Cookies by Courtney

When Courtney get bored, she likes to bake.  She made cookies and they turned out really well!

Here is the cute cook!

Live Nativity

It's time for the Live Nativity at Tuacahn!

Our Ward was asked to help again this year and Courtney got to be a shepherd.  She invited one of her friends and then went with her beehive group.  They had a lot of fun and it was fun to watch them.  Bryan and I went up to see them perform but we didn't participate this year.  They changed it up quite a bit so it was completely different than last year.  And it wasn't freezing cold like it was last year.

This is Courtney (center) with her cute friends:

Courtney is kneeling in the center of the pic.

Ethan was able to participate also with the Special Needs Mutual group.  Bryan and I went up to watch them also and it was so fun to see him with his special friend.  I love that we have this opportunity.  It really makes Christmas seem to be more about Christ when we participate or watch the Live Nativity.

Ethan was mad though because he was told he had to wear pants but then the robe they had him wear went all the way down so no one would have been able to tell if he was in shorts.  Funny kid!

Cakes

I do birthday cakes for a couple doctors offices.  The office manager for the two offices is my friend so she pays me to do their birthday cakes.  Usually, she gives me the size of cake (9x13 rectangle or 12 inch round), the flavor (twinkie or chocolate), and an idea of what they would like on the cake (favorite color, hobby, etc.).  Then she lets me do whatever I want to do. 

I usually start by trying to figure out how to use the hobby in the cake design.  I go to Dollar Store and try to find something that would work.  I have used ribbons, bows, curly ribbons, toys, etc. on cakes before.  It's a lot of fun to figure out what I can do because they don't really care what it looks like.  I have even used cake spray to make an ombre of the frosting colors. 

December was a crazy birthday month so I had a bunch of cakes.  She had 2 that I thought I would record.  The first was for a breast cancer survivor.  She asked for the ribbon.  The second was for a man who likes to go duck hunting.  I think I nailed them. 😀

Prom Invite

Ethan asked a girl in our neighborhood to Prom.  He was crazy busy so came up with the idea and asked me if I would help him out.  So I went to Partyland and had them do 5 balloons filled with confetti and papers saying "Will you go to Junior Prom with me?  Ethan Pack"  I split the papers up into the 5 balloons (2 words per balloon).  They had me help them fill the balloons with the confetti because I was there, I guess.

I then made a card with a balloon on it and the girl's name.  We put a fancy pin on the card so it looked like it was popping the balloon.  Then Ethan and Courtney took it over to the girl's house.  Courtney ran it up to the front porch, rang the bell, and ran!

It was cute and fun to help him do it!

Gingerbread Houses

We had to do our traditional decorating of the gingerbread houses.  The kids like eating the candy more than they like making the houses, but that's ok.  It's fun to sit around and chat.

This is Ethan's "Mom smile"...the one he uses when he really doesn't want his picture taken but is too nice to tell me no.

Christmas Service

Our Ward has the most amazing Christmas tradition.  Our Ward party is a breakfast after which we go to the Utah Food Bank and do service.  This is the second year we have done it and we love it!! 

We had a pancake breakfast where the boys all ended up at our table.  Prom is coming up in January so they are trying to figure out who to ask, how to ask them, and talking about ways their siblings have asked or been asked.  It was pretty hilarious.  A couple of young women in our ward got into it helping them figure out who hasn't been asked yet.  These boys are hilarious!

Then we loaded in cars (the boys drove themselves over in one car and had a blast with their freedom) and went to the Utah Food Bank.

The Dollar Store Distribution Center is near the Utah Food Bank.  The Dollar Store sends over boxes of stuff that they can't sell or want to donate.  But it isn't sorted at all so you can find cooking oil in with crayons.  Our job is to open the boxes, draw a line through the bar code, and sort all the items.  We work like crazy and it is so much fun to be there with everyone and get so much work done. 

This year they had the young men wrap stuff with plastic wrap and weigh it.  They had a blast doing that because they got to use machinery and scales.  They were hilarious to watch but they did a great job and worked hard.  When everyone else was finished Ethan was still wrapping a load and the guy had to go and tell him to leave it.

When we all finished, everyone went home and the boys went to Wendy's to get lunch. ;) 

Hash House a Go-Go

Yes, that is the actual name of a restaurant: Hash House a Go Go and their servings are HUGE!!

My parents let us borrow their car to go to Thanksgiving in Denver so we took them out for lunch to thank them.  Hash House had opened a few months before so we decided to try it.  Their portions are HUGE!  Bryan and I shared something and my half was still bigger than a normal portion.  The food was really good though.

Courtney got her chicken strips and fries.

Ethan got his massive burger.