Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

No travel log. Nothing spectacular to report. We had a quiet 2 weeks at home with little responsibilities. What we did do was....

- Caroled to people in our neighborhood. We shared with them Mexican Hot Chocolate in a mix.

- We were invited to the Romney home on Christmas Eve for Clam Chowder and Green Chili Beef Soup. Christmas Pie tradition. The children shared a talent and the Nativity.

My talent was making dessert.

These are their family traditions. We shared with them the

We made Celie Hanscom's chocolate raspberry trifle.

 We had a lot of fun.

- Christmas day we enjoyed being together.

We continued in the Hallelujah Chorus tradition.

- Underfoot woke up in the morning with a bruised eye.

He has been very consistent in checking it daily. He didn't want to return to school with it.

- We spent New Years Eve with some friends in our congregation.

Digging the penny out of the flour.

He wrapped his lips around it. Do you see the penny?

We played the flour game and artillery Uno and ate lots of junk food. Hurricane found the fireworks the family had misplaced. We came home and took pictures before bed.

We had a sack-out party in the front room (aka: slumber party.) The blow up mattress that Mama and the boys were on deflated through the night, but none of them went to their own beds. They must have been very tired (and can sleep anywhere.)

- We played games as a family and with friends, including many rounds of Sorry. I had a lot of fun learning a new game, Castles of Burgundy.

- We pruned our trees and vines. We prepared for cold weather by putting lights under our citrus trees and sheets on top of them to keep them warm.

He even started a few on his own. It was a great time.

It looks like we got a little leaf damage but nothing serious. Those up north in the great white land of Idaho are accustomed to cold temperatures, but we aren't used to 24 degree weather!

We even got snow that stuck for a day.

- We have eaten a lot of tangerines and drank a lot of fresh squeezed orange juice from our trees. We've consumed just about all of our naval oranges, but the tangerine tree still has perhaps a hundred pieces of fruit left.

- We went bowling on New Year's day.

We also went to see a movie about Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

- The Morgan family came on their way back from Hawai'i. We made a German Chocolate Cake for supper. Yum!

We enjoyed a great dinner and time together!

Mama and Miss S. were roommates at Ricks College. It's been 20 years. Wow!

-  Mama repaired jeans and made lots of Monster Pants for Hurricane.

Note the monsters on his shoulders. How many monsters do you see?

- We took the International Harvester Scout for a couple spins.

- We cleaned out our garage and cleaned the whole house, so it is nice and clean!

- We made oatmeal cookies with cinnamon chips instead of chocolate chips.

They were surprisingly tasty.

- Mama and I have entered into a competition. I have to lose 15 pounds and stay there for a month. She has to lose 15 pounds. Whoever gets there first gets a prize. The stakes are high.