Christmas at Chantrys

We woke up Christmas morning at about 8:00 (the kids had let us sleep that long, and it was much appreciate) and found that Santa had been here and been very generous. That is for another. This post is what happened after our calm, relaxing and fun Christmas morning at home. After the traditional toaster waffles (still unsure of why this is so thrilling for the kids, but they insist) we headed up to Ogden. Grandma and Grandpa Chantry and all of our Chantry family were there and we had a grand "opening of the presents" there. It was fun to give the gifts that we have been preparing and to see the surprises that Grandma and Grandpa have been planning and making for a long time. We sure appreciate Grandma and Grandpa so much.

The boys got very cool robots

After enjoying Tangled so much at Thanksgiving, Grandma though the girls would love these toys. They do.

Then there were books, puzzles, Wii games, and other activities that Grandma and grandpa knew the kids would love.

And a game for each kid too. These are great and the kids have enjoyed them many times already. (I particularly love Megan's game, because it is just right for a four year ole!)

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Merry Christmas!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

It has been a great year at the Chantry house, though busy. We aren’t quite sure where the year has gone. Here is a quick rundown.

Megan (4) – Animal lover, preschooler and loving every moment of life. She makes our days bright!

Mike (6) –First grade all day, still obsessed with trains and cars, reading tons of great books. His excitement for life shows in every movement and is contagious.

Nathan (8) – Baptized in July, became a Cub Scout and earned his Wolf rank in two months, Harry Potter obsessed. He is so diligent and such a great help in our home.

Liz (9) – Fabulous fourth grader, loves reading and math, such a big help to mom. She is so creative and will make almost anything out of whatever materials she has.

Jen is adjusting to time with an empty home and enjoys riding the bus to get Megan at preschool some days. She had an amazing year in Primary and was recently released as the Primary President. She is excited to begin work with the Cub Scouts!

Brian still works for Freshmen Mentoring at BYU and earned an award from the University for his ingenuity as the new program was started this year. He was recently released as the executive secretary in our ward and was called as the Elders’ Quorum President. The task seems daunting, but he will do a great job as he works with the men in our ward and neighborhood,

Our family has been so blessed in many large and small ways this year. We are grateful for this Christmas season and for the chance to remember the birth of our Savior, through whom we receive the ultimate joy and peace. May this joy and peace be with you and your families this Christmas season and throughout the coming year.

The Tradition of the Orange Sticks

So I grew up hearing about a time that my uncle's friend gave him a gift of orange sticks at Christmas. The friend dropped it off when my uncle wasn't home. My dad and grandparents were, and they thought it would be funny to open the box, eat some and wrap it back up. So they did. My uncle opened a partially eaten box of orange sticks, and I think he bought a box, ate part and gave it to his friend.

Like I said, I grew up hearing this story every year, and this year Grandpa (my dad) wanted to carry on the tradition and told it to the kids. (We even ate part of a box of orange sticks and wrapped it up.)

Anyway, yesterday I picked up a few other treats to give to various people as gifts and Michael saw them. He also wanted some.

He said, "Can't we do the orange stick thing?"

Kangaroo Zoo

So with my parents here we took the kids out of school on Friday to have a big adventure. We were planning on doing some really fun outdoors, but the weather was drippy and cold so we opted for an indoor option. Liz is the only one who has been to Kangaroo Zoo (a giant warehouse room filled with those big blow up slides and bounce houses) so we decided to give it a try. It was a blast to see how excited the kids were. They went at high speed for the 90 minutes we were there and had. We liked it because it also meant really great naps later in the day!

The kids with Grandma and Grandpa Call

Megan loved bouncing

Liz on the huge slide. I think the blow up toy was about two stories tall.

Mike loved every minute.

Nathan never stopped running the whole time!

What a great time we had!

We have filled the rest of the weekend with games, games and more games, pizza and Chinese food, and lots of time with family.

BYU Family Christmas Party

So every year BYU has a Christmas party for employees and their families. We have never braved the crowds, but when Liz heard "crafts" and Megan heard "Cosmo", their excitement convinced us to give it a try. It was a bit of a mad house, but there were tons of doughnuts to make the standing in line bearable, and the crafts did not disappoint. Here are pictures from the kids playing in different areas. The favorites were the Snow Flake (basically a giant pit of balloons) and the ice fishing (such a clever twist on the normal fishing pond).

Unfortunately Cosmos was MIA and so we didn't get a picture with him. However, a doughnut on the way out softened the blow for Megan. Overall it was a fun morning and the kids were thrilled, which is was mattered most.

Dear Santa,

I want a leash for LLBean*. Please

Love, Megan

Megan's letter is short, sweet and to the point, and also very polite! (and I am very proud of how well she did sounding out words and writing her letters. Way to go Megan!)

Santa got the message and has something special in store for Megan and L.L.Bean.

*L.L. Bean is Megan's stuffed puppy that she received on her third birthday from Grandma and Grandpa call. The puppy got its name from the store where it was purchased because the store name was on the puppy's neckerchief.

Happy Halloween

Those who know me know that Halloween is not my favorite holiday, but this year I realized that other than the Trick-or-Treating part, I really like what goes on at this time of year. I don't mind making costumes, though I was thrilled that Megan wanted to be a pumpking because we ahd that costume already. Isn't she cute!

Megan was so excited to be a pumpkin. She kept telling people not to eat her. She told one person, "I am just pretend. See! I have legs!"

I actually enjoyed this project. It was not hard and Liz loved it!

Liz looked darling in her poodle skirt. The whole costume fit her personality and she loved twirling in it.

The boys' costumes were a little trickier because I chose a very stretchy knit fabric, but I was thrilled that they turned out so well.

Mike wanted to be Draco Malfoy (or Drayco Moufoy as he spelled it on a school paper). Below is his best attempt at a mean scowl.

Nathan was so excited about his dementor costume. I told him he couldn't be a dementor if that was the cause of all of the gray skies and rain/mist we have had the last couple of days. He does look pretty spooky.

And here is the promised picture of Brian and I at his brother's party. I can't believe I forgot my white gloves! Oh well, it was fun. Jason's party is one of the things I like about Halloween. He has lots of good food, fun games for the kids and we watch a movie on a big screen in his backyard. It is a fun family time and that is what I like about this holiday.

One other thing I liked about this Halloween was Mike's First Grade Halloween program. They did some fun songs, poems and stories. It was so cute (and the perfect length, under 30 minutes!) Here is a poem that still makes me laugh when I think about it.

Wall Written

I discovered this great company through a friend on facebook. They have so many wonderful products and ideas and I even tried the "customize" feature to create my own design. It is now on the wall in the living room. The vinyl designs are beautiful and easy to apply. Too bad I can't cover my whole house in vinyl lettering!

Here's a link to their weekly giveaway.

http://blog.wallwritten.com/?p=601

A beautiful morning in Manti

So, I have never been to the Manti temple and have been wanting to see it for some time. There is a lot of history for both of our families concerning the Manti Temple. Today we ehaded out after breakfast, and the fairly long drive was very worth it. The temple is actually closed right now, but there were a few other people walking around like us. I enjoyed taking some pictures, though i wish I new more about how to make things look just right.

The Temple was beautiful. I love the color of the stone, and it was amazing how it seemed to be cut right out of the mountain.

We took our traditional "touching the temple" pictures. This time, more than ever before, I can see the kids' personalities coming right through.

It was a wonderful and beautiful trip! Next time i go, we are going to arrange it so we can do a session.

A new favorite thing

I have been popping popcorn in a brown paper bag in the microwave for a long time now. (seehttp://chantrysix.blogspot.com/2009/07/microwave-popcorn.html) Well, this week I got this. The Westbend Microwave Popcorn Popper.

My sister has one and I just found it for about $13 and I think that over time it will sure pay for itself with all of the brown paper bags I would go through. Some people may hate it because it doesn't pop every kernel, but I am getting the hang of it and I love how easy it is. the bowl does get a little hot, but if I let it cool for just a minute I can eat the popcorn right out of this container. The only drawback is that it can't go in the dishwasher, but it is so easy to clean it doesn't really matter.

Girls' Night In

So when we found a great deal on football tickets the other night we wondered who should go to the game. We knew the boys would love it and knew Megan wouldn't make it through the game. But what would Liz want to do? Knowing that she would probably not be able to see well, and knowing that she doesn't have the excitement for football that the boys have we came up with something that she would love to do at home. We talked with her and asked if she would like to paint something. She was thrilled with this and so we headed to Roberts to pick out some projects.

I came out of the craft store with wood letters, sparkley metallic paint and one very happy girl. Liz was so excited to show Megan what they got to do.

Painting . . . turquoise, pink and purple

Then I helped Liz get started on some plastic canvas projects.

It will take some time, but she is getting the hang of it.

The finished letters, Megan loves pink and Liz loves purple and yellow. Everyone is happy.

Liz is so very creative. It is such a joy to work on projects with her and see her enthusiasm for creating.

BYU Football

We love BYU football, and still love it even though they haven't gotten off to the best start this year. One perk of the poor start is that through some deal we had access to $10 tickets. So Brian and I talked and then bought three tickets, for him and the boys. We surprised the boys the night before and they kept saying, "this is so exciting!" They headed tot he stadium nice and early, and Brian made me proud by taking so many pictures. Do you think they had fun?

At the stadium nice and early, but they couldn't have been more excited.

Michael watching the action, or looking for the cannon (George Q.). He never was able to see it when it was actually fired, but saw it after the game. He also loved seeing and doing the wave.

Nathan is a great fan. He would cheer loudly and didn't hesitate to stand on teh bleachers when everyone else in front of him stood up. When he saw the words to the fight song on the scoreborad he sang right along.

My guys, having a great time

the best part is that we won!

After the game they hung out and went down by the field for a closer look.

The Cannon

Two very happy Cougar fans.

The girls and I had a great time while the boys were gone. i will post pictures soon of our Girls' Night In.