Christmas Tree

The kids wanted to decorate the Christmas tree for FHE after Thanksgiving.  I like to have my holidays not overlap so it bugs me when Christmas is up before Thanksgiving is over.  But we decided this would be a fun activity.  Everyone pitched in and we had fun looking at all the old decorations and ornaments.  Courtney was really excited to get it all done and she was fun to work with.

This is from our Las Vegas Ward when Ethan was in Nursery.  What a cute kid..then and now!

Ethan quickly became bored and read his book unless we were bugging him to get up and help with the tree.

One thing that kind of bugs me is all the extra clutter that decorating brings to the house.  But the end result is pretty neat.

 

Usually I am the one to break an ornament but the honor this year went to Courtney!  I had to document that it wasn't me for once!  The only bad part was that it was a glitter ornament that we made last year so there was glitter EVERYWHERE.

The tree turned out great.

Merry Christmas from our family.  Yes, it is a weird photo.  Courtney is trying to look crazy and Ethan looks like he is about to do something naughty.  But that's our life.

Time

I was released from RS President the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I honestly didn't realize how much time and energy I had been spending all those year on this calling.

Monday morning I woke up and had the urge to do something crafty for the first time in a long time.  I had wanted to make a new advent activity for the kids so I decided to make a countdown for them.  We have one to countdown to Valentine's Day and I thought it was fun.  So I found wood (that was actually already cut so I didn't have to do that), drilled holes for the Kisses (which are point down), painted it green, added white for the snow, put the snowman faces on, and cut vinyl to finish it off.  It didn't take very long but it was so much fun to do!

I enjoy crafts but I love FREE crafts even more.  The only thing I had to buy was the Kisses.  I think I will make them to count down other things as well.

Bryan's Photo

This has been a long time coming but...Bryan's photo his parents gave him about 2-3 years ago for his birthday is finally framed and hung up!!

He was given this gorgeous print from his parents.  The next year, I bought the frame for it and Bryan put it together.  This year, Ethan and I took it to a glass place and had it finished.  Bryan and I went the day after Thanksgiving and hung it in his office.

It turned out beautifully.  (He is embarrassed that it took us so long to get it all put together, but better late than never!)

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at our house.  My parents bought the turkey and let us use their roaster.  Leigh Ann brought the potatoes for me to make and mash.  Don and Kathy brought the salads.  And we made the pies and rolls (and cooked).  It was a lot of fun and everything turned out great!

Here are our pies (minus the chocolate cream pie that was in the fridge).  You can see the remainder of the orange rolls from breakfast and the apple strudel from Bryan's birthday.

 

Rolls are a must!

 

The turkey is cooking...

Bryan's Birthday!

It was Bryan's 40th Birthday!!  We celebrated my Dad's birthday and Bryan's birthday on Sunday with cake/ice cream but Bryan got to open presents on his actual day.

The kids bought him some new Tevas because his old ones were falling apart and kind of smelly.  They were really old and had held together amazingly well so we were happy to get him some new ones.

Because Bryan's birthday-day was crazy, we decided to have his birthday dinner the next day.  We had grilled chicken marinated in lemon pepper, wild rice, salad and brocolli.  He was in heaven.

Usually Bryan gets a pie for his birthday instead of a cake, but this year he wanted an apple strudel.  I googled how to make one, bought the ingredients and it turned out pretty well.  It's a lot more labor intensive and complicated than a pie is, but it tasted good and Bryan liked it.

   

Happy Birthday!!

Jubilee of Trees

We went to the Jubilee of Trees this year.  It's always held before Thanksgiving and Bryan was given some free tickets, so we decided to go. It's been a long time since I have been so it was fun to see all the trees.  After a while I had tree overload and I realized that I really like simple trees.  

We all were able to vote for our favorite tree (Ethan's was a Star Wars tree and Courtney's had owls on it).  On our way out we were able to see a cool map of the area that is at the Dixie Center.  I had to take a pic so people could see.  It's very simplified but it works.

Working his muscle

I called a neighbor, who is a physical therapist, asking if there were exercises Ethan could do to strengthen his quad muscle and help with the pain in his tendon.  She came down and told him of some exercises and then hooked him up to a "taser" (as Ethan calls it).  The problem was that Ethan still has a fracture so the electrical jolt went right to his break and he was in so much pain.  She left it for him saying that he needed to use it because it would help his muscle get back to working order. But I don't think he used it again.  It did prompt him to start the exercises she gave him religiously.  He would sit in class and be moving his leg side to side, front to back, etc.  It has really helped and he has been able to lift his leg easier and has been getting his strength back.  His left thigh is still really skinny but he will work on it when he can walk again.