C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S

C - Children
H - Happiness
R - Relaxation - not!
I - Irritation
S - Surprises
T - Tender Smiles
M - Merriness
A - Atoning
S - Sacrifice

So this Christmas was so fun with the CHILDREN's ages. Logan and Rileigh were so excited about the Elves putting their jammies under their pillows on Christmas Eve. They found Nellie's too and looked to see if Mom and Dad got some...maybe next year.
Can you tell with the HAPPINESS in the above photo who just woke up? Notice the coal in Logan and Rileigh's hands. They were told that is all their was and Santa did not leave toys this year.

I must say this was a RELAXING year. I just sat back and enjoyed it more and tried to just see it all through my kids' eyes.

Of course their is always IRRITATION involved when it comes to this stressful time of year. For the most part it was minimal. We enjoyed seeing Rich's sister Tami and husband Chris and two kid's Noah and Katelyn. Matt, Rich's brother had his daughter, Kat, here as well. We took the opportunity and did a Grand kid photo for the Grandparents. It turned out pretty good with no head swaps.
SURPRISES for this year were just simply having a very enjoyable Christmas. We stress so much that it may or may not all come together. We are so blessed and did have a very nice Christmas with family and loved ones.

We did not do so good on getting good photos Christmas morning, like I said I just enjoyed it more and was more laid back with things. I have those TENDER SMILES engraved in my head. Like when Nellies' ball toy blows the balls into the air and she screamed each and every time. Then my Dad would just belly laugh, that was so fun to watch. The smiles on Logan and Rileigh's faces when they tell everyone that they got "I Pods" Wink, Wink. At 6 years old we are loving the fact that they do not know the difference in an MP3 player and an I Pod. Cheap are we? No, Savvy Smart!!!

One night we did take the Whitemyer Grand kids down to Ogden to see all the little houses and the little kids loved it. The guys went to see Avatar 3-D at the IMAX in Salt Lake. It really brings out the Christmas Spirit and the MERRINESS of the Season to be with family and enjoy the sights!

His ATONING SACRIFICE is something that over the years I want to instill in my kids what the true meaning of Christmas is all about. It's not something that is going to happen quickly but slowly over the years. I hope one day they will have this testimony in their hearts.

Mtn. Green Community Cookbook...Sigh...

Okay for those of you that know me know that I enjoy cooking and trying new things for my family. You also know that this cookbook has been the death of me and may have scarred some new and not so new relationships in my life. I still sit and wonder how I got stuck with the repsonsibility that was given to me to produce, in my words, such a grown up task. I am not capable of such tasks mind you. There were countless days and nights that I would be sick and/or sleepless over this task at hand, producing the "Mtn. Green Community Cookbook." Their were other hands involved in the creation of this book, my Mother In Law which whom I am indebted to for the long hours of service, Jenifer Standbridge who just well, put up with me and Tammy Martin who I am sure wondered if it was actually going to come together. I do, however, think it was a HUGE blessing in disguise. To lay awake worried about a cookbook for fear I would dissapoint friends and neighbors when in my reality at that time I should have been sleepless over things going on in my real world and did not give two thoughts about. So looking back this task took away from my reality and got me through those tough times. I know that may not make sense but it was and is and will be a huge blessing in disguise.

So the "will be" blessing portion. I have decided rather than throwing this cookbook in the snow, because seriously that is what I want to do with the stacks that sit at my house as I type, waiting to be picked up and packaged as very nice Christmas gifts. I am going to blog about this great book filled with fun, tried and true recipes by local friends and family.

My blogging idea came from my new favorite flick, "Julie & Julia." The movie was really good and it just so happens that we have a copy of Julia Child's cookbook which is the 19th re-print, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." I believe in total this cookbook has been reproduced like 47 times! Rich picked it up at the DI for $2 when we moved back to Utah. The cookbook had at that point only been used by Rich so the second I got home after seeing the flick I found one of the recipes they used in the movie, " Boeuf Bourguignon." So I made it like two days later. Can I just say Oh My Gosh, it was so good, like melt in your mouth pieces of beef with such a yummy savory flavor. Perfect "high style" comfort food. Okay, so enough about Julia Child. I do enjoy putting on a winter layer and enjoying me some good home cookn' each year, especially over the holidays and that I am planning on doing and am well on my way of doing just that.

So... I have decided each time I go the the grocery store I will purchase the items needed for 4 - 5 recipes from "The Mtn. Green Community Cookbook" and blog about it. So this evening I am starting with some ingredients that I already had in my house so that brought me to Tracy Madorin's Pork Chops and Potatoes. In Logan's words, "that looks disgusting." In my mind I could just tell it was going to be good comfort food, and so it was. I love onions and it was full of 1 can of french fried onions. The recipe said to bake in a 9 X 13 dish. Mine is full of caramel that is so overcooked I am afraid I will break the glass dish removing it. Never mind the fact that I still break away and eat large morsels everyday until it must be gone. I have finishitis! Okay sorry, back onto the Pork Chops and Potatoes, the recipe says to begin by browning the pork chops then placing in a dish to bake. I browned and baked in the same Fry Pan. A Pampered Chef pan that is versatile from stove top to oven, love it. I also added Johny Spice while browning, it should be a staple seasoning in every woman's spice cabinet. Also the recipe did not specify what kind of hashbrowns other than O'Brian Hash Brown's so I could only find the O'Brian that were cubed and not shredded, worked just fine. Overall a very fine meal that all kids and husband enjoyed and I would make it again!

So I feel this new recipe blog thing is more for my journaling purposes and to prepare good healthy meals for my family so that we may eat as a family. It is on the "To Do List" for 2010 to eat 4 meals at the table with my family a week. That may be breakfast, lunch or dinner and will be a huge family accomplishment if we can do just that.

I am going to award the first reply with a can of French Fried Onions for any comment made on this particular post! Just for the simple fact that it is so long and am curious to see who reads the whole darn rootn' tootn' thing!

These are a few of my Thankful Things...

So for Thanksgiving my Mom likes to go around the room and have us all say what we are Thankful For. I put a damper on it and told her I did not want to play. So now out of guilt I must admit I am Thankful for so many things in my Life.

I am so...so...so Thankful for Family

I am Thankful for Good Health

I am Thankful for 3 vehicles that half ways work most of the time


I am Thankful for Rich and the way in which he provides for our family

Last but not least I am thankful for washing machines
As I was going through this last years pictures I realized it wasn't such a bad year after all. I am not the most optimistic person but I have tried my darndest to make the best of this last year that I am so very Thankful is behind us.

So in closing I am saying good bye to 2009 and Bring on 2010! It has got to be better than this last year.