Christmas Morning!

It's Christmas morning at the White house and kind of quiet.  The sounds of packages being ripped opened, laughing kids or should I say screaming kids that are so excited with the surprises Santa brought them is no longer happening here. Things are a bit different when you are empty nesters.  Stuart didn't disappoint me with his choice of gifts.  He always makes sure I have new jammies like the kids do on Christmas Eve.

One would think the box Stuart is opening is a bolt of fabric.  Maybe it's because this gift was done in secret at work, that means wrapping it there too.

And in that box, a new quilt.  Made especially for him in mind.

Something as a surprise when we opened our stockings.  A Christmas letter from Santa himself, what a fun thing we laughed about.  Oh Santa, your the greatest.

After we finished our gift exchange we headed to Kira and John's for breakfast.  The kids were wound up there.  We finally got to see our sick kids from Nephi.  Still not up to par, but were excited to open their gifts.

Thayne Man couldn't wait for summer to get here to play with his digger.  He wanted it outside so he could start moving the snow for his dad.  What a helper.  This will be one fun toy in the sand box this summer. 

The gifts are plenty, but the best part of Christmas time is the nap after all the excitement, especially



when it's under a new quilt. 



Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve at the White house brings lots of fun, food and laughter.  The kids get so excited to open gifts so Grandpa and Grandma decided we would open one present even before the party got started. 

Kira and John admiring gifts.

And Jacob and Angie doing the same.

Karas is having fun with her new Barbie and horse.

As far as supper goes we have a tradition of making Ebleskeivers( a danish pancake), link sausage, bacon and fresh fruit.

The host and hostess of the annual event.

The kids getting more presents!  The open me first, it has to be new jammies, what do you think?

After pj's are on, it's on with the show.  Here Karas, Hatch and Thayne are opening a special gift from Alex and Yvonne.  They are always so thoughtful with their gifts. 

The smiles proof that they were happy with their gifts.  We missed McKinley, Teegan, Kailtyn and Mike for this years festivities.  They have had that awful bug called the cold and flu at their house.

Christmas Photo's

Yes, these two old geezer's still like to have some fun when it comes time for Christmas pictures done.  Here are a few of our favorites.  Thank you to Create Hope Photography (Shasta and Kiley) for doing such a great job.

 

 Then we used some of them for our annual Christmas card.  And thank you to Kira for designing it for us. If by mistake we didn't get you on our list, we mustache you to have a Merry Christmas, or now it's a happy 2013.

A Hostess Mystery!

Many of you know this already but, it's good-bye to Hostess! Yes that means no more Zingers, Twinkies, Snowballs, Ho Ho's, etc., etc.  But not at the Corn Wagon, at least for now.  When I opened up the cupboard to get cups for my quilt class I found this box hiding on the second shelf.  As we say, "Anything is fair play in the cupboard."  I opened them up and offered them to my students.  Hope they didn't belong to anyone in particular!  Sorry Mary Ann, if they belong to you I couldn't pass them up.  Why is that when you know you can't have something such as Hostess anymore the more you want one, even if it's been forever since you had.

 

And then, when I was putting things away in the office another box appeared.  Where in the heck are these things coming from?  For now we will enjoy them I guess.  Who knows if and when we will ever get to try a deep fried Twinkie.  We should of had one in Houston, girl's!

Christmas Treasures!

One of my favorite things to get out for Christmas is all of the Christmas books we have accumalated through the years.  The kids books are still among them.  As I was shopping one day in Wal Mart I came across two of the books we had in our basket.  The covers were slightly different as was the price!  Both books belonged to Kira, our oldest daughter, she would of been just over 2 months old when I bought her The Night Before Christmas and the Christmas Story.  This would start our collection in 1981, we have been collecting ever since.

That was 31 years ago and through the years the price has gone up.  Inflation, inflation, inflation! The price of Kira's books, 49 cents.  Todays price for the books I bought, $3.79.  Still pretty cheap for a children's book, I think.

 

This book belongs to Kira White so on Christmas Eve I gave her what belonged to her, her treasured and well loved Christmas books.



Alaskan Holiday!

Wow, do I have a lot to share with you from the month of December. It seems like this month has just flown by, just as all the other months have.  One of my new years resolutions, and I have many, is to sit down once or twice a week and keep this little blog on going.  Even if I don't have much to share in the world of sewing or news on the home front  I will try and publish some kind of thought or story of some kind. Please let me know when I am slacking. Now onto getting all of December's events done before the first gets here.

Just after we got Jacob and Angie moved into their new home on the 8th we took a little Christmas get away up Ogden canyon, to a place called the Alaskan Inn.  We had snow through the night before we left so it made the atmosphere even that much better.

We were able to enjoy breakfast in our room both mornings.  Look at the size of my entree, biscuits and gravy.  Oh so delicious and filling.

The cabins are all themed after the Alaskan territory.  Our little cabin was called the Orca and was decorated with murals and whale decor. 

The views from all of the windows were so pretty with the freshly fallen snow.

The french toast was oh so yummy the second morning. Oh, I forgot to mention that we were also welcomed with a bouquet of flowers, sparkling cider and a gift basket of lotion and bath wash.  It also came with an in room Spa Treatment. Wow how come we hadn't been to this place before.  It will definitely be on our list to go back.

Our first night there we ate supper at the Gray Cliff Lodge just up the road.  What a beautiful place and the meal was delightful.  Every thing there is made and prepared on sight.  You could tell the Christmas decorations have been used for many years.  Some really neat vintage items on display.

In one corner of the resturant they had just completed this little ski museum.  Very nostalgic.  If you need a quick get away thats close by I highly recommend the Alaskan Inn.  It's just the little get away I needed to get me jump started for the holiday season rush of things.

We need a little Christmas!

Here are a few more pictures of the decorated White house.  This portion of pictures features some of the decorations I use in the living room and entry way of the house.

 

Some of my vintage Christmas finds through the years.  The magical elf is from the late 1950's.  An Elf On The Shelf for that generation of kids. 

These are some of Stuart's childhood memories, just a few that are placed here.  I use them all over the house.  Though the little Soda Pop book and the big Santa boot are from mine.

This is a wooden paper doll I played with from my childhood days. I always thought she looked like a little piggy!  The clothes are all made from felt and are just so darn cute.  I had to sit and try everything on her before I chose which outfit to display her in. Oh the memories.  This is her first time out of the box since bringing her home several years ago.

My little Dutch corner of the room. 

My Demdaco nativity is a must every year. The lace table topper, a souviner brought home from our trip to the Netherlands last January.

A family picture dating December 1959.  This is Stuart's siblings Marriden and Steven.  Stuart is a year old in this photo.  It's one of those that will be cherished forever.

The front entry way all decked our with greenery, lights and snowflakes.

 

 

 So there you have a little bit of an insight of the sights and smells of Christmas here at our place.  I still have the basement to show you.  Christmas is almost here, enjoy your weekend whether you are out shopping, crafting, sewing or cooking, which is on my list of things to do.  But first brunch with two of my favorite people.  Emily and Terry.