Christmas in retrospect

The last two Christmas around our house has proven themselves to be quite and serene. So Adam and I have to travel to the more hectic and exciting houses to find all of the action.

First off: The King House (aka…the 5 am Christmas adventure)

Nathan and Tacy got all of us PJs for Christmas, so of course we all wore them over to open presants. Way cute

This is what we saw when we came in. My mom goes all out.  She is so amazing.

My dad was in charge of all the boys stockings...or buckets...stockets?  They are utlity buckets with all sorts of fun "boy" stuff inside. The boys loved them

Mom played Santa this year and handed out all the presents.  As you can Aussie thought they all should be hers.

I must admit she is pretty darn talented when it comes to unwraping. (see last years christmas post for more pictures of her mad skillz)

Axel sure enjoyed all the "sing-a-ma-jigs" he got.

Here he is running to give uncle Adam a big thank you hug.

Though I think Uncle Adam may have thought they were more fun than Axel did.

My cute husband showing Axel how the pull dragon worked.

It was such a beautiful, even though really early morning.

Then we headed off to the Flittons for Breakfast.

And what a yummy breakfast it was.  We all chipped in and made breakfast burittos. MMmmmmMMMm

Then we gathered in the livingroom

 The later hour of our gathering offered far better lighting (and far more alert subjects to photograph)

First thing Kamrie did was get out her shopping cart that Santa brought her and filled it with all of her adn grandmas's toys.

 The first thing Burke did was find grampas new construction set. and of course we had to open it and play with it right away

 Grandma and Grandpa Flitton came for a visit as well. It was nice to chat with them and have them watch the kids play

 And play they did

 Adam even got in all the action

 Brett and Burke had a good time playing...What is that called again?

 Mom and son reading some pretty tough tounge twisters....Sooooo Cute

 Mary liked her Christmas presants...if you can't tell.

 Burke lined up Grandma's Christmas presant for her

 Grandpa (The madly talented man he is) made some beautiful babydoll beds...Which again had to be promptly played with

Then off to Gubby's!

 Gubby and grandma opening up their present

 I think she likes it

This is what they were opening.  It took me about a month but I finished it.  Grandma was proud that I actually am using the skills she taught me, Gubby just liked that it was something Marine.

Happy New Year

When I was a kid my brothers and I would spend New Year’s Eve at my Gubby’s.

 Along with the World War II air horn and the reserve horde of firecrackers from the 4th of July our celebrations included making and writing down resolutions.

My Grandma had a folder for each one of the grandchildren that held a record of resolutions from past years. It was usually more fun to look back at old resolutions than actually writing the new ones.

One that I remember was to “learn to beat up my brothers”...I mostly attained that one.

 Other goals were school based, but most were pretty object related. For example, “get an American Girl Doll”.

My goals now days rarely contain beating people up. However, I do try and include things that I feel will better myself (as much as I wish an American Girl Doll would better the human condition I'm not sure that would cut it).

Some of my goals this year include:

De-junk and de-clutter

Start drawing again

Study more consistantly

Highten awarness of others

Recycle

Train Aussie to not jump on people

Two of the biggest are REDUCE STRESS and SIMPLIFY

I even took some advice from the dove chocolate I was eating

What can I say I take it where I can get it

I hope that 2011 is filled with fun, family, and all things good.

Merry Christmas...

And birthday...and anniersary...for the next few years

Our beautiful new convection oven

And french door Fridge

Delivery was no fun (Just ask Adam) but the appliances sure make me smile.

Christmas at home

Some of the Christmas decorations at the house

Please forgive the tree...I was having technical difficulties.

Some of the yummy treats from our amazing family and friends

The angel on the tea light was Adams contribution to the decorations

Adam Favorite decoration

Holiday greetings!

The buffet..m&m's and all

 Cozy and warm

My beautiful Christmas Tree skirt that my mother made for me

Simple but cozy

The Great Snowstorm of 2010!

We had some pretty good snow this holiday season.

It sure made our house festive

Needless to say I get pretty excited about snow.

I think Adam likes it too...except for the shoveling part.

He does look pretty happy in this picture though.

As enthusiastic as I am about snow Aussie gets all sorts of ecstatic. I think even more than me, which is saying something.

The first thing she has to do is find all of her buried toys

Success!

Reaping her reward

What can I say...She's defiantly a cute snow dog

However, I may be bias.

Catching up

Seeing as the New Year is upon us (literally) I figure I would catch up on the blog.

Earlier this month the Flitton clan went to Hogel Zoo for Zoo lights.

And boy was it cold

The boys, of course, had to make a plan

Along the way was a reindeer crossing

(They were alot smaller than I expected)

There were also some pretty fun light displays

(This one was my favorite)

And of course we had to messure ourselves against the gorillas

(Brett, Bonnie, Burke, and Kamerie)

(Adam and me)

Overall it was a good time. It’s always fun when we get together.

I was disappointed that there were not many animals out.

Apparently there are not many that are night or cold weather friendly. We did see some cool tigers; sadly, those pictures did not work out to well.

The Battle for Nimh

Upon returning home one evening this summer we noticed that Aussie was concerned with something just over the fence. “Curious”, but we thought nothing of it and went inside. To our wonderment Aussie continued to be fixated at the same point in the fence. It was the first place she would check in the morning, last place at night, and where she would spend most of her time during the day patrolling. Located on the other side of the fence is our neighbor’s pear tree. Our neighbor is an elderly gentleman with a few health issues which restrict him from much of the maintenance of his yard. Unfortunately this means that his yard is more than slightly overgrown with a variety of fallen fruits strewn about under his trees. Well these living conditions were apparently ideal for something that our dog did not particularly agree with. This menace continued to torment our dog in secret and silence.
Aussie’s agitation continued to grow. Her frustrations were demonstrated by almost excessive barking after dusk, not to mention the renewed desire to dig holes in the lawn. Returning home one night after work I found Aussie sitting fixated at the fence like what had come to be some what of a normal find over the last few weeks. She did not even come to great me at the gate like her normal self. So I decided to go and great her. As I approached Aussie remained seated but turned back with a look of “do something please”, and then returned to her guard. Slowly I moved forward to try to gain a view of what our dog was watching for so intently. I had tried this on several other occasions, using the small light on my phone to see, but my reconnaissance had always come back with nothing. This time was different; as I watched and waited I heard a noise. An eerie and odd scraping sound was coming from the inner part of the pear tree. We now had proof that there was something in the neighbors. This new information came as somewhat of a relief, that our dog was not crazy. But it also created new tension and concern. Had our borders been breached by this enemy from the other side of the fence or had Aussie kept it at bay?
Now having knowledge of this unknown foreign threat, we were determined to find out who it was and its threat level. Over the past few weeks I had made efforts to see what was on the other side of the fence, but always to no avail. In knew that this enemy was cunning and evasive and in order to find out more information I would have to take action. First we checked our house for any signs of foreign activity…nothing. With no tracks or any visible signs I could not assess size or number. I determined my first action was to place a trap. My parents had a live animal trap that had already seen action in battle. It was a highly decorated veteran, having had much success against a stray cat infestation. With an unknown foe, who would not want a veteran on their side in such a battle? So I enlisted the assistance of the live animal trap.
With great anticipation Aussie and I set out the trap a few nights after confirming our threat. Our enemy was still unknown and so we did not know what would lure them into our trap. We reasoned that fruit may be the best, as our enemy did live under a fruit tree. To our dismay that was not what our foe was looking for. Apparently there was enough of that readily available. After a few other failed attempts we decided to bring out the big guns…peanut butter. With hope waning we set the trap with what we thought to be our best weapon.
After repeated failure it is common to not expect results. This was how I felt the next morning as I went to work. Aussie ran to her normal spot at the fence but I just cast a casual glance toward the trap. After a long day of work I came home late to find Aussie by the fence. As I walked up to the gate she ran over with more than her normal happiness to see me. With a look of “we got something” in her eye she turned and ran back toward the battle front. I followed with anticipation, both glad that we had caught something and worried to find out what foe we were up against. Was this a single foe, or would this be only one a larger force? In the darkness I approached the trap. To my dismay I could see nothing. The trap had been triggered and there should have been something inside. Even with the use of a flash light I could not make out an enemy in our trap. Sad, and feeling defeated we retired for the night. The next morning Aussie woke with more excitement than normal, she is actually not a morning dog. She takes her time getting up and it is usually only the sound of lunch being prepared that brings her to her feet. But not this day. So I let her outside and decided to check the trap in the daylight. Success! We had caught something it was small and well camouflaged for its nighttime activity. Its dark grey coloring hid it from my view the night before. Clearly I could see him now. A Rat! We were fighting rats.

Advent

Adam and I acquired an Advent calendar this year…Nothing fancy by any means. It’s one of those $3 ones filled with not so great chocolate in almost cool shapes.

Lovely, no? And whether or not the chocolate is good or not it has been fun.

It reminds me of those paper chain countdown garlands I made as a kid. Remember? Cheap red and green colored construction paper looped and entwined in each other to create a wondrous chain. Where with each passing day you would excitedly remove a link in anticipation of the last golden colored loop that meant Christmas was finally here!

Now that I am older I realize that there are so many ways to celebrate with advent.

Like this idea from Delia Creates

They hang 25 little stockings in their kitchen and fill them with 3 slips of paper.

The first slip of paper is a Christmas activity. Some of the examples she gave were: making ornaments, stringing popcorn, making gingerbread houses, and cutting out paper snowflakes.

The second slip is for a service project for the day. For example, shoveling the neighbor’s driveway or caroling to friends and family.

The third slip has a Christmas Hymn or Carol on it. You can also read the scripture that correlates. I love this one because if your ward is anything like mine, where they don’t seem to sing Christmas Hymns (HOW SAD IS THAT? For crying out loud, is there any better way to celebrate the birth of Christ than to sing about it?) Then at least this way you won’t miss out on those spectacular (and admittedly my favorite) songs.

Another Advent idea is to unveil a piece of the nativity and read about that particular happening in the scriptures. Do this until the Christmas Eve and the birth (or reviling) of baby Jesus.

NOW FOR MY FAVORITE IDEA! Christmas books! I confess that this idea would be a lot more fun with children (isn’t most). It will defiantly be a part of our Christmas tradition.

For this advent custom you wrap all of your Christmas books . You can use old paper grocery sacks and lasts year's leftover wrapping paper. Place a number on each wrapped book. You can stick it on, draw it on with a marker, or even get all fancy with a tags and ribbon.

Each night you get to unwrap (which, as we all know, makes everything more exciting!) a book and read it as a family.

I have a pretty good start on my book collection. This only gives me more motivation to build on it!

Traditions are fun and advents fill the whole month with family and memories.

Happy Advent-ing!

Book List

Have you read more than 6 of these books?

The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books listed here.

Instructions:

Bold those books you've read in their entirety;

italicize the ones you started but didn't finish or just read an excerpt.

You can even past this into your own blog.

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 The Divine Comedy
8 Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Berniere
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Posession -- AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Final Count: 50...Take that BBC!!!
Does this make me a geek?

The real question is why books like Dante's Inferno, Miguel de Cervantes Don Quixote, Ralph Ellison's the Invisible Man, Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Ibsen's A Doll's House, Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray, or even Author Miller's The Crucible didn't make the list? For heaven's sake, Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, and The Lovely Bones made it?