Merry Christmas 2012

1.  Christmas Eve - cookies - Molly bonkers - major meltdown over the spilling of the sprinkles on the floor for the third time - made James color Christmas pictures with her.

2.  Christmas Eve - dinner at Grandpa's - nativity program - kids wild

3.  Christmas Morning - Santa Claus made it to our house - "reindeer food" on the back porch and Molly put a plate of cookies UNDER a chair facing the back door.

4.  Aunt Karen's for Breakfast - good food - ate our weight in scones - no camera.

5.  Petersen House - Jack slept. Molly opened gifts - got her first fancy princess costume from Aunt Annie - ate only food she ate all day - 3 Ritz crackers and half of a yogurt (with a Sprite).

6.  Alicia in the Target Parking Lot - still not sure on the whole story, but Alicia drove up from New Mexico and was headed back - crossed paths and were able to meet up for a few minutes in the Target parking lot before continuing north

7.  Binggeli House - Molly and Jack had good naps in the car - Jason entertained Molly all night and then rode home with us while she screamed - Larsons were there - Jarrell and Whytnee were there - Ate lots of ham and my cookies disappeared.

8.  Home - Tired.  Merry Christmas!

9.  Day After Christmas - Dinner with Grandpa since we didn't make it there on Christmas Day - opened gifts from him - tried out new waffle iron.

The 3-Pointer

Do you see the bottom line of this stat sheet from the paper?  Read that line carefully . . . . 

Willie hit a 3-pointer in Hunter's game against Skyline last Thursday!!!  He's capable of hitting a 3 and occasionally gets a good look at the basket, but the ball has never actually gone in until this game.  My mom has been promising him a trip to Disneyland since his sophomore year if he could just accomplish this one task.  He's now done it!  Woo Hoo!!!

I don't know if the Disneyland thing is for real or not, but it was a great shot (though my pessimistic cousin Preston said it didn't really count because he banked it off the glass - whatever!)

Christmas Party Saturday #2

Party #1

Molly, Jack, and I headed out early Saturday morning for a party with my mom, dad, Willie, and Annie's family.  We met at the Little America Coffee Shop for breakfast.  I had pancakes, ham, and potatoes.  Molly ate quite a bit of her pancake.  Willie, Wyatt, and Elliott ate about 7 pounds of bacon.  It was all delicious and we felt like we were in Disneyland!

After breakfast, Annie, Ross, and Quinn went home, but the rest of us ventured over to the Clark Planetarium for the Christmas animated feature in the Imax Theater.  It was a  cute little movie about Santa Claus.  Molly loved it and Jack had a nice little nap.  Afterwards, we wandered around the rest of the Planetarium for a few minutes and then headed to the train.  Molly is becoming a train expert and I think she'd like to ride it every day.

Our plan on this morning was not to see the lights (it was daylight after all) but to see the candy in the Macy's windows.  We did and it was pretty cool!  Our adventure was cut a little short because my mom and I both had missed calls on our phone during the movie from my Grandpa.  When we called him back, he told us that my Grandma's cousin had died, he just found out, but the funeral was later that day.  My mom was to meet my Grandpa there, so we had to hurry a little bit, but not before walking around City Creek.

Me made it back on the train, to our cars, and home.  Molly stayed asleep and had a good nap before the next adventure.

Party #2

Later Saturday night was the Huber Family Progressive Party.  We started at my Aunt Cindy's house and then finished at my Uncle Johnny's house.  It was loud, crazy, and delicious.  It ended with a bizarre talent show that included, dancing, singing, and Willie and Parker pretending to be Sasquatch  hunters.  We are all a little strange, but it was fun.  I didn't take any pictures.

Temple Square Outing

'Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the messy house, the mama said, "let's go to dinner downtown and see the Christmas lights at temple square."  The little baby brother said, "goo goo ga ga."  The little sister said, "Can I go in the temple?," and the big, bearded, grumpy dad said, "Rio Grande."

We got all loaded up and headed in town.  We went to eat at the Rio Grande Cafe and it was extra delicious because we haven't been there for a while.  Jack was a little fussy during dinner, but Molly did pretty good and even ate a few tastes of beans.  Yum!

We went back to the car, put on more layers, blankets, and got in the stroller.  We were headed for the train!  We walked past all the freezing people waiting to get inside the homeless shelter, through the Gateway, and onto the train.  Molly loved the train and was very excited to ride it.  She gave up riding in the stroller, though, once we got off the train and the rest of the adventure was a struggle between walking and crying to be carried.  She refused to ride in the stroller.

We did a quick trip through Temple Square and the Main Street Plaza.  It was super crowded.  Molly screamed.  James was mute.  Jack kept kicking his blanket off.  Mama thought, "why do I try to do things like this."  The phone rang and it was Parker.  He and Willie were also at Temple Square with a group of kids and wondered where we were.  They found us and we said hi for a minute.  Molly had had enough and it was time to go.  The train ride back to the Gateway was fun for Molly, but now Jack was done, cold, and crying.  We made it back to the car . . . and came home.

It is a good tradition, but perhaps next year will be a bit more fun.  Oh well.  The lights were pretty.  The food was yummy.  And, the children are cute even when they scream.

Christmas Party Saturday

Party #1

On Saturday December 15th we added to our Christmas festivities by attending 2 family Christmas parties.  The first one was the Binggeli party hosted by James' Aunt Suzanne.  She lives in Plain City and as is tradition for all Binggeli Christmas parties, it snowed that morning and we wondered if we would make it.  Once we left the Salt Lake Valley, there wasn't much at all and our trip was not a big deal.

The after brunch activity was something like Sumo Santa (I don't know if that was really the name or not).  It included dressing up 2 participants (James and his uncle AlDon) in Santa's red long-johns and then stuffing them to the fullest with balloons.  I thought it was a contest to see who could hold the most balloons, but once they were all stuffed it became a wrestling contest to see who could pop each other's balloons first.   

Grandpa finding the open rear flap in uncle AlDon's red underwear and shoving in balloons.

James, his big balloon belly, and chicken legs.

Jarrell also finding the rear flap and doing some dirty work.  

Finished Santa ready to rumble

The sparring begins.

Party #2

We came home for a few hours, then we loaded up again and headed north.  This time we were going to my uncle Gregg's church in Layton for the Petersen Family party.  We had soup and bread bowls, the kids played basketball and then minute-to-win-it games. We had musical numbers. I talked to cousin Travis about his educational plans.  Everybody had a great time.  Everything was decorated in blue.  I forgot to take my camera.  It was a great evening, though.

Molly's Christmas Program

Molly did a great job in her school's Christmas program.  Her part was the very first line . . . "'T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house."  She'd been practicing it for quite some time and did a good job.



Molly has great people who love her and take care of her every day and she loves her two-year-old friends  Emily, Jude, and Westin (sitting next to her).  I'm very grateful for Spartan Station!

Crazy blue eyes waiting for the program to start

Molly waiting patiently for the other kids to finish their parts

After the program, Santa was waiting to let all of the kids sit on his lap.  Molly waited very cautiously for her turn and when that time finally arrived, this was her reaction.  Oh well.  Would we really have expected anything differently?