Ringing In 2009 With the Murphy Family

Matthew Olsen was blessed on Sunday, Jan. 4 by his father, Dan. So the entire Murphy clan came to town to celebrate and stayed with us for a couple of days. It was great fun . . . Murphys, Jeff, Sanders, Olsens, Birches, and Giffords, which meant babies, babies and more babies. There were 10 kids all aged five or less when Nancy and Mark arrived on the evening of New Year's day. What a sight. And you had a toddler on your lap anytime you wanted it! Loved that part.

While the Murphs were here, we hosted a breakfast with the Harringtons, Bree, Tysons, and Wilhites on Saturday. Rosemarie whipped up dozens of abelskivas and we had a great time swapping stories and updates. John and Louise's trip to Washington, D.C. was a highlight. Patti enjoyed playing "Familyopoly" with Zach, Kalee and Allie. (Allie is a real dealmaker in the family . . . but ultimately, Kalee was carefully amassing several thousand dollars and won the game!). Louise had personalized the game with pictures of the kids and names for the properties that made it especially fun. Thoughtful Christmas gift.

Over the weekend, Jeff spent one cold winter night in a tent outside at the BYU Marriott Center to ensure that his student ticket to the BYU v. Wake Forest basketball game would be in the closest rows. The temp that night went down to 14 degrees -- but he was happy and it was all worth it when we saw him on TV at the lead of the whole game coverage, yelling for the Cougars. He is hilarious! The men went to the game, but the Cougs lost because of the ref, they said . . . :)

The whole weekend we talked and laughed and enjoyed the darling toddlers playing cars and puppies and school. We held babies and watched the arts and crafts of the Murphy girls in everything from sewing to photo modpodge. Great weekend. Great families!

(See pictures below -- I am still learning how to blog.)

Cookies for Santa

The Olsen boys came over ahead of Christmas to decorate cookies for Santa Claus. We made bells and trees and stars galore. We rolled out the dough, cut the forms and then frosted them over and over again. The best part was adding the sprinkles and candies. The boys are learning to be great cooks of cookies!

Polar Express Train Ride

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday with Linda (my sister), Maryann Litterer and her two boys, Curtis and Gavin, all of the Olsen family, and all of the Carter family. One of the highlights for all of us, but especially for the children was to ride the Polar Express Train in Midway. We all bundled up in our warmest pajamas (except the adults who didn't want the train ride to be a horror trip). Then we held tightly onto our tickets and boarded the train to take off into the wintry night. We drank hot chocolate, had yummy cookies, traveled into the mountains and actually saw the North Pole all lit up. Then, on the way back, Santa bounded into our car and talked with every child. Linda tried to sit on his lap but Santa said no. Isaac Olsen screamed with fear when Santa came in -- and tried to hide behind his mother when Santa tried to talk to him. Lauren and Trenton loved the snowy ride and Mr. Claus. Curtis and Gavin gave high fives to Santa. And the Olsen boys relived the Polar Express ride in their own van the next day, singing Christmas songs as they pretended to drink hot chocolate and eat cookies.

Linda and Rosemarie and I were most happy that the train car had heat. We are getting old! But never too old for Santa. And, we all BELIEVE!

Snow Galore!

We have had a blast of winter this week with tons of snow and more to come. What a white Christmas it will be. We have shoveled plenty -- even broke the shovel with the heavy white stuff. Another storm expected in today and tomorrow and again on Christmas Day and the day after. Come skiing! We have plenty of room for you to stay with us.

Retired Rosemarie Ready to Have Fun

Rosemarie retired in June 2008. She is enjoying a life filled with lunch dates with former roommates and good friends , sleeping in until she is "good and ready" to get up, and caring for our two dogs, Koko and Trooper. The dogs give her plenty to do. She is the best dog owner I have ever known and that comes from a major dog lover -- me.

With family all around, Rosemarie is loving spending more time with her sister and her family and with her brother's kids in the area as well. And she enjoys hanging out with the Harrington crowd at movies, games and holidays get-togethers.

Rosemarie's penchant for order and cleanliness is legendary. So her joy in life, (and my joy in her joy in life) is that she loves to clean drawers and files and yucky places that need cleaning. Take this morning, for instance. I made some jam but it boiled over and onto the floor. You can really trust my cooking. It is sometimes worse cleaning up after me than the dogs! Rosemarie had it cleaned up in a jiffy -- and better than it was before. She is actually enjoying bringing some order back into her life after 37 career years of rushing to work and focusing on it even in the evenings.

But Rosemarie misses the great people she has worked with at Amelia Earhart. And she misses the daily involvement in their lives. But she doesn't miss the bells, the schedule issues, the personnel problems, the meetings, meetings, meetings, or the demands of being there at a regular time each day. She is now free to do as she wishes and enjoy life. She is working one day each week in the temple and feels happy to learn and serve. She is loving the retired life.

And any day soon, when she conquers the computer, she will update this entry with her own "take" on retirement.

Tuifuas and Porters Come to Visit

In October 2008, the Tuifuas and the Porters came to visit and to watch Bryn play BYU Cougar volleyball. We loved seeing them all and enjoyed how much Kalea and Malakai have grown. The kids kept wishing for snow and we kept telling them it wasn't likely. But then, like magic from the wish of a child, we had our first snowfall of some inches. Actually, Ben, Hannah and Delanie had to wind up their snowballs using the back, side and front yards, but they got a decent snowman out of their efforts. (Our dogs, Koko and Trooper warned them to watch out for those brown spots in the snow!) A darling seven foot snowman lived in our front yard until the next morning when the sun melted it quickly. (Actually, Kalea ate part of its bottom ball -- after helping to finish the snowman she was tired and hungry and just sat down and started eating the snow off his tummy!)

We loved visiting with them and listening to Kalea sing her Primary solo, "Heavenly Father, Are You Really There?" She has indicated to Rosemarie and I that she sings it correctly and her mother and father don't sing it right because they don't understand that they should sing her part again before the second part. Kalea asked me which side I was on. No siree - no competition in this Harrington/Tuifua/Porter family!Malakai was so darling in the snow. He is walking around like a buster. Bet Mommy just loves trailing after him picking up in his wake. It was great to see the Porters and enjoy their great kids. We are glad that marriages and the Gospel unite us all.