Before December Slips Away

This month has been busy and I have neglected to blog any of it.  So here is my attempt to wrap up December in one fell swoop. 

We put the Christmas tree downstairs this year.  It worked out great, but I was hesitant to put the countdown presents under the tree because I worried that Jane would get into the presents.  So I did the countdown differently this year and had some small boxes to open each night that were stored upstairs.  We had some fun doing our nightly activities.  My least favorite activity was ice skating because I fell and sprained my ankle- boo.  16 days later, I am still sore, but healing.  The bruising is nearly all gone too!

 

We visited Wendy's (my sister-in-law) parents the first week of December. Her mom has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and she was recovering from a surgery to remove a mass off of the base of her brain.  We had a wonderful visit. Jane was as charming as ever.  I helped them put their Christmas tree up to help them out.  I went over to Wendy's house and helped her put her tree up as well.  We had a wonderful heart to heart talk.

 We went to Baskin and Robins for some ice cream when it was 10 degrees outside.

 Seth started Jr. Jazz basketball.  He signed up with 3 boys from our neighborhood and they have had a great time.  The weather was bad on the night of their first practice, so Daniel held drills in the garage. I had cleaned the garaged out the week before when it was 60 degrees outside and I'm so glad that I didn't put it off!

 Daniel started Tae Kwon Do at the new studio.  He had his first belt test and advanced to a green belt.  It was an intensive test because he had to test from the white belt requirements to the green belt. He did great and it was quite impressive to watch! 

Daniel's brother Jared bought tickets for everyone to go see Hobbit together, so I watched David's kids while they went to the movie (I really didn't want to go).  Jane had fun playing with the baby!

 We went to the church for a Christmas party.  Jane met Santa and was so excited to discover that he talks!

My little angel

My brother Dan came over for dinner one night and we did our Taylor family Christmas Carol. 

Jane wasn't happy that she couldn't see her character,

 So, she flipped her card around and everyone was happy, well, except for Scrooge!

 Madeleine and Ed came over for our annual party.  We had a delicious dinner and then played some games.  Our countdown gift that night was googley eyes.

 

 We got a little bit silly with them, but had fun!

 Our attempt at a family picture was comical.  I realized that Mark was giving me rabbit ears.  As soon as I had him stop doing that, Jane stuck her tongue out and wouldn't stop.  Oh bother!

 My sister Denise wanted a family Christmas party, but no one had planned it, so last minute I hosted one- out of all of the Utah family, only one person was unable to come, so that worked out pretty good.  We ate dinner, played some games and used Skype to visit with my parents in Illinois and brother in Idaho. 

 I got to meet Dan's girlfriend Taylor.  We joke that when we say Daniel Taylor are we talking to one person, or two?!

 

 We opened some presents early so that Mark and Paul would have their MP3 players for their plane trip to California. 

Mark got a Beardo and loved it!  Unfortunately, he left it on the plane on the way home, but he got good mileage out of it in CA! 

 

They spent a week with Daniel's parents and had a great time.  I was rather jealous- especially of their 75 degree weather!  I am so anxious to go out there this spring!  I'm glad that we took the opportunity to have them spend time with Janet and Les.  Memories were made and a friendship with Mark and Paul seemed to blossom.  Definitely worth it! 

It was really quiet at our house with just the four of us, but we still managed to have a good time.  On Christmas Eve, we had a treasure hunt and played some games.  We even had some elves visit us!

 If you didn't know that I am married to Superman, then I am telling you now.  I am married to the man who put "Supe" in Superman!  When I saw this Snuggie, I couldn't resist!

 Our little family of four

 Jane got a tea set for Christmas, so we had a little tea party.  Daniel and I look so tired in this picture!

 Jane loved her bike, her tiara, her necklace, bracelet, ring and pajamas.  I've been letting her ride the bike around in the house- even pushing the table to the wall to give her room.  She will be a pro come springtime!

 We went to Uncle Ben's house to visit for an afternoon.  There was a lot going on around that couch!

Seth, Jane and I went to see the movie Frozen.  It was  a wonderful movie.  I'm not a huge Disney movie fan, but I really liked this one.  Jane loved it too, but she sat with her hands over her ears for the first 15 minutes because it was too loud for her.  I totally understand!   

 Seth is my superhero!

 

 We did a countdown for New Years, opening a balloon every hour from noon until 8pm.  We had a silly string fight,

 played with play dough, had cheese and crackers, played a card game, made caramel popcorn, lit sparklers, put together a puzzle, played with "indoor firecrackers" (bubble wrap) and played with glow sticks.  Daniel's sister Julia and her husband Jon and baby Bailey joined us for dinner and our countdown activities.  They are here from Florida. 

It was a busy and fun month.  I had everything ready to go for the most part when I sprained my ankle, so I was able to relax a bit and get some computer work done (labeling digital pictures!) I was struggling with depression right before the sprain, but I was immensely blessed to be out of that funk when I was down with the lame leg (Daniel asked me if it would be rude to tell me that I am lame, I said yes, but then realized the pun and laughed not only at the pun, but at my slowness to get the joke!) I was frustrated with the pain and the immobility, but in good spirits. 
I'm so glad to have a great family and fun traditions to share with them.  It is a wonderful life!

Christmas Time is Here!

We did our annual 24 days to Christmas countdown again this year.  We had to change things up a bit because we had Tae Kwon Do during the week.  We decided to stop taking at Master Hong's studio around the middle of the month, so we could have done a few more things, but I got pretty sick with a nasty stomach flu, so we just did simple things with the kids and it seemed to go well.  I really lacked enthusiasm for the countdown this year.  Hopefully things will be different next year- and by different I mean better, 'cause it will always be different.  This December has been kind of dull for me.  I didn't feel really 'Christmasy'.  I wasn't all "Bah humbug!" but I wasn't all "Merry Christmas" either.  It was kind of a weird year for me. 

We had a party with Ed and Madeleine Giles.  It was a great evening.  We had stir-fry with sticky rice and pot stickers.  Then we put on a play of sorts about The Christmas Carol. It was fashioned after the Jib Jab website style.  We each took turns saying the parts for the different characters.  We played a game of "If... Then..." where you write an if/then statement on separate papers and mix them up before reading them aloud.  We did some holiday Mad Libs and had dessert (caramel corn puffs, fudge and cinnamon almonds). 



Ed (Jacob Marley), Madeleine (Ghost of Christmas Future), Seth (Tiny Tim), Mark, (Bob Cratchit), Paul (Scrooge), Jane (Ghost of Christmas Past), Daniel (Ghost of Christmas Present). I was the narrator and photographer!



Ed and Madeleine



Paul filling out the Mad Libs

Mark got to spend Christmas in California with Daniel's parents, so we said goodbye to him on December 19th.  Janet and Les were in town for their daughter's wedding (Jenny married Nelson Torres) so they flew to CA with Mark.  He will fly home by himself, but I'm not too worried about him being alone now that he knows how the airports work. 


Paul, Talia, Seth, Mark



Les, Janet, Jane



Our family picture for 2012

Christmas Eve:
It had snowed, so we went outside to shovel the driveway and sidewalks after dinner. I love having a white Christmas!


All ready to go! Yes, Jane is wearing a skirt to play in the snow!



Seth and Jane making snow angels



Daniel hard at work



Paul



Look!  It's me!  I realized that the coat I am wearing is very old.  I bought it when I was in the 8th or 9th grade. I paid $20 for it at Kmart.. I wore this coat when I was in college and I still enjoy wearing it.  It is really warm!  It is weird to think that I have owned the coat longer than I haven't owned it (22 years)! 



After the work was done, we played.  Daniel buried Paul in the snow!

 

And then Seth wanted a turn to be covered!



And then Jane wanted a turn to be buried!  (I had no desire to go next!)

 

After we warmed up with some hot cocoa, we visited with Mark and the gang through Skype. 

Janet and Les had a full house for Christmas!  They had 9 guests!  I sure that it was crazy and fun!


Chris and Megan (Danie's brother and sister-in-law) came over on Christmas eve for some sweet potato pie and to play some games and visit.

 

We open one present on Christmas Eve.  Jane got a stroller for her doll.  She wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a good picture of her and the doll!  (That Cabbage Patch Kid is the one that I got for Christmas when I was 7!)

 

Seth was going crazy chasing Jane and the baby around with his sword!



Christmas morning



My parents came over to visit



Seth and Daniel- SuperMen indeed!

Daniel surprised us all with an X-Box and the Kinect system, so we spent a lot of time playing the games (after Dad spent a lot of time getting it all hooked up!)  I pretty much rocked it at the Dance Party game, but didn't do so well at most of the other games! 



Jane had a lot of fun playing with her little kitchen set.