MV - Payson Basketball Game 1/5/11

School started again and so did the basketball games. This time we played Payson and we beat them 47-34. Alex played about 6 minutes but couldn't score.





When we walked out of the game, this was the color of the mountains at sunset. GORGEOUS!

Alex's Room is Finally Done

The project that started during the spring break in April which was supposed to last a week, is now finished, after 7 months. Or should I say, it is almost completed? There are still a couple of things like door handles to hang and some art work to put up, and then there's that TV, but other than that. It is finished. Oh yeah, and I still have to hem the curtains. But BASICALLY, it is finished.


My mom sent the blue "pussilakana" duvet cover for Christmas. It is beautiful. Kiitos Äiti.


IKEA furniture and bedding all the way. I think the room is gorgeous. Alex picked great colors.


Now the hope is that Alex will keep his beautiful room clean. One can hope, yes?

Come visit us so you can see the room in real life.

New Year's Day 2011

We have a tradition at our house that we will prepare a very special dinner for New Year's Day each year rather than going out to eat.

This year we had steak and lobster tails. It became problematic towards the evening because our barbeque was covered with 6 inches of snow and ice all over. How to chip away the snow and ice so we can turn on the darn thing, in the first place? I suggested first that we would cook the meal in the oven. No, I was told. Then I had the brilliant idea to pour hot water on the bbq. That trick worked and Rod cooked up a delicious meal. At this point, nobody was hungry because we had been snacking all afternoon.


Alex was the Somelier with Martinelli's.


"Happy and Healthy New Year"


Rod trying to crack open the lobster tail.

Delicious meal prepared by Rod.

Skool!

New Years Eve 2010

We again ventured to the Williams for New Year's Eve party. This time we welcomed 2011 at Katie's mom and dad's house.

Dinner was delicious except the chicken stuffed crepes were a bust. I threw away that recipe. Other than that, everything tasted good.

After dinner we started playing "Things" which was hilarious as always.

Then we got ready for Farkle. What can I say about that game...hmmm...let's see. It is in the same category as "Rook". If you know how I feel about Rook, then you know how I feel about Farkle. Farkle blows!


Joyce, Rod, Steve, Joan (Steve's sister), Carsen and Katie so excited to play. I wish I could have sat on the couch with Herb and watched Lawrence Welk show instead.


Carsen is ready to be the "Groupier" or the Stickman. He was excellent and kept everybody's points calculated correctly. In the end, Joan won and Rod came second.


Carsen is keeping the dice organized and counted correctly.

Steve and Joan playing Farkle.

Priceless look on my face. This is how I felt about the game that wouldn't end.

Then we watched the BALL drop on Times Square and welcomed 2011. Alex had departed the party around 9pm so he wasn't there to find out about his future when we "valettiin tinat" or melted the horseshoes again to know destiny for the year.

Looks like Joyce got one of those 3-legged walking canes.

Not sure Herb got close enough to the bucket to make the future count, but he did good.

Katie has the continuing future that she can see in anything and it is of course that Heather would find a man and get married.

Joan was new at this and she got a lot of scrap metal, but it mostly looked like PE equipment, which is fitting because she is a PE teacher.

Rod got a sailboat, so we shall see if that comes true. History tells that Rod likes to barf on sailboats, so that smile on his face might not follow if this prediction actually happens.

Taylor got a lot of little pieces too and thought that it looked like Optimus Prime.

Carsen got a private jet and he is of course hoping to travel this year.

Mine is a two-fold. One side is a sting-ray and the other side is a Hydrangea. I will take both. I will hopefully swim with the sting-rays during one of the trips this year and hopefully I will travel to the tropical places so I can see Hydrangea. Hawaii possibly for Christmas? I say YES!

Marja: Swimming with Sting-rays and smelling Hydrangeas

Taylor: Optimus Prime, Money, Minions

Steve: Money, Healthy Kidneys (yes, he has kidney stones again, ouch)

Carsen: Private Jet

Grandma Joyce: Money, No broken bones, 3-legged cane

Joan: New Grandson McKay (I only saw PE equipment)

Katie: New man in Heather's life, money, scattered blessings

Rod: Sailboat

Grandpa Herb: "Hold it together"

Thank you Williams and Hills for hosting another stellar party. Let's hope all those predictions come true.

A Growing Project

Yes, Rod "grew" hair over the Christmas break.

This is week's worth. It was pokey. I didn't like it.

He is contemplating of keeping it...NOT!

Brad and Liz

Came to visit us for a couple of days between Christmas and New Year.

We took them to sushi for dinner. I think they liked it. It was good to see them and spend some quality chatting time with them. Thanks for the wonderful Christmas presents, as well.

The Lonely Skier on Christmas Day

Because Alex is on the High School basketball team, he is not allowed to do winter sports. I may have mentioned it earlier in the previous blogs, can't remember, but anyway, that meant, no skiing on Christmas Day like we always do. Rod had just purchased new skis for himself a few days before Christmas when the huge 12" snowstorm hit Utah (more on the mountains, of course). Craig beckoned Rod to go skiing with him on Christmas Day.

So they went.

I stayed home and read and napped all morning. Alex played his new video games.

Rod, the happy skier at Solitude.

Craig, enjoying the sunny Christmas Day morning.

15 runs in 3 hours, on perfect corduroy snow. I call that super fast skiing.

Christmas Eve 2010

"So I decided not to have gravlax and boiled potatoes as an appetizer this year", was my statement to Rod early in the week before Christmas. I didn't get "why not" or "can we, please?" Instead I got a fist pump indicating that those two items were the most hated Christmas foods that I had offered over the course of 24 years. Who knew? I love them, but to de-stress myself of all unnecessary foods that were not appreciated at my house, I decided to drop some of them. This year, there were no potato, carrot or rutabaga casseroles. No beet salad (Rosolli), no herring. Could I even call this a Christmas Dinner, seriously? I would just call it dinner. No unusual tastes, just ham and potatoes. Oh well. Christmas came even though there was no herring on the table.


Craig and Whtiney enjoying their cheese and crackers before dinner.


Christmas dinner, if you could call it that.


Christmas story, read by Rod.

Whitney ready to open gifts.

Yes, Alex is pretending to sleep, Elle is excited beyond words.

Alex opening his presents

Next year for Christmas I decided that we would go to Hawaii. I'm hoping to sit on the beach on Christmas Eve eating Poke (raw tuna).

Merry Christmas to you all.

When There are No Pictures, You Know..

that it was a fun party last night. No photo witnesses.

Last night we had our traditional Christmas party at our friends' Robbie and Edy's house. There were 21 people (10 couples + 1 without her husband) for sit down dinner. No kids! We have had this Christmas party for over 10 years and it gets funnier every year. Most of the time we have the same couples attend, but every once in a while we get new blood into the mix. Like this year. Lee and Mary were new. I kept looking at Lee and wondering where have I seen him before. Then I overheard a conversation that he has a huge billboard at the point of the mountain of himself. Yes, one of those "Doctor" billboards advertising his handy heart doctoring skills. Welcome to the mix. Hope you had fun. Don't bring real gifts next year, and don't pick the biggest gift bag. Rookie mistake. Hope you liked your gaudy crystal bowl. Sucker!

Every year the white elephant gifts get more and more questionable. Some of the winners have been so far: soiled underwear, $5 pizza, toilet seat, humongous dog bone, Jana's old Christmas shoes from the 80s (this gift appears every year), Jana and Quinn's 80s "wedding picture" silk-screened on a white shirt, huge bra and the list goes on and on. For next year we decided to change it a bit and we would vote for the funniest gift with a prize. I wish I kept the guppies that Rod brought from Japan. I think that would have been a definite winner this year. Rod ended up with a black santa ornament and a couple of gift certificates to various restaurants (too nice). I received a nice Justin Bieber 2011 calendar and a bag of candy. Who should I re-gift??

The night was so much fun with lots of laughter with old friends that we don't get to see too often. Until next year...we will be in search of a funniest gift ever. We are going to take the prize home, for sure.

Holiday Fun has Begun

Our holiday fun started last night when we went to dinner at Iggy's first and then to a movie. During the Christmas break we go to movies a lot because that's when the best movies come out. So, we went to see "The Tourist" with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. I think this movie will go into a file called:"the worst movies ever made" and will reside there with "the American". The scenery was gorgeous and I want to hop in the next plane headed to Venice, like today.

When we got home, we noticed that we got TP:d again. This time they also left us a plate of cookies (I think). My only complaint about the TP:ing was that whoever did it, should have strung a string of lights with it to make it more festive.


"Toilet paper and tissues were hung with care"

About 4am on Tuesday morning, Rod and I both woke up and looked outside and saw the amazing amount of snow on the ground. Rod decided to go and shovel for a minute so he could pull his car off the street and into the drive way just in case the snow plow comes by in the morning.

When we woke up at 7:30 to wake Alex up for his "Tuomas" name day so we can take him to Village Inn for his breakfast, it looked like Rod never shoveled a few hours before. I measured 11 inches of snow that fell overnight. That's 28cm for you metric folk.


11 inches of snow.


Our trees are so heavy with snow.

Gorgeous 8am view of the yard and park.

Alex having his name day breakfast at Village Inn.