Other pics from our family visit

 Last year, Grandma Chickens sent the kids little cans of fake snow. We decided this would be a good Christmas Eve activity, and I think the snow turned out differently than the kids thought it would. 

 Zipping up and down the sidewalk on scooters in their Christmas clothes. 

 Ev practicing some of the nail art that Aunt Michelle gave her. 

 Gordon used the dirt out of the plant on my front porch to push around with his new trucks. 

Ben and I won a gift certificate for a segway tour by a company on the beach near us, and so we took advantage of Grandma and Grandpa's great babysitting service and made a date out of it. 

It was a lot of fun to drive the segway, they top out at 12.6 mph! We went down the length of the boardwalk and down to the harbor jetty. It was a gorgeous, clear day. 

 Then we headed to Olive Garden for their lunch special of endless soup and salad. We tried every soup except one. I love their salad and breadsticks. 

 The day before everyone left town, we took the chance to drive down "Christmas Tree Lane," near the area where Ben spent his teen-age years. It was after Christmas, but still fun, and less crowded. 

We took Grandma to the beach on her last day here, and we rode the ferry across the harbor. 

Too cold to play in the water (if you're a local), but it was still a nice day. 

 New Year's Eve dinner. We watched "The Wizard of Oz" and had popcorn after dinner. We've watched a lot of movies this Christmas break. 

 The kids are missing the snow. I think that's what Gordon is saying by helping his Lego men ski across his mashed potatoes. Gordon actually tasted the mashed potatoes and liked them, which is huge because a potato in any other form besides chips or french fries has previously been turned down. 

I think we're ready to head back to school and all the other craziness that is our life. I'm so grateful for breaks from the normal schedule. We haven't been sick much this break, and we've spent time relaxing and not doing much of anything. The kids play together pretty well, and enjoy being together (most of the time). Ben and I had a crazy realization last night that in a short seven years, Evelyn will be a high school freshman. Frankly, the thought scares me a bit. We've got a lot of teaching to do and influence to impart in a short amount of time.

Christmas at Uncle Dan's

Grandma and Grandpa Chickens, Uncle Nate, and Aunt Michelle opted to drive down to our neck of the woods to spend Christmas with the California Cluffs this year. I'm so glad they did, because we all had a great time! We opened our gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Cows on Christmas Eve before driving north to Uncle Dan's house.

 Evelyn got some piano music, some skirts made with love by Grandma, and some Legos, which she immediately opened and began building.

Ben got some of the exercise and bike gear he was hoping for. 

Jilly was happy with her Legos and skirts. She also got a Horse-themed coloring book that was nice and colored in before we even left for Uncle Dan's house.

Gordon got some cool Star Wars toys and a Star Wars pillow case that Grandma made. All the kids got one of those frogs you see on the table. They swell when you immerse them in water. They are huge now, almost 12" from one end to the other. 

I asked for quite a bit of piano music this year, and Jim Brickman arrived!

 Grandpa Chickens loves the "Santa Clause" trilogy, so he brought the DVDs for the kids to watch, and so that's one of the things the kids did for the two days before Christmas. The Cluffs love to watch movies and Christmas break is prime movie-watching time. I should also mention that when the Cluffs get together, you can always count on good food. For lunch, Michelle made Hawaiian ham sliders, for Christmas Eve dinner we had beef tri-tip with garlic mashed potatoes. Grandma also brought a 3 lb. box of chocolates for all of us to eat that she won at a contest, plus too many other goodies. There were also 2 Costco pumpkin pies. 

 Christmas Eve pajamas. Grandma and Grandpa Cows sent these cool jammies down. When the kids opened the package Ev grabbed one of the presents and said, "Oh, this one is jammies." They always open them on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition that both of our families have done since we both remember. For the week preceding Christmas, a few times a day Jilly would ask  if it was time for bed yet. I was confused by this, because it wasn't like she was tired or sick. Ben said as a kid, he knew the sooner  he went to bed, the sooner Christmas morning would get here. Smart kid. 

 The kids woke up about 8 am, which I think is perfect. None of this before 7 am business around here. Gordon was anticipating opening presents and hamming it up for Uncle Dan. And then it began. 

 Evelyn happy to see a new dress, and Jilly would open up another dress just like it. 

 Gordon in his "superhero suit!" 

 All the kids got scooters. 

From Uncle Dan. 

 

 And they were excited about it!

 And then we open homemade soap! Just as exciting as scooters! Ben got a lot of bike gear this year, while I opted for mostly music and jewelry. 

 The kids now have two sewing Grandmas as, this last summer, Grandma Chickens discovered that she has a love for quilting. Both girls got these doll quilts and you can see Gordon's new tractor bed quilt in the background. 

 "Show me your mean face Gordon!"

So a Christmas story for our little history book: Ben has wanted an LED flat screen for quite a while, but it wasn't a need, so we had said we'd wait to buy one until we were done with school. Ben opened a card from Uncle Dan that said something to the effect, "I really wanted to get you a new TV... but things don't always work out." Inside was a gift card. We laughed, and thought that was the end of that gift. Then Dan said, "But sometimes they really do work out!" and he and Uncle Nate pulled out a new 40" TV from behind the couch. It was quite the surprise. Ben, Gordon and I were really excited, and the girls were like, "Cool! What's the big box for?" It was funny. 

I don't remember what the big secret was, but the opening of presents was fun and we received so many awesome gifts and I'm glad we got to do it with family this year. It's been great spending Christmas with Uncle Dan each year since we moved down here. However, being with the whole family made it even more special. Now it's time to write out thank you cards. 

 Later in the day I took the kids on their new scooters to the neighborhood park where they spent a few hours happily playing while a dinner of BBQ ribs and chicken wings was being prepared. The weather has been quite cool and rainy this month, which made it feel more like Christmas to me. We've enjoyed the coolness, sweaters, and hot chocolate. 

The first part of Christmas

The first part of Christmas is where you try to go and do as much Christmas-y stuff as you can handle and still stay sane. I do it because I love seeing the looks on my kids' faces as they experience the music, beauty and Spirit of the holiday season. 

A friend of ours snapped these photos, but they never made their way onto Christmas cards. Next year. I cut the girls' hair shortly after these were taken. 

 This one's going on the wall. 

We visited a Creche Exhibit in a nearby stake. It was the same weekend as the annual Christmas Devotional by the First Presidency, and my grand plan was to attend the devotional at this particular stake center, and then tour the exhibit. Due to major technical difficulties, the members in the stake center could not get the sound to work right on the broadcast, and it sounded terrible. The kids were bored, so we left the chapel early. I was bummed, but there's always next year. 

 This one's from where Ben served his mission. 

We have a copper relief from Chile that hangs in our bedroom, so this one was of interest to us. 

 Jilly loved this one, of course. 

 This nativity was constructed completely from soda cans by a man in South Africa, where no recycling exists for the cans because they are made form steel. So he found another way to reuse the cans. It was one of the largest nativities, and many of the animals were ones you'd find on the savanna - crocodiles, giraffes, lions, etc. There were so many nativities from all over the world, we didn't even see them all. 

 All the girls really wanted to do was dress up. Gordon wanted to be a cowboy, and that was it. When he discovered they didn't have any cowboy gear, he sulked for a while. He doesn't understand why cowboys weren't present at the Savior's birth. 

 The next weekend we attended a fairly elaborate and beautiful Nativity Pageant in another stake. It was very well done, if you live here and haven't been, you should go! They served hot chocolate after it was over, and they also had a Creche Exhibit that we took a look at. Right before the pageant started, they had a 12 year old girl with a good voice sing "Go Tell it on the Mountain." Jilly latched right onto that song and has been singing it quite a bit.

 Gordon is entering the phase of not being able to take normal pictures. He's off in Gordon la-la land much of the time these days, and I think maybe that's why he's so distracted when I need him to focus. 

 All the kids wanted pictures under this sparkly tree. Ev and Jill LOVED the teenage girl dressed up as an angel at this pageant. The look on their faces was priceless. 

Jilly and I attended the Christmas Concert put on by our stake, and Jilly was such a trooper to sit through the whole thing. I tried to take Ev last year, but she complained of a need to throw up shortly after the concert started (which never materialized and miraculously went away after leaving the chapel). So she opted to stay away from the concert this year. Jilly's favorite song was, once again, "Go Tell it on the Mountain." 

 The ward Christmas party. All the primary kids could dress up as angels, animals, or shepherds. The girls opted for angels, of course. We talked to Gordon about being a shepherd or animal, but he only wanted to be Woody. So Ben and I gave up and Gordon wore his Woody dress up outfit, much to the delight of other ward members, who laughed at the sight of a cowboy on stage during the Nativity. Our friend's kid was a sheep who ba-baa'd his way through all the Primary songs, and that was also awesome. 

Gordon's good buddy Max came to church with us one Sunday while his parents were recuperating from the  flu and a new baby. The boys were happy to be together. 

Gordon "getting ready for the showdown." This is a lyric from "Dustland Fairytale," by who else? The Killers.  He was standing on the back of the couch yelling singing the chorus of "Runaways." It's his way of calling the girls over to put on some show. Crazy kid, but we love him anyway. 

November

 Gordon had a friend from nursery over, and I can't remember what they were doing, but it was cute seeing them so intent on whatever was in front of them. 

 Jilly asked for a chocolate ducky cake, and this is what I came up with. That frosting was like liquid fudge. 

 For her birthday dinner, she asked for orange chicken and broccoli. This is one of probably eight meals our entire family will gobble up. 

 Happy sixth birthday Jilly!

Uncle Dan gave Jilly a box of little "girly" Legos, which both girls have enjoyed playing with. 

 Ben found a great deal on a girl's bike on Craigslist, so he jumped on it. All three kids are on bigger bikes now. Jilly learned how to ride without training wheels just before her birthday, and on this particular Sunday she was practicing while we grilled up some food for lunch. Gordon thought he'd just chill on the basketball pad while the girls rode circles around him. 

 Jilly invited a friend from Primary over, and they had lots of fun. Evelyn's holding the toddler I babysit. 

Thanksgiving was at Uncle Dan's house this year, and he has a giant couch the kids sprawl on and watch movies while we finish fixing dinner. 

We  had a proper Thanksgiving dinner this year, with an actual turkey (last year it was fried chicken). 

Evelyn looking like she's going to take Gordon out with a baseball. Thankfully she can't throw that far. 

 Evelyn brought croup home right before Thanksgiving, so she spent Thanksgiving break sick with that. I opted to keep the kids away from everyone else, so we spent some time at mostly deserted parks. 

 Gordon picked up the croup the next week, and I spent a significant portion of two days helping him breathe, in the doctor's office, or eventually the E.R. The best part was when the doctor at the office told me I was making a big deal out of the fact that Gordon was wheezing like he had asthma, and then told me to do everything I had already been doing (and had not found it to work), and told me to stop doing other things I had been doing (that had helped him breathe). It was my most frustrating and confusing experience with a doctor to date, and I will not be going back. I felt vindicated after driving to the E.R. at 4 am after having Gordon wake up coughing, gasping, and wheezing every 20 minutes for a 6 hour span the second sleepless night. It was croup they said, but I think some asthma edged in there too. 

 The construction crew finished up all their digging and cleaned up pretty well, except for the big pile of concrete mix my kids found. It made an excellent digging pile, and an attempt was made at actual cement, but we were probably missing a key ingredient besides water, because it crumbled apart. 

Another set-up, this time dinner-themed. Pizza made of wood. Yum! 

Absolutely Beautiful.

The cellist and pianist in this video call themselves "The Piano Guys." This is the first I've heard of them, but I think this is the most beautiful arrangement of the solemn and haunting, "O Come Emmanuel," that I have ever heard. I love strings and piano ensembles, so this is right up my alley.