SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

Once again, the city put another fun family affair. We happened to drive by it, so went home, got bundled up, and joined the fun.

They had free chili and hot chocolate

and carriage rides,

and they also were taking pictures with Santa. I'd post that family photo if I could get the scanner to work with this mac, but I can't, so I won't.

I love this town!

FROZEN HAZARD

Who knew that icicle collecting could be such a hazardous occupation? Tilly used the broom handle to knock down a large icicle and it cut her lip when it fell. We decided to butterfly it since Tilly really really didn't want stitches.

Random addition to this post: Now, I don't love this picture of me, but I like to be able to look back on photos and see how I've changed (hair, weight, style, etc), so I'm posting it. The kids took this one.

THANKSGIVING 2010

Hyrum was driving semi over Thanksgiving break, so he didn't get to have turkey dinner with us. It was just the kids and me, so we spent the holiday with good friends me met in Oregon: Jason and Aimee Zimmer. They live in Rexburg now. The kids wanted to dress up nice, so they did. I think that sweats is a more inviting choice of wardrobe on a day that you want to become the ultimate glutton, but...I let them dress up. They looked cute anyway, even if it was for only a few hours.

Man that was good food! And way too many leftovers! It was sad to have to spend my first major holiday without Hyrum, but he got home late that night, so technically, he WAS there on Thanksgiving...just not at the dinner.

SERIOUSLY?

Am I honestly that bad of a cook? I boiled a chicken carcass from last nights roast in hopes of making chicken stock for soup, but I forgot all about it...until I smelled the telltale smell.

Not a drop of water was left. My poor pot!

SPICE SHELF PROJECT

I got sick of digging in my spice drawer for spices, so I built a spice shelf. I'm not posting finished pictures yet because they're not quite done, but I wanted to show everyone what my house looks like amidst a project. Very embarrassing, and this is of course when people knock on the door to visit.

Okay, so the shelves are complete in this photo below, but I'm not doing a close-up yet. My mismatched spices look a little silly right now, and my kitchen looks disastrous!

IT'S A GOOD THING...

 ...I was in a good mood this day, otherwise this would have incurred some serious consequences.

CHICKEN HEADS

Hyrum's hands are bigger than the gloves that are kept in the hospital rooms, so he stuffs his pockets with large gloves to take into the rooms with him. He comes home with exam gloves in his pockets, and this is what happened to them one day.

SEIZED

Tilly was playing with Hyatt when I heard her start crying. It was an "I'm in pain" cry. I went over to check her out and she was lying face down, sprawled out on the kitchen floor. I grabbed her under the armpits to pick her up and look at her when suddenly her head flopped back, her eyes rolled back, and she started shaking.

I yelled for Hyrum telling him I thought she was having a seizure, so he came running to check her out. By then she was done. He layed her on her back and checked her eyes. She was coherent and her first words to him were, "It's a good thing you're a nurse!" Hyrum found it funny that just because he's the only one who remains calm, everyone thinks he's an expert.

 She was okay, other than a big red spot on her cheek where she had face-planted.

COMPUTER GEEK

And she's not even 2 yet.

GOOFING AROUND

Getting my muscles back. I started trying to shape up and get healthy on Sept. 30, and this is my progress so far.

 I don't like being in prison.

 How do you wink again?

 Red light...green light...red light!

 What the heck are you guys doing?

FIRST SNOW OF THE SEASON

NEW LIGHTS

This trailer came with hideous lights. Luckily, we brought several ceiling fans with us, and found some cheap "boob" lights at Lowes to replace the porcupine ball lights everywhere else.

This was the nasty living room fan, complete with mirrors on the ceiling. Hmmm...reminds me of our wedding night suite at Ashland Hills Inn.

Ahhh....much better. Simple. Understated. And no mirrors. We had to leave the big strip for fear that we'd have to patch the dumb popcorn ceiling if we took it down. Painting it white helped it to disappear.

This is the dining room fan, complete with years of dust and a nasty used tissue on top.

I like a real chandelier in a dining room...and this one was cheap!

The kitchen sink had an off-center porcupine light, so we put up a pendant and centered it with a hook. This shade was the only one I could afford at the time (obviously too short for the bulb).

I later upgraded the shade to this.

The bathroom Hy and I use had a porcupine light also. It was the last of the prickly lights to go.

We put a pendant here also since the light was in the ceiling rather than on the wall.

I'm dying to replace the lights in the master bathroom, or at least paint the gold bits silver, but they'll have to wait.