I'll Be Home For Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!  I hope everybody enjoyed the day, and that Santa showed up to your houses.  Cory and I just got back from my parent's house in Wyoming, where we spent the Christmas holiday.  It was a fun-filled four days with the family.  How is that for alliteration?  There were a lot of memories made, so let's get started with this post!  One of our first festive activities was decorating some giant gingerbread men.  Cory supervised as I concentrated on the icing.

Lacey and Rhiannon each made their own as well.  Rhiannon made sure to let us know numerous times that she was making a gingerbread girl, not a man.  Duly noted.

Not long after their creation, we consumed our men and girl.  It was actually more fun to make them than to eat them.  Successful first Christmas activity!!! 

On Monday we spent the morning at home, and my mom made my Grandma Wilma's tacos for dinner.  Cory even got in there and helped her out.  

After filling ourselves with tacos, we all headed to Cody to catch a movie.  We saw "Saving Mr. Banks" about Walt Disney and P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, and their relationship as the Disney movie Mary Poppins was created.  It was a good movie.  It wasn't quite as good as I thought it was going to be, especially with all the hype surrounding it, but I recommend it for people to go see.  Here we all are at Big Horn Cinemas.

The next day was Christmas Eve!  Chris, Lacey, and the kids were going to spend Christmas day with the Huhnkes, so we opened their presents a day early.  It was fun to see the kids opening up their presents.

Cory was looking very festive in her sweater.  

Before we actually got to present opening we played an intense round of Christmas charades.  Mom went all out in her Tiny Tim impression, and Dad was able to portray, "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!" in one smooth motion.  We have some legitimate acting talent in this family.

Ebin nailed the choir boy pose.  After opening presents, we headed to Wyoming's Rib & Chop House for some dinner.  Dad literally ate reindeer.  Poor Rudolph!

 We have been going to Rib & Chop on Christmas Eve for years now, and we have taken a picture on the street in front for just as long.  Here we are very full.  I was ready to just hit the hay for the night.  The sooner you go to sleep the sooner Santa comes, you know.

 We did not go to sleep, though.  How could we when we still had to perform our own version of the Nativity?  We haven't actually done this since I was a little kid, but its never too late to rekindle old traditions.  I was Joseph, and even though nobody actually had speaking parts, I felt like I made the role my own.  Cory was Mary, and a beautiful one at that.  Rhiannon was an angel/star of Bethlehem.  Lacey and Ebin were the wise men, and Chris was a shepherd, complete with miniature candy cane staff.  Also, my teddy bear from my childhood was the baby Jesus.

After the Nativity, the Huhnkes headed out, and Cory and I participated in that oldest of Christmas traditions: opening pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Santa came to our house!!!  Yes, even on my 25th Christmas, it is still fun and exciting to come out on Christmas morning.  Our new pajamas were warm, Piggy Pudding breakfast casserole was overflowing, and bed head was abundant as we gathered in the living room to open presents.

We had a great Christmas thanks to loving family members.  Here are a few pictures from the ensuing gift giving.

Growing up I hated getting clothes, now I don't mind it as much.

I also got some great books.  Here I am with Jeffrey R. Holland's book For Times of Trouble.  I can't wait to read what insights he has to share about the Psalms.

Cory got a nice purse, and she is looking good with it over her shoulder!

New ties!!!

I also gave Cory an initial necklace with the letter 'S' on it.  She said she wanted it, for the record.  I didn't spontaneously decide she needed to always be wearing my initial. 

Such a great Christmas, and it wasn't over yet!  We still had Christmas dinner, and under close supervision, I got my chef on!  Give me some oven mitts and I can do anything.

It was a very nice way to conclude our holiday trip.  Everything was delicious, and at my dad's request, Cory even made her Aunt Sue's green beans.  

It was a fantastic trip for Christmas.  There was entirely too much food, especially sweets, but we made a lot of great memories as a family, which is what it is all about.  Here are some videos from the trip.  Lacey insisted that we record Dad's reaction to his surprise gift from Mom.  So here he is on Christmas morning opening it up.

I got a new harmonica in my stocking, and a beginner's book so I can attempt to teach myself how to play it.  Here I am in a very amateur performance of Jingle Bells.  Enjoy!  Notice my mother's unconditional support at the end of my playing.

Merry Christmas, everybody!  We are looking forward to 2014!

The Lights at Temple Square

After I took my last final exam of the semester, Cory and I headed to Salt Lake City for some food at Red Iguana, and to look at the lights at Temple Square.  It was pretty packed, but fun nonetheless.  It was also bitterly cold, but it didn't seem that bad when you have THIS HOT MAMA WITH YOU!!!

Look how cute she is.

Merry Christmas, everybody!  We jump on a plane for Wyoming in two days!

MTC Update

So things have been busy at the MTC over the last little while.  I've taught three more districts of spectacular missionaries.  

L to R Back: Elder Swenson, Elder Adair, Bro. Farnsworth, Me, Elder Southwick, Elder Belliston
Front: Elder Bateman, Elder Ballard, Elder Black, Elder Oyler

L to R: Sister Lyman, Sister Jenkins, Sister Breen, Sister Sadler, Me, Elder Riddle, Elder Christensen, Elder White, Elder Painter

L to R: Elder Hamblin, Sister Ma'alona, Sister Tindall, Me, Sister Dalebout, Sister Davis, Elder Meyer, Bro. Farnsworth, Elder Schmitt (kneeling)

So in addition to teaching my districts, one of my close friends from when I lived in Lufkin, TX came into the MTC.  Elder Gabe Hendrickson is heading to Brazil, so I had to venture into Portuguese-land to find him.  It actually wasn't hard.  He is on the 5th floor of the building I teach in.  It was fun to see him.

Totally Yuletide

This is probably one of the funnier moments in Christmas movie history.  I laugh every time she says, "What? You hated it?"  Anyway, Christmas time is here, and with the semester winding down and finals fast approaching, taking some time to decorate the apartment was just what we needed.  It is one of the busiest times of year for Cory at work, too.  Even though we aren't spending Christmas day in the apartment, we still wanted to enjoy some Christmas spirit while at home this month.  

Give Thanks!!!

We spent Thanksgiving with Cory's side of the family in a nice log cabin in Victor, Idaho.  Buzz worked really hard to put it all together so we could have a great family get-away.  Let's just say that there was a whole lotta this going on...

But seriously, this trip was just what we needed.  I needed to be able to lounge around for a few days.  Of course, Thanksgiving dinner was an all day affair.  People were in and out of the kitchen all day getting ready.  Everyone contributed (some more than others).  Jake made some good funeral potatoes.  Here I am pretending to coach him in the kitchen.

In reality, I didn't have time to be coaching Jake, because I was trying to add any last splashes and pinches of flavor to my homemade applesauce.

Every once in a while we took some breaks for kissing, or pretending to ice skate on the hardwood floor in our socks.  I enjoyed both activities.

Finally dinner was done.  It was super delicious, and it was nice as we went around the table to hear some of the many things that we were grateful for in our lives.

As a tradition in my family, we leave a Christmas ornament on each other's plates to open before we dig in to the turkey dinner.  Cory and I kept the tradition alive.  She got me a Daisy and Donald Duck ornament, since those are our absolute favorite Disney characters.  I got her a Rescuers ornament with Bianca and Bernard hanging onto a big diamond.  We didn't plan on both getting Disney ornaments, but that's life.

Buzz also made the week fun by giving Hanukkah gifts each night we were there.  The first night she came out with LED Headlights for everyone.  It was awesome.  Jake and I immediately put them to use trying to start a fire in the fire pit outside, which took us longer than I would like to admit.  I also used it anytime I went downstairs and the light wasn't on.

On Friday we headed out to Jackson, formerly known as Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It was just a quick trip through a mountain pass.  They were having a Christmas program in the town square, complete with Salvation Army marching band and hippie MC that kept giving us updates on where Santa was relative to Jackson.  

We also spent some time walking around the shops around town.  Jake and I tried on some hats, as you can see.  Ironically, about 12 seconds after this picture was taken, a store clerk came over and told us no pictures were allowed in the store.  There was a sign right behind me the whole time.  Awkward.

So all in all it was a fantastic Thanksgiving break.  Only two more weeks of school left, and then final exams!  Can we just fast forward to Christmas?

How 'Bout Them Apples?

With the Thanksgiving holiday on the way, and us heading to Idaho to spend it with Cory's family, I decided to contribute something to the dinner.  In my family, home-made applesauce is a staple food during the holidays.  My grandma Sherry and my mom always made it, and it became my favorite food at holiday dinners.  They even started making it for my birthday.  So, with all that nostalgic memory bursting from my heart, I made the decision to follow in the footsteps of  those special women.

When I told Cory what I was thinking of doing, she supported me 100%.  Also, Cory understands that I am challenged in the kitchen.  Those two things led to her suggestion of heading to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to obtain an apple peeler.  The thing looked like a medieval torture device, which intrigued me.  With Cory gone at work, I started to peel.  It actually was very fast and efficient.  I think it literally saved me hours of hard labor.

With all the apples peeled I started to cook them on the stove.  At this point my anxiety levels were through the roof.  In most arenas in life, I am very calm.  In the kitchen, I am not.  I think I may be too detail oriented.  When my mom was giving me the recipe over the phone she kept saying things like, " a splash of..." or "a generous amount of..."  Those terms mean nothing to me.  How much is a splash?  Anyway, at every step I am paranoid that I have ruined the whole thing.  (Keep in mind that I literally ask Cory how long to microwave a cold piece of pizza.  Seriously.  I am incapable of punching in numbers until she tells me how long.)  In the end, though, I think it turned out alright.  Mine was definitely chunkier than my mother's version, though, and it was a little more tart.  I don't think I splashed it enough.

The finished product!

Anna's Swan Song

The Swan song is a metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement.  That is what Wikipedia says.

Anna isn't about to die, hopefully, but she did give her final performance as a part of BYU's DancEnsemble this semester.  Buzz, Sarah, and Grandma Pladsen all came down for the weekend.  It was great to see them and make some memories.  Here we are on the second and final night of shows.  Sarah had already gone home.

I know the traditional thing to do is have a bouquet of flowers for the performer, but Buzz and Jake had that covered.  Plus, a five pound bag of gummy worms sends the same message.

So as part of her final performance, Anna not only performed in the show, but also choreographed some of the dances.  I can only offer my perspective as the brother-in-law that has only been to three performances, but I'm pretty sure it was a masterpiece.  

After the show we had some quality family time eating some enchiladas.  

The enchiladas almost tasted as good as Cory looks in this picture...yum...

We Dressed Up!

Cory and I attended the Annual Anderson Halloween Dinner this year once again.  It was basically a pot-luck style party where people brought "spooky food".  Here is what Cory made!

Here we have pumpkin vomit (guacamole) and fried bat wings (blue corn tortilla chips).  She carved a little jack-o-lantern face out of an orange bell pepper for the pumpkin.  It was a hit.

She also made some great Halloween cupcakes.  Cory really shines when it comes to parties.  She knows what the people want!  We also dressed up in some awesome costumes.

Kyle was a pretty impressive Fix-It Felix, and I was an old man.

Here is some of the old gang, back together in all our glory.  I made it a point to never smile in any picture.  I thought it added to the costume.  Cory went as my granddaughter.  I don't know why everyone thought that was weird.  Halloween is supposed to be a time where we can be something we aren't.  I guess people just can't get into the Halloween spirit.  

Just Another Night at Home

Every once in a while we get a little bit crazy at home.