Merry Christmas!

What a great Christmas 2008! Friends, family, good food...here are few of the highlights...

Stockings!

We were lucky to have LaMonte with us for Christmas!

The BIG SURPRISE...a Wii & Guitar Hero!

Sophi ROCKS!

Don't be fooled...Rey Mysterio wasn't with us on Christmas morning...(thanks Brandon & LaRae...you remain the "favorite Aunt & Uncle")

The best Christmas present ever...nothing to do but take a nap on the couch!

We are babysitting "Fred" for one of Rance & Jake's home teaching families
over the Christmas break.
Liv has taken full advantage of having a playmate!

We were blessed to be able to spend the afternoon at Mom & Don's.


Pa Jerry is always good for a laugh or two!

It's always fun when Wayne is around!

Granny Opal & Pa Jerry are popular! They got the kids Dance Dance Revolution! We spent the evening in competition! I've decided that is how I am going to get in shape for 2009!! That is how I like to exercise!


To LaDawn From Mom!
Mom was so pleased with this gift...she exclaimed, "It's digital!" It is huge! I can feed a crowd with this guy!

Chloe watches Granny open her gift.

I love Granny Opal! How blessed we are to have her! My Great-Granny Wilbur (Granny Opal's mom) passed away before I was in kindergarten...I barely remember her. My children will have fond memories of their great-granny!

Christmas Eve Eve...

Christmas Eve Eve was very eventful...

My Granny Opal is here from Tennessee so I got to go shopping with her. She pooped out on me after Wal-Mart though!! I got lots of last-minute shopping done and rushed home to make dinner for our Elders. It was Scott's night to cook, so he helped with the chopping of the steak & peppers for Fajitas. It was a priviledge to have the elders in our home. They taught the kids how to teach about the Restoration and then they practiced on me and Rance. They did a great job. I'm thankful for the Gospel in our family's life. And I'm thankful for the good example Elders Davenport & Savage are for our sons.

Rance loaded up the Elders and the twins for a ride in the ice. We had to convince the elders that they needed a ride home because they were having so much fun slipping around on the ice on their walk over to our house. Sophi and I worked on making more Christmas treats...chocolate covered peanut butter Ritz Bitz while Rance drove the twins to Franklin for a movie at the Baldridges. Since it was icy, Rance didn't want Chloe driving. He said the roads were excellent until they got into the Baldridges neighborhood...where they promptly slid off the road and down a 30 foot drainage ditch. Chloe bonked her head on the window and banged up her shoulder. Scott learned why it is important to have a seatbelt on...he didn't and slammed his head into the roof of the car. Luckily, no other injuries. I happened to call Rance's cell phone right as they landed. I realized I didn't have baking soda to make peanut brittle so I wanted him to pick some up on his way home. He answered by asking for a ride home, which I obliged. Now we're dealing with getting a car towed out of a ditch on Christmas Eve!! This is one that we'll not soon forget!

Scott & Chloe are Seventeen!

So, our first-born children continue to get older...which means we are getting older!! Scott and Chloe turned 17 on Saturday. I love them so much. It's hard to believe our time with them is so short here at home. They talk about college & missions a lot. They are such good people. They make good choices and I am excited for their future. But for now...I'll visit the past...

Time flies...weren't we just celebrating their first birthday at Joe & Melinda's in Provo, Utah?

They have a little more hair by their 2nd birthday in American Fork, UT.

They even smile the same! We've moved to Greenwood by this time!

I can't help but smile when I look at this one.


And just last year...the Sweet 16 Party! I thought they looked old in this photo but now compared to this year's they look so young!


This year, we had a party that included Chloe's best friend Taylor. Her birthday was last week. We had 10 teens over Saturday night. It was really fun...at least for them!

The rest of us had to spend the evening in our bedroom watching movies!

Lots of chocolate was served...chocolate cake, M&M's, a chocolate fountain with

all sorts of yummy things to dip and then hot chocolate for trips inside

between "Sardines" out on the golf course.

We had a fire going...toasty!!

Chloe with Ali.

Scott with pals from church.

Sophi & Jake were my spies!! I sent them out to check on everyone while they were playing Sardines. Sophi made Jake look taller so the teenagers wouldn't get suspicious!

Life's a Beach!

I had a chance to go to Jacksonville, Florida for the last fews days to visit my sister LaRae and her family! LaRae has been going through some health issues so I went down to help with my two cute nephews, Wilson & Tucker!

We did some shopping and also had time to go to the beach one evening.

It was 80 degrees that day!

I love my little sister!

Tucker will be two on Saturday and Wilson is four!

A Lovely Afternoon at the Airport!

I have to say...it was pretty cool to have John McCain's plane come flying

right over us while we sat in the bleachers waiting!

My Man Mitch!

I could have stepped down three bleachers and knocked a veteran

out of my way to shake John's hand but I thought I'd better not! I love those thumbs up!
He kept turning to look over our way...not because I'm so cute but because the veterans were sitting right in front of us...he talked to them directly several times.

I'm so glad Rance and I were able to attend this event!

We ran in to the Ketchum's afterwards...Patrick came up and tapped me on the shoulder. They were directly in front of the stand. We rode the same shuttle bus back to our cars afterwards and Patrick said that Mitch Daniels was fighting back tears while John McCain spoke.

Olivia's Bright Idea

Olivia and I cooked Sunday dinner...a yummy soup recipe that I got from our good friend Julie Brewer. It's called Savory Vegetable Ribolitta. I'll type it out at the end of this post. Anyway, Olivia was bored after church so I told her that she was welcome to help me slice & dice the veggies. She did a great job until she got to the onion. I warned her that she would cry but she didn't believe me. When her eyes started to water, she ran out of the room. I thought she wouldn't be back but she came back with a solution! And it worked! It was so fun to work together. She turned nine today. LaMonte and I had lunch with her today...we brought her some sushi, her favorite food, and cupcakes for her class. She'll have a big birthday bash this Friday night.

Savory Vegetable Ribolitta

Ribolitta is a Tuscan-style bean and cabbage soup. It is traditionally thickened with bread such as toasted croutons or crostini, the Italian word for toast.

1 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup sliced carrot
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (19 oz. each) white kidney beans, rinsed & drained
32 oz. chicken broth
2 cans (14 1/2 oz. each) diced Italian-style tomatoes, undrained (I used the tomatoes Mom & I canned from my garden last year and added Italian seasoning)
4 cups chopped Savoy or Napa cabbage
1/2 cup each diced sweet red pepper and zucchini
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Crostini (recipe below) or toasted croutons
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan over low heat, cook onion, celery, carrot and garlic in olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, chicken broth, tomatoes, cabbage, red pepper, zucchini and thyme. Cook, uncovered, until vegetables are tender and flovors are blended, about 20 minutes. To serve, place crostini in each soup bowl and ladle soup into the bowl. Sprinkle with cheese. Yield: 8 servings.

Crostini: To prepare crostini, combine 1/2 cup olive oil, 2 cloves minced garlic, a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon Italian herb seasoning if desired. Cut one laof of Italian bread into 1-inch slices. Brush olive oil mixture on one side of bread. Arrange bread on baking sheet, coated side up. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until lightly toasted.

You will love this soup on a cold fall/winter day!!

Jill Tagged Me...

1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV shows (I have to really think about this because the TV is rarely on here...)

1. Cold Case
2. American Idol
3. The Amazing Race
4. Law & Order
5. first season of House
6. Hannity & Colmes
7. Everybody Loves Raymond
8. What Not to Wear (when I'm in a hotel room! We don't get that many channels here!)

8 Things I did Yesterday...

1. Cuddled with my hubby in a tent.
2. Realized that I had forgotten all my clothes back at the house so I wore Rance's clothes.
3. Got toasty warm in the campsite bathroom with the hand dryer...a couple of cycles with that thing and the inside of my coat was positively heavenly!
4. Held hands with a new friend (Maryjo's little Erika took a liking to me on our hike...)
5. Took a very hot shower at my house.
6. Took my teenagers' cell phones away.
7. Went to dinner with good friends.
8. Shopped for Sunday dinner ingredients at Wal-Mart at 10:00 PM.

8 Things I look forward to...

1. Holding my grandbabies
2. Watching my children go out into this world
3. Going on a mission with Rance
4. Hanging out with family over the holidays
5. Youth Conference 2009 (Palmyra)
6. YW Camp 2009
7. Olivia's birthday party this Friday night
8. Going to sleep tonight

8 Favorite Restaurants...

1. Ichiban or anywhere with fresh sushi & Udon
2. Paradise Cafe
3. Yats
4. Cheesecake Factory (only for the White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake)
5. Bravo
6. Cracker Barrel
7. Steak N Shake (Chocolate Shakes...nothing else compares)
8. Little Mexico

8 Things on my wish list...

1. A McCain/Palin victory (sorry all my liberal friends!)
2. a new driveway
3. clean carpet
4. a tropical get-away with my honey
5. visits to my far-away friends & family
6. respectful children (today was a rough day...)
7. a husband that can read my mind (Rance is helping me with these...)
8. my camera fixed...(I'm obviously being materialistic tonight...)

8 People to tag...

1. Joanna
2. Leanne
3. Heidi
4. Jenny
5. Christine
6. Chloe
7. Heather W.
8. I don't think I have any more blogging friends!!

Fall Break Fun!

We tried camping at a new place this year...Raccoon Lake near Rockville, Indiana...about an hour west of Indianapolis. We weren't sure about going but our good friend Maryjo Lykins had already set up camp and her children were waiting for friends to play with. The reason why we were thinking about skipping the trip was because it was raining pretty hard and it was kind of cold! But we're not whimps so we took off...surely we could make it through one night of cold & wet weather!! Well, the sky was blue when we arrived on Friday afternoon and it didn't start raining again until 8:30 or so that night. That cut short the visiting by the fire but we had already had our burnt chocolate treat (the fire was a little too hot) and Maryjo's yummy chili. Our tent leaked a little bit but we stayed mostly dry and warm.

The boys went fishing Saturday morning. Skyler & Jake were trying to catch a fish and then cook it and eat it to pass off a Boy Scout requirement but the fish they caught were too tiny! We had a yummy breakfast of pancakes, eggs & sausage...and of course, plenty of hot chocolate!! We went on a fun hike later on to get our bodies thawed out!!

Scott led us up the ravine to show us a dead raccoon they had discovered the day before. He enticed us by letting us know that its' guts were hanging out. I didn't take a photo of it. Sorry, I know you really wanted to see it.

We had a good laugh at this tree. Aaahh, the beauty of God's creations.

Scott continues to taunt Rance into wrestling matches...

even though he always ends up like a pretzel. One of these days...

We plan on going back to Raccoon Lake next year. This state park has a full weekend of Halloween activities like face painting, a pumpkin carving contest, a Halloween egg hunt and of course, trick-or treating. You should come with us!!