Monkeys?

Is it wrong to compare your children to monkeys? Claire is climbing on EVERYTHING. She's amazing. Seriously. Maybe rapelling gear would be in order for next Christmas. This girl, who's 19 months old, has been spotted atop many tall peaks in this house, ie. countertops, bookcases, desks, top bunk of her sisters' beds, etc. She is fearless and will attempt to climb down --which is the scary part--from these places. She's usually successful but I'm sure that if I hadn't been there, she wouldn't have had such luck on some of those occasions.

We've been busy lately. Claire was sick just before Christmas with RSV. Her adventure wouldn't have been complete without the chest x-ray. At 9pm. In an all but deserted clinic. But, hey, it was the brand new Riverbend Pavillion. Sigh. Fortunately, no pneumonia was found and she recovered in the 6-7 day time frame the doctor predicted. It was no fun for anyone! Poor little thing. No climbing that week! She's still a little cough-y but is back to her old self.

Christmas Eve took us to Corvallis for dinner with Terry's parents. They had a bit of snow that morning but it had melted by the time we arrived, much to the kids' disappointment. We enjoyed an evening around the fire talking about what Christmas means to each of us and recalling a few memories of Christmases past.
Christmas Day came at a respectable hour with the kids waking up at 7! Whew! We made them wait a little while before opening gifts. Everyone was pleased with their treasures and the treats that Santa brought. It was a relaxing day as everyone spent time playing with their new toys. Uncle Henry came from Salem and we enjoyed a nice dinner together before watching Madagascar.

Some highlights from December:
* Everett's band concert
* More music performances by me and Terry
* SNOW in the Valley!
* Baking lots of cookies and sharing with friends
* Cutting and decorating our Christmas tree--still smells wonderful!
* Spending time with family and friends
* Bingo! and my snazzy new picture frame!
* Snuggling in warm quilts and watching Christmas cartoons and movies
* Christmas music 24/7 on the radio. Have I mentioned how I love Christmas music?
* Shopping.
* Hot chocolate with whipped cream and/or marshmallows
* Candy canes

What were your favorite sights, sounds, and flavors of Christmas this year?

Merry Christmas, Friends!

It has been such a wonderful Christmas Season so far that I don't want it to end! We were given a notebook a few years ago that contains a song, a scripture, and a story for each day in December leading up to Christmas. We have enjoyed reading and singing from that book each year. We are less strict about reading the corresponding stories for the day, but rather we re-read our favorites more often. Many of them are tear-jerkers! I have been able to reflect on what Christmas time means to me. We've read stories of love and loss, of miracles and answered prayers. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know each of us by name; that they desire for us to love and serve one another, and that in so doing we will find pure JOY! I am so very grateful for all of my many blessings!
We were looking forward to trekking across Oregon to be with my parents for Christmas but with snow now measuring in feet through the Cascades, we will stay put again this year. I am disappointed but am comforted by the knowledge that we are safe and sound in a nice warm home.
I grew up in a small Eastern Oregon town where snow was the norm at Christmastime. One of my fondest memories is when a neighbor plowed the neighborhood streets with his small tractor. He piled the snow up on the edge of our front yard. I thought I was the luckiest kid in town with my very own mountain of snow! I worked very hard to smooth one side of that pile in order to slide down. I spent many chilly hours on that hill! I remember feeling SO disappointed when spring came and the snow melted away.
There's still a measure of magic when I see the first few flakes start to drift down from the silver-gray sky.

May you all be Blessed with Christ's Spirit as we Celebrate his birth!

Snow Days!

Amazingly, it snowed for the second time this year! Of course, it wasn't much but any amount of snow on the ground translates to "No School" for the kids. It's been so cold that the snow was too powdery to build a snowman. Still, the kids wasted no time getting outside on Monday morning. They were out the door even before they would've been had school been open!

Well, we built our gingerbread house. Everett and Lindsey enjoyed decorating it. Camille had a smaller version that she took to her friend's house to decorate. For some reason, there was less than usual enthusiasm about this tradition this year.

We trekked a few miles out of town to cut our own Christmas tree. The day was unseasonably warm, nearly 70 degrees! Of course, those days are long gone now! It was almost strange decorating the tree when it was so warm and sunny outside.

Cookie baking productivity has decreased by 30% this year compared to last year. Just kidding. This week's cookie was an experiment on our old standby chocolate chip recipe. I added white chocolate chips, toasted chopped almonds, and craisins to 1/2 the dough with milk chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips. I actually liked the craisin/white chip cookies better than the others. Have I mentioned how dangerous cookies are in my house? I have imposed a two-cookies-a-day rule for myself, otherwise, I'm afraid that there's not enough Pilates and Turbo Jam that could help me! I've thought of just buying cookies since store-bought just aren't that tempting but where's the fun in that?!

Molasses Sugar Cookies

Here's a delicious little cookie with just enough molassas to make it interesting. Make sure to use butter or a combination of butter and margarine/shortening as it makes all the difference in flavor. Doesn't it always? Enjoy and let me know what you think.

1 1/2 cups butter
1/2 cup molasses
2 eggs
4 cups sifted flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
4 tsp. cinnamon
4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Granulated sugar for rolling

Melt butter and let cool. Add the next nine ingredients and stir well. Chill dough until firm and easily handled. Form into 1" balls. Roll in sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2" apart. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet. Yield about 7 dozen. Plenty to eat and to share!

The texture is crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. They will be quite flat. So good!

What's the Buzz?

Camille turned NINE last month! It's amazing how time has flown! She was given the chance to get her ears pierced when she turned eight but was too nervous about it. She has spent the last year gearing up for the event. Psych-ing herself up to go through with it. Now, mind you, she's not the 'fraidy-cat type, so I was surprised by this. She invited her friend to go with us to the mall the day after her birthday. Moral support. She carefully chose her earrings and sat dutifully in "the chair" while the lady prepared the little ear piercing contraption. With a "click-click" it was all over. Just like that. No blood, no sweat, and most importantly, NO tears.

She is very proud of her accomplishment. (that of overcoming her fears)

Parent-teacher conferences were great. We have great kids! The best thing is that they are self-motivated. Everett and Camille both had glowing compliments on their writing. One thing that Everett's teacher said was that he is "wicked-smart". I had to laugh at the choice of words, but that is exactly right. He has very deep and interesting perspectives on things.

Camille wrote an instruction booklet on how to plant a flower. Her list of necessary items included things like soil, gloves, seeds, flowerpot, and LOVE! That sums up sweet Camille!

Lindsey is like a hummingbird. She loves everything: School, friends, Claire, cartoons, any and all things sparkly pink and/or purple. She loves candy just like her sister, Camille, so Halloween was the ultimate for her!

Claire is so mellow, in stark contrast to her older sisters. She's content to sit and watch the drama around her, only joining in when necessary, ie., running with Lindsey. She's saying hello, mama, dad, eat, (she also signs eat and more), agua, and she waves like Miss America. Very cute! She just reached her 18 month mark and is in nursery!! Yay!!

In today's news...

Everett had the honor of performing in his school's band & choir Winter Concert held at the Hult Center. The Hult is were much of Eugene's performing arts take place, think ballet, symphony, Broadway plays, etc. So, it was a big deal. Terry's parents joined Terry, Camille, and me for the occasion while Lindsey and Claire went to play with Rylee and Colton for a few hours. We were amazed and impressed by the turnout. The auditorium was about 75% full!

The program was excellent! The mistress of ceremonies was a news anchor and local celeb, Nohelani Graf. The performers included 6th grade band (Everett is a trumpet player), 6th grade choir, concert choir, 7th & 8th grade Jazz band, symphonic band, and others. We were most impressed by these young students and their instructors. The band and choir directors are both award winning music instructors and have served the school district for many years. Out of approximately 500 students in the school, 2/3 are in the music program.

Now, as Christmas approaches the kids are full of excitement and anticipation. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Corvallis with Terry's parents. I ventured out early Friday morning in search of great deals. There were a few, but mostly there were people. LOTS and LOTS of people. It was the first time I've gone shopping at such and early hour (6am) and probably the last.

Such is life at the Nashes. Stay tuned for more news as it develops!

• "Everett says he wishes Winter Break started TODAY!" and Mom says, "HA!"


• "The Nash kids attempt to build a Gingerbread House with the help of Martha Stewart"


• "Can we get our Christmas Tree today???"


• "What kind of cookies shall we bake today?"


• "Dear Santa, I want....."

Merry Christmas Season!