Gingerbread & A Bunch Of Heads...

Well, it was that time of year again. Time for the Russell Gingerbread contest, I think this year went well. We had some great judges and an awesome time. My Mom somehow got out of doing the house with my Dad which was alright because she is in charge of keeping the frosting coming but my Dad is very much a type A personality and he knows exactly how he wants something done. Luckily for him, Shelley was his partner and she really didn’t seem to care too much as long as she didn’t have to work too hard :) This year, we didn’t do a theme; we just picked 5 items that you had to incorporate into your house. Each team picked one item: The Aucoins picked a boat, The Whittakers picked a banana, The Russells picked a bell, The Woolseys picked a gun and we picked a spider. Since the kids are getting older it’s harder to keep them occupied so they all decided to help Grandpa with his house. This made for great fun and a near heart attack on my Dad’s end. Later, the kids would all talk about how Grandpa’s house was the best (which is did win by the way) but when their Mother asked them about it they would switch and say “just kidding” our parents is the best. It was then that I had to explain to them about Benedict Arnold (and what happens to traitors)… I have learned so much from my history class like… I can’t read 250 pages in one night and not turning in a paper really WILL hurt your grade. Anyway, here are the houses, in order there is my Dad’s, The Whittakers and Paul’s and mine. Oh, and the kids made faces, Kyle’s was mean to be more of a Picasso type face, he’s very cultural.

No Time To Wait...

So sadly my Thanksgiving post was apparently not that awesome because I only got one comment (thanks Mom) and I think that's just because she just barely learned how to do it and she's excited to show off her skills. The truly sad part was that it took me like 3 hours to post the pictures and it took Paul a day and a half to get the amazing video to work. But it's cool, I see how it is.... no one reads the blog and watches the amazing beret throwing clip from the MTM show... it's cool, it's not going to stop me from expressing myself (really few things can do that, just ask my Mom or husband).

So, moving on, Paul decorated our house for christmas the second after Thanksgiving was over (and it's a miracle I held him off that long). So here's some pics of our decked out place. We were a little worried about Watson because technically this is his first Christmas because last year as some of you may remember he had the cone on because his skin was following off (long story - see past posts for more details). So, I threw in a picture of that so that you can see the transformation. So far (knock on wood) we haven't lost any ornaments or bows... of course that's because we didn't use bows this year but I still like to count it as a victory.

Also, I would like to mention the nativity set, it's my favorite part of our Christmas decorations. When we were in Bozeman Paul's parents sent it to us and it was the only thing that made me feel like it was Christmas even though we weren't in SLC :)

Now That It's All Over...

Well, Thanksgiving is over so of course Paul has moved right on to setting up for Christmas but before he does that I wanted to say a few things about our Thanksgiving. We ate with my Mom's Family this year (The Christensen's) and it was a lot of fun. Paul and I were in charge of bringing a game so naturally we racked our brain for weeks to come up with a unique and fun game for the kids to play while dinner was being prepared. We decided to bring a DVD, in case they got antsy, Disney Scene It for some fun and a bit of a challenge and at the last minute I thought "let's bring the iPod and speakers, just in case we have to resort to something like musical chairs". Well... all of you that have kids can already guess what happened, the kids, of course only wanted to play musical chairs. In fact, it was such a hit that after dinner was over and we thought things were settling down we noticed a line of kids carrying chairs over to the center of the room and someone turned to me and said "Ummmm, it looks like you guys are playing again".


Shelley of course tried to hog Remington, while the battle for favorite aunt rages on. When she got up from her seat for a minute I tried to steal it but Remington just looked at me and said "What are you doing here?" (it actually brough back some rather painful memories of adolescents for me j/k). Don't feel too bad for me though because as you'll be able to see later, I was giving him piggy backs and we were making plans to play hide the thimble on Christmas day so... the war isn't over yet.
One of the highlights of the dinner was when my Uncle Craig suggested that all the women stand up and say what they've been grateful for that year. Well the past few months have been really hard for Paul and I been hard pressed to think of very much that I'm grateful for besides tranquilizers and caller id so that I don't have to answer the phone when cheerful pepole call. - Just kidding, I never screen my calls of course (awkward....). Anyway, moving on, I was dreading my turn. I desperately wanted to say something sarcastic (as it is my nature to use my cynical sense of humor as a defense mechanism) but I knew after listening to four or five of my aunts and cousins that it was going to have to be something heartfelt and serious. So my time came and I told the truth. That this year's been one of the hardest we've faced but every day I get to start over and hope for something better and some days that's all we have is the hope that tomorrow might be a little bit better or at least restore some of the hope that you are slowly losing. However... What I didn't share (because Paul said it wasn't keeping with the spirit) was that what I've really been grateful for the past week or so is the is the Mary Tyler Moore Show Theme Song. First off because she reminds me of my Mom. Second, because that show reminds me of a more simple time when I wasn't born so clearly it doesn't get more simple then that and lastly because when she throws her beret in the air at the end of the You Tube clip, I can't help but smile (if for no other reason then the simple fact that it is the cheesiest and at the same time coolest thing ever and they just don't make TV like that anymore [sigh]. But more then any of that when I listen to that song I really do get the feeling that "love is all around, no need to waste it, I can have the town, why don't I take it... I'm gonna make it after all".
So here are some pics of my extended family. Despite my cynisism, I truely am grateful for them and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving (no one make chocolate pie & we didn't listen to any Neil Diamond but it was still a success).

I've also included the Mary Tyler Moore YouTube link because A) Nothing is going to get you more pumped to read my blog about my Thanksgiving or really to do anything. B) To start anything you my be doing out right and C) So you can get a glimps of how low I've sank that this is the kind of stuff it takes to make me happy. So.... Enjoy :)

A Few Thoughts About Thanksgiving...

So I was sitting here at work, thinking about thanksgiving and I thought I would tell you all what I'm grateful for… j/k - I wouldn't put you guys through that :)

Seriously though, in taking this history class this semester, I've learned a lot about why we celebrate this Holiday and what it means. To the Canadians (who celebrate it in October) it represents their failure to achieve anything worth while but their willingness to stuff their faces anyway. To us Americans it represents a time when we came together with people completely different & some what strange to us to learn a little bit from each other and feast together - then ultimately down the road we will steal their land and try to pretend they don't exist and that they are a threat to us. Has the holiday changed so much?

It is not so different today, tomorrow we will all go with people so much different (and maybe a little bit strange to us - mainly - in laws or extended family) we will exchange a few things we are grateful for and maybe learn a little about the other and then… in keeping in tradition we should perhaps spend the rest of the year (at least tell Christmas) pretending they don't exist and that they may be a threat (at least to our sainity). And yeah, if you can find away to justify taking their homes or property and getting them to relocate - more power to you. j/k

So lets have a great Thanksgiving and really go back to our roots huh?

This is all in good fun, I know not everyone (myself included) has crazy in-laws but no one can say there isn't at least one part or member of their family, extended or otherwise that doesn't apply to this.

Here's some pics from Thanksgivings past and the top picture is a creation by Paul and Marissa (it is a fully edible cake), yes they hire out j/k . Love you all, Happy Thanksgiving!

Janet & Paul

If I Ever Go Missing....

This morning I had someone call my work and tell me our fax machine wasn't working (even though we'd been getting faxes all morning) so I was in "receptionist" mode and I told her in my "work phone voice" that I would take a look at it and in the mean time perhaps she could scan the document she wanted to send and email it to the recipient. Then, after telling her to have a pleasant day, I walked back to the machine and turned it off and on (to do my due diligence since that is the extent of my knowledge on "taking a look at it"). However, just to be sure, I decided to avoid a possible drama and just to make sure there wasn't really a problem, to call my loving husband and have him send me a test fax from his work. He said he would and this is what I got faxed to me. My concern (besides the fact that I clearly in my husbands mind I have a very chubby face and a balding problem) was that if I ever went missing and Paul had to describe me to the police or provide them with a picture… this might be what they would get. Oddly this is something I've put a lot of thought into because of all the true crime novels I read and I think I need to pre-select some pictures for Paul to give to the police in the event that I ever do go missing because, if something awful happens to me and my face ends up on a billboard and then in some true crime novel I want to make sure I look good. I mean, it's something to think about right? I leave it up to all of you to make sure I look amazing on those missing posters.
But all joking aside, I just may have the cutest husband ever. This fax made my morning :)