Fourth of July = almost Christmas

Doesn't it feel like it was just Christmas?! Well, we're actually closer to Christmas 2009 than we are last Christmas. Crazy!

This is actually just a quick post to muse on how quickly time goes by. My mom and I were talking over the Independence Day weekend about how by the time the Fourth rolls around the rest of the Summer zips by - followed by a quick and busy fall and before you know it we are starting (and ending) a new holiday season.

So before I wish you a Merry Christmas, I encourage everyone to find ways to soak up the now and do what you can to live in the present.

Bowl Season Over

So, seeing as I don't have TV, I have to admit to not having actually watched a single bowl game. I keep up with a lot of college football by reading about it online the day or two after. If I really care about the game, I might have ESPN real-time game-tracker on the computer and check the score now and again. Here are some of the highlights (for me at least):

• BYU lost to Arizona in the Las Vegas Bowl
• TCU pulled off a slim victory over Boise State
• leaving Utah the only undefeated in the country (and national champion) with their win over Alabama
• the Sooners should have won last night and I would have been the winner of the family Bowl Pick 'em Game
  

and while it is no bowl-season news... BYU will be playing Oklahoma in the Dallas Cowboys brand-new, huge stadium for their season opener next season. We have to hope that BYU doesn't humiliate themselves too much...

So, until another college football season...

I am not the master of anything. I have always dabbled in too many things. My goal for this year is honing my skills at one or two things and not be going in so many directions. I am concentrating on my drawing skills with led pencils.I got some for Christmas. I am getting rid of some of my stamping stuff. Not all of it but if I haven't used it since I have been in her it is history.
BEV and I are reading the Doctrine and Covenants and studying too. this is our 3rd time but we are still being edified by reading it.
I am working on my clutter issues. It is important when I am is such a small space.

STAND IN HOLY PLACES

KEEP THE FAITH

FEAR NOT

lOVE MOTHER, GRANDMA MAARILYN AND mARILYN

Addition

I should have said I am picking up my Russian reading where I left off a few years ago. I've had War and Peace and Anna Karinna sitting on my shelf for 15 years now and just haven't got around to opening them.

I've read "A day in the life of Ivan" and "the Gulag Archipelego" and "Crime and Punishment" and "Fathers and sons"? and some Pushkin. I've studied Russian history and Russian art and culture and some literature. And I've taken 2 semesters of Russian in college so I have a smidgen of Russian language - and of course, we live surrounded by Russians. I think personally knowing the Russians has helped to understand the things that I have studied. So I appreciate the warnings about "War and Peace" but unfortunately, it is time for me to dig in and tackel Tolstoy. I actually like what I have read of his before. I'm not that big of fan of Pushkin, but I don't like poetry, so that probably contributes to that.

Challenge for 2009

We come from a very intelligent family. I think sometimes the frustrations we face in life come from boredom and a lack of intellectual challenge in our lives.

So here is my challenge to each of us this year: Pick a subject and focus on mastering it.

(I'm still working on collage and altered books in my art life and I also plan to attack the Russians in my reading - I'm starting with War and Peace. Spiritually, I am looking to attack the writings of Isaiah. They totally mystify me - no, that's not accurate, they CONFUSE ME and I just don't get them ! ! !)

SO : What talent will you work to improve?

What book will you read next?

What subject will you conquer?

NY Day celebration

We had our friends Dick and Greg over to have our goodluck meal of blackeyed peas (cooked this year as a bean soup sort of dish with sausage, beef broth, lots of garlic and thyme) and home-grown mustard greens and red kale. It was yummy. Susan made cornbread.
Then we all went together to see Milk, a very good but sad movie. Sean Penn was astonishing.

Now our celebrations are over and we are working on our end of year accounting. Oh joy.

Love to you all and best in the new year, Sandra and Susan

Happy Day

Happy New Years everyone!
We love you all. Alicia & Justin

Sledding Pictures

I am eventually going to upload our sledding pictures to our blog - but figured you might want to see them. Check out this link here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=11964&l=94547&id=1352962459

Pictures of our Christmas festivities

Christmas Eve:

For the last several years we have spent Christmas Eve with our good friends the Springers. They like to be home for Christmas so we have made a tradition of having dinner together the night before. We have stuck with my family's Mexican dinner theme and had different tasty Mexican meals over the years. This year we had our own Cafe Rio type burritos, chips and dips from Chili's, and peppermint pie for dessert. I also made these for the kids to eat for dessert (they were so messy though that I didn't take a picture....it was too embarrassing).

In the past we have had a pinata - but we decided to skip it this year. Cory always spends SOOOO much money filling the pinata (last year it was FULL of chocolate!) and we all eat way too much. So this year we decided to skip it. I was a bit sad as we've done a pinata every year since I was little. Then we let the kids open a present - our boys got jammies. It was late so we drove around to see a few Christmas lights and came home. The boys got in their new jammies and got to open another present. The last couple of years I've been adding to our Christmas book collection. I want to give them a nice Christmas book each year with their new jammies. But this year, as with most everything, we cut back a little and I just got them little books from Walmart. They didn't know the difference and had fun with it. We made Santa up a plate of goodies and wrote him a letter - you'll have to read the letter - it's word for word what Gabe told me to write. Then after reading the Christmas story (Gabe loves the fact that the angel that visited Mary is named Gabriel - he thinks that is pretty great) we tucked the kids in bed and got busy with Santa stuff.





Christmas Morning:

Cory is just like a little kid with Christmas morning. Anytime after 6:00 am is fair game. So I think around 7:30 we were up and at it. When Gabe came out he was a bit disappointed that Santa didn't bring him the Geotrax stuff he wanted - but he got over that pretty quickly when he saw all of the cherry candycanes Santa brought! We always have our stockings first, check out the tree and what Santa brought. Then we'll take a break for breakfast before we do more presents. This year we made cinnamon rolls (from a can - blasphemous huh Tammy?) - but Cory was in charge of them, and they didn't quite get cooked enough.....but we ate them and some cheesy scrambled eggs. After breakfast it was time for presents. Gabe had a ball this year and was much more into it than ever before. We tried to stretch it out (since we didn't have any other plans for the day or people to visit) - but we got done pretty quickly. The boys loved their presents and my favorite thing to hear was when Gabe would open something and yell, "That is exactly what I've always wanted!!!" Gabe was pretty sure that he was going to get a Geotrax Barn and when he opened that very last he was thrilled that he got everything he asked for.

We snacked on food during the day, took it easy, cleaned up (Cory likes all of the Christmas goodies put away immediately), talked to family on the phone, watched a few movies and just hung out. It was a really kicked back and relaxing day - and we loved it. We missed seeing family more than normal, but we felt their love and know that another year we can spend together.

My traditional pre new-years festivities

It's 12:50AM, I just got home of the last BART train from the city. I went with my SIL Linda and nephew Dan to a Phil Lesh and Friends/Bob Wier and Ratdogs double concert. It reminds me of all those pre-New Year shows for the Grateful Dead for years and years. It's easier now--the venues are smaller, and the crowds are smaller, and you don't have to stand on line for so long in the cold. But it's still fun. Susan is always relieved when I find someone else to go with--it's too loud and noisy and crowded for her. But I love it. I love the music, the songs, the mellow crowd, the sense of hope and joy that I always get. It's painful to leave when they will probably play music for another hour, but that's the price of taking BART instead of hassling with driving and parking. Good choice, but painful.

Then tomorrow we will go to our annual brunch with a group of friends, and then we stay home on NYEve usually.

May the new year bring each of you renewed dreams, new love and wisdom, and many many moments of joy. Love to you, Sandra

I am still enjoying all my Christmas gifts, letters and those of you I got to hug.The 12 days of Christmas were so much fun. Knowing you guys, I half expected a Partridge in a pear tree to show up. I had a blast with the antlers. All my friends are anticipating New Years eve noise makers.

I thank each and every one for your thoughtfulness as each gift was just the right one.The gift certificates and cash are wonderful too as it gives me choices.

The photos I love too as they keep me cheerful and feeling warm hearted. Phone calls all added to a great Christmas.

I have never seen so much cold and snow as we have this year. I was feeling down about the cold and snow and remembered I would go to temple square and under neath the snow were pansies just waiting for the snow to leave so they could do their thing.

lOVE GRANDMA MARILYN