Christmas Nativity with Barnettes

Well, after five months in Washington, we flew to Arizona over Christmas to spend the holiday with family and friends in sunny AZ.  It was a hectic week trying to finish Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, trying to kick recently acquired colds and Dan was busy trying to finish his last big week before Microsoft becomes a ghost town.  Luckily, he was able to work out of the Tempe Town Lake Microsoft office for a few days while we were in town.  It enabled him to stay with us the entire two weeks. The sky wasn't our "typical AZ blue sky" for the first few days we were there but then we had plenty of sun to soak in before heading back to the clouds.  It was so wonderful to see old friends and familiar faces again.  It felt familiar, but surprisingly, not quite like home anymore.  Probably because we weren't staying in our old home, and living out of suitcases...  Regardless, it was nice to be back in AZ.  We'd been looking forward to it for weeks.

We landed in AZ around 1 am in the morning and were warmly greeted by my younger brother, Taylor.  Owen was the cutest, he yelled "Taylor!" and threw his little arms around Taylor's neck.  And if you've met Owen you know he can be a tough one to win over, so that was saying something!

Every year the grandkids act out the Christmas story from the New Testament before our gift exchange.  We draw names to see what character each one gets to play.  Of course, all the girls want to be Mary.  Drew requested to be baby Jesus this year... Oh Drew.  The kids did a great job, and it's such a fun tradition.  Owen, doesn't like a lot of people in his grill, so he wanted nothing to do with any of the costumes or any of this production - he just wanted to watch.  It was a Tony Award-worthy performance yet again and the kids were reminded of the special signifigance of this special day.

Dance Club at IVE

Allie has been participating in Dance Club at Issaquah Elementary School.  Her teacher, Ms. Rupert, was one of the dance teachers.  She loved particpating in this 8 week club, and playing the extra hour after school with her friends from class.  It was 1st grade thru 5th.  They learned a dance to "Let it Snow".  They performed for parents and siblings the during last week.  Allie was behind an older girl, we were bummed we didn't have a great view of her during the performance.  She had a blast doing the dance - and gave it her all!  She was a little peanut out there with all the older, bigger kids.  She did a great job - I'm so glad she loves to try new things and it's fun to see her interact with her friends.  She's made friends with kids in all grades as usual.  Some of them like to pick her up like a doll. 

Scenic Drive to Leavenworth, WA

The first weekend of December, we took a day trip to a small town called Leavenworth (about 2 1/2 hours away).  The drive was absolutely breathtaking.  It's been cold, but we haven't seen any snow yet.  So, to see the snow capped mountains, and snow on the ground was fun for the kids.  They kept asking when they could play in it. 
Leavenworth is this cute little Bavarian town in the mountains that decorates the whole town with Christmas lights and has a lighting ceremony every weekend in December.  They have an ENORMOUS Christmas tree - I don't know how they put lights all the way up to the top.  But it was fun when they turned all the lights on.  The buildings were very distinct and looked like we were in a cute little village in Germany.  It was a cold, clear night, so we had layers, and layers, and layers on. 
Poor Owen, was so bundled up - he could barely bend to sit in the stroller.  He tried to escape a few times - by trying to lean over the lap bar, or slide under neath it.  He was unsuccessful both times thanks to the warden... Dad.  We found a little bakery and ate some cinnamon rolls and some fudge.  We perused through a few quaint shops - but that was all Owen could stand.  Allie and Drew just wanted to play in the snow and of course didn't care for the shops much - just wanted to go sledding.

We'll definitely be coming back here.  It was such a beautiful drive - we can't wait to come back in the spring or summer!

Escape attempt #1 - over the top

Escape attempt #2 - out the bottom.

Enormous Christmas tree

Lighting the town

Owen got tired of the shops - and was frustrated he couldn't work the ipod with his gloves on!

Pajama Time!

Santa sent my gift a few weeks early this year!  We took a couple test shots on our new camera.  I'm SO excited to have it - now I just need to learn how to use it!!!  I'd love to take some classes - someday. 

Drew LOVES his footie pajamas and Owen HATES his.  I had to cut the feet off of Owen's.  He'd tell me "No shoes, no shoes" every time I'd try to put them on.  He needs his toes to climb out of his crib, and to put the yarn ties from his blanket, in between his toes as he falls asleep.  Drew loves the soft fabric on the inside and loves to "snuggle" in them.  But some nights he gets too warm, and ends up down to his underwear.  I questioned him on it one morning, why he keeps taking his pj's off.  He said "I like to feel the cozy blanket on my skin!"  My boys bring me such joy - and bruises...  They both like to use their heads as weapons.  I love to play wrestle and build awesome train tracks with these two. 

Thanksgiving 2011

Our first Thanksgiving away from AZ was actually a pretty good one, despite missing our family and cousins.  Dan started the day by playing football with the ward, young men vs. old men :)  The young men won...  he was sore, muddy and frozen mess when he returned home.

We finished cooking the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, fruit tray, and veggies and dip and pies before heading to the Hawkins.  We had a FABULOUS feast (our friends prepared an amazing spread of food), and we ate our selves silly.

I've never cooked a turkey from start to finish before and candidly... I am not a fan of the preparation process :-)  My parents have always cooked the turkey, or one year - they prepped and brine a turkey then sent it over for me to put in the oven.  It was so easy!  I used Alton Brown's recipe for the perfect turkey.  It has a few steps - starting with brining it the day before.  Unfortunately, I had to call a friend for turkey help, cause I couldn't find all the innards to pull out.  I pulled the neck out, but didn't know you had to open the OTHER end to find the innards bag.  EWWW.  I was SOOO grossed out as I had my arm up to my elbow, fishing around inside this giant bird, trying the find the parts.  (I needed to look in the other end :)

Trussing the bird was another challenge - it felt like I was handling a small child!  Dan had to step in and give me a hand.  The turkey came out beautiful in the end, and was delicious!  Dan had the task of potato-peeler.  Poor guy, gets this daunting task every year...  Good thing he doesn't seem to mind.  He sets up a trashcan by the couch and watches football while peeling.  Last year, for the Barnette Thanksgiving - I think he peeled 20 lbs of potatoes! 

It was a good experience to have to venture out of my assigned dishes and have to cook other things this year.  My family is pretty large, so we all bring a few dishes and we have a giant feast.  I wasn't too happy with my pies this year - I need to perfect them a bit more for next year.  I enjoy the dinner part of Thanksgiving - but I live for the pies!!!  It's the one time a year that we really eat them.  Growing up, we always had a smorgaspord of pies to choose from.  I would follow my Dad's example, and take a sliver from each pie - so you could sample them all.  I did miss the pies this year.  It wasn't worth making a whole pie, just to eat one piece.  

It was a great day, and we had some family time to reflect on ALL the things we are thankful for.  We feel so blessed in our lives and are extremely grateful for all the love we feel from our amazing support system.  We have wonderful extended families and some dear friends that enrich our lives. 

We opened our Thankful Jar and read each slip, we spent all last year writing things we were Thankful for on slips of paper and filling up our jar.    It was fun to read them - a year later.  Some of the things we are thankful for are:  family, friends, healthy, working bodies, our testimonies and knowledge of the gospel, the amazing women (moms, sisters, grandmothers, neighbors, friends, etc.  in my life - their examples, love, and service that they give to us, modern conveniences, warm house, toys, job, clean water, A/C, and so forth. 

Thank you to everyone who has enriched our lives and lightened our load, and touched our hearts.  We love you all dearly.

Dear Mr. Claus,

Another tradition we do every year is make cookies for Santa and write him a note.  Allie and Drew worked hard to carefully decorate these special cookies for Saint Nick.  The excitement is almost unbearable for these guys.  They can't wait to see what the morning brings.  We sent Santa our wish lists, and told him where to find us in AZ.  Now, it's off to bed as sugar plums dance in our heads....