Nutty, Stubborn and Difficult

Got your attention? He he...

I was just describing the biscottis I made-- Honey Nut Biscotti (ok... so I couldn't part with my cocoa- shoot me later; I have 7 more baking days to go)

Again I found this recipe at Food Network from Ellie Krieger. She used pistachios, but of course, i didn't have any of those, so... it's got pecans and walnuts in it instead which makes them NUTTY. Each loaf had to be sliced and double baked (STUBBORN), and dipped in bittersweet chocolate that was rather tedious by the time I was done with most of the slices (DIFFICULT).

Tonight is our Aunt Kate's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! The biscottis are in her honor and hopefully, we can send some to her also.
That is if the kiddos, don't eat it all first! :-)

Tonight was also rather like all of the above-- we had moments that fell into those categories, but our story, "The Little Match Girl" who tried to warm herself with the matches she was selling but died in the attempt showed us that sometimes we forget just how good we have it and that outside of our cozy though bouncy bubbles, there are true sufferings out there; hidden by our rushed ways.

This Christmas season, may we be slowed down enough to reach out to those in need...

Just Chillin'...

Errands and nap took most of the day for Mr. Man and I today. After the kiddos got home and made our usual weekend drop-offs(Kila to Target for work) and pick-ups (L from Choir Tech Rehearsal), we treated the kids to our new favorite bbq joint, The Cobb Switch and relaxed a little.

Then, we headed home and just enjoyed some decor tweaking and getting cozy.

I-Dude with Cece... while L-Infinity waited to open one of our family gifts (a gingerbread house kit), and...
J-Pony finished up the tree while I tried to finish up the mantle and Mr. Man strung up some more lights inside.
Shutterfly thru Target wasn't cooperating so I guess we'll have to wait for our pictures of Christmas past to adorn the mantle (you'll see...)

Mr. Man and I read the story, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. It was long and written oddly I think, but at least the kids stayed awake.

How was your Friday?

Colorful Day!

Who said Sabbath can't be an exciting yet reverent day, have not met our family. We started out slow but at least we made it to the last two hours of church; even bringing our next door neighbor. Lessons were amazing and focused on the Savior. We dined on soup and fruits, napped, decorated a little more, and found that Disney Christmas meant colors, lots if not all of them! So for me, that meant blue!

As we couldn't afford an all out Disney theme, we decided to incorporate all of the fun decor we have and just have a fun Christmas feel in our home, but despite the given hectic level of planning where to put everything, our evening was quiet, reverent and delicious! (more s'mores!)

We read the story of "The Three Trees" who grew up becoming a cradle, a boat and the cross of our Savior, Jesus Christ. How enviable to be a tree!

I am so touched by this story that last year, just by choosing not to buy a real tree or a big pre-lit one, we decided to just use our patio trees as our main tree. We clustered three on different heights. Inadvertently, we have given ourselves a tangible reminder of the divine experiences these trees shared... being with our Savior- at his birth, his ministry and even His death.

Trying to incorporate all that we've had from past Christmases, imagine my surprise in finding my wreaths intact after three years in storage, and since I made two of this design, I had a matching set for each of my living and dining area windows! So cool!

I asked each one what they did to honor our Savior today and church attendance, listening to lessons and prayers rang out. What great examples. Then I challenged each one to find ways to honor our Savior tomorrow, while they are in school.

Let's see what happens...

Sidenote:

Kila joined us and learned that THE TRINITY for us Latter-day Saints meant three separate beings working together for the salvation of man: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. She also learned that the virgin Mary is NOT A WIFE of Heavenly Father, but rather she was a chosen vessel to allow His Son to exemplify coming to earth just as we are expected to do so- as an infant.

Chili Nativity

What? You think I misspelled "chilly"? No...

This Saturday can be qualified as one of our stre----------tched out days! First, it was the Nativity display at the church because the kiddos performed, then on to the exhibits.

Afterwards, Mr. Man and I decided to treat the whole family to Chili's! See, I knew I was just being clever with my words. LOL

Then, onto the storage for the Christmas decor. But first, L-Infinity had another community Christmas tree lighting ceremony concert to go to then onto some caroling with her youth age group that extended to almost 11pm. Mr. Man and I, the chauffer and navigator!

The storage adventure was cold and tiring, but we ended on a sweet note with some s'mores and the story of "The Christmas Orange".



Again, we learned that sharing is a great soother of hurt and hopelessness. The children loved the feeling of camping out and having daddy with us.

(Kila went out with her beau so we had the apartment to ourselves and we created a beautiful memory with our children, by the fire...)