Post Christmas Idaho Adventure

Here is my daughter and yes, she cut her hair.


It seems so strange to only have l.s. and r. home for Christmas, but we loved spending the day with them. t. and k. came the next day. We went to Sun Valley for an Idaho adventure. I wanted the kids to ice skate, but they weren't as interested in it as I was. But we had a great day and it was very pretty.

Cinnamon Rolls and Christmas morning

First, I just want to say how much fun it is to be off work and have some time to blog.

On Christmas Eve day I have a few traditions. Mostly they take place in the kitchen. I always make Cinnamon Rolls and I feel like sharing a few tips with you.

First of all, find yourself a recipe and get your dough going. I use my bread machine recipe and it works fine.

Then you roll them out. Here is a trick, wipe down your counter with a anti-bacterial wipe, let it dry and spray it and your roller with PAM. It works great. You clean it up the with a wipe. Make sure you are generous with the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Come on, you only do this once or twice a year.

Roll them up and cut them about and inch and a half and let them rise again. When you bake them, take them out about 5 minutes early. Frost them with what is left of the butter mixed with some powdered sugar and vanilla. Then in the morning, put them back in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes.

Here is my quilt project this week. I want to give it away as a wedding present. I can do that right?
Now, I'm back to the kitchen. We are doing fondue tomorrow and I think it will be fun.

MeRrY ChRiStMaS!

The Christmas Letter

I wanted to post my Christmas letter and picture, because I sent out every single one and realized that I should have ordered 15 more, or maybe more. I feel very blessed as I love all my nieces and nephews, and that includes the many I have because of Wes. I love reading your blogs and hope you all have a Merry Christmas.

Here is what Santa had to post on our facebook today, December 2010

Keith @Courtney, I know you have just finished school and will be looking for a teaching job, so don’t forget to drop me a line and send me your new address, because I wouldn’t want to miss a visit to Lucy next year. share

Congratulations Todd! I am sure you and Katelyn will have a very nice wedding in Logan this April. share

Relax Scott; everything is going to be fine. It is so nice to have you closer to me in the Canada Vancouver Mission. share

Callie, I’m so happy you just finished your first semester at BYU in Provo, Don’t forget to spend some time with your family while you are home for Christmas. share

Rich, you are 13 and a freshman in High School. Stop growing or you will be taller than me next year. share

Lisa, you might consider selling some quilts and bags this year, in the mean time, don’t quit your day job at Wendell Elementary. share

Wes, after 13 years you are still in a bishopric, HO, HO, HO. share

And to our dear friends and family we want to thank you for being part of our lives. We hope that you always find peace in joy. MERRY CHRISTMAS…. The Halls

I love a fake tree. If you like your real one, that is okay with me, but I love fake trees. This is a new fake tree (well, someone gave it to me). I would say that being a scrappy quilter, also makes me a scrappy Christmas tree person too. My kids all have their own ornaments and this year I realized that l.s. has all the Nutcracker ballerinas, and R, has all the Nutcrackers. I have already made a note to myself that I need to get my own. But the one thing I always have on the tree are the picture ornaments they made when they were is school. Love them

Here is K from the 4th grade, it is the only one that has made it through the years.
Here is T. in what I would guess is 3rd or 4th grade. It is the only one I have.

Here is S. I have a couple of these, but he looked just like this for several years.
This is l.s. She is in the 1st grade here. I have a couple to choose from with her too.
And here is R. I think this is 1st grade too. I have a couple of him too.

I'm so glad that none of you can see me sitting here crying. I miss them. The kids grow up too fast and I don't feel like I have grown up at all. Now, when will L.L. start to send me ornaments?

Hand-print ornaments

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/12/hand-print-snowman-ornaments.html

If you have little children in your home, check out this blog for a cute ornament that you will keep forever. I would have mine make it, but they are big and I would need a big canvas for their hands.

Blessing Dress

The blessing dress was just right for L.L. She was very quiet and peaceful in it.

We need a little fabric

I decided what this blog was missing was some quilting pictures. I am sorry to say, that I have been gone the last three weekends and my project list is suffering, but these two are done.Now, if we are going to have a snow picture, it might as well have something worth looking at, right? I love these hankie quilts. I have one more that needs quilted, but the Christmas tree is where the quilting frame belongs.
I hope to start some new projects soon. It should help me through my winter solstice- ites.

Snowy Days

Here is my lovely daughter who got a hair cut and it is cute.
It was warm in Utah and I was very grateful. Here we are after the blessing of LL
I will admit that sometimes snow can be pretty, but we have been dumped on the last two weeks. Uggg... it is too early. I am happy to say that we got rain today and you can see the pavement on the streets again.