Ho Ho Ho

Christmas is such a delightful time with little children.
Their anticipation and excitement is contagious.

This year we were able to have Grandma Ginger, Aunt Kelty & Uncle Duane celebrate with us! Thank you so much for making the trek to be with us!
The girls loved playing with Grandma at the indoor swimming pool, creating a big fort with blankets and ropes in her guest bedroom (below), doing puzzles, going to the movies AND playing at the indoor MC Donald's play land.

Brinley's Christmas highlights included learning to play the recorder with Grandma and styling Aunt Kelty's (who is having her baby in less than a month) hair!

On Christmas Eve we made my simple signature cookies for Santa.



Cody planned a lovely program for the evening which included:
* A solo by Brinley called "Stars Were Gleaming."
*A duet by yours truly and Kelty called "Mary's lullaby."
(Kelty's beautiful voice managed to make mine sound decent)
* A reading of the Nativity by Daddy with pauses for us to all sing a number of Christmas songs.
*To end off the Eve we each took turns expressing what "gift"
we were going to be giving to Jesus in the upcoming year.

After years of 5am wake up calls on Christmas morning we got smart this time around and told the girls they were not aloud out of bed until their alarm sounded at 7:30am!

This picture was taken before the gift opening brawl of '09 took place.

Oh how you ought to look forward to that video in the near future! Uncle Duane had the camera rolling and what a hilarious memory he captured!

Thank you thank you for the wonderful gifts mailed to us with love.
Santa saved extra room in his sleigh this year and brought our girls a Kitchen!
Daddy spent Christmas morning assembling it.

On Sunday the girls were excited to wear their new Christmas dresses from Nana.
They glittered their way through church!




My thoughts are now focused on the New Year and how
I can grow into a better person in 2010~
and how we can encourage our children to do likewise.

Christmas Card 2009

Merry Christmas!

Making Merry

On Tuesday we attended Avery's musical performance at her preschool.
Her teachers always comment that she remembers ALL the words to the songs they learn at school and loves to sing with exuberance.
She sure did sing with vigor up on stage!

I was able to attend Brinley's musical performance and classroom
party at school this week as well.
Brinley was right on cue with all of her hand motions while singing the songs!
She introduced me to the magic elf that has made mischief in her classroom for the past month.

Aspen, Avery and I participated in our weekly playgroup on Wednesday.
We had a party and gift exchange at Angie's house. Fun & crazy!

This year we ventured of the traditional graham cracker gingerbread house making and tried it with rice krispie treats. I am a fan!
Fun, quick and the kids actually enjoyed eating it for a few days.

Thursday night we had so much fun at my Resident Spouse Survivors Club Christmas party. The venue was a historic wine cellar in German Village.
Love getting together with my survivor buddies...this time we included our hubbies.

Friday night was a girls only ornament exchange party at Lacy's. Good food, friends and a porcelain doll head (which Ellie is holding in the picture) made for a fun night!

Saturday night Cody and I hit the road for some quick last minute gift shopping before we headed north to one of his attendings home's for yet another Christmas party.
The food was exquisite and delicious.
We enjoyed mingling with other resident's and attendings.

Apparently the physician who's home we were in has "an incredible and extensive" wine collection in his in home wine cellar.
We just thought it looked really cool...so we took a picture.

Last night we hopped in the car for our traditional drive through the Parade of Lights. When we arrived Aspen squealed with pure delight as she jumped up and down on
my lap in the front seat. It was so cute and we all laughed.
The older girls got to take turns driving the car with Daddy in the drivers seat.

All in all it's been quite the Christmas week!

Tis' the Season...

For major goose bump owies caused from falling head first onto the

corner of the kitchen island.

(this picture does NOT come close to doing the golf ball sized bump justice)

For attending the ward Christmas party in our Jerusalem attire and watching
Daddy played a wise man in the nativity.
More pictures HERE.

For making the worlds most delicious caramel corn and giving it to those we love!


(Above is how it looks before you bake it)

Recipe:
7 cups (or so) Popcorn
3/4 C. Brown Sugar
6 T. Butter
3 T. Karo Syrup
1/4 t. Baking Soda
1/4 t. Vanilla

*Spread out popped popcorn on a jelly roll pan which has been sprayed with Pam.
*Combine sugar, butter & syrup in saucepan and boil over
medium heat for 5 minutes WITHOUT stirring.
* Remove mixture from heat and then add baking soda and vanilla. Caramel will puff up.
*Pour caramel all over popcorn and BAKE @ 300 for 13 minutes!
*When you take the popcorn out of the oven immediately pour it into a big bowl and mix to coat all of the pieces with the caramel!

(Below is how it looks after it's been cooked and mixed)

For a seriously fun party at Kristi & Trevor's casa!



For a delicious Fondue party at Mi Casa!
More pictures HERE.

Sara and Joni did all of the work to put this gathering on. I just provided the accommodations and showed up after teaching Urban Iron before the party started.

Can I just say how much fun it is to gather with a bunch of girlfriends to talk and laugh and laugh some more and eat good food...
I must admit, it's one of my fondest hobbies!

And finally, 'Tis the Season for baking these scrumptious pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, complements of Amada's cookbook, and delivering them to our neighbors.

And just in case you are dying with anticipation to see what color I painted my office,
here is a sneak peek.

3 more parties yet to enjoy this week!
Ta ta for now.

Kelty's Shower

Over Thanksgiving we threw my sister Kelty a baby shower.


(Kelty & friend Dana)

I was not able to be in Utah for the event,
but I tried to do a little bit to help make it happen.

I went for a modern, sleek style.
Since Kelty and Duane live right in the middle of the city (Chicago) I thought it appropriate.



Matching party favors were definitely in order for this event!



Here is a close up.



I thought I'd go ahead and wrap her gift to match the invites and favors.

Thanks to my SIL Jill who organized the games and was
actually there to facillitate the event!
All reports seem to indicate that it was a smashing success!

To Do and Not To Do

If you have the chance GO to Macy's off State during Christmastime.
The 7 floors are decked out in exquisite decor from tip top to bottom and the big man himself is inside!




Things we enjoyed in Chicago:

The Shed Aquariam.
Navy Peer Children's Museum.
Macy's Christmas window displays.
Visiting Santa.
Spending time with Aunt Kelty & Uncle Duane.
Enduring the Rain Forest Cafe for our Children.
Swimming at the hotel and at Kelty's.
Walking! I LOVE walking in a big city, my kids don't.
Eating at Bandera on Michigan Ave. with Dr. Shiels minus KIDS!




Things we will never do again based on our Chicago experience:

#1 - All 5 sleep in the same hotel room ... Aspen believed that 4:30am was a particularly great time to arise during our fun family sleepover fiesta. She also enjoyed waking up several times throughout the night just to mix things up a bit.

#2 - Assuming that Aspen would just adapt and sleep on the go. Ha, ha, ha!
She did however perfect the art of crying on the go.

Cody spent most of his time at the RSNA convention (which is why we were there). It is super duper amazing in every way and draws quite a crowd of physicians from all over the world.

He was a VERY good sport about departing one day early.

Cooper

Meet our newest nephew/cousin born on November 23rd at 5:03pm.
(Mommy Staci is Cody's sister)

Cooper Lon Swainston
7 lbs., 7 ounces, 20 1/2 in. long

We are so excited for this beautiful addition into our family!
Mommy, Daddy and baby are all doing well.

Good-Bye Chicago

We arrived home LATE last night...
More to come

Thanksgiving

Our handsome turkey carver seen here.

Our crazy children seen here.

A picture that Brinley took for us seen here.




A seriously darling kid seen here. Also seen here are Dan Walton's photography skills!



Three women who love to get great deals seen here.
(One who woke up at 4:30am to stand in line at Target with all of the other crazy people... when did getting a great deal on a hard drive become worth a black friday experience?)

Tonight we pack and tomorrow we will be seen HERE
for the RSNA radiology conference until Friday.

Today I made...

THIS and put it

HERE.

Our front room is so sad during Christmas time because most of our decorations land in the family room where we spend much of our time.
So today I decided to add a some reindeer cheer to the decoration-less room.


PS-

Thank you dear for risking your life once again to beautify our home for
the Christmas season...

and no it was not funny when you pretended you were falling off the roof while the girls and I helplessly looked on from the window.

In Home Decorator

Last week Brinley decided to decorate her room for Thanksgiving.

To accomplish this she colored a turkey (and labeled each one)
on countless pieces of computer paper.

She used precision in taping these beauties up around the circumference of her room, on the front of her bedroom door, closet doors, under the chore pack spot and at the foot of her bed.



I LOVE my creative little Turkey!

Uplifting Thanksgiving thoughts found here.

Dear God,

Wilt Thou please grant me patience when this happens each and every day.

When I have just taught two classes at the gym,
ran to the grocery with two crying kids...exaggeration, only one crying kid
(and that is when I whip out my spoon feeding while pushing a cart mommy talent),
flew into Home Depot to get more paint for my little office project,
unloaded the groceries from the car,
feed two children lunch and am starving and really just want to sit down and eat for 3 seconds

and then THIS happens again,

Please Lord, help me to remember to respond with love because my kids are precious gifts from Thee.



MY LUNCH



And now for the remainder of the day:

3 loads of laundry, big ones!
Paint the office walls...again, one more coat. First coat yesterday.
After school snack for Brinley, bottle for Aspen and homework time.
Make dinner with Aspen screaming up my leg, then clean it up.
Prep playroom baseboards to paint tomorrow...maybe tonight?
Shower for Pete's sake!
Drop kids off at Leslie's.
Meet Cody at the school for Parent-teacher conference.
Bath time, house pick up, scriptures, stories, prayers, songs, kids asleep.
Pull up carpet corners in basement to clean under and prep for incoming carpet.
Tape around office (paint should be dry) to paint baseboards.

Sleep???

Why on earth am I blogging.

First Year Gift

After discovering that our little miss had miraculously learned how to manipulate her feet out of her prior Dennis Brown shoes, we were forced to move up to the Mercedes of all club foot contraptions.

On her first Birthday she was presented with the most expensive gift that we have ever bought any of our children. Here you can see how delighted she is with her gift.

And again here you can see what happy spirits she seems to be in recently.
(I was serious Jill, here is the proof)

Hey Arian, I guess she is getting close to the walking phase, we just had no idea until Cody pulled this toy out the other day.

Notice, Avery continues to fulfill her self appointed role of never wandering more than .345 inches away from Aspen. Here you will witness the modified version. Before the tape was rolling Avery played a game we can call "quickly push Aspen over as she is walking and then run away to see if Mom can figure out why Aspen is screaming her head off after falling on the ground." How I love my creative little Avery!

On an additional Birthday note, my sweetie turned



yesterday! I'm not sure if the graham cracker cake replacement dessert or the ribbon taped randomly about the kitchen OR the birthday celebration dance was what you had in mind...but my dear WE DO LOVE YOU TONS!

I especially love it when you act like the mini things we do for you are a big deal.
Seriously, could our lives get any better? I think not.

As Nie Nie says Spiritual Enlightenment HERE

Boston

We packed a LOT into our quick trip including:

* A candle light dinner at an authentic Italian restaurant in the "North End"
or "Little Italy" section of the city. After dinner we had to make a stop off at Mike's Pastries (thanks Nollie) to try their Ricotta Canolli. We could not pass up the colorful selection of Gelato at one of the many Gelateria's so we simply had to get some coconut gelato as well.

* We walked around "China town" and although we ate and ate and ate on our trip, we went ahead and passed on the hanging dead ducks, heads intact, which littered restaurant window's in China Town.

* A beautiful walk across the river lead us to the USS Constitution Museum where we pretended to be really interested in history.

* We watched "Fiddler on the Roof" on Broadway at the Boston Opera House...only the most exquisite theater I have ever been in.

* I discovered and devoured the best crab cake since my life in N.Y. at Legalls Seafood in the Copley Plaza downtown (thanks Megann).

* Lots of riding on the T, Boston's underground metro system.

* We toured The Harvard University Campus and ate lunch a Wagamama's.
Yes Kristi, it was delicious!

* We sipped HOT white and milk Chocolate from Burdick's while peeking in the quaint surrounding shops, like this flower shop below that was so darling that I wanted to live close by just to be a local customer.



* We walked around the Boston Common where happy fat squirrels scurried alongside our feet and up the trees.

* Ate lunch at the historical Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall where
45963458767 other people were eating as well.


And now I will tell you why on earth we went to Boston...

because my Better Half was extended an interview for his Pediatric Fellowship at
Boston Children's, a Harvard hospital.

Fellowship is an optional sub-specialization year after residency wherein we will have the opportunity to make Cody's post-graduate work add up to an even 10 years!
He will begin his fellowship in July of 2011.

Word on the street is that Boston Children's is #1 in the nation if not the world.
This is reflected in the number of fellowships applications they receive each year.

(home of Paul Revere)
While Cody attended an early morning lecture, 5 interviews by heads of the department, lunch with the fellows and observations all day Friday I walked the
Freedom Trail Tour!

With a costumed and theatrical guide leading the way I was able to see 16 historical, like really historically significant, landmarks. If you were into history this would have been thrilling for you. I am no history buff, but it was still quite thrilling for me.

No strollers to maneuver, binki's being thrown, diapers to change, runny noses to wipe, tired moans attend to, hungry mouths to feed, sibling wars to mediate, nap times to arrange, bottles to warm, etc. Even though it was as freezing as could me I was so very happy, happy for the free moments, happy to be walking through the beautiful city, happy to have time to think my own thoughts, talk to the locals, eat lunch all by myself without have to make it or clean it up and get on and off of the metro with ease.

Here are a few of the freedom tour stops.

(Park Street Church & The State House)
A BIG huge thanks to Leslie for being so willing to take on our 3 monkeys in addition
to her 2 which made this trip possible. Five little girls for three days is no easy task!