Christmas in Idaho Falls

Bryson, Dave and I drove to Idaho Falls on Christmas Eve day.  Jeff and Jaelyn and family arrived shortly after and Linda, John, Jackson, Sam and Liz after that.  We ate dinner about 5:00 (egg rolls, shrimp, sausage balls, veggies and dip, bbq smokies, etc)  Jeff brought in an electronic piano and everyone had a blast with that.  It came with a microphone and you could change the sound of your voice so it made us all giggle.  Grandma had a bingo game, we sang some songs, Kayla and Lexa played some beautiful piano numbers and we read Luke 2.  (Sadly, we had no one willing to dress up as mary, joseph, shepherds and angels.)

We opened family gifts.  The Howells game Jeff & Jae a wooden pig chopping block, a cloth happy birthday banner, Love Comes Softly set of videos, and a hat with lights in the brim.  The Snows gave us a radio/charger that you can wind (for emergencies), a green smoothie recipe book and a book called Agent Bishop about an FBI/Mormon Bishop.  Mom and Dad gave each of us a new set of towels (that we always look forward to).  They also gave the Snows an electric knife sharpener.  Jeff and Jae gave Mom and Dad a special request - a membership to Sam's Club in Idaho Falls.

We had a great time opening gifts the next morning and had a nice Christmas Day with games, good food, and good company ('cept I missed my "marrieds" who were all in their home towns).  In the evening we had an incident which I liked to call "Libby didn't die this Christmas".  Kayla, Jaelyn and Lexa made a couple of trays of dipped chocolates with cashews, cherries, peanut butter and coconut centers.  They had a great time and they looked beautiful (the chocolates and the girls making them.)  Then they set them outside to cool.  A little while later, someone let Libby out.  When we let Libby in, I saw a sheet of empty chocolate spots and we thought Libby had snarfed a whole tray of chocolate!  The uproar ensued.  Kayla was upset because of all her hard work, Grandma was upset because Libby was going to make a mess somewhere (from either end!) and some of us were upset that Libby would be so sick and might die from the chocolate.  We made a little bed for her in the cold garage and put an old blanket over her.  I checked on her once in a while and she seemed confused but physically fine.

After Grandma and Grandpa went to bed, Brielle made a discovery of the missing tray of chocolates on another table outside.  The sheet I saw was just chocolate spots they had used for getting the swirls on top.  Libby was let inside, and everyone apologized and loved her up.  She was still confused but happy to be in the house.  Kayla was happy, Libby was happy and Grandma was happy when she heard the news the next morning.

Friendly Mr. Fox

Dave and I went to McCall to check on some things at the cabin and got these nice pictures of our resident FOX.  He is very friendly.

Adventures in Cooking

Last Friday night I had a craving for Creme Brulee, having tasted it for the first time a couple of weeks ago at Tucanos.  Mike Bell (Bryson's friend) was at our house waiting for him to get home from work and heard me talking about it. Mike decided we should make it and went to the store to get whipping cream.  He also brought over his double boiler and we started cooking.  Who knew it consisted of sugar, cream, eggs yolks and vanilla?  (So we won't make it again soon!)  But it was fun to experiment and try something new.  After it cooked in the oven and we put the sugar on top, Mike got out his blow torch and caramelized the topping.  Then it had to cool again.  It was worth the wait and was creamy and delicious with a crunchy sweet topping.  Does that make us gourmets??

Chunky Dunkin at Skinny Dippers

Dave checking the temperature.

On the way back down. We liked the waterfall in the background.

John and Linda Snow - did anyone bring the sunscreen?

Just soaking away our troubles.

Since it was such a beautiful warm fall day we decided to run up to Skinny Dipper Hot Spring, hike up the mountain and do some soaking in a natural hot springs. Emphasis is on NATURAL as there were several nudies enjoying the sunshine and the warm water. We chose to keep our suits on and had a great time being outside on such a nice day. We stayed in the upper pool, ate our lunch and then hiked down to the car. We got home just in time to finish getting ready for the cowboy dinner at the church.

Sawyer Emmett Koprowski

Sixteen days after Jett arrived, Sawyer made his appearance on October 1st. Matt took me from the airport to the hospital and I got to meet Sawyer Emmett Koprowski and visit with Kristen for a while. I loved holding both sweet newborns and I miss them! They both changed in the short time I got to spend with them.. To see more info about Sawyer go to this link. http://www.kprow.blogspot.com/ To see more about Jett go to http://www.howellaz.blogspot.com/

Jett Benjamin Howell

Dave and I came grandparents for the first time on September 14th. Jett Benjamin Howell arrived on a Monday and I went to meet him 10 days later. Ben and Chantal had night duty (of course) and I got mornings. They would wheel his bassinet out into the living room and get some sleep and I would cuddle and hold him to my heart's content. While Ben and Chantal were adjusting to parenthood, I did a little cooking, laundry and vacuuming.

Campout with the Cousins - Labor Day 2009

"Go Granny Go"

Watching Old Sow

Grandpa's New Hairdo

We all met at Pioneer Campground near Soldier Mountain (Fairfield) for the annual Labor Day campout. All of the cousins were there (Connie's kids) and Larry's kids and Ron, Kaye and Annette and her three kids. Some were there by Thursday, but Bryson and I arrived Saturday after he went to football practice. The wasps (hornets? bees?) were horrific and most everyone was stung at least once. Dave was out of town and missed it, bees and all, and we missed him.

Hand and Foot, Hearts, and a few other games were always going. We also played Would You Rather and Battle of the Sexes. A few familys had their Beach Boys songs ready for Sunday night, the others were party poopers. We caught up on all the news, chatted and went for walks.

There as an intense game of Old Sow with both a regular version and an all girl version. The boys can get brutal. In old sow there are 10 holes with 11 players with sticks and a hole in the middle. A squashed tin can is the "puck". IT tries to get the can in the middle hole and everyone else tries to keep it out while protecting their hole. When the can gets into the middle hole everyone has to run to "home" and then run back, grab a hole and a stick. The extra person is now IT. Crazy!