

Tonight we took a break from the holiday movies on the family channel and rented "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure!" to show the girls. I cannot believe this movie is 20 years old! When it was over Gabrielle said, "Did everybody talk like that back then??" It was most excellent! My favorite line is ,"Something strange is afoot at the Circle K!" What a flashback with all the big hair and crazy sayings! If you haven't seen it lately, you should most definitely rent it, dude!

I'm Dreaming of an Orange Christmas

My sister Sarah sent us these amazing oranges and grapefruit from Arizona! We have been enjoying them all weekend. I also had a chance to practice my knife skills and "supreme" an orange. They are so juicy and delicious! Thanks, Sarah!

Christmas Message

This is the Christmas message from Hobby Lobby. It is beautiful!
www.hobbylobby.com/holiday_messages/images/recent_messages/current_message.pdf

Mia, Madison & Gabrielf

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Holiday Happenings

We had several holiday things going on last week. Here is a review of our week and weekend projects and partying. Tuesday and Wednesday we prepared for Jared's team Christmas party. I made these cocoa cups for his employees. For the party food he smoked pork loin, brisket and pork shoulder for pulled pork. Thursday morning he made a peach cobbler in the dutch oven before carting everything off to the party. Friday the girls each had their own babysitting jobs while we had a holiday get together at our house. There were lots of laughs as well as lots of yummy food and desserts (everyone brought a treat to share). We are lucky to have so many good friends in our church! Saturday morning Madison made us a recipe she learned at school-- breakfast pizza! It had a crescent roll crust, eggs, bacon and cheese. It was delicious! The girls made treats for the families they babysit for--10 all together. The gave out cookie mixes with a cookie cutter attached with a tag saying "Thanks for helping us make a little extra "dough" this year!" They had two more babysitting jobs Saturday, one in the afternoon and another in the evening. It's a good thing Sunday is the day of rest! We had a beautiful Christmas performance in our sacrament meeting from a group called One Voice. It was so nice to hear them sing and play. We decorated a gingerbread house in the afternoon. The rain started falling Sunday evening and so did the temperature! It was soon freezing rain, sleet, and then some snow overnight. It was slick enough to cancel school on Monday, which meant that the girls' band concerts are canceled for tonight as well. Hopefully we will get back to school tomorrow and the concert rescheduled.

Heisman Trophy Winner I Am

Congratulations to Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford-- the 2008 Heisman Trophy Winner! What a talented, humble young man. Not to mention an awesome all around athlete. Go Sooners!!!

O, Christmas Tree!

Get out your sunglasses, I've decorated the tree! Jared is really nice and puts on as many lights as possible so the tree seems to glow from within. We have a nature theme this year with birds, woodland animals, icy branches, pine cones and berries topped off with snow. Jared flocked our existing tree (and some of the lights!) to get the snowy effect. I think the best job in the world would be decorating Christmas trees at the White House with an unlimited budget. I would decorate all day long!

Cozy Cat

Fluffy decided to make himself comfortable in this basket last night. I think he just wanted a nice place to wait until I got the tree skirt fixed around the tree (his other favorite spot this time of year.)

Big 12 Champions!!

Congratulations to the Ou Sooners! Jared and I had a great time watching the game on tv in our nice warm family room. The girls were gone babysitting and got back just in time to see the end. Way to go, Sam! OU 62 - MU 21 !!!

Lambert's Cafe

On our way to Tulsa we were driving through Springfield and decided to stop and eat at Lambert's. Since we had just tried that roll recipe, I wanted to see hw close we came. They were almost identical! Of course at the restaurant you have the atmosphere and all those rolls flying through the air. We were lucky to be passing through at an off time and did not have to wait at all.

Thanksgiving Trip

We had so many activities packed into a few short days and nights. We were able to see our family and friends and enjoy a little side trip to Branson on the way home. Our trip even ended with a little snow Sunday night and Monday. Now I have to get going on Christmas. I have got to get the Autumn wreath off the door-- it's getting a little embarassing! Thanks to all our family who made our stay in Tulsa so nice.

Family Fun

Wednesday morning I got up and made a few goodies to take to the Thanksgiving dinner with Jared's family. Jared picked up Lisa and Mitchel and we met at Jared's mother's house for lunch. She has a new Wii so Jared got it set up and we played a few games. She is going to have fun with that. Later we went over to Jared's brother's house. There were lots of people and lots more delicious food! It was fun to see everyone, especially the cousins Alex, Luke, Noah and Zoe. That little Zoe is the cutest! These pictures prove it! It was getting late, so we left and drove through the Christmas lights at Rhema. It was a beautiful sight! Thanks to Linda, Boyd and Rhonda for your hospitality!

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day was spent with Grandma and Grandpa. We got up to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade We rolled out the rolls to rise and made one more pie (chocolate) to go with Grandma's french apple- yum! Grandma worked on the dressing and other sides. We drove over to Karl's to pick up the smoked turkey and then came back to eat it all. I was sooooo full! Everything was so good. Especially those rolls! Thanks Grandma for working so hard on a beautiful delicious meal (and clean up!). And thanks to the turkey man-- it wasn't too shabby either! The girls put on a little holiday flute concert and even had a few duets with Grandma at the piano. We also made Grandpa watch Kung-Fu Panda. What a great day!

Friday Fun

We skipped the early morning after Thanksgiving shopping. Kennedy came over and played with the girls all morning. They had missed their crazy energetic cousin! We had lunch together and then the girls helped Grandma and Grandpa set up for the flea market at the fairgrounds. This is always fun for the girls with several doggies and their owners stopping by early for treats. That night the we had dinner with one of our friends Penny and her daughter Rachel. Rachel is the girls' e-mail pal. After dinner we went downtown to investigate the new BOK center and the "Winterfest" happenings. They have a new outdoor ice rink that they are aparently still getting the kinks worked out of. We did not get to skate, but maybe next time! We all had fun catching up.