A Beautiful Winter Day

It's a sacrifice to be cold. It is. My toes don't quite reap the benefits of circulation. My nose is red and cold to the touch. I have a fire going in all three fireplaces. I have to bundle up to hit the fridge in the garage. On this bright, sunny, cold day with a beautiful carpet of white, the cold was worth it. Enough said!

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.