Christmas Day

Christmas morning went well at the Parry household. Everyone seemed delighted by what Santa left. Sam loved his bathrobe/slippers setup. Caroline was so happy with her new bedding. Evan looked smashing in his new letterman jacket. Jake was all about technology (Shuffle Ipod for skiing & ski helmet with speakers). Isaac loved his new ski helmet with speakers (always wants to be like Jake). Craig was a good sport and even acted excited about his new suit.

Christmas Eve

We had such a wonderful Christmas Eve this 2008, visiting Grandma & Grandpa Parry for dinner, a program (the quality of which was at times quite substandard) and a testimony meeting. It was so fun to visit with somewhat distant family (Sean, Karyn, Mackynzie & Kayla were here from San Diego, Sara from northern California) and family we see more often (Becky, Ryan, Max, Grandma & Grandpa). Jake and Evan's Spanish/English rendition of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was a crowd pleaser.

The Great Incense Debate

Last time Craig went to Japan he had some kind of brain cramp and bought Jake and Evan incense burners. Now, the first problem with this is that teenage boys are now lighting something in their bedrooms on fire. I do not feel that teenage boys are trustworthy with fire in their bedrooms. The second, and perhaps bigger, problem is that the incense smells TERRIBLE . . . much like the entire country of Japan ( I know because I lived there for a year). The smell of the incense makes both Sam and me sick to our stomachs. The boys (backed by their dad) think that they have a right to burn their incense. Sam and I think they should stop because we hate it. We cannot find a compromise. Now every time Jake or Evan burns their incense, Sam will come upstairs to tell me, I tell Jake and Evan to stop, they tell Craig they are being persecuted. . . and around and around we go. Any ideas on a compromise?

Favorite Tradition

This is my favorite tradition at Christmas time. We always eat at Benihana's. I wanted to do something different this year because Icky has added shellfish to his long list of forbidden foods (due to food allergies). This, along with the soy allergy, were enough to scare me away. I suggested Macaroni Grill. What happened at this suggestion can only be described as a revolt by my other children who are extremely tired of planning their menus around Isaac. We compromised and asked the manager to cook Isaac's food in the kitchen in a clean pan. He did quite well, but ended up with a few hives after dinner, which were cured with Benadryl. Probably not the best parenting choice, but it worked out alright this time.

After dinner, we always head to Temple Square to see the lights. This year we almost had the place to ourselves due to the steady snowfall. We enjoyed the sights and lights, then laced on ice skates at the Gallivan Center (except Mom who is always cold and takes hours to warm up and Evan who just wanted to relax). The other kids enjoyed skating and even saw a marriage proposal on the ice.

Afterwards, the kids raced up to our room in the Marriott and changed into swimsuits to take advantage of the warm hot tub downstairs. We swam, then slept. Early Saturday, Craig took Sam to meet his basketball team for a tournament (lost in the championship game late Saturday afternoon) and when Craig returned, the six of us went to Lamb's for a wonderful hot breakfast. We are now home and watching the first bowl game of the season, which happens to be BYU vs Arizona. Whew! . . . a whirlwind weekend.

Cookie House Party 2008

Awesome "Personal" Cookie House Party

Planned by G-Dog (Grandma Davis)

Fun white elephant exchange

Lots of sugared cousins

Sunday Night Football

Good Food

Thanks Grandma!

New and Improved

My bedroom makes me happy, happy happy. I heart the new and improved bedding and curtains. Craig didn't comment until they'd been on the bed for a week. Was that denial, "if I ignore this will it go away", indifference, or he just plain didn't like it? I don't know. I do know that being in my room makes me very happy.

Now, I have mixed feelings about Isaac's new and improved room. It looks amazing with Red Sox red walls and even a Green Monster with a scoreboard (the box score is from a game we attended and sat on the Green Monster). My mixed feelings come in because I hate the Red Sox and everything about them except for three of their fans (Jake, Isaac & Caroline). I'm happy that Isaac is sleeping downstairs.

Stuck in the Mud

Today was a beautiful day in southern Utah. The sun came out after two days of solid rain. The Parrys went to the outlets and made a few purchases. Craig does want to know how much you have to spend at one store's sale in order to SAVE $351.00. It was a great sale. After shopping, we headed into Hurricane and up Gooseberry Ridge to look for arrowheads. We didn't find any Indian relics (other than a few chips from arrowheads), but lots of petrified wood. Because of the heavy rain this weekend, we found lots of mud puddles. The kids begged to drive through every one of them. Alas, it was the very last puddle that got us. We were stuck for about an hour. A nice family from Hurricane got chains and pulled us out. I grounded Craig, but Isaac wants to know what he's grounded from.

Red Rock Thanksgiving

We are having a wonderful Red Rock Thanksgiving this year. It was very quiet today for Turkey Day, just the seven of us. We ate a tiny little turkey, played backyard baseball, went to the new 007 movie & watched football.

When we shared at dinner what we were each thankful for, we got responses like: my baseball glove & bat, that I get to play football next year, my mom, & even Stephanie Meyers.

I loved our quiet little Thanksgiving! I'm thankful to be a mother to five wonderful children and to be married to a great man who is a very good example and great leader in our family.

Giving Thanks for Clever Kids

Here is the lovely craft I recently made at Enrichment Meeting. I was feeling really good about myself and my "crafting" skills when I came home and proudly displayed my new creation. It didn't take me long to discover that my proud moment was an opportunity for my kids to display their talents. Every time I walk through the entry, it's a new adventure:

Can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring. Never a dull moment here.

Another Good Boy and a Football Poster

Halloween dance at the high school has rolled around. Evan and Kylee were all decked out for a great night. Can't wait until he gets home so I can hear all about it (I'll probably have to hear in the morning since I'm not normally the parent who can make it to curfew time awake--I always volunteer, but by about 10:30 if I lay down anywhere, I'm out). It sounded like a big group of "Dominos" all went together.

Now. . . the poster. . . I had to do a little venting today. I was in charge of Sam's half-time banner. Given the creative lisence I had, I chose to let off a little steam. The standard "BRAVES" worked out great. My little additions were: #21 is sexy, Bountiful is bringing sexy back, and the old stand by. . . "The B team is better than the A team". That litle bit of rebellion made me feel oh so good!

Good Boy

Jake is a good boy. Today we completed his Eagle Scout project by delivering baseball equipment to the Boys & Girls Club in Salt Lake City. This boy in the picture was so happy to see the equipment. He must have asked ten times in the few minutes we were there if they could all go play baseball. A few more steps (paperwork, Board of Review) and Jake will be an Eagle Scout like his big brother, Evan. Two down, two to go!