The Princess & the Frog

We decided to go see The Princess & the Frog at the commons. We went over early to Kristina's and had hamburgers. Fortunately, Kristina did not burn anything this time. On a side note, she gets it from our mother. My mom made some brownies yesterday and they were awful. They had too much oil in them and I had to toss it all in the garbage. They were really gooey and uncooked even though they had baked for 30 min.
Scott was so excited and Uncle Scott became his new favorite when he brought out his Star Wars toys. Scott is obsessed with Star Wars. I mean watch, draw, play Star Wars every day.
Melissa, Uncle Scott's sister, came with her daughter Breanne. Breanne & Amy became fast friends and are looking forward to planning a play date together. We all enjoyed the movie. Scott of course had to have cotton candy and popcorn and was set. On the drive up Uncle David was pretending to eat Scott. Scott told him that if he ate him he would get full but if he ate his dad then David would get fat. After the movie Scott said it was just like Star Wars and started yacking about Yoda. Personally I didn't see the connection.

Christmas

We had an eventful Christmas this year. The weekend before Christmas Marshall got a job offer in Utah and they decided to move back so hired some helpers and loaded up their home on that day (Saturday) and Sunday began the drive from Texas to Utah. They arrived on Tuesday and were able to miss the winter storm. Christmas Eve we went Christmas shopping and I spent most of the day shopping with Marshall. They had also been looking at homes for rent and found one in American Fork. Marshall went Christmas Eve to finalize everything.
We of course had our German Christmas Eve dinner and played bingo. David kept winning every round but only was allowed to claim one prize. I helped Scott play five cards. Don't recommend it. Scott stayed the night at our house as he is allergic to Whiskers.
At 6:00 a.m. my cell phone starts ringing. Samantha and Amy were anxious for us to come over and open gifts. Ty & Scott were still asleep so I got out the video camera and got them waking up. We headed over to Grandma's and opened gifts. Sorry, no picutres and I recorded everything. Michael was really surprised to get a new laptop for school. He is starting back on the 25th and we are excited and proud of him. We know he is going to do a great job as he continues to focus on becoming a geneologist. We all received wonderful gifts and felt very blessed.
After opening gifts we made a Christmas brunch. By afternoon we all headed out to Kirsten's new home with the two Uhaul's and began unloading everything. Some of their neighbors saw the Uhaul's and came over and helped. By the end of the day we had everything unloaded. Yes - Christmas Day!
By Saturday they had the house organized and moved in. Definately a Christmas to remember. I think I like last years better when we went to Disneyland.

Swimming

Tyler is done with swimming and starting a new quarter. He did really well considering he had not been swimming since jr. high. He had his last meet on Thursday (Jan. 7th) and sent me a text to remind me. They were swimming against Provo so I left work early as the high school is just down the street. If you have never been to a swim meet before let me just tell you it is boring. I got there just after they finished event 11 (which he was swimming in but didn't see him)and they then took a 20 minute break. Come on, it's high school. Then I had to listen to the people behind me talking about how great their kids are. Yea, Utah is not know for its great swimmers and I think HAST is the only club producing anyone. Tyler was swimming next in event 19. So two hours later, after watching the 10 minute 500's, the multiple heats of the 100 free, the relays, and every other event (only 22 events) event 19 came up and I watched lane 1 heat 2. After the kid got out of the water I thought it didn't look like Ty in the face but you sit up on a balcony. I left and right after and sent Ty a text telling him I would see him at home. He text me back that he was already home. I called him because I could not figure out how he got there faster than I. Yes, he was swimming at Mtn. View. I sat for two hours and watched Timpview and Lehi. I was mad. Tyler had texted me correctly but as everyone knows I suffer from selective reading. I never read the entire text and make assumptions.

Music & the Spoken Word

We went up to the church assembly hall for the last Christmas program of Music & the Spoken Word. We really enjoyed it and can't believe we have not gone more often. It was beautifully decorated and of course the Tabernacle Choir sang heavenly. They closed with Handel's Hallelujah chorus, which is my favorite.

O Christmas Tree

I did put up the Christmas tree this year but was really tempted not to. It is such a lot of work and it is a small tree. But what would Christmas be without a tree?

Lunch at Ruby River

Before Christmas we were out shopping and decided to stop for lunch at Ruby River Steakhouse, one of our favorites. Tyler chose not to shop with us (typical boy) but joined us for some delicious steak and ribs.

St. Niklaus Day

We have always continued with the German celebration of St. Niklaus on December 6th. Each year the grandkids place a shoe by the door for St. Niklaus to fill. We actually forgot to put out our shoes this year so St. Niklaus came a day late. I put some oranges in Ty's shoe and he asked why he had gotten those. My mom always got oranges on St. Niklaus so we are making it part of our tradition.