New additions to the family

First, some background.  I served a mission in Guatemala, in a very primitive area.  Think National Geographic.  No electricity, indoor plumbing, or air conditioning.  In one house, the walls didn't even meet the roof.  So...we had our share of critter adventures.  We had tarantulas, scorpions, bugs of every kind, including fleas.  And, we had .... RATS.  They were big, ugly, mutant rats.  In one of our houses, the rats tunneled through the concrete cinder blocks to build nests in the walls.  In another house, a mama rat had her babies in my companion's suitcase, chewing through all of her expensive sweaters.  Don't ask me why she had sweaters in Guate but they were pretty before mama used them to cushion the nest.  The stories behind these critter adventures bear telling at a later date along with a frog and cockroach stories from Puerto Rico.

Fast forward to a viewing of the movie G-Force in which Jordan gets the idea that having gerbils would be the greatest thing since the invention of disposable diapers (my comparison of course). Which, by the way sits at the top of my list of accomplishments.  Man on the moon?  pshaw, that's nothing compared to industrial poop catchers.  Anyway, I am sure he pictured his gerbils running around all over the house in the gerbil exercise balls.

So... I am trying to get used to the idea of small rodents in the house, trying to picture them as SMALL, furry, cuddly, little things when my sister Laurie tells me a horrific story about one of their gerbils chewing the face off the other gerbil.  Now I am picturing my sweet, tender-hearted 8 year old making that discovery and the nightmares that would follow!  That would be MY nightmares I am referring to.

Then my loving, helpful, sister proceeds to inform us that the best pets they have ever had were...RATS!!!  She told us how friendly and intelligent they are and that they would sit on her son, Trenton's shoulder and snuggle up to his neck.  This picture in my head, sent such shivers up my spine, my head just about spun around like the unfortunate girl in the Exorcist!  Given my history with mutant, scary, disease ridden rats, I am sure you have an idea of the extent of my reaction.

  Since Jordan was able to talk, he has been asking for 

a pet that he could play with.  He used to pray daily for a dog, but Paul and I are allergic to both dogs and cats and frankly, I don't want a dog.  As any parent can tell you, if you buy a pet for your child... you personally have a new pet.  Over the following couple of days, I became more used to the idea of rats.  Well, Santa must have taken that as an agreement and brought "Shadow" and "Sparkle" for Jordan.  



Shadow is dark brown and Sparkle is white and brown





It's amazing, but the idea of having rats in the house on purpose is more shiver inducing that actually seeing them and trying to interact with them and train them.  I have to admit, they have very distinct personalities and are soft.  Jordan loves them and can't wait until they are trained enough to play with him. 

Now, if only Shadow would stop biting me every time I get anywhere near her!  My fingers are full of holes and bandaids!

Favorite Holiday Recipes

I have so many recipes that I love during the holidays.  I wanted to record and share some of my favorites:

Nothing says Christmas like the smell of gingerbread! I am not a fan of rolling, cutting and decorating cookies, so as much as I like the IDEA of gingerbread boys, it just causes, stress, frustration and a big mess. It's not going to happen. This is my alternative so that I can still get my ginger fix, both taste and smell.  I sent these home with cub scouts this year and within 20 min a mom called me for the recipe.  Yep, they are that good!

Yummy Ginger Snaps

6 TB margarine

½ c white sugar

½ c brown sugar

2 egg whites

¼ c molasses

2 c flour

½ tsp salt

2 tsp soda

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

Cream sugars and margarine.  Beat in egg wites and add molasses.  Stir in dry ingredients, mixing well.  Spoon by tsp full onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 min @ 375º.

The holidays are not complete, and I am not exaggerating, without homemade Wassail.  This will bring visions of old fashioned Christmases on waves of delicious aromas.

Wassail

5 c sugar

4 quarts water

2 TB whole cloves

4 fresh lemons or 2c lemon juice

12 cinnamon sticks

4 quarts orange juice (prepared)

1 gallon apple cider

Boil sugar and water.  Add cinnamon sticks and cloves.  Boil 10 min, cool and then add juices.  Let stand 1 hour.  Strain.  Serve hot.  Keep leftovers refridgerated.  WARNING:  This recipe makes 3 gallons of wassail!

I could eat a whole pan of Christmas Jell-o Salad all by myself I love it that much.   My mother usually makes this at Christmas time, unfortunately, she did not make it this year and I really missed it!  Paul is not crazy about it and so if I make it, I would end up eating the whole thing myself!

Christmas Salad

1 sm pkg lime Jell-o

½ lb. marshmallows

½ pt whip cream

2- 3oz pkg cream cheese

½ pt mayo (or a little less)

1 med. can crushed pineapple

1c pineapple juice

1 pkg cherry Jell-o

Dissolve lime Jell-o in 1c boiling water.  Add and melt marshmallows.  Add 1c pineapple juice.  Cool.  Mix cream cheese and mayo together, then add to mixture along with whip cream adn pineapple.  Set until firm.  Make cherry Jell-o according to directions.  When cooled, spoon carefully on top of green layer and set.  Cut into squares to serve.  Pretty and tasty!

Last year, we began our own tradition of decorating graham cracker houses.  Although I glue the houses together ahead of time, (We don't need the kind of frustration that comes with trying to build them with real gingerbread and frosting, at least not until the kids are quite a bit older!) we still need some good old Royal frosting to stick the pounds and pounds of candy, and marshmallow santas and snowmen onto and around the houses.

Royal Frosting

3 egg whites (room temperature)

4c powdered sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients at high speed for 5-10 min.  Use immediately.  Can be stored for short time covered with a damp cloth.  Re-beating will not restore texture.  Yield 2½ cups.

So many of our holiday memories are tied to yummy traditional tastes and smells.  I love anything that brings both into my home and helps to recreate memories for me and my family as well as making new memories.

One of my favorite perspectives on Christmas

A few years ago, we received our stake newsletter which had this article on the front page.  It is written by a church leader who is one of the most powerful speakers I have heard.  I like to read it each Christmas season.  I wanted to get it down in more than one place just in case it gets misplaced like so many things do.

(Click article to enlarge)
Merry Christmas!

Lights!

We love the lights at Temple Square, but for little ones there is an even more exciting show, and a definitely shorter for short little legs and cold toes, further north.  Layton City Park has a fun light show with tons of fun characters, and animated scenes.  It takes us about 20 min to leisurely walk the path and be able to see everything!  Then we get back in the car and drive slowly through the light tunnel and around the grounds one last time to make sure we didn't miss anything. 




Jordan wanted to look like he was taking everyone for a train ride.



"Look Mom, Santa and his reindeer flying overhead."



Christian and Emma trying to look like the octopus.