The beginning of Ken’s Christmas Break

Ken took a week off work around Christmas…The first day we went sledding at the Golf Course.  It had started raining and the two feet of snow was quickly compacting and melting away, but there was still plenty to sled on.  The great thing about going sledding on the second day is that tracks and jumps are already made.  And can I just say that I LOVE our new tubes for sledding.  Now I can have fun with the kids without hurting my backside.  I think I went down with each of them over the jump and it was tons of fun!  By the time we left the rain had really picked up and we were SOAKED and happy.

After sledding we had a picnic in the living room for lunch.  Jessie made us quesadillas and apple slices and I scrambled up some eggs.The next morning for breakfast Jessie made us blueberry muffins complete with little festive toppers (thanks mom!).Mark helped Ken feed Neil some rice cereal which he is liking more and more.  He eats way better for Ken than he does for me, so when Ken’s home it’s his job to feed the boy.My plans for the day were simple.  I wanted to hang snowflakes from the ceiling in the hallway and on the windows and dip pretzels in flavored chocolate.  We were able to do both.  When I went to get the chocolate out for dipping Ken surprised me with the first Christmas gift an ipod with video capabilities because our little camera with video on it got a big dust speck right in the middle of the lens somehow.We had fun dipping and eating pretzels.  Except for the mint ones which I accidently got so much mint flavoring in that they were more like altoids than anything else.  Talk about spicy breath!  The cinnamon ones are still my favorite and Spencer picked out orange for our other flavor.Jessie and Mark were so excited after I got my ipod because then the other camera became the new “kids” camera.  Which meant that our super old camera that wouldn’t take pictures half time that was the kid camera became a science project for Jessie and Mark.  They were so excited to take it apart….but after working on it for a while they discovered we didn’t have any screwdrivers small enough to get out those tiny screws that hold the case together…so stinky!

The first of December until the break

I had so many fun projects I found online that I wanted to do…but don’t worry I saved the ideas I didn’t get to in my ideas folder.  One of the projects we did get to was Handprint Snowmen Ornaments.  They turned out great!  And were easy to boot.  All you need are some shiny ornaments, white acrylic paint on a paper plate, and some kids!  While the paint dried Neil got to hold one of the paint bottles and it was so cute how he was cuddling with it.It took a week or so to get back around to finishing this project, but we just used Sharpie markers to draw the faces on the snowmen.  The ornaments Jessie and Mark did only had 4 snowmen because the ornaments I got were a little to small and so their thumb made a snowman that was tipping way far over.Last minute we decided to have a little celebration on Neil’s 6 month birthday.  We had family and friends over for FHE and dessert (cinnamon rolls).  For the lesson we broke into groups after reading I Believe in Santa Clause and came up with ways that Christmas objects remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.  I was quite fun and we had some very creative and quite insightful answers.  Thanks for joining us for the party everyone!It is so fun to be an activity day leader with Jessie and her friends!  They make me laugh.  We made hot pads for their moms for Christmas.  I was in charge of the tags and wrapping paper and with 22 girls it was intense the whole time.I love this picture of Ken and Neil.  Neil just LOVES his toes.  In fact I never put socks on him so his toes can be my back up toy incase he doesn’t want to play with his other toys.Rachel went with us to see the lights at Temple Square this year.  Traffic was really slow on the way up so we decided to stop for dinner on our way.  I gave Neil a piece of ice to suck on and from his face you would have thought I just gave him a lick of a lemon.  It was so funny!  Jessie’s favorite was the lights floating on the reflecting pool.  We also loved the luminaries with Christmas words in all different languages and the metal luminaries.  And besides losing our way back to our car it was a fun evening.  We had Neil wrapped up in his duck blanket and some girls even stopped us to take a picture of the “very cute duck!”A neighbor was taking his sons fishing on a Saturday morning and offered to bring Mark along.  He was thrilled, of course and came back with two rainbow trout, one albino.  Mark got to help gut the fish to prepared them for smoking and was a little grossed out in the process.  But the fish turned out to be tasty or so the boys told me…cause I didn’t have any.Rachel and Jessie helped us bake all day Saturday to get our Christmas treats out early so people would be excited to get them.  Thanks you two it was fun and tasty to be with you making cyclops cookies, lemon bars and cream cheese cookies.

That night Spencer had his choir concert at the Provo Tabernacle.  He was so excited and did a great job.  The next day on Sunday he asked to wear his bow tie again because he loved it so much the night before, which is really funny because at Steph and McKay’s wedding he refused to wear his.

As a side note the Provo Tabernacle caught on fire this last week.  The fire was so intense the roof caved in.  We drove past it a day or two ago and it was sad and amazing all at the same time.

While I was reading a book and Abbie and Spencer piled me high with stuffed animals.  It was so silly and fun!

I saw these totally awesome toothbrush holders on my friends blog this summer and casually mentioned to my brother that he could make me some for Christmas.  And surprise!! he did!  Thanks David they are so awesome!  Jessie named them for us: Al and Moo-moo.Nothing quite as fun as a piggy back ride!  Uncles are so fun.Here are a few pictures of my little cutie on my new non-squeaky rocking chair.This year for Christmas Ken told the kids the story of  The Gift of the Magi a short story written by O. Henry, so the kids earned gold chains by doing little acts of service for our family and then used the chains to buy gifts for each of the others in the family.  It was a fun way to let each person participate in giving at Christmas.The snow starts!  Jessie and Mark made this snow horse…We had our second or third annual caroling night at Ken’s parents.  It was fun to pass around the babies.  Spencer was having a long night and to help him be happy he took pictures for me while the rest of us sang.When one of the packages of Christmas gifts arrived in the mail Spencer was so excited to use the packing material for his muscles.  Isn’t he a great football player?All that was left of the snow was Jessie’s snow horse when it began snowing again.  Here’s our first days worth of snow.But when it doesn’t stop snowing, like for 36ish hours, you can end up with TONS of snow!  This is what we woke up to the next morning…18 inches of snow.  20 inches by 10:00 am and 24 inches when it finally stopped about noon.  It took Ken about 2 hours to clear and driveway and sidewalks before he left for work!Mark and Jessie played outside from about 7 in the morning until after after 1 pm.  They had SO MUCH FUN!

A little Christmas, a little snow, and a little laughter

For the first FHE after Thanksgiving we decorated the tree and sang carols together.  Jessie and Mark were extremely helpful putting the lights on the tree and all the kids helped with the ornaments.  It was a fun night.We all went to Jessie’s choir concert at school.  She even got to play some with the hand bells.  The kids have been singing her song about a cup of hot cocoa all month long.Jessie was so excited when she figured out how to stick cotton balls to herself and we had a couple of visits from “Jessie Santa.”We had some super shovelers during our first snow.  Do you love the snow pants under the dress?Neil loves to blow bubbles and stick out his tongue.Spencer and I made this fort and played in it with Neil until it was time for his nap.  When Abbie came home from school she even did her homework in it.Neil loves tummy rubs from Spencer.  He laughs and laughs.

It was Abbie’s week to plan out dinners and we had pizza pockets one night.  Yummy!Jessie shared her glasses with Neil, but he wasn’t quite sure what to do with them.

Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup

We tried this recipe tonight when Ken’s parents came over for dinner and it was SO GOOD!!! It came from the BYU Magazine and served with hot biscuits I’m surprised we have any left.  (I’m sure you could make it a little more healthy by putting more milk in instead of cream.)  Let us know if you try it!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Makes about 2 quarts

1 qt. tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
4 cups water
1 Tbsp. dried basil (1/4 cup fresh*)
4 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 tsp. oregano (1 Tbsp. fresh*)
1 bay leaf

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
1 cup cream
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In crock pot combine veggies, water and seasonings.  Cover and cook on low 5 to 7 hours, until flavors are blended and veggies are soft.

About one hour before serving: melt butter in a sauce pan; stir in flour and stir constantly until smooth and bubbly.  Whisk in milk and cream and 1 cup of hot soup from the crock pot.  Continue stirring and add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  When starts to bubble stop stirring and add to crock pot.  Return cover and cook on low for another hour until ready to serve.

*If using fresh herbs add the last hour of cooking.

(this is my version of the recipe.  For the original recipe: 365daysofcrockpot.com)

Thanksgiving

What’s the best part of Thanksgiving?  PIE!!!  The kids and I along with David and Rachel were able to join my dad’s family in SLC for Pie Night on Thanksgiving Eve.  (Ken was helping out with Young Men's.)  I think Abbie alone had at least 4 pieces of pie – YUMMY!  Rachel and I made pumpkin, of course, and we tried a new recipe for chocolate pie….oh my, it was delicious (the recipe to follow).

Sometimes I bring my camera and forget to use it.  Here’s my only picture of the night.Thanksgiving morning was just relaxing and fun.  While I fed Neil, Rachel made rolls and Ken made jello.  David played bucking bronco with Abbie and Spencer….And then he and Ken surprised Mark and Jessie, who were out playing in the snow, with a snowball fight.Rachel, Jessie and I used my new Zangle books as inspiration to decorate these little pumpkins for a decoration to take with us to SLC.  I think they turned out pretty neat-o.Here’s some pics from dinner and hanging out afterwards.  We played a couple of games, read some books and just enjoyed.  Abbie and Spencer shared a chair for dinner. They were so cute.

The day after Thanksgiving Ken had to work so we spent the afternoon with Ken’s mom.  We made beaded snowflakes (which looked way easier than they were)…cut out snowflakes to decorate Grandma Jennie’s room…skyped Grandpa Fry and sang Happy Birthday…made homemade French Bread Pizza’s for dinner…and played Banana Grams (basically you use scrabble tiles and each person makes a cross-word puzzle in front of themselves as you continue to add tiles to you puzzle).  It was so much fun we played a couple of rounds and went home late…. we gotta get better at going home on time!

Gone to Heaven Chocolate Pie

1 (9-inch) pie shell

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt

4 egg yolks
3 cups milk

2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips, we used semi-sweet and extra dark
whipped cream, opt

Bake pie shell and cool.

Stir together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a 2 quart saucepan.  Combine egg yolks and milk in a container with a pouring spout.  Gradually blend milk mixture into sugar mixture.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil and stir for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

Add chocolate chips and stir until chips are melted and mixture is well blended.  Pour into pie shell; press plastic wrap onto filling.  Cool.  Refrigerate several hours or until chilled and firm.  Garnish with whipped cream.