Almost every year we've lived in Colorado we've traveled home to Utah for Thanksgiving. The past couple of years we've made it a week-long Thankful fest, spending part of our time in South Jordan with the Blanchards and the other part in Logan with the Elwoods. It's so great to see friends and family and play and eat and visit and lounge about. Hooray for Thanksgiving Week! (And hooray for Kim's blog, where I stole some of these photos from - thanks, Kim!)
We planned to leave Colorado pretty early on Saturday (November 22nd) morning to try to beat a storm that was forecast to roll in that afternoon. Well, Cal must have sensed the excitement that was about to happen because she woke up extra early, and after trying unsuccessfully for a half hour to get her back to sleep, we just decided to head out then, at 6:00 am.
Ridin' in the new seat with her buddy, Moose
(pronounced "moosh").
Pretty morning drive through the desert.
Gregg took this cloud pic for me, since I was driving.
"Eyes, ears, mouth and nose!"
It all worked out for the best, though, since we made it to Paul and Kim's home in time for a yummy soup lunch and we did beat the storm (only had to drive through some rain in Spanish Fork). We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying being out of the car, with Papa Murphy's pizza and a movie for dinner. It was a lovely afternoon/evening. Sunday morning we all got dressed in our Sunday best and headed to church. Laurel and Bret and kids joined us. Then we came home and finished up preparations for our Blanchard Thanksgiving Dinner later that afternoon. What a feast we had, with everyone pitching in to prepare delicious dishes and desserts!
These girls are ready for church.
The ladies prepping food.
Let's feast!
It was Grandma Gallagher's birthday the day before,
so she got birthday candles in her pumpkin pie
before opening presents and then taking her
afternoon nap.
After dinner, we we gathered in the living room to play games (the kids are really into Go Fish these days - Dray won, but just barely), Skype with Uncle Ryan in Belgium, and watch Cal take her first steps! It was quite the momentous day, indeed!
Skype time!
Hi, Uncle Ryan!
Cal was just playing with the kids here by the fireplace when
Uncle Bret asked her if she wanted to walk to her dad.
Yep! I guess she does.
Blurry, but full of glee and gladness!
That's one proud baby.
And a proud momma.
And a proud daddy.
Walking!
All smiles.
After the fun and games downstairs, it was time for dessert! Cal didn't wait her turn. Instead she helped herself to some Insanely Naughty Pumpkin Cake that Auntie Heather made while the cream was being whipped and the dishes were being cleared. Oh yeah. It's that good.
The spread: (clockwise from front) Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate
Caramel Pecan Pie, Apple Pie, Pumpkin White Chocolate Mousse
Cheesecake, Tillamook vanilla ice cream, whipped cream,
Insanely Naughty Pumpkin Cake, Huckleberry Jam (not technically
a dessert, but tasty enough to eat with a spoon, for sure!)
Cal shared with Dad, too - gotta have a taste of everything!
After dessert, we enjoyed more visiting, photographing, playing with cousins and general relaxation.
Four generations.
Cal LOVED playing with the kids. She thought she was as big
as any of them and they were so great to play with her and
try to make her laugh.
Grandma snuggles.
All the kids (minus Katie and Elisabeth in Virginia) with
Grandpa and Grandma.
On Monday morning Gregg headed to the mountains to get some turns at Park City and Brighton while Callie, Kim and I took a lovely walk in the sunshine. Our walk took us to the fire station, where we peeked in the windows to see one of Cal's favorite things: a fire truck. But they were hard to see, so we moved on to the swings at the park next door. As we were leaving we saw another fire truck pull up in front of the fire station. We walked over to get a closer look for Cal and the nice fireman let her (and me) sit inside! Whee-oo, whee-oo, whee-oo, indeed! That afternoon we took a little shopping trip to Carter's to buy Cal some new clothes for Christmas - she wasn't that amused by the shopping, but luckily Gregg came along to keep her entertained.
Hooray for firetrucks and really nice firemen!
Selfies in the security mirrors.
Amazing sunsets - oh how we miss them!
We finished off our stay in South Jordan with a date-day on Tuesday (and sorry, no photos of Tuesday at all apparently, so you'll just have to use your imagination). Gregg and I left after Cal was down for her nap, doing a session in the Jordan River Temple followed by lunch at In-n-Out and a bit of computer browsing at Best Buy (did I mention my laptop kicked the bucket the day before we left?). Ah, romance. Callie had fun entertaining her grandparents after she woke up from her nap (early, I might add - the stinker!). She was so tired later in the afternoon that she actually took a second one in Gregg's arms, something she hasn't done for months! Guess those grandparents really wore her right out! When she woke up, we went out to Sweet Tomatoes for a fun little dinner. There we learned that Cal loves pickled beets. Who knew? Home again for leftover pie and fireside chatting rounded out a fun day, and ended part one of our Thanksgiving Week travels.
Not too many photos in this round up - and you may notice that it ends at the 21st. Well, that's because there are many, many more to be posted in their own space dealing with Thanksgiving Week in Utah (probably in two parts). November was snowier than December has been thus far, but Cal and I still got out on our walks most days. Also newsworthy: a new "big girl" car seat for the Calster. She loves it!
11.6.14 (a sleeping Baby Ebby picture message from Shelly - we love those!)
11.6.14 (Gregg still gettin' out on the bike for rides)
11.7.14 (Here comes the snow!)
11.7.14 (Aggie game-day pic sent to Auntie Ky)
11.11.14
11.12.14
11.12.14
11.13.14
11.13.14
11.13.14
11.13.14
11.15.14 (the new and improved walking box)
11.16.14 (the view from the church was so pretty this snowy Sunday)
11.16.14
11.16.14
11.21.14 (waiting for mom to get her boots on before our walk - moose got to come along on this one)
11.21.14
11.21.14
11.21.14 (on our walk, after getting the mail - a Thanksgiving card from G&G Elwood)
Yes, it's December 8th, and yes, I have been doing my daily Christmas song countdown on Facebook every day, but because I no longer have a working computer of my own (and Gregg's, that I'm using now, is not the quickest machine in existence) I have not yet been able to blog each day's song here. Instead of playing catch up with individual posts, I decided to just do one big summary post that I'll update when I can. (Which should be daily starting on Thursday when my new laptop arrives in the mail - Merry Early Christmas to me. Oh, I can't wait! And stay tuned for more blog posts including Thanksgiving in Utah, our November Photos from Phones Round-up, and our hunt for a Christmas tree. Lots to see, coming soon!)
Here we go! Think of this as your very own December 2014 Playlist:
December 1st: We'll start things off with a little Vince Guaraldi and the Peanuts gang - Christmas is Coming!
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December 2nd: Today's Christmas Song-A-Day Countdown pick is this lovely number from Nathan Gunn and the MoTab from their Christmas concert a couple years ago. I've always loved this song since I first heard it as a Mannheim Steamroller version back in the day. It's just so joyous and happy and makes me smile. "In sweet rejoicing" indeed.
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December 3rd: It's kind of cloudy this morning - maybe it'll snow? I bet it will if Michael Buble is singing!
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December 4th: So, my kinda cloudy day yesterday resulted in no (new) snow, but I, along with Karen, still dream of a white Christmas.
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December 5th: Today's song comes to you from the one and only Perry Como - such a classic voice for Christmas tunes.
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December 6th: Today is Christmas tree hunting day!
And a bonus song since this one has been in my head all morning:
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December 7th: Today's song is one of my favorite Christmas hymns. I've been looking
for a great rendition of it for a few years but always came up blank . .
. until I watched the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional last
year. As I listened to this beautiful piece last year, I knew it would
be making the countdown this year. And here it is. (Speaking of Christmas Devotionals, there's another one tonight at 6 pm! Don't miss it!)
December 8th: Today calls for a little Forgotten Carols. I especially love the end of this one. It's the best part - He was here!
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December 9th: My pick for today is from George Winston. I love his version of Carol of the Bells.
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December 10th: Here's a lovely little number to start your day from The Lower Lights. I dig their folksy (read: banjo) sound.
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December 11th: Here's another classic Christmas voice - Nat King Cole. I love this one because it reminds me of our trips to Preston to see the light parade on the day after Thanksgiving. We'd drive around after the parade to see the decorated houses, listening to our Celebrate the Season with Tupperware tape, and eating oranges that Mom Peggy Elwood) would peel and pass back from the front seat of the suburban.
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December 12th: I have lots of fun memories of this song, Sleigh Ride: playing it (more like butchering it lately) as a duet on the piano with Heather; playing it in our high school band concerts when some extra band-geeky alumni would come back to join us for this song and the saxophone section got to stand up during the jazzy section near the end; and hearing this particular version on the movie Elf, while Gregg and I watched it for one of our early pizza and a movie dates. (P.S. You can just stop it before you get to the Santa Claus Party part - I don't know what that's all about.)
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December 13th: Joy to the World! Kurt Bestor sounds like Christmas to me.
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December 14th: Today I picked my new favorite primary Christmas song. This is one I had never learned (or even heard, for that matter) until I came to the Vail Branch (now Ward - still getting used to saying that). The primary kids sang it so beautifully last night at our ward party. I've loved learning it with them this month and it will be one I imagine I'll sing for a long time to come. (Technical note: You may need to click on the little "audio" tab at the top, right under the play button, and then check "words and music", and then press play to get the full effect of this delightful little number.)
December 15th: Today's song is one we used to sing in our Adam's Elementary Christmas caroling days. Fun times in the lunchroom with our little chairs carried from our classrooms and Mrs. Brown (the school secretary) acting as our pianist.
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December 16th: Jon Schmidt's Christmas albums are some of my absolute favorites to listen to during December (and, I'll admit, many other times of the year). His arrangements are fun when they should be and peaceful at other times and simply beautiful, every one. I love 'em.
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December 17th: I feel like this song kind of gets overlooked sometimes, but I really like this version (from those trusty Reader's Digest records I love so much) of that good ol' king.
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December 18th: Today, after I got home from dropping Ky off at the airport, Cal and I did just this. Only our version was "Strollin' in a Winter Wonderland". #dailystrollin'
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December 19th: I was first introduced to this song when I went to morning aerobics (led by Joann Healey in her awesome spandex and leg warmers) at the church with my mom (Peggy Elwood)many moons ago. Whenever I hear it, I want to get up and dance. Ha. I don't think we worked out to this version, but ya gotta love Bing.
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December 20th: Today's song is one of my favorites, but this version from Julie Andrews is new to me, thanks to my aunt, Joan, for tipping me off to it!
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December 21st: Today I picked one of my favorites from the MoTab. But now I wonder, who is Jeanette Isabella anyway?
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December 22nd: Burl Ives has such a jolly, Christmas-y voice. I think, even though he's singing about Santa Claus in this song, he could actually be Santa Claus himself. In other news, Cal has figured out who Santa is and what he says. Ho! Ho! Ho!
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December 23rd: Another from the favorite Reader's Digest records: Doris Day sings Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Sigh. Beautiful.
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December 24th: Happy Christmas Eve! Growing up I loved Christmas Eve as much or more than Christmas Day: the anticipation, the last minute preparation, and a little time to just sit and watch a movie or read a Christmas book before our grandparents came over for a fancy Christmas Eve dinner (complete with china on the table, I think). My siblings (Heather, Nate, Kylie, and Megan) and I would always perform a small concert for them on all our varied instruments (piano, saxophone, french horn, trombone, violin, viola, cello), in various combinations, calling ourselves the Elwood Five when we'd all play together. Then we'd read the Christmas story in the New Testament and the grandparents would leave and we'd lay out our stockings and set out a cookie (or two or three) and note for Santa. Falling asleep that night was always a challenge, but eventually we'd all succumb only to wake before the sun (sometimes much much before), too excited about the prospect of Christmas to sleep any longer.
Today's song doesn't really have much to do with any of those memories, but I love it anyway. It reminds me of the whole reason we have so much celebration at this time of the year - it's because Jesus was born and we love Him!
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December 25th: Merry Christmas! For my grand finale number I picked a pretty great rendition of my most favorite Christmas song ever. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas day, enjoying all the good things. Thanks for playing along. :)
