Advent Calendar - A New Christmas Tradition

As a Christmas tradition with my Grandchildren I bought a wooden advent calendar last year and Ethan, Ella, and Livi had fun opening the little doors each day to see what was inside. Mostly it was some kind of treat, but once in a while I would slip in a surprise gift. Since we don't have a lot of fun outdoor things for the kids to do at our house (except the pool, which is too cold in the winter time) I decided I wanted to get something that the kids could enjoy but would not belong to them...just something they could use when they visited. I decided to go with electric scooters for Ethan and Ella to ride and a Power Wheel for Livi to use. The scooters I chose looked pretty safe (not too fast) but the box said for 8+ years old. Since Ella is only 6, I worried a little bit that she might be too young for it. However, I purchased them anyway and I am glad I did. After a brief lesson on safety rules and how to operate them Ella and Ethan both took to them like a fish to water. They love buzzing around our driveway. Livi loves the Power Wheel too...although she is a little too big for it (she is tall for a 3 year old). She will outgrow it very soon. I tried to download a video of them on the scooters but have been unsuccessful at that. If I can get it to work, I will post it later. Until then, I guess these photos will suffice.

Holiday Treats

One fun thing about Christmas is the excuse to make and eat all kinds of goodies.  Last Friday I spent all day making Christmas tree sugar cookies, red velvet cake balls, and chocolate covered pretzels for the families Alan and I home/visit teach and also for the residents of an assisted living center near my home where our young women went to sing Christmas carols to and share Christmas stories with.  We had a great time there.  (I wish I would have thought to take pictures.)  I was so pleased to be done with all my baking and proud of the results until I received this photo from Cheryl of her chocolate covered pretzels.  Don't they look yummy and festive?  Great job Cheryl!!! She informed me that everyone at her work is enjoying them.

 When you compare hers to mine, there is really no comparison. Mine are drab and boring, but I can attest that they are yummy even though they are not as colorful or as good looking. Cheryl, you will have to teach me how to make yours when you come down for Christmas next week! Happy Holiday baking everyone!

For Ella & Livi

The last time I posted a video it disappeared. Hopefully that won't happen this time.  This is of Ella & Livi on the slide at the school.  They couldn't get enough of it.  They kept going back for more and more.

Nice Getaway, part 2 (Highlighting Ethan)

In my last post I mentioned that I didn't have any photos that included Ethan....but evidently Cheryl did so she forwarded them to me.  This post will highlight Ethan.

This first photo is of Ethan eating the Thanksgiving feast in the school cafeteria.

Ethan loves to "wrestle" with Tonks.  They seem to get along quite well.

I made caramel apples with the kids. In this photo Ethan is my helper.

Ethan's favorite thing to do is draw.  He spent many hours at the table doing his artwork. I should have taken a photo of the deck of 54 cards he made as a gift to his parents.  He is very talented and creative.

Nice Getaway

Last month I flew to Salt Lake City and then Cheryl and I drove from there to Scottsbluff Nebraska to watch Eric's children so he and Nicole could get away for their anniversary.  This was not only a getaway for them, but it was a getaway for me and Cheryl too.  We had a lot of fun as we took over the duties of parenting Ethan, Ella, and Livi for a few days.  Ethan somehow avoided all of the photographs (camera shy guy) but we were able to capture the girls without a problem.

One thing that was fun that I hadn't done in a while was doing girls hair.  Remember, I only had one daughter so I never did get that great with hair but it was fun to try to resurrect some old skills.  Cheryl did Ella's french braid and I did Livi's hair.  I can't remember what Cheryl called that style...but you make the pony tail and then pull it through.  This photo doesn't really show it well.

Another thing we got to do was eat a Thanksgiving feast with the kids at their school.  (Note: these pictures are a little out of order. See cafeteria photo closer to the end of the post. I didn't know how to fix it).  After we ate lunch we were allowed to go out on the playground with Ella.  I could tell she loved having us visit her "turf".

Having taught elementary school for three years, Cheryl felt right at home helping Livi with the slide, the swings, and the climbing equipment.

Taking care of Tonks was another one of our responsibilities.  She loves to sit on the dishwasher door and lick the dirty dishes.  She is so little and cute!

This is the photo of us eating the school lunch together. Ethan is straight across from me, but of course you can't see him.

I love Livi's smile in this photo. You can tell she is genuinely happy...and so was I. I was happy to be able to spend some time with my grandchildren.

While Eric & Nicole were away, we took the kids to Walmart so they could buy their parents an anniversary gift.  We also decided to surprise them by decorating the livingroom with streamers and balloons.  The kids really enjoyed putting up all the decorations but then had to patiently wait for their parents to return home from Lincoln before they could see the surprised looks on their faces.  

Altogether too soon it was time for us to head back to Utah.  Cheryl had a job to get back to and I had to plan a Thanksgiving meal for our family in conjunction with Jane and her family.  Sorry, I forgot to take photos of that event, but I really would like to thank the Airds for letting us crash their Thanksgiving. We really appreciated their generosity, the great food, and fine company. It turned out splendidly!

Pleasant Surprise

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday morning when I arrived at the Los Angeles Temple (5:15 a.m.) for my weekly shift and the Christmas lights were so beautifully lit.  I pulled out my handy dandy new iphone and took some photos.  I discovered that it is very difficult to take pictures of lights and give them justice.  Sorry if they are a little blurry.  I am still learning how to use the camera to get that perfect shot.  I didn't even know how to zoom until yesterday. 

 I love how the palm trees light up so beautifully.

 Just a view with the temple in the background.  Not all of the trees are lit up yet but I'm sure more will be added as the days go on.

 Two different kinds of palm trees lit up.

 More palm trees on the right.

A garden patio area