Time Lapse Revisited

I know, I know, it's been a while, AGAIN. But I really am going to try to keep up the posts from here on out. Incidentally, we've been plenty busy since the start of the year. Things that would probably have made for interesting blogging, if I could've mustered up the brain-power to document them. Like when our family Jeep was hit by a left turning truck WHILE MOTIONLESS IN OUR DRIVEWAY and the less-than-lucid Ogden PD we called wrote us a citation for a "backing violation". Um, hello, does the term "stationary vehicle" mean anything? Needless to say we are appealing that one, we might even have a chance since she filled out almost HALF of the paperwork incorrectly. Also we lost hot water for about a week after the valve leading to the roof evap. cooler corroded and gave us a lovely high water bill. Of course, I was under the impression that this particular line had been drained, lucky me I got to find out different right in the middle of an ice storm. Directly after solving that little dilemma, our wall oven decided to call it quits, and it took 2 weeks to get someone out to repair the faulty wiring on it. I am guilt-ridden over the amount of takeout I ate in that time period. Now that we can bake again, we are facing yet another plumbing problem in the form of an overflowing basement drain, which appears to be directly linked to the kitchen sink. Nothing else in the house is affected, so I will be taking apart the basement ceiling/walls of the target area in an attempt to locate the problem. I have to now anyway, because it appears to be causing mold damage (yuck!). In between all of this, our little family has managed to survive the cold/flu season relatively intact, and we are heading for the local gym every chance we get. The boys are thrilled with the child care center, and a few hours a day w/o kids is a nice reprieve for me. Even if I have to make an effort to get fit during that time. And now that the end of winter is finally in sight, we are getting ready to start seeds in the kitchen nook, which gets the most reliable sun. When we have something more interesting than a couple of trays of potting soil to look at, I'll be sure to put up pics. Here's looking forward to spring!

Had Ourselves A Merry Little Christmas

Season's Greetings! I know it's been ages, and honestly I have no other excuse for not posting than "it's the holidays", which does sound pretty lame. But I really have been busy with other things, namely: taking small boys sledding, baking, cleaning like crazy for all those non-existent guests that just might show up unannounced over the weekend, decorating for Christmas, soapmaking, ornament making, still more cleaning, visiting relatives, observing Advent, and the tireless creation of more than 20 unique knit hats. I thought I would never finish those in time, to tell the truth. Now that all that's past, I can try to catch you up on our seasonal celebrations through pictures. Here we go!I did some Thanksgiving baking (mmm, pink lady apples make the best pie!)And we saw the lights display at Layton City Park G tried valiantly to watch the Ogden Christmas Parade over the heads of big people (some of whom were less than kindly)We took a break from the cold to see the fabulously free Christmas Tree Jubilee at the Eccles Center (this was my favorite, duh)A was enthralled by the miniature version of Union Station (complete with running train) at the Ogden Christmas VillageWhile G loved the polar bear tea with disco ballAnd we got to take our Christmas card photo in the snow for the first timeAt our church Advent craft fair, A got to be creative painting popsicle stick snowmenG made a paint-splatter glass ornament (horrors!) The new kitten, Fafnir, ogled the crap out of our upstairs Christmas treeWhich was almost as tall as our 9' ceilingsI got to decorate our very own mantel (another first)We got a little snow....Which turned into a lot of snow, and led to us being housebound for Christmas Eve dinnerLuckily I had chocolate cheesecake and blueberry port to console me I took a glamour shot of the tree (with a little help from our friend Vaseline)Then I turned on The Flying W Wranglers "A Cowboy Christmas"And the boys engaged in some festive dancingWe went outside to see the fresh snowAfter which everyone got verrrry sleepyChristmas morning dawned frosty and beautifulSanta had delivered lots of goodiesThe cats were a bit cranky about us opening what they felt were THEIR presentsThey did calm down after receiving homemade cat toys The wrapping carnage got pretty scaryAnd ungodly amounts of candy were consumedSome of us snuck away to sleep before....We headed off to Grandma's house for more gift-giving!And lots of affectionate exchangesPoor Sheila cowered in hopes that we would finish cluttering up her houseA discovered his 2 foot tall penguin made a good chairLater we took a few runs on the nearby sledding hillAnd A refused to sled with anyone but me (awww)
Christmas Day ended with a classic Wasatch Front sunset