Merry Christmas to All & to All a Good Traditional Night

Happy to say that even though we broke tradition we finally got our tree on Christmas Eve after am haircuts & of course, the boys voted for flocked version...Although Chris hadn't seen one since his grandma's house back in the day, we indulged 'cuz we thought it was appropriate considering our recent weather & anyway half-price that late in the game:) I thought our helpers @ Tacoma Boys secured sufficiently but ended up being quite the adventure to just drive back on 2 streets without dumping it on side of road en route:)












We then divided & conquered for our traditional movie with Shaw side; adults saw 4 Christmases, cousins chose Tale of Desperaux-sp? but boys & I opted for Bolt while dad finished last-minute shopping (incl. trek to UPS distrib. ctr. in Fife to no avail for late shipment of football gear for boys...ugh!) He made a valiant effort though for boys' sake even though they knew it was from dad vs. Santa & grabbed his traditional gift o' perfume for me:)-thanks babe! He made it back in time for traditional prime rib, etc. as well as everyone's fav tradition of chimes (best part is listening to my dad as chorister 'cuz he takes so seriously:))














Also did traditional white elephant gift exchange courtesy of my aunt's reading of "T'was the Night Before Christmas" (you know where you pass to left with every "the" & back to right with every "and"). Folks from Raymond had to head back before it got too late-especially considering road conditions, so it was kinda marathon version but we did it! Luke was not amused with his Christmas jammies, but he looked like a jolly old elf & we laughed when we saw him in spite of ourselves:)! That's what he gets for having a blowout in clothing earlier that day:) He is pictured with my cousin's wife Nadia who spent her first holidays in states!
















Then we went back to Puyallup to actually light & decorate the tree-not to fear! I didn't let my OCD get the best of me on this traditional duty, so settled for 2 looser strands vs. neatly woven 10:) Boys fell asleep in car on way home so they missed out on helping us adorn the tannenbaum but I guess it made Christmas morning more magical for them...For the record, I don't recomm flocked trees with our type o' random but sentimental ornaments & nightmare to vaccuum, but hey! Anyone who went anywhere near it came away flocked as well-Cole was very patient with sleepy parents who didn't make it to bed until 4A. Thus, he had to wait for over an hour for us to feed baby, open eyes & arise not to mention get cameras situated-better luck next year! But also turned into a tradition unfortunately!

Funny story re: Cole's gift to Dane=large pen 'cuz he knew his bro has gotten really into drawings lately. Only problem is he went to Kid Shoppe @ elem. school when I wasn't volunteering & whoever helped him didn't point out that his choice said "Super Sister"instead-oops!:) Mom's tradition of printed corrections paid off & gender was switched with black marker in no time...Santa was very good to us this year as is tradition...












Basically it required 2 whole days to assemble their lego sets & bionicles partially due to preoccupation with new xbox-thanks Grandpa/ma Parker for starting daily tradition!














Here are their ornaments for which I modified tradition and let 'em pick out their own:














Dane was all about the candy in his stocking & especially liked the Rudolph sucker that Father Chris-tmas picked up on traditional late-night Christmas Eve run to Walgreen's:)
















Grandpa Gar, Grandma Neecy & Aunts Cait, Brooke & Britt + Uncle Lance came out bearing even more gifts that afternoon-thanks again for maintaining that new tradition! Wasn't quite the same without the Uffens though who decided to stay in Las Vegas:( Let's change that tradition:)

















Then we made our traditional pilgrimage to Amy's (Chris' sister) on Christmas night for another round o' Rock Band (Santa brought them newer version that had one o' boys' favs=Eye of the Tiger:)and we are grateful that we never leave there empty-handed either (although we don't expect it, of course...)All in all, we were grateful that while much was done later than our preference, we enjoyed that time together and made memorable for the boys! T'is truly better to give than receive on Jesus' birthday; however, easiest then than of all days to realize how much we've been given too & our 3 sons are some of our greatest gifts not to mention rest of you fabulous family & friends!

Our Snowmen:)

I thought we were for sure the last to post re: snowfall in WA but lo & behold! It's still coming down...t'was nice to have a few extra days of vacation (until they have to make up for it June!!) as well as a white Christmas; however, not a fan of driving in it-ugh! My boys were anxious to get out & play as soon as the first flake fell on Sun. (12/14). Tried to make an object lesson on faith for them to refrain until after school on Mon., but they negotiated for a half hour between their friends' Christmas program & our Church (sorry not the best quality pic below). You can tell we're not used to this weather in WA 'cuz we don't have snow clothes per se, just lots o' layers...don't worry! I did invest in new rain boots pre-Christmas 'cuz I had thrown away their older pairs when they died last month:)Sure enough, it was melting through Weds. but they still managed to have a good time in the slush @ Hills' (see pic in header before they really got soggy).
It was easy to say "and since we've no place to go, let it snow!" last week so we were bound & determined to make a snowman despite the lack of packing ability in the beg. Here's our first attempt=more like a wedding cake, but notice the quality dried hydrangea earmuffs:)=ode to Rose Bowl Parade, eh?Apparently we didn't capture the boys' next & more successful attempt courtesy of kind aunts & their friends who took 'em out over & over again when mom was frozen &/or busy with Luke, but here they are frolicking in the backyard:The highlight was definitely our time in the hot tub right in the middle of our winter wonderland:) Grandpa Gar (crazy guy in background) tried to get Cole & Dane to make a snow angels in just their swim shorts, but that was short-lived fun; crazy to see it look like rain by the time it reached the air above the hot tub!

I'm excited to be a Time Out for Women volunteer 3rd year in row! It will be held in Seattle next spring (Mar 13 & 14, 2009 to be exact) @ Benaroya Hall, so I skipped out on stage decor duties; however, part of my job description is to publicize like crazy so we can sell out again & make sure they come back to Great NoWest every year!! Thus I decided it was only fair to take care of that through the good ole' blog among other ways! May seem early to be talking about it, but you'd be wise to tell people that it's on your wish list for Christmas 'cuz you can get $10 off registration even without recruiting whole group for discount until Dec. 31st!! As usual, the speakers/musical talent should be great including return from Hilary Weeks, Ardeth Kapp, Jenny Oaks Baker, Emily Watts, Kris Belcher, Carolyn Rasmus and Kim Nelson!! 

This year the schedule is a bit different with basically a warm-up on Fri. night & full day on Sat. but all just for ladies vs. couples or even YW. You can come to one or the other OR enjoy both! Hope to see you there; it's always well worth it!

Happy B-day Chris!

The b-day boy enjoying breakfast o' Swedish Sweetmilks to start the day per his request & decked out in his new D.P. jammie pants from the boys:) who are also his favs! Toured a candy factory that afternoon, which made him feel like he was 12 instead o' 32, but he had fun whether he admits it or not!

I found a golden ticket!

I heard about Sweet's candy factory courtesy of my friend (from high school) Alisa Lee's blog so I can't take the credit for the idea. She had gone on a fieldtrip with her kids so I wanted to check it out when were in UT. What better day than Chris' birthday to have a tour & enjoy sweet samples? He felt like a kid again-esp when I called to say we'd be running late to our appt. but were hurrying fast to get there on last day o' trip & my husband's b-day:) He said "Did you add that he's turning 32 not 12?" Gotta love him:) I thought it was fascinating & deep down, he did too:) Unfortunately we couldn't take pics during tour amongst a whole lotta other rules that we tried to break (but prob wouldn't do funny experience justice to re-cap cell phone embezzlement & Staci's potential escorted departure:)-needless to say our tour guide was very patient), so just captured the moment afterwards in our cool caps-notice even Luke got to sport one & Chris had to have an extra one for his facial hair?!Good times! You'll have to take our word for it that the chocolate enrobing room & fresh taffy were worthwhile stops! Too bad we didn't see any umpa loompas though:( $20 later we brought a stash home with us to share with poor souls who didn't make it there-

Paige's Blessing