My First Video Montage (no sound)

Here's a sampling of our Christmas beginning with the outside scenery, followed by a nativity with a live baby, then the house as it looked before the gift opening, a few shots of the gift opening, and concluding with the outside Christmas lights.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanksgiving 5K

So over Thanksgiving, 13 of us participated in a race in which the proceeds went to the Idaho Falls Food Bank.


Here we are in our matching shirts.


This is me. I came in 171st out of 282- pretty good considering my goal was to not be last! My time was 36:24 in case you were wondering.


The Turkey man completes the Thanksgiving mood.

Pictures!!

These are the students that finished my Block 6 novels class. We started with 16, but only 11 finished. And actually, one student is missing because of his court date.




Greg did a great job on the lights this year- thanks Honey!





Here are the results of hours of baking labor. Kristie, Ann-Michelle, Allison, and I collaborated in making a variety of Christmas treats for our neighbors. We ended up with over 70 plates! Team work yeah!

Gift Tags

Elise didn't formally tag me (I think she gave up), so I'm answering this one on my own volition.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Well, I do prefer wrapping paper, but sometimes I get lazy and use gift bags. Gift bags are more earth-friendly though (assuming you actually reuse them.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Definitely real. We tried the artificial route one time. It just didn't work for us.

3. When do you put up the tree? Our plan is always to put it up shortly after Thanksgiving which I'm happy to say we did this year. However, I really can't speak for Christmases past.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually New Year's day, or shortly thereafter.

5. Favorite gift received as a child? I always loved the fancy Barbie outfits my Aunt Joan gave me. Another stand out: the "Alice" doll I got at age 7. (She looked like Alice in Wonderland. Alice in. . . Allison--was this a premonition of my future?)

6. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes--one by Jim Shore, a clear glass one, a ceramic one, a partial olive wood one.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Nonny and Bob--so far away plus they don't have space for any more stuff!

8. Easiest to buy for? Ann-Michelle--she drops hints all year long! (That's a good thing.)

9. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Good question since I've done neither the past two(or more) years. However, this year I'm mailing most but e-mailing my Israel group.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Sorry,I'm not answering this one as the giver may be one of my readers.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Santa Clause (the first one). I know it's a silly movie but that Tim Allen is so cute!

12. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I recall, but considering this is my 50th Christmas, it's hard to say for sure.

13. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Rolls made from a recipe given to me by my neighbor, Chris. Thanks Chris!

14. Clear lights or colored on the tree? colored

15. Favorite Christmas song? Joy to the World at church, The Night Before Christmas by Carly Simon, and Kurt Bestor's rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. This year I'm kind of getting attached to I Want an Alien for Christmas. (Thanks Elise!)

16. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We're staying home this year with lots of guests. Yeah!

17. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Definitely. 50 years of singing Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer will do that to you. Okay, maybe it's only been 45.

18. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Jammies on Christmas Eve, everything else Christmas morning.

19. Most annoying thing about this time of year? lines at the Post Office, traffic on 17th street

20. Favorite ornament theme or color? None of them stand out--I like them all.

21. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham, rolls, sweet potatoes, something minty (like ice cream pie)

22. What do you want for Christmas this year? The main thing I wanted was for all my family to be together, and I already know I'm getting that one (except for Jacob who is on a mission). Other than that, I've been dreaming of all the things I could do with a labelmaker. I also want a head-light (not a car headlight) so I don't have to carry a flashlight when I walk Wesley (the dog) early in the mornings.

Merry Christmas everyone! Please sign in on the comment section and say hi.

A slight ammendment . . .

to the last post. Make that 48 hours from now. Pictures will be posted by midnight December 23rd.

Just so you know . . .

Today is my first day of Christmas break. I'm going to send out my Christmas cards/letters today ("Better late than never" is my motto), and I plan to include my blog address so that those who are interested can view all my pictures. THEREFORE, there will be pictures on this blog within the next 48 hours!

An explanation

What I meant about not posting family pictures--I'll definitely post pictures of the family when we do things. It's just that I was thinking of doing a blog called "All My Children" (isn't that clever--the follow ups would be "Days of My Life" and then "As the World Turns") with pictures of each child. These would be old pictures that happened to be on my computer. But that's when I thought, I really don't need to show my own children what my children look like. Get it?

Another post

Hi all-I've avoided writing because I don't have any pictures. However, I wanted to let all of you know that I plan to blog next Sunday with pictures of next week's family activities, my class, and anything else that's requested. I was going to post pictures of my family but then I realized that all my readers are my family, so you already know what you look like.

Post #2

In case you're wondering what I've been reading, they're two completely opposite books. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a bleak look at the future. It's well-written and all, but be prepared for vivid descriptions of grayness and the things desperate people may do in the case of a nuclear annihilation of the human race. (Well, maybe it was just an asteroid that hit the earth--he never says exactly.)

My church book group chose The Ultimate Gift, a quick read describing the 12 keys to a happy life (as long as you don't get caught in a nuclear war or maybe get in the way of a stray asteroid). They were both thought-provoking in their own way.

Edited to add: Since you 3 readers are lucky, Elise broke into my blog and posted the pictures for me!

The Beginning

This blog is just to let all my readers (I believe there are 2 or 3 of you) know that I am finally beginning my blogspot. Step 1 is figuring out how to post a blog--which is today's task. Step 2--posting pictures--will have to wait until another day. I'm not even thinking about posting videos at this point.

Today is a gorgeous day in Idaho Falls. If I were to Step 2, I'd post a picture of the azure sky. But since I'm not, you'll just have to use your imagination. Greg and I are feeling the beginnings of becoming empty-nesters as Allison is in Pocatello with Kristie for the day. I made a very nice dinner for 2, we completely cleaned the kitchen, and it was only 2 o'clock! What to do with myself??? Oh yeah, figure out that blog thing . . .

I'm going to sign off for now because I can see that this would be much more interesting with a few illustrations. At least the two of you know you have something to look forward to in the future.