Lucky 13

Yesterday, Cory and I celebrated our 13th anniversary. Actually, it's kind of hard to celebrate it on a Monday night, so we celebrated it on Saturday. Today I thought it would be funny to post 13 things we have learned about each other after 13 years of marriage.

1. Cory is not a huge fan of fish, and yet his favorite ethnic food is sushi? Go figure.

2. Cami will never learn to like the NFL.

3. Our first fight as newlyweds was over a Scrabble game. Thirteen years later and we have never played Scrabble since.

4. Cory has to turn a fan on before he goes to sleep every night, even if it 17 degrees below zero.

5. Cami refuses to clean out the catbox.

6. When we go out to dinner, we can't share an entree because we have completely different taste.

7. Cory would think writing a list like this is goofy and sentimental.

8. Cami LOVES the fact that Cory is not cheesy and overly-sentimental.

9. Cory still remembers to buy flowers for our anniversary.

10. Cami would rather work with Cory on a Saturday than play with him.

11. Cami does most of the family finances, but Cory is like-minded in her spending style so it works.

12. Cory makes better waffles than Cami.

13. Cami makes better everything else.

Here's to 13 years!

Merry Christmas Everyone

My family is watching Kung Fu Panda at the moment, so I took a second to sneak away and send out my holiday greetings. It has been a wonderful, quiet day--I'm still wearing my pajamas. It has been snowing pretty much non-stop for the past 24 hours and we are happy to have the excuse to stay indoors where it's cozy. See, I guess snow is good for something after all. We actually woke up to things not so cozy--our main level heater was not working. After some reading of the manual, some tinkering with the starter, a phone-call to our "handyman" in Des Moines, and a Herculean effort not to swear, we found a repairman willing to come over and fix it. In a blizzard. On Christmas morning. And he only charged us time and a half! We consider it something of a Christmas miracle.

All of our little monkeys had a wonderful day. Though their lists to Santa were not all checked off 100 per cent accurately, every one of them told me independently at some point in the day that this was the best Christmas ever. I guess Santa really does know best. Isaac even said, "Don't worry Dad. I remember the true meaning of Christmas."

Here are a few pictures of our holiday week:

Here is the gang dressed in Christmas Sunday best. They are a good-looking crowd if I do say so myself.

Here is part of the cast of the annual "Talbot Family Christmas Pageant." Anna insisted she wanted to be the angel so I was Mary yet again. It's getting kind of hard to pull off the role in my 30s.

I got a sewing machine for Christmas this year, but I opened it early so I could make the kids some Christmas pajamas.

They were all impressed.

They are never that impressed when my mom or mother-in-law do the sewing. Of course, it took me an entire day to do what either of their grandmas could have cranked out in an hour. I guess the key to impressing your children is low expectations.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have had a wonderful day, and don't worry, I remember the true meaning of Christmas too.

In Loving Memory

On Friday evening I received a phone call from a friend in Phoenix to tell me that the husband of a mutual friend had been killed in a tragic bicycle accident. For the past two days, I have been stunned and reeling. He leaves behind my friend, their two married daughters and what he always jokingly referred to as his "second family"--a 9 year-old and 7 year-old.

I haven't been able to sleep the past two nights, and so in a selfish attempt for closure, I have decided to post some of my thoughts. I hope to do so both humbly and respectfully.

First of all, if there is anyone in this world I would aspire to grow up to be, it is Jana. Her strengths are in every area where I long to be strong but fall short. She is soft-spoken and patient. She never draws any attention to herself, but fills needs quietly, does the lion's share of work in every setting, is careful and observant in every word and action. She is always the one to say the right thing, to make the needed phone call, to quietly lift the soul in distress. She is the most genuine person I know. I didn't know Gerry as well, but have always liked him as a cheerful and loving father. He had a dry and smart sense of humor, an astounding gospel intellect, a cool head and a generous hand. He was someone who deserved a wife like Jana.

In moments like these, I find myself reevaluating my own life--how I spend my time, how I treat my family, where my faith lies. My heart aches for my friend and her family. My faith as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches me that "families can be together forever." I don't doubt that my friend will one day be reunited with her husband...this is a source of both hope and comfort. In the meantime, however, there is a lot of loneliness and sadness in the separation. I know that there are some trials that can only be faced with time and the comforting presence of the Holy Ghost. I believe that the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ has power not only to redeem us from our sins, but to ease the pain of our trials and burdens.

As I sat in my church Christmas program yesterday, the words of one Christmas carol took on new meaning. "Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray." I pray that my friend and her family will feel the Savior closer by them this Christmas. I am grateful in a world where life is fragile, that I--and my friend--have a foundation that is sure.

Snow and Other Four Letter Words

Two years ago my husband tried to soften the blow of leaving my warm and sunny Arizona home by saying--and this is a direct quote--"don't worry, they only get 3 or 4 snowstorms a winter in Utah. It's not that bad." Then last year we had a doozy of a winter with snow from October until May. Here is Isaac in our driveway last January:

This is January, mind you, we got at least another foot in February alone.

All the locals reassured me that last year was a fluke...the worst winter in a hundred years.

Here we are on December 19th and we've already had 4 BIG snowstorms... this week. They're expecting more for tomorrow, Monday, and Wednesday. And while some people use words like, "transformative, ethereal, and magical" to describe this weather phenomenon, I prefer, "bitter, treacherous, and messy." Anyone who tells you how "snow makes the whole world seem quiet and clean" has clearly never had to mop up the tracks left by snowboots all over the wood floors. I am well aware that everyone I know is getting a little tired of all my whining about snow; I'm pretty tired of it myself. I have a solution though--I just need to convince my husband that we can afford that winter home in Phoenix. After all, "they only get 3 or 4 heat waves there every year. It's not that bad."

There are NO Christmas Shopping Shortcuts

Two days before Thanksgiving, I was almost completely finished with my Christmas shopping. I was one of those smug people that go around bragging about how much easier it is to shop before the crowds and post-Thanksgiving clamor. I made all the usual self-righteous statements about how I'm simplifying my preparations this year so that I can savor and enjoy this holiday time. Note to self: keep your smug and self-righteous declarations to yourself next year...the shopping gods are listening. Now we are less than two weeks away from Christmas, and I have spent the better part of every day this week shopping, returning, mailing, making lists, checking them thrice. I thought I was so with it this year..I had planned and organized every detail, but somehow, I managed to overlook some things.

Like the fact that I bought the perfect Christmas present for my dad....in July...and then forgot all about it...and sent him something else that is pretty much the grandpa equivalent of getting socks and underwear for Christmas...and then I woke up at 6:24 a.m. two days ago with the sudden realization of that perfect gift...now where did I put it? Two hours later it turned up, and now I'm looking at it and wondering if I really want to go back to the post office after I've already managed to mail everything else...or maybe I should just save it for next Christmas...after all...it's not like I would forget I had it.

And then there is the issue of the sweater vests. This one is one part my fault for being in "hurry-hurry-don't check it-hurry" mode, and one part department store error. Every year, I get Anna a darling Christmas dress for church, but nothing for the boys. I decided this year to buy them coordinating sweater-vests so that they wouldn't be left out. I looked everywhere for something I loved and after 6 stores of searching, I finally settled on something I liked instead. They had green, red, and white sweater vests all laid out on the same table. I picked a different color for each boy, including 2 size 8/10 for Zachary and Noah who wear the same size. Now here is my problem.

Here is vest number one..you'll understand the close-up in a second.

Here is vest number two. Same brand, same size, same style, same table.

Guess who is headed to the mall this afternoon to make an exchange.

Then my boys brought home lists of things they needed for class parties. On Monday, I got Noah's list and grabbed the things he needed while I was out. On Tuesday, I got Zachary's list and made a quick run to the grocery store for his things and a few odds and ends. On Thursday I got Isaac's list and made my third trip to the grocery store this afternoon. I had hoped to do all my Christmas baking this week, but it will have to postponed indefinitely because at the rate I'm going I will be making 429 more trips to the store and post office between now and Christmas.

This last picture isn't really about Christmas shopping directly, but if you take an Arizona-bred kitty, add a sudden cold-snap in the weather , mix in so many hours of shopping that my bedroom has not been cleaned once this week, you get this:

So much for this planning thing...next year I plan to procrastinate.

Nutcracker Take 2

Okay, I think I did it. I posted the whole thing on youtube; the link is below. Unfortunately, the night of the performance, my memory card ran out of space for the last 15 seconds. This is when the mouse king dies and all the little mice run over and cry over his body. Soooo cute! I'm sorry I don't have it recorded.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L-mqAr1H-w

Angelina Ballerina (she's a mouse who dances too)

This is mostly for Anna's grandparents, but if you have an extra minute, I think it's pretty cute. I actually spent the whole morning trying to upload the entire 2 minute 44 seconds I recorded from the audience, but it apparently is too big for this site. I'm sure if I was more technically savvy, I could figure out a way to do it, but instead, I'm uploading 2 shorter video clips from backstage. Sorry for the bouncy quality; I was holding a 2-year-old gingerbread cookie at the time. For what it's worth, Anna is the mouse with red, white, and black ribbon on her tail. (I know it's hard to tell, even Cory and I had a hard time picking her out.)

They let different mice get "shot" at every rehearsal, but Anna always refused to be the mouse to take the bullet.

Here is our sweet little mouse in the dressing room. She was nervous for the first performance, but after she stepped foot on-stage she loved it! The whole production was charming, but the mice really did steal the entire first act.