Ok, so he's created a monster

Just more new-camera lens fun!

Dec 25

Cohen, downing the mini M&M's he found in his stocking.

RIP AND TEAR!

Eric, who has always been known as one who struggles in the gift-giving department actually came through this year. I had no idea that he had bought me anything. Absolutely NONE.  We told each other we weren't going to give gifts this year because we needed to put the money towards a car for Eric but he went ahead and bought me a camera lens anyway. I can't say I'm mad at him, although I kind of am because now I look like the ass, but I got over that quick after I saw the difference in photo quality.  Take the next two photos for example...

THANK YOU ERIC!!!

That's just the reaction I was going for

My mom is really busy.  Too busy if you ask me.  Work, work, work, work, work.  Is one allowed to quit when their husband is kind of their boss?  I guess not.  Anway, when we all got together for Thanksgiving in Park City I noticed that my mom's organizational skills, when it came to her recipes, were very subpar.  No offense mom.  She brought with her all her holiday recipes to make but they were written on things like post it notes, the back of bank deposit slips, and 3x5 cards you could hardly read.  Light bulb moment! Ding, ding, ding, ding - handmade Christmas present.  So I told my Dad I would be borrowing Mom's recipes for a few days while I sorted through them and typed up the ones I thought she used the most.  He assured me this would be no problem because Mom hasn't cooked in a long time because they have been so busy and that the last thing on her mind was to cook.  So I took them.  Well, stupid me - this is Christmas, and Christmas means you cook, regardless.  

Eve:  Jeff, have you moved my recipes?

Jeff:  What?

Eve:  I can't find my recipe for my potato casserole.

Jeff:  Well Eve, you have been misplacing things lately, you really are losing your mind.  

My poor mother.  My dad just laid into her about her forgetfulness and it was all my doing. Good going dad!

Well, needless to say, she liked the gift.  Who knows if she's put it to good use yet.  Hopefully soon..... and for all you lazy sisters of mine, I will be selling the word file containing all of mom's recipes for one million dollars, proceeds to benefit JDRF.  

Traditions

Grandma & Grandpa Bishop - so festive! The tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve began with them. Eric was lucky I guess, to always get to have a big family party on his birthday.

This year Ed started a new game, which might become a tradition... the word is still out, but if you had to ask my Mom, I'm sure she would vote to keep it. We played a dice game and the winner ended up with a box full of one dollar bills. Funny enough, my mom won it all. Who invited them anyway??? Just kidding. I think those are Diane's hands coming in to either steal the money or strangle my mom, which is it Diane?

And last but not least, Ethan's new tradition - leaving snacks for Santa. He insisted that I make sugar cookies but I assured him that Santa loves Oreos, so that saved me two hours of my life. Ethan had to put out 5 oreos, because he's 5 years old and a celery and carrot for each reindeer. Oh, and milk too. Couldn't forget that...

Throwing the rock

Why is it that I can go a whole year without bowling, or even thinking about bowling, and then Christmas rolls around and I am a bowling fein?  Does going twice qualify me as a fein?  That's 40 frames people!!  First, we went bowling for the Zerorez Christmas party.  Cohen was a total nightmare, by about the 6th frame I couldn't care less if that kid lost his hand in the ball machine - I was not going to chase him anymore.  Ethan was loving it as you can see.  Nice follow through!  I bowled a horrible, 124, thanks to Cohen's shenanigans. 

I rebounded though when we went bowling for Eric's birthday.  I beat Dean twice which I felt pretty good about considering both he and Eric own their own ball, shoes, bowling glove, and chalk bag.  Eric however, was unbeatable.  I have never seen him bowl like that before.  I'm glad he got a win on his birthday.

Santa Who?

Luckily, the only thing you could see were Ed's eyes...but even those almost gave it away.

Ethan: I really wish Papa could be here to meet you Santa, but he had to go to work.

Ethan: Santa, you have my Papa's eyes.

The next Apple campaign

My Dad, virgin IPod owner

Happy Holidays

Alas, our Christmas card picture.  

I hope your holidays were bright with happiness

and that your new year is filled with joy.

Lesson Learned

Never leave Cohen upstairs by himself unless he is sleeping or chained to a 50lb cement ball.

I didn't want that new, $15 bottle of eye make-up remover anyway.

The tv show Intervention should hire him to go into drunk people's homes and dump all their liquor down the drain.  He would love it and those drunks would never suspect.

100% Capacity

My computer is full. Maxed out. I just tried to upload all of the pictures I have taken from the past 3 weeks and it just laughed at me. How can I possibly get caught up on this blog if I have no pictures to post? I guess that isn't going to happen at this moment but I do have a cute thing to share that happened today. This morning we headed over to The Original Pancake House restaurant to grab, what would end up to be, the biggest portions of breakfast I have ever seen - Eric got an omelet which I swear contained a dozen eggs. Anyway, we finished breakfast and left the restaurant only to see Santa Claus and his wife, Mrs Claus sitting on the bench outside waiting for a table. Who makes Santa wait for a table? Lame. So here he was, full beard and all, dressed in a red button down shirt with khakis on. Ethan proceeds to run over to him, calling him by name, so that he could thank him for all his toys that he brought him. The man graciously said, "You're very welcome - thank you for being such a good boy", and he hands him his business card. It has a picture of him and his wife dressed as Mr & Mrs C and included at the bottom, his email address: santa4sure@cox.net. I guess it makes sense, what kid now a days would trust the postal service to deliver their letter to Santa when they could just email it?

Thanksgiving

I can't believe it's already December 4. November flew by, but it ended on a good note. We went to Park City this year for Thanksgiving with my family and had a great time. We hoped there would be snow for skiing, but managed to get only a little while we were there. Ethan would go back in a heartbeat - hanging out with his cousins was the most fun he's had in a long time.

The U win was great - being the only person cheering for them that day was brutal but it ended in my favor. Ethan got in the spirit, I think I actually have a Ute on my hands. Turkey day was fantastic. The food was great. The next day we got a little snow so the kids could go sledding. It was like we were back in WI. We got to hang out with my extended family on Friday as well. We had a Turkey bowl, made some crafts, and of course, ate again.

Earlier in the week we hung out with some friends from the good ol' days of Provo. It's as if none of our friends have left Utah since college. There were so many to see and not enough days to see all of them. Maybe some of you will come to CA?...

The ride home is always a nightmare going south from Vegas. This time we stopped in St. George on Sunday night so we could drive on Monday instead. It probably saved us 4-5 hours in the car going 5 mph. My parents got caught in it and were not pleased.

This year, Christmas will be at home with the Brown's. Julie, Derek and Dean will all be coming down so we are excited to have everybody together. Now I just need to figure out what to buy everyone...

12-0

Friends & Family

So far I have received emails from Restoration Hardware, Gap, Banana, Old Navy, Bath & Body, and Janie & Jack. All of them are at least 20%-30% off. Comment if you want any of these...

Afternoon at the park

Why can't they always be this sweet?

Bring on the Coouugs.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Relief.

As if it couldn't get any worse...

..it just did. Today this ad began running in CA. I put this on my blog only to make people outside the state aware of how bad it really is. I in no way want people to see this ad and think that I support it. I think it is disgusting.

The ad makes it seems like the LDS church is the one taking away peoples rights. You know, because there aren't thousands or other individuals, churchs, organizations, businesses, etc who have supported Prop 8 and donated money for the Yes vote. It really makes me sick.

Trick or treating, pole dancing and a movie.

We haven't celebrated Halloween on October 31st for a long time. Nor have we trick or treated in the dark for that matter. WI always scheduled our trick or treating on the Sunday before Halloween from 1-4. We always thought it was so odd but looking back it was genius for a few reasons. 1. I was able to get decent pictures and video because it was during the day. 2. It was always on the weekend so there was time to prepare. 3. It's much easier to keep track of your kids in the daylight.

This year we were invited to a potluck block party which was tons of fun. Thanks Jen! We had a good meal, and then headed out to trick or treat around their neighborhood. After we were finished we had treats and watched a movie, drive-in style. E & C were loving it. C refused to get into a costume for the trunk or treat at church but I managed to force him into his costume from last year. He cried for a good 5-10 minutes but eventually forgot about it. As you can see he's grown a few inches since then - it's short on his ankles and wrists. He still looked way cute though.

No Fear

Ethan was invited to a birthday party at Pump it Up - his favorite place. He has already asked me to take him back 14 times. And if Cohen could talk in full sentences, he would be doing the same. The kid has no fear. The first time we took Ethan to Pump it Up in Wisconsin he refused to do some of the big inflatables. Cohen, ran as fast as he could up the huge flight of stairs to the top of the slide and pretty much jumped off. I couldn't believe it. I was kind of nervous considering there were 30 5-6 year olds right behind him, ready to crash into him at the bottom of the slide, but he held his own.

The crazy hair is gone

I thought he would be a total terror, instead he was a total diva. He kept looking in the mirror, from left to right, making sure she was doing it right. He was really putting on the charm. He looks like a little boy.