Our Dynomite New Year's Eve Party

It started with 2 hours of extreme snow tubing at Soldier Hollow in Midway. Everyone had a screaming good time. At least once in your life, you MUST go! Afterwards, we went to my house for Park City Stew, Chili and more food than is legal to consume in one night. All night long, party poppers and party crackers were bursting left and right. Everyone did what they wanted, shot hoops, watched the Fifth Element, played the Wii, ran around the house, took a nap, or danced like there's no tomorrow. The highlight of the evening was fabulous face painting provided by Dana Martin. She transformed us all into the object of our dreams (or nightmares). Her information is listed below.
Needless to say, we had a ball. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Imagination Gone Wild - Face Painting by Dana Martin (435)671-2799 igwfacepainting@yahoo.com

Resowhatzit?

As far as setting a New Years Resolution this year, I'm totally lost. Hmmmm, what goal can I set for myself by the 1st of January to accomplish, quickly be forgotten or inspire 12 months of guilt should I fail miserably? I suppose I could actually be serious and set that goal that I've been putting off for 10 years, but why couldn't I do that last month? Why don't I experience that surge of motivation that comes from starting a new goal for the new year? I guess I need to "shift my paradigm" or call Tony Robbins or Mr. Covey or something. Am I the only one that stinks at setting goals? Anyway, my question for you is. . . what's your Near Yews Resolution? and. . . Are you going to do it?

Superfudge

We made fudge tonight and boy oh boy, it was tasty. My favorite part was licking the spoon after all was said and done. Alfonso and Ben had a great time counting marshmallows,breaking walnuts, and trying to get the marshmallow cream out of the jar (and onto each other's faces). Finished product? Ben had marshmallow cream on his eyebrow, Alfonso had it on his eyelashes, I had the priviledge of watching the whole thing. The Flores Family's Favorite Fudge Recipe. . .

4 c. Sugar
1 large can evaporated milk
1 sq. butter
2 (9 3/4 oz.) Hershey's bars
12 oz. chocolate chips
1 pt. marshmallow cream
20 to 25 large marshmallows (cut in half)
1/2 lb. nuts (opt.)
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine butter, milk, and sugar; bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Pour hot mixture over the chocolate and marshmallows. When marshmallow have melted, add vanilla and nuts. Pour into a buttered cookie sheet and cool. (My mom usually fills half the pan with fudge, adds the broken walnuts to the remaining half and then pours nutty fudge into empty half of pan, this keeps nut-lovers and nut-haters happy.) Store covered in the fridge.
- Recipe from Jolean Terry (Mom)

Kith, Kin, and Katsudon?

My talented brother-in-law, Rob, made some delicious Japanese Cuisine for us to celebrate my not-so-little-brother Nick's Birthday. The main dish was Katsudon, basically a tasty breaded pork served over rice. It was DELICIOUS. Do you like how we all sat on the floor? O Tannenbaum? Oh Christmas Tree? Oh Festivus Tree? Oh Hannakuh bush? Whatever it is, there's nothing like sitting around and watching it glow. We got to sit on Santa's lap at our wonderful 6th Ward Christmas breakfast. Who doesn't love this guy? One Sunday, when I came home from an especially long choir practice, I walked in to see the boys totally engulfed while Alfonso read Christmas stories. I swear, it really is the little things that mean the most. I love you, Alfonso! Here we are making a seasonal favorite, Gingerbread Men!!! It seems we got confused on where to put the frosting. It tasted good anyway. To our dismay, our tasty new friends didn't stick around for long. We'll just have to make new friends. . . preferably made of gingerbread.

Christmas Means Christ

Several years ago my good friend and former visiting teacher, Sheilagh Jakins shared this article with me. I have managed to keep a copy with me. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the author or source. But I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

CHRISTMAS MEANS CHRIST

There could be no Christmas without the Savior.

It is true that ancient rites including the Yule log, the decorated tree, and the candles have come down through the centuries and are now a part of our celebration. But they do not really mean Christmas. They were pagan for the most part. Christ had nothing to do with them. They now almost crowd Christ out of our observance. Christmas cannot be Christmas without the Savior

When the angels sang on the first Christmas night, they sang Him and Him alone. The birth of the little Babe of Bethlehem was so significant that all the hosts of heaven rejoiced. They sang because they understood the mission of the Lord, what His redemption meant, what eternal life is, and the deep reason behind the Atonement and the Resurrection.

WE DO NOT celebrate Christmas in reality unless we have the same conception held by the angels -- that Christ is THE Son of God, that we are all the children of God, and that Jesus came into the world to lead us back into His presence.

In spite of all the worldliness and commercialism of Christmas, it is most noteworthy that the Spirit of Christ -- the real Christ -- literally comes through the air and touches every heart.

It is a recurring and constant miracle year after year. There is a different spirit in the atmosphere, in the feelings of mankind toward each other, and in the depth of our worship at Christmas time, It is God's way of sending a testimony into the world that Jesus of Nazareth is His Son, that the Atonement was accomplished and that it is indeed something to note with world-wide gladness.

IT IS MIRACULOUS, too the way in which Christmas carols express the true meaning of Christmas. Different as many of them are from the creeds of men, for most part, they teach the true doctrine of the Lord. He is the Son of God. He is the Savior. He came to give us life.

Modern compositions tend to bring other philosophies into some of the Christmas songs, but they can never crowd out the old carols which testify of Jesus as the Christ, the Redeemer, and Savior of all mankind.

As God each year projects His spirit into the world at Christmas time, we ourselves should seek to increase our appreciation of what this celebration means.

It is a sacred thing, this holy day, but it certainly is something to be celebrated also. The dictionary defines "celebrate" as "to extol, to glorify, to commemorate." We can do all of these things in our Christmas observance.

WE MUST SURELY extol the work of Christ, and the great fact that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save it; and certainly we can glorify both the names of Christ and His Father.

And by all means we should commemorate the birth of the Babe of Bethlehem on that first Christmas night. Because we have the Lord we do all these things. We do extol Him and glorify Him and commemorate His birth and works.

BUT, HOW CAN we do these things unless we truly have the Spirit of Christ within us? And how can we have His Spirit unless we keep His commandments?

If we keep His commandments can we do other than love our neighbors as ourselves, do to others as we would be done by, eliminate hatreds and conflicts, forgive those who have offended us, visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and keep ourselves unspotted from the world?

Every family -- and every individual -- this Christmas time -- should remember that part of our observance should include a humble prayer of thanks and devotion -- and of rededication to all that Jesus stands for.

Giving Thanks

The food was out of this world! Alfonso's family is so kind to me. It was interesting as I was the only person (kids included) who couldn't speak spanish. There were quite a few times that I had no idea what anyone was talking about. Everyone was really sweet to clue me in from time to time though. Just more incentive to learn the language right? We had a really fun day. Abuelita Alfa and her four children (left to right) Walkyria, Alfonso, Alfa (and little Ammon), and Deyanira. We broke a pinata for Ammon's first birthday. I really love my new family.

Confessions of a Hermit

I have an apology to make. I have been in hiding for the last few years as far as friends and family are concerned. Ever since I was separated and divorced, I crawled into a hermit's shell. It was sometimes difficult for me to even spend time with my immediate family. I was totally and comfortably withdrawn. I don't know if it is because I was ashamed, or embarrased, or it just hurt too much to explain what was going on. Nevertheless, I pulled away from many dear friends and family members. As life goes on, I am beginning to really heal and I'm feeling a need to reach out to those around me. I can't tell you how great it feels to be on this end of the process, or how great it feels to find you again. Recently I have found many bloglinks to long lost high school and college friends. This is me reaching out and saying, "I'm sorry I've been in hiding, and I'm so glad you're my friend. Let's keep in touch." And to the handful of people who put up with my "hermitness" and still reached out to me, and still do to this day (you know who you are) I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

p.s. If you still find that I'm a flake of a friend, bonk me on the head and tell me to snap out of it. I promise I'll try harder.

It Wouldn't Be Thanksgiving Without. . .

Help me out, what menu item is an absolute must for YOUR Thanksgiving Dinner to be considered complete? I know it's trivial but I have thought about this quite a bit this year. Alfonso's side of the family is coming over for Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday. When divying out food assignments I told the ladies that they should bring whatever dish makes their ideal Thanksgiving dinner comlete. They are bringing tamales, empanadas, ponche, and even a turkey (huge sigh of relief from me on that one). I'll be making stuffing, corn, gravy, yam soufflet, croissants, pumpkin pie, and whatever else comes to mind in the next couple of days. Just to be thourough, I'm even going to serve slices of cranberry sauce (despite the fact that I hate the stuff). With everyone's contributions, I think it will be a wonderful feast. So, tell me, how would you finish this sentence? It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without. . .

NO Wii?!!!

It's official, I'm a mean mom. Recently, the boys' FAVORITE thing to do is play Lego Star Wars on our Wii. Last night each one of the kids did something wreckless that merited disciplinary action. After talking it over, Alfonso and I decided to pull the plug, on the Wii that is, for a WHOLE WEEK!!! To be honest, it's nice to have a bargaining tool, but it's a good thing that I'm not running for the office of "Mom" because my numbers would have significantly dropped last night. Fortunately this isn't a popularity contest, it's real life. Today as the reality of this punishment set in, Will looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, "You're the most rudest mom I ever had!" Ten minutes and a swig of A&W later, he said, "I love you, mom." I really like the length of his attention span.

Impression and Influence

When we moved into the house I bought some lovely bath rugs for the "master bathroom." They were white and extremely soft. Needless to say, I loved them. Which makes the next turn of events so difficult to relate. It all happened so fast.

Well, they needed to be washed. I put them in the washing machine. And stupidly, for reasons beyond my comprehension, I put in our RED kitchen rug in the washing machine as well. I put in the soap, I turned on the washer and daftly walked away. I was grief stricken later when I checked on the status of the washing rugs and saw some neon pink rugs swishing around inside. The kitchen rug wasn't even that red! I used cold water?!! They didn't set for long?! Three washes and several tons of bleach later, I realized that my once lovely white rugs were forever doomed to be bright Pepto Bismol pink. Come on people, there's no pink in my house!??! Determined to learn something from my mistake I walked away with a laundry lesson and a life lesson;

LESSON #1 When doing laundry, don't mix colors.

LESSON #2 Stay true to your colors, and be aware of your influence/influences (whether bad or good).

Seriously, how impressionable are we? How careful are we regarding the company we keep or the entertainment we embrace? Am I a red rug or a white rug? The RED rug didn't change at all, but it sure left a lasting impression on the white rugs. I'm not saying that mixing and mingling is bad. I AM saying that we need to be aware of how others influence us, and how we influence others. Now, if only I'd told that to the rugs sooner. . .

Will surveys the damage.