Merry Christmas

Ok, so I'm slacking on those Christmas pictures. I have pictures of the Christmas tree, pictures of snow, pictures of Christmas lights on our house, and pictures of Christmas lights on our house in the snow. Plus, pictures of the big snowman we made when it snowed about four inches last Wednesday. But I'm not going to post any of those pictures. Kelsea put some on her Facebook page, and I linked the album on my Facebook wall (something like that, you can see them on my Facebook page too, is the point). So maybe I'll go against my better judgment and do a slideshow. And if anyone wants to clue me in on how to make a collage of nine or so pictures in a nice grid, I'm all ears (if not, maybe I'll google it).

Anyway, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I hope the holiday is calm, pleasant, enjoyable, and at least a little bit spiritual.

Challenge

Rules are: Anything you have done has to be in bold. How much have you done?

1. Started your own blog (obviously)
2. Slept under the stars (it's the best, unless there are mosquitoes)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii (twice)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort (so fun)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (I think...)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (does this mean no classes, or what?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (I was most satisfied when I didn't have any money at all)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight (in Hawaii)
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (Hanauma Bay, Hawaii)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (football is the best in the mud)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (thanks to C-$ Productions)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class (two of them, as I recall)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (not really, just a Nazi fort)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter (over the Las Vegas strip)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (I think so)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (at BYU, for graduating)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (small fracture is all)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (only from an airplane)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (I don't even remember it)
89. Saved someone’s life (I put out a fire, so this is a maybe)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit (;))
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy (oh yeah)

not about our house. ok, maybe a little.

This post is about Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We're usually behind with pictures, partially because we don't think about it too much, and partially because I usually blog on my laptop, not within easy reach of the camera. So instead of pictures, I use words. And by way of a non-specific general reminder, a picture is worth a thousand words, and no one likes to read more than a 5000 word essay at one time, so more than 3 pictures is dangerously close to overkill. On the other hand, a nice collage of images is fun and compact enough to work well, if there's only one per post.

Thanksgiving always seems like a calm event. We alternate going to my parents' or Kelsea's parents', and it doesn't really seem so out of the ordinary to have a big family dinner. I only have one sister that no longer lives in Las Vegas, and Kelsea's only out of town sibling is her brother that's on a mission in Brazil. So Thanksgiving just felt like a family dinner with a fairly non-negotiable menu. (Although my pickiest sister-in-law demanded variety and got bratwurst. Talk about an un-American Thanksgiving.) I'm thankful it felt so low key. I enjoy a real ordeal only once or twice a year.

As for Christmas, my parents went to Southern Utah the Saturday after Thanksgiving and got fresh-cut Christmas trees. So by Sunday night, we had a Christmas tree. Kelsea has done a fantastic job decorating it, and our house feels so festive already. Holly and Mia wanted to help, but the were pulling out ornaments that Kelsea wasn't planning to use, so she told them maybe she would use them later. Instead, Holly decorated the ficus. Holly even asked me which one I liked better. When I said I liked them both, she told me I was only allowed to like the big one, because the little one was for the little brother. I need to get a mantle for our fireplace (there are brick supports, but no actual mantle) so we can hang our stockings there and otherwise decorate it. I don't think a fire in there would be a good idea, though.

I'm glad we're to the holiday season, and I'm excited to share Christmas and Thanksgiving with my wonderful family.