Once in a Blue Moon...
the holidays fall just right that they encircle a weekend and so I had FIVE days in a row off last week and will have four days in a row off this week from work (and I didn't even have to use a vacation day)
to spend with my wonderful family!

Days like this don't come around,
but "once in a blue moon".
Days where it doesn't matter if you stay in your PJ's all day and watch a whole entire season of
"Little House on the Prairie"

Days where there isn't a scheduled time to eat your meals because you don't have to RUN off to the next event in your life.
Days where you can just sit and read books, tickle backs, pop up popcorn and just enjoy one another's company.

Days where you savor the BEAUTY of every moment of the day from the frost on the trees to the sun coming out in the afternoon to the sun setting each night.

Days where you can "shop til you drop" and there isn't any real scheduled time to get up or go to bed.
Days where you can spend all day flying remote controlled helicopters with your 7 year old and turning up the music and getting crazy dancing with your 15 year old.

Days where your hubby decides it's time to finally finish the bathroom remodel that started almost 3 years ago and then starts cutting sheet rock and measuring to build in shelves, etc....
That's what last week was like and today is my last day of work and then I get FOUR more days off to enjoy with my sweet family before January 4th, when we all have to head back to SCHOOL and WORK.
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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Nature lover and LOVE sunrises and sunsets and especially the moon cycles.

I think I get as excited each month about the Full Moon and not wanting to miss it coming up at night or setting in the morning as I do the TWILIGHT in the morning.

(courtesy Google Images)
December 31st, 2009
is going to be a Blue Moon!

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."

SO, with that little tidbit of info
Happy New Years Celebrating and you can also
enjoy a "Blue Moon" as well.

Hope this finds all of my friends and family enjoying the holidays with their families as I know that I am.

I'll Visit with all of you next week...
as I am savoring the
"Once in a blue moon"
time I am having with my family!

Little things that make me Smile!

"Like snowflakes,
my Christmas memories gather and dance -
each beautiful, unique and too soon gone."
~ Deborah Whipp

I can't believe
that it is just two days until Christmas Eve! It has been a busy month, but FULL of LOTS of fun and memories and each day I have experienced true happiness!
Since this is my Journal, I thought I would share some things that made me SMILE this past week. These are just random things and in no particular order.

Winter Solstice!
It is always a COUNT DOWN until December 21st. You ask me why? It is because it is the shortest day of the year and it means that the days can only get longer and we will start to get a few more minutes of light each day. It also means that in a matter of a few months we will be back to having more hours of sunlight than darkness each day!
I LOVE SUNSHINE!

I don't know what it is about the story of Charlotte's Web, but I just LOVE that book. In fact, I read it to my kids the first week or two of summer break each year. My love for Charlotte has made it where my favorite Christmas Legend story is about the Christmas Spider. It is such a sweet story. I LOVE my Spider that I have hanging on my tree as it was a gift from my sister-in-law Lisa a few years ago.
This makes me SMILE every time!

The Christmas Spider

On Christmas eve, a long time ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year... Christmas day, the day on which the little Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner on the ceiling. They had fled to the farthest corner of the attic.
The Christmas tree was beautifully decorated. The poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the little Christ child's visit. Then the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could wait until everyone went to bed and then get a closer look.
When the house was dark and silent, the spiders crept out of their hiding place. When they neared the Christmas tree, they were delighted with the beauty of it. The spiders crept all over the tree, up and down, over the branches and twigs and saw every one of the pretty things.
The spiders loved the Christmas tree. All night long they danced in the branches, leaving them covered with spider webs. In the morning, when the little Christ child came to bless the house, he was dismayed! He loved the little spiders for they were God's creatures, but he knew the mother, who had worked so hard to make everything perfect, would not be pleased when she saw what the spiders had done.
With love in his heart and a smile on his lips, the little Christ child reached out and gently touched the spider webs. The spider webs started to sparkle and shine! They had all turned into sparkling, shimmering silver and gold.
According to legend, ever since this happened, people have hung tinsel on their Christmas trees. It has also become a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the Christmas tree.

There is nothing more priceless
than having children act out the Nativity. It makes me smile every year! This is a collage of photos from last years enactment and I am looking forward to getting together with my family and doing this again on Wednesday!
I can't believe how the kids have grown...I'm treasuring these sweet and special times as it won't be long before they are too old to enjoy this.
Priceless memories!

If I am ever having a stressful day, I just have to put in this DVD and I am laughing and smiling in no time at all! This has quickly become my second favorite Christmas Classic Movie. (Nothing will ever take the place of
"It's a Wonderful Life") Smiles and laughter are something that are a necessity at my house every day!
I LOVE IT!

I don't know why I love this treat so much. It is just a vanilla flavored Tootsie Roll, but for some silly reason, I just love these. They are only made at Christmas time and so I am savoring these few bags that I bought.
YUMMY!

I LOVE the art that my kids bring home from school!
It always makes me smile when I am in my kitchen and I look at my fridge and see these sweet creations they have made!

Neighborly Kindness!
It has been SO much fun to answer the door each night. We have had more neighborly treats delivered this week. I have LOVED seeing all of the excited kids that come and deliver things to our doorstep.
Wednesday...a Nativity photo from Rebecca
Friday...we got a plate of chocolate covered and dipped Marshmallows and a nice Christmas thought from the Crittenden's
Sunday...we had MANY deliveries.
Giant Hershey's Bar with Almonds from the Richards
Cinnamon Rolls from Dave and Nancy
Cashew Brittle from the Nelsons
and Brownies and Pumpkin bars from the Lindstroms
WOW...I think we have had our sugar fix for the year!
Monday...Fudge Brownie MIX from the Abegglens,
Holiday Sugar Cookies from the Bybees
candle from the Sorensons
Tuesday...a SWEET delivery to me at work from "Tauna"! Her hubby dropped by a very generous and sweet package to me at my desk. A ward cookbook, fruit bread, HAND dipped chocolates and an adorable card! LOVE it all!!
Wednesday...a GOURMET chocolate/caramel apple from the Kent Sutton Family
the most gorgeous delicious star cookies from the Grover family with the following message:
"The Star that leads us to the Christ Child
is not in the sky, but in the heart...
It is is the Star of hope and faith and belief
in all that is good".
Thursday...a 20 pound bag of potatoes from the Garth Sutton family
bottle of root beer from the Berry family
heart measuring spoons from the Taylor family

YAY for a clean house!
It was pure heaven to come home from work and walk in the door to ORDER. (it hasn't been like this for over a month).
There is nothing that creates more a feeling a peace in your home, than having a house of order. I just wish it could be like this more often.
I LOVE THIS!

Some days are definitely better than others, but
"It's All Good"
and if we didn't have the chaos and mess every once in awhile we wouldn't appreciate how wonderful things are when they are clean and orderly!

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds & Caramels!

'Tis the season for one of my favorite activities...making my home smell delicious by making Cinnamon Roasted Almonds and Caramels.

I bet this year my neighbors are worried that they won't get Kimmie's Holiday Treats! I am running VERY behind this year. We usually have our holiday treats made and delivered by the second week in December.
(Date Night December 2009
taken with Tracy's iPhone)
I just LOVE going to the mall during the holidays and smelling the aroma of the Cinnamon Roasted Almonds. It is heavenly and something that I never tire of.
9 years ago we had a family event and Mrs. Taylor brought a bowl of homemade cinnamon almonds and I loved and ranted and raved so much about them that a week later I got a sweet letter in the mail from her with the recipe.

*******************
I have been making them ever since
and Christmas wouldn't be the same if family and friends didn't receive this yummyness from our family. I don't know how many people tell me that this is what they look forward to all Christmas more than anything else is these boxes of goodies. Some parents have been known to take the boxes from the kids and then eat them after the kids have gone to bed.
A few years ago almonds were double the normal price and I didn't want to let people down and so I gave smaller amounts of almonds and also filled the boxes with some caramels as well, to make up for the small amount of almonds we were giving.
We had just seen the GRINCH movie a few days before... I was making up licorice caramels and didn't have any black food coloring and so I started adding in blue and green hoping that the brown color of the caramels and these colors would turn it a blackish/grey color. However, it just turned an ugly green color. Jade commented that it looks like the color of the GRINCH and so we nicknamed them GRINCH caramels and it has become a Christmas tradition to give
Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
Vanilla AND Grinch Caramels
for our neighborhood goodie boxes.

As long as you have a candy thermometer, almonds, cinnamon, sugar, water, salt and vanilla...
it's as easy as 1, 2, 3...
ANYONE can make up this yummy treat and the aroma that will fill your house will make you feel like you are out Christmas Shopping at the mall!
(only you don't have to deal with the hassle of large crowds of people)

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Roast 3 cups of whole almonds in a 350* oven for 15 minutes,
stirring every 5 minutes (so they don’t burn).

Mix together:
1-cup sugar
½ cup water
2 teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
Bring to a boil and stir occasionally until soft ball stage.
Remove from heat and add in 2 teaspoons of vanilla.
Pour mixture on the roasted almonds and stir until set and starts to turn white.
Put on wax paper to cool. Break apart. Enjoy!!


Chewy Caramels (vanilla or licorice)

1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups sugar
¼ tsp salt
1-1/2 cup Karo Syrup
1 cup butter

1-2 Tbsp anise flavoring (depending upon how much licorice flavor you want)
Black food coloring (if you don’t have black add in a few drops of green
that will make the Taffy a licorice green color).

Cook first 5 ingredients to firm ball (235*) stirring occasionally so as not to burn.
Stir in anise flavoring—add food coloring.
Pour in dripper pan and cool.
Cut into squares and wrap in wax paper.

VANILLA caramels
After you have brought ingredients to firm ball stage remove from heat
and add in 1-2 tsp vanilla (instead of anise extract)
Pour in dripper pan and cool. Cut into squares and wrap in wax paper Enjoy!

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other"

I'm feeling SO grateful for Traditions and for having a family that brings true JOY to each and every day of my life!

Life is Wonderful.... Life is Good!

The Joy of Creativity!

I have always LOVED packaging things with lots of ribbon or curly ribbon. To me the way a gift or goodie is wrapped is just as important to me as the gift or goodie inside. I drive Tracy crazy with this little quirk of mine. He is always commenting when people bring over a plate of cookies on a paper plate with Saran Wrap and a stick on Christmas tag, how NICE that looks and YES, that does look nice.

I just have this little weirdness about me that I have to give a cellophane bag of cookies, or a cute little box with treats in it, tied with ribbon and always with a cute little tag. I can't just bring cookies or a treat on a plate. Whatever I give I like it to look like a little present.

I remember being 12 and buying my best friend a gift and I bought a 10 pack of gum, opened it up and put lots of curly ribbon tied around each pack of gum to accessorize the gift. I know, sometimes I go a little overboard. Tracy has even said that I could wrap up a piece of "crap" (didn't use that word) and people would love it just because of the way it was wrapped up!

So, I have a box of ribbons in every color imaginable, curling ribbon, plain and designer cellophane bags and some plain boxes that anytime I make a treat and take it to someone it gets delivered in a nice little package of some kind.

I also love to take giant Hershey candy bars and take off the printed wrapper (leaving the foil wrapper) and put a wrapper of some cute craft paper wrapped around it instead and then tie some ribbon around it with a cute little tag so it is a little mini present to give someone.

Here is a fun idea
to do for something out of the ordinary for little kids you know, OR, for a package topper, OR, for kids to make to give to a teacher.
These are great for Christmas, OR, for anyone who has a birthday in Winter Time
Snowman wrappers for an ordinary candy bar.

The BODY is either a 3 Musketeers, Milky Way or Snickers candy bar
The HAT is made by cutting the fingers of Stretchy gloves. You can make 5 hats out of 1 glove. (tie the top of the hat with Jute)

The WRAPPER is a piece of typing paper cut in half and then wrapped around and taped with clear tape on the back
The SCARF is a piece of scrap fabric ripped and tied around the neck.
The NOSE is just a piece of orange foam cut into a triangle shape
The BUTTONS are just black beads
and the EYES and MOUTH are just black dots drawn with a Sharpie marker.

Put them all together
and you end up with these darling little guys!!

Happy Gift Wrapping!

The Joy of Creativity!

I have always LOVED packaging things with lots of ribbon or curly ribbon. To me the way a gift or goodie is wrapped is just as important to me as the gift or goodie inside. I drive Tracy crazy with this little quirk of mine. He is always commenting when people bring over a plate of cookies on a paper plate with Saran Wrap and a stick on Christmas tag, how NICE that looks and YES, that does look nice.

I just have this little weirdness about me that I have to give a cellophane bag of cookies, or a cute little box with treats in it, tied with ribbon and always with a cute little tag. I can't just bring cookies or a treat on a plate. Whatever I give I like it to look like a little present.

I remember being 12 and buying my best friend a gift and I bought a 10 pack of gum, opened it up and put lots of curly ribbon tied around each pack of gum to accessorize the gift. I know, sometimes I go a little overboard. Tracy has even said that I could wrap up a piece of "crap" (didn't use that word) and people would love it just because of the way it was wrapped up!

So, I have a box of ribbons in every color imaginable, curling ribbon, plain and designer cellophane bags and some plain boxes that anytime I make a treat and take it to someone it gets delivered in a nice little package of some kind.

I also love to take giant Hershey candy bars and take off the printed wrapper (leaving the foil wrapper) and put a wrapper of some cute craft paper wrapped around it instead and then tie some ribbon around it with a cute little tag so it is a little mini present to give someone.

Here is a fun idea

to do for something out of the ordinary for little kids you know, OR, for a package topper, OR, for kids to make to give to a teacher.
These are great for Christmas, OR, for anyone who has a birthday in Winter Time
Snowman wrappers for an ordinary candy bar. 

The BODY is either a 3 Musketeers, Milky Way or Snickers candy bar
The HAT is made by cutting the fingers of Stretchy gloves. You can make 5 hats out of 1 glove. (tie the top of the hat with Jute)

The WRAPPER is a piece of typing paper cut in half and then wrapped around and taped with clear tape on the back
The SCARF is a piece of scrap fabric ripped and tied around the neck.
The NOSE is just a piece of orange foam cut into a triangle shape
The BUTTONS are just black beads
and the EYES and MOUTH are just black dots drawn with a Sharpie marker.

Put them all together
and you end up with these darling little guys!!

Happy Gift Wrapping!

"It's a Wonderful Life"!
(Kimmies journal of our holiday traditions)

I can definitely say that I have never had a December like this one. We didn't get any sign of Christmas put up until December 12th! Usually, Christmas is up the week after Thanksgiving, but we had too many community, church and work obligations to start any sooner.
HOWEVER, I am SO grateful that Tracy and I both have jobs AND I am SO grateful that we both have our health so that we can provide service to others.

It is always exciting
pulling out the Christmas boxes and opening them and seeing how I put things away the previous year and to remember many things that I had completely forgot that we had for decorations, etc...

I LOVE my homemade angels, hearts and snowflakes. I made the hearts and angels our second Christmas together and they are the main decorations on my tree. Tracy's Grandma Beth made us 12 crocheted snowflakes our 3rd Christmas and they are some of my favorite treasures we hang on our tree. I can't believe the amazing detail of each snowflake and they are ALL different.

Each year we make homemade ornaments and these ornaments go on our white boxes of almonds and caramels that we give to family and friends. We have made everything from very detailed angels made out of pasta and Santa's made out of Shotgun shells, to ornaments made out of cardstock, sparkling with glitter, to Santa's and Snowmen that were a pattern from something Jade and Ethan created and also reindeer made out of burned out C9 Christmas light bulbs.
Such a FUN time of the year and many, many wonderful memories associated with these.

We used to have 7-1/2 foot tall tree that was HUGE, but it really gobbled up our small living room. I could have put it in our dining/family room, but I just wanted a cute and cozy tree and so in the vein of simplifying my life, I purchased a 5 foot skinny tree for $19.00, wrap pinebough greenery around it to fill it out and not make it look so scraggly. When it is all decorated up, it looks just gorgeous!

Some different views of our tree.
I LOVE having kid decorations mixed in with the pretty.
Children make Christmas!
Some families have a tree that is just for pretty ornaments and then a tree that is just for kid ornaments. ME, I LOVE to mix them both together on the same tree!

More favorites...
shotgun shell Santas, an ornament from the year we took a Christmas cruise, our gorgeous green glass ornaments, nativity and the Angel on the top of my tree.

I made the tree skirt the same year I made my angels and hearts. I found some material that had Old World Santa's and cut them out and heat and bonded them onto some Muslim and sewed lace around the edge.

I LOVE when my kids make nice drawings and so these are two drawings that we framed and they are placed with the Christmas Decorations in my living room.

Our entry shelf this time of the year!

I made these Christmas stockings when Jade was a baby. I cross-stitched our names and then decorated them. I couldn't find anymore of these socks when Ethan was born so I bought a sock and then added his cross-stitched name at the top.

The view of our living room all decorated for Christmas!
It's gorgeous and I love to sit on my favorite chair by the tree and sit and enjoy the beauty of the season.

Night View!

The view of the village on top of my entry shelf at night-time.

The view of my nativity scenes at night-time.

This is what you see
when you stand at my front door and YES, FLAKES are always welcome at my home! (Wink)

This lamp post was made for a Christmas Party gift by Candace (Tracy's neice). We added a few extra details and it is what greets you when you walk up to my porch.

My curio all decorated with our Christmas treasures!

The top...

The top shelf.
The light shines so beautifully on my Nativities!
The middle nativity that is carved out of wood was given to us by a "Secret Santa" our first Christmas in our new house. I can't believe all of the gorgeous details of it!

The second shelf...
All of my cute Snowmen are placed here.

I just love my Christmas Carolers!
Tracy's mom has these exact carolers (she made them in a ceramics class several decades ago!) Hers are painted with a white opalescent paint and with different hair colors. We were shopping at DI (a local thrift store) a few years ago and I found these and knew Tracy would love them since they were the same ones as his mom's (except how they were painted). We got the whole set for $9.00! We taped off the white parts and added a sparkly glitter paint to them and it really set them off! This ceramic mold has been discontinued for years and so I feel so grateful that we were able to find them. They just add the finishing touch to my curio full of Christmas treasures!

The fourth shelf...
This shelf is the home for all of my Santa's

The bottom shelf...
displays a yule log I made with my mom and sister's when I was pregnant with Jade and various other figurines we've received from friends and family through the years.

YES, even though it has been a hectic time, we have made time each night to watch our Christmas classic movies that we enjoy so much.
It's been a great week as each night we have had the doorbell ring with friends and neighbors delivering holiday goodies.
Sunday...we got cookie mix from the Bybees that we baked up and ate while we watched "It's a Wonderful Life"
Monday...we got bread and Huckleberry jam from the Hatt's that we ate with our dinner. We also got a bottle of Sprite from the Taylor's and beautiful plaque from the Joos Family that says: "Each of us is an Inn Keeper who decides if there is room for Jesus" (Neal A. Maxwell)
Tuesday...we got chocolate dipped pretzel's and a cookie jar from the Thomas Family.
Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the holiday season turns out. The JOY that comes to children's faces this time of the year is so precious!

My very favorite Christmas movie!
I never tire of watching it and the message of this movie is one of the best messages of all.

Another joy of the holiday season...
getting the mail each day and the excitement of receiving and opening up Christmas cards from friends and family. Tracy made this out of string and paper clips (something he did at Christmas when he was on his mission). We hang it up every year and as we get cards in the mail we read them and then they get hung to display.
I LOVE this tradition Tracy has done.

We just finished our last hectic night last night helping the Young Men and Young Women in our Ward make and deliver fruit baskets to over 40 families, widows and widowers in our area. It was the best feeling and the joy and excitement of the youth made it all worth it.

NOW, I can officially get the rest of things I need to get done...almonds and caramels made and delivered, presents wrapped, LOTS more FUN time with my kids reading Christmas stories each night and watching more Holiday Movie Classics, making Wassail, and enjoying spending time with Family and Friends.

"When we recall Christmas past, we usually find that the simplest things - not the great occasions - give off the greatest glow of happiness." (Bob Hope)