I LOVE HELLO'S - HATE GOODBYE'S

It all began when we got a phone call from Chris telling us that he was going to bring Lacey up for Christmas. They originally weren't going to make it up this year. Chris read one of Lacey's e-mails where she was answering some questions about Christmas when he came across the question, "What would you want the most for Christmas?" Her answer was "To see my mom and dad." Chris was so touched that he told her that he would give her that gift. I have a lump in my throat as I type this post. I love my kids so much that even one living so far away breaks my heart. It all comes with the package of marriage. You follow your husband wherever he needs to be to go to school or make a living. Thank you Chris for taking such good care of my daughter and grandson and being sensitive to her need to see her family now and then.

GOODBYE I LOVE YOU!

Coleman and Mya are in Kim and Kents Journey for the trip. Coleman will be able to watch his new movies. Kent will love Oklahoma. Lots of Long horns, farm land and wide open spaces.

ALL THIS is going in the car? Wait there is still the big suit case, the car seat, the pack n' play and the computer moniter.

I love you I'll miss you

Coleman giving me fish kisses

Goodbyes are not the time for me to put on makeup as you can see. Lacey looks great.

Watching mommy and daddy load up the car.

The first day after Christmas that the sidewalks were clear enough for Coleman to ride his bike was the day they were leaving to go back to Oklahoma. He caught on to the peddle thing quite fast.

RIDE'M COWBOY

We decided to get out of the shed a rocking horse that was Lance's when he was Coleman's age. "Lance" is painted on the side of the horse. It is all original except for the handles had to be replaced with a heavier dowel. It's beat up and could use some TLC; however Lance will not let me do a thing to it. He likes it just the way it is. Coleman had a blast on it.

PLAYING IN THE SNOW

Coleman doesn't get snow in Oklahoma. When he saw the snow here he couldn't get enough. The day it hailed he wanted to go outside so bad that I walked out on the deck with him both of us in bare feet and no coat on. We stood looking up at the sky while the hail splattered all over our faces. Coleman was so excited. He loved it.

BOTH MOM'S FOR THE HOLIDAY'S

We had both of our mom's over for dinner during the holiday's. They are both alone and Christmas can be a lonely time. We can get so busy that it is easy to forget them sometimes. Coleman helped me make the meatloaf. The meat was real cold so he thought he would just poke his little finger in the meat mixing with one finger.

We had mom and her fiance Henry over for dinner Christmas day. Lacey and Chris enjoyed getting to know Henry and he passed their cross examination with flying colors. JK We played games with mom while Henry watched True Grit with Lance.

MERRY CHRISTMAS MYA

Mya is such a joy. She is always in such a lovable mood. She had no clue what was going on of course but we enjoyed watching mom and dad pull on her new hat and unwrap all her new clothes. We bought Mya a fun play center with songs and sounds for her crib. She played with it the minute the wrap came off. I can't get enough of her cute little cheeks and she lets me smootch her and smootch and smootch and smootch.

MERRY CHRISTMAS COLEMAN

Both of our grand children were with us this Christmas which was a blessing. Santa was good to Coleman this year. His bike was hidden behind the couch. The boys were moving the couch to the other wall to make more room for gift opening. Coleman was standing in the middle of the floor waiting. When he turned his head he spotted his bike, pointed to it and with eyes wide open he said "Ohhhh bike huh? He hopped right on and called it his. My project this year was to make a quiet book. Coleman has a hard time sitting still in church. He gets very bored. I know, he's only 22 months old and the speakers just seem to be a bit over his little head, go figure. The last book I made was about 25 years ago and the majority of young moms today don't sew; therefore I could not find patternes anywhere. I went on line and found a few ideas but nothing that great. Thank goodness mom still had the tool to make the holes in the pages and set the eyelets. The cover is made of camoflauge, not my first choice but all the boys thought it was rad, so it won out. He will have hours of fun. I'm glad I made it and KEPT the patterns for Mya's book in a couple of years.

CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST

Riley was up extra early to fix breakfast for everyone. He fixed fried potatoes with peppers and onions, eggs over easy, link sausage, sliced pears and my bottled grape juice. On the side he had a plate of grated cheese, sour cream and variety of cut peppers. The table was set with my snowmen dishes and table cloth. How appropriate for the snowman decorated kitchen. I wonder if he noticed? Oh probably. The food tasted so good. Just what the body needs to start off a busy day which usually consists of JUNK food. Better yet, I didn't set Riley up to this. Thank you again Riley, it was great.

CEVICHE'

For our Christmas Eve dinner Clint made his MOUTH WATERING, TONGUE TINGLING, STOMACH SATISFYING CEVICHE'. If you have never tired this dish leave me your e-mail in the comments and I will send you the recipe. The prep is between 4-6 hours. It consists of Big white raw shrimp shelled and deveined and chopped into pieces. They then marinate in a large bowl of fresh lime juice which cooks the shrimp. Red onion, green onion, roma tomatoes, regular tomatoes, celery, peppers are optional and Talopia fish optional. Lots of salt and pepper. It marinates for several hours. The flat round tortilla chips are spread with a thin layer of mayonnaise and then the ceviche. You then wrap your mouth around this wonderful taste of Mexico. You gotta love it baby!

CHRISTMAS EVE

I wanted to do something different on Christmas Eve this year. In years past I have done different fondues with steak, shrimp, chicken, bread and different veggies with cheese fondue and different dipping sauces. It was very expensive and a lot of prep. And the clean up was, well let me just say H--- No! Not this year. I thought we would try dipping apples. I usually buy them every Christmas at Xocolat downtown Salt Lake for $7.00 - $8.00 a piece. Certainly we can do them for less money and have fun doing it. After everyone did their apple there was plenty of caramel and choc to do lots of pretzel sticks.

Started out with BIG gala apples
Chopped macadamia nuts, chopped toffee bars, chopped peacans, cinnamon&sugar, white chocolate, milk chocolate and homemade caramel.

Some of the finished product. Layeres of caramel, nuts and chocolate. They were FABULOUS. We have found a NEW Christmas Eve Tradition.

Decorating cookies

We made sugar cookie at Kimberly's house. Coleman got into the act helping beat the dough. Then Aunt Kim just had to give him a taste, and it was all it took. Coleman snetched a pinch of dough every chance he could. He had fun pressing down on all the cookie cutters trying hard not to eat them before they got to the cookie sheet.

Cook Party Pics

Pictures taken at the Cook Christmas Party

The snowball fight was fun for some. I was hit several times just standing there minding my own business. Who was that? I heard from a rat that Amanda was hiding and hucking balls. If it was you Amanda, good move! Coleman kept busy running around and turning off and on the lights. I was in the kitchen washing dishes and cleaning, that's just what I do. I really need to relax and have fun and let someone else be the dish washer.

COOK FAMILY PARTY

The family Christmas party was held Dec. 20th. Randy and Lorraine hosted the party this year. Their were lots of activities for the little ones and good food for us big ones. Each family was asked to perform a song. Our family chose to do Jingle Bells blowing into pop bottles. I was relieved when Lacey and Chris arrived at the house from Oklahoma in enough time to figure out the notes we needed. Then we filled the bottles accordingly. It was fun and sounded pretty good. Randy and Lorraine's family performed to the 12 days of Christmas on CD in the dark with glow sticks which was fun to watch. Lu Ann and Mark and the rest of the gang also did a song in the dark with glow sticks. Activities for the kids were Tic Tack Toe, fishing pond, decorating cookies and getting a picture taken. We always end our parties with a gift exchange while reading of the Left -Right story. Grandma Cook gave each of the great grand kids a personal little desk with a storage compartment. The desk slides onto the storage where they found books, crayons, markers and of course Candy. Thank you Lance for helping mom out and making all the desk tops. I remember when our ward did them on a Super Saturday activity in 1985. Some of my kids still have theirs and use them for storage or art supplies. They were a great gift. Thank you Randy and Lorraine for hosting this year. It is a lot of work.

More Pics of the Cook family Christmas party

Our Three Christmas Trees

I put up three trees every year. Our living room is small so I put up a tall skinny tree and decorate it with nativity ornaments, white lights,and bows with long streamers. I display all of my nativities through out the room along with my nativity tree skirt, pillows and table runners. I love this room. It is beautiful. The snowman tree is put up in the kitchen and stays up thru January. The other tree is out Santa tree which I put up in the T. V. room. along with all our Santa's.

SNOW FLAKES

To start off the holiday season I cut out snow flakes and display them in ou large liviang room window. No matter how many years I have been cutting snow flakes no two are ever alike unless I refold and trace the cuts. They are all so different and pretty. My family looks forward to them every year.

11 DAYS AND COUNTING!

11 more days til it's over! I can finally have a clean house. I'll be able to actually walk to my bed without climbing over, scrapes, sewing machine, material , tiles, vinyl lettering, bags and more bags, and piles of clothes clean and dirty. Which is which? Any ones guess. I'll have time to clean out the closet from all the junk ( closets weren't meant for clothes any more than garages were meant to park your car) then I'll see the empty spaces for all the clothes I don't have. And I may even find the gift I shoved in the back behind the shoes that I forgot to wrap. Oh Well, no one will know. I'll clean out my purse which is way over do and organize all the receipts that I have crammed in it at the check stand in a hurry to get the heck out of their. The person breathing down my neck impatiently at the check out doesn't help the situation either. Can't wait to have time to clean my toilet. It doesn't take long before black creatures start to grow. I will get caught up on my laundry and have clean towels. Reusing a towel once is okay with me but more than that is not good. I was getting ready for work the other morning and as I grabbed a towel to dry my face I got hit with the big "BO" smell, gross! I'm tired of running to the store for something I need to make all those holiday goodies and always forgetting the milk and bread. BEST OF ALL, I will get rid of all the decorations that I don't use yet hang on to because, "You never know."
Can't wait til it's over! If any of you get this way raise your hand.
So I had a day off Monday and I refused to go out shopping and decided to sit and relax for a moment and watch the snow fall. It was so peaceful watching everyting turn white. I found myself with a lump in my throat and thinking to myself, "I LOVE CHRISTMAS." Why did I let all the hustle and bustle of the season get to me this year? I know better.
I tell myself every year that I won't let the commercialism, rude shoppers and "have to have it " get to me. I do pretty well with my spending though.  Christmases have always been paid for. Some years have been meager but we already have all we need, really! As I continued to watched the snow fall.....
I took time to reflect on all my many blessings.
1. A sufficient home with a large backyard that has brought so many good memories to our family.
2. 5 wonderful grown kids who have HUGE hearts and love for family and all the traditions we hold dear.
3. 2 amazingly smart and gorgeous grandchildren, who bring LIGHT into to my sometimes dark world.
4. A job
5. My boss is 73 and still caring for the health of people he has grown to love. Great example to me.
6. I still have my mother around whenever I want to watch a Jazz game, go to lunch , play cards or just hang out . I love helping her prepare those great gifts she lovingly gives her family every year.
7. My husband who works so hard to provide. He loves the Savior and I know that he will never wavier off the course of his strong testimony.
8. For 2 daughters who chose to be mothers in a day where it is felt to be so inconvenient.
9. For my son-in-laws mom Diane and her children who are like my own relatives. I love her and have so much fun with their family.
10. Grateful for my other son-in-laws mother, Alice, who taught Kent so many wonderful traits.
Hard work, compassion, forgiveness, card playing, game playing fool and a love for children.
11.My OLD car .

THE THREE LEVELS OF CHRISTMAS

The first level is THE SANTA CLAUSE LEVEL. It's the level of Christmas trees and holly and colorful packages, of candlelight and rich food and warm open houses. It's carolers, shopping malls, excited children and weary parents. The level of caring and giving, eating too much and spending too much and enjoy every minute of it. We love this level of Christmas.

The 2nd level is THE SILENT NIGHT LEVEL. Our glorious Christmas carols. The familiar story, "Now in those days there went out a decree..." It's the level of the crowded inn, the Holy moment in a dark stable when the son of man came to earth. It's the Shepherd's, angles, and glad tidings. Wise men traveling far in search for the Holy One. We love this level of Christmas.

The trouble is these 2 levels don't last

The 12 days of Christmas is all we can stand and the trees dry out and drop needles all over the floor. The lights on our pre-lit trees burn out. The beautiful wrappings go out in the trash. The toys eventually break, the feast is over and the dieting begins. We get out the vacuum and put the decorations away. And the lonely and the hungry are with us still.
How many times this season can we sing Silent Night? The sacred Holy Night, the Shepherd's, the angle and the star can't long satisfy humanities basic need. The man who keeps Christ in the manger will, in the end, be disappointed and empty.

No! For Christmas to last all year, for it to have the power that changes lives, we must celebrate it on the 3rd level. THE ADULT CHRIST. It is at this level that our Savior brings us gifts of lasting JOY, PEACE, and HOPE. The adult Christ who reached out and touched the untouchable, and loved the unlovable, who so loved us all that even in His agony on the cross He prayed forgiveness for His enemies. This is the Christ who wept, Enoch tells us, because so many of us lack affection and hate each other - and then who willingly gave His life for ALL of us.
This is the adult Christ who gave us the perfect example and asked us to follow Him.
This is the Christ who said "If ye love me, keep my commandments"
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."
Accepting that invitation - to keep His commandments - and love one another - is the way - THE ONLY WAY - to celebrate Christmas all year and all life long!
....May you all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS all year long.....

KURT BESTOR

Kurt Bestor was SUPERB as usual. His 20th YEAR ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Some family met at the RODEZZIO GRILL for a SPECTACULOR dinner before the concert. Because of the parking situation downtown with The Jazz game and program at the tabernacle we rode the trax to ABRAVANEL HALL and rode it back after the concert. Iv'e been to 3 or 4 of his concerts in the passed and this on last night I enjoyed far more than the others. His choice of GUESTS this year were AMAZING. And for the first time Kurt autographed his latest Christmas CD if you chose to stand in a loooong line. Not my cup of tea though. Thank you Daryl for a Fabulous evening. I'm going to have to diet now for a week.

OUR IN LAWS

I came across a talk show the other day while flipping through the channels. A Psychologist was talking about in laws. The question was asked, "How do we include our in laws during the holidays?" His answer was.....it is important that you treat your in laws at least as good as your spouce treats them. If your spouce does not get along with his or her parents or visa vera, then communication is very important. Talk together and decide what the boundaries are and how involved you will let them be around the holidays. Respect each others feelings.
Same with your children during the holidays. Communication is so important before you go shopping. Moms and Dads have different expectations when it comes to buying gifts for the kids. Example..... Mom wants to buy the store out and Dad puts his foot down and says no way! Decide on a budget for the kids and you will have less stress, tension and arguing this holiday. Same with spending for family and friends. Great advise.

Different Expectations
I find that every Christmas I get the coolest stuff to put in Lances sock. I love to get things that are different, yet useful. I try to find different candy and not just the usual stuff. Yet when I get my sock, it usually has an orange, an apple, a soda pop, usually a deoderant and hair spray, licorice and an Almond Joy. I can count on it every year and it sometimes frustrates me that he is so' la- de- da 'about my sock. This year I thought about how to motivate him to do a little better in surprising me with different, fun stuff. You get the point that I love filling socks?
It is more fun than buying the presents.
I remember a fun thing that my sister in law use to do with her husband. They would set a money limit, then they would each go out the same night just before Christmas and see who could get the most stuff for the same amount of money. She said that they would both get very creative and had a blast. I think we'll try that this year. I'll let you all know how it goes.
Have Fun filling your socks this year, and be creative.

RECRUITING GRANDMAS

So all you grandmas out there , I know you're out there somewhere, come join the world of BLOGGING!

GOODMAN CHRISTMAS PARTY

Saturday morning the Goodman's met over to Scott and Julies for breakfast. We chose from a variety of meats, veggies and cheeses to put in our omlets. Scott proceeded to make everyones omlets on his large skillet, placing a scoop of hash browns on the side. They were the best omlets I have ever had, honestly! Thank you Scott. There were sweet rolls, grapes and chocolate milk. After we ate, all sorts of candies were put on the tables along with graham crackers and icing to build our houses. It was a lot of fun to see the different creations in the making. The little kids had the most interesting houses using every kind of candy available, and lots of it. Shianne's daughter Haylee had better things to do. Following the dog out the doggie door was more adventuresome. The party was ended with gift exchange and some of Grandma's famous fudge, and with nuts this year! Way to go Grandma Goody. Several family were not there for one reason or another, and we missed them all. Thank you Scott and Julie for hosting the party this year

BREAKFAST AND GRAHAM CRACKER HOUSES IN THE MAKING

MY NIECE KAYLA PLAYING FOR US AT THE PARTY

I NEEDED THIS VIDEO. I FOUND MYSELF SMILING AND FEELING GOOD.GREAT PIECE OF WORK

JANUARY 10th THE FIRM DATE

Mom is sticking to it. The date for her marriage to Henry is final. We tried talking her into just get married and be done with it, but she has other ideas. We had a great Thanksgiving feast as usual mom loves to do the Turkey, dressing and potatoes. The load was lightened a bit with my brother Daryl cooking two birds this year. The rest of the family brought the rolls, relish try, jello's and pies. The food is so good on Thanksgiving. The preparation is loooooong and the eating quick. Then the clean up. My sister LuAnn announced that the grandkids were doing dishes this year ( at least 3 dish washers full and 2 sinks full of pots and pans. Before we knew it, most of the grandkids disappeared to the family room to watch....what?..... Football!
So the beef I have with that is... I grew up helping with dishes at any family event. That's just what you did. It was a kind thing to do especially after someone has gone to the hard work to fix you a meal. We didn't have to be asked, bribed, or begged. We just did it. Some of the younger generation just don't get it. Have we spoiled them to the point that everything is expected! They just show up for the meal and entertainmen? And now in our much older years are still doing the preparation, cooking and clean up. It 's just wrong. I cooked my first Thanksgiving dinner ever (except when we lived in New York 2 years)last year and had my kids there with us. It was great and must say I was exhausted. So step it up and perhaps get over yourselves for one day a year! OK I'm done.
All in all it was a great day. We played card games til Henry was nodding off. I am thankful that Henry was there to share our Cook Thanksgiving with us.