Christmas Additions

the bell posse

We had two fun additions to our family for Christmas this year--namely Trevor and Bethany. They made the drive over the mountains and through the plains (BORING WYOMING) to spend their Christmas with us.

The boys anticipated their arrival with such excitement. We should have had a Christmas Countdown just for that! Daily reminders were given by Bode of how-many-more-days-until-Uncle-Trevor-and-Aunt-Bethany-arrive...

And they were not disappointed. They arrived and Trevor was the new favorite playmate. He very kindly obliged and played nearly constantly with the boys. I'm pretty sure they wore him out.

The weather was super-cold, so our favorite visit to the Garden of the Gods was out. But they made it to the zoo. And we spent a morning at Pump it Up (an indoor inflatable playground of sorts). There was a huge amount of food consumed--cheese and chocolate fondues, cheese soup in bread bowls, spiral ham and rolls, gingerbread waffles, eggs benedict...Gotta love the holidays. A nice excuse to truly "indulge" (our family motto in the kitchen).

The boys LOVE their new light sabers gifted by Trev and Bethany and play with them a ton. Doug had to go get one of his own to join in the fun! (Hey! That rhymed!). They go nicely with the SuperBode and SuperKeegen capes we got them, too.


As a send off on their way back to Utah, we had a marshmallow gun war at the playground and a meal at Chili's. Hugs were given and away they went.

Thanks for sharing your Christmas with us!

Christmas Favorites

My favorite tradition this year? Hands down, the Christmas book countdown. It was a wonderful addition to our usual routines. Everyday after lunch and before Keegen's nap, the boys would take turns opening that day's book. It was so fun to have new books and i was really happy with a lot of the selections. I tried to have a balance between fun, Santa-type books and those that talked about Jesus and the reason we celebrate Christmas. I loved it. The boys loved it. It will definitely be a tradition in our house from here on out.

My favorite books of the 19? Mortimer's Christmas Manger. Loved it. Follow the Star was wonderful. And Santa's Favorite Story was a pleasant surprise. The classics we loved? Merry Christmas, Curious George. Olivia Helps with Christmas. The Polar Express. And, the Grinch. There were four that i will most likely replace before next year.


This was a neat year in that it was so easy and fun to teach the boys about Christ's birth and the Christmas story. All of the wonderful books we read fostered their learning. We'd drive through the neighborhood looking at lights and Bode asked about Joseph and Mary when he saw a nativity in a neighbor's yard. It was fun to have peppered through everyday conversation teachings about Jesus and why we celebrate Christmas. It was a more natural way to continue laying the foundation for the boys to better understand that Christ is their Savior. It wasn't forced or planned in any elaborate way. It just happened easily.


Grandma Alicia sent the boys a Christmas advent she made that we "opened" every morning. She had a stuffed animal at the top and hanging down from the animal were an assortment of treats, each individually wrapped in green plastic wrap for each day. Little candies, toy cars, Christmas pencils and erasers. So the boys got to start their day with a treat (when it wasn't a piece of candy, they got the gift from the advent and then got to pick a candy out of the candy bowl). It will be a rude awakening when they realize that eating candy before breakfast will not be a tradition we will continue throughout the year. We will have to continue some sort of fun advent like this for next Christmas, though.


Oh. And jammies. I do love our Christmas jammie tradition. They don them and we get cute shots of them in front of the tree. This year we actually got a picture of the whole family reading our final Christmas book in front of the tree. I meant to get a pic of all of us in front of the tree Christmas morning, but i forgot.

Christmas Day

I was awakened at 5:30am by a yelling, screaming 2 1/2 year old--"Mommy, I'm a-waaaaaake! Mommy, I'm a-waaaaaake!" 5:30am? Not too bad on Christmas morning, really. There have been times in our marriage, pre-children, that Doug hasn't slept AT ALL due to his own excitement. He's mellowed a bit and this year fell asleep around 2am and got up at 6. Why 6? Because that was when Keegen started ringing the huge jingle bell after saying, "I want to wake everyone up!" RING RING RING! "I want to wake everyone up!" RING RING RING!

And, not so surprisingly, that did the trick. Doug came up. Trevor next. Then Bode. And last, Bethany.

Keegen asked for popcorn when he woke up, so i was busy making that (in my Whirly Pop. Yum) as everyone descended the stairs. We started the day with popcorn and orange julius, power-food to get us through the opening of presents...

This was a really fun year for Christmas around here. The boys are both old enough now to be super-excited about EVERYTHING. Gift opening was no exception. They were thrilled with it all--the GeoTrax airport (an addition to their remote control trains) (OH! the GASP they let out when they saw it!), the light sabers, the Hot Wheels set Bode's been asking for , the Duplo firestation and helicopter. The adults were spoiled too. We finished off with my favorites, the stockings. Growing up, stockings were my favorite, too. My mom, er, uh, Santa, always filled them with fun little gifties--pads of paper, earrings, lip gloss; etc. Santa filled the boys with markers, a coloring book, Hot Wheels trucks and cars and, of course, candy.

We then made our traditional eggs benedict breakfast and settled in to play with the new toys. We went to an early showing of Despereaux--a tradition in my family to see a movie on Christmas. The boys enjoyed it although Rat World was uber-creepy and Keegen wailed, "Mommy, I'm SCARED!" on two occasions. But it was a cute flick.

We enjoyed hanging out the rest of the day. I got a brief but lovely nap. And then we ate tasty ham and rolls in the evening. Perfect.

Winter Fun & Christmas Wishes

We got about a foot of snow earlier this week. Doug and the boys got out there yesterday to build snowpeople in the very heavy, wet, melting snow. Perfect for snowpeops. (Oh. And no worries. We're getting DUMPED on as i write this. Never lacking in the white stuff around here). I especially like the snowman with two carrot noses. Nice touch.

We have an ornament that holds letters for Santa--a cute little red, cylindrical thing. We had the boys sit down and write what they wanted most from Santa. Can you read what Bode wrote? We're still trying to decipher Keegen's request...

O Tannenbaum

We got our Christmas tree last night. When we moved to Colorado, i had intentions of taking advantage of the cut-your-own option in the national forest. I thought that would be a stellar tradition. But. In reality. It just hasn't happened yet. Much easier to head to the little family-owned and operated tree farm that's about 10 minutes up the road.

We got there and Bode stated his intention to find the tallest one EVER. He did. We looked at the price tag and decided we didn't have enough ornaments to fill the tree. So our search continued...
We stick to the frasier firs, so that limited our options and made it an easier decision. We found a lovely 7-footer and called it our own. The guys working there made a fresh cut and loaded it on top of Doug's car. We enjoyed a little cider near the firepit and called it a success.

This morning, Doug was kind enough to get the lights on the tree. Did you know rubbing olive oil on your hands takes the sap right off? That was a happy discovery. Then the boys decorated the tree. And even though they did a great job, we will be redistributing the ornaments later tonight...

My Monkeys

We picked up a swing at IKEA last April when we were in Utah. And it has sat in the packaging in the basement ever since. Doug decided to hang it up last night and oh what fun they are having!

I don't think we'll ever want to finish the basement at this rate. Where would we put the bounce castle? The tents? Tunnels? Punching bag? And now the swing? (and for that matter, where would i put all of our miscellaneous crap? Where would i throw the stuff i don't know what to do with blindly down the stairs?). Not to mention they can ride their bikes and scooters down there in the winter (which is fast approaching!).

Our old king-sized mattress has come in handy (and the nicely padded walls!). Now if Keegen could just remember to NOT stand up right after he falls off since the swing is still swinging...

You May Bow Down to Me Now...

...the DOMESTIC GODDESS that i am!!

Now, not only do i grind the grains and bake the bread with all of this gluten-free baking that's been going on for the past 4 months. i now CAN the beans and pears, too! What is going on?!

I know that's exactly what Doug is wondering when he looks at me in a "Who the hell are you and what have you done with my wife?" sort of way. A comment he made when he walked in on me decked out in my apron and my grain grinder?--"Wow. I never thought i'd see the day..." My response being, "This is LOVE, baby." (Meaning i'm doing this out of pure love for my child in need of non-wheatables).

I went to the farmers' market the other day and got it into my head that i wanted to make dilly beans. Basically, pickled string beans. I remember Mom made them once growing up. At the time, i thought they'd be totally gross, but they were yummy. And then lo and behold my friend calls me up the next day and asks if i want to join her in a canning class she's going to. Why yes i do!

We went to the class and then high-tailed it to the Ace Hardware they kept saying had all the supplies we'd need. Then we headed to the farmers' market and picked up boxes of fruit and some more beans. Then, of course, we had to do lunch. And a fun errand. By the time i dropped Kristen off and got home she was already calling me to say her peaches were in their water bath (bragger). So i got to work on my beans. Totally quick and easy. It took FOREVER for the water to come to a boil, but that's my only complaint. We'll see if they turned out tasty or not.


Then onto the pears. MUCH MORE WORK. Unlike the beans, they had to be peeled and cooked before canning. (Yes, i read that you can leave the peels on and make them raw, but i also read that they're oh so much better peeled and precooked and if i'm going to go to the trouble...) And i had to make a light syrup. And i'm a total hypocrite because i made a sugar syrup and i'm always really annoyed when i can't find canned fruit in JUICE in the stores. Here i am making my own and tossing sugar in the mix. But that's what i remember about my mom's canned pears. Oh, how yummy the syrup was. And i didn't have white grape juice on hand. And i made it extra-extra-light, so hopefully that counts for something. And am i using enough "ands" for ya?

I only got four quarts done before i burned out (and i swear i have the same amount of pears left that i started with!). I did some fresh salsa and finished the pears last night for a grand total of ten quarts (much thanks to Doug who peeled and cored the pears whilst he watched the season premiere of Heroes). So bring on the blizzards! We are set. (TOTALLY JOKING. We still need to get chips for the salsa. And please no snow until at least AFTER Halloween. Thankyouverymuch).

Wear 'Em Out Wednesdays

Cruisin' on his scooter

Wednesdays have become our busiest day of the week with our new school year and new routine. Bode has school, Keegen has a tumbling class at the Y and they both have soccer in the evening. They are good and tired by the end of the day (well before the end of the day!). Bode is doing great in school--dealing well with being dropped off and seems to jump right in and participate. Keegen and i get our time together at the tumbling class. And soccer is just a hoot. Truly. And it's late enough that sometimes Doug can drop by (since it's close to his office) and watch, too, which is always a treat.

He's so fast you can barely see him!

Today was a fun school day for Bode since they got to go on a field trip. To Safeway of all places! The school is in a strip mall right next to Safeway so they all walked on over using the tried-and-true buddy system. They got a tour of all the departments, being allowed into the inner workings of the place. Produce and floral, meats and deli, bakery and all the coolers, freezers, compactors and truck-loading areas. They got goodies along the way from every department and were given a special treat from Starbucks

The next Starbucks Generation

and an apple and Odwalla smoothie on the way out (i was surprised by that one!). Keegen was allowed to tag along and fit right in--well--pushed himself right in! He's so ready to be a big boy and go to school it just makes me laugh. After the field trip we headed back to class where they had circle/story time (and Keegen found a spot for himself right next to the teacher). I was happy to see Bode interact so well with his classmates and teachers, volunteering answers and seemed to be so comfortable.

Dribbling skills

They both love soccer. Bode's class is first and Keegen just about dies from lack of patience waiting and watching for his class (and asking repeatedly if it's time for his class). They have a great coach and it's lots of fun games to build soccer and social skills. This was the first class where i've seen Bode just jump right in and have a blast. None of this "I'm scared!" crap! He was the first to yell out answers and was full of confidence ("I'm really good at this" when asked to be goalie). I was happy to see it, although now that he's coming out of his shell and actually speaking in a group setting we might have to talk to him about boasting and yelling and talking over his coach; etc. But i'll take it! He was asking before we even left at the end of the classes when he could come back. Money and time well spent!

"Good job, Soccer Buddies!" cheer

Aspen Grove

Me & Keegs with Timp behind us

OK. So, Aspen Grove in a nutshell...

Loved:

Bode caught TWO fish!

• not having to cook, bake, clean up the kitchen for 5 entire days


• watching B & K play with their cousins and uncles


• that the kids did relatively well in their assigned (age) groups. I had people watching my boys from 9:30 in the morning til noon. Then i took K back to the cabin to nap while B went back to his group from 1:30 til 4:30


• hiking to Stewart Falls.
  
• running by myself up the Mt. Timpanogos trail (until i got spooked by some animal in the brush that was probably afraid of ME and i thought, "what the hell am i doing out here all alone? Cougars? Other predators?!")


• that Doug and I took advantage of having willing babysitters and took off for the morning on our anniversary


• photographing Bridal Veil Falls (where Doug proposed to me)(it's going in a collage over our bed of all the states we've lived in since we got married)


• eating at Tucanos, a Brazilian steakhouse. So fun!


• the girls' night we had. We saw "Mamma Mia" and got shakes at the Iceberg. A really good excuse to spend time with each other and a change in scene from camp (i can't stop listening to the soundtrack!)

Me with Al, Bethany, Alicia (& Kris is in background)(why i always have to make a goober-face is beyond me)

• the quiet time i had to myself while K napped and Bode and Doug were otherwise occupied. I read two books! I was supposed to be crosstitching but got sucked into Jodi Picoult instead
  
• how absolutely beautiful it was up there. The weather was perfect
• that the boys enjoyed the simple things. Collecting sticks and throwing rocks into the river were favorite activities
  
• the ropes course. Had to climb up a log and then a short rock wall, into the trees to climb around on cables in the treetops with just a harness and a couple carabiners keeping you safe!

Me & Doug in the trees

• watching camp through my children's eyes. In their eyes, it was AWESOME. They LOVED this train. Part of "Frontier Night," which included snowcones. A big hit in the days of the old frontier, no doubt! Much loved by my boys!

I love that he went down this slide!

On the hike up to Stewart Falls

Utah Part II

Saturday morning we headed to Thanksgiving Point to check out the Museum of Ancient Life. Dinosaurs. I'm fully on-board with this recent interest of Bode's. It's a very nice change in pace from trucks and trains! We're all learning a ton.

The boys with a Utahraptor. Who knew there was such a thing?

Apparently, Utahraptors eat meat. Good to know.

The boys excavating.

The museum was fantastic. Very kid-friendly. Not too crowded. So much to see. Lots of fossils and skeletons. They had an area with sand and water and buried plastic dinos for the kids to find. They had an area for excavating dinosaur bones. I was really impressed with the place.


Next we headed to the Big Red Barn to see the farm animals. The kids fed everything from goats to horses and a calf and had a lot of fun running around with each other.

Utah Part I

After one incredibly LONG drive on I-80 through Wyoming (my least favorite of states to drive through), we arrived in Salt Lake and were greeted by custard from Nielson's in Bountiful, courtesy of Trevor. Not a bad way to start a vacation. The boys were immediately thrilled to have Trevor to play with even though it was way past bedtime.

Thursday morning we headed up to Ogden to spend the day with Zeke and Angela. I can't really express how much i miss them! Bode and Zeke picked up where they left off. They are such good friends and have so much fun together. They like the same things and get along so well. They are staying with her parents until their house in CO sells, so the bonus was that her parents are on somewhat of a farm and still have horses and goats and a huge, enviable garden. The boys got to ride Dusty the Horse and run around like only country kids can. Angela and i got to chat all day long with very little interruption and i got to eat all sorts of yummy tomatoes straight from the garden (Angela's dad kept bringing me different varieties to try).

Friday was our day in Provo. Trevor and his wife, Bethany, graduated from BYU. Holy memories, Batman. After the ceremony (which was in the Smith Fieldhouse, where i had PT in the early mornings for ROTC) a bunch of us headed up the RB stairs to check out the bookstore. It was when i got to the top of the stairs and found myself totally disoriented that i realized how much campus has changed in the past 11 years. So many new buildings. A much more modern campus than when i was there (which was at the dawn of the cellphone and email! Ouch!). I love perusing the BYU bookstore. I found some great, yes, dinosaur books for Bode on clearance.

The original Bell Boys, minus Randy

After all of that, we had a family BBQ with Bethany's family. The kids had a great time on the swingset and there was a fantastic two-story playhouse that connected to the upper deck (so now that's what i want Doug to build in our backyard!! I think i said, "Wow. If we had one of those, i'd never see the boys!" That's how much they enjoyed it).