Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas Day

What a great day!  It was really nice to have Christmas on Sunday this year.  Mom, Dad, Cheryl, Faith, and Julia opened our Santa presents, stockings, and miscellaneous gifts from grandparents in the morning then got ready for church.  Mom and the girls were all participating in the ward choir program, and Dad gave the closing talk.  After Sacrament Meeting we came home.  Steven and Kristen came over and we just vegged until dinner.  

J.R., Esther and the kids came over at dinner time with our first ever Christmas goose!  Then we opened our book piles and gifts from Mom and Dad.  Monday was the extended McLaws family party.  We met at Grandma and Grandpa McLaws' house in Gold Canyon for brunch and our White Elephant exchange.  





  



Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Eve 2011

For Christmas Eve this year we took a day trip up north to play in the snow!  On the way up we did some Christmas Mad Libs:

"Christmas Tree!"
Every January we eat to a tree restaurant far away.  Not just any flimsy farm, a gangrenous tree Circle K.  My dad and I smoke onto the Marlboro Special Blend to yawn for the perfect horse. Some people like them black and slimy and some like them maroon and fat.  We are searching for a tall and fluffy one!  "Over there!" I exclaim, "Dad it's over there!" Off we burp, saw in hand to kick this year's boot down.  Zoink it's Valentine's Day finally!

"More Lights"
Did you ever have one of those churches? Well today Michael Jackson did!  Mom wanted to sleep noses up for Kwanza.  Not just any lights, brown lights.   Smelly green lights!  Hard bright red lights.  The only problem, they are a rolled mess!  Not to mention that there are some asparagus, yellow and green lights punched in.  "Esther!" I yell!  "This can't be done!"  She could kiss I was right and went out and smacked some new shiny orange lights!

"Hidden Present!"
Ok so I was sword fighting!  I'm a kid, I'm supposed to snoop, especially around St. Patrick's Day.  What Cheryl doesn't snoop?  I just so happened to be in our New Mexico.  Normally I'm not up there, it's flat and squishy.  Plus there are seahorses, yuck!  I couldn't help myself! There it was right by my little sister's old Eiffel Tower.  Guess George Lucas didn't think I would swim it.  I directed it, it felt sharp.  Should I drive it?  Looking closer I saw some mile markers.  I got even closer and walked a cat!  The hidden prison was alive!  A yelp came from the snorkle.  I opened the toilet and to my surprise a cup was inside!  Guess who else was hidden in the mountainsJohn Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt and  George Washington just knew I was spitting!



We drove up past Strawberry up on the rim and found a GREAT hill for sledding!
















After we were sufficiently wet and cold we drove back down to Payson and had lunch at Chili's.  When we got back home we exchanged sibling gifts. 

Cheryl gave Esther a flat iron and some school supplies.
J.R. gave Faith a hot pink zebra-striped body pillow.
Esther gave Kristen a Wal-mart gift card.
Steven gave Julia a knit rainbow-colored bear/monkey hat (named Hector).
Kristen gave J.R. a Home Depot gift card.
Faith gave Steven a home-made advent calendar and Christmas journal.
Julia gave Cheryl a home-made insulated fashion lunch bag.

Steven and Kristen also let John and Baraba open up their gifts.  Both the kiddos got new pillow pets!  John got a moose (which he initially thought was a "scary monster!" but which by the end of the night he loved) and Barbara got a pink bunny.  Mom opened up her gift from J.R. and Esther (photo album of "her babies") and Dad opened his gift from J.R. and Esther (a motion-activated candy dispenser). Steven and Kristen had to leave to go to her family's Christmas party.  Faith took a nap while the rest of us watched "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and Julia, Cheryl and J.R. played Scrabble (Cheryl won with 183).   Afterwards we had dinner (grilled cheese samiches and White Chicken Chili) then had our Christmas Eve program.  Julia and Faith were in charge of the program.  We sang lots of songs, played some games, and listened to Christmas stories.


It was a great day! 

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Stinky BUT

Thanksgiving this year was full of new and old traditions. 

We had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, Mom's home-made crescent rolls, stuffing, yams, veggies, and cranberry sauce on Wednesday night.  Dinner was a black tie event. 





















Mom got glitter all over the house and Dad scared John with his Billy-Bob teeth after dinner.



Thursday (today) we met up at Red Mountain Park.  We had a picnic with the left-overs from last night, played, and fed the ducks. 








Then we drove out in the desert for our annual BUT event.  This year was particularly odiferous....


Along with the ripe turkey we also blew up a moldy pumpkin.