Christmas in Pictures

Christmas Eve

Forget traditional foods, we had steak and shrimp, rolls, grean beans, and lots of treats. Tim did an amazing job at the grill. We so love having a great room, plenty of space to just hang out and enjoy each other. It was a treat to have Cory, Jenna and Calvin to celebrate with us.

We had a little talent show. I didn't get a pic of B and E playing the piano.
T played Silent Night and some other classical music. Sometimes I forget he is only 16 he is so good. Quite the mini concert.

Cory did a little John Denver, "Christmas and Cowboys". Apparently it is all the rage in Phoenix. I love listening to just him and a guitar. I think he must have got my porition of the the musical talent.

True Grit

Tim and I went to see True Grit on Monday night. Ok, let's just get this part out of the way so that we (I) can focus on the merits of the movie. Matt Damon as a Texas Ranger - worth the price of admission. That being said, the movie was great, definitely an A. The dialogue was so witty and sharp, unexpected for what I expected to be a typical Western. I read that the Coen brothers took most of the dialogue directly from the novel by Charles Portis. Now I'm completely intrigued and have already put the book on my Amazon wishlist. The short version of the plot is that Mattie, a 14 year old girl, is on a mission to avenge her father's murder and drags along a US Marshall and Texas Ranger for back up. Any more description than that is tough, do yourself a favor, go see the movie. If you don't love it, popcorn is on me.

Christmas Miracle

So this was a serious Christmas miracle. Last week Tim and E went snowboarding. They came home soaked, so I thought I would be kind and wash all of their gross gear. I went through all of the coat pockets before washing so as to prevent a tragedy. Two days later Tim asked if I had seen his ipod and told me that he had taken it skiing. I was sure I hadn't washed it, I checked the pockets. Oh, the pants pockets? My heart kind of sunk a little then, and even more when I pulled the pants out of the dryer and found the i-pod, headphones still attached. Of course it was dead. Just to have a little Pollyanna moment, I went and plugged it into a charger, and left (you know, watched pot never boils and all). When I went back a half hour later, it turned on, then miracle of miracles, it worked, headphones and all. I have no idea how that is possible, for sure it was a true Christmas miracle.
Just a little PS, the same miracle doesn't occur with Blackberry phones. I may have done the same thing to Jarin's phone at Bear Lake after we all got wet and dirty on the boat. I really better stop trying to be so helpful.

The End

Nothing like a little slave labor to finish off the night.

After Party

The only thing better than the pinata? Pinata hats!

Party People

Just some random Rock Stars.

Pinata

Have you ever seen such a great pinata? If you need the hook up, let me know. Remember all of those small boys? Add a broom to the mix, encourage them to swing and it gets realy interesting.

Pre Party

we had the annual Broadbent/Hancock Christmas party at our house on Sunday. My dad only has one sister so it used to be small. With all the grand kids, we have definitely expanded. This year there were 6 boys under the age of 4. Fun!

While Visions of Sugar Plums

My parents scored tickets to the David Arculeta concert and Jami's name was drawn out of the hat to get the extras. I'm pretty sure it was rigged, but I think I got the better end of the deal and spent the night with the babies. When they first got in the car, I started telling them the things we needed to do. Just to make sure we didn't miss anything, Ada said she would write a list. So funny, notice that she started checking off each activity when it was completed. By the way, I did not help her spell anything.



As we drive I asked them what they wanted from Santa. Ada wanted a chapter book and Miles wanted lots of robots. When I asked them what I should request from Santa, Ada suggested jewlery and fancy clothes. Miles said that I should ask for a GARDEN. Seriously, a garden. He pointed out that I didn't have one. Of course.

Don't worry, even though they aren't all checked, we finished everything on the list. Tim and E got home in time to tell them good night, then we read stories in bed. When I got up to leave them, I could hardly believe how sweet they looked.

What Was I Thinking?

We had scheduled to have some maintenance done on my pathfinder this morning. When I opened the garage door and saw the foot of snow, I am not sure why I didn't re-think that plan. So on the day we received more snow than we have all year, I drive this? Really, four wheel drive is highly overrated.

Just wish me luck when it comes time to drive home.

Quotable

I'm kind of a fan of top ten lists. Reminds me of a lot of late nights with David Letterman. Anyway, a lot pop up around this time of year. I may share a few.

1. "I'm not a witch"
Christine O'Donnell, the Republican candidate for the US Senate and Tea Party favourite in a campaign ad.
2. "I'd like my life back."
3. "If you touch my junk, I'm gonna have you arrested."
Airline passenger John Tyner to a Transportation Security Administration worker at San Diego airport, November 13, 2010
4. "Don't retreat. Instead -- reload!"
Sarah Palin, Twitter, March 23
5. "Chi! Chi! Chi! Le! Le! Le! Los mineros de Chile!"
Chilean miners being rescued, emerging from their underground prison, October 13
6. "I hope that's not where we're going, but you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies. They're saying: My goodness, what can we do to turn this country around?"
Sharron Angle, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2010 midtermsradio interview, January
7. "We have to pass the (health care) bill so you can find out what is in it."
Nancy Pelosi, the outgoing speaker of the US House of Representatives speech to National Association of Counties, March 9
8. "I'm going to take my talents to South Beach."
Basketball star LeBron James, who upset his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, to join the Miami Heat, during a TV broadcast, July 8
9. "You're telling me that the separation of church and state is found in the First Amendment?"
Christine O'Donnell... again, this time in a debate ahead of her election race in Connecticut, October 19
10. "They should never have put me with that woman. ... She was just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to be Labour."
Gordon Brown, moments after meeting Gillian Duffy, a 66-year-old widow who told him she was concerned about immigration from Eastern Europe.

First Day of School

So this is a little outdated, but I found the picture on Jami's Facebook and had to post it. Ada's birthday is shortly before school starts and I usually buy her clothes (since she could express an opinion she has loved clothes). Two years running my outfit has made the grade to be the first day of school outfit. Man she is cute.

Jury Duty

Like a lot of people, I have been fascinated by the trial of Brian David Mitchell. I can only imagine how anxious Elizabeth Smart and her family were to get a verdict, but who would have guessed it would have been so quick. I think the jury returned after less than five hours of deliberations. I was called to jury duty a few months ago, a case of a simple assault, pick up basketball game gone bad. We deliberated for six hours. Yes you read right, six. It was insane. For nearly all that time the vote was five to one, maybe I was the one holdout. We finally found a technicality and I agreed to acquit. I wanted to go home after one hour, but didn't feel right about voting against my conscience. It was rough, I can't imagine sitting on a jury of a case with more severe consequences. There have been a few high profile cases lately that have had Tim and I talking about our jury system. Clearly it is not a perfect system but it's probably the best there is. How about you, anyone else served on a jury?

Tis the Season

I don't want to ruin the surprise of our Christmas card, but here is a little sneak peek of what you can expect to receive.



I took the image off of http://wordtoyourmother-mindi.blogspot.com/, and no, I'm not smart enough to figure out how to make that a link. Where is a four year old when you need one.