Fashion alert.....

I thought I'd share part of this newspaper article (Deseret News, Monday, Dec. 29, 2008) by Ann Cannon. She was having a "holiday funk" wishing her children were still little and so she decided to go to the Festival of Trees, something she hadn't done in a long while.

"So I put on an ACTUAL CHRISTMAS SWEATER with SATIN (!) SNOWMEN APPLIQUES and went with my friend Doni.
(Two quick observations here. First, everybody should have a fabulous friend like Doni who will go places with you that no one else will...
Second, no one- except for kindergarten teachers-wears holiday sweaters in public anymore. Not even at places like the Festival of Five Billion Christmas Trees. Have you noticed? Oh my gosh! HOW DID I MISS THAT CRUCIAL FASHION UPDATE?"

Well, now you know. My advice is not to get rid of them, however, because someone will pay good money for them to wear them to a party! I might even have to borrow some to wear to school- since teachers will wear anything!

Have a fun, SAFE New Year's Eve tonight!

A fun day!

In spite of hectic schedules, snow storms, moving vans, and fatigue
we finally got together with the Clegg Family the day after Christmas.
It was a fun party, plus a reunion with
Chelsie visiting from Texas,
Brett newly planted in Provo,
and the McKnights (who moved to Heber City two days before Christmas)!

Christmas is all about family and we are very lucky!


Perhaps Dr. Seuss' said it best in How The Grinch Stole Christmas,
when the Grinch realized
he HADN'T stopped Christmas from coming:

"IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: 'How could it be so?
It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
It came without packages, boxes or bags!'
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of somethings he hadn't before!
'Maybe Christmas,' he thought, 'doesn't come from a store.
Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!' "

Christmas Day!

Santa found our house again this year! (Yes, we are blessed!)
We LOVED having most of our family here,
but we missed Heidi and Ovidiu!
(Thanks, Irene, for joining us!)

It was fun getting snowed in on Christmas Night.
(That is another story to tell.)

Christmas is much more fun with a little child around!

Maddie seemed to love her presents!
Thanks to everyone for making fun memories!

And the winner is......

Every time we get together with the Bairds we end up doing something wild and crazy.

On

Christmas Eve

we all wore our "ugly sweaters"!

As you can see, we have some real doozies.

We actually voted, and guess who the winner was?

You can't tell from the picture, but the snowmen are made out of Styrofoam balls and the trees are VERY fragrant air fresheners!

(Next time Robbie gets to ride alone in his own car!)

If you want to see more check out Melissa's blog.

http://mitchellandmelissa.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Michelle for the pictures and Melissa for doing all the work to upload them!

We hope you all had a great Christmas!

Yummy Treat.....

Today we made some Christmas treats for some of our neighbors.

It is pretty easy, and we LOVE it.

(Who doesn't like popcorn and who doesn't like chocolate?)

Pop about 8 cups of popcorn.
Put the popcorn, 1 1/2 cups of peanuts, and 1 1/2 cups of Rice Krispies in a large bowl.


Melt 10-12 cubes of Almond Bark in the microwave.
We did it for about 2 minutes and then stirred until it was completely melted.
Add 1/4 cups peanut butter. Stir until mixed.
Pour over the popcorn mixture and stir until everything is coated.

Cool on a cookie sheet.
Break up the popcorn with a spoon.

Put in cute bags and you have a nice little treat. We tied tree ornaments on the bags.
Yummy!

Happy Birthday to you....

Yesterday we celebrated Liz's birthday.
What a cute family!

How fast time has gone by! Ashley (left) and Liz (right) share the same birthday (just not the same year).

Happy Birthday to two good friends!

I love this picture!

Lizzie, the sweet baby.

Maddie looks a lot like her mom.

It is really hard to believe that now Liz has her own baby.

Hope the day was a good one!

We love you!

Two more days!

Only two more days of school left before the holiday break! Do you think I'll be able to find my desk in time to spend two wonderful weeks relaxing at home?

(Who am I kidding?)

A Memorable Christmas Card

Last week, on the exact day of the anniversary of my father Dennis B. Hall's passing, I came home from school to find this little book that arrived in the mail. It was from one of my very earliest friend's, Michelle Wilson Hunt. We grew up together in Fairview, Idaho, a small farming community. Michelle and I spent many hours playing, riding bicycles, climbing trees, and exploring together as we were growing up. She had compiled a little collection of her early memories, along with some of her own water color pictures and created this wonderful book.
One of her memories was about a cardboard fireplace that my family put together every Christmas. It was covered with a brick-like paper and lit with colored light bulbs. We faithfully hung our stockings on it every year before we retired on Christmas Eve. Later, my parents built a real fire place in our house (which I really loved), but the cardboard one worked great for us as children. Michelle was even wishing she had had one, too!




Another memory she shared was about our Christmas dolls. We both received "lady dolls" one year. She was cautioned to preserve her doll, but we played with mine, spending hours and hours dressing, styling, and loving her. A few years later my Grandma Palmer "restored" my doll by scrubbing her and somewhat fixing her hair, and sewing a bridal dress for her. I still have that doll and all the memories of fun times playing with her!

Michelle also remembered many sledding rides being pulled behind my dad's tractor. It is about four miles around a country block and we enjoyed every minute of it.

It was fun to be reminded of some fun memories on a day when I always feel a little blue. Thanks for your friendship

and

the great gift!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Maddie had a fun time playing in the snow this morning.

(I didn't have quite as much fun running errands in it!)

But...

Who doesn't love a

White Christmas?

Christmas Past.....

Remember this fun party with the Clegg family?
What exciting thing was Curtis thinking about?

Another fun gathering at the Lloyds' house, eating and playing games.

Ron and Jenny

Remember when we took these pictures?

A bunch of Hall cousins
Tim, Lori, and Lindsey (who is now a teenager)!

Can you recognize anyone?

Robbie, Michelle, Andrew, and Shane (who looks like one of our kids)!

A few years later. Hint: Two of the babies are Regan and Karli. I'm not sure who the third one is. Does anyone know?

Three "turkeys", four pots of soup, and a LOT of lights

Last night we had a Hall family fun night!

We wish we could have had the whole family join us,

but schedules are pretty tight this time of year.

We missed those of you who were not here.

We went bowling, ate soup and hot scones, and went to Temple Square to see the lights.

(Katie and Melissa are getting ready!)

Uncle Robbie and Madison

Irene, Madison, and Andrew


Brady, Emily, Liz, Audrey, Linda, and Michelle


Ally and Chris (one of the "turkey" bowlers)

A group of cousins (Jared, Kelli, Brett, Audrey)

Mardene (Who hasn't bowled since you used to keep your own score!)

Jared, Kelli, and Mardene

Madison and Emily

Karli and Emily

Morgan and Emily

The beautiful lights of Temple Square

Katie, Liz, and Karl (another "turkey" bowler)!

Madison all bundled up!

Michelle and Katie

I didn't get a picture of Jenny ("turkey" bowler #3). I guess we will just have to do the whole night over again!!!!

Thanks Liz and Michelle for some of the pictures!

Some of you asked for the recipe:

Grandma Hall's Scone Recipe

1 quart buttermilk (heat to luke warm)

2 packages dry yeast (about 2 Tablespoons)

1/4 cup lukewarm water (to disolve the yeast)

1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs (beaten)

2 Tablespoons oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

8 cups flour

Beat until smooth. The dough will be sticky. Let it raise until double (1 to 2 hours). Punch the dough down. Cover and refrigerate.

The next day, roll the dough out (flour a little to keep it from sticking), cut into small pieces, and fry in hot oil.