Merry Christmas!

Ok, so it's not really Christmas anymore. But I meant to post all of our Christmas stuff yesterday and I didn't. It's so hard trying to get back into "normal" life when James has work off until the new year. It's great having him around, but I end up playing with Zoe, watching movies, or playing video games more than I normally would if I were at home alone. Plus I am feeling a little blogged-out after those 12 days. But I really want to get these pictures up for our family (and friends).

The Family Christmas Card

Christmas was great! It snowed on Christmas Eve so we had some nice fresh powder in the morning. We decided to start a new family tradition of making pizza on Christmas Eve and they turned out better than expected. Zoe was a bit of a grouch and cried a bit when we put her down, but I think her teeth were really hurting her. She woke up crying at 5 am as well, then went back down until 8:30.

Grumpy Zoe giving Daddy Cuddles

Christmas Pizza!

Ready for Santa

We had Zoe's new farm (from my parents) all around the tree and Zoe was pretty excited to play with it. I think she would have played with it all day if we hadn't forced her to open her other presents. We could only do about one of her presents every 10 minutes or so, so we had quite the morning of opening presents and eating breakfast. We made awesome breakfast burritos with the left over meat from the pizza.


Back to the presents. We all got tons of cool stuff, Zoe especially. Her favorite was the baby doll we got her and a stroller we got with money from Papa and Grammy K (rest assured that ALL of her presents were HUGE hits and she neglects none of them). We saved those presents for last because I thought they might be her favorites and she played with them for the rest of the day. We also got her some bottles for the baby and she feeds her. While she is feeding the baby Zoe says "Nummy" and then the baby is "done." "Done" is probably Zoe's most useful new word. She also does the sign for it when she is finished eating. So much nicer than shaking her head and screaming when she doesn't want "more" (probably her second most helpful word).


James and I stayed in our pajamas the entire day. We have only left the house for small errands - like replenishing our movie stock at Blockbuster. So far we have rented 7 movies, but we also bought each other several DVDs as well. This has probably been the most relaxing week of our lives since we had Zoe.

These are the only videos we got on the digital camera. But we did capture a ton of the morning with the regular camera. Enjoy!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas I Posted on my Blog

A Twelve-Tooth Nuggle Grin

Of course you can't see all 12 teeth in this picture, but it's as close as you're going to get since 4 of Zoe's teeth are molars. That said, I think Zoe has 12 teeth. Every few days it seems like another one is popping through. Poor kid, she has been a trooper. So I thought it was fitting to end this 12-day fiasco with Zoe's 2008 Christmas picture. I'm glad I spent so much time picking out her dress and then making a little jacket so we could get a head-shot of her. Oh well, it was the only one where she wasn't staring blankly into space or holding the props in front of her face.
We love you all and miss you more than you know. We hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas I posted on my Blog

Eleven Books For Reading

Wow, I almost forgot to post today. Not that I don't have something to post, but James is sick and I am SO ready for Christmas to be here that half the time I walk across the room, I forget what I started out to get or do. So, lets get on with it then.

I've read 11 books this year! So maybe that isn't as many as some of you out there, but that's pretty good for me. I used to be a book fiend, but since being married and having a child, my reading life has been non-existent outside of church material and parenting magazines. So, I proudly present my 11 books for 2007. May there be more next year!

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Mansfield Park
3. Sense and Sensibility
4. I'm Chevy Chase, and You're Not
5. Twilight
6. New Moon
7. Eclipse
8. To Kill a Mockingbird
9. Their Eyes Were Watching God
10. A Christmas Carol
11. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

A note on that last one - technically I haven't read it YET, but it's one of the only Christmas traditions we have in my family, so I will probably read it tonight and tomorrow. It is a little book, but I love love love it.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Ten Painted Piggies

A few days ago I dropped Zoe off at a friend's house so I could brave the lines of the post office alone. When I came to pick her up, this is what I found:

What do you think? Is red her color, or is she more of a "winter?"

In a totally unrelated matter, does nail polish remover work on carpeting?

On the Ninth Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Nine Old Christmas Pictures

AKA Flashback Friday: Christmases Long, Long Ago

Today I am combining Day 9 with Flashback Friday. A bit of a cop out? Yes, a little, but I am tired and there is still so much to do around our house to get ready for Christmas. And it's already Friday! It has really crept up on me, even though I've been looking forward to it all week.

Here are some pictures of my first Christmas, some early Christmases for James, and Zoe's first Christmas, both in Utah and in Oregon.

Desta - Christmas 1983

Desta with GarrettJamesCathy, JoAnne and JamesJames, Fern and JoAnne
Zoe's Official Christmas Picture 2006
Zoe's First Encounter with SantaUtahOregon - Our First Christmas as a Family

On the Eighth Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Eight(y)* Christmas Cookies

Wow, I just got my Christmas baking done. I ended up making 80 Christmas cookies. So this is what 80 cookies in treat bags looks like (I'll post the picture later in the day). What does an 80-cookie kitchen look like? Frankly, I'm too embarrassed to even take a picture. And I post nearly everything so you know it is bad. Unfortunately the 80-cookie kitchen is also the 50-Christmas card, 3- scrapbook, various sewing projects, coupon-clipping central, 1 large dinner, and 1 last load of laundry kitchen. At least James had already taken care of our dinner dishes.

As usual, I got the recipe off of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. The cookies are pretty yummy for being just sugar cookies (and they're hecka cute) but just a little too labor-intensive. Labor-intensive, hecka cute. . . Remind you of someone?


Making the cookies would have been more fun if I had some willing helpers and had started before 9:30 at night. James did help me, but I got to hear every reason why he shouldn't have had to help me. Apparently, making 80 cookies is "optional" to him. Although I'm pretty sure I saw it somewhere in my Relief Society handbook. Right after that section about tablecloths and centerpieces.

*For anyone out there who thinks I'm fudging my number so I have something to post, let me tell you that I counted every single cookie and we had exactly 80! It's crazy how these things just happen. Blog and ye shall receive, or something like that.

On the Seventh Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Seven Blogs for Desta

A little redundant? Maybe. But as of this morning, seven of the "Blogs We Dig" are MINE!! That is, they are authored by people who knew me before James and I were married. Now, before I offend anyone, let me just say that I LOVE all of our friends in the blogging world and you are all lovely people. But only 7 of you really knew me as Desta Eldridge. Sorry, James' old roommates, I'm not counting you guys.

Here are the 7 blogs (listed in order of who I've known the longest)

Nield Family

Grisham Family

Coombs Family

Gillian Chavez

Rivard Family

Marshall Family

Mitchell Family

By the way, if you're reading this and you knew me in my maiden name days - Please start a blog and let me know!! I love keeping up with everyone.

On the Sixth Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Six Fake Italians

This is my FAVORITE terrible Christmas song. Warning: this song WILL get in your head.

As I was searching for an mp3 file to put on our blog I found this video that I thought was just perfect. James hates this song and if he knew I was planning to post it he probably would have tried to stop me! Enjoy!!!

(if you have any problems viewing the video just search for Dominick the Donkey on YouTube and it will be the first video that comes up)

On the Fifth Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Five Frantic Faces

On Saturday we went and saw Santa. Last year Zoe was 5 months old and she didn't do so well and we figured this year would be the same. It was. But RC Willey does free pictures and there were free hot dogs too, so we went. We showed Zoe pictures and got her to say "tanta" in hopes that she wouldn't freak out. I thought it might have worked when we got there and she stared at the bearded man in awe. Then it was her turn. If we had had more time to go slowly, I think she might have been fine. But the second Santa reached for her, things started going down hill. And then he rang his bell. Blast that infernal bell. He meant it as a friendly gesture, but it scared Zoe to death. As soon as the encounter ended Zoe was fine and went back to staring intently. At least we got a free frame. And 5 shots of Zoe wigging out with Santa (the last one is the official picture that the store took and printed out for us). Sorry Santa, maybe next year!

Last Call!

Alright everyone. I am headed out in a few minutes to mail off the first batch of Christmas cards and packages. If you want a card and haven't sent us your address please do so. You can e-mail me at destanation@gmail.com and we'll send one right out to you. Offer expires Friday, when I wash my hands of all this holiday stuff and simply start enjoying it!

And coming later - The fifth day of Christmas. Don't worry, this one will actually have pictures of Zoe.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Four Survivor Finalists

Is it fate or mere coincidence that this fourth day falls on the day of the Survivor China season finale? Well, this long ride will be over in three amazing hours (well, 2 I guess, but then there's the reunion show as well). Please hold all my calls.
So, WHO will it be? Here are my humble conjectures:

Denise - She's the quiet underdog who has ridden everyone's coattails at one time. She could totally play up the sympathy card since she was never on the inside of the major alliances, but was always loyal to her original tribe.

Courtney - Again, another underdog coattail rider. Although she was NOT quiet at any time during the game. I'm just trying to figure out whether this jury will reward her or Denise for simply attaching themselves to good players and not getting voted out themselves. I'd like to reference Survivor Australia when Tina won over Colby. The jury believed that it was a great "strategy" for Tina to fly under the radar and let Colby do all the heavy lifting. I'm still not too keen on this reasoning. To compensate in some small manner, I plan on naming one of my sons Colby. You think I'm joking? Just wait. (First we have to have James Owen III, then Douglas Riley, and finally William Colby. And if we have another boy then Garth [awesome middle name])

Amanda - I liked her until after the last episode when she tried to distance herself from Todd. She called herself honest and referred to Todd as a backstabber. I'm just not sure who Todd has stabbed in the back that she didn't help twist the knife in. I think she's probably Todd's strongest competition because she is a little less "in your face" about her strategy. It seems like she and Todd used to be really close and now she wants nothing to do with him (of course that could all be editing).




TODD - Oh how I love thee. I really like Todd and I have been nearly hyperventilating each week thinking he might get voted off. Yes, he was coming off a little cocky during the last tribal council, but I still like him. He is one of the best players this games has seen in a while. I don't think he's made as many people mad as he thinks he has, but then again, editing rears it's ugly head. When will they just put this show on three times a week? That stupid Big Brother show is on ALL the time. I'm not even sure if 3 times would be enough for my insatiable desire. I'm sorry I'm so pathetic. Don't worry, this will probably be the last Survivor post until February, which is usually when the next season starts. Unless something extraordinary happens tonight. So I guess this is my second to last Survivor post.

On the Third Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Guitar Hero III

The newest addition to our family. Awwwww! Isn't he cute? I totally love this game. On Tuesday I called Target to see if they had any in stock and they told me no. I found myself there later that day and wandered over to electronics just to check things out. And what did my wondering eyes behold? The last copy of Guitar Hero III sitting on the shelf. Pardon the surfer speak, but I was stoked! I'm guessing that I'm the only mom to buy this game for herself. I went straight home and played it. In fact, I beat the entire game by the next night. So, yeah, maybe it was set on Easy, but that's still pretty cool/pathetic. So now I can work on Medium.


This game was pretty much the only thing I wanted for Christmas. And now, with 10 days left until Christmas, I've already beat the game once. I'm not one of those "buy it, wrap it, and look at it under the tree for two weeks" kind of girls. I lack self discipline. Although after I bought the game, for nearly a minute, I seriously considered selling the game online and getting another copy later. But I really wanted the game and there's something about selling "hot" items for inflated prices that sucks the jolly right out of the season for me.

Now my big question is: How do I get just another guitar so James and I can battle? I've only seen the bundled packages. Maybe we'll have to wait on that one.

Flashback Friday...A Farewell to Remember

So Desta, for all of her brilliance, was fresh out of ideas for Flashback Friday so she asked me to fill in this week. So I looked through some old photos and decided I would remember my mission farewell. Many of you reading this may have been there. If so, here is a picture to remind you of that beautiful day back in the early summer of 1997.

Standing L-R: Jane ???, Doug DeMartini, Desere' Dever, Becky Greene, Josh Matson, LaDonna Hancock, Lindsay Abel, Kelly Jibson, Marie Bird, April Hostetter, Jennie Mae Hancock, Anna Matson, Courtney Abel.
Sitting L-R: Melissa Hancock, Steve Namanny, Julia Hancock, Jesse Schreiber-Schoonyan, James Gillice, Jenny Greene, Cindy Evers, Laura Amussen, Lucy Schmauch

Of all of these people, 1 of you I never even knew, 9 I have lost contact with (as in I would not know how to get a hold of you), 1 of you I am still in touch with because you married one of my best friends, 3 of you I see every once in a while because your sister married one of my best friends, 5 of you I keep in touch with through the internet, 1 of you I see about once a year or so, and 1 of you I just had lunch with yesterday.

Here's another nice shot of me being tickle tortured at the DeMartini's house after the farewell. (Nice cover up LaDonna.)

On the Second Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog

Two Handmade Ties

Yep, I'm at it again. I had so much fun making Elder Hitchins' tie and it made him so happy that I decided to make some ties for my nephews on missions. So I found some awesome material in the remnant bin at JoAnn's and I made some more ties (I snagged the material for less than $3!). I even monogrammed the tie loop! And I have enough fabric to make a third one for their other brother who will serve in a couple more years. And if I'm really careful I might be able to squeeze out a fourth for James. He really liked the fabric and he is picky about ties.


In the spirit of handmade gifts, here's a website I found last night. It's called Foldschool and they have free instructions for how to make kid's furniture out of cardboard. I think I might attempt the chair if I can get my hands on some cardboard. I was kind of sad that I didn't have any Christmas Eve assembly projects (not really) so now I might have one. And it's outrageous what they charge for children's furniture. I figure if it's made out of cardboard I won't freak out when Zoe colors on it. In fact, that might be a fun project for us!

On the First Day of Christmas I Posted on My Blog...

...A Video of Zoe saying "dog."

So here is my latest blog gimmick - 12 posts from now until Christmas! I'm going to try my darnedest, but I give no guarantees. I reserve the right to flake on this idea at any time.

Zoe got a "Pajama Gram" from her aunt Linda and it included some adorable Christmas PJs and a fluffy little dog. It was exciting to me because besides Tigger and a bunny, all of Zoe's stuffed animals are bears. And until recently every animal she saw was a "bear" and they all said "moo." Seriously? How does she come up with this stuff? Lately she has added "doggy" to her verbal repertoire and even makes the most adorable "woof woof" sound. Thanks Linda for thinking of us!


Oh, and don't you love my pile of laundry on the floor and my half-decorated tree? The upper half has decorations on it, but for some strange reason we can't keep the lower decorations on. They keep falling off. Or relocating to Zoe's room. We just can't figure it out.

A Cold Weather Tip

Here's a little pointer for everyone out there:

If you throw away your ice scraper at the end of the cold weather season, replace it IMMEDIATELY! Otherwise you will spend 20 minutes bundling you and your child up and navigating the icy driveway only to find that your ice scraper wasn't where you thought it would be. Then you search your trunk and storage. Then, while you are musing over whether or not you can scrape the inch of bumpy, frozen rain off (which is also under 4 or 5 inches of snow) with just your bear hands, you will vaguely remember chucking your ice scraper at the end of the last cold weather season because it was broken. Then you will haul yourself and child (who is whiny by now) back into the house. Then you'll kick the door because you just wasted 45 minutes of your day and you have no way of running your errands.

Do you know where your ice scraper is?

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

...How freakin' AWESOME are your branches?!

After 3 years of not totally being in love with our Christmas trees and having them die soon after we bring them home, things are finally starting to turn around.

We were in American Fork on Saturday on a hot tip that their Target had Guitar Hero III in stock. We missed getting their last copy by minutes. I was pretty bummed as this is pretty much the only thing I want for Christmas. Then James took me to lunch at Chadder's which is some Utah guy's rip off of In-n-Out. The layout is so similar it's scary. The food wasn't bad, but I'm not sure it was worth the drive to AF and the extra $$ they charge. I'm sure they have to cover some legal fees for so blatantly ripping off In-n-Out (James: "What's the word you use for animal style?" Worker:"Stubby Way")

Anyway, we were headed back when we passed a tree lot that looked fairly decent. And it was. Every tree was gorgeous - full and perfectly shaped - and they cost as much as any other tree lot we'd ever seen. Usually it takes us a while to pick a tree because we have to decide which one is the least hideous and in our price range. This time, we were going from tree to tree saying. "ooh, let's get this one. Wait, I like this one too. And then there's that one." We eventually picked one out and are extremely happy with it.

It was perfect tree-decorating weather as well. It snowed TONS. We got all the lights and decorations up (with the unbreakables on the lower branches). The tree is so full that the lights glitter on it because you can't see all of them all of the time. You can't see through the branches anywhere. I love this tree. Plus, the people on the lot said they were just cut on Wednesday in Oregon. The whole business is family owned and operated. We hope they're around next year! So it really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house now. Finally!

Flashback Friday - Ode to James' Car

Well hello there. Sorry it's been a while. Everyone is well. We are just busy with James' semester at school ending and holiday projects galore. Plus for the last week Zoe has been on a nap strike. So that makes my day not so much fun. Also not so productive. But it is Friday and I wanted to renew Flashback Friday before I forget about it forever.

Ahh, the Prelude. James has had this car for a while. we had a little scare right before Thanksgiving with it, but it is "fixed" again and hopefully will serve us for a long time to come. Sure one of the blinkers is literally hanging off of the car. Maybe the power steering is shot and the AC non-existent. So what if James has replaced the hood twice and underneath that careful spray paint job is oodles of rust? This car is a classic. So it's worth the small bribe and vast amounts of prayers required to pass safety and emissions each year. So here are some pictures from a road trip featuring the Prelude, 6 people (I believe) and a snowboard strapped to the roof.



Also, in a somewhat related matter. I've been so nice. I've put it to a vote, I've tried coercion. Now I resort to nothing less than blackmail. Hi LaDonna. I have a few wonderful pictures of you. They might just work their way onto this blog if you don't start your own. Or if you ask me nicely not to (and start a blog). Here is a sample. You have been warned.

My Music On Amazon.com

Many people have asked how they can buy my music.

I have never really had a good answer for them except to send me a check. I understand that is not always the most convenient way.

Well, now there is an Easier Way.

My 2005 album, Making It Right Again is now available for download on amazon.com, in high-quality (256 kbps) mp3 format. You can buy just your favorite tracks for 89 cents each, or you can get the whole album (14 tracks) for only $7.99.

If you already have this album or have heard it, please go to amazon and leave a nice (but truthful) review.

Thanks for your support.



This album will also be available in coming weeks at other popular online stores including;

• iTunes (U.S., Australia/NZ, Canada, UK/UE, Japan)
  
• Rhapsody
• Napster
  
• eMusic
• GroupieTunes

(Also, if you would still like to buy the old-fashioned disc with artwork and photography (by Desta), contact me at james.gillice@gmail.com. Making It Right Again [2005] is $8 and Let Me In [2003] is $5)

It's the Holiday Season...

So whoop-de-doo, and dickory-dock, and don't forget to hang up your sock
'Cause just exactly at twelve o'clock, he'll be coming down the chimney, yeah!

That is a mere sampling of the AWFUL music James and I were subjected to when we worked at Sears. If they weren't playing the stupidest music ever, than they were playing the same "classic" songs over and over, only different versions which were also varying degrees of terrible. For 3 holiday seasons. How desperate were we? Oh yes, very.

Anyway, a couple items of business this fine first day of December. I am ready to start getting my Christmas on, so I would love to have your addresses (yes even you). I am making a big transition this year from sending cards to family and friends of my family growing up to family and our actual friends. Before now there really hasn't been a good stock of out-of-town friends to compel me to send out cards (no offense to anyone). But now it seems like there are tons of people, especially through our blogging ties, who I would like to send a card to. So, copying so many others, please either e-mail us your address or leave it as a comment on this post if you want to get a card from us. Then don't forget to check your mailbox every day between December 16 and New Years! I'm being realistic, people.

This morning we woke up to the sound of snow shovels! It snowed - a bunch. And continued to snow until just before dark. We ended up with about 5 inches. All day long Zoe would climb up on the coffee table to look out the window. She said "no-een aside" (snowing outside) so many times it almost stopped being cute. We took her out in it and she wasn't quite as excited. She was a little scared to walk in it but then Garth came over to play for a while and she got over it. The snow was super sticky so we got some cool shots of it on our tree. What a great way to kick off December!