Guess What Wii got??

Jacob (who helped) Carter wake up...couldn't wait for Christmas morning this year. First it was at 1:30 am, then 3:30 am, then at 6:01, which was the desired time. They were so excited and Santa came with a certificate for Disneyland and a new Wii game. Lego StarWars has been sounding through our home ever since. I'll have to give Princess Lea a try, when it's my turn.

As you can see, Sperry took a little prompting to wake up. She was very happy to see that Jacob had given her a Giraffe. Sperry gave Carter some needed baseballs, more to recover from the neighbors yards. Carter gave Jacob the game Trouble. The kids did extra money jobs and gave a gift to a sibling.
It was wonderful to take each of them shopping to spend their $5.00 of hard earned cash on someone they love.

Thank you Santa, for helping us to remember Jesus Christ by giving to others.

Lights, Camera, LA Temple

One of our favorite Family traditions is going to see the lights at the LA Temple. It is so beautiful and peaceful at a busy area of Santa Monica.

Tonight there were extra lights. There was a helicopter with a bright searchlight circling the spire. We kept the kids close to us until it left the area. I still get a kick out of the palm trees and bushes in lights.
Here's a few of the views.

"Fundue" Christmas Recipes

We love the holiday season and since we were away from family, we had family meals with friends. We had a lot of fun sharing our Christmas traditions which includes fondue. For Christmas Eve, we asked our friends, the Little's to join our family for dinner and enjoyed 2 fondues: herb broth & blue cheese. Then for Christmas Day dinner we were joined by the Elders serving in the area and our friends, the Hansen Family. Christmas Day menu: ham, sweet potatoes, salad, rolls, homemade mac & cheese and Dessert Fondue. Thanks to my sister Andrea who always serves as our fondue recipe consultant.
Here are recipes for the Fondues:

• Herb Broth Fondue: onion, black pepper, garlic & basil with 2 cans of Chicken Broth. Throw in potatoes, carrots to enjoy when cooked. For dipping: Melanesia beef, mushrooms, potatoes.
  
• Blue Cheese fondue: 8 oz blue cheese (not salty) 1 pkg cream cheese, 1 cup milk, 2 Tbs. of half and half, 1 tsp corn starch. For dipping: cubed sourdough bread, meatballs and tortellini. (don't dip raw meat into this, meatballs must be cooked.)
  
• Dessert fondue: semi sweet morsels or white chocolate chips (at least 2 packages) 2 tsp. of half and half and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk (depends upon your preference for consistancy). For dipping: pretzels, cubed angel food cake, candy canes, bananas and apples (you could use rice krispie treats, strawberries or shortbread cookies). After dipping, have out crushed candy canes, sliced almonds, or sprinkles to roll it in.
• NO Fondue pot, no problem, just use a small sauce pan and adjust the heat. Each of these can be made stove top as well.
  

We wish you much success as you "Fundue".

My two front Teeth

Carter, you have a great sense of timing. Today we pulled out another tooth. Now, I know that having 2 front teeth isn't all you want for Christmas...but it's a great start!
We love you and how you are excited for every stage. Merry Christmas.

Knott's "Merry" Farm

Snoopy asked for us to visit him before Christmas; so as a family we went yesterday to Knotts Berry Farm. Yes, we are wearing lightweight jackets and t-shirts and yes, it was a lot of fun. Thank you Knott's for generously providing entrance thru the Toys for Tots program. I was very impressed to see a beautiful manger scene of the Mother Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. It was very touching to see that a theme park would remember the true meaning of Christmas. I love Knotts Berry Farm...they continue to provide family memories fun and affordable.

Note to self: Next year during the Toy drive;use the West entrance by the employee parking to miss the hour and half wait on the East entrance. It was a wonderful idea we tried that worked!!

35,000 miles of smiles

We are very grateful to Scott's bike (and helmet) who finally gave up last week. With no warning, this beautiful relationship came to an abrupt end as the front fork detached itself on his ride home from work. We are very grateful to the Lord for watching out for him.

One mile later he would have been in the "mountain" pass and we would have been picking him up at the hospital instead of the roadside. He was going 20 mph when the handlebars went left, his bike to the right, and his body went for a summersault over the frame and he landed on the back of his head/helmet. Kids, always wear you helmets!! He will be getting a new bike for Christmas and this bike might have training wheels on. Merry Christmas Scott, we are grateful for you.

Oh Holy Night

Sargent Sayings

We bring you a little Holiday Cheer with the things said in our house this year. Our Sargent Sayings holiday card is a family tradition; with their collected quotes from the past year. Ho, Ho, Ho, Hope you enjoy it!

"So God imparts to human hearts the
blessings of his heaven"
~O Little Town of Bethlehem

Jingle Bells & Jacob

Jacob age 9: While we were driving into west Hollywood; Scott almost missed the off ramp for the exit. Jacob said, "Dad, that's the first time we've taken the car off-roading. It's fun". "Let's get a dog…you know like an English Settler". “Let's do what we've seen on cartoons”. On the last day of school Jacob felt so yucky that I let him stay home from school and sent him to bed. It was so ironic that on the last day of school we didn't know he'd be missing his "Perfect attendance" award. Jacob was riding Sperry's bike. Sperry said, "Jacob do you like flowers now? My bike has flowers on it." Jacob said, "they are FAKE flowers." and he kept on riding. Typical conversation: Carter said, “Jacob that sounds like fun, let's talk about it.” Jacob replied, "We are talking about it; aren't we?" Carter said, "oh, I guess so." Sperry was asking me about something that my mom said to me when I was little. Of course I embellished a little, to include a message. Jacob said, "Hey I don't think grandma Karen really said that. You are just trying to teach us a lesson." “You have to have a birth certificate that has your name on it… or something really bad will happen to you. I don't know what it will be, but it will be bad. No one has ever changed their name because when they find your birth certificate, they won’t believe you”. “Dad, you wont be riding you bike when you are a grandpa, you'll be too old then. You'll need to put your training wheels back on then”.

Carter Greetings

Carter, age 7:"Ring around the Rosies…that's a PG-13 game.” How did you get that Carter? “Well, Rosies…they have thorns, posies..that's a disease, ashes well that's when you die." Carter said one morning to me, "When we are 17, then we can fix you breakfast all by ourselves, mom. We could bring it while you are sleeping." I asked why I had to wait for them to turn 17. Carter replied, "Mom, we don't know how to make waffles yet." “Ghosts candy and screaming?? OOhh perfect for Halloween. Let's go there!!” We were at the library and Jacob wanted to finish reading a book. "My teacher read the ending at school; but I missed it because I came home with a Terrible Headache". Carter came up at the end of the conversation and asked, "Where is the book called 'Terrible Headache'?" Carter & Sperry were playing and I overheard Carter say, "But, I'm your best teenager!". Sperry told him that he was NOT a teenager and Carter replied, "Can I be half the age of a teenager?" Carter was writing a story called, "two funny friends". There were two mean boys who decided to be funny. They tried to be funny all day long. At the end of the day one said, "We are funny looking." What Carter meant was that they had been funny all day long, but I thought it was hilarious just how he had written it. "I am excited to go to high school. It will be hard because of all the homework, but you get to be a teenager!" Carter said to me one day. "When are we going to get a PlayStation or a Wii? We will be really good and not play it all the time."

a very Sperry Christmas

Sperry, age 4 ½: "I know how you met and married dad. You went to the temple. You looked at him and he looked good to you and he was beautiful. He thought you were beautiful. You went over to him and then got married in the temple." Yes, I replied it was something like that but we did meet outside the temple and dated first. Sperry asked Scott, "I want to go to work with you daddy." Scott told her that he could not take her to work today. "How about tomorrow??" "Mom, can you tell me where you hide the candy?" Why I said… "I'm not going to get into it, I just want to know." “Mom, how do you spell Cash only? Why did you need to spell that? I asked. She said, “Because, I am making a sign for my lemonade drink party, it will be cash only”. While she was painting my fingernails she said, "you know mom, just hold still and get organized, just get organized". "You know, I have 60 and 100 and 69 monies". This is her favorite number, it sounds like a lot! We were leaving the house to pick up the boys from school. Sperry came decked out with her sparkle earrings, high heeled shoes, bracelets and a purse, all from her dress up box. I asked her why she was getting dressed up and she said, "I will be the mommy when we pick up the boys".