A Super Full Christmas Season!

2013 quickly came to a close. The year was full of adventures and December was no exception. We were able to take a tour of the Historic Hotel Hershey. We learned more of the history & generosity of Milton & Catherine Hershey and enjoyed the beauties that have been added to the hotel since the 1930s.

Dan decided to try some of all the pastries.

It was fun to be home one evening and discover a rebroadcast from a former Christmas performance:

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir rebroadcast on PBS in PA, who knew?!

Some of the student homes were built in the 60s and have basements with bomb shelters in them. One particular home has turned their bomb shelter into a miniature of the school and town of Hershey with train sets running throughout. They've even included rides and characters from Hershey Park!

A student home & the school's creamery shop

Founder's Hall-there's even a wedding taking place outside the gazebo!

We joined my sister, Ann, and her family for Christmas. We had a great time with all of them joining in their family traditions and celebrating Christmas!

Towers are made to be knocked down!



Gingerbread House Decorators Extraordinaire; sounds like a future HGTV show they should host.



The traditional retelling of the Nativity Story:

Christmas morning came and it was enthusiastically welcomed by the young ones! The gifts couldn't be opened fast enough; it was so fun to watch everyone's excitement.

Part of their tradition is to open a gift all the way and play with it before moving onto the next gift. Sometimes that happened and sometimes it was more exciting to move onto the next package and see what it contained.

Dan and I took some of our gifts with us and added to the craziness with our wrappings.

Lucy was so excited about some things she put together for Dan and me. One of the things included in her gift were "tickets" to see the new Disney movie Frozen. In reality it was an advertisement and part of the receipt from when she saw it with her family. So cute of her to think she'd really given us tickets to the show. When we did see it the next week we were sure to let her know. 

On our way home from Ann & Tyler's home, we decided to stop in Charlottesville, VA and tour Thomas Jefferson's former home, Monticello. His innovation and ideas were amazing! We decided that in our dream home we will build an alcove bed between two rooms but can't agree on which rooms the bed should be between-the bedroom and closet or bedroom and kitchen.

Alcove bed picture in 1st collage and all pictures in 2nd collage from this site.

We commandeered the 2nd week of Christmas Break. Since we had only two students all week and four more by Friday night, we decided to make the most of the smaller numbers.

One evening we took a drive through Hershey Park's Sweet Lights:

We received permission to take the two girls to Washington, DC. Though it was cold, we had a great time walking the National Mall and seeing the monuments, walking past the White House, and seeing the exhibits in the Smithsonian's Museum of American History.

For New Year's Eve we had big plans to head to downtown Hershey for their concerts and the Kiss Drop. Well, the temperatures were hovering around 0 so we let the girls decide the night's agenda and they opted to stay home and snuggle down to celebrate the New Year in the warmth of the student home. We had the fire going, moved the furniture into prime tv watching shape, let them select movies, and then got cozy awaiting the stroke of midnight.

The movie ended (the girls picked the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice and LOVED it!), we turned the tv to watch the ball drop in Times Square. For the first time in our lives, we were able to watch it live on tv rather than on a broadcast delay.

Even though his help was minimal, Dan made sure to participate in the puzzle putting together Horrocks Tradition. It was a challenging puzzle Amanda & Jake sent us. His first challenge was trying to figure out how to section the pieces for the most effective completion; i.e. all the greens, then blues, then reds, etc.

Just after the New Year, two more girls arrived. We decided to attend the Pennsylvania Farm Show together. (Out west we would call this a Fair but minus any rides.) We took the four girls to the rodeo first thing. They were thrilled with the different events; pole bending, bull riding, and calf roping. We even saw a couple get engaged between events. (The city girls were a little freaked out when he knelt down in the dirt to propose.) Then we spent several hours walking through the different exhibits seeing ducks, chickens, geese, cows, horses, goats, rabbits, pigs, peacocks, and a butter sculpture. A new experience for the inner city girls and they had a good time.

We saw the following at the Farm Show and didn't even consider giving them our business; we are just that loyal to our Idaho Farmers & Spuds!

It was a full Christmas Break with lots planned and unplanned, exactly the best kind of break and we wouldn't have changed a thing about it!

Fall Colors, Our Car Brutally Attacked, A Funfilled Return Home

The fall colors in our area were B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. It was so wonderful to drive around and see the leaves change; they even seemed to last late into the season which added to the enjoyment. I took several snapshots around town to try and capture the beauty of the season.

The colors weren't just in our area either. We took a trip to the Washington DC Temple and captured colorful pictures there as well:

Earlier in the summer I noticed bird doo doo on the doors and scratches on our outside rear-view mirrors and windows. We couldn't figure it out for the longest time. One day I was upstairs and happened to look out and see a male cardinal flitting about on edge of our window attacking the competition he saw in the rear-view mirror! It was such a funny site. As time went on we caught the cardinal on the car but as I pulled out my camera, it would fly away. Finally my patience paid off and I was able to catch the bird in action by still shot and video:

We'd even try putting our car in slightly different places and it still came and attacked. We even saw it on our neighbor's vehicles a time or two. Now we have to try and figure out a way to keep the bird from breaking it's beak and our window or mirror next year. But at least we have proof for the insurance company, if the need arises.

As Thanksgiving drew closer we looked forward to having the whole break off. Since it was time for another Horrocks Thanksgiving, we purchased tickets and flew home for a visit. We spent a couple days with my sister, Lynette, and her family. One of the days the girls kept themselves busy with our camera and our iPad taking pictures of each other. As a result I have lots, I mean LOTS, of pictures similar to these:

Then there are the goofy ones we took and they took, playing around with Photo Booth on the iPad; LOTS of those as well:

While there we met a new niece, had a violin & dance performances, and saw a cutie run pose for her modeling shoot,

 

After our time with them, which included a quick trip up from the southern part of the state by my parents and lunch with my Grandma B, we headed up to Amanda & Jake's for a couple days. Sid came down for our time there and we spent our time purchasing gifts, opening a few, visiting, "befriending" Amanda & Jake's dog Chipper, helping Amanda decorate for Christmas, and a little traditional Mario Kart competition:

The gift we opened from Amanda & Jake-tickets to a Weber State/Utah State basketball game.

Chipper loved Dan, as you can see, the feeling wasn't mutual.

Ideas and help Sid and I gave Amanda for this wall.

 

Our time with Amanda & Jake quickly came to a close. Dan, Sid, & I headed up to Pocatello for Thanksgiving with Dan's siblings and their families. Dan joined Sid for part of the trip and they picked up "tarts" along the way. Then we met about half way and I joined Sid in his car and Dan finished driving our rental to Pocatello. As I was in the car alone, I had stopped for a Dr. Pepper and decided to open it as I drove; that wasn't a very good idea. I managed to spill it, all over, the rental car:

After having the same challenge driving to Girl's Camp a couple years ago you would think I learned my lesson, but no, I had to do it again and do it worse!

 

All of Dan's siblings & siblings-in-law were in attendance for Thanksgiving, as were the nieces and nephews not on missions, in Hawaii, or with in-laws. It was great to be together. There were some fun memories made playing a game of football Thanksgiving day, capturing an Idaho sunrise, playing games, visiting, watching movies, planning black Friday shopping, puzzle putting together, and eating, eating, and eating some more. So good to be together again!

 

 

 

 

So, Dan & Sid's "tarts..." The morning we left for Pocatello we all had breakfast together. As we were visiting about our food assignment, desserts, Jake suggested that we should take pies from McDonald's. The more Dan & Sid thought about it, the more they liked the idea. So as they drove up from Ogden, they stopped at 2-3 McDonald's along the way to purchase 22 of their pies (so long as they were ok with the price). In the mean time, I was at Costco purchasing REAL desserts.

 

Along with the presentation was the desire to keep talking up these fabulous "tarts" they were going to make. With a few minutes to themselves, they quickly opened all the boxes and got the set out on a cookie sheet to reheat them. Good thing the Horrocks are known for humor, everyone got a good laugh at their contribution to the Thanksgiving dessert choices. What a couple of wingnuts!

 

 

Quick as the trip was it was great to see so many loved ones. We loved our time together and look forward to the next gathering!

 

Hair-Still a Topic of Conversation

Last month my sister posted about it being Dr. Seuss week and some of the fun things my niece's class was doing to celebrate. For "Wacky Wednesday" my niece did her hair like this (with help from her super, fabulous, and creative mom):

That evening I was in the store (Wal*Mart to be exact) and saw a woman with her hair like this:

You can't see it super well but she has green and purple stripes in her hair.

Don't know if she did her hair especially for "Wacky Wednesday" or not but I hope so....

The Prodigal Blogger's Departure-Part II

I just looked and I'm not nearly as far behind as I thought I was. Yay me! Before 2012 comes to a close I'll do my best to get through Thanksgiving and then post on Christmas festivities after they have come to an end. Here goes nothing...

The end of September we did a quick trip to Utah to visit with Dan's Uncle John and Aunt Norma before they left on their mission to Kentucky. We spent part of Saturday with them visiting at their home and reacquainting ourselves with our cousins on that branch of the family.

Before heading up to Poctello for more family time we stopped in South Ogden to see Amanda and Jake's new house. They closed the day before so it was now officially theirs (well, theirs after 200 +/- monthly payments to the bank). It's a cute home that needs some updating (the previous owner was the architect and he passed away in his 90's without making many updates) so they will be busy making the house their own. It's been a big project but they have enjoyed the renovation process thus far and moved in shortly after Thanksgiving.

 

While in Pocatello I borrowed a dress from my sister-in-law and then used it to put together our costumes for an upcoming Roaring 20's themed birthday party. The weekend before Halloween we stayed with four Andy & Angela's children while they were out of town to watch their oldest complete at the State Cross Country Tournament. Our ward held a Trunk-or-Treat party so we donned our costumes once again and to our nieces and nephews with us to the party. I think the highlight for them was when we walked into McDonald's for dinner all dressed in our various costumes.

Dan even did a little trick-or-treating too...

...and was given our Bishop's son, but on the condition that he eventually be returned to his parents. Bummer!

Also on our stop-over in Pocatello, we were finally able to see Neal's trophy hippo mounted on his bedroom wall:

A couple years ago he decided that hippos were cool, so cool that before he graduated from elementary school others were sporting hippo things as well. His mounted hippo was one of the birthday gifts he received earlier in the year on his 12th birthday.

October was also filled with opportunities to be involved with the Boise Temple Open House as tour guides. That carried over into November with both of us being chaperones for the young men and young women involved with the Youth Cultural Celebration. Both were such amazing events! We feel so blessed to have been asked to participate.

The Cultural Celebration was spectacular and the highlight of the Temple Dedication weekend for me. To be in the arena with over 9,200 youth was both a privilege and a blessing. They were so excited to perform the dances and songs they'd spent weeks practicing in front of our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. After, I found this quote regarding the Cultural Celebration performances: “On Sunday, Elder Bednarsaid there was enough energy during the program ‘to power every home in the United States for six months.’” (Original source) I would agree 100%!

Shortly after being asked to chaperone I received a letter describing our responsibilities. One of the things it said was to help keep the youth excited. Keep them excited?! I was more worried about keeping their excitement contained! The girls in our ward have been so excited from the moment we told them they'd be able to participate in a Cultural Celebration and the excitement returns whenever we talk about the event. It was one the the highlights of the year for them and for me. I don't know if of us will be able to participate in something similar in the future or that we'll ever forget the experience. Truly a tender mercy that I was able to be involved.

Whoa, I just might get things caught up here...Blogger, don't fail me now!!!

Monday immediately following the Youth Cultural Celebration and Sunday's Temple Rededication (see...huge events for me), my parents arrived in Boise to spend Thanksgiving with us. We had a good time visiting and being together. It was their first time in Boise so we did what we could to show them our "home town." We visited, strolled through the mall, attended the Festival of Trees, visited, watched our niece clog, visited, ate yummy food, and just enjoyed time together. Before they left we met for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We made sure to snap a photo by in the rockers out front:

 

(The sign in the back is my maiden name and one of 5 or 6 signs they have with my maiden name on it!)

Well, except for the onesey, twosey things that might come to mind, I am saying that I am now caught up enough that I can say good-bye to the Prodigal Blogger (hopefully forever but we'll have to just see about that). Now it’s onto my final preparations for Christmas then the posts about what we finally end up doing. (I can't wait to find out what we do because we can't seem to make up our minds.)