The Joy of the Season

I think my favorite moment of the season is our Christmas Eve Nativity program. Xander and Elodie were so eager to be Mary and Joseph, and of course Aaron made a great donkey.We had nine adults and our two little kids at our house for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, which means Xander and Elodie got plenty of attention and plenty of presents. Xander and Elodie can't get enough of their aunts and uncles. We were especially glad to have Mitchell and girl Erin come into town to celebrate with us.Another unmatchable part was watching my kids' pure delight on Christmas morning. I just loved hearing their shouts of joy as they came downstairs and saw what "Santa" had given them. Both of them are very excitable children to say the least! Xander's exclamations were just as exuberant for his 10 pack of socks as they were for his space shuttle with rocket boosters. And Elodie's excitement over the candy in her stocking surpassed any of the gifts she received. I love how easy it is to please little children.

We certainly felt the joy of the season this year! Our knowledge that the Babe of Bethlehem is the Savior of the World has been deepened and reaffirmed. The gift of His Atonement blesses us daily. We are so grateful for our little family and for our large and loving extended family! Thank you all for your examples, love, and support!

Take your Hobby and Run with it!

I love cooking.
I love baking.
I love Christmas treat making.
I just finished making candy cane cookies to eat with hot chocolate after Christmas caroling. We've gone to Melayna's twice to use her stove (because our stove is acting rather unpredictable of late) to make peanut brittle and carmels.
I've made two batches of toffee on our own stove (it needs high temps and our stove still does that; it's medium and low that the units are periodically boycotting).
We've rolled peanut butter dough into buckeyes.
I've rolled and dipped coconut balls.
I baked Mexican Wedding Cakes.
We've covered the carmels and a pecan in chocolate to make turtles.
And I have all of the ingredients waiting to be turned into a few other Christmas goodies.

I've been enjoying my kitchen hobbies so much that Aaron had to make this rather reasonable suggestion one morning. "How about we get the house all clean and hold off on making any more treats until that's done? And then we can clean up the mess from candy-making right after, and the house will still be clean." Not a bad idea. Any hope of cleaning becoming as much of a hobby for me as baking?

NOT The Man of My Dreams

Last night, in my dream, Aaron was a full-time missionary. We were married, but he also had a missionary companion, as missionaries so often do. We were at his parents house down in Texas. He got a phone call that his dad was stranded somewhere, so he and his companion left to go rescue him. While I was at home, awaiting their return, I began making dinner with Rachael Ray, of course. She was showing me how to make her favorite chicken enchilada bake. We mixed in the cream cheese and salsa, and it looked so good that I couldn't wait to taste it, so I grabbed a big spoonful and popped it in. The sauce tasted great, but I had popped a chunk of raw chicken into my mouth, so I spit it out, disgusted. Rachael Ray seemed not to notice my mistake, since she was busily pulling some strange looking things out of the freezer. They resembled Antarctican Birds, but surely I must be mistaken? She layered them in a huge pyramid on a baking dish and poured the chicken enchilada mixture over them. When I asked her what they were, Rachael Ray was suddenly Samoan, and she couldn't remember the word in English. "Are they...penguins?" I asked. "Oh, yes, penguins, yes, yes," she confirmed as she put the concoction in the oven. Hmm, is that a Samoan delicacy? The so-called chicken enchilada bake was almost done, but still no sign of Aaron. It was only supposed to take a few minutes; where could he be? I was getting pretty annoyed that he was so late and hadn't had the courtesy to call, so I gave him a call and it went straight to his voicemail. Just for me, he had recorded a special greeting, telling me where he was. "Some guy gave us these awesome tickets for the football game tonight, and they are second row seats, so we couldn't pass it up! Don't expect us home; we'll be at the game." I was livid! Missionaries are not allowed to go to football games! And especially not on a Sunday, which it was! How could my husband think that this was remotely OK? I tried to calm myself down by convincing myself that he was kidding. It must have been his idea of a good joke to get my goat. Just then, Aaron called me back and sincerely denied that it was a joke. He completely ignored my reminders about it being Sunday, assuring me that if he had asked, he was sure his mission president would have said it was OK, that it was really no big deal. Which, of course, made it a very big deal indeed. At that point, I woke up, still feeling irritated at my sweet husband, who was sleeping innocently beside me.

For some reason, Aaron is almost always a jerk in my dreams. That's why I lovingly tell him when I wake up that I'm so glad he's not the man of my dreams.

Ho, ho, ho it's Christmas!

As we were decorating the tree, Elodie found this little Santa suit and tried it on. It fits pretty well, doesn't it?
Here's Baby Xanta in it at 6 months old!