Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve was a particularly special one for our family. This is the first year the Barlows have come to our house to share the evening with us, and it is also the first year we have been privileged to have a visit from Santa himself.

Mayfield has a wonderful tradition. Every Christmas eve Santa visits every house in the town. In order to do this, several volunteers int eh town spend Christmas eve out and about instead of a t home. Mike helped out this year and I so wish I had a picture! But the Santa that visited us was fabulous. He talked with the kids and told us about his reindeer, and then gave everyone a sack of goodies. It took Andrew a while, but in the end he decided that our Santa really was the real Santa.

While Mike was gone I read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" out loud, and Grandpa Barlow read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to everyone. Of course we had wassail, chips and dips, chocolate, and all kinds of goodies.

Once Mike got back we held our traditional Christmas eve pageant. It was a very nice one. Andrew was the wise man, with Grandpa as his camel. Grandma is always the angel of the Lord. Becky was Mary, Joshua was Joseph, and Caitlin was baby Jesus. Daniel did a fine job as the shepherd and I played the part of the inn keeper. Michael narrated and directed.

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas Eve.

Cache Valley Came With Us

We had a very impressive snow storm a few days before Christmas. Our neighbor says he hasn't seen this much snow from one storm since 1997. Our response was that we usually see three of these storms a year in Cache Valley! The power was knocked out for 14 hours which made us grateful to be living in an adobe house with walls a foot thick - the temperature only dropped 6 degrees the whole day. We had a great time playing in the snow, shoveling, and living without all the electronic things we take for granted every day. Our neighbors Mitchell and Lincoln came to help with the snowman, and then we all enjoyed some luke-warm hot cocoa which was all we could muster out of what warm water was left in the water heater!

Andrew's dance recital

Andrew's first dance recital was so much fun! I was so proud of him and the other four year olds. There was a really bad snow storm that night, so it took us almost half an our to get into Gunnison for the recital but I am so glad we went. This part of being a parent is so much fun!

Happy 8th birthday Joshua!

I can't believe it has been eight years since Joshua came into our family. Today was Joshua's eighth birthday, and what a birthday it was! We spent all week designing and planning and shopping for the cake, not to mention the two days of actually baking and putting it together. After church we spent time in his new wolf cub scout book and finished up his bobcat rank. Grandpa Jaussi came down and had dinner with us, and then the Barlows came over for cake, ice cream, and presents. What a fun day! Joshua was thrilled to get his own set of scriptures along with a cool camo case. He also got some really neat toys and a book light so he can read in the night when mom and dad have told him to go to bed.

Joshua wanted a kung fu cake so we decided the easiest design would be a yin yang symbol One half was a chocolate mint chip cake with mint frosting, and the other was a white cake with chocolate frosting. The dragon I sculpted out of marshmallow fondant.

Joshua, I am so glad to have you for a son. You are a sweet and genuine boy. Thank you for giving me sweet hugs and kisses, and always wanting to share your news and adventures with me. You are such a good brother and a great helper. I love your sweet smile and your quick laugh. Happy birthday!

Joshua's school Christmas program

The inevitable cut

Last week two people mentioned our little girl to Mike. No, they were not talking about Caitlin. Both were referencing Joshua. That pretty much convinced us that it was time to cut the hair. So, Saturday we found a shop open in Ephraim and had all that beautiful golden hair buzzed off. Joshua picked the style out of a book and went back to the chair all by himself. He thinks he looks really good, and loves his missionary cut. I hardly recognize my little man-- I keep doing a double take!

HAPPY EGGNOG DAY EVERYONE!!!

If you have forgotten, eggnog day is our self proclaimed holiday. Every first Monday in December is dedicated to the unhealthy enjoyment of this festive beverage!