An Apple Just Discovered

I was going through some pre-digital pictures for another project. It was so fun to have so many great memories run through my mind as I looked at the pictures from years-gone-by (1987-2002).

When I saw this picture of me from 1996...

It reminded me of these pictures just a few years before of Amanda & Sid (about 1993, it's so strange to think we could have crossed paths before we actually did)...

Years before we knew about the pictures or each other and yet there seems to be an ever so slight familial similarity. Who knew???

A Visit from #1 Son

As I previously mentioned, Sid came and spent a few days with us after Christmas. He had a good friend from his mission who was getting married in the Boise Temple on the Saturday after Christmas so he was able to combine attending the wedding and visiting us.

One of the first things Sid did when entering was sit down and start working on a 1500 piece puzzle Dan had started a few days earlier. Good thing Sid arrived or we might still have the it out waiting to be finished!

It was such a beast of a puzzle that we've decided now that we've done it, we can give it away.

We didn't delay in making it known that Santa had some thing at our house for him and that he had gifts from us to open too.

The look on his face that I happened to capture here cracks me up!

Probably the best reaction to any of his gifts. So glad these made the list for him.

His ornament from my parents; they bought it at the Christmas Village in Rothenburg, Germany during their cruise earlier in the year.

A new game from us.

Sid was kind enough to let us watch his new movie with him.

I decided that since we were celebrating Christmas we should do our traditional Christmas breakfast, but for dinner this time. I made another cinnamon pull-apart but had a few problems the 2nd go-round...

...my rolls runneth o'er! (And for some dumb reason I figured that more rolls meant a shorter cooking time, they were pretty gooey in the center so I put them back in the oven to cook a bit longer. Impatience with cooking doesn't pay-off in the end.)

Sid gave us gift cards to the movie theaters and to Applebee's so we could have a date night. We didn't save the movie gift card and went to see Les Miserables together on Saturday night. (It only took about  10 days for the songs to leave our heads.) After, we stopped by Barnes & Noble to see if Sid could spend some of his Christmas gift card.

Sunday was church. Dan had been asked to present sharing time in Primary and requested Sid join him and play some songs on his guitar with the kids. Dan ended up filling the whole time so Sid just enjoyed the fun that is Primary. After the meeting was over he confessed what he was really doing during Primary and his justification it wasn't really shopping on Sunday when ordering things on-line...He then proceeded to showed me the things he's purchased (during Primary mind you) with his gift card.

I was helping in Nursery and the new Sunbeams had gone into Primary for Dan's sharing time. It was fun to hear a 3-year-old's take on Dan's presentation. I asked if Bro. Horrocks had talked and one of the boys said, "Yea, and he threw a snowball and broke a window!" The teacher and I asked if Bro. Horrocks chose the right and told the truth. "Nooo, he didn't" was the response. Well, I knew the story so I questioned him. And the teacher (who was in with the children) corrected that he did tell the truth and had to buy a new window. I was told the story a couple times with both boys  having to interject their take on things (the girl who went in with them was fairly indifferent and more focused on snack time). One even asked me how much the window cost. I just laughed and said I didn't know; besides, would a 3-year old even know the true value if I gave him an amount? Hopefully they learned the lesson behind the story and their older siblings helped Mom and Dad get the correct ending.

That evening we went over and played some games at Dan's brother's house. We played the game we'd given Sid for Christmas (where we'd learned of the game) and had a good time trying to figure out the lowest point answers.

Monday we went to brunch at Egg Factory before Sid headed to Amanda's for her New Year's Eve party.

It was great to have Sid here! He brings such fun and a good feeling to our home. We enjoyed visiting and catching up, talking about Christmas, school, and work events, and just spending time together. Our next visit is much to far away!

With Lights all A-Glow

Since Thanksgiving I have been wanting to visit the Idaho Botanical Gardens for their "Winter Garden aGlow" display. We learned about it when Dan asked his boss about ideas of things to do while my parents were visiting over Thanksgiving. We didn't make it while they were here but I suggested we brave the cold and go see the display on the 26th.

It was their 16th annual display and they boast: a "dazzling display of nearly 270,000 sparkling lights artfully displayed." I know Christmas lights are Christmas lights but it's still fun to see how each place decorates with them. The Botanical Gardens did some things I found very creative (though I didn't think to take pictures, what was up with that?!) such as bunching the lights together to appear like grapes hanging from a vine, shaping them to look like ears of corn on a stalk, and combining them to look like other summer fruits and vegetables.

Even if I didn't get pictures of the more creative displays, I did manage to capture some fun pictures that evening:

 

This is what happens when you hand your camera to someone who doesn't know touching the screen on the back will take a picture.

 

The displays by the entrance were the most amazing. But the further you strolled from the entrance the fewer the lights (probably the fewer the outlets too). They have a trail that takes you above the garden where you can look down on the lights and see some of the Boise Valley in the distance but there weren't many lights along that pathway. Having been to Temple Square's light display, this wasn't as impressive throughout and it lacked the spirit that is present when strolling through Main Street Plaza and Temple Square (not to mention that it wasn't free and I think it was overpriced); however, we had a great evening out together and ooo'ed and aaahhh'ed at many of the lights and the creativity of those who put it all together.

 

The World Didn't End So Christmas Did Come

For Christmas this year Dan and I stayed in Boise. We really wanted to be with the kids this year, however, finances made it difficult for us and Amanda and Jake to be together. Sid came for a visit the Friday following Christmas to attend a wedding in the Boise Temple and stayed a few days extra with us. (A post to come; all things in their proper time and order.) He was kind enough to be our delivery person for all of our out-of-state gifts this year. No Post Office lines for us!

Our celebrating began on Christmas Eve as we joined a few others from our ward at our Bishop's home for dinner, visiting, children running everywhere, singing carols and a mostly reverent reenactment of the nativity.

Dan with the Three Wisemen...the threesome of Elders currently serving in our ward.

Dan was the narrator.

Everyone had costumes, even if they objected at first.

 

Since the Bishop, and other families, had younger children we left their home fairly early. We then headed over to Dan's brother's where we visited together, frosted some sugar cookies, delivered a Secret Santa gift, then looked at a synced light display (along with several others in the area-it took us about 30 minutes to get in front of the house and 10 minutes to see the lights syncing with their personalized radio station).

 

 

Even if their neighbors didn't like it, we found it quite spectacular!

 

Then we headed home to finish our final preparations for Christmas Day and get to sleep so Santa could visit us as well.

 

An advantage of not having young ones any more, we slept in until we woke up which ended up being about 7:45 am. We then got ready for the day and started our gifts about 9:00.

 

Santa found us and left us some practical and traditional items in our stockings. The gum is a different brand but keeping with tradition.



 

The gifts were dispersed....then opened to see what treasures they held:

 

Blankets for both of us from Lynette's family. We love that the their girls helped with our gifts.

 

After we opened our gifts we tried to take a picture of both of us together, this was our best attempt...

Time for the traditional breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon (instead of sausage this year), orange juice, and cinnamon pull-apart. It doesn't get much better than this: YUMMY!

We ended our day by watching my new movie, We Bought a Zoo. It was relaxing and enjoyable to be together and visit with so many of those we love!

Another Apple...

What is it with them and this attraction??!! I mean seriously...I'm beginning to get VERY worried about them!

 

 

This was NOT part of the agreement when I joined the family.

(Didn't I just blog about this??? Oh yeah, right here.)

Can You Say, "Close but no Cigar?"

My sister-in-law surprised me with a gift certificate for flowers from one of the national, on-line companies. Here's what the website said I ordered:

This is what arrived at my place:

Not quite the same...not even close...

I realize some of it is the local florist used and stated as such in the review I wrote (which, by the way, magically disappeared between the survey they sent and their website). Oh well, the were still pretty and nice to have even if not quite a precise replica of the image used to sell the arrangement.