My favorite Christmas stuff

And now that we've covered the past 3 months, I can share with you some of my favorite Christmas songs and movies (or I guess they're songs IN movies). Anyway....

Hugh Grant as Britain's Prime Minister
after he stands up to a bullyish US President (Billy Bob Thornton...yeah, I know)
(Love Actually *)

The Christmas school show / play in Love Actually *
The little spiky-haired drummer learns to play drums to impress Joanna, the singer
(and yes Joanne, that's Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson, as husband and wife)

The Paris "BellHarmonic" led by Quasimodo in a rendition of " Carol of the Bells"
(Will Vinton's Claymation Christmas)

More Claymation with the Three Wise Men and their smooth singing camels

What list could be complete without The Muppets ?
Bob (Kermit) Cratchit's family singing "Bless Us One and All" in
The Muppet Christmas Carol

And since we will be getting (yet) more snow on Christmas Day, here is my finale,
"White Christmas"

* If you'd like to watch Love Actually, I strongly suggest you watch the network version or certain cable versions (like on TBS) instead of renting the DVD. The movie is rated R (yes, I know, I'm evil). Although it has some very cute scenes, it also has some scenes that are not so great (and unnecessary in my opinion...)

A Season of Gratitude

Yes, I know that as I post this, it is the evening of December 22nd, 2 days until Christmas, and I'm just now getting to blog about Thanksgiving. I would tell you why, but I already did, so if you really want to know, go here.

Continuing with our Holiday Flashback, we spent Thanksgiving at Stan and Leslie's home (Stan is one of Andrew's older brothers). They just moved to Kimberly, ID (near Twin Falls) and were gracious enough to host Thanksgiving dinner and let us stay with them for a couple of nights.

Forgive the lack of actual dinner pictures, but I was part of the preparation / feeding of a 2-year-old / cleaning crew, so my pictures were mostly limited to time spent playing, hanging out, etc.

Amber going for a "hike" after dinner

Sisters-in-law: Leslie and daughter Jessica (right) and Jenn

The unveiling of the turkey piñata (made by Stan, Leslie, Justin and Jessica)

Joey gets a good swing at it

First, the head and a leg came off the turkey.
The boys (Ethan, Joey and Justin, from left) ponder what to do with them.
The head was later stomped, to the delight of all boys present.

Diving in for goodies

The boys, surveying their loot.
Click on the picture to see Ethan's (second from left) orderly row of Hershey Kisses.

Lest you think it was all fun and games, there is a reason I chose the title for this post, and here are the things for which I'm grateful this year:

• Health: Our entire family has had a quite uneventful year, as far illness and doctor's visits are concerned.
• Love: We've spent time with family and kept in touch with friends.
• Our ward / the Gospel: We have been very blessed for the past three and 1/2 years, to be part of a loving, united ward. Our friends, leaders, home and visiting teachers have shared with us the pure love of Christ.
• Work / self sufficiency: At a time when many people are losing jobs or homes, we have been able to keep both, and I was even blessed to have a job fall right in my lap, and to have a friend care for Amber while I go to work.
  

Every year, when Thanksgiving comes around, these words (from a song by Don Henley) come into my mind:

I've got great expectations

I've got family and friends
I've got satisfying work
I've got a back that bends
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

For every moment of joy
Every hour of fear
For every winding road that brought me here
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

For everyone who helped me start
And for everything that broke my heart
For every breath, for every day of living
This is my Thanksgiving

Forward and Back - Halloween '08

Well, I'm going back a bit so I can move forward (with blogposting) without skipping over the past two months...

First, right after Amber's birthday, we had the Linder Ward Halloween party. Amber had received dress up clothes for her birthday, so we decided to make a costume out of them. She looked quite precious as a little Tinkerbelle (not that I'm biased or anything).

Our cute little Tinkerbelle

...and her sparkly wings

Practicing her pageant wave with Dad during the parade...

Suzie and Amber looking for lollipops in the pool o' popcorn
(although they were mostly just eating the popcorn)

On Halloween night, for the first time since we moved to Meridian, we went trick-or-treating instead of passing out candy. At first I wasn't too sure we would go. Amber was all dressed up and loved it, but any mention of the words "trick-or-treat" or just "treat" made her cry. Eventually we just told her we would just "go for a walk". I guess that was the magic password, because she rushed to the door saying "Walk? Walk?" And off we went... Amber had some candy that night and in the few days that followed, but let's face it, at her age, most of the candy goes to Mom and Dad =).

Here's our little Tinkerbelle* after an exhausting (trick-or-treating) "walk"

* By the way, did you know that Andrew's nickname as a kid (and teenager) was Tinker? It's true =) And he's told me time and again that they gave him that name because he liked "tinkering" with stuff. I don't know....I think it was because of his last name. You know...Tinker Bell... and yes, he may get mad at me for divulging this well kept family secret, but hey, he doesn't read this blog that often. It will be a while... ;)

We're back!

I know, I know, it's been over a month. Things have been a little crazy. Right before my last post, I interviewed for and later accepted a new job: staff interpreter at the Ada County courthouse. It's been challenging and rewarding work, and it's made November (and now December) a very busy month.

This is where I work - the Ada County courthouse (Boise, ID)

I'll be posting Halloween, Thanksgiving and (random) December pictures shortly, but I just wanted to have a new post...it's been so long =)