Our Christmas Vaca!

Disclaimer: I haven't blogged in WAY too long and have WAY too much to catch up on. Remember- I am a DoCuMeNteR by nature and would never presume anyone to have the desire to know this much about my life. That said, I'm about to share A lOt! If you're in for the ride, I would suggest bathroom breaks, on-hand snacks and a comfortable seat!! :)

It all began Dec. 20 with a 9:30am flight to Phoenix- layover in Detroit. With the Friday storm and more to come, I was not anticipating a smooth traveling experience. We miraculously got home just an hour behind schedule! After visiting with family our first priority was..... CaFe RiO!!! My parents decided to make it a family outing and as you can see, I was just a tad excited :) I really don't know if the culinary experience can beat a Cafe Rio salad or burrito. Yum!

We have had some cravings while in Buffalo and since I've started with the food thing, I'm going to continue. As I looked over my pictures, about 75% of them involved food and so, in no particular order, here they are! [Personal antedote: This past Sunday, we were sitting down to dinner and after we start eating, Trav admits to me that it looked so good, his first instinct was to wait, because he thought I would want to take a picture! Haha, man I've trained this guy well! (and no, I did not actually take a picture:)]

SoNiC! I got to munch on my corn dog and grilled cheese while visting with my favorite cousin in the world- Leah!

I crave Mexican food in general, but this was a new place for me! I went with my sister, Shelley and friend Jenni , to Abuelos for lunch one day. Really good enchiladas

Gotta love Neds!! A Mesa favorie! My mouth is seriously watering! Delicious subs and good company. Ned is Travis's uncle, so he paid us a visit while we ate.

Pei Wei is a less expensive branch off of P.F. Changs and they make a spicy chicken salad to die for! My nose is always running and my mouth is on fire when I'm done, but oh so worth it!

Gecko Grill is probably my favorite Mexican food restaurant next to Cafe Rio. They have seafood selections like shrimp tacos and burritos and I love their special enchilada sauce. Don't judge, but you have to get a Pepsi when you come here! My little sister Marcie and her boyfriend, Austin came to enjoy with us.


Ok, on to some random home- eating pictues!

Davy Love is known for drinking from a Mason jar- guess we were out of clean ones...

What is it with my family and drinking out of measuring glasses??! :)

Ok, so after a long day of shopping, we come home and my mom has brought home Panda Express! Score! It was one of the places we wanted to eat at. LoVe their chow main and orange chicken. Well, about an hour later we head over to Trav's parents house and his brother in law announces that he is going to Inn'N'Out burger and asks if anyone wants some. Trav hesitates just long enough to try and make me think he is only considering it, then declared he'll take a double double cheeseburger, animal style. Yes, this is just an hour after we have stuffed ourselves on Panda. Did I mention that we never felt hungry while on our trip home? No, we just ate and ate til we popped.

About two days after we got home, we awoke to no milk in the fridge. Not to worry, I figured I'd make pancakes. I pull out one container of half and half. A month old. So I pull out the other one from the outside fridge. Two months old. Hmmm. I go for the whipping cream. About 3 weeks old. Last resort, Rice Dream. 2 weeks old. Well, I am hell bent on making pancakes. Bacteria burns off anyway, right? So I make a concoction using the rice milk and whipping cream.

They look like pancakes..... they even tasted like pancakes. Well, pretty much anyway. Good news is - no one got sick! Maybe next time, I'll just make a run to the store :)

Ok, let's see if this story can top the last one. For our first Sunday dinner meal, my mom makes Sonoran (snoring) enchiladas. My favorite! We invited my grandmother to eat with us and she brought over fried pies~ could life get any better? They are absolutely delicious, like everything else she makes, and then she startes to tell us about how she made them. You see, she was looking in her pantry and came across a container of shortening that looked a little old. How old? 38 years old!! Seriously, I'm not even kidding. Well, she popped the top and it looked "as white as snow", so why not use it? It's still perfectly good, she reasons. Despite my last story, my mom will not keep leftovers past a day. She will not eat ANYTHING old. This is how I was raised. So I was bit queasy thinking about 38 year old shortening in my fried pie. Good news again- no one got sick! Haha, and I probably ate at least 5 of those pies!

On to CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve we had dinner with the Evans. They always do a program afterward where the grandkids dress up and act out the nativity. There are not enough boys though, so the uncles get to join in as the Wise Men. I think Marcus and Reddin enjoy it more than the kids. Baby Matt was Jesus this year, feeding tube and all, poor guy.

Then Travis's mom hands out the new pajama's for the year. Even our baby got a pair! So cute- the tag even had "Towaga" on the name tag! His first outfit!

After that, we met up with my family at the temple to see the Christmas lights. I remember getting all bundled up as a kid to go see them (reference my mom's outfit :) This year it felt great to me. I didn't even use the blanket I brought along, just in case.

Then we went home and watched the traditional, Christmas Story. I fell asleep right after the kid sticks his tongue to the pole, but woke up enough afterward to sit around drinking hot chocolate and talking with my siblings. We even rung jingle bells by the window of my youngest brother's (8yrs old) room after he had gotten in bed (another tradition). And as always it freaked him out. Us Lindbloms are a little neurotic. Especially when it comes to Santa Clause. :)

OK! Christmas Morning: We all gather in the living room around 8. Marcie lit the fire via remote control :) We are not the rip and tear type of family. Everyone has to go one by one so we can see what they got.

Lane (the only grandkid, and very spoiled) is opening a gift from Jael, Christopher's fiance from Switzerland.

We do a sibling gift exchange since there are seven kids. Craig gave to Travis, which meant my mom gave Trav $50 and said he could pick out his own gift. He was very surprised to find the gloves and beanie he had picked out and wrapped for himself!

I gave to Casey. The remote control helicopter we had ordered for him just came in the mail yesterday *grrr* so this was his impromptu gift. A box full of his favorite food, since his skinny wife starves him. Just kidding Shelley, but seriously. :) I think he liked it.

Travis (aka, me) picked out a shirt and necklace for Shelley's gift, along with a gift certificate to Nielsen's Frozen Custard.

We gave my mom a shirt and necklace.

Shelley and Casey got my dad some oil degreaser soap that caused a face I've never seen on my dad before. I don't know that I've ever seen him so happy! Ok, Shell, we are going in on his gift next year with you guys. You always seem to know what will make him ga ga!

What a cheeser! Love that face!

Starting last year, my parents put together a money scavenger hunt for the older kids. Here we are in the stairwell, waiting for the Ok, to come out and get started.

My mom is giving instructions. This year we competed as couples. Winner gets a $50 bonus (seen on the wall). I don't have any victory pictures, but Trav and I won! Woohoo! Shelley's idea for next year is to have the bonus money at the bottom of the pool. Extreme money hunt! Haha.

Argueably my favorite part of Christmas morning is the feasting! We always have sausage, biscuits and gravy.

The recipe is my grandmothers, but my dad is the cook. So delicious!

The big family gift this year was Rock Band 2. So much more fun than I thought it would be. I personally like the vocals, but as you can see below, I make a kick-a** drummer. I obviously missed my calling in life! :)

After Rock Band, we decided to go enjoy our wonderful weather! I don't care what anyone says- this is better than a white Christmas any day!

Courtesy of the Arizona desert, we had a visitor join us in the festivities. Dead scorpions are the best kind of scorpion.

There's that cheeser again. His mom trained him well!

Trav trying out the long board. I chose to ride it luge-style with Trav pushing me from behind.

The rest of the day was spent talking to missionaries- Trav's sister, Aubrey, called from Portugal around 12:30pm, and his brother, Trevor, called from Mexico around 2:30pm. We ate lunch at my grandma and grandpa's house and got our traditional book from Grandma. We also went to the Evans house for the evening to open presents and take the traditional family picture in our new pajamas. (Have I said "traditional" enough in this post?? :)

It was a wonderful day filled with the people we love most. Thank you to everyone who made it so special!

Hope ya know... I had a hard time. :)

So I guess Buffalo decided to give us a going-away present today. I would like to return it. The snow started at about 8am and has dropped 1-2 inches an hour. I was able to leave work early around 1pm. This is how I made my exit.

Yes, I'm in a skirt. sigh. And I did not have good shoes on, so I gathered two plastic bags and taped them to my feet. Everyone at work was laughing while simultaneoulsy advising me on how to get safely home. I knew to be worried (not that I wasn't already!) when these seasoned Buffalonians were staring out the windows in amazement.Seriously, pictures do not do this scene justice. The snow drifts were mid calf, trying to get in my door.

This was the driver's side window. I had to scrape the snow off to get to the handle. We didn't have a shovel in the car so I used the ice scraper to dig out the tires before attempting to pull out of the parking lot. I got about two feet and got stuck. So I hop out in my skirt and plastic bags and spend a good five minutes digging myself out again.

This is the aftermath. Cute, I know.

Yeah for the snow plows!

I'm amazed that my voice sounds so calm. I was truly having heart palpitations. I did not go over 25mph the whole way home. It normally takes me about 15 min., but today was over an hour. There are actually "driving bans" put into effect for a few towns. I saw many cars stuck and spinning out and had my share of slippery turns and close calls. I was so proud of myself for getting home safely, but know it was my sister's (and others) prayers that did it! Thanks Marcie - you're the best!Trav started shoveling our driveway, then was able to get our neighbor's snow blower working, so he finished with that. What a difference! Poor guy finishes his week of finals and then spends a couple of hours in 20 degree weather(with wind chill factor it feels like 4 degrees!). Way to go

Trav! :)

*By the way, my title comes from a conference talk.... remember now? :)

Holy Flippin Busy Week!!

This was one of those weeks that I was excited about, but couldn't wait to get it over with at the same time. There was something going on EVERYDAY. Let's begin. :)

I don't have any pictures of Monday, but after work I rushed to the grocery store, the dry cleaners, then home to make dinner. I made enchiladas and took them to the Nielsens since they just had a baby. We devoured the left overs, had FHE, and I crashed. (I never get enough sleep on the weekends!)

Tuesday after work, I rushed home, made 4 dozen cookies, dinner, and then went to the Relief Society Christmas Enrichment night. We had a cookie exchange and tied quilts as a service project. That night we had "brinner" (breakfast for dinner) and a picture had to be taken of Travis cooking bacon in our kitchen for the first time since we've been married. I know, I know, how does my poor husband put up with a wife that doesn't enjoy steak, bacon, or sausage. He's made it somehow. So I took a guilt trip and finally purchased some bacon- only he had to cook it. He wanted to know why I bought 33% less fat bacon, when only HE would be eating it. So ungrateful! :)

Wednesday night was YW Evening in Excellence, so after work and dinner I was at the church all night. It was "Oscar" themed and Natalie and Tiffany did any amazing job of decorating and organizing it. I did think it was funny though, that music such as "Who let the dogs out" and "Shake It" by Metrostation was played as the girls walked in and posed for their pictures. Just different than I remember Evening of Excellence being as a teenager, but very fun! (Wed. night we also had one of Travis's friends from AZ stay with us because he was interviewing at UB on Thursday. Trav was a good host and took him to Duff's that night for wings. :)

Thursday night I went to a Christmas ornament exchange party. I guess this a tradition in Buffalo ward that was started about 5 years ago. There was a huge spread of delicious food and I got to take home 18 very cute ornaments. I am in no way a crafty person, so my humble ornament was made of puzzle pieces. I was very proud of myself for getting them all done a week in advance though! Leah, you'll have to help me out with next year's idea!

I think I'll be like my mom and always have a tree with homemade ornaments instead of a fancy, color- coordinated tree. It's just a small little guy, but it looks loads better with all the new ornaments! Towaga even made the tree!

Friday night the Shaw's hosted an "Ugly Sweater" party at their house. We also did a White Elephant exchange. This was the first present Travis got, until it got stolen!

So this is what he unwrapped next....... Haha. Who brought that????!!! :)

Well, we were REALLY bummed when that got stolen, so he finally ended up with..... POGS!! Remember those? Well, the guys had a blast playing with them when the game was over. Just takes me right back to elementary school!

So who got our gifts......? (Oh, I also attempted to make my dad's green salsa and it was a hit! I was so excited since I basically made up the recipe since I couldn't remember how to make it)

Well, Tiff was lucky winner #1. If you can't read the small print, it says: Congratulations! You've been enrolled in the Jelly- of- the Month Club! Haha. National Lampoons Christmas Vacaction anyone?? Yeah, I don't know if she really got it, but those who had seen the movie thought it was pretty funny!

And here is winner #2! Glad to get that stuff out of the house! Sorry anyone who thought that was too much information! Haha. I knew those corny bridal shower gifts would come in handy one day! (Oh, and yes, they were the same ones who stole our book!!) How come they got to go home with all the goods?!

Tiff just had to bust open the edible undies. 

Bron took a nibble- not quite to his liking!

So I don't know if you can see the beautiful essence of my sweater, but it is covered with dogs, paws, bones, and beads galore! LOVE IT!! Trav's was a knitted number, and he had just as much fun wearing ugly, tight khakis with it as he did the ugly sweater! Don't we look like the cheesiest couple posing for their Christmas picture??!!

Group shot- love the automatic timer on the camera!

Just the ladies! (Tiff won for ugliest sweater- it had a built in turtle neck!!)

Still reading??? Trav just came in and couldn't believe I was STILL blogging. Ok, well to top off the week of craziness and no sleep, I got to wake up at 6:30am on Saturday and drive down to south Buffalo to take two of the New York State Teaching Certification Examinations! Yeah! NOT! I was so tired - in fact I went wearing NO makeup at all and unmatching clothes. That is not something I've ever done before. Each test was 4 hours and I had about 1/2 hour to eat my lunch inbetween. The darn desks were too low and I couldn't cross my legs- maddening- and during my first test I sat next to a "sniffer". You know what I'm talking about. 20 seconds won't go by without him sucking down boogies. And he cleared his throat inbetween sniffs. I seriously couldn't handle it. That aside, I actually didn't mind the tests, in and of themselves. It was fun studying for them beforehand and for some reason I just love taking a test and finding out how I did on it. I get kinda giddy. I don't know if it's the learning, getting a good grade, or what, but it's fun. Shelley is probably rolling her eyes while choking on her lunch, reading this. :) Well, it's not over yet- I still have one more test to take and I can't take it until February! They only offer the tests once a month, every other month. So on Feb. 21, I will take the last one. That's 7 days before my due date so let's just hope Towaga doesn't decide to come early!

Last Saturday I made a paper chain counting down the days until Trav is done with finals and we get to come home! Can you tell I'm excited?

I don't know if I'm more excited to be warm or have Christmas. Today it was 50 degrees and rainy and we thought it was good weather! What's happening to us????!!!