Bloggety...Blog...Blog...Blogging While Watching "Downton Abbey"

"Downton Abbey" is a show on Masterpiece Theater on PBS. It's from England and is quite a hit. It's set in the early 1900's and tells the story of the life in an estate. The lives of the help and the owners of the estate are depicted. Season 4 just started and I really like it. I missed the first hour of the episode because of a misprint in the TV listing, so I'm catching up on that while I make myself useful and blog about Christmas.

Christmas Eve was fun, yet different from in years past. The four of us decided to go to Temple Square and see the lights. We hadn't been there yet. We shopped, walked around and enjoyed the city. We stayed long enough to see the lights, then we left in time to get back to American Fork for dinner at Fong's Asian Dining. It's one of our favorite places and we decided to have Chinese food for Christmas Eve dinner. Mom and dad were invited to come on Christmas day for a turkey dinner with all the fixings.

Brigham Young's Beehive House...all decked out for Christmas.

Christmas tree ornament Starlyn Hjorth made for me.

Oh, Mel REALLY wanted to do gingerbread houses. We found the perfect kit at Walmart and supplemented with some additional candy. We had a blast and they turned out really cute!

Kobi Watkins and Melia with their houses

All four houses done. Far left: Kobi; next: Allie; front right: Mel; rear right: me and Keenan

beautiful flower arrangement given to me by two students. They made it for me in their floral design class

Is there anything more beautiful?

Assembly Hall at Temple Square

Melia and Allie at Temple Square

On Christmas Eve we did the usual opening of the pajamas. Allie had picked out a couple that she liked and I selected a cute pair of green and navy blue striped knit ones. Mel liked some pj bottoms and some sweats at Old Navy. I don't think she expected the sweats, but I surprised her and got her the sweats. Both girls were really happy. I was excited about this Christmas. I probably spent less money on each of the girls than in the past, but really bought things that would be meaningful. I was anxious to see the girls' reactions. I also got some gifts that I thought Keenan would really like, too.

We heard from Kamiko that we would be able to "chat" via email live on Christmas morning. His exact words in a text were "7:30 am our time." Well, did that mean 7:30 American Fork time or 7:30 Santiago Time, which would be 3:30 am in American Fork. So, just to be safe, we set alarms and got online at 3:30 am. No Kamiko. We went back to bed and got up again at 7:30. That was the correct time. We had a nice "visit." He seems to be doing well. Allie was really funny in what she wrote, so we let her be scribe most of the time.

Email conversation with Kamiko

We then proceeded to open gifts since we were all awake. It was so fun. Allie got the Elizabeth Smart biography, some shoes, tights, a flannel shirt, a necklace, and a purse. Melia got boots she really wanted, a purse, socks she had wanted, cute oxford shoes, a dress I made for her and a necklace. I got Keenan a t-shirt with a pocket with a picture of a cat like Honu on it, some new games and a book about Book of Mormon study for families. I got some clothes and a ring from Keenan. The girls gave me some clothes, as well. They surprised each other with shirts, sweaters, etc. They are very generous with each other. It was a good Christmas. Very different without Kamiko, but still fun. Mom and dad came over and we had a great dinner and played games. I love turkey dinner with potatoes, stuffing, gravy, cranberries, rolls, etc.

Melia and her stocking loot

Ready to open

Our lovely tree and the presents below

Melia is ready to go!

Me, opening a present from Melia. A really cute striped shirt.

Honu didn't get anything, but he didn't seem to mind.

Keenan opens a shirt that Melia gave him.

Keenan brings me a COLD Diet Dr. Pepper for Christmas.

Allie loves the denim shirt Melia gave her.

Mel opens and reacts to the purse from mom and dad.

Kamiko gave Keenan a jacket.

the blue ring is from Keenan

Mel loves her socks

Whoa...Allie is stoked about the flannel shirt

Ah, the boots. Mel saw them at Ross, but didn't buy them. Allie and I went the next day and bought them.

Allie made Keenan his very own fleece blanket.

More and more and more presents

wow, really excited about tights.

pants that I might have bought for myself and told Keenan to wrap for me. Same for the red shoes in the background.

Oh, the Elizabeth Smart book

super cute shirt from Allie

Money from Grandma and Grandpa Hunter. Get creative and make skirts.

Cozy, cute sweater from Allie

Allie's loot

Oh, this girl REALLY wanted this red and white striped shirt. From Melia. It is really cute, I must admit.

Honu watches as Melia opens the necklace from mom and dad.

The girls made a yummy breakfast on Christmas morning. Waffles, sausage, eggs, etc.

After Christmas day, we enjoyed a vacation together. We went out to eat a bit. We went to the movie. We rented movies and watched them together. The girls rode the Train into SLC with friends. I went to bed at 10:00 pm on New Year's Eve, so that was a bust. The girls had gone to a dance and Keenan watched "Up" on TV. I read books over the break. Allie read the Elizabeth Smart book in about 2 days. Mel worked on a science project, burning fabric. We went to get burgers once with Grandma and Grandpa. We also had fun sewing. The dress I made for Mel wasn't quite what she wanted. I was copying a dress she had seen at Urban Outfitters. I wasn't upset that it wasn't quite what she wanted. I told her we could re-make it if she wanted. Well, we found the perfect fabric and re-made it on Saturday. Allie and Mel both got money from mom and dad to make tulle skirts. We got Allie's made on Saturday and Mel has decided how she'll tackle hers. I think Mel has a real knack for fashion. I hope she continues to experiment with clothing and design.

Melia and Keenan at 5 Guys Burgers

Mel and her fry photobombing

This is me, on New Year's Eve

Allie and Grandma eating yummy burgers

On their way to Salt Lake City

Picture taken on January 1, 2014 walk

This was taken while parked in front of Kobi Watkin's house. We were in van, facing west. It was really coming down.

Now it's 2014. School started today. I'm getting ready to start a new semester. New students. I hope I can teach them some valuable skills and that they will learn to cook and eat real food. Boy, my students seem to know less and less about food preparation. Speaking of this...we have a theme for our family home evenings this month...life skills. Tonight, I'll teach the girls how to efficiently chop an onion and we'll talk about meal planning and basic cooking skills. I also want to cover budgets, careers, job hunting, home cleaning and maintenance, etc.