More Christmas, Authentic Chinese Hot Pot and more...

Christmas morning came with a bang this year. The gifts were more family oriented with camping being the theme. There were compass', whistles, fishing poles and chairs. Coats and socks for some and clothes for others. Then we and Santa had to appease the intellects with reading, mouths for flavors and eyes for seeing.
Max seems to like his sugar cookie scented chew bone that Santa left this year.
Likewise Jake seems to be making sure that his chew bone is safe from all others for the moment.



"I saw you move over there!"

Ivan got my adaption of the "Thorpe" by Kirsten Kapur. I've made so many of these over the last couple of years for members of our family. Maybe some day I'll be able to get those people together for a picture. I think I'm missing our family being together.

This last summer Bonnie and kids came down for a long wonderful visit and we went camping. (At the time we didn't realize that our battery was in the beginning stages of dying.) After packing up the car to head home, the car refused to start. Fortunately for us Bonnie was there with her vehicle. Better yet! Bonnie had a portable starter. We used it to start the "monster" and off for home we headed. All the way home David was Ooooing and Ahhhing about that portable starter. Determined to get one he checked the Internet and eventually life took hold and he forgot all about it. But look what his daughter and son-in-law didn't forget about! David finally got that portable starter that he Ooooed and Ahhhed over all those months ago all the way from chilly Minnesota! Thank you guys!

One of the things I think we all love the most about this Holiday is the handmade gifts that cross paths in the mail. Jessica is famous for her hats and scarves. The kids absolutely love them. Here is the group with this years hats! Thanks sis!

Christmas day this year found us developing a new tradition. I so wanted to do something different from the usual Christmas day fare of turkey, ham, roast beef with potatoes, green bean casserole, etc. So we purchased lots of yummy vegs, noodles, prime rib (sliced ever so thin) and seafood. This is our Authentic Chinese Hot Pot! You quite literally cook your own meal at the table. The base is a fragrant soup made from chicken bones to which you add ginger, green onion, salt and white pepper and white cooking wine. You use this soup to cook all of your food at the table.

As you can tell the Hot Pot is a hit. The only draw back was that the kids were eating so fast that the adults, who are more used to casual dining couldn't get to the hot pot before the next round of children were cooking.

Finally getting to start cooking his own meal, Ivan is a happy camper. He'd waited about 20 - 30 min's for me to finally call a halt to the kids' speed eating episode! and allow the other folks at the table to do a bit of participating. I think I'm going to purchase another hot pot dish and divide the table next time so that the kids can eat to their hearts content without the old folks slowing down the process for them.

Olivia made the move. She is finally in her own room and none to soon as far as she is concerned. We still have painting to do, but the carpet is cleaned and the room is, for the moment, to her liking.

Popcorn balls, First socks, snow and Christmas...

The usual attire for knitting night. I took the girls out with me for a knit. Jolie took one of her books to read besides just looking cute! and Olivia took .....

the remainder of the yarn that she had from knitting her first sock! She started the sock in the a.m. and finished it in the early p.m., same day. As you can see it really does fit and it really is a sock!

Popcorn balls! I have never in all my life made popcorn balls. I know, hard to believe isn't it? So the other day I was trying to come up with a way to entertain the kids and the thought, "Popcorn balls" flew threw my mind and out my mouth before I could rethink the entire situation. I was aghast that I'd actually said, "Popcorn balls" and didn't have the faintest idea on how to back out of it without causing a small person riot amongst my children. So popcorn balls quickly became the googled term and I learned that they really aren't that hard to make! The biggest issue..... is how not to get burned by the hot sugar. Next on my list of todo's are, believe it or not, rice krispy treats.

Now this is the snow that wasn't in the forecast. We ended up with about 1.5" in all. If you can, please feel free to pull up the picture and REALLY take a look at it. Do YOU! notice anything unusual about it?

One year, just one year I'd like to have everyone together for this picture. WOW! What a picture that would be. Everyone decked out in their "christmas eve" p.j's sitting together enjoying the evening. That would be 6 more people included in this picture. hummmm. Well, there's nothing wrong with dreaming.....

This is the one picture each year that I really look forward to having done.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Elves, completed knitting and more....

I love this time of year with all the festive lights, decorations and music. Our Christmas Eve gifts are all ready and waiting in front of the fireplace. The kids all know what is in the boxes, but nevertheless they all look forward to seeing what the pattern will be each year.

Just one of the completed projects..... A nice pair of socks.











Another pair of socks! This pair is for a friend.

There's my elf! Hunter was in a Christmas production at school of "The Tiniest Tree". He played Elf #2 and had 2 lines to speak. He did great! We're so proud of him. Below is a video of one of the songs. Hunter is definitely not shy about performing in public. He is the elf on the left of the group of elves.

What a weekend....

Our weekend started the normal way most weekends start with the usual list of to do's. Our biggest was to clean all 3 fish tanks and do major water changes. Its been a long time since any of these tanks have been deep cleaned and frankly I was excited to get started and spend my "fish" time relaxing and enjoying the job at hand. * I know I'm weird*

So I got everything together, Saturday morning, to do the 125 gallon tank in our bedroom. This tank houses my "aggressive" guys. Now I need to say that for the last few weeks Bamboo, our shark, hasn't been eating. Nothing I tried seemed to work. So his decline has been painful to watch and I wrestle daily with whether or not I should euthanize him myself or wait for a possible reversal in behavior. So I started on the tank and keeping an ever watchful eye on its inhabitants I cleaned the tank. Tank completed I reached in and gently picked up Bamboo. Making no attempt to swim away he just laid in my hands and let me rub his underbelly. I know the end is nearing for him.

Next I moved on to the 120 gallon tank in the entry way that houses my African Cichlid population, 5 catfish and one enormous Plecostomus. This tank is always a happy tank with the discovery of new babies almost monthly. But it is over 3 years old now and most of the original fish have died and what remains are their offspring. This tank is so deep that I can't reach the bottom without quite literally leaning into the tank. So its easier for David to do the bottom of the tank and I do the top. So we removed all the rocks and discovered that we had a new batch of babies in the tank and quickly deposited a rock back in the tank for them to hide around and under. These babies are so small that the other fish look upon them as "fresh food"! This tank cleans up especially well and stays clean for a long time due to it not being a true meat eating tank. So with the tank clean and the pumps up and running again David started on his 150 gallon tank in the family room.

This tank has been hardest hit over the last few years with algae and is in need of a really good cleaning. Unfortunately this isn't done in a few hours. This will take weeks, perhaps months to remedy. But regular water changes, frequent cleanings and the addition of algae eating critters should work in the long run.

So our day finished as usual and off to bed I went. Next thing I knew David was standing next to the bed telling me that all my fish were dead. Dead! What? I jumped out of bed looking at the tank in the bedroom and noting the fish lazily drifting in the tank like they always do at night. So I rushed into the entry way with the light blazing and looked in shock at my Cichlid tank and all the dead fish. What happened? David had tried to fix the tank before waking me and realized that the pump wasn't working. For some reason the pump we both heard start up earlier in the day had at some point shut off and was no longer delivering oxygen fresh water to the tank. All of my Cichlids basically had suffocated. Unbelievably the Plecostomus, and 4 of the catfish were still alive. (The one catfish that I lost was a disabled baby that I had taken in a few years ago. For some reason He never grew.) So there we were at 12:30 a.m. scooping out all of my dead fish, listening to this damn pump NOW running.

I was up until almost 4 a.m. trying to understand what had happened and mourning all my fish. I know most people probably look upon fish as well "just a fish". But I'm just not that way. Anyway.....

Sunday morning came all to quickly. The best we can figure is that something must have blocked the tubing not allowing for the water to pass and the pump shut off instead of burning up. The pump is running very nicely now and we have learned a valuable lesson.

As for Bamboo, he passed away this morning.

Time for more news... long post!

Well its been really busy with the usual. Thankfully no great big surprises.

Parker started out with needing 2 teeth pulled

only to end up with 4 gone! Luckily he didn't mind losing the extra teeth! Just let the ToothFairy know to leave more $$!

We went camping in LaJunta so the kids could see Old Bents Fort and experience life on the prairie back in the 1800's. But we started out with the cabin we stayed in at the local KOA for this adventure. Talk about being pleasantly surprised! Heated, large enough to chase a kid in, and comfortable. All for $68 a night. The kids played puttputt, played on the playground and in the summer there is a pool. Not bad.
Two rooms of minimal luxury which is what we were looking for. This was where David and I stayed which is the front room. It had a desk, chair and bed side table.

This was the kids room. All 5 slept in here in two bunks with the dogs running from room to room.




Bents Fort.... is sitting where the US/Mexico border used to be. So there was a lot of trading done at this fort among the Indians, Mexican's and American's. This fort sits on the Santa Fe trail.

The Mercantile. As much as we enjoyed learning about the fort and the surrounding area I think the highlight of the trip was going to the local Walmart. By the way the kids acted you'd have thought they had never been in one before.

Thanksgiving was great. Family and friends attended. The tree was decorated and "The Night Before Christmas" was the story of the evening as the kiddo's read along with Santa. Our shopping is done, wrapped and under the tree. We're doing mostly a Family Christmas this year with necessities and a few "I want". I'm anxious to see how the kids react to this type of Christmas. It will be very different from what they are used to but one I hope they remember with fondness. They still need to do their rooms and eliminate toys they no longer play with. We'll be making a run to one of the shelters with these items.

Knitting is still on going, ever on going. Requests made for gloves, socks, etc. not enough time in the day to do it all. I have "things" I'd love to do this coming year for myself, as all I personally have to show for years of knitting are lots of socks and a couple of scarves. So the remainder of this year and the coming year are going to be my year to try out new patterns, new yarns and new styles! I'm excited. I already have a outer sweater in mind for myself along with some other items. Now to finish my holiday knitting....

Santa was fantastic as usual. We took the family over to Santa's cabin again this year to see Santa.

Pictures in the sleigh are a must. Boy was it cold!

Who's coming!?

SANTA!

Sleigh and reindeer parked around the corner, Santa walks to the cabin so as to not disrupt the traffic flow of Old Colorado City.

Being first in line definitely has its advantages!

First in line and First picture with Santa!

Also accompanying us was Jacque, Aimee and Miss Abby (3 y.o.) who was afraid of Santa last year, but rallied this year and took the cabin by storm with her presence of determination to succeed. She climbed up on his lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas and recieved her candy cane. We're all so proud of her.

Of course after Santa is the usual stop at the rocky mountain chocolate factory for hot chocolate and other treats! This year we skipped the usual chocolate yummies for just the hot chocolate. It was so cold out and we needed the inner warmth!

Jacque was kind enough to once again do haircuts for this group. I love her style and of course being that she comes to the house is a big help. So 9 haircuts later all were stylin with gorgeous new hair styles. Mom gets her's done at Knitting group.
We've already headed into our round of birthdays with Elizabeth's on November 30th! Happy 8th Birthday grand-baby! Jake turned a big 8 as well on November 14th! Papa's on December 8th, Grammie and Max on December 15th.
Our new grand-kitty. Miss Yoa (pronounced like Yoda without the "d") is just precious but not feeling well at the moment. Kaitlyn took her to the vet yesterday and discovered that her tummy is in need of some different food. Other than that she recieved a glowing report and is just filled with energy!

Our weather is windy and cold with a nice day thrown in here and there. No snow. So we're having trouble deciding if it really is the season or not. Actually we're kind of missing it. The kids want to sled and build snowmen and I frankly wouldn't mind a day of the white stuff myself!