First Family Pictures

We do an annual overnight trip for the Snowbird Oktoberfest and this year we decided to have some photos taken. It's was only Don, Bella, Kirsty & I but it we had an excellent time. This year we went up with some great Chinese food to eat in the hotel before we went down for a moonlight swim in the pool. The girls make it so much fun, we experience all of the festivities of Oktoberfest, ride the zip line or alpine slide have some brats and go home exhausted!

Once there was a snow man...

Apparently this is Don's 2nd attempt at snowman making -- so we had to take pictures to mark the event. Amazing what happens when you hear "Please Daddy?"

Myself, I love all of the Calvin and Hobbe's snowmen comics. But we opted for a more traditional version. Most of the work was done by Don since it was Friday afternoon and I was "working" at home. But when they both came in asking for items to make him fantastic I was happy to put the computer aside. When I went out to see, I found that it was already put together, just needed a few final touches.

Kirsty will recognize the flower nose and then I dipped into the freezer for the Dots that I haven't eaten yet. I don't think it will make the worst submission to the snowman contest. It's Christmas what more do you want?

Santa Clause Is Coming To Town!

Don & I took Bell to see Santa over at his Sugarhouse home. He was great, I highly recommend him and the line is almost non-existent! We (not including Don) have been far removed from the belief in Santa at our house so this has been a welcomed reminder of how fun it is when the magic is still alive.

Don and I have definitely have been using the line "Santa is watching you" lately. Does the belief in Santa help kids learn right and wrong? I do have the inclination make a sarcastic remark, but I'll hold my tongue because there's still a whole bunch of "childhood beings" that I still find very reluctant to deny. It is also working so that is another reason to not knock it...just look at her face!

I think when you have little ones it helps to remind you that Christmas used to be so magical...the honest sense of pure excitement on Christmas Eve as you think only of the morning to come! So tell that to the woman at the Walmart parking lot who flipped me off for taking "her" spot. Or tell that to the mob of people who stormed into the store and trampled the security guard over the last Xbox 360 and DVD player on sale... Or the store employees who don't want to look up and greet you as you come through the line, let alone say "Have a Nice Day".

I did receive an email forward that I actually liked called "The Cookie". It tells of a woman who is in an airport and has to wait for her plane. She purchases a packet of cookies and sits down to wait. Next to her sits a man, who blatantly reaches for a cookie from the bag sitting on the arm of the chair next to her. She begins to be very annoyed as he continues to take cookie after cookie in pace along with her. When there is only one cookie left in the bag she is furious as she sees him break it in half and leave the remaining half for her. She picks it up in a huff and heads for her flight. As she settles in her seat she reaches into her bag and pulls out an unopened bag of cookies... horrified she realized that the man never said a word as she dipped into HIS treat. Nice huh, he even had the graciousness to split his last one! Most likely did not happen but believable because you know that you've been in similar situations. The moral is you can't recover the stone after the throw...the word after it's said...the occasion after the loss and the time after it's gone.

Mantra

Mary sent this by email and it really touched me, I'm getting sappy but I wanted to add it here so I can read it every once in awhile...

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s:
   
   • Respect for Self,
   • Respect for Others and
   • Responsibility for all your Actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t give up your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the Earth.
16. Once a year, go some place you’ve never been before.
17. Remember the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
    

The Halloween Social Contract

I'm getting to experience the little kid fun of the whole trick-or-treating thing again. Bell is Tinker Bell this year and has the act down. She will gladly perform for anyone who passes by, stomping, pacing back and forth with her fists balled up as she gives you her little irate look. My kids are getting older but they still plan on trick or treating this year. I think it's fine as long as they dress up and I also take that stance for kidos that come treating at my door.

One of my favorite episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm is called “Trick or Treat,”. Larry indignantly denies candy on Halloween to some girls who are in their late teens, and are in no costume.The girls, obviously angry, later toilet paper Larry’s house and write derogatory graffiti on his front door. When Larry calls the police to his house, the following exchange occurs:

Officer: So they had no costumes?

Cheryl: Right, no costumes, and for some reason that really upset him [Larry].

Larry: Yeah.

Officer: Now, you’re sure there were no costumes, I mean, because sometimes they can be very subtle costumes.

Larry: No, they weren’t subtle at all, there were no costumes. They were just going around from house to house trying to get candy, okay? . . . .

Officer: But they knocked on the door, they said “Trick or Treat?”

Larry: Yeah, they said “Trick or Treat.”

Officer: And you had treats?

Larry: I was giving out candy all night. But, I don’t have to give them candy. They don’t deserve candy. And I don’t deserve this (gestures to house and door, which had been toilet-papered and laced with derogatory graffiti). . . .

Officer: Did they threaten you in any way? Did you see weapons of any kind?

Larry: No, there was no threat, except for the “trick” threat.

Officer: What’s the “trick” threat?

Larry: The trick or treat. No treat? Trick. It’s a threat! How far can you take these threats?

Officer: If it was any other night, sir. . . .

Larry: Trick or treat – bang bang! (gesturing as if pointing a gun).

Officer: But, it’s trick or treat, we cut the kids a little slack on Halloween. There’s a kind of a social contract that you enter when you open up that door. They say “trick or treat,” I would advise you to give the treat.

Cheryl: (Shaking head) Why don’t you just give them the candy, next time, Larry?

Larry: I will not be intimidated. Even on Halloween.

Oktoberfest

Don and I spent the weekend with Kirsten & Bella at Snowbird. Kirsten has this unexplained "little kid phobia" which we are trying to help her break. She looks at them with a bit of horror and tries not to get too close. We started her out slow (sitting together in the back seat) and wore her down little by little. I knew we were making progress when she actually starting singing the Backyardigans songs with us. This was under protest at first but Don is nothing if not persistent, he won by threatening to play the song over and over until she at least sang the chorus.

It was beautiful weather so we started with a short walk up the mountain where we got to see some deer along the side of a trail, then on our way back we saw some fishermen catch a fish. To her delight they let Bell reel the thing in. We got our fill of wildlife at dinner when as we were eating a Moose walked right by the window.

We joined the night owls for swimming by moonlight that night and were truly exhausted by the time we got back to the room. All except for Bell who was running around saying "This is my new house!".

Saturday was spent enjoying the Oktoberfest fun. Don and I had our FILL of Beer and Brats (...edit to the original posting for Rich) and the kids got their faces/arms painted, they played on all of the games and then we took a ride up the tram. We had such a great time we have decided to do this every year.

I now pronounce you...

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the love and support that all of you have shown Don & I over the last few months! Special thanks to Heidi, Mary & Angie (and of course Stewart) for helping us make the wedding perfection.

Heidi you are an angel and so talented. You are one of those amazing people who can walk through a store, see the end result in your mind and then make it look even better. You also have such a wonderful heart and loving personality. I had so much fun running around with you and Sam getting all of the final items on Saturday. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I was a little stressed because I had to travel to Florida for a client meeting that Wednesday and Thursday but Heidi and Angie spent time with us on Friday to put the final decorations in place. We had soft lights hanging from the tress and the arbor was decorated in beautiful flowers and ivy.

Saturday we had tables, chairs, linens, flowers and food to pick up so we made great use of my two strapping boys. After we filled their tummies with a good breakfast they were wonderful to help us lug everything into place. Don answered all of my phone calls with "What can I do for your love?" even though I called him every 3 minutes in a panic. I was literally running until 4:30 pm when I was physically pushed into the shower by Mary as she calmly told me "I'll take care of everything." and she did. Beautiful Sasha was there to do my hair (as wells as Kirsten's and Bella's) and it looked just how I wanted it to. Sisters, friends, daughters, nieces and nephews ran through the room as I put the final touches on myself to the background music of Grace & Merritt pounding on Alec's drums. I had to take a moment to stop and take it all in. I could not have been happier to have all of you there sharing that moment with me. Sasha gave me that last... your hair is not going to move... spray, Suzanne came through with the perfect shade of lipstick, and Mary, Heidi, Lara, Angie, Jo, Sandy and Heather your love and support makes me realize daily how lucky I am to know you. Quick kisses of luck from everyone and I was handed a beautiful bouquet of flowers to hold and was steered towards the door.

Bella decided that she did not want to part with her flower pedals and started picking up the ones that she was told to throw. She also made the executive decision that being a flower girl was NOT for her and was thankfully whisked away (distracted from hanging on Daddy's legs) by Uncle Joe. Kirsten and Mary looked beautiful in their matching dresses and Josh & Sam looked like fine young men in their nice dress shirts and slacks. Mike did a wonderful job performing the ceremony, giving us words of love perfect for us. We did the "kiss" to cement the deal and then I had a mental block on what I had prepared to say! I did manage to flub something fun and Don finished it up perfectly saying all of the things I forgot to... like thank you to Heidi, Mary & Angie for all their wonderfulness and to Mike for his time and words and Stewart for his beautiful backyard. Finally we got a quick but very Catholic blessing from Mom Sandoval and then the music started and we sent everyone down to eat with the bees that would NOT be lured into the traps.

Mary, thank you so much for your wonderful toast. You words meant so much to both of us and set the tone for the fun that followed. We had dinner and then danced until 11:30 to a mix of 70's and 80's music (depending on who got the DJ's ear) to the twinkling white lights and beautifully lit pool. When we finally wound down the party Don & I grabbed the to-go basket that Mary & Sasha had prepared for us and headed off to Park City to spend the weekend behind a "Do Not Disturb" sign.