Las Vegas Temple

We took the kids to romp around (reverently) at the temple before church a couple of weeks ago. It is still so nice here and we thought it would be a good way to get in the mood for church and not be rushing around at the house right before church. I am not totally sure it worked. The temple was of course beautiful, but we were still late to church and I found myself hurrying after the kids everywhere trying to shush them so they wouldn't interrupt the various youth groups meeting there on the grounds. The second picture captures the mood perfectly. Dirk is trying to take a happy family picture while I am probably saying something like, "Would you PLEASE get your dirty feet/sticky fingers/drooly face off my skirt??"

Christmas in Henderson

It was so fun to spend the Christmas season with my mom. She is usually not one to fuss over decorating and such, especially while living alone, so we got her a tree and decked her halls appropriately. The beautiful spirit of Christmas is even better with little childrens' excitement.Tristan is ready for Christmas pancakes.
Santa had a real time trying to find Gwendolyn's Pegasus. In the end, he fashioned some homemade ones out of purple lamé fabric, boning, and glitter paint. Well done, Santa.
After breakfast, we rode bikes to the park and Isaac got to try out his new bow and arrow.
Brody went down a steep hill on his scooter and stayed on it the whole way down. This child has oodles of natural athleticism.
This is Gigi's tough face after she fell down attempting a similar maneuver on Brody's scooter.

I wish I had more pictures of the day -- it was just wonderful.

Christmas Recital

For Gigi's ballet recital, her class did a dance to "Do You Hear What I Hear." It was lovely. We had a near disaster when she found herself up in front of a big crowd without her little lamb prop, but I ran it up to her just in time and all was well. It is so fun to watch the children get into their own hobbies and interests. She was so brave and did a great job.

An Update

Good grief, my life is flying past me. I went to Jazzercise last night, my second class ever and it is really fun (I realize I may have just solidified my nerdiness), but I just kept thinking, "I could really do these moves better if she would just slow down a tiny bit!" This is how I have been feeling about life in general lately. I suppose I am mostly to blame for the pace, though, so I should just do my best and be grateful, even if I jiggle and don't look like J.Lo. I think this metaphor has gone too far, but you get the idea.

Anyway . . . Dirk's security clearance came through finally and he has a signed offer and is headed to D.C. on Monday to start his job in Maryland doing top secret fancy computer stuff. Very exciting, right? So, he will be commuting back and forth for the next few weeks until our tenants move out of our townhouse in Maryland and we can all move in. Yikes! We will all spend Christmas here and then we will crisscross the country for what feels like the millionth time on what promises to be a fun-filled, snow-filled road trip. I should be thrilled. I AM thrilled. But to be honest, I have started making some good friends here, I have loved getting closer to my mom, and living on the cheap sort of grows on you. . . especially the rent-free part. Henderson is really a fantastic place, except for the occasional extreme heat, but that just doesn't happen very often. So, even though I am happy to be contemplating being an adult again, I am sad to leave.

And what am I most looking forward to, you might ask? Well, I will tell you. I am most looking forward to remodeling and decorating our house out east so we can someday sell it for lots of money. New floors? Definitely. New kitchens and baths? A girl can hope. I have never really, really decorated a house before, but I know I have it in me; I just know it. So I am becoming a student of fabulous ideas so I can turn our oldish, blah house into a home that I like to look at. That's it. May the force be with me.

German Pancakes

***OOPS!! I typed up the recipe wrong the first time! It should have been one cup of milk, not 1/2 cup. It's correct now.

My wonderful sister Rebecca always made these for us growing up. I finally called her and successfully got the recipe! I don't think she means to be engaging in a misinformation campaign, but I think she is secretly and maybe subconsciously protecting her title as Best Cook Ever by leaving out details here and there of her delicious recipes, but this one was right on. The most important thing is to do these in the blender; they need the air.

First, preheat the oven to 450 and put your glass 9 x 13 into the oven with 2 tablespoons of butter so that the butter will melt while you prepare the batter. Then, into the blender, put:

6 eggs
1 c. milk
1 c. flour
1 t. salt
2 T. melted butter

Blend 'em up very well, for maybe 45 seconds. Then bake in your 9 X 13 for about 15 minutes. They will get all big and puffy. Be ready to eat them as soon as they are done . . . that is when they are tastiest!