January Favorites

Skiing. I have a great set of girlfriends--strong, inspiring, happy women that I love being around. They introduced me to x-country skiing this month and I have to say that I am hooked. I decided that I really needed an outlet and thought skiing might be it. So far it has been rather icy, but I really love it. I have even snuck out by myself a few times. I love the exercise, the scenery, the company and the solitude. I feel great when I am done and am so glad for another way to enjoy Alaska's beauty.

My husband. OK he really is a favorite of mine everyday but this month especially because we celebrated his birthday and we are officially the same age again! This man is amazing. I remember thinking when we were engaged that he was absolutely perfect and how did I get so lucky. Well over the the past 11+ years I have found out he does have some minor flaws, but I still feel like the luckiest woman alive everyday. This month he has been doing a lot of cooking which has been scrumptious. Can I just say Halibut with a lemon caper sauce and Salmon teiryaki burgers with ginger?

Kleenex with lotion and Boogie Wipes. This may give you a clue as to what our month has been like. We have all been nursing terrible colds. I currently have the worst cold I have had in years. It just hangs on and on. Hannah missed a week of school! I just love Kleenex with a lotion in it. So soft on the nose so you are not raw and sore. I just discovered Boogie Wipes for Bobby and I am hooked. They are damp, disposable clothes for babies noses. They are different than regular bottom wipes because they are made with saline and have a moisturizer in them. They magically wipe of crusted on boogies and and don't leave raw noses. Love them!

80's Day. Hannah's and Winnie's school hosted 80's day this month. I had a great time dressing the girls up and big baggy shirts, leggings and side ponytails. We even crimped Hannah's long hair. Both girls got blue eyeshadow up the the eyebrows and pink lipstick. Winnie made me laugh when I was doing her hair. She said, "Mom, why are you making me look all pretty what people in the olden days were all ugly and didn't wear makeup and stuff?" OK. I explained that the 80's were when I was I little girl not when Laura Ingalls Wilder was. One in the same in her mind.

Settlers of Catan. A great board game. We played it a couple of years ago with some great friends and had talked about it often since then. For Christmas I decided to get it for Robert along with the expansion set. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the Seafarers expansion on Christmas morning. Robert had been trying to order it for me using my Amazon account and realized I had ordered it for him! So he decided to get me the Seafarers expansion. Since Christmas we have played this game dozens of time with friends, family and just together. I love it because we can play just the two of us and often do after we put the kids to bed.

Prison Break. Another thing we do after we put the kids to bed. OK. How did I miss this show when it was airing? I think I was to busy watching "Lost". Amazing and addictive. We have spent many nights up way too late watching episode after episode. Warning: this show is addictive and not entirely uplifting, but a guilty pleasure indeed.

Susitna River Lodging. My new home away from home. We spent a reunion weekend there in Talkeetna this month with great friends and I told Robert this had ruined me for Forest Service Cabins forever. Real beds, warm showers and a loft. We could walk out the door and go snow machining, but no camping! The best of both worlds as far as I am concerned. I also found out that Talkeetna has some great little restaurants.

I Resolve...

I really like to make New Year's resolutions. Do I keep all of them? No. Do I try? Yes. Am I a better person for them? I like to think so. I also like to make mid-year resolutions. I think they keep me on track. I guess I am really a goal oriented person. I get up every morning and make a mental list of what I want to accomplish that day. I think it helps me mentally stay focused. The down side is that I sometimes have a hard time when things don't go as planned. All in all though I consider this an asset to me.

Most of my resolutions are very personal..specific and poignant to me, but boring to the rest of the world, so I will keep those private.

My number one resolution for 2011 and for the rest of my life, I will share.

Charity.

I recently did a lot of research on the topic for a lesson I taught. Charity is the opposite of selfishness, something that comes very naturally to me. I know I am not alone, but I don't want that to be me. I often feel charity, but I want it to become my gut reaction. I want to be more loving and kind and forgiving of others' weaknesses and forgiving of mine. I want to expect the best of people.

There are many more resolutions hiding in my personal journal. I will put charity out there for the world to see.

Holidays

I am inspired by my friend Nicole to post my Christmas pictures. I love the Holidays. As stressful as they are I love every minute of them. I am glad to have captured a few pictures although several of my pictures have been snagged off of other people's blogs and FB accounts. I don't know why, but I didn't take a lot of pictures. Two occasions I missed photographing that I regret are Hannah's Piano and Violin recitals. Even though I don't have photographic proof, she performed beautifully!




The Eagle River Orthodontic work party. Hosted annually at the Elder Dr. DeKay's home, it was once again a culinary delight. Beverly is an amazing cook and I take every opportunity to learn at her feet.

The Menu: Appetizers; percuitto wrapped asparagus, shrimp, fresh moz and cherry tomatoes

Soup: broccoli and Stilton

Main Course: prime rib, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, green salad, homemade rolls

Dessert: Croquembouche (cream puff tree), hand dipped chocolates and homemade caramel ice cream



This is a picture of me salivating over the ginormous prime rib.

In addition to gorging on delicious food the party consisted of sledding and a white elephant gift exchange. Robert and I ended up with tickets to H2Oasis which we were very excited about!



My cuties in their Christmas nightgowns. I fell in love with this fabric at JoAnns and bought them out. My girls had to have soft gowns out this (even thought it is not flame retardant!) I was worried Winnie would think it was itchy, but she said "this is the most beautiful night gown I ever saw!" and wore it all the next day as well. They looked like angels.



We headed up to Nana's house one day to make gingerbread houses. Hannah spend 2 hours on hers and I wasn't able to get a picture, but it was awesome! Winnie and I worked together on this little cute one. It is still sitting in my kitchen. I have made it my personal goal to make a house from scratch next year!




A picture taken on Christmas Eve of all the DeKay babies born in 2010. (Actually only the cute little boy on the end is a DeKay, but you know what I mean).

Picture order: Canyon Townsend, Tristan Davenport, Remington Robeson, Joyce Bundy, Bobby DeKay

Birth order: Canyon (January), Bobby (February), Remi (June), Tristan (August) and Joyce (September)



Nana made these gorgeous dresses for all the walking granddaughters. Awesome!



This picture really says it all. Hannah has asked for a Nintendo DS for 3 years now and Santa finally delivered! He even got her a DSi. She was the happiest little girl ever there was. I will never get tired of hearing my children squeal with joy on Christmas morning!



My parents came over Christmas morning to celebrate with us. They got Bobby this cute puzzle. Bobby was so cute that morning. His childlike mother got him up at 6 am so that he could be there too. He was into everything!



My dad and a very tired Bobby ready for the traditional DeKay Christmas breakfast...crepes! I made sweet crepes with pie filling and a savory spinach and cheese filling as well. They were delicious!



Santa brought Winnie this little jeep. Rumor has it that he waited at Wal-Mart for three hours on Black Friday to get it. That Santa is very persistent!

This picture is stolen off my friend's blog. At our ward Christmas party the girls dressed up like angels and the boys like shepherds for a few songs. Hannah is the girl just above Winnie. Thanks for the picture Nicole!

For New Year's Eve Robert talked us into an overnight snow machining trip to a Forest Service Cabin on Red Shirt Lake. I prefer day trips, but we had a good time and we took a pretty sweet picture.

Well that's it for our Holiday pictures. It was a wonderful month. I can't wait for next year... or should I say this year?

How to Make a Mayan Dugout Canoe

1. Enlist your AWESOME dad for help.



2. Don some pretty cool earmuffs.



3. Dig, dig, dig.



4. Paint and sand to make it look really old.



5. Float that canoe!

Who's afraid of Santa?

Not Bobby!

Giving Thanks

I have a lot to be grateful for. I am amazed at all the good I have in my life. I feel like I am pretty good about realizing my daily abundance, but I do like that there is a special day set apart to express thanks. Gratitude has kept me going throughout the hardships in my life.

It is hard not to be grateful for material things when you have lived in Eastern Europe. I have been refelecting on that time a lot recently and I am grateful for that experience.. it change me..made my life lead a better direction.

I am grateful for the man I met less than a month after returning from Lithuania. He took a chance on me and I am amazed at the result of that. My life is more than I ever thought possible. I love his family too.

I enjoyed spending Thanksgiving at the DeKay home. Beverly served a multi-course gourmet Thanksgiving meal. Thank you Beverly. Thank you especially for that French Onion soup.



I don't know how I ended up at the head of the table!



Bobby enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He was thankful for mashed potatoes.

It's a Webkinz Birthday!

Winnie had a Webkinz Extravaganza birthday party. We had to keep the guest list down to 12 kindergartners. Decorating was easy, I just tied helium balloons around tons of Wenkinz! Every guest brought their favorite Webkinz and was presented with a new LilKinz when they arrived. While everyone came we named their new Webkinz and watched videos on the Webkinz World Website.



The guests with their webkinz. I am sad Hannah and Bobby are not in this shot. Hannah was a huge help to me during this party! She was awarded with Zeke the Zebra for all her hard work.



We played "pin the W on the Lion".



All the webkinz had a checkup from Dr. Quack.

We also played "Hot Webkinz" and had a gem hunt in Bobby's room. I threw a bunch on jewls on the croun and turned off the lights and the kids went in with head lamps and found them to put on their crowns of wonder.



We had a cupcake tree and "Birthday Cake" ice cream. Which was a huge hit.



Bobby really enjoyed the decor.

It was a great party---my six year old was in heaven and that's all that matters.