The Telling of Christmas

The beginning of the goodness began with the coming of the Smallcomb. She flew out the Thursday before the week of Christmas...I’m going to stop making this as wordy as possible now. Right. Good. So Smalls came, and we played and frolicked with Jess and had such a jolly time. Whilst eating delicious Chinese food (vegan!) in Provo, we randomly ran into Pips, Coxi, and co., and promptly arranged a Sunday dinner to catch up with them. That was a lovely Christmas miracle. I love them.


We also watched ice skaters skating (it was much too cold to skate ourselves), walked through the Gil-Gal Garden (a must for any Salt Lake visitor), and checked out the Dickens Village, a somewhat disappointing marketing trick to get us to pay to shop. But at least there was wassail!

Then Smalls left, on a cold, sad, dismal day, but at least there was peppermint hot chocolate!

And then, three days later, I was picking up my brother Shawn who had flown in from California, and we caravanned up to Idaho with Chris to bring he whole family together again.

And there was much rejoicing.

We spent the first day last minute shopping. Everyone was very excited and involved. My mom cooked a delicious dinner. Then the grandparents, an Uncle, and a cousin came over for dinner, one of the funnest family dinners we’ve had in a long time. At least at the kids table.

Saturday the fam went snowboarding/skiing at Beaver, a wonderful resort that had more snow than Snowbird at this sorry time of year. Wait, what? It’s a sorry time for snow, that is. Not much snow. but Beaver was delightful. And tiring.

We had leftover turkey (or tofurkey!) sandwhiches on the drive back that were amazing. Then, while waiting to take a shower (5 people and one shower takes a bit of time), I tried to make some fudge. Let me tell you, I’ve never struggled so much to make a candy as I did this year. My first attempt at fudge-grandma’s old fashioned fudge-resulted in failure. A fudge so hard it couldn’t even be jack-hammered off the plate I put it on, with the few chocolate flakes we managed to scrape off bringing a strange burnt flavor that just wasn’t quite fitting. So I was bound and determined that this second, easier fudge recipe would not get the better of me.


But boy did it. In a huge way. This recipe called for a double broiler, something we surprisingly do not have. But two pots we had, so away I went, boiling water, then placing the second pot on top to melt the cocoa and sugar all together into a delicious, creamy, smooth mixture that suddenly-BOOM! exploded in my face. Hot water all over my chin and hands, not to mention the kitchen wall and floor. Chocolate splatches also spattered my clothes, the floor, and the kitchen counters. this was perhaps the most disastrous baking incident since the glass pan exploded from sitting on the burner, nearly 10 years ago!

To make a short story long, no good fudge this year. Very disappointing.

But after the shower David showed up and that was not disappointing at all. He got there just in time for the opening of presents, which we did early because Chris had to leave the next day. I don’t know what I did right this year, but I was sure spoiled by Santa, and everyone else! My brothers gave me their old XBox 360, and Rock Band 3. And Shawn’s old guitar and drum set. I love that my brothers treat themselves to much more than I do, and then get tired of their treats. Fantastic.

My parents gave me a TV. A new one, that doesn’t need a digital converter to get TV. A flat screen. It’s actually kind of fun to join the new century.

David competely fooled, and kind of annoyed me, by giving me a scooter cover. It’s a lovely present, but he made it appear as though that was all he got me, which honestly was all I was expecting. But then, after everything else, he brings in this other huge box, with snoopy wrapping, that contained a record player/CD player/tape player/ radio. Old fashioned but with all the cool gismos. And of course, a record to play, since I don’t have any. My mom sure had fun going through all her old record though, and finding a Christmas one to play.

It was so nice. What a nice boy. What a nice Christmas. I haven’t even started playing with all my toys yet, as coming back to work and life have taken something of a toll on me. But I am very excited. And content.

Now to get ready for next year!!!