Remembering Christmas

My father always claimed that nothing flees faster than the Christmas spirit. So before the season is gone completely, here are a few photos of Christmas day. Christmas 2011 was particularly special for us since it was the first time we've celebrated the holiday in a home of our own. Here's our living room on Christmas morning. Snow or no, Santa must have found his way to St. George.

Dividing up the packages Christmas morning. Oh, it's so hard to wait to open them!

Talia says, "This one's for you!"

Pogo sticks were one of the girls' favorite Christmas surprises.

We also gave them two tiny water frogs, much to Jason's chagrin. (He was the one who got stuck taking care of the last water frogs that only survived a few days...) Fortunately, the new ones are doing much better, even if I don't have a photo. I think it would be hilarious to name them "sapo" and "crapaud." Both names mean "toad" in Spanish and French respectively, and believe it or not, they rhyme. The girls, however, aren't buying it. They would prefer to call them both Emily since they can't tell them apart anyway...

Back to the photos, here's Talia with the perfect shirt, courtesy of Grandma Susie and Grandpa Charles.

And here's Eli, happy as can be, with his new digger.

Among other things, Jason got new socks. A good thing too, since he usually wears two pair at a time (although rarely on his head.)

Meanwhile, Kara happily lazed on the couch with Zoe, who zonked out for the entire morning.

Our pug did perk up for little while to check our her new ornament. There's kind of a resemblance...

The best Christmas surprise of all, however, came from NomiAnn and Papa Kay. In order to solve the mystery, the kids had to put together a poster-sized puzzle and decode the poem on the back.

The puzzle was challenging, but once finally assembled, this is what it read: (See if you can identify the anonymous hand inspiring this cheesy poetry.)

Once upon a time,
Three children fine
Dreamed of a place in Anaheim.

For three days and nights
They enjoyed sublime sights.

Buttermilk will be classy!
Reddi Wip will be snappy!
Cheeze Stik will be happy!

Dad will be patient
Mom will be pleasant
Papa Kay will have tic-tacs...
Nomi-Ann will have Fruit Snacks...

ALL will offer a loving hand
For a special trip to Disneyland!!!

"Keep Smiling."

Yup, clever folks, indeed! A three-day vacation to Disney. Wahoo! It truly was sublime.

Not to be outdone by Papa Kay's poetry, NomiAnn made absolutely beautiful character costumes for our trip. Here's Talia looking even more blonde than usual...

NomiAnn, helping Brooklyn dress for the ball...

And bibbity bobbity boo, Talia and Brooklyn are transformed into Rapunzel and Cinderella.

A closer look at Rapunzel with her gorgeous locks. I'd write more about these amazing costumes, but I think the pictures speak for themselves. Thanks, Mom!

Naturally, Eli's Prince Charming costume was equally adorable, but he was too busy still playing with his truck to be bothered with trying it on.

And, the aftermath. It's just not Christmas without piles of paper!

Despite January cold and gray, may you all enjoy a bit of lingering Christmas cheer.

The Riot Before Christmas

'Twas the Night Before Christmas, when we all ate fondue

Drippy cheese is quite fun and so yummy too!

Add brats that are sure to hit the right spot,

And all will be happy!  ('Though your arteries might not.)

On December 24th it is our tradition
To act out the Nativity--what a rousing rendition!
For this year our costumes were designed with great care
By munchkins so sweet despite their loud blare.

Talia, the angel, we could not forget
when she stole Grandma's glasses and looked just like Jeanette!

Oh Papa Kay, the poor soul, alas,
Got conned by the girls into being the... donkey.

The white laundry manger wasn't that great,
So sweet baby Jesus, he tried to escape.

Until Mary appeared with a secret just right--

Merry choo choos to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Countback

With January half over, it's high time that I finally caught up with December happenings. Here are twelve favorite events in honor of the twelve days of Christmas.

Twelve. Our church Christmas breakfast where Brooklyn and Talia participated in the Nativity. Talia displayed her excellent crook-twirling skills as a shepherd while Brooklyn made a sweet Mary.

Eleven. A Day with Santa at the Tonaquint Nature Center.

Lucky Brooklyn won a package.

Thanking Santa for his gift.

Ten. Shortly before Christmas, we celebrated the open house for a pilot project of highly-efficient affordable homes with energy improvements that Jason helped initiate. Grown-ups are excited that the homes use half as much energy as your average home. Kids like Talia are excited to have a place where they can run.

Nine. Brooklyn's Daisy Troop made posters showing ways they can take care of themselves and the world around them. Brooklyn designed an interactive poster where we could remove trash from the dolphin's ocean home by doing good deeds for others.

Here she is getting a few patches from her troop leader, Cari.

Eight. One evening we enjoyed having this troop leader and her cute family over for dinner. While we forgot to take a picture of the people, we snagged a photo of the adorable penguins they brought.

Seven. Luckily we did grab a photo when some other long-time friends from college dropped by. Adam and Celeste, it was so good to see you!

I'm probably biased, but I think we've raised a pretty cute crop of kids. The last time our families got together, Brooklyn and Eva were barely a month old, having been born just a few weeks apart.

Six. Of course, a highlight of our Christmas was having Papa Kay and NomiAnn come to visit. I had to chuckle when I came home one day and found Papa Kay giving the girls civics lessons using flashcards of the U.S. Presidents.

When he discovered that they didn't really know our National Anthem, he decided to rectify the situation with some hands on, edible learning.

Looks yummy!

Caution: too much sugar can make you go wild!

Five. After calming down a bit, we really enjoyed the live nativity at Tuacahn, particularly the camels.

Filling in the gaps to create our own nativity.

Four. Papa Kay always arrives with fun gimmicks and toys. These stomp rockets were a blast! (Literally.)

Three. At Dixie Sun Elementary, Santa arrives not by sleigh, but by helicopter, bearing gifts of a thousand books for the school library.

Two. The first grade Christmas program was delightful. It was wonderful watching our children sing, sign, dance, and play the drums with such unabashed joy. What a marvelous thing, to sing with delight in that beautiful stage before self-consciousness sets in. It didn't matter if Brooklyn remembered the words or sang on key or drummed with the beat or even if her belly was peeking out below her shirt. Christmas was coming, and life was good.

One. While the resolution is poor, that's Brooklyn singing front and center. Feliz Navidad!

Here's wishing you all a merry, merry Christmas!

Blurring the Line between Service and Fun

One of the highlights of our Christmas season was trying to do a bit more service as a family. When all the leaves dropped from our neighbor's tree overnight, we knew we had the perfect project.

Talia and Brooklyn both told me how they never knew that service could be such fun!

Our tiny elf Eli was happy for a while...

...until his poor little hands started to freeze.

The job was bigger than we first realized, so we felt grateful when some friends, the Buttles, stopped by with willing hands.

While the light faded quickly, there's always time for playing in the leaves.

The essence of childhood bliss.

So what are your favorite ways to serve?