a wonderful time of year

 

lets take it from the top.

family, food and making memories is what christmas time is all about.

christmas began when aunts, an uncle, a cousin and grandparents arrived.  even though it had snowed 2 feet just days earlier they were all good sports and humored my clipboard of events whether it was an activity planned inside or outside.

first on the schedule was heading into the city for sights and great museum exploration.  my tip to you: if you want to explore the museums without the crowds, go christmas eve.

(most of the photos are taken by alicia).

below, my amazing pull-together-a-meal-in-minutes husband is checking out Julia Childs pots. yes, i would like all of them please. 

unfortunately the butter left behind in the movie julie and julia was already devoured by a starving tourist before we arrived.

 

bill nye the science guy’s brother gave the kids an explosive course on CO2. dallin put on his “science cap” and used words like hypothesis and conclusion when predicting the effects of mixing CO2 with other substances. perhaps that is the reason the science guy was convinced to give a presentation to only 4 kids. at least he knew one was really getting something out of it.

    

5 hours later we were home devouring homemade cafe rio, although it would have been nice to have it delivered….all the way from Utah. if you could choose between cafe rio and chipotle what would it be?  is baja fresh even an option anymore?  did anyone enjoy fresh, from the restaurant, cafe rio this holiday season?  tell me, was it as good as i remember it tasting?

jon was in charge of the family activity on christmas eve.  he came up with the perfect craft. instead of creating gingerbread houses (which i was fully expecting) he purchased clear glass ornaments, paint and glitter to make our own personalized treasures to enjoy every year. his intention was to wrap up one from each grandchild and give them to his mother for christmas.  for some reason we still have them hanging in our dining room for us to enjoy.

the evening ended with a family night dallin and i directed.  reading scriptures, singing songs and watching cousins love and poke each other made  the magic of christmas come to life.

 

our lovelies hanging beautifully awaiting christmas breakfast.

stephanie was in for making memories when she was assigned to share a room with dallin.   he is known to be the first one up, dressed and ready for the day.  then he likes to chat with the first person he finds. usually it is me, but since stephanie was only feet from his bed, she was fortunate enough to get all of his random thoughts, jokes and questions before i would.  by day 2 she had figured out how to bribe him into leaving her alone and finding grandpa. one morning she woke to find a note by her pillow that reads, “Good bye Stephanie. P.S. How is your Christmas going to fit on the bus?”  I guess that was running through his mind all morning and he just had to know how she would get all of her stuff back to NYC on the bus.

Lessons learned at our house this Christmas season. 

(this exert was written by my sister-in-law stephanie and shared on her blog). 

Who knew . . . what you get when you cross an elephant and a kangaroo?

Dallin knew or at least had all the answers to this and 100s of jokes thanks to his grandma who gave him a joke book for Christmas (yet was not there to enjoy the endless jokes). Dallin also knew that it was in his best interest to quietly sneak out of his bedroom in the morning so as not to wake me. I think the $ bribe I offered him helped too.

Who knew . . . what the candy cane represents?

Zachary knew and willingly demonstrated during family night on Christmas Eve. For those who don't remember the candy cane is shaped like a shepherds staff and is used to guide the sheep or  in Zachary's words is used to "hook their necks" as he clobbers his cousin.

Who knew . . . that 2 year olds are interested in interior decorating?

Alexander knew just what to do with a wet paint brush that he found tucked away after a last minute home improvement project. Thanks to Alexander the family room carpet and railing matched the new wall color. Thanks to the carpet cleaning machine and Monica's elbow grease both are back to their original color.

who knew we would have so much delicious food, loving family and magical memories this christmas?

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