Christmas Break visitors

 So fun to have Austin and Celia for a few days all to ourselves. We got to go on a double date out to Indian food and the Boise Art Museum.

 Celia had a great idea to paint some cookies.

 It was really amazingly fun!. Everyone got several cookies and it was fun to see what designs people came up with. In fact, it reminded me of decorating Easter eggs. Maybe this could be our new Easter Tradition, because these are fun AND yummy!

 For Liam's birthday Mimi had sent him some of Austin's old building sets (Construx). They had a lot of fun putting them together. Look at the cute builders.
Mimi and Pa and Hilarie came a few days after Austin and Celia. It was the first time in 8 years that I had seen Hilarie and the first time in twelve years (?) that the whole Turley family was together. Pretty significant.

 Hilarie and Celia playing with Lydia and her dry erase board.

 Us, non-Texans, getting introduced to Frito Pie.

 Turley fam

Turley siblings. The visit went really well. Everyone was helping out  the whole time. Mimi probably cooked and cleaned the entire time. Everyone helped with Lydia's birthday party. They are wonderful guests!

Christmastime

 Our Samuelson Family get together where we made "gingerbread" houses from rice krispie treats. Probably not a good idea because I like eating Rice Krispie Treats. Also, it takes an entire recipe for one house. Super fun to design with, though.

 Instead of a white chocolate nativity, we decided to do a gummy nativity. Watermelon flavored nativity.

 Christmas Muffin delivery.

 Love my cute family.

I got next to no pictures on Christmas, but I guess that is a good thing since I was playing with the kids and helping them to set up their new toys, etc.
We really did have a great day. It was mellow and everyone was happy with the outcome.

Christmas post

 We had such a nice Christmas break. To be clear, kind of a rough time for me through Christmas break. Don't know how much detail to include, but I will vaguely say that it is a really dark time mentally. But even though I had to forfeit some expectations I had for Christmas (things I wanted to do, etc.) the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves.

 Also, it was so nice to have family around. I know some people find that family causes stress and anxiety, but my family is so awesome that they alleviate stress.

 We had Steve and Shawna and my mom and dad to enjoy Christmas morning with us. We had Richard and Laura, Ethan, Gabe, and Logan and Elisabeth later that night.

 It was the first Christmas (probably the first holiday) that Felix was actually able to enjoy. Usually he gets really over stimulated and hates the whole ordeal. He finally "got it" and kept saying "I like Christmas" or "I like my scooter". It was so thrilling to finally have him have a positive experience with a holiday.

 Zoe was so sweet to make Christmas gifts for EVERYONE!

 Over the break we went to the church and used Liam's RC helicopter and the PVC bows and arrows that I made the kids for Christmas.

 My dad brought stuff with which to make terrariums. I have always wanted one and was excited to make it.

 We enjoyed some cousin time!

So, when I say that Christmas break was nice, it reflects the feelings of love and support and peace surrounding our family during that time, not necessarily my mental state. Just so that I am never accused of painting an unrealistically rosy picuture.

Christmas Eve Talent show

 I got a whole bunch of ill-lit, badly-taken pictures for you. But none of them are actually of the performances. Which isn't too bad, since they would've been awful pictures, too. I really try hard to not complain or apologize for the quality of photographs on the blog, since I just need to be grateful that I have a camera and a computer from which to blog. But I couldn't help it on this post.

 Look at all our lovely guests. We had Steve and Shawna, Richard and Laura and family, my mom and dad and sister, Elisabeth over for our Christmas Eve Talent Show (which is actually a Turley tradition).

 Steve and Richard juggled. Liam played the recorder. Liam and Zoe did a choreographed swordfight. Zoe did a hip-hop dance. Lydia showed some pictures she had colored. Ethan showed how he could play a game on Grandma's Ipod. Richard and Elisabeth did a violin/cello duet. Elisabeth and I did a cello/guitar duet while we sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing with Laura.

 Here is the audience, enjoying.

 Steve, Richard, Elisabeth and myself played in a Bluegrass quartet: Wagon Wheel. It was so much fun to play together! 
I did get video of all the talents, just no pictures.

We finished up with the kids opening a gift (Lydia's plates) and then Grandma Sam told the story of John and Marjorie that she use to tell us growing up.
It was a lovely night. I was so happy to have this wonderful family around me.

Christmas muffins

Instead of neighbor gifts we bake and run around warm bran muffins Christmas Eve morning. We decided to go ahead with the tradition even though it was a struggle to get it done. We were glad we did.

"gingerbread" houses

 Okay, I have never made a real gingerbread house. It sounds like a pain and I don't like gingerbread. The whole "can't eat royal icing" seems to defeat the purpose. I mean, it IS all about getting to decorate something with tons of candy and then proceed to consume your beautiful design, right? Well, for us it is.
So this year I saw someone making "gingerbread houses" out of rice krispie treats. I have watched enough baking shows to know that this is a medium used by bakers for it's excellent molding capabilities. We decided to go for it.

 I built a little house for Felix to decorate. He did so great! He very patiently sat and helped me put on the different decorations, even understanding that the candies represented different parts of the house.

 Lydia left her rice krispie treats flat and made a 2 dimensional tree picture, that she is pleased with (? is that her expression?).

 Zoe cracked me up. She made 4 walls then filled it with candy! Literally, filled. What she couldn't put inside she piled up outside on her  plate. I was teasing her about it and she said, "What!? It is a hoarders house!" Hilarious. Maybe if Willy Wonka was a hoarder!

I think Liam was working on his much longer than the rest of us so I didn't get a picture. His was a prison type building. He had impaled sour patch kids on toothpicks on the roof. It was quite threatening and delicious.

Take Potluck

 We didn't have any visitors for Thanksgiving. A friend assured me, "No one wants to eat at your house for Thanksgiving!" With reference to our present vegan status, it made me laugh really hard. It is true, we had very little to offer by way of the usual Thanksgiving fare.
This was the best Thanksgiving meal in many ways. It took about 40 minutes to prep, 30 minutes to clean up, and it was super healthy (I know that isn't super attractive in a Thanksgiving meal).

 I had lots of help cutting, decorating, and getting ready.

 By final count we had 16 different veggies and 9 different fruits. The kids also requested rolls, mashed potatoes (Zoe), salsa and guacamole and chips, popcorn turkey (Lydia), and a pizza Lunchable (Liam).

 Here I am carving our lovely turkey.

 Popcorn inside!
I DID also make pie.
We also decided to go to the Boise downtown Christmas tree lighting. It was great. We don't usually attempt things like this, because some of the kids don't like it (okay, none of them do). I got some insulated paper cups and got hot cocoa for each of the kids. It was raining. We timed it so beautifully. We parked, walked a few blocks, stood around the tree for 5 minutes, they lit the tree, we left. We rewarded the kids with doughnuts afterward.

Lydia was sick from too much hot cocoa, but still HAD to get a doughnut!
We also got our Christmas tree and decorations up! More on this later.
This Thanksgiving marks 3 years since we moved into our home. It has been an adjustment but we truly feel that this is our home. We are so grateful for so many blessings in our lives. I will name a few. Healthy children, resources for Felix, schools, abundance of food, warm home, Travis' job and his willingness to go to work each day to support us, being married to my best friend, my opportunity to be at home, the help we receive in raising our children, our extended families, freedom, the good news of the gospel, and our Savior, Jesus Christ. We  are so blessed!