Although I know you can't really see the details of my village, you can see its size and scope. This year we used 3 long tables and one other piece of furniture. It covered 1 and 3/4 walls and the corner. On top of the "mountain" which Garth built, is the North Pole. The village is one of my favorite decorations for the holidays and I've been collecting its pieces for over five years ever since my beloved twin sister bought my first house for me in a hardware store in The Dalles.

I don't think many people appreciate "villaging" and certainly do not understand. I've deliberately involved my whole family for many years. This year our favorite Scrooge got much more involved than usual and even called it "our"! He actually bought some wonderful pieces so we could construct a wharf. The village is basically Victorian with just a little modern here and there. It has a train station and no train. It has a mountain church and a brewery (Jennie bought it one year not knowing what a brewery is) and it has a popcorn vendor--a piece which enchanted DJ. People buy pieces for me to add. Cynthia and Derlyn gave me a wonderful quilt shop this year. Our former bishop suggested that I give it a name because it's getting so big. When I told our neighbor how little kids love it, he said: "It's their kind of place!" It's a nuisance to create and it's agony to take it down and put everything away, but, when all its lights are on, it does look like a happy place where everyone would like to be. It brings out the best in us.

Once again everything is in place in the Christmas closet which contains our decorations and village--a daunting task at best. We're happy to put it away and this time it will have to stay for nearly two years. Will I want to send it to Goodwill when I return? Or will I find some new pieces for it in faraway places with strange sounding names? I hope so.

Gingerbread Houses

Sorry I didn't get my blog done sooner! You missed the gingerbread house party yesterday. We warmed up the inside while the snow continued unabated. Here's what you missed:

Ready for the party. The houses were put together by Julirae with help from a holiday "engineer".

A little sustenance before the good stuff!
Some houses took a joint effort.
Some took more concentration than others.
Baby needed entertainment, too.

Hail, Hail the gang's all here except the ones who are camera shy!
Our own little village!

We'll see that invitations get out earlier next year! See you there!

TOYS

Big boy toys without much snow:

Big boy toy with a lot of snow:

Mom's toys taking over the front room:

Little girls toy causing delight:

HAPPY HANUKKAH

A Christmas Survey

I uploaded this picture for Joe. I found it while I was getting some of my many pictures transferred from clogging my hard drive to a CD. It's Darby in 1999. We do miss these babies.
I recently encountered this Christmas survey and accepted the blogger's challenge. Here goes:
Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate, hands down. One bout of egg nog is enough for me. Our favorite is Swiss Miss.
Does Santa wrap presents or put them under the tree? I wish Santa did wrap the presents because I'm terrible at it. Most presents are wrapped.
Colored lights on tree or white? An elderly gentleman recently asked me this question. When I told him colored lights, he gave me the thumbs up. I put colored lights because that's what I have, but I don't mind the others.
When do you put your decorations up? I usually begin with my village right after Thanksgiving. The village takes almost a week. It gets bigger and bigger. Every year someone (including myself) adds more pieces. Cynthia and Derlyn gave me a cute, cute quilt shop this year. This year we started way early, but I think it's because we probably won't be doing much decorating next year.
What is your favorite dish (excluding dessert)? No contest, turkey! I love turkey.
When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I'm not sure since I'm now so old! But I think it was when Julia spilled the beans to my brother Joe because she had just found out herself.
Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Not usually. When the kids were little and we had pajamas they were allowed to open those for pictures the next day.
How do you decorate your tree? With as much help as I can. This year our tree is loaded with ornaments and balls. I usually have someone else do it if I can talk them into it. Grandpa did help with the lights this year and helped get Santa to go forward around the top instead of flying by the seat of his pants.
Snow! Love it or Dread it? I dread it and I definitely don't like playing in it. I don't mind watching it fall or even enjoying its beauty as long as I'm inside and warm. I keep fearing that we'll be in some place like Buffalo, NY next winter.
Can you ice skate? No. I never had the opportunity to learn. I went with a roommate once in Provo, but I was a real klutz at it. No sense of balance. I remember that Arlo often talked about how much he loved ice skating.
Do you remember your favorite gift? I wasn't sure if this meant as a child. My favorite gift as a child was a Bible. My sweet Mother made many, many gifts for me over the years. I particularly remember some aprons she made for me from some well-worn gathered skirts she'd made for me as a teenager.
What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Another easy question to answer--family. I love having our family and friends here. We especially miss Janeen and her family when they can't be here. Family is why I like nativities so much because they're the reminder that a tiny, holy baby came to Earth to intercede for us and to be our Savior. My family is the reminder that I need to try to be as kind and loving as I can because they are all so good to me.
What's your favorite holiday dessert? Fudge. My mother never was able to make fudge very well (nor do I) and we most often ate it with a spoon. When I was visiting Julia recently she was going to attend a recipe exchange luncheon and I suggested we make fudge and take them all spoons. Recently, we've enjoyed the trifle (spelling?) that Steve has made for us. I also like chocolate covered cherries. My dad always gave his mother a boxful for Christmas.
Which do you prefer: Giving or Receiving? Giving. We often chuckled at some of the gifts my mother made for us or gave us from The Big Store (inside joke. My mother's boyfriend was a garbage collector and items were rescued from his collections. Thus, the Big Store) Remember the flowered pajamas, Jeff? The fact is that we loved Mother so much for her sweet giving. She never missed giving everyone a present. From her, I received the need to make presents for my family.
What is your favorite Christmas song? I don't have just one favorite: O Holy Night, I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Silent Night
Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? I like them. I gave them for so many years to students that I like to have them around. I'm not crazy about all the new flavors.

Now I challenge you to blog this or if you don't have a blog--send us an e-mail.

Unscrooged

For years, I've had a village which has become quite extensive. I usually put it up right after Thanksgiving with help from the grandkids and kids. This year I had a new helper to my great surprise. In case, you're wondering, he's building the North Pole and telling me not to take his picture. In fact, he's becoming quite vocal about me not putting him on the blog all the time.

We bought a rather big Christmas tree earlier than usual. Normally, the tree is my bailiwick--even the grandkids get tired of doing that. But look at this--

The village is up, but the gifts aren't finished yet. I'm always so perverse because I take real pleasure in making gifts for my family. That means Santa's workshop is open for days on end and Santa's helper is working at gifts and not doing other things. This year has been especially perverse! Ah well. Tis' the season and I adore it!

LIFE IN A WHIRLWIND

Our last week was a whirlwind of activity. Here are some images:

This is Angie at her science fair. She and her partner did over 60 presentations that day. They froze goldfish--you'll have to ask her. Isn't she beautiful?

The favorite activity at Thanksgiving was the Wii and Andrew's Scene It game.

Here we all are in our garage. Not an ideal setting but no one went away hungry.

Jennie and Ty weren't able to make it until the next day. Isn't this a cute picture?

I, unfortunately, forgot my camera for the last two activities. On Friday, we had an extended Gunter family skating party at the Rollarena in Richland arranged by our niece Wendy. What a fun redo of an old family favorite. We finished off our weekend with the annual Othello Choral Society Christmas cantata which was beautiful. They perform the cantata in the Mormon Church, the Catholic Church and, on the final weekend, at the Presbyterian Church in Moses. It's an amazing production for such a small group.