The Lights At Temple Square

Since we will probably be living in Utah for a really, really long time, we decided this year was the time to start a yearly tradition of going to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square. We didn't make it until after Christmas because there's been so much snow, but I'm sure it was a lot less crowded the Tuesday night after Christmas than it would have been before Christmas. It was pretty cold, but beautiful!

Blogging is cool, blogging is fun...

Blogging is cool, blogging is fun, but it makes me leave the rest of my life undone! I hate to admit it, but this blogging stuff is kind of addictive, and fun too! Check this out, 22 (now 23) posts in one day! Now you might be saying, "Get a life, Lu." But that's what's so great about it--I have a life, and now you get to hear about it too! I'm almost caught up for the last couple months. Okay, I haven't got Halloween pictures on there yet. They're coming. I've been blogging all afternoon and evening since we got home from church today, and I think my eyes are about to bug out of my head. It's a decent Sunday activity, isn't it? I mean, it's kind of like writing in a journal all day long. All I can say is that it's a good thing that stray cat was hanging around after all to entertain my kids! (I guess Greg gets a little credit for entertaining too.) The point is, maybe I'll be a good blogger after all. And maybe I can even still be a good mom at the same time! And who knows what's around the next bend for me...Facebook?? Only time will tell.

Mareena's Back

We were sitting around this evening and started hearing meowing again. AAAHHHHHH!! The cat is back! (See earlier post titled "What the...We have a CAT?!?") At least it was outside the front door this time, and not in my craft room. Animal Control is going on my speed dial tonight!! (By the way, the cat does have eyes. It just kept closing them when I was taking pictures!)

Top Reasons I Hate Braces

There's lots of you I haven't seen for a while, and I guess I forgot to mention in my Christmas letter that I got braces back in June. The orthodontist that works in Greg's office put them on, and they're not so fun. I have a whole new appreciation for teenagers with braces. No wonder they're so cranky! They hurt!! But alas, beauty is painful. I thought I'd be outta these things by next summer, but Dr. Mike thinks it'll be until maybe next Christmas.

So here's the top reasons I hate braces (see corresponding pictures):

They make me look like I have too many teeth and they kinda make my eyes do funny things.

They make my chin, forehead and ears protrude too much.

They make my face look too round.

They make my eyes look too close together.

They make my nose look too big.

And, of course, they just plain hurt.

Somebody please tell me it's all worth it!!

What the...We have a CAT?!?

The day after Christmas I went down to put something away in my craft room. The furnace and water heater and all that stuff is in my craft room closet. I walked in the room and thought I heard a "meow." I thought I must be hearing things, so sat there and listened for a minute. I heard a bit of rustling around and some kind of squeaky noises. Then sure enough, there was another "meow," loud and clear. I came running upstairs and told Greg that I heard some meowing in my craft room. He came down, there was more meowing, and finally we opened up the closet. And there was this cat, sitting up in a duct opening coming from the ceiling. What the, where did THAT come from?? It took a lot of coaxing and a can of tuna to finally get it down. And then of course it was meowing outside the front door the rest of the afternoon until we finally left to go down to Provo. When we got home from Provo that night, the cat was in the duct in my craft room closet again, meowing away. Greg was going to let it sleep in the garage, but I was a little nervous about what we would find in the morning with a stray cat trapped in our garage all night. We called around to some of the neighbors (it was already 10pm!) and finally found out that the people that lived here before us had some cats that still had stray kittens running around, and this was most likely one of them. With me being allergic to cats, we certainly didn't want to encourage this cat to stick around, especially since it already thought it lived here, so we called animal control, who of course at 10pm on Friday night of a holiday week was closed. Greg was going to drive it to some other unsuspecting neighborhood and drop it off, but the cat mysteriously disappeared, and was gone the rest of the night. The next day it was back, meowing at the front door, and once again crawling into the duct. It even woke Greg up in the middle of the night last night. It was around so much that Zack finally named it. He thinks it's a girl, and named it "Mareena". He even taped a sign next to the front door that says "Mareena the kitty (girl cat)". All I can say is that the first time I see that cat tomorrow, I'm going to trap it in the garage and call animal control. No wonder my sister-in-law had so many allergy problems when she was staying here for Thanksgiving! And I wonder what else could be lurking in my craft room closet.

Lamest Blog On The Block

I was afraid this would happen!! I finally got around to setting up a blog, then a couple months later finally got around to telling people about it, and haven't even touched it since I first set it up. In fact, all the posts I'm updating now, I'm pre-dating back to the actual dates the stuff took place, just to make it look like I didn't do this whole blog in one day (like I'm really doing). So pretty much everything I'm posting that has happened after the first two posts on my blog through today are all being posted today, even though the dates say otherwise. Lame, huh? It's almost to the point of embarrassing. I don't really know what I was thinking, passing my blog address out to everyone with it being in the lame state it was in. Hey everybody, look at my new blog! I know it's already kind of out of date and it's boring as heck, but aren't I cool just 'cuz I have a blog?? Maybe I just thought that having a background from "Cutest Blog On The Block" would make up for my lack of updating. I guess not, 'cuz now I'm realizing how lame my blog really is and it's time to do some catching up! So look out, blogging world. Mine will not be the lamest blog on the block for long!!! (And if you're really gonna catch up with us, you'll have to go all the way back to almost the beginning of my blog. Sorry!)

Buttermilk Syrup

I don't think I would've ever tried this just looking at the recipe, but it came with rave reviews and "must try" recommendations. So I gave it a try, and, well, I'm hooked! It's rich, but it sure is good!

Buttermilk Syrup

Bring to a boil:

  2 cubes real butter

  3 cups white sugar

  1 1/2 cups buttermilk

  1/4 cup Karo syrup

Take off the heat and add:

  1 tsp baking soda

  1/2 - 1 tsp. vanilla

  1/2 - 1 tsp. coconut extract

YUMMMMMMMM............

Hot Chocolate Peppermint Floats

This is my favorite Christmas drink, but beware: everyone who tries it seems to get hooked.

Hot Chocolate Peppermint Floats

Put a scoop of peppermint ice cream (must be Edy's or Dreyer's) into some very hot hot chocolate. Top with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. YUMMMMM.....

Christmas Brinner

We finally got around to our traditional Christmas waffle breakfast with all the fixings around 5 pm on Christmas. I guess that would make it Christmas brinner (breakfast/dinner). I guess we were just too busy lounging around, watching the snow fall and eating junk food to get to it any sooner. It sure was good though after our sledding and 4-wheeling adventures, especially topped off with hot chocolate peppermint floats! Good stuff!

Snow Much Fun On Christmas

We had "snow" much fun playing in the snow on Christmas! The kids got new sleds, snow boots and gloves from Santa, so of course they were anxious to try them out. We went to a nearby park with lots of hills and had a fun time sledding! Santa also brought a new 4-wheeler as a big surprise (even to me & Greg!), so we had a blast playing with it! Since it was too big to bring in the house, Santa left a note that we had to go out to the garage to find it. When Ethan saw it, he just said, "Oh, it's a lawnmower." (We had a riding lawnmower at our last house that looked kind of similar.) We said, "No, it's not a lawnmower." So then Ethan said, "Oh, it's a snow-lawnmower." (Whatever that is!?!) Once we fired it up and started taking the kids for rides on it though, they were pretty excited and wanted to go for more and more rides! THANK YOU TO A VERY GENEROUS SANTA!!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

CHRISTMAS DAY 2008   ...Okay, maybe I wasn't dreaming of it being QUITE this white, but it was sure fun! I can't remember the last time we had so much snow at Christmas. It started snowing Christmas Eve and kept on snowing pretty hard all the way through Christmas afternoon. The wind was blowing lots too, so we had some pretty big drifts. We were pretty much snowed in for Christmas, but finally got to go out and play in the afternoon when it stopped snowing. We even had a snow plow get stuck in the road in front of our house, and another one had to come and push it out!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas!

New Christmas pajamas! (Obviously some people desperately needed them!)

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth!

(Make sure to watch the video at the bottom of this post!)   Zack's top two front teeth had been pretty wiggly for a few weeks. We kept telling him that he needed to get them out before Christmas so he could sing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth," but his teeth just kept hanging on. Finally, two days before Christmas, Greg was helping Zack brush his teeth and just "helped" those two front teeth right on out! (That's what happens when your dad is a dentist.) So of course we made Zack sing the song after that. Well, the Tooth Fairy visited that night and left a note for Zack saying she overheard him saying that all he wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth. She said she'd put in a good word with Santa. So the next night, when Santa visited, what did he leave Zack? His two front teeth, of course, along with a note that said the Tooth Fairy told him all Zack wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth.  Santa also said though that he checked his list twice and saw that Zack actually wanted a few other things too, so left not only his two front teeth, but some other cool stuff too!

Hooked On Gingerbread Kits

Each year we save some of the yucky Halloween candy that nobody wants to eat to put on the graham cracker gingerbread houses we attempt to make at Christmas time. (Of course our gingerbread houses never have chocolate on them, since all the chocolate is usually gone by the day after Halloween!) Our graham cracker gingerbread houses often have a bit of frustration attached, since they never quite seem to stay together right. Somehow this year we didn't have so much leftover Halloween candy, and, lucky for us, someone gave us a gingerbread house kit for an early Christmas present. (Thanks, MB!) And now there's no going back to graham crackers. We thought our gingerbread house turned out pretty darn good this year, and it was the easiest one we've ever made! From here on out, we will be loyal gingerbread kit users.

The Fam

We wish you a very merry Christ-mas and a happy new year from our family to yours! Love,

Zack, Ethan, Mason, Luana & Greg

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here is our slightly unconventional Christmas letter. We wish you all the merriest of Christmases, the happiest of holidays, and all the best for the new year!

Santa Claus not only came to town, but also came to our house and brought Mrs. Claus too! Zack & Ethan of course were decked out in their Davy Jones and Human Torch costumes. Mason was scared to death of Santa and Mrs. Claus and wouldn't get anywhere near them. We were having the Aloha Dental Christmas party at our house at the time, so there's a picture of the Aloha crew too. (Actually, Mrs. Claus happens to have a part-time job at Aloha Dental!) All the kids there were sure surprised! Cousins Nathan and Tanya and Aunty Marlene were visiting, so they got in on the action too.