Ashley is 11

Hot Chocolate Talk

These are the pics Kev snapped of my friend Kim and I participating in our annual neighborhood Valentine's dinner. The theme this year was SNL. We have some funny people in our ward who did some great skits. Kim and I somehow agreed to do our own version of "Coffee Talk"--making it of course "Hot Chocolate Talk." Here we are feeling verklempt.

Um, I don't know what we're doing here, except for showcasing our fabulous nails.

Here we are admiring Barbra. I worked on my New York accent by watching Youtube and Cake Boss.

Recipe for Exploding Eggs

Here is my favorite new recipe for exploding hard-boiled eggs.
Place two eggs in saucepan with egg timer. Fill pan with water and place on stovetop at medium-high heat. Now go upstairs for about 45 minutes, forgetting eggs completely.
Let eggs continue boiling until the water all evaporates and the bottom of the pan begins to burn. At this point, Kevin will say to Grace: Did you hear that popping sound? Is somebody downstairs?
Cry: Oh, my eggs! I completely forgot.
Be sure to time this exclaimation precisely as the smoke detector goes off. Voila! Your eggs are done. Now run downstairs to see the results. Note the nice hole burned through your egg timer and the charred black layer burned into the bottom of your pan. For an added touch, try to get the force of the exploding eggs to knock the pan off the burner so a large clump of hard-boiled yolk lands on the burner, sending sulfery smoke bombs throughout your kitchen.
After making certain that no permenant damage has been done, laugh and take pictures.



The stovetop with the burner off and the smoke bomb put out.
A view of the underside of the microwave. There was a one-foot radius of egg explosion covering every surface.
Close-up of charred egg bits. I had to get the vacuum out to remove all the bits after spending twenty minutes wiping everything off.

Preschool Christmas footage

Gracie was so excited to see Santa at school. They sang jingle bells before he came. When he walked in the door, she rushed him and threw her arms around him before he knew what hit him. They all led Santa over to a special chair and sat in a circle around him. He started to ask for a little volunteer to come sit up on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas, but Grace was already there. A couple of clips: one of Jingle Bells and the other of Grace sitting on Santa's knee.



I can't seem to get Blogger to load my videos, so I've given up and just loaded them onto youtube.

Christmas was fun

And fast!!!

Usually I am anxious to get all my Christmas decore down because I'm tired of it and ready for a clean, fresh look. This year, I'm reluctant to move any of it at all. 1, because, it took so darned long to put everything up. 2, because I don't think I ever paused to enjoy it, and now it's over. Sigh.

We had fun being together. Kevin actually had Christmas eve off, which never happens. Kevin's parents were in town, and it's always fun to go to Spanish Fork and have Christmas with family.
Grace in her new dress-ups with her Ariel phone.

Kourtney with her I-touch.
Kevin with a basketball.
Ash with a little pink camcorder.
Kenny, Amber, Grace, Kourtney and Izzie all stuffed into the sleeping bag Kenny got from his parents.
The puzzle I finally finished, only to realize a piece is missing!!!

Kourtney had her Christmas band concert. They are getting so good. She plays Tenor Sax this year with one other boy she calls Spock. My disc got full and cut out right as they were beginning their best song, but I got the first two. Feel free to listen in for a few seconds. If it's a bit wobbly, that's because I'm not the greatest with a video camera and because Grace keeps grabbing my arm :0

Nutcracker

Ashley's little ballet studio did their own Nutcracker production again this year. So much fun. Ashley added a jazz class, and so she had to do a hair and costume change. She did a great job!