trip to Ogden

Christmas Eve my oldest son was under the weather. We took a trip to downtown Ogden. It was cloud, drizzly and chilly. The streets were practically empty.

The building to the left is the Ben Lemmond Hotel. It is a historic site. The Wasatch mountains are behind the buildings.
We walked down historic 25th street towards Union Station.

This steam engine was huge! The wheels were taller than us. Union Station has a covered area for these trains to sit under, which is great considering the amount of snow we can get.
The boys spent quite a while looking at the mechanisims of the trains.

There was a small Christmas village set up, I didnt get pictures of that because my camera died. When we were done walking around, we went to Farr's ice cream It is by the Ogden LDS temple They have the best ice cream I have ever had. There was one other family in there besides us. They dont have a big eating area, so between our family and the other one it was full. By the time we left, it began to rain, and the clouds hid the mountains. We are hoping to go back this week so we can see the Christmas village at night.

December

Has been B U S Y!

My two foster kiddos returned to their mom, I got two new ones.
An 11 year old and 2 year old. I have forgotten how much work it is chasing a toddler around. These kids are the sweetest ones. I thought the previous two were good. These kids rock. Their situation is so. sad. The older boy is so appreciative. He and his brother came here with just a few articles of clothes. What two year old only has two outfits. Really?
We went to a foster parent group Christmas Party. It was very well planned. There were over 100 kids.

The boys really weren't happy about me taking pics with Santa :)

(Sigh) Hubs made it home from Idaho. The boys have enjoyed him being home.
Sunday we went to my mother in laws for Christmas. It was fun to watch the cousins interact with each other.

Too bad we had some kind of flu bug that went thru and half of us got sick. Like me and Andrew. On our way home. Thank goodness Matt drives. I had to pull over and have him drive. I didn't feel good. Whatever bug it was, hit us at once. Andrew was sick all day Monday.
Christmas eve morning he said he felt good. He at least had color.

Christmas eve my dads side of the family was here. It was great. This year we did a white elephant gift exchange. We had a blast. IT was funny watching the kids decide what to take when it was their turn. I had bought king sized candy bars. Those were a hit. I think I will do the same thing next year, but I want to throw some home made gifts into the pile as well.

Christmas day we spent at home. I made roast beef for dinner.
For lunch, we had finger food. I made crackers from scratch. They were good. The hardest part was rolling the dough out thin.
I have more pics, I will have to download later.
For now, I must tackle my desk. The paperwork is taking over!

this week

I will be glad when this week is over. I'm already beat.
The two fosters should go home tomorrow or Friday. We spent the evening packing their belongings. They are excited. I just wish I had an exact date. I know that social workers are busy, but IF mom has a place, and you are doing your walk thru today to make sure it is appropriate, and mom has an appointment to sign paperwork, then I should have a date. I doubt he will help with transportation either. He hasn't come to my house. At all. By the way, in Washington the social workers are SUPPOSE to come to my house once a month to check up on the kids. And people wonder why kids fall thru the cracks.
This weekend my boys' boy scout troop has what they call "amazing race". One of the kids patrol are sleeping here Friday. Need to make sure I am stocked up on milk...
Saturday is also the Christmas Rush. Andrew has done this race for 4 years. He loves it. Ryan will also do it. He is hoping to be able to jog it. It is a 5k. Ryan has bronchitis, I took him to the doctor yesterday. I am hoping that he gets better by Saturday. He also has basketball practice that begins on Tuesday. He is on the same team as his friend Nelson. Ryan's basketball playing skills should have improved with wearing his glasses. We shall see.
I have been up since 1 am, Ryan's coughing woke me up. I have all the laundry done. I am trying to get motivated to vacuum. I hope to take a nap later.
The cub scouts will be making gingerbread houses today. I am hoping to remember my camera this time :) I didn't get any pictures last year. This one is from 2011.

I am making the frosting. Its super easy. I bought this powdered meringue powder made by Wilton at Walmart ( its cheaper there than at JoAnnes). Mix a couple tablespoons with powdered sugar, add some water and voile- you have "royal frosting". This will be the 4th year we have done this. The cubs have a lot of fun with this. I bring my standing mixer to make the frosting. We put it in ziplock bags with a corner cut off. Each scout gets one. The ziplock brand bags work better than the generic. The generic just don't hold up with all the sqeezing.
Hope everyone has a great week!

Christmas present

So, leave it up to hubby and I to come up with creative projects before Christmas. Over our fireplace, we had this large mirror

Here is a view. We also had several cases holding our CD's and DVD's. We had been talking about taking down the mirror and putting up shelves where the amoire was.
So, Jason called my dad and borrowed his grinder. The mirror was held by two slids, but the rubber inside the slides was hard. The mirror was not going to move.
We removed the mirror. It exposed that lovely wood paneling ( cough cough)

 So with the mirror gone, I then primered and painted the paneling. Its too cold to mess with drywall right now ( and who wants the mess two days before Christmas)

We then waited for it to dry, then moved the TV.

 

 

I really liked how it turned out. My boys and husband then constructed the new shelfing unit.

 

 

 

I was getting excited to make more room in my living room and to open up the space.
Here is the final result:

 

The best thing- this cost us a fraction by doing the work ourselves. We still have finishing touches, however it will have to wait. Jason is getting ready to leave for school, so it will be on his "honey do list" when he returns. Its nice having more space!

Pre Christmas

So, here I sit, listening to Christmas music and watching my kids play video games. I have made one batch of carrot cake muffins, baked two loaves of chocolate chip banana bread, and am waiting for my butter to warm up to bake some mini cupcakes for my in-laws Christmas tonite. I'm sad Christmas is almost here, I have really enjoyed it this year. My shopping is done ( yes, I started in OCTOBER this year). I love explaining the importance of this holiday, why the Saviors birth is important. I love creating memories, so my kids can reflect and smile and/ or laugh.