Happy Christmas Adam

My fun brother Adam always reminds us that December 23 is Christmas Adam......why you ask? Well, Adam came before Eve so Christmas Adam must be the day before Christmas Eve.......

Remember back in September and one of my goals was to have all my Christmas shopping done by the first of December? I am only 22 days off. I'd say that I almost made it, and it is not only finished it is wrapped...a big first for me.

So What has been happening?
- We did Zoo lights with the fam....it was fun but very cold. With the Zoo sitting in the canyon the breeze keeps things chilly. It will be on our to do again list.
- Shopping, and shopping and shopping and to keep things interesting I also have done some returning........already.
- Letting projects go that won't happen and were causing stress....like Christmas cards, when I decided that I was going to do New Years cards things got better.  I also am not stressing about getting everything on the Christmas list.....as Gary says if you really feel you missed out and need it we can go get it on the 26th.
- Baking...Meg and I did cookies today. We asked what the guys were wanting and only made those kind of cookies. I have also been doing my neighbor gifts....rosemary bread.....so baking, baking and more baking.

Life is good. Christmas is near. With two days to go it means it must be Christmas Adam!

MCC

Paper Snow Flakes

Two of my favorite scenes in the movie Elf are when he decorates the Store for Santa's arrival and when he decorates the apartment.
I think next year I am going to do the white paper snowflakes and paper chains in my house....change is good...and it may only be down stairs.......for now.

 Aren't theses fantastic?  I love, love, love this photo.

This is probably how my house will look to start.   Paper snowflakes, chains and lights......so until next year, when I don't have another project taking up my time.

I'm Singing....

'The Best way to spread Christmas cheer is to sing out loud for all to hear!'
Love, love, love this from the movie ELF.......and it helps that Christmas music is the best to sing along with.
Christmas songs are for the most part......except for a few previously mentioned songs..........joyous, happy, cheerful. Do you ever wonder why there is Christmas caroling, why choirs sing so often during the season, why every group who sings or plays music is booked or doing some kind of program at Christmas or why there are so many season specific CD's? It is because the music is so wonderful!   And so fun to sing.
I  love singing and don't understand those who don't. Saturday morning we had our ward family Christmas brunch. Part of the activities was singing Christmas songs. I was disappointed in those who wouldn't sing along...come on people you have heard most of theses songs your whole life, I know you know them. Don't tell me you were embarrassed. Why be embarrassed, no on cares that you are singing the songs, no one is listening to you or looking at you and judging..... Sing to fill your soul with happiness!
I love musical theater because singing is the extension of the greater emotion.....happy or sad. Years ago a friend said he hated musicals because when do groups of people break out in song and dance.......okay so theater is fictitious, but hey we would all be better off if we would break out in song and dance down the street more often.

I'm singing..........Spread some cheer and sing out loud for all to hear!

MCC

Christmas Music

I love Christmas music. ...it is one of my favorite things about the holiday season. I can still here the click and drop of each album on the stereo record player......I along with my sibs, we knew the song order of every record.  Growing up we had a huge stack of records placed on the stereo record player every day, year after year....and it played over and over. We probably wore out the records. The music wasn't allowed to start until November 1st, but we sometimes would sneak it in here and there in October.  With the coming of tapes and CD's things have changed a bit,  but the music is still the same, the old stuff and the new. It all brings memories to the surface....and kids say that music doesn't affect them?....really? 
I love singing it as well. Several years ago on Christmas Eve as a family group we began singing all the Christmas Music we had sheet music for and could play on the piano....singing Christmas music is as good if not better than listening to it.  I also loved when we did Cole Collection...singing only at Christmas time, while hectic and time consuming it was great fun.

So now with the memory stuff out of the way, I have a question: what's with the crazy faux Christmas music? Think "My Favorite Things".......really snowy white winters that melt into spring and snowflakes that say on my nose and eyelashes or even those brown paper packages have nothing to do with Christmas music. I understand that they are winter things here in our part of the world and that there are other songs that deal with winter only that we call Christmas songs, but hey the other winter songs were written with Christmas in mind and "Favorite Things" for a musical call "The Sound of Music"...which is a stupid title for that musical as well.... but I digress. There are also the songs that just are annoying Christmas songs....like "Christmas Shoes," "Grown Up Christmas List," "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas," "Blue Christmas," "Havin' a Wonderful Christmas Time" and "Do you Hear What I Hear." I know that this is just personal preference and that what is dumb to me maybe another persons fav, but we all get a choice.  My Brother dislikes "Little Drummer Boy" which ranks right up there for me as well.

Here are some of my favs! Not just songs but types and CD's.....
I love almost anything sung by the classic crooners...so thank heavens for Michael Buble. Both of his Christmas CD's are pretty darn good. I am really liking his latest CD.
I also enjoy the choral classics, old and new sung by the MoTab and the Cambridge Singers...John Rutter is the new choral classic master. His stuff sung by the Cambridge Singers is wonderful.
As a kid I loved the records by the singing groups, I can't remember the different group names but they reminded me of the background singers on all of the wonderful Christmas specials we had on TV when I was a kid.  A favorite that most of the groups sang was "Need a Little Christmas." This song is one of my all time favorites songs, it is from the musical Mame.....go figure.
Religious Christmas songs for the most part are also awesome.  If I had to make a top ten.......wow, how hard. I'm going to have to think on it a bit because just when I think I've got it narrowed down I hear or think of another song that I love......yikes, picking favorites is hard.

MCC

364 days...Happy Boxing Day!

Let the count down begin......I have 364 shopping days 'till Christmas....and if i am crazy/savvy I will begin today with all the sales. My problem with buying early is that I forget that I have purchased or what I have purchased or where I put the purchases I have made.....
The Other problem with early purchases for me is what if i don't feel like giving them what I got them?!?!?! Not to worry I can bet that I won't early purchase much , that I will once again be a crazed Christmas shopper in 2010.
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Christmas this year was quiet.....probably for the last time for 20 years. Mom and Dad had the Welch's for Christmas and loved having them there....It wasn't a quiet Christmas for them......maybe the confusion makes for a great Christmas.....every once in a while.

I think everyone loved what they got for Christmas.....we didn't go over board, but it wasn't meager either.....

Gary Loves his new camera.......he would have loved a Kindel also but he can get that for a New Years gift...I was going to do it for Valentines day but he is traveling so much beginning January 17 that it will be a nice thing to have.....I hope he takes his camera with him. He goes to some great places and could get some awesome photos....maybe a new job is in the making. He also got a lot of black clothing....it was a black Christmas for him.

Hayden got a Flip Video camera and is set on video blogging...if that happens I will definitely keep everyone posted as to where. He says the funniest things.....the impromptu vacation video that he made was a real laugh. Hayden also got new stylish clothes....

Meg got a spa treatment that she has been wanting for a few years now....I hope it is everything she wants it to be. She also got shoes, clothes and jewelry.....

As for me I was spoiled good....I got the things I asked for as well as some surprises. A big surprise form Gary was a book binder and lamina tor. It is a Stories by Me machine. It helps you create and make your own bound books..... It will be a fun project. I got a great Waffle maker, a FoodSaver...I had an original FoodSaver before our fire and never replaced it....Jordan and Laurie got one for their wedding and so a FoodSaver hit my want list once again..... I found and gave myself a white dress coat...Laurie has a beautiful white dress coat that I have coveted ...I know bad ...... now I have my own! Gary wouldn't let me not have something new to wear on Christmas day so on the 24 we went shopping and trying on clothes....I hate to try on clothes, but with a new shape it is a necessity... I got a great new top, nice pants that were long enough and 2 sweaters.....lucky me!
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New Zealand sounds wonderful. Elder Call was his happy chipper, no nonsense self. We talked for 3 hours. In the three hours I learned that he has large worn out clothes, he needs a new backpack which he was going to buy in at the Boxing Day Sales that afternoon. He wants Cd's of appropriate uplifting music to play in the car....his Zone can be a two hour drive....he will need the entertainment. He's iPod that he took with him is toast so he needs a new one....luckily we got a Nano for free from Delta Airlines. He loves his new companion...it's only been a week and anyone would be better than his previous comp. He had a green Christmas...he loves the snow and Christmas so not having them together has been a real challenge for him....he told me that I would love Christmas there because it is warm/spring/fall like, my favorite seasons.... the count down says 329 days, but I was told it will probably be 7 to 10 days longer.....they don't care about Thanksgiving so he is scheduled to come home the day after Thanksgiving.....I guess I will just have to postpone it for a day in 2010.

Happy Boxing Day....I think we are going to claim the 26 has the Gary & Marcie Call family Christmas party/get together day....no one else lays claim to it so it could be great.....and on Boxing day you are supposed to give the gifts.....this is a great idea......English crackers, food, activities and more gifts...this could be a very good idea.

MCC

The Stockings Were Hung.....,.

....it's here! Christmas day 2009. We began last week and we did it....we actually made it all happen. We didn't get everything they all wanted, but they will all get plenty.
We began the day with the annual Cole Family Christmas Eve breakfast and Bowling! The breakfast has been in existence for most of my life. In the beginning we went out to breakfast with Mom and Dad before they left for the store, Cole Esquire, a men's clothing store. Then we would be babysat until the cousins arrived and we were taken to Grandpa and Grandma Butters......anyway back to the breakfast. We would go out to breakfast until the kids began to eat all the bacon on the buffet....now we do it at one of our homes. It is a fun way to begin the day.
Bowling is a new tradition. Three years ago we decided to go to the Bountiful Bowl for a way to keep our teens and young adults occupied. Today we once again arrived at Bountiful Bowl the minute they opened so we could continue on with the traditions.

Christmas Eve is full of favorite traditions. There are three traditions that I love the most:1- singing the choir music and Christmas Hymns all together in harmony. 2-Reading/Listening to The Polar express , narrated by William Hurt. 3-reading of the Christmas Story in Luke 2 and family prayer.

.....I was wide awake when I began writing this but now I am falling asleep.... Hopefully my dreams will be sweet!
MCC

Ah, Christmas....it is over for 2008

Ahhhh....it is over...363 shopping days till next Christmas.Maybe it won't be the surprise it was this year.

We actually had a wonderful Christmas....did we do all we wanted to do...no, but that was okay. I am glad that it went off as well as it did.

The Missionary call from Nelson made my day...and my headache...you know from the suppressed tears. He sounded so good. He has jumped right in and is working hard, trying to help those they are teaching see the joy that being a member of the church can be in their lives. We talked to his Australian companion Elder Honda,who said he is sharp and know the lessons.

It will be a long,long time till mothers day....

We had a surprise gift, that kind of changed our plans but hey........ Our Surprise gift...well not really a gift, we had to buy it...but still nice..... in our driveway sits a cute blue and silver Smart Car! We ordered the thing almost 2 years ago. We were told in August that we wouldn't be seeing it until around February 2009. We picked it up on Tuesday Dec. 23, 2008. It is about 8 feet long, seats two people comfortably, and is fun to drive. It is just the car to take if you don't want to over purchase....where would you put the stuff. People stop and stare....on the freeway it is hard to change lanes because the cars next to you want to look at this tiny odd car. I first saw a Smart Car almost 10 years ago when we were in Germany....I thought it was so cute I bought a model car and brought it home. We looked into importing one for us but the price to do so was so limiting at the time.....when we got word that they were coming to the USA, Gary kept track of when and how to get one.....well, we got one. What a fun Christmas Present.

MCC