Oh, Christmas Tree

I love Christmas trees. I could capitalize, bold, and underline the word love, then add two dozen or so exclamation points, and it still wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Putting up the Christmas tree, more than putting up the lights, baking cookies, or completing laps around overflowing store parking lots, marks the official start of the holiday season.

The tree gets put up (with only a little disagreement about what "straight" actually is). I wrap branch after branch with white Christmas lights. At that point, I think I like it best like that, and maybe this year we will only have lights on our tree.

But then I open the boxes filled with ornaments (all non-breakable, of course.) And then I let the boys decorate to their hearts delight.


Giant silver balls, small shiny gold ones, sparkly pears, glittery pine cones, copper wire stars, red and white (non-peppermint) candy canes.


Pipe cleaner wreaths, construction paper frames with smiling school pictures, a zoo of animals made from clay, puzzle pieces, paper, and Popsicle sticks.

Now, it is complete.


Well, almost.

All the ornaments are hung as waist height or lower. After Roman and Blaise are tucked in bed and sleeping, smears of Advent calender chocolate still on their faces, I rearrange and spread out the ornaments.

Our glittery, gold and silver tree is beautiful.


But then again, that's what I thought about our tree last year too. Poor little thing.

The glow of the lights fills the living room and twinkles through the window at me when I come home from work. The fresh smell of pine is subtle, but refreshing and homey at the same time.


And every 30 minutes or so, a Tonka truck, sword fight, or football reminds me of why I'm grateful for shatterproof ornaments.

Trick or Treat!

This year is the first year we took the boys trick-or-treating door to door.

Blaise, the dragon, and Roman, the sheriff

Back in Salt Lake City, it was always so cold by the time Halloween rolled around that the thought of being outside for a moment, not alone a prolonged period of time, was unwelcome. Not to mention there may or may not be snow to contend with. Also, we lived in an apartment complex, which turns out to be a terrible place to trick-or-treat. The last several years, we took the boys to the mall near our house to trick-or-treat there. No cold weather, no wind, no worry about strange houses.

This year, however, we decided to introduce the boys to the real thing. We met up with some family friends and drove to a nice suburban neighborhood.

I initially thought the boys would love it. Turns out traditional trick-or-treating takes a little getting used to. Roman was very hesitant to go up to the doors. All the decorations "scared" him. (He would like to say for the record nothing he saw actually scared him. Just saying.) And he got cold fairly quickly.

Blaise on the other hand, would have nothing to do with it. Even in his ridiculously cute dragon costume, he refused to participate. He cried most of the evening, insisted on being held, and was glad to head back to the car. (And I'll admit, there was a little relief on our side as well. Blaise is 3, and not small for his age.)

So it wasn't exactly the joyous occasion that childhood memories are made of.

On the other hand, they are currently sitting on the family room floor, screeching for joy over their payload and comparing candy buckets. All thoughts of being cold, scared, or overly tired are gone. Maybe this is what the good memories are made of.

Okay, now back to my real life

It has been one of the best weekends ever.

Friday: drove the hour down to visit my mom. During the afternoon, we took the kids and had a picnic in an orchard that was in full bloom. During the quiet moments between the squeals of delight, the air hummed with bees.



One of my cousins got married that evening, and the wedding was absolutely beautiful. It took place in my aunt's amazing backyard. The yard was surrounded by lilac hedges that were at their peak. The trees were filled with lanterns. Between the lights, the flowers, the scent, and the great company, it was just magical.

Saturday: My mom, my sister, and I cooked ourselves a Mother's Day Brunch. (Yes, we had to cook for ourselves, but it was worth it). We had delicious pear, watercress, and pecan salad, risotto, citrus chicken, and lemon-berry angel cake. Fantastic.


Sunday: woke up to sweet gifts. And did not cook or clean all day. After a "traditional" breakfast of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and orange juice and a long afternoon nap, we went to dinner at The Mayan. I could have chosen a restaurant with better food or a more refined atmosphere, but I really wanted something that would be fun as a family. And The Mayan fit the bill. Besides quite delicious fajitas and margaritas for Keith and me, the boys were awestuck by the surroundings. After all, isn't it every 6 and 2 year old's dream to eat in a treehouse overlooking a waterfall, surrounded by butterflies and tropical birds. Blaise could care less if they weren't even real. And the cliff divers? Well, it was hard to keep the boys at the table long enough to get two bites of food in. But we didn't worry about having to tell them to be quiet, sit down, stop squirming. Which is what I really wanted.

Ahhh....it was perfect.


Well, now back to Monday.

Best Mother's Day Gifts Ever

My boys have made today the most wonderful day.

Keith got me flowers (without even a hint from me!).


Blaise keeps coming up to me and saying, "You are my best fweind!"

And Roman gave me these.



Priceless. Each one.

Thoughts of Spring

I think that spring is really here. Everything says that it should be. The warm weather, the blue skies, the flowers.

If it snows again, I think I'm going to give up.

(At least I don't have my own garden to worry about. I didn't plan anything this year, because a move in early June makes it pointless.)

Yesterday, we did the perfect thing to welcome and celebrate spring. The Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.

Not all the flowers were out (owing to the very bad weather of the last couple weeks. Next week would be perfect, I bet.) But the weather was mild. And there were plenty of flowers for everyone to enjoy.





We fed fish, ran through mazes, ate kettle corn and listened to bluegrass music. A perfect day.

Although next time, I need to do better at remembering sunscreen.

Ring in the New

Welcome to 2009! I hope everyone had a fantastic New Year's.

One of the family traditions we've had since I've been married (and because we currently live close enough to my parents that it is feasible) is a late Christmas with my family on the years we spend Christmas with Keith's family.


The best part of buying gifts for other people is watching their face when they open the gift. Since we don't want to miss that part, we save our presents for each other. Then we get together on New Years Day and have what amounts to another Christmas.

Everyone (especially a certain six-year-old)
could use more Christmas

I'm just so excited!

This year, we also decided to spend New Year's Eve with my parents. The evening was spent playing games with the small children. Then, as attention spans and patience waned, the children were put to bed.

Keith, Roman, my mom, and me spent the time until midnight playing Texas Hold'um and enjoying chocolate and family-friendly drinks.

New Year's Night Poker

Don't let his age fool you.
This kid doesn't fold. Ever.

Check or bet?

A child-friendly way to celebrate

At midnight, we toasted each other. Then we stood on my mom's back porch, which overlooks the valley, and watched the valley sparkle with fireworks.

The next morning, it was time for presents!!

When are we going to open presents?

(Oh, and the wrapping paper was a big hit.)

It is wonderful to watch my little siblings and parents enjoy their gifts. Any tradition that extends the magic of Christmas has my vote.

Laurelei, my darling niece,
looking pleased with her gift

Gwendolyn opening presents

My mom and sister, Auralee

Even my dad can't resist

So, here's a toast to the magic of Christmas, childhood, and being together. Here's to the new year and the adventure that awaits my family in it. Here's to new plans, ambitions, and hopes. Happy New Year.

All Is Merry and Bright

I apologize for the posting hiatus. I didn't have the best access to the internet during our visit to the in-laws in rural Montana.

We had a lovely Christmas.

Christmas Eve was spent mostly on the eight hour drive from the Wasatch Front to the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. Thankfully, we had fantastic weather on the drive northward.

After arriving and settling in, we spent the evening reading Christmas stories to the boys. Then, we tucked them in, not to be disturbed until 8 am Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve stories
(How the Grinch Stole Christmas, in this case)

Since our boys and their cousin were the only children at the grandparents, they opened presents by themselves in the morning. It was delightful to watch them squeal and "oh" over their presents. And that is why we try so hard at Christmas as parents, right? To make it as magical for them as we remember it being for us as children.

The face of a happy Christmas

Blaise, enthralled by his new, noisy toy

After a wonderful Christmas breakfast (my mother-in-law is a fantastic cook!), and Keith's brothers showed up from their own Christmas mornings with their families, we finally got around to opening the rest of the presents (at around 1 pm!). (Now, I know that I'm "all grown up," but still, waiting until the afternoon for presents is not the easiest thing to do.)

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. We played games with Keith's family, which of course, always gets a little out of hand. We visited with some of Keith's friends from high school. And the cold wasn't too bad.

Oh, yes. Blaise is very silly!
Making orange faces Christmas morning

The trip back wasn't as pleasant as the trip up, due to wind and icy roads. But thankfully, Roman and Blaise are fantastic travelers (especially with their car seats separated.)

So, a belated Merry Christmas. Hope the holidays were merry and bright for all of you.

Festival of Trees

It is truly the Christmas season.

As a small, relatively "new" family (I am always comparing us, time-wise, to Keith's and my families), we are still in the process of forming our own family traditions.

For the last couple of years, it has included starting the Christmas season with a visit to the Festival of Trees. All the proceeds go to Primary Children's Medical Center. So, it's great cause. But more than that, it is fun. Wandering among hundreds of Christmas trees, remarking how creative people are, and getting ideas for our own tree. Surrounded by trees, carols, snacking on $1 scones, it is hard not to feel Christmas-y.

My darling happy boys,
having a great time.

We are always on the look out for our favorite tree. Last year, there was a tree covered with Transformer toys, and Roman was really hoping for a repeat. Unfortunately, there wasn't. But there was still plenty to "Oh" and "Awe" at.

There were a lot of Ute trees, not surprising considering how well the football team did this year. There were plenty of Twilight trees, also not surprising.

One of the Twilight trees.
(Unfortunately, none of the pictures do justice to the trees.)

Keith's favorite was a golf tree.

The golf tree.

Yes, the tree is made entirely of golf clubs.
Pretty cool.

Roman's favorite was a tree made out of wood, that was a marble tree. The tree was amazing; I could have sat there forever, just watching the marbles move down the tree, over and over.

Amazing wooden marble track tree.

There was also an amazing Chihuly tree, made, of course, entirely out of glass.

Amazing glass Chihuly tree
The glass, music and flashing lights creating quite a crowd.

Chihuly tree came complete with glass presents as well

There were also a variety of gingerbread houses, made by people who are as creative and talented as I wish I could be. (Pictures are just a few highlights of my favorite ones.)

Giant castle gingerbread house.
Still not sure how anyone could actually make this.

Amazingly detailed, gorgeous gingerbread house

Darling CandyLand Game gingerbread "house."
So well done.

Even without any snow, I felt the festival feeling completely in the Christmas spirit. Ready to go home and decorate my home.

Happy Thanksgiving

I know that is post is technically a little late, since the four day weekend surrounding Thanksgiving is almost at its end.

But I've been enjoying the time with my (big) family and my (little) family to make it to the computer and write.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. Nearly my entire family made it to my parents' house for the Thanksgiving meal. (Everyone except Auralee. She and her husband spent the holiday with his family.)

Thanksgiving Dinner:
In this shot (left to right around the table)
My mom, Keith, me, Mercy, Brooks
(Blaise and Grace in the background)

Thanksgiving Dinner (Left to right, again):
Brooks, David, Christian, Trelawney, Salem
(and part of Rebekah, and part of my mom)

The kids' table: (front to back)
Galilee, Gwendolyn, Ariana, Spring, Roman, Blaise, Grace, Ansel

My contributions to the meal this year were very minimal. I made the candied yams (they are so good, I'm not sure why we eat them only once a year.) (Oh, and my dad, who while I was making yams kept reminding me that he didn't like them. Then he said that this was the first year he thought they tasted good. I think it was the cloves. Or maybe the vanilla.)

I helped make pie crusts, and brought the ice cream to go with the pies.

I also provided the idea, and some of the work for the centerpieces. I do love a beautiful table-scape. (My inner hostess/designer coming out.)

Don't you love the pumpkin "vases"?

Keith made mashed potatoes. Because he makes the best mashed potatoes, not just in the family, but ever. Truly.

So, as the holiday weekend wraps up, and the Christmas frenzy starts (oh, I love Christmas), I will share what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my beautiful boys, who have helped me become grounded, responsible, and have brought more love and joy into my life than anyone has the right to have.

I am thankful for my wonderful, amazing husband who has supported me through medical school and every other difficult moment. He probably is the only man in the world who could put up with me.

I am thankful for my parents. The older I get, the younger they seem and the better friends we are. My mom is always there when I need someone to call when things feel just a little too hard.

I'm thankful for all my brothers and sisters. Yes, every. single. one. of them. Everyone has taught me something different and I've had such unique relationships with all of them. I wish the best for them.

I'm thankful for my education, my future, my home, and my health. On a nearly daily basis, I come into contact with individuals who no longer or who never had these things.

Happy Thanksgiving.