Frustrated

I am so frustrated. My computer has a terrible virus, and I can't do anything on it. We are working on cleaning it up, but it won't let us go to any websites that have anti-virus software or open anything on the CD drive that has antivirus software. Not even in safe mode. So we are going to have to reformat our hard drive, and start over. So there will be no fun pictures of Christmas, or New Years. I think I would rather have the virus than my computer.....goodbye until it's fixed...

Utah State Flag

Apparently back in October, when Amber's 4th grade class was studying government, Amber asked why the school only has a US flag, and not a Utah one also. She asked if she could write a letter to Roy's representative to see if he could get them one. Well, she proceeded to write the following letter to him...

Dear Rep. Greenwood,

Mrs. Becraft's fourth grade class, and especially me would like to get our school a state flag and I was wondering if you could get us one. We would appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Amber Simmons

When I read the letter, I thought that was all there was to it. I thought that Mrs. Becraft asked all of the kids to write a letter. I was wrong. Today, Representative Greenwood came to the school to present a flag to Amber to give to the school.

He talked to them about what the different things on the state flag represent.

With the flag, she got a certificate of authenticity, that included the flag's serial number. It also stated that the flag was flown over the State Capitol Building on Dec 5th, 2008, and it was signed by Gov. Huntsman, and Lieutenant Gov., Gary Herbert. (Hmm, can't get that one the right way, and I don't have time to fight with it) She gets to keep the certificate.
And then he gave Amber the flag. They had planned to go put it out on the flagpole to fly it today, but they weren't able to get the clips to do that yet.

This is Amber with her Teacher, Mrs. Becraft, and Representative Greenwood.

Pretty cool Amber, what a good idea to ask our local representative for a flag!

Solo

I completely forgot about blogging about Amber's solo in church on Sunday. I guess that is because there are no pictures, video, recordings etc., of it;. Our ward primary does a Sacrament meeting program at Christmas every year, and Amber was asked to do a solo singing "Who Is the Child." She did an amazing job, I wish I had a recording of it. I was so proud of her!

Christmas Tag

I've been tagged by Heidi...

Christmas Tag!

Wrapping paper or gift bags? Some of both, it is too easy to peak in gift bags.
Real tree or artificial? Artificial.
When do you put up your tree? The 1st weekend in December, if the kids rooms are clean (am I mean?)
When do you take your tree down? At least by New Years Eve, my house is too small to have extra clutter after the gifts are opened.
Do you like eggnog? Yes, but only the Cream O Weber one that is red with a cow dressed like Santa on it!
Favorite gift as a child? ??
Do you have a nativity scene? Yup, 4 of them.
Hardest person to buy for? My Dad.
Easiest person to buy for? Zak
Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? I never do Christmas cards, but I have them already to mail out this year!
Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Luggage my senior year of High school...I wanted a nice stereo, but my little sister got that, I had to stick with the clock radio (love the parents when they are getting you ready to move on!)
Favorite Christmas movie? Polar Express
Have you ever recycled a gift? Yes, but not a Christmas gift, ...I don't think.
Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? Orange flavored fondant dipped in chocolate.
Clear or colored lights on the tree? I wrap the center with colored lights, and do the branches with white.
Clear or colored lights on the house? I only got my husband to put up lights once, but they were definitely white.
Favorite Christmas song? It Could Happen Again - Collin Raye
Travel @ Christmas time or stay home? Stay Home
Can you name all Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph- I'm such a nerd.
Open presents on Christmas eve or Christmas day? Christmas day.
Most annoying thing about this time of year? Wound up kids.
Favorite ornament theme or color? You should see my tree, a little of EVERYTHING.
What do you want for Christmas this year? A remote for my camera, and kids that are nice to each other, not fighting.
What is your favorite Christmas memory? ???

I tag...hmmm, so few people read my blog that have blogs of their own.....Deena, & Amy J!

Merry Christmas!

Get Gephardt

I think I would rather not see myself on TV again, but for all of your viewing pleasure, here it is.

Our trip to Temple Square

Well tonight we decided to make our annual pilgrimage to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. We didn't even make it to the Antelope Drive exit in Layton before the fun began. We were driving down the second lane of traffic (right at 5:00 rush hour) minding our own business, when the guy next to us decided to change lanes at 70 miles an hour. He hit us right on my door, and then immediately, he moved back over into the lane he had come from, and hit the car that he was trying to pass the same way. He was really driving very wrecklessly if you ask me, he was already on the side of the other car before he even got all the way into our lane.


The accident dented and scratched both doors on the passenger side of Brian's CRV, as well as the rear panel.

It smashed the door handle right into the door. Funny thing is, it didn't tear it off. It is still there, just inoperable now.
And this is the car of the other innocent driver. She just had a baby 5 days ago, so fortunately, the baby wasn't with her.
This is the car that hit us. Both of his side mirrors were torn off and scratches and dents all the way down both sides of his car.
The other side of his car.

Fortunately, no one was hurt. After a few minutes, I started realizing that I must have hit my elbow pretty hard, and bumped my head on the window, but nothing that was serious. Amber was pretty shaken up, and really worried about everyone, but after about 20 minutes, she settled down and realized everything and everyone was going to be OK.

Eventually, we did make it to Temple Square 1 1/2 hours after we had planned, but all in one piece.

I love the luminaries, they are so pretty, and I love that they depict Christmas as it is observed all over the world.

Zak said that this was the Hershey's Kiss nativity, I loved it.

This is just the bubbly fountain with the lights in the background. Different.

And this is from the top of the Joseph Smith Building, there is some reflection from the window, but I kind of like the way that it looks.

We had a great time, and were very blessed to have made it to Salt Lake and back safely.

Dirty Dishes

OK, so I am the only parent on the face of the earth that makes their 9-year old help with dishes, I understand that, but I only do it because it is so entertaining. As I type this, Amber is in the kitchen whining, and slamming things around as much as she can get away with without me totally losing it. She asked the other day why she has to do the dishes when they are gross, and why I don't do them (now it was only breakfast and lunch dishes in the sink, and at our house that is never very much). So I questioned why I should have to do them when they are gross. Her response was hilarious...."because you're used to it"!!! I have been trying without success to get my kids to rinse off their dishes as they take them to the sink, and have had no success. I figure if she thinks it is so gross, eventually she will start doing it and encourage Les to do it too.

Please let me know that none of you encourage your kids to help around the house so that I can assure Amber that she is the only one who has to help out, and that I am the meanest mom alive. Thanks!

Bowling

Thursday, I went bowling with the 4th graders. It was lots of fun for some, and not so fun for others. This is Amber.
Many of the kids were frustrated with ball after ball of gutter balls. some improved and some didn't. Others were being coached and didn't appreciate it at all. Amber's teacher was kind enough to let me and Zak bowl, but she found a place to get in and take a few turns. Thanks.

This is a few of Amber's classmates. I think they had a great time!

Get Gephardt

Well today, the crew from channel 2 News Get Gephardt segment stopped by our house to do an interview. I have been getting some phone calls that are rather obnoxious that I e-mailed them about, and it turns out it is a scam to steal identities. Apparently, several people have contacted Bill Gephardt about this, and they are doing a story about it. Les was really hopefull that Mary Nickel would stop by, but I assured him that she wouldn't be here, and I didn't think that Gephardt would be either. I was right. It was just the camera girl, Shirsty, and the interviewer, Matt (I think).
They took a picture of us being 2 News reporters....I look awful, that is why I like to be behind the camera... I almost went to get Les from school to meet them, he loves the 2 News morning crew, but I decided not to. I'm glad I didn't. They were very nice people, but not the ones that Les knows from watching the news.

Stone Soup

Yesterday was soup day at Zak's preschool. Each child invited one adult to come with them. The whole day was based around the story of Stone Soup, and Thanksgiving.

They started out singing their welcome song, and then sang a Thanksgiving song:

Oh, I'm glad I'm not a turkey, a turkey, a turkey,

Oh, I'm glad I'm not a turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

They'll bake you and baste you, and then they will taste you,

Oh, I'm glad I'm not a turkey on Thanksgiving Day.

(Okay, why does this program double space sometimes, and you can't change it to single space?)

Then they did the Pledge of Allegiance.

And counted the days of the month to 24.

Thier Thanksgiving poem said:
A turkey is a funny bird
It's head goes wobble, wobble.
He only knows one single word
Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

Then they acted out the story of Stone Soup. It was so cute, and they did such a good job.

Then they made turkeys, and the feathers said the things that they were thankful for. And then we had soup to eat and healthy snacks that the kids all brought to share. It was fun to see a little bit of the things that they do in pre-school.

Thanks for inviting me Zak.

Fondant Part 2

Well, Brian just finished turning the fondant, and we split it to make cherry chocolates, and oranges.

We roll the fondant into balls to prepare it for dipping

In a few days, we will dip them. The oranges are my favorite, but there is nothing like oranges dipped in milk chocolate. It is one of my favorite things about Christmas. I can't wait

Making Fondant

Brian is in the kitchen right now making Christmas candies with the kids. He is teaching them some of the science of how it is made, and letting them have a try turning it. You can tell that they have watched him do it many times.

Zak and

Les had to climb up on the counter to get the leverage.

They love to help make the candy, and I am so glad that Brian lets them. He was just telling the kids that he never got to help his dad do it. The first time he got to even touch the Christmas candy while it was being made was when we started doing it ourselves.
We are so grateful that his dad took the time to teach us and pass on this tradition before he passed away.

Turkey Trot

Today our family went to Smithfield to do a Turkey Trot 5k with some friends. All of us but Zak raced, and he told me that he was exhausted from the ride!

Les stuck with me the whole time and finished in about 40 minutes, but he took 3rd place in his age group. He ran almost 2 full miles of the race, and walked with me on the two big hills.

Amber ran the whole way and Brian held back with her. She finished in 29 minutes, and came in seventh in her age division. I though that was pretty good since her age division went up to 14 years old.
I realize now, that I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was. The treadmill doesn't have any hills at all, and these roads were definitely not flat (it wasn't that bad, except 2 good hills, but since I am used to a treadmill, I sure noticed it.) Oh well, I'll do better in the spring.

The kids are amazing racers, and they are getting their daddy's bug early. Good job guys!

Chocolate!!

Last week, I spent Wednesday night teaching the ladies in our ward how to make fondant. We made cherry chocolates, orange dipped chocolates, truffles, almond dipped fondants, unflavored dipped fondant, fondant fudge, and penuche.


I usually don't start this process until after Thanksgiving, but this year we started a few weeks early for this.

Now I want to go to the Chocolate Show on Friday and learn how to do it better, and get a few answers to some questions that I have had over the years. So I am wondering, does anyone want to go with me?? I would have to go early in the day, and be back by the time school gets out. Let me know!

WOW, What a Night!

What a night we had last night!! The kids knew that we had some kind of plan, but they didn't know what. We pretended that we weren't sure what we were doing either. At about 4:45, we suggested that we take the new train into Salt Lake. We hadn't done that yet, and the kids keep asking when we will. When we got there, we suggested that before we decide what to do, lets go see if there are any Disney characters out in front of the Energy Solutions Arena to meet from the Disney on Ice 100 Years of Magic. When we got there, of course there were no characters out front so we decided to go look in the windows to see if we could see any. When we got up to the door, the lady said come on in!!! the kids thought that we were getting in without tickets! They were so excited that they didn't realize that Brian was showing the tickets to the other man at the door. It turned out perfect, and the lady didn't even know she was helping out our plan. It was SO fun.

On the train!

Jesse from Toy story.

It's a small world.

Mulan.

Lion King

The stars of the show, of course, Mickey and Minnie

Beauty and the Beast

The Mickey Mouse Club band and Jimminy Cricket

The fairy from Peter Pan

All of the princesses with their princes.

I don't think that the boys blinked the whole show. They were mesmerized. It really was a great show, and I think the kids were perfect ages to go. They really enjoyed every part of it, and it had so much in for the boys, (unlike Princesses on Ice) that Les enjoyed it all too. It really was a good show. And a fun night to treat the kids to with such a fun surprise!

Reflections

This year Amber and Les entered the PTA Reflections contest at school. Amber entered 3 different categories, and Les entered 2.

The awards were given last night, and Les came away with a first and a second place. The theme this year was WOW!, which really made it easy to fit almost anything into a category somehow.

This is the robot that Les made of recycled things from around the house. It was quite and adventure to get to this final product, but WOW is all I can think of to say about it. With his robot, he took first place in 3-Dimensional Art!

This is the photo of a deer he took a few weeks ago while we were on a drive up near Snowbasin, and we pulled over to watch them. When we stopped to see them, he said wow, so I suggested that he take some pictures of them for Reflections. I guess it was a good idea because he won 2nd place in photography with it!
Amber wrote a great little poem (called a cinquain) about the seasons for the literature competition. She didn't win anything, but she did a great job on all of them!

This is a picture that she took of a waterfall that we hiked to in the summer. It was beautiful, and she took a really good picture of it.

Last but not least, she created this dog out of Legos for 3-dimensional art. It was really cute, and very creative.This is just another angle of the dog that shows it a little better!

Good job guys, you are very creative!