So I just spent an hour writing a detailed review of my three years working up at the Sundance Film Festival but I can't figure out how to cut and paste it into this blog. So I figured that what you really want to see is all the celebrities I've had the good fortune to have been able to interview... So here's a compilation of the past three years of celebrities... Enjoy!
So last night at the 2nd Sunday Bergstrom dinner we opened a time capsule that the majority of the ever-expanding family contributed to way back in 2000. Judy (my awesome Mother-in-law) had us all fill out a worksheet about our likes and dislikes and that sort of thing. I have to admit that I was worried about what I had written because I feel like I've changed so much from the person I was 10 years ago... Living in the west with a cute little family in a decent sized house with a good
sized yard. Taking summer vacations as a family and scrap booking like crazy.
Still madly in love with my Jeffy!
Here we are 10 days into the new year and I'm finally blogging about New Year's Eve... That's cool, better late than never!
So I pulled out my bags of fun this New Year's Eve, a tradition I started years ago but stopped doing for one reason or another. I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled them out of storage and the boys both remembered them and were totally excited about them. Each bag has a clock face on the front specifying a time, and in each bag is an item and a message telling what activity we're going to do that hour as we wait up til midnight.
The first bag told had an apron in it and a message that we were going to start the night by making home-made pizzas. We invited Will's "Bestest" friend Mason to join us for our little party. He's a great kid and very funny! It was fun having a third boy there. 
Anyway, the third bag had a giant chocolate bar and a message that it was time to break out the chocolate fountain! (My cute niece gave me one for Christmas and Will couldn't wait to break it out!)
It was definitely the highlight of the evening! We dipped everything we could think of in it! Jeff even tried summer sausage, celery and carrots! The carrots were actually pretty good!
The last bag had noise-makers and hats and fun things to dress up in to go outside and welcome in the new year (even though it was only 10:00 p.m.).
I just love this pic... check out Will's outfit! Not everyone can pull that off:)
I thought I was all finished updating but then I remembered that I forgot to talk about the Half Marathon I ran in Las Vegas at the beginning of December. I was one of 28,000 runners who participated in the 13.1 mile run up and down the strip. It was amazing!! It was such a great feeling to be surrounded by such athletes and to pretend to be one of them! I complete the course in 2 hours 10 minutes.
There were random rock bands all along the strip as we ran. This was the starting line... see the band in the air? They were cool! It was such a fun atmosphere that Jeff has committed to running it WITH me next year! That's HUGE for Jeff! He's never ran more than 4 miles without letting you know all about it for weeks:~) It will be fun to run it together!
I asked Will what his favorite holiday is and his answer was DECEMBER! Which you may find funny, but it's really a legitimate response. Here's why: We celebrate the heck out of December!! Starting with his birthday, then Hanukkah, then Winter Solstice, then Christmas, and ending with New Year's... it's a month of parties and celebrations! Who wouldn't say December was their favorite holiday:)
Christmas Eve we always get new cozy jammies. I rotate colors every year... this year was red. I literally LIVE in my jammies from Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve. (Will's friend came over to play and asked him "Why is your mom still in her pajamas?" to which Will replied "Because it's the day after Christmas." Too funny!)
Drew with his Christmas morning haul... not pictured is his bike.
Will with is haul... also not pictured is his bike.
The two coolest kids ever in their new clothes on their way to Grandma's on Christmas morning. So cute!
Here we are at our annual Winter Solstice celebration with Danny, Kelly, James & Jesse. We get together every year to celebrate this important turning of the season. We learn all about our ancestors who cherished the birth of the sun.
The boys act out the battle of the Holly King and the Oak King. In the past Jeff and Danny have acted it out, but this year the boys wanted to do the battle.
We light a Yule Log that we've decorated with evergreen. We throw pine cones and twigs into the fire as it burns and share our hopes and dreams for the future while we reflect on the year that has past. It's always fun to hear what they kids will set as their goals and it's always great to hear the adults really dig deep and share things that they wouldn't normally share.
I make a Yule Log cake every year and we all look forward to eating it! This year I added a little knot in the log... I'm getting fancy in my old age:)
Hanukkah started December 11th. In the past we've had our own little celebration as a family but this year we were fortunate enough to have family members join us who were interested in learning more about this important Jewish holiday. Matt, Cathy, Carrick & Maple joined us, as well as Drew's friend from school Max. It was really fun! We feasted on Latkes at dinner, watched a movie and read books all about Judah and the Maccabees, then answered Hanukkah trivia questions to earn gelt (chocolate coins) to use as we spun dreidle.
The kids all made shields so they could reenact the battle. (My boys love any holiday that includes battles or presents!)
We all took turns lighting a candle on the menorah... we lit all the candles and pretended it was the last night of Hanukkah. It was a really fun celebration!
Another highlight of December is decorating Gingerbread houses. We do it at least twice every season. They're getting really good at it! (Their favorite part is yet to come though... it's New Year's day when we give them each a hammer and let them destroy their house!) 
This year we decorated houses at my mom's house on Thanksgiving with my nieces... we then did it again at the Bergstrom's a few weeks later.
Will decided he wanted a Candy Land Birthday party because he LOVES candy and thought it would be a perfect opportunity for he and his friends to get loaded up on CANDY! So I put my creative juices to work (we all did a lot of brainstorming at dinner one night thinking up activities) and planned another fabulous party for my little guy!
Normally I only allow my boys to invite as many friends as they are old, but it was too hard to stick with my rule this year because Will is a VERY social kid and he has too many friends and we didn't want to hurt any one's feelings, so I allowed him to invite pretty much all of his close friends. We had a house full! I set up the party to be like a game of Candy Land with each of the "lands" in a different room throughout the house with a different activity in each land... Starting with the "Gingerbread Tree" where they each decorated their own Gingerbread person.
Then they headed out to the garage where we had "Snowflake Lake" set up with a scooter race obstacle course. (It was the closest thing we could think of to ice skating.)
Next was a trip to "Chocolate Swamp" where they created their own pudding paint swamp creatures with their fingers.
Then we crossed the "Rainbow Trail" back into the house for a visit to "Peanut Acres" where each of the kids got a chance to use nutcrackers to open and taste a variety of nuts.
Next came a trip downstairs to the "Licorice Forest" where "Lord Licorice" had set up a bunch of licorice ropes hanging from the ceiling that the kids had to eat without using their hands. It was funny!
The next stop was "Peppermint Forrest" where they used croquet mallets to push a ball through the peppermint stick course. (For Jeff's sake, notice the creative way he got the peppermint sticks to stay standing...)
Then they crossed "Gumdrop Pass" into the "Gumdrop Mountains" where they raced each other while holding a gumdrop on a spoon in their mouth.
The final activity was "Lollipop Woods" where they had to use different colored lollipops to create patterns. They all had a great time playing the game! While we were eating cake we asked the kids which activity was their favorite and it was cool to hear how each one of them had a different favorite... there was something to appeal to everyone!
Will made a haul in presents! From Nerf guns to Lego's and all sorts of great things in between! He was very pleased!
For the cake, I "commissioned" Harmon's to create a Candy Land game board cake. I took a photo of the game board in to the bakers and then used the cards from the game to accessorize once they were finished. It turned out great!!
Here's the final pic of the whole gang! It was a sweet party for a sweet kid! Happy Birthday Will!
For the past 3 months Drew has been getting up an hour earlier on Wednesday's and heading to school for choir practice. This is the first year that he's been eligible to participate in the choir which is has only been open to 4th-6th graders in the past. He was so excited when he found out 3rd graders were now allowed!
The performance went well and the kids all sang beautifully!
It was the same day as Will's Birthday, so after we ate dinner with the Grandfolks at Olive Garden, we all headed over to the school for some holiday entertainment. It was a fun night!
