Get A Life, Sea!

We used one of our remaining adventure passes and

went to the Sea Life Caverns in the West Ed Mall.

We've enjoyed the sea lion show several times, watching from up

above, but we never realized there was more to it, until we got these

passes.  There is a entire sea life down below, underneath the show.

These two stingrays were in a pool by themselves, learning to play with

others, I guess.  They would swim back and forth.

This is the interactive pool, there were about six stingrays in here, and

you could touch them and have them swim right up to you, as long

as you washed your hands first.  I chose not to place my hand in there.

There were these cool anemones, I thought they were colored pink

and green just for the holiday season.

These sharks were cool, you know how sharks are supposed to be constantly

moving to stay alive, well these are a different breed and they just sit

on the bottom in large groups, kind of creepy, don't you think?

They also had a penguin habitat, they name them and identify

who's who by their arm bands. They lower and raise the water level

so that they are playing and swimming in the water, part of the time

and climbing on the rocks the other half of the time.

According to his arm band, this is Doug.

A cute little trainer, brought him out and told us all about him

and the rest of the African black footed penguins. He was so cute,

but you couldn't get close or the cute little penguin would attack you.

Included in the sea cavern pass was entrance into the sea lion show.

We actually got to go in and sit on the seats to watch.  Way better than

standing around the top looking down on the performance.

This little gal was chosen to get her picture taken with the seal lion,

he even gave her a kiss on her head, a big old slobbery kiss.

We really enjoyed watching the two sea lions that did the show,

they were very talented and would do anything called upon, as long

as there were fish, as a reward.  They were fat and happy sea lions.

It was a fun experience and a good day.

Good place to be, it was bitter cold outside.

Christmas Treats

We went to the West Ed Mall today to visit the marine

life, but before we did that I had to drop by my favorite 

store, the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

They had gorgeous caramel apples, festive and fun for the holidays.

I'd like to try making these someday, elegant and yet yummy.

Frosty and Rudolph

Snowballs

close up of Rudolph, complete with pretzel antlers

personal favorite, red and green sprinkles

2nd Week of Christmas

6.  On the 6th day of December I will happily settle in

with a warm drink (like mormon tea) and watch the Christmas Devotional
presented by the First Presidency.

7.  On the 7th day of December I will plan to lunch with the ladies,

exchange fun gifts, enjoy the food and delight in the present company.

8.  On the 8th day of December I will jump in the car with dear family
members and friends (whoever is willing to go with me) and slowly
and methodically walk through the hundreds of trees at the Festival of Trees.

I will walk,  read, shed a few tears and take in all that's 

Christmas.  I will get ideas and marvel at all the talent.

9.  On the 9th day of December, I will design and begin construction
on my very own gingerbread mansion, taking ideas from all the fun
ones I've discovered in the past.

It may look something like this, only better.

10.  On the 10th day of December I will have an all day marathon

of candy making, toffee, fudge, divinity,  almond joys, nut clusters 

and maybe try my hand at dipping again.  Yum, yum!!

Dinner Party

Tonight we invited the Sommerfeldt's and the Bayly's over for dinner

for our annual Christmas dinner party.

I prepared most of the food so that they could just come and enjoy.

(Karin helped me out with a to-die-for salad and the carrots)

I got the tree decorated and all of the other decorations up early.

I tried my best to set the table in a very festive way, complete with napkins,

red placemats and candles.

I think it turned out quite nicely.  It really put me in a festive, entertaining

mood, ready for the upcoming weeks.

I served poppy seed chicken with rice, buttered carrots, (Ed's carrots,

Karin swears by them, apparently they are only available for a short time 

in the winter), rolls and butter, salad with homemade dressing and a 

brownie topped with peppermint ice cream complete with chocolate drizzle, 

whipped cream and peppermint sprinkles for dessert.

We played a little game and had a white elephant gift exchange.

The party's over, when the last candle burns out.

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrises in Canada are pretty spectacular because there are no

mountains to hide it, so you can see the sun first thing in the

morning and watch it (the light) make it's way across the back field.

I really enjoy watching the sun light up the houses first, 

then march across the soccer field.

It's so pretty, freezing cold, but pretty.

Christmas In Canada

I wanted to share with you some of the sights of Christmas

found in Canada, these are all taken in the local malls.

Another poinsettia tree,

boughs of holly, kind of,

this is one of Santa's village,

with ornaments hanging from the ceiling,

garland, ribbons and ornaments.

Wreaths and lights at the West Ed Mall.

These wreaths are fabulous,

I love wreaths, I want one this big on the front of

our garage back home, wouldn't that be awesome.

complete with trees of silver and blue

even the pirate ship was adorned with garland,

 bulbs and lights

I was so looking forward to the big Santa decorations

on the east side of the West Ed Mall, but they the same as

last year and the year before, so disappointing.  

But I did catch a glimpse of this Christmas elf in the window.

These are very RED trees.

Now these are decorated windows that I can sink my teeth into,

literally,

popcorn, mud pies and s'mores.

First Week of December

My grown up Christmas list was drafted while thinking about being

home for Christmas next year, after being away for three years.

I have had a great deal of time to think about it and I hope to make

some changes and keep my focus on family, friends and the wondrous

reason why we celebrate.

Join me as I make my list of the things I plan to do the 25 days 

before Christmas, next year.

1.  On the first day of December I plan to sit down with a nice warm

mug of cocoa and slowly browse through all my favorite Christmas

magazines, for recipes and decorating ideas (with Christmas music

playing in the background, of course)

2.  On the second day of December I will complete my holiday

decorating by putting out my favorite Christmas dishes

and set my tables just for show.

3.  On the third day of December we will invite the kids over for a 

special family night of warm wassail, Christmas music and write

letters and cards to missionaries who are currently serving.

4.  On the fourth day of December I will start reading all of my favorite

books and Christmas stories and get through as many as I can 

throughout the month. 

5.  On the fifth day of December I will take my candy run to Brigham 

City and pick up my favorite chocolates at Idle Isle, toffee and

chocolate covered almonds for sure, then a few assorted for Courtney.

Then we'll run across the street and have lunch at the Idle Isle Cafe.