Christmas 2014

It's been so fabulous having Jared home for Christmas break.  Especially (not!) since he has spent a ridiculous amount of time playing some dumb online video game with all of his college friends.
Lame.

Christmas morning was nice.  I don't know when, if ever, we will have our family of 7 together on Christmas, so I really tried to enjoy every minute of it.  I snapped a few pictures right after they opened their Santa gifts:

Jared got a nice Fossil watch.

Micah got new cleats.

Emma got tickets to see 3 plays at the Paramount in the coming year - Cinderella, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked.

Adana got Pokemon cards & a binder.

Torah got "toys."  That's what she asked for - just some "fun toys."  I LOVE this age, when they are so easily (& cheaply) please.

The after-math of Christmas morning.  It takes all of my willpower to just calmly allow the mess & chaos to develop.

I'm actually rather embarrassed by the monstrous bag of trash that we produced in just one morning.  I'm going to have to rethink my wrapping/packaging next year.

The day after Christmas, Nathan pulled out Jared's wisdom teeth.  He has been SO sore and swollen ever since!!  This picture doesn't even begin to show how swollen his poor face is.  

On Saturday, Nathan & I took the little girls to the park to ride bikes & play.  They always love to stop at the duck pond. 

Tonight we had our good friends from dental school - Chris & April Madsen - over for dinner.  They have 3 great kids - Skylar (15), Tanner (12) & Ainsley (8).   It was so fun to reconnect with them again.

Adana's 9th Birthday, Christmas Celebrations, Christmas in Seattle, and Ladies' Dinner

The week before Christmas is always SO busy!  But also, SO fun!!

On December 16, Adana turned 9 years old!  She is hands down one of the coolest 9-year olds ever.  Here she is with all of her birthday presents.  

And this is her Minecraft birthday cake that Emma made.  It was pretty awesome.

Friday was the last day of school before Winter Break.  First, we went to Torah's preschool Christmas Celebration.  The class sang some adorable songs...

... then decorated their gingerbread houses.  Since Abi had arrived home the night before, Nathan & I pretty much ceased to exist.  Torah was SO happy to have her big brother by her side.  And he was pretty happy to be there too. 

Next, we went to Adana's Winter Concert at Ordway.  Yes, she really is the same age as her classmates, even though she towers over all of them.

Friday night, we headed across the water for our annual Christmas in Seattle.  The girls (& Baba) rode the carousel.  We ate at Mod Pizza, shopped, swam on the top floor of the Sheraton, and had a lovely weekend together.

We also enjoyed marveling at the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton.  The theme this year was Christmas carols.  This one was "Christmas in the Northwest."  It was pretty stunning, and the candy version of Big Bertha getting stuck under the city was funny.  :)

The Primary kids sang a lovely song in church today.  Can you spot Torah & Adana?

This evening was our 3rd annual Ladies' Dinner.  It's one of our favorite Christmas traditions.  Each year, we invite a group of single women, especially widows, over to our house for a delicious meal and short Christmas message.  

Nathan made his famous Pumpkin Chicken recipe in our huge Turkish copper pot.

Our fun group of lovely ladies!
They are all so wonderful, and I am very thankful that we are able to enjoy a close friendship with them.  They truly bring the spirit of Christmas into our home each year.

Christmas hats & carpet woes

Adana knitted a hat for Torah.  She LOVES it!

After Adana showered with her bird, Maradona, she wrapped her up in a towel & Maradona fell asleep.  It is so amazing to watch a "wild" animal behave so comfortably around people.

Nathan & Adana went down to SLC this weekend to watch the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert.  They had so much fun together.

We are in the process of remodeling our office.  I was SO GLAD to get rid of this "white" carpet this week!!  It was here when we bought the house & I've always hated it.  No amount of cleaning could ever get this nasty room looking good.

Speaking of carpet woes . . .  This is why I ditched our real tree and put up our fake one.  My poor vacuum just couldn't take it any longer!

I came downstairs this morning to find this - Torah wrapped up like a cocoon, staring at the Christmas tree.  :)

Itsenäisyys juhla and Bethlehem

On Friday we celebrated our 20th annual Finnish Independence Day party.  We invited some friends over, cooked up a whole mess of Finnish food, and Nathan even donned his haalari (his jumpsuit from his days at Tampere University).  It's our favorite meal of the year and I have been enjoying the leftovers all weekend.

Classic Adana.  This was her "bathroom cleaning" outfit on Saturday - a fluffy robe, head phones to groove out to Christmas music, and a santa hat.

Saturday evening was one of my favorite local Christmas traditions.  The Rolling Bay Presbyterian congregation puts on a drive-through Bethlehem each year.  Everyone is costumed and in character as participants in the Christmas story.  There are shepherds of all ages, Roman soldiers, inn keepers, tax collectors, merchants ....  Periodically as you drive through, they stop your car and ask, "Where are you going?  Do you seek the babe in the manger?"  We in the car are expected to play the part of travelers seeking the Christ child.  In the distance, we can see a large star lighting the way.  And at the end, a beautiful manger, with Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus.  It is simple and homespun, and I love it!

Thanksgiving and Christmas Tree hunting

I took Adana & Torah to Seattle last week.  First stop:  Pacific Science Center to see the dinosaurs (Torah's current passion).  She LOVED them!

Then we saw a play at the Seattle Children's Theater - Dick Whittington & His Cat.  I have always loved the book, and the play was fantastic!

Thanksgiving morning, we ran the 5th Annual Turkey Trot!  We've never missed a year.  Nathan (Islandental) sponsors the run each year, so this year he decided to really get in the spirit & wear a costume.  It was hilarious to hear people trying to figure out what he was.  "A marshmallow?"  "The Stay-Puft Man?"  Nope, he was a molar.  :)

When he got home, Adana immediately put on the costume & added her own flair.  She declared:  I'm the tooth fairy!  

We decided to go more traditional this year & stay home for a real Thanksgiving dinner.  We invited two families over to share it with us.  We had HEAPS of delicious food and a lot of fun.

We sure missed Jared, though.  He spent the weekend in St. George with his grandparents & some friends.

On Saturday, we woke up to COLD and SNOW!  Still, we climbed into Nathan's truck & headed up into the mountains to cut down the Russell Family Christmas Tree.  

It was bitterly cold - 19 degrees - so Torah was bundled up like the boy on Christmas Story.  She had a blast scrambling through the deep snow drifts.

So did Adana!  I swear this girl doesn't even register "cold."  I've never known anyone who can play so hard and with such enthusiasm.

My two mountain men.  They cut down two big trees & hauled them back up the mountain.  (We got an extra one for a family that we are helping this Christmas.)

Nathan & his buddy, Brad.  These two....  Words just aren't adequate. 

Brad's daughter, Kylie, captured this perfect picture of a frozen Torah savoring her cup of hot cocoa.

Thankful Lists 2014

Jared
1.  my brain
2.  my body
3.  friends
4.  emotion
5.  my parents (this was after a day when we sort of bailed him out)
6.  girls  (I'm pretty surprised that "parents" came before "girls")
7.  sunshine
8.  a bed
9.  my phone
10. clothes
11. my education
12. cars
13. my grandparents
14. soccer  (shocking that this has dropped to #14)
15. my laptop
16. my apartment
17. the temple
18. BYU
19. the gospel
20. my sisters
21. Micah
22. soda  (Blech, the vast quantities of soda consumed by college students makes me shudder)
23. my guy friends
24. Netflix
25. Gnarly, my narwhal  (like this one)
26. the constitution
27. toilets

Micah
1.  sleep
2.  Torah
3.  pennies  (he's probably the only person on earth who actually likes them)
4.  the sound kittens make (always been a softy for kittens)
5.  Fage yogurt
6.  rock climbing
7.  lemon juice
8.  water
9.  ihlamur tea  (our favorite Turkish tea)
10. las chicas
11. Mercedes-Benz SLS  (keep dreamin')
12. mini soccer balls  (Ugh!  They are constantly being dribbled around my house)
13. Buffalo Wild Wings (he had just eaten there the night before)
14. creativity
15. grass
16. honey
17. Baba
18. Mom
19. counters
20. windows
21. intelligence
22. born in the U.S.A.
23. Phantom  (his cat)
24. Maradona  (his bird)
25. Dixie salad  (our favorite pomegranate salad)
26. hazelnut hot chocolate
27. Russ Amelang  (his BFF)

Emma
1.  books
2.  my bed
3.  my brush  (her hair is SO thick!)
4.  dishwashers
5.  toilets
6.  backpacks
7.  elma cay  (apple tea - our other favorite Turkish drink)
8.  grass
9.  light
10. fruit
11. water
12. hats
13. outside
14. art
15. color
16. shoes
17. money
18. pomegranates  (she eats them daily when they are in season)
19. socks
20. pistachios
21. los chicos  (Humph.  Not ready for this)
22. Adana
23. Torah
24. Micah
25. Abi
26. Baba
27. Mom

Adana
1.  Jared  (she has missed him SO much!)
2.  Minecraft  (her latest addiction)
3.  Maradona
4.  Gilligan's Island  (she's working her way through all the episodes)
5.  kittens
6.  MoTab
7.  candy
8.  soccer
9.  school
10. piano
11. knitting  (she is working on her 3rd hat)
12. Riley  (a very special friend)
13. math (+, -, x, /)  (this one surprised me, considering how hard it is to get her to do her homework)
14. snow
15. apples
16. my birthday (in a month!)
17. family
18. popcorn
19. pizza
20. the color orange
21. Adana, Turkey
22. my pink robe
23. my mom & dad
24. Sheraton hotel  (where we stay every December for our traditional downtown festivities)
25. yarn
26. Stampycat  (something to do with Minecraft)
27. Thanksgiving

Torah
1.  my Barbie house
2.  the playground
3.  trees & wind
4.  Thanksgiving
5.  the sun
6.  rainbows
7.  our hot tub  (her favorite thing to do with Baba)
8.  fire
9.  picnic tables outside  (she could live outside if I'd let her)
10. grass  (strange that this ended up on 3 different kids' lists)
11. cereal  (also strange, since I never buy cereal)
12. dinner
13. the computer
14. ice cream
15. frost
16. marshmallows
17. Lola (a friend at preschool)
18. the food we eat
19. cups
20. the cold season  (crazy girl!)
21. the moon  (she thinks Baba gives her the moon each night)
22. elevators  (I can't remember the last time she was in one, so not sure where this came from)
23. when it's snow time
24. the waffle machine  (one of our favorite breakfasts)
25. my Elsa lunchbox
26. candles
27. Baba

November 17-23, 2014

I asked the kids to fill out a questionnaire, listing some of their current favorites (color, movies, etc) and any Wants/Needs they have.  This was Adana's Want/Need list.  (Want #5 is "an orange Lamborghini") 

What does the typical 8-year old girl wear to her soccer team end-of-season party?  Hot pink heels, right?

Wednesday night was our annual Young Women in Excellence night, an opportunity to acknowledge & honor all that the girls have accomplished this year.  Emma was asked to give a short talk about one of her experiences working in the Personal Progress program.  It was one of the most sincere, most heartfelt talks I've ever heard.  She is an amazing young woman.

Jared texted me one morning to tell me how awesome he looked in his new winter coat.  I sent this back in response, to show him that his mama is gonna be pretty dang buff the next time he sees her.  I've been working out with some friends in a home gym two mornings a week.  By next summer . . . watch out!  :)

November 10-16, 2014

Another milestone reached - Torah came downstairs one morning this week fully clothed.  She woke up, picked out her own clothes, and put them on all by herself.  Sigh.  

Micah went to the temple with a group of kids from our stake.  He texted me this picture before he left, wondering if it was going to be a problem that his temple recommend went through the wash.  Apparently it was just fine.

I bought 40 lbs of chicken breast from Zaycon foods.  It was quite a process to trim off all the fat, divide the breasts up, cut off the "tenders," and get it all packaged into ziploc bags.  But now I have about 4 months worth of chicken in my freezer.

Watching Adana's last soccer game of the season.  It was sunny, but COLD!

She had such a great team of sweet girls!  Go Flash!!

Saturday night we went to a Filipino party - TONS of amazing food, followed by karaoke!  This was Patrick (a new convert in our ward) and our bishop singing a duet.  They were pretty awesome!