Erlene makes a scene.

Just about every year, we take a trip to visit our favorite holiday village. This is a charming place that the whole family just loves. The Mayor of Erlene's Village, (which would, of course, be Erlene), works hard to keep her town all decked out for the Christmas season. She meticulously handpaints every home just to make sure it stays looking beautiful and festive for the holidays. Santa's Elves are particularly busy in this town, because Santa starts his yearly ride a little early here. When we stopped by to say hello, they were very busy getting the last letters to Santa taken care of.

The Post office stays open late so it can assist in the delivery of all of those precious letters.

There is always something going on in this town. Plenty of holiday music, dancing, and shows to see.

There is always something fun for the kids to do. Plenty of activities like puppet shows, sledding and ice skating, and lots of parks to play in. There are roller coasters and lots and lots of sledding hills, and always plenty of fresh powdery snow for making snow angels, and a few snowballs, too.

Let's not forget all the men. There is plenty of ice fishing, hunting and camping, snow shoeing and skiing, (I haven't seen anyone in town snowboarding yet, they are a bit behind the times.) You can buy a new boat or have your old one repaired, and some years you can even fish for lobster. Feel free to bring your art supplies. Many artists come to paint the beautiful scenery of this quaint village. Hmmm, maybe Grant should get started on a new painting of the village.....

For the women, there is plenty of shopping for the freshest of fish, eggs, and veggies, and wonderful boutiques that have been know to have sidewalk sales this time of year. Hey, little people have to make a buck, too.

Don't forget to stop by the 24 hour live nativity. There are a couple in town, but this one is the easiest to find. It is in front of the town church.

Mayor Erlene makes sure the firemen are very skilled in their job. They have a practice fire drill every day. I feel very safe here.

The garbage collection has been a bit behind from all of the snow lately, but they will soon be on top of it.

If you love the town enough to stay, there are plenty of houses for sale. If you would rather just visit, take the train home. The tracks used to be closer to the depot, but it seems they have moved. I'm sure you would be able catch a quick shuttle to the train these days. (If they can find it...)

If you are interested in Celebrity homes, Ralphie lives in the next town over. He recently got his secret decoder ring in the mail, and is anxious to decode with it, so please don't disturb him.

If you are having trouble finding Erlene's Village on google maps, this is an overview shot of it at night. Quite a beautiful place to visit. Better get there quickly, because in a few weeks, it will disappear and be impossible to find until next year. You see, it is a magic village. It's different every time I visit, and I take pictures of it nearly every year, because I am never sure if it will come back the next year or not. I just love to visit when it shows up at Christmas time. If you want to go with me sometime, drop me a line, and we'll schedule a trip.

The Grands get the perfect gift.

I was short on time when I did my last post, and forgot the best gift of all. My in-laws got the perfect gift. A GIANT remote. Doug and I thought about getting them one last year, but didn't do it, so somebody did it this year. This is a big joke in the family, because they are always having trouble figuring out how to use their tv, sattelite, amplifier, DVD and VCR and wii systems. As if it wasn't complicated enough, let's add another remote to the mix. That's just one more thing that they will be calling us about to try to get things on the right input and station. They just got a new TV for Christmas, and that brought on a whole new set of challenges. They updated to HD, so they had to get an HD reciever from the cable company, and Doug had to reprogram the remotes. One night we got a phone call and Grandma couldn't get the sattelite picture to show up. She had been on the phone with her cable provider for some time, and they couldn't help her at all. She called Doug, and he figured out that they had hit the wrong button on the remote, so it wasn't working. It just needed the tv button to be pushed, and they were off and running. Sorry we outed you, Grandma and Grandpa, but it was funny! Grant was excited to have a new tv, the picture on their old one was going black, so this will be a nice change. We stopped by one evening after my Williams family Christmas party, and their new tv was sitting on the floor. Apparently it had been there for a few days, so Doug offered to help set it up. Grant was very happy for the assistance, and made me laugh when he said, "Hey, look! I'm on TV!"

Better late than never.

I know that I am really behind on posting, but the holidays were busier than I planned, so I will condense my post. We had a wonderful Christmas and are thoroughly worn out from it all. This year my side of the family decided that instead of trading names as usual, we would take the money we would have spent and donate it to those in need. I think it was a wonderful idea. It gave more meaning to the season, and I hope we do it again. For our Williams family Christmas party, we did a bunch of fleece blankets to send to a shelter, and had some great food and fun conversations. Last year we had an Iron Chef cook off, and I can't believe we didn't do it again this year. My family loves Mexican food, and I worked all year looking for another good recipe that would take the crown. Ok, to be honest, I probably only thought about it once or twice, but I am out to beat my brother Mike (Like it's hard. Last year he just showed up with nachos [ie, sliced tortillas and salsa]). We had a battle all planned out, and he flaked on us. Start reading those recipes, Mikie, 'cause next year you better bring it!

The Burrell family party was fun as well. We always get together on Christmas Eve and have dinner and open presents from each other. I have a blast with my nieces and nephews. They are so great. Everyone should have nieces and nephews like I do. They are the world's greatest at their job. They never miss a chance to tell their Aunt Amber and Uncle Doug (ok, mostly their Aunt Amber) how great they are and give them hugs. They let us tease them whenever we want, and they are always very ticklish. Told you they were great. Wish I had a picture of them all together. Maybe New Years......






After the party, Doug and Miriam and I stayed later to wait with his sister's family for my nephew, Jesse, to get off work. He had a late night working for Brick Oven Pizza. Darn people that think they should have pizza on Christmas Eve. We ended up watching "A Christmas Story" on TV. Doug and I love that movie. It has to be one of our favorites. The first time we saw it was when we were engaged on Thanksgiving, 1989. We watched it together that night, and have seen it at least once (ok, maybe 5 times), every Christmas since then. Doug's family has come to love it as well, and every year we hear about how Ron looked just like Ralphie when he was little, and there are pictures to prove it. Now it is a great subject of gift giving, and he is starting quite a collection of A Christmas Story ornaments. This year, he got a shirt as well.








I am sure you can guess that Doug loves the movie as much as the rest of us, and has always wanted a leg lamp. He keeps threatening to find one and put it in our front window. I decided that I would beat him to the punch and give him a smaller one (easier to hide from the neighbors) before he could find a full size leg and bring it home. He loved it, and took it to work to put on his desk. His boss asked if there was some private joke behind this hideous lamp. He couldn't figure out why Doug's wife would give him such a thing. Apparently he has never seen the movie. I think we will have to do something about that. I can only imagine what he thinks of me now. Well, better to burst the bubble now. It will happen eventually anyway. At least I don't have to pretend to shut the lights off to save electricity at home now. Don't laugh, it was a major award. I think it's Italian. And yes, I AM going to use up all the glue on purpose.

Welcome to the family!

This morning at about 9:30, my little sis, Misty, had her first baby! She and Clint named her Brookelin Capri. How fun! A new little girl for the Williams clan. (We need more of those!) ;-)

I am excited for her, but when she was little, she called me mom. For many, many years she called me that. I gotta say, I am a little bit disturbed by this. Does this make me a grandma?

Congratulations to the new parents, with LOTS of hugs and kisses!

My mistake.

I was just notified that I have been remiss in my duties as job foreman. I neglected to report on all construction jobs performed over the weekend. In order to make amends and prevent any further legal action on the part of my niece, Tammy, I shall now rectify my mistake. There were also 2 other Torgersen homes under construction on Saturday, so I shall now include pictures of those as well.



This is Tammy, on her way out the door. She labored intensely over the building of her home. Like her mother, she is also a very talented stone mason. Give the girl some Necco's and smarties, and she can decorate quite a house. She is my most talented, beautiful, graceful, sweet, loving, (let's not forget forgiving) niece. I am pretty sure I am now her favorite aunt again, right, Tam?

This is Mike's house. He had some construction delays, because he had to rush to another job. Although talented in construction in his own right, let's hope that his house is finished before demolition begins. I would hate for him to be homeless for the holidays. At least he had a sidewalk and door. Those Torgersen's and their talent with rocks...maybe too many trips to Topaz Mountain?


In an effort to disclose all Saturday activities, I shall tell about Doug's exciting day. While we were busy with our building, Doug was out spreading some Christmas cheer. He has a lawn tractor that he absolutely loves, with a snowplow blade that was anxiously attached months ago in anticipation of the first real snowfall. Usually, Doug is the last one to want snow, but this year he couldn't wait to use his toy. He was very unhappy when we woke up on Saturday to still have dry, yellow grass outside. When the snow finally started falling, we had a little party. All three of us had to run to the windows and watch. He spent most of the day plowing the sidewalks and driveways of the neighborhood. One woman even came knocking to thank him, almost in tears. Hmmm, maybe this will be a good tool for even more service in the future. He had a great time, and when it got dark, and all cars had left from the street in front of our house, he proceeded to clear the roads completely. (I think it was just so he could use the headlight on the tractor.) Looked like a lot of fun to me. Hey, good lookin'! Got room on your Hog for a really hot construction chick? ;-)

Grab your hard hat, it's construction day!

A few weeks ago, I was visiting with my sister-in-law, Sandy, and she said she had never made a gingerbread house. I couldn't believe it. How is it that I had never taken the time to do that with Doug's side of the family. (Ok, I admit, I've only done it once with my side of the family, but I have done many on my own.) I made the appropriate emails and phone calls, and it was scheduled for Saturday. I supplied the houses and royal icing, and they brought the candy. I think I was baking gingerbread for 2 days straight and my house smelled so yummy. Kinda gives me the warm fuzzies just thinking about it.

We heard on the news that it was supposed to snow on Saturday morning, so we were hoping that it would snow hard in the morning, and by afternoon it would be OK to drive in. Boy, were we wrong. I made 6 houses, and many gingerbread men, snowflakes, and trees. Only 2 families showed up to work. The weather was too bad, and those that came had a hard time getting there. We were so glad they were safe, especially after hearing about all the accidents they passed on the way. Doug and I threatened to keep them for the night. I wish it would have kept snowing, we could have had quite the party. Darn clouds.

We had such a great time, people had to leave before I was ready to have them go. This is Michaun's house. I found out that she is quite good with stone work. Just take a look at her masonry! Kent couldn't even wait to get home to start snacking!

This is the construction phase of Sandy's house. Who knew that she was such a good Roofer? She did a wonderful job.

This is the finished product. Very cute, and very yummy! An excellent job for an apprentice. ;-) We checked up on her Sunday night, and the house is still intact, but I am sure her son, Taylor, won't let it stand much longer. I hear he is quite good at demolition.


Miriam and her cousin, Celisa, had a great time working on a house together. They just added whatever they thought was the best candy to eat. (I wish all construction workers thought that way!) By the end of the day, Miriam was just squirting frosting wherever she could. I bet someday she could be great at stucco work. Hmmmm, maybe sometime, if we decide to update the exterior of our house.... She found her own easy way to make icicles, and she was brilliant at it. Not bad for her first solo house, either. She couldn't stand it, and started demolition on her house by Sunday afternoon. So did her parents.....

Here is my construction project. I got this piece of property for a steal! (It was a flap from one of our moving boxes. Thank you, Home Depot, for contributing to our building project.) This was a Habitat for Humanity project, although I didn't know it at the time. If I had, I would have done a better job on the construction of it. Our neighbor just had a baby last Wednesday, and we thought that their kids would enjoy it more than us. Besides, we already had a home with Miriam. The Holidays are no time to be greedy. If you have an extra home, you should share it with those who are not so fortunate. We have really enjoyed the smell eminating from the houses. Every few minutes, you can catch a whiff of gingerbread, and it tastes pretty good, too, if I do say so myself. I am thinking of inviting Hansel and Grettle over in the next couple of days......

Should you be interested in building your own house, I would be more than happy to give advice. Like any homeowner that has done work on their own home, I am more than happy to share the plethera of knowledge I have gained from doing my own work. Who needs to pay for labor when it is so fun to do yourself?

And the winner is.....

Every year for Christmas, Miriam and I go on at least one drive to see Christmas lights. Miriam gets in her pj's and makes some hot chocolate. We take a blanket for her to cuddle in, turn on some Christmas music, and drive around town to see all of the decorations people have done to their homes. It's one of our favorite things to do to celebrate the season. This year, it's fun because we are in a new town, and don't know where the best ones are. It's an adventure to drive around, and Miriam hopes that I can get us home.

This is a house in our ward:




The best part is when we decide which house is the Grizwald family Christmas house. I couldn't get everything in one picture, but here is this year's winner so far:



If you look closely, you can see Santa in the living room window. It's always fun when you find a house that is so involved in the process that they alter their living quarters just to carry out the look. I think we need to do it again next week so there is some snow to make it more fun. We like to do this after the first big snow storm, or sometimes during the downfall because it is so pretty. It just isn't Christmas without our trips together.

The longest week ever......

This week has lasted forever, yet I am always a day behind. I realized today that I missed my Webelos class yesterday. I have been confused about what day it is since Tuesday afternoon. Just when I think I am on top of things, I realize I am wrong again. Miriam thinks it is hilarious. I remember my Mom doing that, and thinking she was funny. Now I realize she has passed the torch on to me. What else do I need to be prepared for?

I received an email from my sister-in-law, Melissa, about a baby sitting schedule for her 2 children while she went with my brother to Tokyo for a week. I opened the file, only to find it had been damaged and couldn't be read. I tried all sorts of options, but still couldn't open it. My thinking was that I would phone her and ask her to send it again, but it was late, and I was tired. It could wait until the next morning. I promptly forgot all about it. Last Friday, I was on Facebook, and realized her status said, "Melissa is walking the streets of Tokyo!" (There was a half second that I considered the walking the streets comment, and laughed.) I thought, "Hmmmm. I better ask around and see if I am supposed to help out at all. One of my little sisters was kind enough to inform me that I was taking the youngest, Atlee, for the weekend. I had a couple of hours to be ready, and to clean out the boxes in our spare room.

She was really fun. I am amazed at how well behaved she was. Miriam LOVED having her with us. Then little Atlee got homesick. She didn't want to be left alone. She was by my side for days. Over the weekend, I had Doug and Miriam to entertain her, and help out when I needed to fix meals, or do laundry, but mostly to clean up the floor after she had eaten. We ended up keeping her until Wednesday night, and I could tell that she really wanted Mom and Dad. I couldn't walk 2 steps without her getting upset that I wasn't holding her. Let's just say that I read more books to her than I could count, and saw several movies I haven't watched in years. Now I am trying to get caught up on all the things I didn't get done. My to-do list is getting longer every day.

On Friday night, we had picked up Atlee from Melissa's friend, Crystal's house. She lives in Provo, and was nice enough to lend us a pack-n-play for Atlee to sleep in, and a car seat. I didn't think about needing one until Miriam and I were on our way to pick her up. What a life saver Crystal was. Here is the reason: On our way home, we stopped at Costco, and then drove down University Ave to see the lights. There was an accident on the side of the road with an officer taking care of the incident. Traffic was suddenly backing up, so we stopped just a bit faster than normal, but not fast enough that it was a problem. We sat there for about 15 seconds, when I heard a car screeeeeeeeeeaching to a stop behind me, and looked in my rear view mirror in time to see the car behind me skid a bit to the right, and slam into the back of my car. I checked Miriam and Atlee, and they were both fine. We pulled over to the side of the road, and all I could think was, "My car is totally smashed." The driver of the car got out, and walked to the back of my car and stared at it for a minute. As she stood there, I thought it must be really bad. I knew how hard she hit, I could feel my head whip forward when she crashed into us. (I know what you are thinking: whiplash. Well, I already have it, and have been dealing with it for 20 years now. I did check us all, and we seem to be OK. Only time will tell.)



When I got out, I was amazed. No noticeable damage, except for a few scratches. The frame is bent into the trunk just a bit, you can only see it from the inside so it's not even noticeable unless you know it's there. The bumper had just popped back out, and you couldn't even see where it had smashed in. (I am suddenly a huge fan of impact resistant panels. What a wonderful invention!) We both stared in amazement at both our cars. Hardly any serious damage, and all either of us could say was, "I can't believe it's not that bad." It was her first accident, and she was scared to death. I actually had to ask her if she was going to be OK, and she said yes. I wasn't sure if I believed her or not. When we reported it to her insurance company on Monday, we found out that she hadn't called her parents to tell them about it. (She is a college student.) Doug said her father was a really nice guy, and we felt bad for him; his wife had an accident the week before. I thought maybe we should warn him. Don't they say bad things happen in three's?

Our family tree.

This year, Doug and I have been working on being more grateful for the things we have, and I was thinking as we put up our tree, that some of the things I am most grateful for are things that I remember every year when we put up our tree. First of all would be the tree itself. It isn't the greatest artificial tree, and every year I think I want to trade it in on a pre-lit tree so I don't have to deal with putting on or taking off the lights, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I got this tree when I was taking my neice to get a pair of snow pants at Walmart. We wandered through all the after Christmas stuff, and I found it for $17. I couldn't resist, so I brought it home. It has been a good tree, but now it takes up practically our whole living room. The table next to it is shoved up against the couches so I could get a good picture. I don't know what we are going to do about that.



This ornament is the first one we ever owned. My mother-in-law gave it to us. Doug and I agreed that this is one of our favorite ornaments. It has a porch light that is on, and then it goes out and you can see a couple through the window. Miriam thinks it is funny, but cute.


Miriam put most of the ornaments on the tree herself this year. In years past, I had to supervise a bit more, because all of my ornaments are extremely fragile. I guess that's what happens when you just have you and your hubby for 10 years. This year, she was so cute. She was so gentle and worried that she might break some precious ornament that she loved. She made this one, and said it was her favorite when she picked it up. (It's a melted snowman.) When I asked her later on which one was her fav, she couldn't decide.

These are lights that I bought in 1991 for our tree in our first house. I can't believe that they have lasted all these years, but I love them. They are great when the living room lights are off. The apples light up a brilliant red, and the little candles are amazingly bright. What will I do if they ever stop working? I guess that's what brilliant husbands are for.




These are this year's new additions. Every year, Miriam and I buy a new ornament or two. The angel is from our trip to Gardner Village on witches night out. Miriam found a twisty glass spiral that you can see in the corner of the Santa picture. Doug thinks it looks like DNA. We decided to call it that, and figured it fit Doug 'n' Amber's tree just right. I think we need a few more, though. The Santa and Snowflake are also from my mother-in-law last year at Christmas. Doug has a whole collection of planes that have been given to him over the years. We forgot to put them on. Maybe I'll get around to it in a few days.

This one was made for me by my Beehives in 1999, the year that we were waiting to get Miriam. It was our last Christmas as just the two of us. I'm glad we have a little one of our own. Ok, so she's not so little, but she was back then.

These are the other 2 on our favorite list. The fishing vest and kreel are from the tree that was made for the Festival Of The Trees by the Young Women in my mother-in-law's ward when my Father-in-law passed away. They took the extra ornaments and made a wreath that hung in her house for several years. When she got remarried, she took the ornaments off and divided them between the kids. Every year when we take these out, I feel like he is celebrating our Christmas with us. They are always put in a place where we can see them every time we walk by. There are many memories on our tree, and every day I have a new favorite ornament. What a wonderful thing to remind me of what is most important this time of year. Thanks for sharing my tree with me.