Games, Good Times, and Goodbyes!

On Christmas night, there was a lot of pie in the house. Allison challenged Isaak to a "Pie Eating Contest." Let the games begin!

Isaak really shoveled it in for a while...

Allison was willing to match him, piece by piece!

They were enjoying it, but getting a little full at this point.  They did not have a choice which pie they were eating, I just cut small pieces and kept putting them in front of them.

This was near the end.  Finally, after looking like he might be sick, Isaak gave in.  We all knew that with Allison's hollow leg, there was really no way a normal human could beat him.

After the pie, we competed to make a Santa's beard with whipped cream.  Dawn, Allison, Isaak, and I tried for the biggest beard.

We really put our heads into the challenge!

One might say that Dawn was willing to face the competition.

There was debate amongst the spectators as to who had won.  I had several supporters.

Isaak pulled out of the competition fairly quickly, but later dove in for more.

Dawn really did make an incredible effort.  Some people said she went a little clown instead of Santa...

Allison's had a nice shape.  He squeaked in a victory with a split decision among the judges...

The bearded group!

Dana gave Isaak a spoon shave.  Ahhh, if only shaving were always that smooth.

We played a lot of games on Christmas night.  Romie knows a ton of card games.  Wil missed out this year, as he loves to play games.  We played "Sorry, Charlie," "Follow the Queen," "Usona (a Romie original)," and some others that I've forgotten.  We also played a lot of "Celebrity" over the holidays.  Scarlett and Hunter really enjoyed that.  The grumpy old men (Romie and Dana mostly) complained about some of the celebrity choices with phrases like, "Kendra is not a celebrity" and "Who the heck is Edward Cullen?" but they had no problem with Tom Mix (he died in 1940!) or Zane Grey (he died in 1939!)   Oh well, we all still had fun!

The time for goodbyes arrived all too quickly...Sunday.  The Pedersens took Caroline to catch her flight in Missoula.

A family photo of the Pedersen-Sims group.  They look great, don't they?  Caroline's flight was ultimately quite delayed.  But, she made it to Seattle that night and spent Monday there as well.

While Caroline was stuck in the Seattle Airport, the rest of us went on an outing to 4 Bs in Polson.  The restaurant re-opened last June after being closed for three years.  I had not been there since they returned to Polson.  It was an interesting experience at first when we had a sniffling server, major sniffling...once the other server took over, everything was great!

Scarlett and Dad pose in 4 Bs.

Back at the house for some more photos.  Scarlett and Mom strike a pose.

Dawn joined Scarlett and Mom.

Mom, Dad, and Scarlett.  We really had a fantastic Christmas with the family this year.  It was especially nice to spend time with Caroline and Scarlett, and get to know Hunter a little more.

They heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!"

Holiday Magic

The whole family came home on Thursday, December 23rd.  Dana and I picked up Caroline at the airport in Missoula.  Dawn, Romie, Scarlett, and Hunter drove in that night.  Scarlett was all ready to hug and kiss Caroline; Caroline wasn't quite as into it, especially the kisses!

Sisters, sisters!!

Ahh, technology!  Even Grandma got in on the action of checking out something online.

For a special treat, Mom rented a snowmobile for Christmas Eve.  We all had a lot of fun, especially Scarlett and Caroline.

Allison took Caroline for a spin...

Then Allison took Scarlett for a turn...

Dana got in on the action.

Hunter drove Scarlett around the field.  They had one spill, but came out ok.  Notice his Dr. Who scarf, knitted by Scarlett.

Romie and Caroline had some fun in the snow!

It was really fun to watch Caroline drive Scarlett.  I should say it was fun to hear...Scarlett scream, that is!

Caroline gave Hunter a ride.

Then Scarlett took Dawn out.

The siblings posed for this shot in the snow.

It was getting dark, but that didn't stop Scarlett from taking Romie for one more time around.

And, then Romie drove Dawn around...

Caroline prepared a few hundred cookies for parties, gifts, and US!

A frosted Santa--Ho! Ho! Ho!

It looks like we participated in the however many Billions spent on Christmas this year...

The stockings were laid in the hallway with care...

Allison received a huge sweet treat from Caroline--cookie pizza!

A classic Christmas morning unwrapping packages.

Caroline, Scarlett, and Hunter received some Christmas cheer.

Caroline models a new apron and basket for her baking adventures!

Mom gave Dad this special photo.  The sentiment made most of us in the room cry.  I was thinking of Wil; I hope we get to be beside each other for many Christmases to come!

Dawn was very excited that Allison made a plum pie.  It was "plum merry" and delicious!

Dawn didn't actually stick her thumb in, but she really wanted to do it!

Scarlett was more than willing to have a sampling of the pies.  She enjoyed pecan, huckleberry, and plum.  There was also sweet potato and pumpkin for the spice crowd.  I didn't take many of the food photos, but of course, there was too much, as is always appropriate on Christmas.

Popcorn Ball Fun!

A few days before Christmas, we had Dana's Goddaughter, Victoria, her boyfriend, Johnny, and her brother Isaak over to make some treats. The first item to be made were popcorn balls, and lots of them!

The syrup for the popcorn balls seemed to heat up especially fast that day, probably the humidity or something.  It was great for us--more batches made quickly.

A delicious popcorn ball ready for eating!

Johnny and Victoria wrapped up all of the popcorn balls.  Red--must be batch three or four!

The golden ones were quite pretty.  We tried and tried to make purple.  Even though we all followed the directions according to the food coloring box, we ended up with brown or black!  Not very pretty, but I'm sure someone enjoyed them.  Victoria took a half tall kitchen bag full to school the next day!

Let It Be

For the last 10 years or so, my family has sat together and watched the Kennedy Center Honors when they are broadcast between Christmas and New Year's. I have enjoyed learning more about some of my favorite artists from Julie Andrews to Dolly Parton. I was looking forward to this year's honorees, especially Oprah Winfrey and Paul McCartney.

Oprah was first up and it was a nice tribute. Sometimes I think she is over-the-top on her show (not in a good way), but I do respect her humanitarian and philanthropic efforts. I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation for Jerry Herman. He is a Broadway composer, so they brought out some legends to serenade him, including:  Carol Channing (90 years old next month), Angela Lansbury (85!), and the youngster Chita Rivera (77).

Finally, it was time for the honoring of Paul McCartney.  I am a big Beatles fan, so I was excited to see the tribute.  I knew there wouldn't be anything by John Lennon performed, but I was wondering what James Taylor was going to sing.  Then, Let It Be began.  I realized that I had been holding so much emotion in.  It has been a really challenging year.  It has been a really challenging three weeks since I returned from the D.R.  I have been missing Wil so much.  I just listened to the music.  I was able to release a lot of the pressure I have been carrying.  I don't know what will happen tomorrow, or the next day, or next month, but I have to let it be.

Feliz Navidad!

I hope that you are all enjoying a holiday with family and friends. I'm hoping for some Christmas miracles this year. I have to keep the spirit!

We have a houseful and it is a white Christmas at the Alpenglo Ranch. Yay!

Christmas is coming...right now!

I've been feeling really low for the last couple of weeks.  I guess it was probably a mix of everything--bad cold; projects looming over me; culture shock; and of course; missing Wil.  Anyway, I'm finally feeling some better, in health and in spirit (greatly due to a wonderful talk with a dear friend on her birthday; she really helped me).

I finally finished a lot of projects last week.  I completed my final projects for the two graduate courses this semester in the Library Media Endorsement program I'm pursuing.  Yay!!!  (and two As, yay again!)  Then, I finished the development of an online course that I have been wheedling away at for several months.  Now, I will have some money to live on for the next couple of months!

Last Friday, Allison joined my good friend LeighAnn (visiting from AK), and me for an outing to Missoula.  We did a little shopping and then saw an early movie, The Tourist with...

 http://www.zimbio.com

Angelina Jolie and...

 aeromental.net

Johnny Depp.  

The movie was good, but the visions were amazingly beautiful.  The setting was...

 phombo.com

Venice, Italy for much of the film; a backdrop that looks good from nearly every angle.  And, Angelina is truly one of the most beautiful, and in this film, elegant, actresses working today.  I really found myself mesmerized by how stunning she was in the movie.  Her hair shone like jewels, truly!  LeighAnn kept saying, "she's a Disney Princess, she's a Disney Princess."  And she was! (we decided she was Belle)  It was lovely!  For all of us who are huge Johnny fans, he was good too, but definitely more a 'common man' look in this film.

It's beginning to look a lot more like Christmas inside our house.  We did some decorating and some baking, so I'm feeling more in the spirit.  I'm looking forward to spending time Dawn, Romie, Caroline, Scarlett, and Hunter for Christmas!