The Nativity and More

The day after Christmas we celebrated the "Christmas" dinner and Nativity. My mom broke out some awesome costumes and all the kids looked great. We even had the newest grandchild Benjamin play the baby Jesus. He is so tiny you can't even see him in the picture. Nora was a donkey and really played up her part. You can see her playing stubborn on the floor in the second picture. Afterwards, fun Aunt Katie made balloon animals and hats for the kids. We have some amazing talent in our family.

A Great Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Lots of fun suprises. Spencer really out did himself this year with a Vita Mix blender. It has been on my wish list for a few years now. I've already been able to make an avacado shake and a chocolate shake. Yes, I try all sides of the spectrum when it comes to my new blender.

Two other fun gifts that I didn't think anyone could pull off was two Richard Chamberlin movies, this and this. Both movies my family and I grew up with and when I found out that my mom lost track of hers I've been determined to obtain some without any foreign subtitles. As far as I know, both are hard to come by since they no longer are made. So, thanks sweetheart for the hard efforts of getting gifts for me this year.

Santa Came to Grandma's

This past Christmas Eve before we went out caroling Santa made a stop at Grandma's house. I don't think our girls quite get the whole "Santa coming to town" thing. We talked with Nora before Santa came about what she wanted. She said, "princess stickers". Which are any stickers that have the wonderful Disney characters on them. When Santa came he hugged each child and gave them a candy cane. When he was done he quickly left to go to his next stop of the night. Nora, looking confused, turned to me and with sad wonder said, "stickers?" I couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes it hits me hard how simple things are to her. Her worry was gone when I explained to her that Santa was coming to our house that night and wouldn't forget the stickers then. As for Aubrey, she didn't give Santa the time of day. Not one look in his direction as you can tell in the picture. Next year we will make sure to have them each sit on his lap to get the full Santa experience. In the first picture is one of Nora's favorite cousins Eden and in the next is Ava, Eden's sister.

Bye, bye Santa. Till next year. We will miss you.

A' Caroling We Go

As always we had great fun caroling to some neighbors this past Christmas Eve. I love this tradition and thoses who we caroled to do as well. Check out Brad's post to see more pictures. This is a great tradition to have. One that our family will do when we get to be closer to the Osmond family size. Well, maybe not that big.

{photo courtesy Brad}

Happy Birthday Marleen

Well, I thought I'd give a shout out to myself for my birthday tomorrow. My greatest present this year will be family in town. I'm excited for the fun activities we have planned. I'm sharing some oldies but goodies for you all to see what a cute new born I was. That was in the day of nurses decorating hats and stockings for the babies to go home in. Oh, the good ol' days. The other picture is in the day kids actually dressed up on picture day. Don't you love the teeth. Watch out she'll getcha. Thank Heaven for veneers!

Frosty Night

We had our neighbors and friends, the Taylor's, over Sunday night for cookie decorating as well as our cousins the other Las Vegas Gunnersons . We had fun decorating sugar and gingerbread cookies and even more fun eating them. The kids loved to help cut the cookies out and have some pretty unique decorating skills. This was a fun activity we'll probably add to the list of holiday traditions.

New Year's Eve Party?

I'm thinking of throwing an intimate party with friends and family on New Year's Eve. I loathe going down to the strip and have done the fireworks thing numerous times. It is time to throw a party to bring in the new year. I love the ideas from Real Simple on this home party. Check it out here. They have some fun recipes as well.

So what do you think? Should I? Would you want to go? Should I make it a cocktail style dress up party, if that is even something real? Lay on the comments please.
















They even share this game to do the night of to keep it fun and lively.

















{photos via Real Simple}

My Bro's Band

My brother's band was featured on the front page of My Space Music! This is the live performance that was featured so check it out. My brother is the 3rd guy from the left.

Away Station Live Performance

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Bleu Gourmet Show

This past Saturday my sister had a jewelry show at the Bleu Gourmet Cafe. I took a shift to man the table and had fun bumping into old friends, aquaintances, and clients of mine. Her jewelry is my favorite and is truly unique to what is out there. Check her out here. Other vendors included Mutze by Ashley and Plain Zane. Both of these vendors have had me as a customer and I love using their hats and blankets on the whole family. See if you can recognize the model on Ashley's site.

Magical Forest

On Friday our Family went to one of our favorite places to go to during the Christmas season, Opportunity Village to experience the Magical Forest. I love this place! We have gone every year since being married and I went even when I was single. Every year they seem to out do themselves from the last. They have an array of activities to choose, from train rides to funnel cakes. They even expanded their rides to include the Super Slide and had a magical maze to get lost in. I know they gear this place for children but it is my kind of adult toy land as well. Isn't the old school carousel magically beautiful. Takes you back to another time.They have sponsored decorated trees throughout the Magical Forest so it is fun to meander through and see how companies, families, and organizations decorated the trees. Harley Davidson even joined in the fun this year with their cool bad Santa. If living or visiting during the holidays this is one place to check out. For those who don't know Opportunity Village is a non-profit charity in Las Vegas. Here is their description of themselves:

Opportunity Village is a not-for-profit organization that serves people with intellectual disabilities by providing them with vocational training, employment and social recreation services that make their lives more productive and interesting. Through Opportunity Village’s programs and services, hundreds of people with disabilities are learning vocational skills and being placed in jobs throughout the community.

Classic Gingerbread Cookies

My friend Ashley from my church gave me a jar with the dry ingredients of this recipe a year ago. I just made them the other day and they turned out really well. I'm one who doesn't usually fancy gingerbread cookies. Mostly because they are usually hard and too sweet. This recipe is chewy and just right. Try it extra thick and they still turn out good. Enjoy.

Classic Gingerbread Cookie

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

3 1/2 cups Flour

1 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Ground Ginger

1 tsp. Ground Cloves

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Allspice

Mix dry ingredients

1/2 cup softened Butter

3/4 cup Molasses

1 slightly beaten Egg

Mix wet ingredients with dry. Dough will be stiff so use your hands to completely mix. Cover dough and chill for 1 hour. After you chill dough roll it on a surface that is lightly dusted with flour. Roll to 1/4 in. thick. Use favorite cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Bake on cookie sheet for 10 minutes and then let cookies rest on pan for 2 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.

My Christmas Babe

I love this picture of Aubrey, even if she looks like a deer caught in headlights. She is such a sweet baby. We have had a couple of hard days with her though. She is cutting a tooth and has been having a hard time with it. It is hard to watch your child suffer with pain and feel so helpless. Tylenol hasn't worked really well and she isn't old enough for Motrin yet. I'm resorting to cold compresses through toys, cloths, and such. If anyone has another great idea let me know. I'd like my sweet child back to normal.

A Tag About My Man

1. What is his name? Spencer

2. How long have you been married? 3 years

3. How long did you date? Dated 6 months, engaged 2 1/2 months.

4. Who eats more? In a sitting I will but during the day he consumes more with his snacking.

5. Who said I love you first? He claims I said it first but really he did and then I said it after that.

6. Who sings better? A touchy subject in our home. Personally, I think we are pretty equal. I've taken voice yet he has more experience in choirs and singing in front of people. He will tell you he does.

7. Who is taller? He is and most everyone else in the country.

8. Whose temper is worse? When he truly shows his temper he does but I show mine more often.

9. Who does the laundry? I do, he has only done the laundry once since being married and he needed help to know how to operate the machine. Although, he will help with the folding.

10. Who does the dishes? We both do. May I stress both. Since being pregnant and delivering he has done it slightly, may I stress slightly, more than me. Although, I will take almost any other chore in the house over this one. I go postal sometimes over the dishes.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.

12. Who does the cooking? I gladly do. Otherwise, it would be quesadillas or mac n' cheese here on out.

13. Who is more stubborn? I think I am. Although, I think of myself as the person who compromises more so I don't know how that would work.

14.Who proposed? He did. We went for a short morning hike and breakfast in Calico Basin, he brought my favorite cereal and milk at the time, shared a poem he wrote about me and then proposed during the sunrise.

15. Who is more likely to admit when they are wrong? The ruling is still out. We both do a pretty good job at it.

16. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine. We happen to live in the same town. Yippee!

17. Who pays the bills? We both do. Although, the responsibility is suppposed to be mine.

18. Who wears the pants in the family? He does. Although, I am pretty opinionated and stubborn, his is the last say. Which works since his is the voice of reason in our family.

19. Why do you love your husband? I seriously could not write it all out. Usually there is a new reason everyday. All anyone, including him, needs to know is that I do.

Fresh Christmas Decor

I have to admit to be one of those people that like the convenience of fake trees and garland yet there is nothing quite like the look, smell, and versatility of going real and fresh. I love these ideas to do around the home or for entertaining. You can't really get that look going fake and why would you want to...other than for convenience. Making any of these displays would be easy and fun to do with kids. To get easy directions on how to go here.

Cookbook Search

I have been planning on compiling recipes in a cookbook for my side of the family for a few weeks hoping to get it all together for Christmas. Well, seeing that I have only received a recipe from one person in the family I realize it might take me some time to get the project finished. I have reevaluated and made a new goal to get it done in time to give out at our family reunion next year.

If money were not an issue I would love to go through this company to print the books. Since money is an issue I'd like to ask any of you if you know of any companies that will print family cookbooks for a reasonable price (between $5-10 per book), with low quanity requirements and look really good. Please help.

They're Finally Done!

This is what my house looked like for five days. My honey is sweet to put up with my project messes that plague our home from time to time. If I had my own craft room there would be no problem. All I would have to do is shut the door and Wha-la! No mess. So, here are the stockings in all their glory. My inspiration for the stockings came from these. Although, mine were not as adorned with pretties as the stockings online were but I thought the girl's stockings turned out great. I only hope my girls like them when they get older. I love the stocking my mother made for me. She still displays them every year. I made both stockings with my girls in mind even down to the very color of them. They may not find themselves teal and red or green and pink when they get older but in my mind those are the colors that I see them in. Do other mothers see their kids as colors? No, probably just as kids. I am so kookie sometimes.

Nora helped me with disposing the fabric scraps. To her, tons of fun.

All the fun colors of felt used.

Behold, the stockings.

Details made from love.

All Dressed Up

Every year we have attended Spencer's firm Christmas party. This year it will be our second time attending at his current firm's party. Last time it was at the Four Seasons and this year it will be at Bellagio. Last Christmas most everyone dressed up quite a bit. It made for a frustrating few weeks before to try and find a dress that was modest yet stylish to me. This year Shabby Apple made it easy for me. They only carry modest dresses and accesories. Finally! Me as a consumer has been heard. So, I bought this dress to deck me out for the party. Although for me it draws closer to the expensive side I thought I did well with the budget I was given ($150). I only wish it came with the festive red sash below. Next stop, Darleen Meier Jewelry for the perfect earrings to match.

Turkey Bowl Rehash

I know, I know we are on to Christmas things now. I just never was able to get to the Turkey Bowl.

We had a great time at our Gunnerson Family Turkey Bowl. No major injuries so in my book that is called a success.

Nora and cousin Caleb had fun at the nearby jungle gym during the festivities. Grandma and the pregnant lady stayed watch for us so we could enjoy playing the game.