New Year - New Events!

Wow! We've had a busy start to our year indeed. A quick run through of our 2009 events so far:

Jan. 3: Erika was baptized. She is our last 8 year old. It's unbelieveable how time flies. Grandma Nielson got Erika's beautiful white dress. Unlike her older sisters who took multiple trips and tries in many dressing rooms, Erika went right in, saw the perfect dress, picked out her size and never wavered. It was beautiful on her. Dad performed the baptism, and just about every family member was in attendance.

We know that Erika will be a disciple of Christ much in the same way she picked out her dress: She is very sure of what is right and doesn't waver!

Jan. 5: A brand new cousin! Uncle Darren & Aunt Cathleen's family got a new baby. NATHAN Darren Poulsen was born 5 weeks early, but was a healthy 8.5 pounds. His lungs took a couple of days to get up to speed, but is doing great! Looks like he might have red hair like his brother and sister.

Jan. 21: Kaila is 18! Now really... it seems like just a bit ago that we were watching her baptism. She is a very beautiful young lady. The 18th birthday week was not all easy going with Dad in Florida for the super bowl, a rough end of school term, and some 'boy' issues... but she took it all in stride and showed her positive attitude! We usually do a big "kid" party for all the January birthdays, but this year we had a special "Grown-Up" dinner at Brick Oven. Grown-ups only... to celebrate KAILA!

Region & State Drill: Sierra and the LaShays danced in their final competitions for this school year. They hosted region drill at their gorgeous new school, and then qualified to go to the state finals! Sierra had a rib that dislocated in her back, so she had to sit out one dance, but she toughed out the final number. "I didn't want to miss our final dance!" It has been a very busy and hectic year, but being on drill has been a great experience. She has made many new friends and will be trying out again for next year's team.

Region Swim: Kaila swam with the Skyhawks at their first ever region swim meet. She did freestyle, breaststroke, and swam in two different relays. This has been a new, fledgling team and they have all worked very hard. The girls' free-relay qualified as an alternate for the state meet. After the meet in SLC, we enjoyed eating a late lunch at Noodles. YUM!


Jan 30: Drama Conference: Jada and Mom got to go to the Utah Theater Association conference at Weber State. The kids got to participate in workshops and performances all day. Our favorite part: Watching the production of "Peter Pan" put on by WSU. It made me remember why I love that show so much! The cold bus ride home wasn't so great... but our Ihop dinner was! Here's Jada's groovy posse: Sydney, Jada, Nick and Katie. These kids are SOOOO fun! I don't want them to move on the high school!

Feb 1: Super Bowl! Dad worked his 7th Super Bowl, this year in Tampa. He was gone for 17 days! I don't know who missed him the most... Mom, the kids or Lizzy! One thing's for sure, the dog hasn't let him out of her sight since he got back. She never gets up on our bed, but that first night he was home, she jumped right up there multiple times. Of course we had our traditional Super Bowl party. This year was at Natalie and Jesse's bonus room. We had taco salads and cheered our guts out for the Cards... oh, well! (I'm sure Nat has pictures of this somewhere...)

PLAYS! What kind of DRAMA family would we be if we weren't involved in some type of play production at any given time???

101 Dalmations! Necia and Jaden both had parts in the SF Youtheater production of 101 Dalmations. Necia played a Scotty dog. She wore a real kilt, and did a genuine Highland Fling! Jaden got to play a bad cowboy and the London Bobby. It was a very cute show.

LITTLE WOMEN: Kaila was the production assistant for Salem's show. She did all of the girls' time period hair styles, and worked the lights as well.

ALICE in WONDERLAND: Right in the middle of LW, the school had auditions for "Alice". Kaila tried out and got the part of ALICE!! They have started rehearsals and she has BIG TIME lines to memorize. Of course, she doesn't get the leave the stage for pretty much the whole show. Can't WAIT to see it!

MULAN: We are doing MULAN at school. We open in 3 and half weeks! YIKES! The music and dances look great, but the scenery is slow going! (Could have something to do with the fact that the painters can't ever get on the stage because the actors are always rehearsing... oh, how I need a shop!) I hope there are 120 kids all sewing their kimonos at this moment!

WIZARD of OZ: Steve is already in pre-production for this summer's show. We (well, him mostly) are directing Payson's show this year. The auditions are next month. He had a meeting today with his set and tech people. You'd be surprised how much work there is to be done!

And happy birthdays so far to: Uncles Cordell & Tony, and cousins: Jordan, Mason, Jade, Ethan, Hannah, & Will. (Who am I missing...? oh Kaila!) January is our big birthday month!

Of course, none of that includes our regular stuff... a new term started which means new classes for all of us, our cars are suffering break-down-itis, and our collective opinion is that we are stinkin' sick and tired of winter!! We've been busy, indeed... but that's our life!

Christmas Eve 2008

Sierra-16, Necia-12, Mufasa-6, Erika-8, Jada-14, Lizzy-4 months, Kaila-17

Holiday Eating Tips

I wish I could give authorial credit to the person who developed these helpful tips... but I don't know who that would be. My fab-friend Cecily shared this list with me via e-mail and I loved it so much I decided to post it on my blog! Thanks PPP. This is my kind of advice:

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact,if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door, where they're serving chocolate balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can - And quickly. It's rare. You cannot find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an eggnog-aholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it! Have one for me … Have two! It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don't like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards!

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips: Start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.