Makeshift Girls Trip!!

Mom, Dad and Jane were planning on coming out the 26th to get some fresh (and warm) Texas air but Dad ended up getting a fever the day before so Mom and Jane came alone.  The kids were devastated that their favorite play mate (Grandpa) wouldn't be coming.  We were equally as sad but decided to make the best of things and turned the weekend into a "girls trip." 

This included scooter rides with Aunt Jane.

Girl talk on the driveway while we basked in the glorious sun.

Artistic manicures by Aunt Jane.

And shopping...of course!!

We spent one day in Fredericksburg and George found a little piano.  We literally had to take him away from it kicking and screaming. 

 

Texas only shared one warm day with the ladies which was a total bummer for the Salt Lake Citians.  I wish we could have warmed them up a bit more before they had to go back home to freezing Utah.

How cool are these lights we passed while driving through Johnson City?

Someone screamed "get a room" at us when we took this picture.

We finally introduced my family to the Salt Lick.  I was worried that the plastic plates, the roasting pit, and the wooden picnic tables would scare the city slickers stiff but they were equally blown away at how delicious their dinner was.  Hooray!  We've converted two more to Texas BBQ!

 

Christmas 2012

Look at those three little bright eyed and bed headed monkeys.  They couldn't wait to come downstairs and G couldn't wait for me to put the camera down and rescue him. 

George loved his first Christmas!  Like most babies he was far more interested in the paper than the actual gift inside but he was very intense when placed before the Lincoln Logs and grabbed handful with vigor and delight. 

All Sadie asked for was a Barbie fishing pole.  Don't ask me why.  We never go fishing and there's a lot of dry river beds around here but she was ecstatic to see her wish had been fulfilled. 

Jack was equally as thrilled (can you tell?) when he opened his new scooter.  He fell in love with cousin Eloise's when we were in Utah and borrowed little Chase's whenever he could.  It was time for Santa to give him one of his own.

Whose more excited about Mom's new measuring spoons?  Mom or Jack?

 

 

Chase surprised me by getting some bikes and a trailer off Craig's list so we could enjoy a beautiful Christmas day bike ride.  Unfortunately Sadie turned a little sharp and really hurt her precious face.  She now has a huge scab on the left side of her face.  Poor thing!

 We gathered at the church with friends for dinner and had a glorious time singing more carols (opera style) and Sadie was able to play her holiday songs for everyone as well.  Everyone was very impressed with how little she is and how well she plays.  Proud "mama moment" for sure.

Merry Christmas Y'all! 

Oh Christmas Tree!

Time to pull out my Christmas sweaters!! There is a store in Austin that opens up in November just for the reselling of these lovely keepsakes.  Keeping Austin weird one sweater at a time:-)

Loved hearing all these beautiful children (especially the one in front:-) sing us some carols. 

Made my Christmas cookies and was determined to actually deliver them this year.  In years past I usually run out of time but this year would be different.  This was the only time this Christmas season I have really missed SLC.  Cookies should never be baked alone.  I longed for the Etherington kitchen with all my siblings around me stealing dough and decorating at the breakfast table.  Chase took the kids away that morning on errands to "give me a break" when all I really wanted was noise and more noise.  Like I said, cookies should never be baked alone.

Christmas eve we went over to the Hilton's home for some delicious food and even caroled around the piano.  It was awesome!!  We were pleased as punch to have carolers come to our house as well.  The Bench family sang so beautifully it made me cry.  The Scotts also came over the same night and I decided that when our kids are old enough to cooperate, the Cannons will set up their own singing telegram entourage as well.  It brings so much cheer and made my whole day!

After we got home from the party we spread our "reindeer food" and read some cozy Christmas books and the Christmas story...of course. 

We didn't forget to save some cookies for Santa.  We probably saved too many:-)

 

It's so fun playing Santa!!

 

 

 

Not your traditional garb

Wish I could have snapped a photo of all the kids in front of the house before the Christmas program at church but even with 2:00 church, we are always short on time.  My mom sent these adorable outfits for them to wear.  I'm not really into the matching plaid Christmas outfits and I'm so glad my mom isn't either.  No red or green but looking pretty snazzy. 

 

I can't get over Jack in his skinny pants and suit jacket.  He looks so grown up and handsome!

G looked pretty dapper in his little suit too.  He fit into Jack's Easter suit from 2010 and he rocked it.  Julie and I rocked the red and green too:-)  It's a good thing we go to church every week.  Otherwise we'd be all dressed up with no where to go!

A Christmas Miracle

Finding a gift for my parents has always been bitter/sweet for me.  I want to get them something they need but they have everything they need. They have a whole boutique stocked with everything they "need."  I've come to the conclusion that it's not about spending a lot of money, it's about finding something that will warm their hearts and let them know it's a gift I really thought about.  This year I did just that.  But what started out as a fun gift idea ended up being a little more work than I had anticipated.  It's "bitter" figuring out the gift but oh so "sweet" once it's executed.  Here's the letter I wrote them which explains it all:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Christmas time was always so magical in our home growing up, and I can clearly remember the smell of the cookies baking in the oven and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing in the background. I remember all of us monkeys thinking The Little Drummer Boy was the perfect excuse to shake our booties. The memories of hanging ornaments on the tree while the choir sang “Baby What You Going To Be” will forever be etched in my brain. Dad redecorating the tree will also never be forgotten. I love Christmas and I have wonderful memories spending such a magical time of the year with my family. You made it so fun, providing a happy, healthy, and joyful atmosphere. We all truly had such a whimsical and delightful upbringing. Thank you for that.

Last year Mom mentioned that she wasn’t fond of the Christmas music you currently have and missed the older music we used to listened too. I realized I was pretty sick of what little holiday music I had as well, so I went to work trying to find the best music this season has to offer. In particular, I wanted to find that same Mo-Tab music with all of our favorite songs they used to sing. So, for the past year I have periodically been searching for this album that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang. Whenever I remembered I did a quick search on eBay or Google to see if it would miraculously resurface. I was, however, always disappointed after scouring Deseret Book, and other LDS websites to discover that I couldn’t even find the title of the album we all listened to. I became somewhat obsessed with this treasure hunt of mine. I knew it had to be out there somewhere and I somehow felt that if I had this album, it would make Christmas feel just as magical as it did in that old kitchen with the pull out cutting board, the cookie cutters, the fogged up windows, the smell of pin wheel cookies and all my family together singing along. I was on a mission!

I finally started contacting all the old ladies in my ward. I started with the ones that I knew were old enough to own a cassette tape and also be “classy” enough to enjoy the likes of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I didn’t have a lot of luck with the first couple of people I asked but finally had some good fortune when talking to a woman who had the Donnie and Marie version of “Baby What you Going To Be” and said she thought she knew the name of the other album the Mo-Tab sang (I wasn’t interested in her Donny and Marie versionJ ). She emailed me a few days later with a Google link to the very album I was looking for. A White Christmas by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I did a little more research and found that it was never even made into a CD because it was first produced back in 1976!! But I had the title now and that was a HUGE leap in the right direction.

I went on eBay again and entered my newfound information. I was thrilled to find an old vinyl record with the starting bid at $4.99. I was the first bidder and was pretty excited about the fact that I would probably be the only one. A few days later I returned to Ebay ready to purchase my record when I found I had been outbid by someone else. Total shocker for two reasons. First, who on earth is looking for this Mo-Tab album and second, why would he/she want it in a vinyl record for Pete’s sake?!! Feeling a little downtrodden I decided to take a break for a few days. I thought I had found the jack pot! All I would have had to do is take the record to a recording studio and have them convert it into a CD.

A week later I decided to search again. This time I tried both Ebay and Amazon and what do you know? I found a cassette tape on Amazon!! It was a little pricier ($15.00) but totally worth every penny (so I thought). It came in the mail a week later and after having a conversation with one of my computer genius friends, I learned that her husband had all the equipment in his home to convert the tape into a CD. I was as pleased as punch because the nearest recording studio was about 30 minutes away and I didn’t have time to drive up there. I dropped the tape off to their house and waited patiently. I finally got an email from Neal (her husband) saying that the tape was VERY damaged and “did I know how old this thing was?” He said he would try to salvage as much of the tape as he could with what access he had to his computer . I received the CD a few days later at church and after thanking him a thousand times over (I got them a gift…don’t worry), I took it home for a listen.

I was walking around the kitchen with George on my hip listening to every song, and as I heard the doctored version of my childhood memories, I was astonished to find that Neal made it sound really good. It of course sounds old but I wouldn’t want it any other way. That’s how I remember it!! Tears welled up in my eyes as the choir sang “Lullaby” and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.” Everything I remembered came flooding back so strongly that I could almost smell those cookies!! I had a little moment of longing to be in that kitchen again but the tears also manifested to me how grateful I was/am to be a daughter in your family and to have been raised by such wonderful parents. Gratitude was bursting out of my heart that day and it still is today. Hopefully you can listen to this same CD and think of us little kids trying to steal bits and pieces of dough and singing opera in overly high pitched (and probably ear piercing) voices. I plan to pop it my CD player this Christmas and huddle my littles around me while we bake in our kitchen here in Texas. Memories for certain will be engraved, and perhaps one day Sadie will go on a treasure hunt of her own.

　
Love you both ridiculously and immensely!
Snabigail

P.S. I had a chance to listen to the actual cassette tape in Chase’s car the other day and couldn‘t believe how damaged it really is. Every song was slurred and scratched.. Neal truly performed a Christmas miracle when burning that CD for us!!

I can always tell if my mom likes a gift when, as she opens it, starts to cry.  It's definitely the gift that will keep on giving every time Christmas rolls around.  Glad I snagged a copy for myself as well:-)

No snow? No problem:-)

No snow for Christmas is still something I'm getting used to but there really isn't anything better than walking around to see Christmas lights and being warm at the same time!  I love seeing the lights at Temple Square but after living here for so many years I'm not sure these Texas bones could handle the low temperatures.  I made the kids wear all this cold weather gear and it all ended up piled in the stroller at the end of the night.  You can never be too careful when it's 60 degrees outside:-)

 
Texans love their light displays and there are too many to choose from so we ventured out to as many as we could.  The Guadalupe lights were hilarious as usual.  This year instead of a T-Rex breathing fire at one house, they hung a HUGE stocking with "Eddie" on it for Van Halen.  Next to the stocking was a makeshift stage out of raw wood hammered together with a bunch of mellow musicians playing their version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer...jazz style with trumpet included.  I love it here!!

We went to Wimberly again this year and it was fun as always.  I love how quirky all the displays are.  There's nothing fancy about Austin.  It's weird and we love it!  George loved it too even though he didn't like posing for this particular picture:-)

Love my little family.  I could go anywhere with them and it would be fun! 

Only in Texas are shepherds replaced by cowboys and donkeys for a filly:-)

 

There's a lot of explaining to do when the Santa's don't all look the same.  I think we have one more year before Sadie starts to figure it all out:-)

We only waited in one line and it was to see Cinderella.  Of course her line was longer than Santa's.  Santa is old news the week before Christmas!

I feel like there is always an "exhausted kids" picture at the end of my posts.  We love to wear them out!!

 

 

Sandy Hook

I don't know why I'm blogging about this.  I kind of want to forget it even happened but it hit VERY close to home when I heard that a crazy 20 year old went into an elementary school and shot 6 year olds.  6 YEAR OLDS!!!!  I won't go into details about gun control, or mental illness here.  That's what CNN is for.  But because I have a 6 year old I will tell you that this event has changed me forever.  Somehow I became obsessed with the news.  I cried every time I watched anything or read about a parent waiting at the fire department for the child that would never greet them.  I heard the news around noon that Friday and haven't stopped thinking about it ever since.  I wanted to pick Sadie up from school early just so I could have her safe in my arms but Chase cautioned me that by doing so I would have to explain the event to Sadie and I didn't want to scare her.  When Marty dropped her off that afternoon I was waiting and practically ripped her out of her car seat.  She asked me why I was crying and I told her it was because I missed her.  I never greet her like that after school so she was of course suspicious but the longer I can keep her innocence intact, the better.   

We had the Ward Christmas Party that night and we were on the brink of not even going because I was so distraught.  I couldn't imagine celebrating on such a day.  I felt like taking down all the Christmas decorations because it almost seemed wrong to find joy in anything when so many families were suffering.  Chase is the best husband.  He held me when I cried, banned me from watching CNN and told me that the best way to be happy is to serve others and the Ward Christmas Party was a service project for other families.  He was totally right.  Once I started wrapping presents for others and thinking less about myself and my 6 year old, I felt a little better. 

Chase went to Utah the next morning and took George with him to Grandma Phyllis' funeral.  I have a hard time when he travels anyway but I just wanted my family together.  I feel so incredibly vulnerable being a wife and a mother.  So many people that have places in my heart.  I read somewhere that having children is like watching your heart walk around outside your body.  I always look at my children every night before I go to bed, but now I stare at them and get choked up when I see Sadie's precious face dreaming away.  How could someone possibly harm such innocence?

I went over to Amy's house to decorate cookies and cried there too.   I even felt sorrow for being so sad because it's not like my child was killed.  I guess I just internalize things too much sometimes.  I kind of feel like the sister on the Life of Bees that couldn't deal with sad events.  Amy was so sweet to put up with me.  I guess I just needed to talk about it and Amy was my therapist that day.   Having Chase gone was difficult because I just couldn't shake the sad feelings and I missed my sweet George.  He took him so I wouldn't be overwhelmed with all the piano musical numbers I had that weekend.  It was helpful but there's nothing like having all your loved ones surrounding you.

So even though this horrible event is past us and I'm not nearly as emotional I'm still staying away from CNN and anything that deals with the shooting.  I won't even see Les Mis because it's a sad movie and I'm trying to surround myself with positive, uplifting thoughts.  Sadie said she heard a voice in her head the other day and thinks it was Jesus.  She asked him when he was coming and he responded "May 14." When she told me this I worried a little she might be going schizo on me but after talking to her more about it I truly hope Jesus did visit her that day.  Because the way this world is going it wouldn't be so bad to have it all wrap up on May 14.  A thousand years of peace is sounding pretty good these days.   

 

Parties for the kiddos

We were very sad when Miss JoAnn announced that she would be closing up shop after the holidays due to her surprise pregnancy and her assistant (Miss Amber) moving to Houston.  I was even more bummed trying to figure out where to send him to preschool in the middle of the school year with all the classes full over the entire South Austin region.  It's so ridiculous it deserves a blog post of its own.  We loved her preschool and Jack seemed to be thriving in the happy environment there. 

They had an adorable end of the semester (the only one:-) nativity and party outside.  It was cute seeing them all play their parts.  Jack was a sheep and did his "Bahh's" splendidly!!

Chase stayed home from work one morning so I could go to Sadie's holiday party at school.  She rarely gets to spend time just with me so it was fun doing all the crafts together. 

They did a fun book exchange and a little girl was sad because she didn't like the book she received so Sadie traded her.  What a gal!

Can't forget about the Young Women "kiddos."  We had a fun sock exchange and went caroling to some fun neighbors in the ward after a sweet message from Gina and some treats from the potluck!  I love our awesome young women!!

 

Color Me Rad

I got roped into doing this fun little 5K with a lot of my buddies.  I have to admit I wasn't looking forward to waking up early especially after partying at the work party the night before.  The only training I had done was a little rollerblading to and from the park on Wednesdays (that's a sight for sore eyes, let me tell you).  But I had SOOOOO much fun.  I didn't need training.  The music, adrenaline, and being hyper with all the girls was enough for a 1/2 marathoin (according to my caluclations:-)  In fact, I probably exerted more energy dancing and singing than I did actually running the 5K. 

Here we are all squeaky clean before the race:-)

The dirtier the better!

We were trying to get me on tv so the girls lifted me up on their shoulders so I could stick out in the crowd.  I doubt I got on their camera but my iPhone got this shot and it's my favorite one from the race.

It was so fun seeing the "with out children" side of all these mommies.  We had an absolute blast!!