Kelly Times Two

We enjoyed spending the morning opening presents, then eating a brunch menu of Texas shaped Lemon Poppyseed Waffles and crispy bacon, in honor of Lindsey, who discovered the recipe before leaving on her mission, so we always think of her when I make them. Isaac loved the excitement of all the presents and liked his new toys. Hannah got her very first ever violin, and Christopher got some computer parts and is learning how to build his own computer from his technical wizard dad. We loved talking on the telephone last night to Lindsey, when it was Christmas Eve in Texas and fourteen hours ahead, Christmas in Hong Kong. After our traditional Christmas naps, since we always stay up too late wrapping presents, etc., I prepared dinner for the family and we enjoyed the company of the three missionaries in our ward, Elders McKinley, Toone, and Anderson, plus two  other families from church, Melanie and Ryan and their sons, Jordan and Luke, and Heather and her husband, Clayton, a...

Hannah got to be in her first school play with all the third graders in "Paint the Town December."  She was one of the Christmas painters who got to talk about the miracle of the birth of baby Jesus. Remaining groups told about the other December holidays. I made my Christmas cards again this year, which were a lot of fun.  I've posted more details on my card blog to give more of a description of what I created. We took the kids to see The Muppet Movie , which was Hannah's first time to go to a theater since we moved back to the United States. As you can see, she was thrilled to have her big sister home from college. (Instant movie review: we were very entertained by it and I give it a 4 out of 5!) Since we've added another family member, and are expecting one more next month, I had to start from scratch again with matching stockings.  I bought six brand new ones, since it had been a few years since I bought the last four and wanted all of them to match, so ...

Christopher and his friends, Matthew and Steven, are checking out their treats from the Easter egg hunt. Yvette and Sam's family (Steven and Matthew's parents) joined us for Easter lunch on Sunday, in between the televised semiannual General Conference of our church. It was kind of odd not putting on Sunday clothes on Easter, but since we watched it on cable tv, we stayed casual. The boys thought it would look better on the table if the bunnies were kissing. Kelly and his peeps wishing you a happy Easter, from him and the blue chicks. Our "older kids Easter egg" hunt was thrilling for the four since they didn't have to worry about giving little ones a head start, and essentially dominating the take. We hid about ten dozen eggs for the four of them. Kelly made it tricky to get to some of them. The hunt... We also had Christopher's Sunday school teacher and her husband over for Easter. They are moving at the end of the week and we will miss them. Sharilynn ...

Here are the top ten reasons why I'm head over heels crazy about today, March 17: 10. Green is my favorite color, Kelly green especially. 9. Our family moved to Texas on March 17, 2000! Ten years ago today. 8. It always reminds me of my cousin, Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day. 7. I wrote an awesome poem in junior high about green for an English class, and got recognition for it, honorable mention in a poetry contest. 6. Since our family moved to another school in a different state, I submitted the same poem for a high school English class, and got an A. 5. Green looks good on me. (And in my opinion, it looks good on everyone.) 4. I whipped up corned beef and cabbage and potatoes for dinner tonight for the first time, starting a brand new tradition! (We were in California at this time, last year during spring break and enjoyed dinner with Aunt Ollie's family--Billie Joe's mom--and she served that menu and I LOVED it.) 3. Even though I'm not much of an ...

Three of our four family members wanted to go to Colorado this year again, as opposed to my wanting to stay home. The majority ruled, so we planned to drive there, leaving on December 23. Then the Midwest got hit with a blizzard and a lot of snow and blinding ice warnings for the route we normally take up through Oklahoma. We debated on whether or not to go, and felt like it would be too dangerous. At the last minute, we found some plane tickets on good old Southwest Airlines and flew to Denver on Christmas Eve to return on New Year's Day. Thank goodness we could take two bags each on Southwest without getting extra fees. We maxed out what we could check with eight suitcases total. Christmas morning. Three families worth of presents all piled up. Aunt Deb and Uncle Mike's kids tore into everything rather quickly. Michael seemed to like his new shirt from the Texans. Christopher loved his new Nerf gun from Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie. Christopher also had a blast sledding a...