Christmas Traditions

 We had a very fun Christmas this year and enjoyed all of our old traditions.  Each year the kids get new ornaments, and this year they were decorated sugar cookie initials.  My idea with this tradition is that when they get married and have a Christmas tree of their own they will get their box of ornaments to decorate their tree.  I still have ornaments I made when I was little, and it's so fun to see them on the tree.  Some years we have made our ornaments, but most years I am lazy and just buy them.

Every year we get new pajamas on Christmas Eve.  This tradition was started so the kids would look cute in their Christmas pictures the next morning.  This year Maren asked me if I would make her pajamas, so I decided to make matching pants for each of the girls (me, too!).  I had already bought the boys pjs before she asked.  Besides, they wouldn't appreciate the work!.  Here we are in our cute, matching pjs!

 

 

Another tradition is that we do fun stockings!  When the boys were small, I made matching stockings that were oversized so they would hold lots of good stuff. Fortunately, I bought and saved enough fabric to make two more when the girls came along. When I was little my stocking was always full of good stuff, and it was my favorite part.  Our stockings usually have an orange in the toe, some chocolate, some nuts, other fun candy, a package of socks, and then some little presents. My kids love it because they are allowed to look through their stocking loot as soon as they get up.  We started this tradition because we didn't want them to wake us up early.  They have to wait for presents until the parents are up, although there have been years when I couldn't wait and woke everybody up!  It's not always the kids who are so excited!

 

Another fun tradition we have is that each year we draw names and go DI Christmas shopping.  This is one of my kids favorite parts about Christmas!  They love to find something fun for each other at DI, and it's always fun to see what you get on Christmas morning.  This year I had Emma's name, and I found her a couple of things for her American Girl doll collection.  There was a jewelry box that looks just like a miniature dresser and an old cosmetics case to keep the doll clothes in.  Milly loved the case!  Later, Emma watched an episode of Bewitched that she got for Christmas, and she saw that Samantha has the exact cosmetics case in one show.  Same color and everything!  She was very excited because she loves Bewitched and has been begging for the seasons on DVD.

 The kids got another previously owned gift this year, but there were definitely no complaints.  They finally got a Wii!  Santa found a great package deal on Craig's list and made everyone very happy!

The presents are fun, but I love having our traditions most of all.  It's what they'll remember most.

Early Christmas gift

Great hair!  Great boots!

My girls and I absolutely love Mindy Gledhill's music, so when I saw she was coming to Pocatello to do a Christmas concert I knew we had to be there! Becky loves her music, too, so we planned a fun early gift for our girls.  Becky's girls got to skip school and spend the weekend with us, and we had a great time. 

Even though I had already bought the tickets, I entered all of my family members in a contest to win free tickets.  I absolutely knew we would win, and sure enough, the winner was............my dad!  When the Journal called to tell him he had won, he said, "I don't know what you're talking about!  I didn't enter any contest.  You'd better talk to Benita!"  Then he handed her the phone and she accepted two free tickets a little more graciously than he had been doing.  I wasn't sure my dad would love the concert, but he did!  He said with her voice, Mindy Gledhill could make any song sound beautiful.  High praise indeed!

We were all excited for the concert to start.  Doesn't Dad look excited?

 

We got to meet her after the show, and she was kind enough to take pictures with us and autograph our cds and sheet music.   She is so talented and so nice, too!

Mindy is so cute and made us all consider getting pixie haircuts!  Don't be surprised to see a lot less hair in the Symons and Phillips families!

Christmas Photo Shoot

It's always hard to come up with a theme for the Christmas card picture each year, but this year our kids were determined to have an ugly sweater picture.  After Thanksgiving dinner, we raided our closets, shopped for hours at DI, and came up with this beauty!

 Becky also pulled out the camera to capture some great pictures of Maren, Megan, and Katherine.

 

It's all about Chris

This post is all about Chris! Here are a few exciting things that have happened in his life.

October:

Chris and I went to Twin Falls to help Becky with a wedding photo shoot.  While Becky and I were at the wedding, Chris and John wandered around town and had fun.  Later, Becky took Chris' senior pictures in the canyon, and they turned out fabulous!  Here are a few of our favorites:

November:

 Chris got asked to the Co-ed!  Amanda asked him in a very clever way (note the plunger and the bag of Almond Joy candy), so we came up with a fun way to answer.

 They had a fun time, and I'm glad he has such a great group of friends.

 The other exciting thing that happened in Chris' life is that he got a part in the school play, The Inspector General.  It is a Russian play, and the original is a little naughty, but they toned it down for the high school production.  He played a clueless high school principal, and he did a terrific job.  He was pretty funny!  We had no idea that he had an acting streak in him,  

I think these are my glasses from about 20 years ago.  How did they get them?

The makeup they put on him makes him look pretty old, and the clothes make him look really nerdy.  It's a good thing he has some nicer pictures on this post. After this role, he tried out for the school musical, and he got a part!  It will be performed at the end of February and the first of March.  Watch for updates!

Halloween Fun

Devin's dragon wins our prize for coolest pumpkin!

  Isn't Halloween fun?!  Who doesn't like dressing up?  (Devin and Chris, that's who!)  My girls had a terrific time dressing up in their fun costumes and collecting candy at our neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat.  The weather was fantastic, we had a great turnout, and they got to hang around with friends.  Emma has been dying to be Wonder Woman since I bought the costume after Halloween last year. She tried it on several times during the year just to see how it looked.  She watches a few episodes from our DVD collection at least a couple of times a week and thinks Wonder Woman is the coolest superhero ever!  She pointed out to me that all of the other supers have counterparts....Superman/Supergirl, Batman/Batgirl, Spiderman/Spidergirl, Hulk/She-Hulk, etc....but Wonder Woman is one of a kind and gets to save the boys all the time.  Emma thinks that's pretty cool!

Girl power!  Just look at Red's muscles.  She's not afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf...or the Weird Teenage Zombie, either!

 Maren went to a stake dance in her Little Red Riding Hood costume and kids kept asking her who she was supposed to be.  Don't parents read fairy tales to their kids any more? It's a different world than I grew up in, I guess, because one boy that she danced with was dressed as a zombie and kept telling her that he was going to eat her brains!  Yuck!  Where is Wonder Woman when you need her?!
 

A Halloween burglar tried to steal all of our sugary loot, but thanks to Wonder Woman and her handy Golden Lasso, his evil plan was foiled!  Better luck next time, Slick-fingered Symons!

Halloween Book Club

When we started the Princeton Ward Book Club back in 2000, we had no idea that we would still be having fun together 11 years later.  We had no idea that only 1 person would still be in the Princeton Ward (that's me!).  And we had no idea that we could actually get our husbands to read.  Who knew?  Every year in October, we have a couples' night for our book club .  Each couple reads a book of their choice and talks about it at our Halloween party. 

Want to hear a joke?  There was a gangster, a monster, and a soldier hanging out at a bar...

We eat, talk about great books (or magazine articles for some husbands:), and have a great time. We usually only spend about 20 minutes total talking about the books, but it's a great excuse to get together and have fun, especially since we have all moved away and don't see each other very often.   McKenzie and her husband, Gary, are always great sports and host it for us.   

Drama Queen McKenzie and Gary the Hippie:  Proof that opposites attract!

This year was the first year without Joe and Michelle, who moved to Wyoming in July.  We missed them and will hold their spots for them when they move back!  Here's a look at the guest list:

Kassie and John were looking fierce!

 

Rita and Nick managed a night away from the Munchkins.

Dr. Myndee is checking to make sure Jason's heartbeat is OK

Hailey and Jason played it cool as Bella and Edward.  Look closely and you'll see bite marks!

Del and I had fun being the bad guys of the Roaring 20's.

Good Job, Tucker and Susan! We didn't know you were on the team that got him.

No More Wisdom

Century's band was invited to perform with ISU's band, and I heard it was wonderful.  Del took the kids to see Maren's performance, but sadly, I couldn't go.  I was home recovering from.......

....domestic violence?   No, although I sure looked like it with my big, ugly bruise and swollen jaw!  No, it was the dreaded Wisdom Tooth Extraction!  Ouch!  I know exactly what you are thinking (because it was the first thing everyone said to me).  "You still had your wisdom teeth?"  Yes, because I am a great, big baby!  I got my bottom ones out when I was 16, and it was awful!  My upper ones never descended until about 8 years ago, and for the last 8 years every time I go in for a cleaning, my dentist has been telling me to make an appointment to get them out. Being the chicken that I am, I just told him, "You can't make me!" What finally got me to make the appointment was sheer thriftiness.  Starting in January (thanks to Obamacare) my insurance premiums will go up and the benefit will go down, so I decided to bite the bullet to save a few dollars.  More likely a few hundred.

It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but it was several times worse than I wanted it to be!  I'm just glad it's over.   The only good part was that I ordered season 1 of "The Middle" to watch while I was recuperating.  I love that show!  I watched every episode straight through twice and laughed until my cheeks ached.  Unfortunately, all of the laughing made me pop a stitch in an incision my dentist had carefully sewed shut, so now it's healing incorrectly, and he assures me it will never look quite right.  Bummer!  There goes my career as a molar model.  Oh, well.  I'm feeling good now (just in time for Halloween candy!), and my bruise is almost gone, so Del is feeling better when I go out in public.  Life is better now that I don't have that hanging over my head.  I am now wisdomless.

Homecoming Hoopla

Chris and Christina

 

 Chris had so much fun at his Homecoming Dance!   He asked his friend, Christina, to go and joined with a group of friends.  During the day they rode to a park on tandem bikes and ate a delicious picnic lunch prepared by the girls.  Later, after getting ready for the dance, they had a yummy Italian dinner at Tyler's house.  We brought a few appetizers, and the chocolate covered raspberries Chris helped dip were a huge hit!  Surprisingly, he's a really good cook, and he enjoys making new things.

We provided the drinks, and I can verify that it was just sparkling white grape juice!

Mmmmm...  So good!

Chris practicing his John Travolta moves before the dance.

Looking Handsome:  Matt, Tyler, Chris, and Daniel

Looking Pretty:  Amanda Reddish, Jaycie Erickson, Letti, and Christina

Love that "thumbs-up" sign!

A really great group of kids!

One Busy Fairy!

The Tooth Fairy is sure going to have a busy time at our house this week!  Yesterday, Emma had three teeth pulled and next week I get my wisdom teeth out!  I'm afraid that having them pulled within a week of each other is going to make it obvious to my dentist that I am a coward.  The comparison with brave, little Emma is too much!  Really, my dentist has to know by now that I am full-blooded chicken; he's been taking care of my teeth since I was 4.  And he's been hounding me to have my top two wisdom teeth out for at least 6 years!  I'm finally doing it, but I'm sure not looking forward to it.  Emma spent a few hours watching Wonder Woman and Bewitched (household favorites!:), and then she decided to go to her Children's Musical Theater class that night because she didn't want to miss tryouts for the next play.  She's one tough cookie!  She wasn't brave enough to let me take a picture of her with a swollen, numb mouth, though.  There are limits to everybody's courage, and she knows hers.

The Infamous Pumpkin Bread Incident

Who would have thought that Maren would win a blue ribbon for her fantastic pumpkin bread only a week after her infamous baking mishap?  I would, that's who!  I had complete faith in my daughter because she has generations of baking genes (and some amazing recipes)!

During a particularly busy week, I wanted to make something yummy to take to a neighbor, but I didn't have time to make it myself.  I asked Maren to make a batch of mini loaves of Pumpkin Bread, and being the thoughtful daughter that she is, she said, "I would love to, Mother!"  Okay, it wasn't quite like that, but she gave it a good try.  When I got home from work, I was quite impressed.  They looked perfect!  There are few smells more irresistible than pumpkin bread, so I quickly cut a slice of warm bread and prepared to enjoy it.  Unfortunately, I immediately bit into something woody and then felt my tongue begin to go numb.  On closer inspection I found that the bread was dotted with a smattering of whole cloves!  I started to laugh and asked her what she had done to the bread!  She replied indignantly that she just followed the recipe. It called for cloves and that was what she had put in!  Apparently, she thought they would dissolve as they baked...or something like that.  Everyone who came to the house had to try some of it because it smelled so good, and she got teased quite a bit about her bread with its extra fiber!

The following week was the local fair, and the girls were trying to find as many items as they could to enter (because they get paid for every ribbon they earn!).  I convinced Maren that she should try her hand at baking again but follow the recipe a little closer.  After some encouragement, she decided to give it a try and entered pumpkin bread and whole wheat bread.  She took first place in both categories even though she was competing against bakers years older than she is!  I was very proud of her!

Not to be outdone, Emma entered Oreo Truffles, and she won first place for the candy category!  They were delicious and very pretty.  My girls are off to a fabulous start!  They each won several ribbons at the fair and are determined to enter even more next year.  They're going to be tough to beat!

Winder Move, Part II

We wanted to send the Winders off with some great last memories in Pocatello, so we invited some of their friends over for their send-off.

Each friend designed a page of a calendar, so Michelle has 365 days of memories of great friends.

Priscilla, her husband, Del, and Farhana enjoyed some of the great food we snacked on.

We have teased Joe for years about the fact that he won't sit on a couch with a women other than his wife, feeling it is inappropriate.  Although we think it is admirable, it is also funny to tease him, so I pulled out the camera and whispered instructions to Kassie to stage this picture.  We thought Joe would jump off the couch the second she plopped down next to him, but he was a good sport and lasted about a minute.  

As usual in our parties, the men and women tend to separate and gravitate together.  We don't intend to be segregated; it just always happens that way.  Maybe it's the fact that the men discuss politics and construction (Boring!) and the women tell funny stories and crack each other up!  Guess who has more fun?

It looks like a tender, emotional moment, but really they were laughing so hard they were crying!

Joe must have been exhausted from all of the moving because he dozed off for a while.  We tried to arrange a picture with everyone around him, but he woke up just as they were posed.