Good thing we didn't spend our Christmas money.

This morning, Randy came out of the shower and said in a very calm voice (under the circumstances), "I think our water heater is gone."

We have been expecting this for a while because 1) the heater is original to the house, which was built in 1997 and 2) we had to replace the water heater in our last house, so why not this one too? I think it's a trend.

Anyway, lucky for us a guy in Randy's small business group is a plumber, and he has kindly agreed to come out today and replace it for us. I'm so glad about that. We were worried we'd have to wait until after New Year's.

On a more introspective note, as I was trying to wash my face in a basin of water I had heated on the stove, I became really aware of how much I take things like a comfortable (if not super-stylish) bed, a warm and cozy (if not huge and brand new) house, and hot water at any given moment for granted. We are so lucky to live where we live and have the goods and opportunities we have--not to mention enough money to cover the cost of a new water heater.

Our family is truly blessed--especially since I won't have to take any more pioneer baths like this:

Does my Tropical Passionfruit body spray count as a serving of fruit?

So, we're almost finished with the holiday season. SAD. Do you know what's even sadder? I've gained five pounds in the last 2 weeks from all the junk we've been eating. As the title of this post suggests, fruits and vegetables have been scarce in the Archibald diet lately. They have been replaced by large quantities of turkey and mashed potatoes, ham and cheese potatoes, frosted sugar cookies, nuts, chex mix, Hershey's kisses, Danish butter cookies, peppermint sticks, apple pie, more chocolate in various forms, BAMBINOS from La Pizzeria in Rigby, ID, pancakes and french toast, frosted gingersnaps, lemon cheesecake pie, more chex mix, and so on and so on.

That being said, we had a really fun Christmas this year. We stayed with ALL of Randy's family at his parents' house--that's right, all thirty-something of us stayed at my in-laws. One word: CHAOS. But the cousins had a blast and it was fun to see everyone, so it was worth it.

On Christmas Eve, we spent the afternoon at my family's old stake center (church house) in Rigby and had a huge dinner with Randy's extended family.

Christmas Day, everyone got up at seven to have breakfast and a short devotional by Lynn. (Notice the FEET of snow burying our cars outside the window.)

Then the kids lined up on the stairs for the annual Christmas photo. But the kids are getting so big and so numerous that not all of them fit in the picture. (Sorry, Garrett and who knows who else.)

After that--PRESENTS!


And then the grand finale--it gets more bizarre every year. I present to you: my father-in-law Lynn.

He really is a lot more professional on the other 364 days of the year.

Anyway, the kids were pleased with their presents, and we had a good time together with everyone. We welcomed our future sis-in-law Stefanie who is engaged to Trevor, and even experienced the birth of a new niece--Shelby Jane Archibald was born on Dec. 26 to Ben and Cheri. Congratulations!

Now, if I could just find someone to put away all of our Christmas decorations for free. I would do it, but I'm now too fat to move.

It just isn't Christmas without...

This is what I did today. I made dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies. The bad news: we are so sick of Christmas treats. This is the pile as of today, and it's still growing.



And that doesn't even count the two gallon-size plastic bags full of Christmas Mix in my pantry.

We will be travelling to spend Christmas with Randy's family, but it just doesn't seem like Christmas unless you make cookies. So I took one for the team. (Actually, I enjoyed it. So did Carter.) And we'll just pack them up and take them with us to Idaho and hope everyone else eats all the stuff we shouldn't be eating!

Tomorrow: Pies, laundry, and hopefully a couple of phone interviews. (Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. I HATE THEM!)

That'll teach me.....

Today, Randy had to work in the clinic in Pleasant Grove from 9am to 9pm. Tonight was also the annual "Messiah" sing-along at the high school across the street. Since I love stuff like that and Randy doesn't so much, I decided to take Carter and go to the sing.

Oh, dear readers, let ye never be so foolish.

Scene: The very last chorus, all the choir and congregation singing their hearts out to the symphony. Large crescendo and increase in intensity.

CHORUS: "BLESSING AND HONOR, GLORY AND POWER, BE UNTO HIM THAT SITTETH UPON THE THRONE, AND UNTO THE LAMB, FOR EVER AND EVER!!"

(Very long unusually quiet and expectant silent pause)

CARTER: "Mom, I need to go potty...."

ME: Look of disbelief as my hand slaps over his mouth.

CHORUS: "AAAAAA--MEEEEEEEENNNNNN!!!!"

That'll teach me to try to expose a three-year-old to some culture. At least he liked the trumpet solo.

Can't anyone stop the clock....please?

I am running out of time. I mean, desperately running out of time. The good news is that today was my last day of class. I had good classes this semester but it's nice to have that load off my shoulders for a month before the new semester begins. The bad news: I have not done one stitch of Christmas shopping. I have not handed out one Christmas card. I have not done any baking or even thought about what to give neighbors and friends. And I won't be able to think about it until at least Tuesday because my newspaper deadline is Monday and I haven't even started on the seven stories I'm supposed to write. (Don't tell my editor.) Considering Christmas is less than two weeks away, this could become a serious problem.

However, today I did one thing that made my day. In my adolescent literature class, we have been discussing a novel about a young girl who is severely (and I mean horribly...it's the stuff of nightmares) abused. She educates herself, moves into a halfway house for young mothers and starts to turn her life around. Since my group had to do a four-day presentation on the book, my study partner Deanne and I decided to have the director of YWCA Teen Home, Bree Murphy, speak to our class about the pregnant and parenting teens that live in the home and the challenges they face. She spoke to the class on Tuesday, and some of the students were interested to know how to volunteer or donate to the home. Bree suggested diapers, wipes, entertainment items for the mothers, formula, etc., and the professor said anyone who wanted to donate could bring those items to class today.

The response was overwhelming, and I am so in awe of my classmates. By the end of class today, there were bags and bags of things to take to Teen Home. Andy, one of the burly men in my class, had to help me load everything into my car. When I dropped everything off this afternoon, the staff was so excited about all the stuff that had been donated. It was fabulous! Thank you so much to Metcalf's English 5885 class! You guys are an example of the true spirit of Christmas!

The Gift of Christmastime

It's Christmastime! I love this time of year, although this year it still feels more like autumn than Christmas. Last week, I put away the fall decorations and hauled out the boxes of Christmas decorations to spruce up the house. And my sweet husband Randy took time out of his busy schedule to help me put up Christmas lights last Friday. He didn't want to, but he did it for me. It's a good thing he loves me!

I love this time of year because we get to focus on all the good we have in our lives and the good things we can do for others. And we can also focus on the reason--Christ. He is the source of everything good.

So I want to wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and I hope that all of us can enjoy this season to the fullest.

Dedicated to the Team Down South

Here's to all you Ute haters out there. There's always next year.