Ode to Christmas!

What a great Christmas we had! The worst part of Christmas is when it's all over. We go into a sort of depression these few days after the holiday. Mom and Dad came over to celebrate with us! Christmas Eve at the Higbee home consists of lots of great appetizers, Mr. Kreuger's Christmas, Seeing the luminaries in Alpine, and the big Nativity production. The Food turned out great! I made crab, cheese fondu, and large array of high-fat tasty morsels. The movie was wonderful as usual. The luminaires that our town sets up in their yards were great (an Alpine tradition) and we got to see Santa on the way! The Nativity production was priceless! Have you ever seen "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever"? Well, here it was complete with a bossy angel, a crying shepard, Mary and Joseph duking it out over who gets to kiss the baby Jesus, one shepard in a trance, and at one point we even had Joseph hand-cuffing one of the shepards. It was pure pandimonium and it was wonderful. Thank goodness for video! It was one of those Christmas memories we will never forget!

Christmas morning came and we like to torture our kids a bit. No presents until a full glass of EGG NOG is consumed. We are talkin the THICK stuff! Have you ever tried to down egg nog fast? It is not an easy task and the kids sure do hate us for it! It's all good because it is really entertaining for mom and dad! The paper finally flew, the kids dreams were achieved, and the rest of the day was spent putting toys together. Like I said, we are all in a little state of depression knowing all the decorations will soon be coming down and it will be a whole year before the next big dance.

Big Boy Dane with cuz Addie

Lena with her new baby doll,affectionately named "Lena Elise Halversen"

The Luv-birds

120 Gingerbread cookies....7 hours to make, gone in 60 seconds!

A new Christmas Tradition

Well, since my parents were in Miami, FLA until Christmas Day, my siblings spent thier holidays with thier in-laws, (what we WISH we had done too!) So we didn't celebrate until the day after. We decided this year since everyone was kind of tired of cooking already, that we would go OUT for our Christmas dinner! IT was great and we are planning on a repeat for next year! We went to this newer place near us that is on the Resevoir waterfront and has a really nice fresh feel, and got a private room. It was so nice. After dinnner, we all went to our house and had presents, songs, and went over memories everyone has had of Christmas's past. It was really nice. I will post some pictures next for some reason this post is not allowing me to do it. Hope everyone's celebrations were fantastic.
Love,
Rachel & Mark

Christmas eve with Family is the way it should be. Wishing we can have more time with the Indiana, Ohio, Utah, and Idaho families. It is amazing how time flies. Soon the kids will be settled down taking care of their own kids. My kids are growing up so very fast.
Above are Sarah and Audrey with thier cousins Alli and Daniel.

The California Halversens had a great day of hearing the kids sing in church, cooking, cleaning, and feasting. The Eve presentations by everyone turned out to be a lot of fun. The parents take a break after the kids go to bed. Holidays are so much fun but also a lot of work.

Scott and Kate

I love Dave Barry!

Click here for a funny holiday read!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/features/2006/holiday-guide/gifts/dave_barry_gift_guide/index.html

Rachel

Christmas

Christmas

I can't wait till Christmas because you get lots of presents. Also it's a good holiday. And winter is my favorite season. Two of my cousins are sleeping over! Plus one of my aunts is sleeping over too. It will be the best Christmas ever!

Sarah

Don't you just LOVE Christmas!

Well, it's getting closer and closer! And the hardest thing about it is knowing that when Christmas is finally here, it will all be over!! This is such a special time of the year and we are having so much fun! I decided to get all of my shopping done before Thanksgiving and because I did that, I have been able to completely enjoy the season. Don't get me wrong we have been busy with parties, school performances, dance performances, places to go, lights to see, and all that, but it's has been a lot better knowing that I am ready for the "big day".

Last night we went downtown to see the lights at Gateway and Temple Square! We started at the Gateway where the kids played in the fountains. I didn't think they would actually play IN the fountains, but they had a different idea! After getting soaked and grabbing some dinner, we boarded TRAX and went to temple square. It's a good thing it was 52 degrees, because with 3 wet kids it could have meant the end of the trip had it been any colder! Temple square was hoppin'. It was mutual night and I think about every single mutual group decided to go on the same night. As long as we weren't next to any obnoxious teenage girls (as Bryce call them) It was alright. The kids loved the nativity, all the great lights, and seeing where mom and dad were married. Kael said to me, "Mom, when I get bigger can I marry you in that temple?" He was a little upset when I told him that I'm already taken, but I assured that he would find somone even COOLER that his mommy!!

The kids are so excited for Christmas! I try to spend the week before Christmas prepping them on what this whole holiday is about. I think it is easy to forget when you get caught up in the hustle and bustle! We are thinking of seeing that new movie The Nativity, and having a few family home evenings with some thoughtful Christmas lessons. I think this is so fun! Bryce is a number one fan of the holidays and I think a lot of that has rubbed off on me. I hope you are all having a good time with your families and are taking time to enjoy the beautiful things about this season. It is nice to have this blog so we can share all of our Christmas memories together! May these days leading up to Christmas be peaceful and enjoyable!

Lori

Cool kids

Church Girls have more fun.

Cool December days can be fun.

It looks like we are going to spend Christmas here on the coast. If anyone wants to come over we will treat you like kings and queens. After some good sleep catching up we will spend a few days and nights in San Francisco doing the tourist thing. Cameras, SF t-shirts, and clam chowder bowls.

Looking cool is easy when the San Francisco winds chill you to the bone.

The kids don't like anything historical so we must go to some historical museums... Hmmm, What else don't they like....
Also see some boaring Japanies Gardens and a mile long National art muesum. This is to make sure their Christmas vacation seemed like a month and not just a couple of days.

We are good parents....

Oh ya.... We must walk across the Golden Gate Bridge... They don't like hiking either.

What they do like is resturaunts. hotels, movie theaters, and fun parks.... Just maybe we will do that to.

Santa Cruz is great in the winter. Feels comfortable and old fashioned.
Wishing your days off will be fun. I will call you to make sure.

Scott&Kate

Merry Christmas flashback CA

1997 Christmas, Audrey 3 and Hank 1.5. We had lots of fun with our two little cuties. Now with our newest angle we even have more fun.

With the great amount of winter rain, we have been spending more time in then out of the house. We were still able to spend Saturday on the beach in the 55 MPH winds. We were all standing sideways. Great big wind waves filled the ocean and we watched the spray fly up the air. After every one got chilled we went to downtown Santa Cruz to have some Sushi at AqueBlu for Kates Birthday Lunch. We had the window seats so we can see the people fly by on the brisk wind. Later that night we went to the parent only Christmas party with fine dinning on wonderfull tri-tip steaks and the works. Aunty Lizz sang Opera and everyone had t0 Congrates her on the great job.

Scott and Kate

Thanksgiving at Mom and Dads!

My Little Girl and I skating away!
Kael LOVED Mom's Turkey!



We had a great Thanksgiving at Mom and Dads this year. Bryce and I were thinking it was going to be just us, but last minute Paul and his family were able to come down for a visit. We had a great day full of great food and even a couple of football games! I even tried some great new recipes! The weather really changed for the colder right before, so not a lot of outside activities, but we had a great time!

Bryce, the kids, and I drove up to Logan for the last football game of the year (no bowl games for Utah State surprise surprise!) We had a lot of fun. We did some swimming, eating at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and playing around. On the way home we stopped by the Air Force Museum at Hill AFB and had so much fun! The kids thought that was excellent, so did I. Seeing an F-16 and a Blackbird and some of those other planes up close is quite and experience!

Vienna had her first performance of the season down at the Gallivan Center in SLC. She did beautifully! She sure loves to perform even in 20 degree weather! Afterwards we went skating and I tried to teach her a few tricks! She now wants to skate and I'm thinking she better sitck with dance ( its a little cheaper). Mom came with us and we went out for dinner to an Indian Restaurant. We rode to train to see some Christmas lights and do a little shopping downtown! We had a great time!