December Misc.

Here are a few more pictures from December:

Oliver being very interested in the Christmas decorations box

Mike and I putting up some of the outside decorations

Dorie helped supervise

Oliver inspecting the tree ornaments

Dorie hanging out on the couch

Juno and Max really hoping to get some treats

Max livin' the life - relaxing on flubby

Oliver was really curious when we started putting gifts under the tree

Dorie hanging out with me while I was wrapping

Nora was the volunteer of the month for the USU Equine Experiences! (The picture is of her and one of the black barn cats they have in the horse area cuddling on her)

Ev got to go with the chamber strings group and play at the opening of the new Daybreak ballpark Christmas lights experience

Getting a picture with Bumble, the Utah Bees mascot

Oliver standing up to get treats

Only four of us were able to go to the Vivaldi by Candlelight concert this year, but having a smaller group meant we could sit in the cool little table in the front window at Wildwood. The food was amazing, as always.

The concert had been held at the First Presbyterian Church for years and years, so we headed over there but then were confused when we got there that the doors were closed. We double checked the tickets, and saw that it had been moved to the First United Methodist church a few blocks away. Some other people were also having the same issue. We got back in the car and struggled to find a place to park, and then had to walk quite a ways to get there. We ended up missing the first piece they played at the concert, but made it there for the rest. Phew! It was an excellent concert, and we especially enjoyed the cello and viola concertos.

Some pictures of the concert from Utah Global Diplomacy

The program:

At USU they put on a special holiday event called The Reindeer Express, which includes fun activities such as meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus, crafts, writing letters to Santa, doing crafts, and has several kinds of animals in enclosures (such as reindeer, a camel, and horses). They also have student volunteers from the pre vet club running some different educational stations. Nora was assigned to the "surgery station" where she was supposed to teach kids about a dog spay surgery, using one of their stuffed animal models. I thought that was a pretty unusual activity for a holiday event, but she said most of the kids were very interested and only two cried 

Cute wreath shaped veggie tray at Sunday dinner

December tablescape

Decorating the tree

Cute, happy Dorie

Oliver coming for his night-night treats

Orange pets in the office

Juno loves this new cat bed from Grammy

Oliver has claimed the Old Navy bag

Dorie has been having some issues with arthritis, so we have been adjusting her meds to try and get her feeling better. I also got some little stairs for her to use to get up and down off the couch. Sometimes she has been good at using the stairs, but sometimes she forgets and hurts her leg from jumping down.

Dorie was VERY interested in Nora's Costa Vida salad

She wasn't so sure about sitting like a person on the couch

Max being a lil goofball

We had an unusually warm December, and this was Mike (in shorts and a tshirt!) using the lawn mower to pick up the remaining leaves on the lawn

Dorie loved having Nora back at home for the break

Dorie is not allowed in the basement, so this is the view you get sometimes when coming up the stairs, lol

As an assignment in her art class, Ev participated in an art market

Oliver looking so cute on Mike's computer

Nora and I got Juno a special holiday collar with a bow on it to wear in December

Mike took off all the bedding from our bed to wash it, and Max thought we had made a special luxury throne just for him, hehe

I had heard that the holiday stuff at the Traverse outlets was really fun, so Mike, Nora and I went to check it out

Nora and I with the very tall tree

The gingerbread village walkthrough - this was very cute

We found Rudolph

Nora doing some stretches with Dorie

Dorie doing her funny little smile

Nora working on the puzzle with Fritz at Sunday dinner

V and Nora were in charge of decorating the birthday cake for Jesus

Using tweezers to place the little silver balls in the star shape

The finished cake - it turned out beautifully

Lighting the candles

Max the bum-sitter

The mountains during sunset on a walk

The vet wanted to do a special test to see if Dorie had Cushing's Disease. It requires several blood draws a few hours apart, so she stayed at the vet clinic for most of the day. 

Nora opening an early present

Dorie saying hi to her friend "Little Nose"

Dorie was not a fan of having this ginger ale can placed on her, but she did keep it balanced up there

We finally had time to do my family birthday celebration. I chose Panda Express for my dinner

Little One also joined us

For my birthday activity, we played King's Quest IV

Going on another sunset walk with Dorie - the sky was so beautiful

The tree with the bright red berries

Everyone has been enjoying the new love sac. One evening we had a family gaming night where we all played the new Lego Party game. The winner got to sit in the love sac.

I took a picture of the results of this round because it was one of the very few times I did not come in last, haha (I was the little grandma figure because she was wearing a cute cat sweater)

All the kids on the love sac

What it looks like after being freshly fluffed up

On the 27th, Mike and I went out to dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary (22 years woo hoo!) While we were waiting for our table to be ready, we explored around the mall.

I found my twin - the Grinch, lol

Cat window display at the Lego store

Dinner at the Cheesecake Factory

There is a house close by to us that has an incredible light display

This is the house next door to them, hehe

Oliver looking especially cute

Oliver LOVES the love sac, and sleeps on it all the time

Mmmmm, the minky blanket on the love sac is peak comfiness

Umm, you're in my spot

Sunset view from Grammy and Grandpop's house

Ben and Ev are very competitive at slap jack

I asked Kate to show me where she carved everyone's name in the mantle when she was little. She was very smart - she did the names of everyone in the family so no one would know it was her. She also did it so they blend in really well, I couldn't see them until she showed me. lol

Grandpop made the traditional Christmas rice pudding with raspberry sauce for dessert, yum!

For book club this month, we had an optional book since it is such a busy month. It is the book that has the stories that "A Christmas Story" movie is based on. I think Mike and I were the only ones who read it. The stories they used for the movie were the best ones in the book, in my opinion. It was pretty entertaining overall, but there were some parts that haven't aged well.