Violin

Carly started taking violin in the fall.  She takes private lessons on Fridays at 7am!  She has liked it and loves that she's learning with her cousin Hannah too (her lesson's at 7:30).  As she has learned to play, so have I.  It's a constant struggle to get her to practice...I'm hoping she'll thank me later.  Well, in December, she had her first concert.  They were invited to play at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in the Mezzanine.  It was so beautiful, and the music was awesome.  She had them playing with everyone else, so if they weren't perfect, you wouldn't know.  The whole company played the first few songs, and once the little ones played all they knew, they would taper off.  She had a great time!

Since we were already downtown, we let the kids look at the temple from the top floor of the JSM Building.  Then we looked at the Christmas candy windows at Macy's, then lunch at City Creek and a little shopping.  A very nice afternoon!

Chocolates

Yes, 'tis the season for chocolates!!  So for posterity, I've decided to document a little more this time.  Especially for my mother who likes to record every last detail from year to year, so we can improve from the year before.  Each time she takes notes...and I mean DETAILED notes.  She would say, "well, it looks like we started at 10am last year, and it's 9:30, so we're making great time".  She records who brought what, how many we made of each kind, what time we started and stopped, and what we should do different the next year.  I even took a picture of her reading her notes that she takes so seriously.  Seriously love her!  I love the picture too, because of the huge diet coke in the background.  Me and Stacy had to get our morning caffeine before we started (mom's a little disgusted).

So, before the chocolate making begins, we each have a list of things to make and bring with us.  This year, me and Stacy each made 2 batches of fondant (non-flavored), my mom made a batch of the chocolate fondant.  Then I made a triple batch of crunch (toffee, they just always call it crunch in Canada, so does my mom, so we do too!)  Stacy had to make a double batch of nougat, and my mom made the regular caramels, and the black licorice caramels.  Then we all bring what we have of the flavoring, toppings, nuts, etc.  My mom brings the milk and dark chocolate.

We start on a Thursday afternoon.  We combine all the plain fondant so all the chocolates will be the same consistency.  Then we divide them up and add the flavors.  After that, we use a teaspoon to measure the fondant and roll them into balls.  We then take the full pans to the garage to chill over night  We do some of the prep work for the next day (getting boxes ready, cutting up caramels, tempering chocolate, chopping coconut,etc.).  Then we go out to dinner with my dad and watch a movie, then off to sleep to rest for the busy day ahead.

Day 2 begings with a Diet Coke run at the Maverick for me and Stacy while my mom pours over her notes, to make sure we didn't miss anything.  Then its dipping, dipping, dipping!  Yielding over 1800 hand dipped chocolates.  Here are the varieties:

 

Caramels

Almond

Chocolate

Mint

Almond Joy

Nougat

Nut Cluster

Black Licorice Caramel

Snowball

Half Dip

 

 

AND....the finished product! (after that much work, they're not easy to part with)

The Forgotten Carols

Aunt Susan

We were all ready for a new Thanksgiving this year.  We decided to forego the extended family get together, and made plans to spend the holiday with the Wagners in Boise.  We were all looking forward to our little vacation.  Its always so fun and EASY to be with them.  Especially when Leslie would be doing most (ALL) of the cooking!

I was just making last minute preperations for our trip when I got the call that my aunt Susan (my moms sister) had passed away.  She had scleroderma.  She had been in a lot of pain over the years, but I was clueless.  We had a barbeque at her house over the summer, and no one would ever guess how badly she was hurting.  She was such a good sport.  Posistive, happy, accommodating, gunuine, and SO LOVING!  She was an excellent mother of seven, and she will be missed dearly.

 

Our Thanksgiving plans were immediately changed.  My sister and I decided to ditch our family, and catch a ride with my mom and dad to Canada for the funeral.  It was a sweet service.  All seven kids spoke, and did a great job.  They played a recording of Aunt Sue and Aunt Barb singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" together, then my cousin Jana joined in on the last verse...tear jerker.  In Canada, they don't have Thanksgiving (theirs is in October), but my grandma DID make us some turkey bacon for breakfast, and some pumpkin pie for dessert. 

Despite the sad circumstances, we still managed to have a little fun.  Nothing feels better after a good cray than a good laugh!  We played some cards, ate A LOT, and even made a trip to the candy warehouse to pick us some of our Canadian favorites!  It was an emotional trip...but one I'll never forget.  I'm so glad I was able to go!...Oh, and smooth sailing over the border this time...FYI.

Meanwhile....

Frank and the kids had a little vaca of their own!  They went to Golden Corral for Turkey dinner, then headed to the movie.  After that, they checked into a hotel downtown, and sat (played) in the hottub.  The next day they went shopping, to the movies again, and just realaxed. 

Before I left, I was hinting that the Christmas Light Fairy might come while I was gone.  (hoping Frank would FINALLY put up lights this year after an 8 year break)!  When my parents pulled into my neighborhood, we were all looking to see if the lights would be there...they weren't :(.  The house was dark, but three cute sillouhetes were sitting on the front porch eargerly waiting my arrival :)  As soon as the car was parked, the christmas lights turned on!  Frank had Christmas music playing on the outside speaker, and the kids poured into the car for hugs and kisses!  The best welcome home to date...for sure!

 

Something about losing someone that makes you really appreciate the people in your life...both past and present!