THE ONLY THING MISSING WAS THE SNOW!

With the kids getting older, I kind of expected Christmas to start loosing some of it's excitement. With all of my brothers and sisters coming and going at different times throughout the holidays, I have been pretty exhausted trying to keep on top of things. My mom has been stressing about just what she is going to do with everyone; I think it is more that she feels helpless in seeing that everything is taken care of. She has waited on us all for so many years and it is hard for her not to be able to do much now. I told her to just set back and enjoy everyone and let us take care of things. So along with getting my house decorated, neighbor & VT/HT goodies delivered, shopping done, and presents wrapped- I also had all of that to do for her. But with the help of my kids and Saul, we buckled down and got things done. Sue came the Monday before Christmas and also helped a lot. We had fun and after a few late night trips to WalMart, we finished just in time.

What is Christmas without a few traditions? In our family, since Karlie's birthday is on Christmas day, we have a little party Christmas Eve for her. Even though she isn't always around, we still have a Christmas Eve party. The usual menu is- finger sandwhiches (cheese & pimento on one half and chicken salad on the other), chips & dip, cheese ball & crackers, veggies & dip, and a virgin mint julep punch. I love it all and it is just Christmas to me. But after 18 years of marriage, I still haven't convinced Saul and the kids that it is good stuff! I make it every year whether we are in Taylor or not. They like it all but the sandwiches- which is actually my favorite. Maybe I will have to start offering another option. Anyway, Benda & Barry made it just in time for the 'party' and we ate up.

Another tradition is going to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. We did it growing up, singing carols at the top of our lungs. So it is something I have done with my own kids. But with my kids getting older and not having any little ones there this year, I wasn't sure we would go. But as it started getting later, Justin announced that it was now time to go look at the lights so that he could get to bed before midnight. I must admit I was a little surprised. But we all headed out, singing carols and oohing and awing. It didn't seem like there were as many this year, but we still found some pretty ones.

We got in bed just around midnight and got up to Justin knocking on our door at 7:00 to open presents. The excitement and Christmas spirit was still there and Santa was a hit with the gifts he left. It was a little smaller this year- not quite as many gifts under the tree, but now that they are older they are more expensive. I must admit, it isn't nearly as fun buying ipods and electronics as it was buying dolls and trucks.

Another tradition is Christmas breakfast. Growing up we would have breakfast with all of my Rogers cousins, rotating whose house it was at. But after that got to big and they stopped doing it, we just do it with our family. The menu is always ham, hashbrowns, eggs, biscuits, OJ and hot chocolate. YUM! David and Dennis both joined us and brought all their little kids- there's the dolls and trucks that were missing! We all just hung out, the kids played with their toys, and we all enjoyed the excitement. Later that day we had a turkey feast with all of the fixin's.

It was another great Christmas. The only thing missing was the snow!

WILEY COYOTE

It's the most wonderful time of the year for Saul- but I'm not talking about the holidays. I am talking about hunting and trapping season. It starts getting cold and Saul starts getting excited. Yesterday morning we woke up to a little bit of snow- maybe an inch or so. But Saul called it a snow day and didn't go to work. Instead he took my 4-Runner and went out looking for critter tracks in the snow. Ariel had seen a bobcat cross the road infront of her on her way home from work the night before, so Saul went to see if he could find it. He parked the car on Pinedale road and went out walking looking for tracks. He soon came upon some fresh coyote tracks and decided to follow them. He followed them out and around, up hills and down. He kept following them and where did they lead? Right up to the 4-Runner that he had parked and left. Had he stayed there he could have shot it when it came in. I laughed really hard when he told me the story. That sneaky little dog! :)

Of course all I need is for Saul to catch more critters. I got tired of him hanging them all over my house, so I told him that he can hang what he wants to in my bedroom, but the rest of the house is off limits. All his guy friends come over and think I am the coolest for letting him decorate our bedroom. My girl friends all think I am nuts! I guess I'm probably a little of both. But I just gotta find a way to win our argument over where he is gonna hang his moose when he gets it back from the taxidermist ;)

DECK THE HALLS

For our first 15 years we trudged out in the forest to find a Christmas tree. But a couple of years ago I decided I was ready to go fake. Saul and Justin still haven't forgiven me. Every year I still hear how it isn't fair and that it just isn't right to have a fake tree. They almost start to make me feel guilty- but then not. I have loved putting up my tree right after Thanksgiving- not having to worry about watering it, the needles dropping off, and pine sap dripping all over my floor. And the ornaments actually stay on and don't sag down the branches. I keep telling them they are welcome to cut a real one and put it up outside- I would even help them decorate it! We have a routine when it comes to putting up the tree. Ariel puts it together and does a great job. Saul, Ariel and Justin put on the lights. Saul puts the star on top, and Ariel & Justin hang the rest of the decorations on. Me- I get to set back, hand out the ornaments, and tell them where to put things. It works great and we have a fun time! Don't ask me why, but for the last 10 years or so we have done different color schemes each year. My favorite is the red and gold. Justin said that he misses the strung popcorn, red beads, and the ornaments that don't have to match and doesn't look like we brought in an interior designer to decorate- perhaps that will be next year. But for this year we have Saul's favorite- the silver and blue. And though we still have some decorating and lots of baking and shopping to do, we are off to a great start for the Christmas season. Even though it gets crazy and I always feel like I am missing someone or something, it is still my favorite time of the year. So crank the music and enjoy- I wish you all a very merry one!

FOOD-FUN-FAMILY= THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving was a pretty quiet day for us this year. We were planning on going to Mesa to eat with my family at Ivy's. But then Ariel informed us that she had to work. We didn't think we could leave her here on her own, so we decided to stay here and have dinner with just us. It was the first time ever that we didn't eat Thanksgiving dinner with other family. Ariel got up and headed to work early, Saul slept in most of the morning, I got up early to get dinner ready, dodging nerf bullets from a terribly bored Justin who couldn't wait for his sister to get home and keep him entertained- and neither could I! We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV, followed by the dog show and football. We all ate in our lounge clothes and just hung out afterward. I must admit that it was a pretty relaxing day, even with having to cook all of the dinner myself. And I must admit, the food was pretty good. But it also seemed empty without other family around.
-Friday morning Saul and Justin headed out early to go elk hunting with Sean and Brett Cutler, Ariel went to work, and I headed to Mesa to hang out with Karlie, Ivy, Megan, and Sue. Dave and Cher left Rachel down there to hang out with her girl cousins, so she rode home with me that night. I was glad to get to see some of the family for a little while at least.

Total Craziness!

The last two weeks have been total craziness for us. Saul left to go deer hunting on the 5th. He hiked in the day before the rest of the group so he could help clear the trail for the horses. There were 10 of them total that went in. It wasn't real successful, Saul got a shot off at one, but didn't hit it. The others came back out on Sat., but Saul was still sick with the flu and just didn't feel like hiking out. They offered him a horse, but he just didn't feel like making the effort. So they left him in there to hike out by himself the next morning. I know Dad and David both were really worried about him. Saul made it out OK and had just called to tell me he was in Alpine and on his way when Dad called and said that he was going to go back down there to pack him out. We were all relieved to know that Saul was out and OK.

***Ariel's birthday was on Wed. She is the big 17 now! We had her dinner and cake just in time for them to all head to YM/YW. It is hard to believe that she is already 17. She is such a good kid.
***One thing I love about our little community is that when someone is in trouble we all pull together to help. Thursday night they had a big fund raising dinner for my cousin, Jason Willis, to earn money to help pay medical bills. He is having heart problems and needed a valve replacement. He had that surgery before, but it didn't work. It worked much better this time and they are hopeful. They made Navajo tacos and had a raffle. There will be a volleyball tournament this next weekend also. Karlie came from Tucson and it was fun to go with her. There was a lot of other family there also.

***Friday night was the Winter Formal dance for Ariel. Of course she took Sheldon. The couple that they were going to double with bailed on them last minute and they couldn't find anyone else, so they didn't really do anything big. Since we make them double date then they were thinking about taking Justin with them, but they ended up just eating at a small pasta place here in town. I feel bad for them. But they really enjoyed the dance.
***On Sat. we went to help haul wood with Dave and Dad. Mom had a hair appointment for 3:30 so she wasn't wanting to go. We all guilted her into it and I promised her I would bring her back early for it. Saul and Justin wanted to stay and go calling afterward, so Karlie took her truck so we could bring Mom back. On the way out we got a flat tire on her truck, so I thought we had it out of the way and there wouldn't be anymore problems. Well, we got dad's truck loaded, then stopped to fry hamburgers for lunch. About 1:00 we decided we should head out to have time to get her back. Since the road was pretty bad Karlie asked David to drive her truck just down the hill for her. Mom was in the truck with him and Karlie and I were walking behind. David ran over a stick which broke off and punctured the sidewall of the tire. Karlie and I heard a 'pop' and then SSS! We just looked at each other and said "NO WAY!" Since she had got a flat on the way in she didn't have another spare. I ran and got Saul who had gone back to cutting. We figured out that our spare for the 4-Runner fit. But being on the hill, the truck kept slipping off the jack and we had a hard time getting it changed. We finally sent dad in with Mom in his truck full of wood. Needless to say, she didn't make it to her hair appointment- I feel terrible. We finished loading Dave's truck and headed in. With three different sized tires on Karlie's truck and a small load of wood, we took it slow coming home. We decided to stop in Heber to check the tires. We got out and first thing we heard was SSS! NO WAY! We had got another flat tire. I couldn't even believe it- 3 flat tires on one little trip. There was no tire shop open so we left her truck at a friends house and piled into the truck with Dave. After we got home we found another spare (Dennis had one that fit) and Dave took her back to Heber and got her truck home. She is still here waiting for a tire shop to open in the morning to get 3 new tires. That was an expensive trip for wood, especially when she is from Tucson and doesn't even need it.
***Saul and Justin headed out calling after we left with the wood. They made a couple of stands, but didn't get anything. On their way home Saul stopped and put Justin in front of the 4-Runner with a shotgun and then played his 'Johnny Stewart' call out the window. Justin ended up shooting at 3 fox, killing 1. They both had a blast (no pun intended) and Justin was thrilled to get a fox.