O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, I love you so.

[Try singing that post title again. This time to the tune of "Oh, Danny Boy." There. You got it right this time.]

It’s 2008
This is our Christmas Tree.

I Love It.
It has taken 5 years, but I love it.

Now, let me put this all in context for you to fully appreciate what it has taken to get us here.
THIS was our first tree....

2003

No joke.

Well, actually is WAS a joke. A joke of a tree, that is. Plastic and all.
We found it at the dollar store and put it on the table. The stockings and ornaments are all there just to provide perspective.

You can imagine I was a degree or two happier with this:

2004

It was a rosemary bush cut into the shape of a Christmas Tree. Conceptually it was a great idea. The only problem was that it promptly shriveled up and died the day after we bought it. I’m pretty sure I even watered it.

2005. No tree…or at least no picture I could find. I think we must have decided our apartment was too small.

2006. The tree is real, slightly bigger, but still up on the table. I think we were pretending that would help keep the ornaments out of Peter’s reach.

2007 we were in Utah and Colorado. No tree.

So you wanna see 2008 again?

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

Weston and Peter went on the boys-only outing to a farm and cut it down. For rills. I even had hot cocoa ready for them when they got back. And let me tell ya, that’s the way to go. No sense in bringing the babies (and the mom) out into the cold for no reason.

Anyway, since you already know this blog is my outlet to tell you about all things crafty, I will now take you on a tour of the decorations I made.

The ribbon is burgundy velvet with gold trim. Gorgeous. I followed the instructions on the spool about how to make a “basic bow.” It was so basic it involved cutting six separate pieces and wiring them together.Then I made these little presents. I cut a styrofoam block into eight pieces for the basic form. Then I used a hot-glue gun to wrap the boxes in this beautiful satin red and black two-way fabric I got from Sister Mikkelsen. (By the way, Karen, this is your third appearance on my blog. Clearly you are an integral part of my life.) I topped it off with gold ribbon and really pretty sparkly gold fern.

And here’s the tree skirt. Again, red velvet and gold trim, tied together with ribbons at the back.

Next year we might even put an angel on top.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Utah Review

Hi.

My month-long hiatus from the blogging world has come to an end.
Rest assured that I haven’t neglected you dear readers intentionally. Suffice it to say that I cannot seem to get the mess that is my house under control. I have been trying and trying and trying for a good 3 weeks now, which leaves little time for blogging, as you may imagine.

So, for a quick summary of what we did in Utah…

We had a GREAT time.

Oh, was that a little too quick? Okay. I’ll include some photos.
Our two weeks in Utah were filled with lots of

friends....

cousins....

cousins...

more cousins....

Treats...

This is what I found one day when I went to check to see if Adam was done with his nap. I was hopeful that he would still be asleep. It was oh so quiet in there.

Tweens...

These girls were 6 when I moved out of Utah. I really had a fun time sitting in the kitchen with them and their siblings, listening to them talk about friends, love interests, Twilight, and other things that brought back memories of when I was their age….and I may have told a story or two.

Nostalgia....

My nieces found a box labeled “Emily’s Dolls” in my parents’ attic. So of course we opened it. I was surprised how many times I cooed “o-oh” whenever I would pull out a new one. There are some Madame Alexander dolls, some handmade by my Grandma, and some that were my babies during their glory days. It seems the farther and farther my childhood slips behind me, the more my heart yearns when I find connections like this.

Siblings who I absolutely adore….

L-R: Angie, Dale, Me, Melanie, Kirk, Ellen, Mike, Becky
Front: Mom and Dad

…and one AWESOME surprise.

It was my mom’s 60th birthday on Thanksgiving day. All of my siblings arranged to be there for this surprise party on Monday night. Amazingly, we managed not to give it away before the big day…even though I had a really close call:

We were hiding out at my sister Ellen’s house for the first 5 days of our trip. I offered to stay home and babysit while the older Burnsies all went to see Twilight. Everything was going great until the phone rang and I answered. I heard my mom’s voice on the other end….

Mom: “Ellen?”

Me: It’s mom. Blast! My heart starts racing. Pregnant silence that lasts an eternity. “Yeah?”

Mom: “This is mom.”

Me: “Hi!” This can't be happening to me.

Mom: “Is this Ellen?”

Me: More long hesitation. What do I do? “Yeah, it’s me.” Great. Now I’m committed. I already know I don’t sound anything like Ellen. Wo is me. If only I were pretending to be Angie I could pull it off because my mom can’t tell us apart on the phone.

Mom: “Ellen, it doesn’t sound like you.”

Me: Great. She’s caught me. I am a notoriously bad liar. There is no way I will be able to pull this off. I’m going to have to cave in and tell her the truth. But then, calculating all of the money, effort, and everyone’s time and careful planning that has gone into this one surprise, I can’t give it away. “No, it’s me. What can I do for you?” Blast! I really don’t sound like Ellen. Not only does my voice sound enormously different, I’m saying things she would never say, and I’m on an adrenaline rush so I’m speaking like a ditzy teenager.

Mom: “It really doesn’t sound like you. Are you far away from your phone?”

Me: Ah, she’s provided me with an alibi. Hallelujah! “Yeah, I’m on speaker phone.”
Okay, I’m OBVIOUSLY not on speaker phone. Speaker phone sounds grainy and distant like you’re getting really bad reception on the radio dial. Speaker phone doesn’t magically turn you into someone else and make you sound like a cheerleader.

Mom: “Oh, that must be it.”

Me: “So what’s up?”
She was calling to schedule a family trip to the temple and wanted to find out if the day after Thanksgiving would work for me….er….Ellen.

Me: Without any pretense at consideration for Ellen’s real schedule, “Yup. That’s perfect. I’ll put it on my calendar. Bye.”

So, I was counting on the fact that my being in Utah would be so far out of context for her that she wouldn’t figure out it was me. I was also counting on the fact that she is such a focused person on whatever task is at hand that once she hung up the phone she forgot about it. I was right on both counts.

So, without further ado, here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for.



The party was a recital for old time’s sake. We played our favorite chamber music, her favorite chamber music, and Dale put together an awesome choir with all the grandkids singing a Bach Cantata. No, I’m not kidding. Bach. Cantata.

I borrowed Melanie’s violin because Weston and I decided that carrying 3 fragile and irreplaceable things with me on the plane was enough. We didn’t want to try to make it 4. But at the moment of the recital I was wishing I had my own. We only had one day to practice together so it wasn’t the best performance we could have given, but we had fun. Afterward my mom stood up on the stage and told a story about how recently she was going through her music files and she started crying because with each piece she realized it represented a victory or success for one of her children. She had us all in tears.

I am getting weepy and sentimental in my old age.