Happy Nued Year

or something like that. As this year rings in I hope for a healthy, happy, comfortable, adventurous, beautiful, surprised filled, surrounded by unique people and satisfying 2010. If this weekend is any sneak peek into the year it will be all of those things and some. Spending a weekend in Lava is a great break from the busy life we lead on a daily basis. You don't have to know what time it is. The bar is always open. You can always find a pool to sit in. I sit and wonder what life is like here on a day to day basis. If you go to the grocery store, it's like stepping back 20 years or so. Reminds me of the old grocery store in my home town. It's no longer there. The store closed years ago and just a few months ago they tore the building down. Sledding down a very large, steep hill in a fresh layer of snow and sliding clear across the highway that runs like main street in town. You can meet the "locals".A very diverse group of people. Most are happy to sit down with you and converse or have a jam session with you. And then you have the tourists. I guess some people come here to let it all hang out!! Maybe that's how it is at home too. We think about how nice it is to have this small town feeling and then we remember, what things we are thankful for back home. Makes going home feel good. Happy New Year. Here's to a great year full of things that happen based on our choices and thoughts.

Mountain People Party

Once in a very blue moon

When you have two full moons in the same month why the second one is called a blue moon.

Happy Blue Moon. It's a great time to break out the blue moon, eat cheese balls and crakers, have blue cheese and buffalo wings.

I found your letter in my mailbox today. You were just checking if I was okay And if I miss you, well, you know what they sayIt's just Once in a Very Blue Moon Just once in a very blue moon Just once in a very blue moon And I feel one coming on soon No need to tell me you'd like to be friends And help me get back on my feet again And if I miss you, well, it's just now and then Just once in a very blue moon It's just once in a very blue moon Just once in a very blue moon And I feel one coming on soon.

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Wow, it is here, the moment we have all been waiting for. Now take the tree down and get rid of all the holiday decorations its time to ring in the new year.

Happy Solstice

The solstice happens twice a year. Once in the summer and once in the winter. Winter solstice seems to be the one we love to celebrate. Possible because everyone else is celebrating at this time of year. The winter solstice is when there is the least amount of sun. That makes for a great time to gather as friends and family inside and eat, drink, enjoy the fire, sing a few songs and visit. You seem to forget that it gets dark early and who can be glum and gloomy when everyone is around you. Sometimes we start the bonfire out back and burn the "yule." This is usually just the beginning of our Christmas Holiday Celebrations. They seem to go on for 10 days.

Israelsen Field Day

We have decided that the second Friday of each month we will get together and make a craft and have a pot luck. Starting in January we will meet at Lori's. Come over @ 6:00pm. She will make a craft and the rest of us will bring dinner items. If you are planning on coming let us know so Lori can know how many craft things to prepare. If there is a small charge she will let us know. If you would like to host us one month we will be planning and getting that all put together in January. If you have questions please let me know. You are all invited. All of the girl children will dig this the boys will think we are crazy. Husbands will again roll their eyes and we will still meet and have a great time.

Upcoming events:
February- Mandy's


Upcoming Craft Ideas:
Snowmen 2x4's
Angel 1x1's
Christmas cards
birthday cards
stands
birthday plates
St. Paddy's hanging
advent calendar
sugar scrubs
peanut brittle
cookies

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

Today is "National Chocolate Covered Anything Day. I am not a huge fan of chocolate but I do think I will celebrate the day by dipping anything and everything in chocolate.

*After our Thanksgiving dinner this year we dipped a few chocolates. We even dipped bananas and fingers and Carmel. It was a lot of fun.

*Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't dip pretzels. Matt's girls are the best dippers ever. They have the stick to itness that you need to get it done.

* We went to KRCL's birthday party and ate chocolate covered bacon. It was ok but not my favorite combinations.

*I love almond Rocha and English toffee put on chocolate and even double dipped peanuts.

So if today you find yourself daring, try dipping anything you wish and enjoy.

Here are a few of our favorite things

* When the dog doesn't bark
* Fires in the fire place
* Guitar music with family or friends
* Snow angels
* Laundry fairies who do the laundry while we are gone
* Nice dinners at home
* Longer days
* Working in "wood shop" garage
* Animals in bed on a cold night
* When the plumbing works
* Spur the moment activities
* Going to the movies together
* Waking up early thinking you have to shovel and finding out it didn't snow
* Church rummage sales
* Second Hand Stores
* Nice neighbors
* Clean kitchens
* Thursday and Friday mornings
* Kids
* Family
* Getting into bed together on a cold night
* Finding time for lunch dates
* Jazz games
* Good Sport spouses that humor me for the "Holidaze"
* Three day weekends
* Moms and Dads
* Kids who are self sufficient
* Karen's for breakfast
* Sleep overs
Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday season!!!

Snow Day

Today was another great snow storm. This snow was so heavy I thought it would make me have a heart attack while I was shoveling. Lucky for me our neighbor Sam wanted to go to church today. He came out to help shovel and that saved me. We only had to shovel three times today. Hopefully we will be ok in the morning. Mom is waiting for a package to come and it won't come in the snow. We had a great day finishing up on some Christmas stuff. Who knew you could get so many projects done in just one snow day.

We didn't just sit home either. We went to lunch with some friends. The roads were ok until we hit Davis county. I don't think they pay taxes and so they don't have snow plows. Even here in Ogden our roads were cleaned up much better, and we got way more snow.

Here's to three more storms that are heading our way.

Christmas Dances

The week of Christmas Dances is over. We had fun. We danced until we couldn't any more. Everyone had a great time. Saw Santa three days in a row. Who knew. I hope he makes it back. Merry Christmas.

How lovely are thy branches

We have a cute Christmas tree this year. Bella and Snowflake were happy to help point out the branches that were in their reach. We may need a picket fence around the tree to keep the critters out. It is so fun to put all of the decorations on the tree. Now if only I could find the Christmas Box that has the tree skirt in it. Otherwise I guess I will have to make a new one. It was so much fun to have a fire, trim the tree and now to sit by it and read Christmas novels or stories.

When I was small we had a little "Nisse" elf that lived on the tree. I think my Dad thought of that because that is a little troll like guy who is the protector of the farm in Norway. The Nisse would watch us to make sure we didn't peek at the presents. He also had a direct line to the North Pole. If we were bad he was sure to tell the big guy. Once Santa made his big appearance the elf was tucked away and put in the attic until next year when he was needed to watch over the presents under the tree. This year I have a perfect tree for the little guy to live in. It has a little hole right down low. I guess it is time to look for a new elf.

The Christmas tree is a very important part of Christmas in my family. We love to gather around it and sing Christmas carols. We also like to sit and talk about all of the collection of ornaments that are on the tree. Christmas Eve was always filled with visits to and from the local relatives and then sitting in the front room with the tree lights on singing and visiting and having a little something to eat. I will guarantee there will be ham and mashed potatoes and then my favorite....rice pudding topped with red fruit sauce. Inside the rice pudding is hidden an almond. Who ever find the almond in their dish wins the prize. Usually a chocolate bar. MMMMM good. When I was older and not living at home my mom would always make me my own pot of rice pudding. She would include the almond and even the chocolate.




My mom loved collecting Christmas Village houses. When we lived with my Grandma Israelsen Teresa and I made a dangerous trip to Logan so I could pick up the next addition to the Christmas Village. I have my own village and it comes out at Thanksgiving time. Each time I see it I have fond memories of helping my mom set her village up. When I didn't live close to home I would get the detailed report about how she set it up and arranged it.



Now days we try to celebrate solstice with a big party and celebration with our friends and loved ones to celebrate that the days are getting longer....Coming soon to a blog near you.





Here is the part of the tree we didn't use. Next year I think my tree will be a flat top:)

Makin' Tamales

Hard at work



Saturday morning we started making tamales for the Mountain Man Christmas party. Greg, Jill and Nash came over to help. It was a lot of fun and we had a blast the night before trying to get the chili just right. It was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work.


Greg and John BS 0ver chilli

The Chili was so hot that Jill had to wear sour cream lip stick!!


Sunday morning Nash and Pam came over to help finish up the tamales. 14 dozen give or take a few we had to eat. They are delicious and will be great in a few weeks. Finished up now, dishes are done and tamales are packed and in the freezer. What a lot of fun for the weekend. Can't wait to do it all again on the 19th with the rest of the Garcia Clan

Why wouldn't this make you happy

Over night the Christmas Cactus decieded to bloom. Wow, what a surprize to wake up and find this in your window sill. Happy Holidays!

Bath time for Bella

Bella decided yesterday that she needed to dig in the composts pile from last year. That was fine and fun until she wanted to climb up on our bed and snuggle during the movie. She stunk!! Rex didn't even want to be near her.





She was immediately banished to the basement for the night. You guessed it that meant tonight before she could come in our room she had to have a bath. She doesn't seem to mind them. She does like to shake all of the water off the whole time she is in the shower but over all she does fine.

It was amazing to see what she left behind her in the tub. The usual ton of fur and about a ton of dirt.





Oh well, now she is clean and happy and has fuzzy hair.

Today the tree came down

The Christmas tree that is. We went out to the little tree farm in West Warren or someplace like that. "North Pole Pines" to be exact. The man who owns it looks like Santa himself. He gave us the instructions and told us how to get the best deal on a Christmas tree. The weather was nice and warm and we set out to walk among all of the lovely pines. It was amazing to see how many trees were missing this year compared to last year. It's not quite like going into back country to get your tree but it beats the heck out of going to a tree lot at the supermarket.

There it was....


She is beautiful on top. Her bottom is a little sparse. That's ok. She has plenty of boughs to make beautiful mantel pieces and even a yule log if we please. After John worked really hard to cut her down, we had to team work to get her out of the forest. She is HEAVY. That's good, full of sap and very green. When we went to pay Santa he told us why the bottom branches leave a lot to be desired. We loaded her into the truck. I lost rowshambow and had to get into the back of the truck. It's really hard to get into the truck while the 50lb 12' tree is trying to get in there too.

Well I kicked my shin into the tail gate and held in the bad words I wanted to yell at the top of my lungs. We got her strapped in so she would not fall out on our way home and off we went.

It's really hard to take a picture while you have gloves on so I took them off and shot a picture. I didn't realize that you all could see my glove hanging out of my mouth until I had taken the photo...OOOPPPPSSS

Now to trim her up and put all of the jewelry on her to make her into a beautiful 2009 Christmas Tree.

Nash & Jen Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday NASH!!!! You are a wonderful son and I appreciate all that you do to help me and all of the time we spend just enjoying hanging out. Love, Dad and M

Happy Birthday Jen!!! You are a great daughter in law. We are greatful that you are part of our family. Thanks for being you. P.S This year we are going to focuse more on good photos of you...not in a hospital bed after a baby:)

Happy Birthday REX

Rex has been in our family now for about six years. He is a great dog and a good pal, as long as you put your food up where he can't reach it. He is a good tollerater but is not to thrilled that Bella came to live in his house. He had it pretty good and she changes a lot of things. He does however love Snowflake. Any day of the week you can come home to find the two of them curled up on our bed together. Rex always curls around her so she stays warm. Rex thinks the best part of having Snowflake around is the "kitty treats" that she leaves in the kitty box. I choose not to like that part but I like that they get along so well and make great allies. Happy Birthday Rex!!!

T Day Pics

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving 2009 was great!!! We had about 45 people there for dinner. If Mom could have seen it she would be proud. Actually I think she was there. This week has been a hard one with all of the anniversaries happening with in a few days. A lot of milestones for us this week. I was kind of dreading being all together with out Mom. While we were all together it seemed as though Mom was right there too only that we couldn't see her or talk to her. The noise level was roof raising, until everyone had food in front of them. It's amazing that the noise turns into happy, laughing and visiting when people are eating. Who ever said dinner is only for an hour, has never been to an Israelsen dinner. We can't even get through the line in an hour let alone eat some of everything that is on the serving table. That's the other part we have down. The variety and amount of food is wonderful. Three turkeys, two hams, 50 lbs of potatoes, 6 loafs of stuffing, three pans of yams, salads, rolls and a whole 8'table of dessert. Amazing. Everything was delectable delicious.
I know you have all been waiting for the Lapp dancing update and here it is.... All of the Israelsen Men wore reindeer hats and I danced in my Lapp apron, skirt and shoes. Paige did a great job at retelling the story about the birth of the Lappland subject and EVERYONE had a great laugh.
After dinner we all wrote what we were thankful for on leaves & angels. We hung them all on a string and let me tell you, our family is thankful for a lot of things. That evening we took the "Thankful Chain" to Grandpa Gene's house. He put it on like a necklace and read everything his family was thankful for. It was so much fun and brought tears and cheers. We also wrote a few notes to Elder Gillies. He was missed. We enjoyed pumpkin pie and huckleberry pie just for him. We also missed Tessa but did get to yell "Hello" to her on Thanksgiving night. All 35 of us. I am sure she could feel our LOVE:)
At Dad's house we all sat around and talked. It is so much fun to laugh as a family. We enjoyed being together. I am sure these years of getting us all together are getting fewer. It is rather hard to get 7 kids together and 7 spouses never mind all of the kids. By next year we will may be a few more in number. So we had to enjoy this year to the fullest. I think we did a great job at it. I had fun and I hope you all did TOO!!!

Missing You, Mom

Today started the Christmas decorating. It is so much fun to open and unwrap things that have been put away since last year. Today as I unwrapped I was flooded with memories. It seems that every thing I touched was either something that my mom had given me or had inspired me to have in my own collection. Dishes, paintings, ornaments, statues, books, recipes, most of my Christmas stuff. My mom loved Christmas. We used to spend lots of the month of December getting ready for Christmas. Making Candies, decorating, singing, projects, shopping...the list goes on and on.

Last evening, we attended a beautiful Christmas program. It was a program made up of a lot of music and some wonderful readings. I loved hearing the music and being part of the singing audience participation.

Friday night we took John's mom and dad to see the Christmas lights. They are always good sports about going on funny little outings with us. We had a great time at dinner and then enjoyed seeing lights all over two counties.

All of these are things that my mom would love to do. Dad may just go along for the fun but mom would enjoy them. So this years challenge is 25 memories repeated. Mom would love doing them and so we will do just that. It's time to just do it for fun and memories. XOXO

Sisters have a field day

Today the three sisters got together at my dad's house. What a blast. There is nothing like going home. We laughed, cried, and just had a great time together. Even though we don't live next door to each other it feels like we do. There is a special thread in each of us that seems to keep up with the others. We enjoyed visiting and going threw the stuff my dad had decided he was done using. We loved going to lunch with EVERYONE and enjoyed going to the store to pick up the last minute stuff for Thanksgiving. Wayne and his family also arrived today and we all had a great time visiting. It is so much fun to see how many people you can get around the table. The noise level in the whole house escalates. I am sure the neighbors can hear us. As soon as the cousins saw each other their little minds were turning and they were all trying to figure out how to con their parents into letting them have a sleep over. Grandpa's house if the most fun for a sleep over. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A B C's of Thanksgiving

This year we decided we would get back to the basics...ABC's of Thankfulness. Here is our list of some of the things we are thankful for. There are lots more and this list was very challenging because there were so many things we were thankful for for each letter.

A~Autumn time. It brings with it a great break.
B~ Babies that keep us in touch with the important stuff
C~Computer games that occupy the down time
D~ Duets we sing together. Most nights there are just the two of us. Lots of practice time.
E~ Electricity. We love camping but it is nice to come home to bright light and auto heat.
F~Friends that we enjoy doing EVERYTHING with.
G~ Garcias of all sizes
H~ Helpful Family members
I~ Israelsens, the crazier the better
J~ Just taking a break.
K~ Kindness shown to us in many ways
L~ Leaves. In the Spring and Summer they make shade. In Fall they are fun to play in.
M~ Music. It's the best way to spend time with friends and with each other.
N~Nieces and Nephews who love to hang out and do stuff with their Aunt & Uncle
O~ Ogden, it's a great place to live
P~Parents that have taught us everything we know and keep teaching us DAILY
Q~Quilts that have fond memories attached and are a safe place to snuggle.
R~ Rides. Near of Far we have fun no matter what. Never know where we will end up:)
S~ Spouses. We make a great team!!
T~ Tipi's that mean we are having a great time away from home
U ~ Universe that we are part of
V~ Voices. We love to hear voices in the house, that means we have visitors:)
W~ Water. We like it in a lot of different forms. River, Snow, Rain, Drinkable, Shower.....
X~ XOXOXOX: our favorite
Y~ YOU! If you are reading this it means that YOU are someone special in our lives.
Z~ Zestful outing that keep us young

Happy Anniversary

Wow another year. Who knew time would fly by so quickly. Thanks for another great year honey. Spending everyday with you in my life is wonderful. This year we get to celebrate with the traditional present: leather. How fitting. Maybe we will spice it up a bit and become a little modern and give each other crystal. The past year has been full of a lot of things, some good some bad but with you nothing seems to be more than what we can handel. Here's to another great year. Love you the most.

Something Used

Tonight after raking leaves for a few hours I had a great idea. There is a new consignment store in Ogden that I have been trying to get to shop. The problem is every time I go near there they are closed. Well, today was the day. We were just browsing looking for some new chest or shelves to put in the spare room for storage. I am looking to move the extra fridge out but that will require more help than the two of us.

There it was.....

A beautiful waterfall front, cedar lined hope chest. It still had the "Moth insurance" purchased to keep your clothes moth free for at least three years after purchase.

After we found that and picked up the sales tag we kept browsing. There were a lot of neat things in the store. A nice "King Chair" that I want just to have, a cute day bed couch, a Navajo couch.....I found a lot of wish list items.

Then there it was....

Another great find. A old Victorian wash stand. It is in pretty good shape. Visions of a new bathroom sink in an old washstand danced through my head. It may never happen but soon there will be two great new (old) pieces of furniture in my house. If only they could tell us the stories of their past. Like Devin explained while he was wearing a cardigan sweater tonight. Some old man wore that sweater and it was full of stories if only he knew them. Deep thoughts for a teenager. Winter projects are in full swing around the Garcia Casa.

Leaves are falling everywhere

We have spent the last week doing "leaf detail". That means each morning while Bella and Rex are out we sweep off the patio from the 6-8 inches of leaves that have fallen during the night. Then when we come home from work we do it all over again. We have a huge number of leaves. I swore I wouldn't send them to the land fill but, I just cant use that many of them. Saturday prior to the snow storm I thought I would get them all cleaned up. I did what I could but there are still so many leaves under the snow it's crazy. I did a check on the trees today and it seems that all of the leaves are down now. Thank goodness.....

Thankgoodness for weekends

I have not yet decided why a weekend is such an amazing time, I do know that I can get a lot of little stuff done around the house during a weekend. I guess maybe it has to do with actually getting to be home while the sun is awake, and I think not having the pressure of getting EVERYTHING done helps out too. This weekend was amazing. Saturday morning we woke up early ate breakfast and the storm started. We went to the Episcopalian church for a bazaar. That was a ton of fun. We did some Christmas shopping and we got some baked goods that we couldn't live without. Then we headed over to Mom and Dad's house. Who knew we would find a large project going on. Later that evening we went to another church open house. It was a lot of fun to look and see. After coming home we decided to call it a night and stay home. We watched a great movie and spent some "us" time. It is amazing how nice it is to just hang out and get some of the important things done in a weekend.

Update on weekend project

So much fun. Never mind the mess in the kitchen, it's fun to find out what is under that ugly yellow paint...


Pink and Cream paint and cat and dog decals. All gone thanks to the "stripper"

On Halloween weekend we started a furniature remodeling project. It is a high chair chovered in two or three layers of paint one oil for sure and heavy laqure to keep it safe. Wefinally have it stripped and sanded. Now to decide what we want to stain it with and a few minor repairs. It's in great shape and has a lot of original stuff on it. I can't wait until we finish it. It will make a great quilt holder:)

working on the hard parts. All the small space>

Ready for sanding. We had to wait to do that OUTSIDE!!!

Good Health

We were driving around last weekend with Zack. We had passed by the store "Spoon Me" Zack commented that it was the best ice cream ever. Uncle Gene and I both started inquiring because we too had been intriged by the store and the name. We asked Zack what the ice cream was like. He said he had not eaten there but that it seemed like it would be good. We looked at each other and started to laugh. Just then from the back seat we hear, "Good Hell". Uncle Gene and I looked at each other with wide eyes. Did we really just hear that or did we miss understand. At the same time we asked Zack what he had said. Again, he said, "Good Hell". We looked at each other and smiled. Then Zack continues that he was just reading the sign. Sure enough when we started reading the signs for the stores around "Spoon me" there was a health food store called, "Good Health". He was right. That really made us laugh. All of the way home it was funny. Later that night we were laying in on the bed and you guessed it, "good health" was the thing that kept us going all night.

Zack and Uncle Gene's day out

Today Zack and Uncle Gene had a day out. They went to the tree house museum. It was a ton of fun to run around and learn and make arts and crafts. We also learned about the states, the president, being doctors, countries, King and Queen, dress up, school, how to milk cows, building, being pioneers, and we planted and harvested our own garden. Zack thought he was pretty cool being the president and the teacher. He humored me and had a tea party with me. Uncle Gene helped us solve the riddle and make paper flowers. Who knew you could pass so much of a day running around a giant TREE?

Birds of a feather

So, if you read the blog prior to this one, you know that we have a project to work on. It was a great find at a bargain store and so this weekend was going to be spend re-doing it. Well Saturday was a bust so Sunday morning we woke up early and started re-model. It went rather well and we go to work TOGETHER side by side in a small area for ALL DAY LONG. We still loved each other when we were cleaning up last night and getting ready for bed. A while into the furniture paint stripping I looked at John and said, "I am sure glad you like to refinish furniture as much as I do." He quickly replied, "I don't. I just do it because you like to." What a guy. Having a project to be working on did make two football games and a baseball game much more manageable. Thanks for a great day honey. I love you the mostest!!!

Hunting Season...I got mine

No, I don't mean an animal, I mean a new project and something I have been looking for forever.

Yesterday we created a new weekend project. Good thing it is close to the weekend. I would hate to have to start this at the beginning of the week like the last project we started on SUNDAY night. We stopped at a new little store that has drawen our attention a few times in passing. It's a new consignment/antique store on 24th. There it was!!!!


The new funiature addition to our house. A high chair built in the 50's or 60's. It's ugly now but freshly painted with flat paint and scraped a bit to make it look old. After this weekend it will be beautiful and hopefully won't have to be under paint any longer.

Great bargin, great project. Now to find a spot for it:) Happy Hunting.

Halloween Party

Here are the photos of the FTC Halloween Party. It was a blast and we all enjoyed ourselves. We can't wait for Christmas. That means another party.

Crazy Carving

Friday night led to a spooky porch and lot of fun. What has been an annual event at Aunt Mandy's house for a few little ghouls and bugs grew by leaps and bounds this year. It used to be a rather small event. Everyone was much younger and so it turned out that Gene and Myself ended up carving all of the pumpkins or helping out a lot and it usually ended in making cookies after the pumpkin seeds came out of the oven. This year we sent out actual invitations and planned to have dinner and carve pumpkins. The evening started out with Zack and Uncle Gene making ghosts to put along the sidewalk. Then everyone else shows up with pumpkins. Dinner was great and then onto the pumpkins. It was a blast. We filled up a huge tub with "guts" and everyone did a great job with carving. No tears and lots of imagination. Then we took them out front and put glow sticks in them. WOW!!! It was so neat to see them all. Lena and Zack stayed over and had a sleep over. It is so much fun to listen to them falling asleep and telling each other lots of things that they know.