Merry Christmas!

I remember our first Christmas in Arizona. I couldn't get over the fact that our neighbors hung Christmas lights on their cactus. It felt like a fraud. There was no snow, no caroling out in the cold or snowmen.

I'm over it now! Christmas is Christmas, wherever your family is. We were blessed to spend this Christmas with Dan's parents, 2 sisters and their families here, then we flew to Utah to stay with my family until Jan. 10th....So, it was the best of both worlds! We celebrated Christmas Eve at Holly's in Cave Creek and Christmas afternoon at Kari's in Mesa. We had a very small holiday as a family, but being with everyone we loved was the best gift of all!

Christmas wishes...

   I have so much to add from Christmas, but we are in Utah visiting my family, so it will have to wait. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! We spent Christmas in Arizona, then flew to Salt Lake on the 26th.  My baby brother C.J. gets home from his mission in Curitiba, Brazil on Jan. 10th, so the  kids and I will be staying to see him! 

For those of you who may think you were forgotten, we didn't send out Christmas cards this year. I always enjoy doing them and I loved getting cards from those who sent us one. 

Thank you!  

Christmas cards...

This is my parents' cute Christmas card. Sending Christmas cards is something I really look forward to during the holidays. I didn't send out Christmas cards this year, so please don't think I forgot you this year! That said, thanks to those who sent cards to us this year! I absolutely love seeing pictures of your families and reading about what you're up to. We hang them on our front door during the holidays. Thanks for thinking of us!!!

English Toffee

2 sticks (1 cup) butter; no substitutions

2 Tbs. water

1 cup sugar

Put all ingredients together in a heavy saucepan together and turn heat to medium-high.  Do not melt butter first.  Stir often with a wooden spoon as butter melts.  Continue cooking and stirring for about 10-12 minutes, until toffee turns caramel-colored. 

Pour onto a 18” piece of tin foil (can place on top of a cookie sheet first) and spread thin with the back of the spoon.  Pour 1 cup milk chocolate chips or ½ of a large Hershey’s milk chocolate bar, broken into small pieces on top.  Wait about 2 minutes and spread melted chocolate with the back of a clean spoon.  Top with colored non-pareils or grated pecans.  Cool and break into pieces.  *Tip: After about an hour, I often stick the toffee in the refrigerator for a few minutes to help the chocolate set.

3 birthdays, a Bionic Eye and lots of trains......

We have an entire week of almost solid family birthdays in December, so on Sunday, Dec. 13th, my in-laws had a 

wonderful combined birthday party for Corey, 

my sis-in-law Holly and my father-in-law Allen. 

We had a nice dinner and Linda made this 

awesome cupcake cake for my guy!

<--------------- Happy birthday, Corey!

If you haven't heard of the Eye Clops Bionic Eye, it's amazing! It magnifies anything 200 times and you can view it in real time on your TV. We enjoyed looking at the kids' jeans, hair and the carpet. I think we're in for hours of fun with this one. ---------->

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa from Corey!

 

(Above): The birthday boy and me.

Allen, Brock and Holly.

  

After dinner we bundled up for this chilly Arizona weather (maybe 50 degrees) and headed out to see a very cool train display in Mesa. This couple has a train set that runs through their backyard and at Christmas, they open it to the public. They have hundreds of pop culture figures, superheroes and cartoon characters to spot and we spent over and hour trying to find Harry Potter, Super Grover from Sesame Street, Spider Man and Strawberry Shortcake. 

Truly incredible!

 

 

The Nutcracker ballet...

On Saturday my mother-in-law treated the girls to The Nutcracker! None of us had ever been to Ballet Arizona's version in Phoenix and we were excited to have a girls day out! We met at Lucille's in Tempe for lunch first, where Linda gave Ashlyn & Riley beautiful Nutcracker ornaments. 

It's always entertaining to see the Nutcracker with kids.  They are fascinated with the toe shoes, the men in tights, the fairies and the fight scenes. Ashlyn & Riley both commented that the sugar plum fairies were "naked on top." With sheer, sparkly leotards, it really did appear that that way! Ashlyn & I both learned that Grandma had danced on toe shoes just like Aunt Holly! 

  

It was a great afternoon and I have to say a huge thanks to my in-laws... to Linda for the tickets and a fun day and to my father-in-law Allen, who came out and watched Corey & Claire for the day because Dan was still at Youth Conference! Ashlyn was so exhausted on the way home that she fell asleep. We were talking, then suddenly it was quiet. I took this picture while stopped at a stoplight. Maybe she's dreaming of Nutcrackers and fairies....

Happy birthday, Corey!

On Friday, Dec. 12th, my little man turned 6! Corey is such a sweet boy and I'm so glad he's a part of our family. Friday morning, I took cupcakes to Corey's school class to celebrate. Dan left to go to Youth Conference with the YM that afternoon, and I was feeling so guilty that I didn't do more for his birthday. We didn't have a party with his friends and that night he attended Sadie's birthday party 

(which was amazing...more below on that...). 

We came home that night and ate the homemade cupcakes Ashlyn & I had made for him and opened 2 gifts my Mom & Dad sent. He was thrilled! They gave him some Transformers and a play tent and teepee with tunnels that go in between. We set them up and he and Ashlyn slept in the tent in his room that night.  As we were saying prayers before bed, he threw his arms around me and said, "Mom, this was the best birthday ever."    

No Corey, you're the sweetest boy I could hope for. Thanks for being my guy and for putting up with 2 sisters and a Mom who didn't throw you a party. I sure love and appreciate you!

 

Sledding in Arizona!

Friday night Corey attended Sadie's birthday party. It was amazing!  Danielle had recreated all the things I love about winter that we don't have here in Arizona: ice skating (paper plate ice skates on a huge sheet of paper in the garage, tissue paper snowball fights, roasting marshmallows in the backyard and sledding)! She & Josh made a sledding course in their backyard with picnic tables and ice on the grass at the bottom.  Truly amazing! When I came to pick him up, I grabbed my camera and took a video so I could show Dan. 

Very creative! 

Cooking up some candy!

Friday, Dec. 12th I got together with my mother-in-law and 2 sisters-in-law to make Christmas candy! It's been a tradition in the Elggren family for years and I've really enjoyed participating since we've lived here in Arizona. We made Dream Bars and toffee. Linda brought us each a batch of homemade regular and mint fudge to take home and I took a batch of caramels to split up. The little kids enjoyed playing while we talked and baked in Kari's kitchen and we had BBQchicken salad from CPK for lunch.  Holly & Kari always roll their eyes when I pull out my camera, but I coerced them into posing for this photo in front of Kari's amazing new tree.

Now, the trick is to give it all away 

before I eat too much of it:-) 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever...

There's nothing like a reenactment of the nativity scene! At our ward party on Dec. 6th, we enjoyed watching children in bathrobes with dishtowels tied around their heads, shepherds with stuffed animal sheep, angels with tinsel halos and of course, a doll representing Baby Jesus, wrapped in a white blanket "sleeping" in a trough full of hay. It was so cute! Ashlyn was excited to be an angel. I love the 2 nativity sets we have in our home at Christmas to remind us what this busy season of retail bliss is truly about. 

May you have a wonderful holiday and keep the Christ in CHRIST-mas:-)

  

21 years!!!

December 7th, 2008:

I've had Juvenile Diabetes for 21 years. 

The medical care has come such a long way in 21 years...

Here's to 21 years of pricking my finger

 to check my blood sugar...

of trying to eat healthy and 

counting every carbohydrate that I put in my mouth...

to doctor's appointments, prescriptions, 

shots and lab tests, scary pregnancies...

dilated eye exams, getting a new insulin pump,

low blood sugars, high blood sugars 

and hoping my kids never have to 

deal with this awful disease.

I've been incredibly blessed so far and 

have worked very hard to stay healthy. 

...Here's to 21 more years and then some!

Peralta trail...

On the morning of Dec. 6th, Dan went hiking with the Boy Scouts on the Peralta trail at the crack of dawn...and he took along Ashlyn and his Dad too! 

I think Ashlyn has Dan's heart in the palm of her hand. I love that they are so close. She's such a Daddy's girl. At times I've felt a little envious of their relationship, but I'm too glad to let it bother me. They had a great hike... 4 miles up and 4 back down. I was proud of Ashlyn for keeping up with the 14-15 year old boys. I'm grateful to Dan for taking pictures so I could see how beautiful it was!

Binkie bling...

Last weekend Betsy asked me if I wanted to put some binkie catchers in a boutique she was participating in. I started making these a year and a half ago because I was tired of picking Claire's pacifiers off of the floor.  Friends started  asking me to make them some, so I started keeping some on hand. I was down to only a few left, so I got busy and cranked out 57! I have some fun new ribbons and I couldn't wait to use them. If you haven't checked out my blog, the address is

http:www.binkiebling.blogspot.com ...

Thanks Betsy:-)

Art Masterpiece was a SCREAM...

I've really enjoyed doing Art Masterpiece for Ashlyn's class again this year! It's a program where parents volunteer once a month to teach the kids about an artist and then we do an art project based on their most famous work. The first week in December, I taught about "The Scream" by Edvard Munch. He had a very sad and tragic life (as so many of the famous classic artists did!) and it was interesting to choose what to tell them about him and what was better left unsaid! I had the kids each pick an emotion and do a painting based on what made them feel that particular emotion. It was incredible to see what the kids painted! They are so creative and this project really turned out well.  I'm including photos of Lacey & Ethan from our ward and of Ashlyn's artwork...

  

(Above, left): Lacey feels hypnotized by the TV!  

(Above, right): Ethan feels strong when he plays.

  

(Above): Ashlyn feels astonished at what she can accomplish!

Pumpkin pudding cake

So, I'm starting a new thing here.  Cooking is such a big part of our family life and I want to document and share some of our favorite family recipes here. I'm going to post recent favorites to the right in the sidebar, then move them to a main post eventually. I'll include photos too when I can...

PUMPKIN PUDDING CAKE

Mix & press into a lightly greased 

9 x 13" pan:
1 pkg. yellow cake mix 

   (reserve 1 cup for topping)
1/2 c. melted butter or margarine
1 egg

Mix and pour over bottom layer:
1 (9oz.) can pumpkin
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
2 eggs
2/3 c. milk

Mix and crumble on top of dessert:
1 c. reserved cake mix
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until pumpkin is set. Cool and serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers. Serves 12.

"2 sames"

Thanks to my Mom for these adorable matching outfits for my girls! Ashlyn loves having a little "doll" to dress in matching clothes. I'm so thankful Ashlyn has a sister:-)

You are what you eat (Gobble, gobble!)

So, after a little worry about cooking the perfect turkey, Thanksgiving was a success!  We hosted Dan's family who lives in Arizona, for a total of 16. Dan helped me cook the big bird (my secret is to cook it upside-down, in an oven bag) and Dan's parents brought a second turkey that they smoked to split up for leftovers! Yum! Everyone went home with plenty for a few meals for the weekend. Anyone else excited to decorate for Christmas now?

    

The Pilgrims and the "Aliens"...

Corey has said some of the funniest things lately! You know how you think you're always going to remember the cute things your kids say...then you forget?  

• Yesterday, Corey's lips were really chapped and I gave him a tube of Chapstick to keep in his pocket so he could apply often. After his shower, he came and asked me, "Mommy, where's my SICK LIP?" (aka. Chapstick)
  
• He came home from school on Monday all excited that he's learned all about the Pilgrims and the ALIENS (Indians)!

Love you Corey! Thanks for making me smile:-)

We're thankful for friends, lemonade & rainbows.....

We haven't had rain here since August, so it was a nice change when it dumped on us today! The kids were so excited to take their umbrellas to school.  This afternoon, Ashlyn, Corey & a few neighborhood kids set up a lemonade stand in our driveway. I bit my tongue and didn't tell them I doubted they'd have any customers on a rainy Thanksgiving Eve, but they proved me wrong! They made over $22.00 and had a great time! I had to get a picture of them with this beautiful rainbow behind them. What a day:-)

I feel like I just stole a turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I’ve been sick for the last couple of days and I’m still not feeling great but yesterday I finally went out on the hunt for my Thanksgiving turkey. Most of the grocery stores here are having price wars, which is great for all of us! I walked into Fry’s expecting to pay 59 cents a pound for a turkey, but they had dropped their price to only 39 cents a pound! I’m hosting Dan’s family for Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d get a big bird to feed all 16 of us.  I couldn’t believe it when I came home with a 24 pound turkey for only $9.39!!! Today I went back and bought another to stick in my freezer.  I can hardly wait!   

We ❤ soccer!

Corey & Ashlyn played their last soccer games of the year last weekend! I love watching them play and cheering them on. Corey has especially progressed this season and he even scored 2 goals in the game on Saturday. I'm the "team Mom" for Ashlyn's team so I made an iMovie DVD of the best pictures & video I took during the season to give to the Coaches and all the girls on the team and together Dan & I made one for Corey's team & teammates too. I love soccer becuase it's fast-moving and gives the kids a chance to shine individually and play together as a team. I took these cute pictures of Claire loving Corey during Ashlyn's game that I absolutely love...and no, that's not snow behind them, but someone's blanket:-)