Pictures from Nauvoo, 2004

All the little monkeys--we stayed in 'grandma's attic', where the kids ran wild. For a totally spontaneous trip, this was a complete blast!














Dancing in the upper floor of the cultural hall. What you don't see is Talia telling us all that we're doing it wrong.

Once upon a Christmas

Last night the kids and I were looking through a picture album. They all wanted to hear the story of our 'big snow' in Ohio and our subsequent trip to Columbia, MO to carol on Christmas Eve to the SF Slades. We had planned on spending Christmas with Sheldon's family, but 3 days before our trip Ohio got the storm of a century--30 inches of snow in one storm. It took us an entire day just to shovel our sidewalks and the driveway, working in shifts. We didn't even bother with the front walk, since we couldn't open the front door with all that snow blocking the doorway. Travel day arrived and our street still hadn't been plowed, and with a minivan there was no way we could travel through that much snow, so we canceled Christmas with the Slades and resigned ourselves to a much quieter holiday at home, snowed in. I even broke out the powdered milk from food storage because we'd planned to leave the fridge empty.

Ben, however, was determined to not accept defeat, and when we woke up Christmas Eve to see tire tracks down the middle of the street he was sure that he could dig out a path to the tracks and we could follow them out to the main road. Long story short, he and three of our neighbors did--and pushed the van out until we started sliding downhill. It was a harrowing trip along an icy I-70 until we hit Indianapolis, where the road became dry and clear. We didn't warn the SFS's that we had made it out and surprised them by caroling on their doorstep that night. It turned out to be one of our best Christmases ever, and our kids still talk about that trip--and the trip to Nauvoo to finish celebrating!

So, Sara, in the spirit of the season, I've found a song for y'all to play for your family. Pretend we're caroling to you again, even though we're too far away to see you for the holidays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuncdzVat5g

Love me some suspenders

Evidence that Joy has NOT been a good enough girl this year

1. Round #2 of the flu.
2. Explosive diarrhea
3. Even my super-duper capacity washer can't keep up with all this laundry
4. Car dripping transmission fluid
5. New clutch needed in the Saturn
6. The dadgummed Wii won't play nice with our router.
7. PBS kids. How many uber-cheery cartoon characters can there be?
8. The chicken tikka masala was a fluke. *sigh*
9. our truffles have dissapeared. Mysteriously, even.

Evidence that Joy has been a very good girl this year

1. Costco has Chicken Tikka Masala in their deli
2. I filled up the biggity big van--for less than $50!!!
3. Santa told my kids that they need to do more chores--and so far, so good!
4. Zak is totally thrilled to do 'secret service' for Christmas
5. We are all (knock on wood) healthy to go to the church Christmas party
6. It has been a warmer than usual December here in Utah

Thanks, Santa!

Music to soothe

I am lucky in that I grew up in a home where music was treasured, played all the time, and we kids were encouraged to sing and learn an instrument. I know that music has the potential to speak to us in a way that language simply does not. When I'm in a funk I turn to my iTunes "mellow" playlist and wallow for a while until the music pushes me out of my bad mood. It's not something rational or measurable, it's just how music influences me.

Today Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" came on and walloped me with the emotional intensity of a Mack truck barreling through. I don't even know why it hit me so hard, but this is a piece of music which effects me deeply on a level I don't have conscious access to. I love the yearning it seems to express--and the way it resolves in acceptance.

Today, I'm grateful that my parents taught me to appreciate music. What a gift.

I am so getting this for Andy's Christmas present

The rules of this award are:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

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Just because you love me, Hols.

Five totally fabulous addictions:

1. Lindt Cherry Chili dark chocolate (I'm sure this has nothing to do with my holiday weight gain. . . )

2. Facebook--what could be better than cyber stalking old friends?

3. Costco.

4. Holidays at home

5. Breaking chains (sorry)