New Years Resolutions

A little late, I know. But my New Years Resolutions are written down and I am working on keeping them. I think that 2009 is going to be a pretty good year.
So here is my list:

1) Floss my teeth daily.( I always have this as a resolution and I always inevitably realize I didn't keep my resolve when I'm sitting in the dentists chair regretting every soda pop and sour patch kid I've eaten for the past six months....But not this year!)
2) Prepare a nice Sunday dinner every sunday, with the table set. (The Chicken Pot Pie dinner we had last
Sunday doesn't count.)
3)Ration sugar to one treat per day. (This is practically going to be an identity change for me.)
4)Have a Baby!!!! We will see, but I'm really hoping.
5) Go to the Temple monthly.(Check out some new Temples this year.)
6)Read Scriptures daily.
7)Get my house decorated and keep it clean.
8)Pay off at least one Debt.
9)More quality time with McKinley.
10) Read at least one Book per month.

That's the list! Pretty typical for me, as I like to incorporate healthy living, religion and family goals into my resolutions.

something new that we also did this year, David and I both wrote down 5 fun things that we wanted to do this year, and then we drew out of a cup six winners. Some of them may not happen, but this time of year is about setting goals, not being too caught up in reality, right?
The six winners were:
1) Go to Arizona to visit Davids Parents for New Years: Check.
2) Go to a Ballet: Guess who picked this one?
3) Go on a shopping spree. (It may be a 20 dollar shopping spree, but it will be fun, fun, fun!)
4) Lake trip, with SKINNY DIPPING! Yup,we really are going to do it!
5) Hike the Narrows. (This may conflict with my plans for being pregnant.) If it does, maybe we will go to Mexico!
6) Go to Disneyland. This is Mckinley drawing out a paper. She drew out the shopping spree one.

I always love this time of year because there are so many things to look forward to in the upcoming year.

Sledding!

The day after Christmas, we went sledding with my sister Sunni and her husband Shawn. It was fun to see how much Mckinley liked it. She actually started going down by herself! We brought a snow skate with us and she went down sitting on that too. It was so funny because she wanted to go faster so she kept pushing with her hands. She fell off a few times but never cried until it was time to go home. She wanted to keep playing.
Sunni and Shawn are "luge style" sledders. Take note of Shawn's sweet hat. My dad brought that hat back from Bolivia.

Another Christmas Down

Christmas was so much fun this year. As usual, it is always so fun when everyone can take some time off to be with family and really enjoy the holidays. This year was especially nice because my whole family was together which hasn't happened for a couple of years.
David was in Salt Lake until the night of the 23rd, but came home that night and once he was home, I was finally in the Christmas-ee mood. I had everything wrapped and under the tree and so on Christmas Eve, we were able to just be together and do family stuff.

Christmas Eve always starts with an early dinner at my Grandma and Grandpa Jacksons. My Grandpa brought to our attention that every year with the exception of two years when my Grandparents were living in New York on a mission, they have had a Christmas Eve dinner. It is so much fun because it is a tradition that is consistent and similar every year. Just like the comfort food that my Grandma serves, it never gets boring. Every year I love it more. We always start off with a dinner and after everyone is full, we go into the living room and sing songs around the tree and someone reads Luke 2. Now that I am an adult, my favorite part about this event is when my Grandma reads a story or two. She has always read a childrens book on this night and I think that it is such a great tradition. I hope I always remember the way it sounds when she reads a story. After the stories are read, each of the grandkids get to open one present. Even though I am 24, my Grandparents still had a present for me and David to open. McKinley got a sock monkey from Grandma and Grandpa.(Which she had to battle with Shawn to play with. It was quite the popular toy.)

Because both sides of my parent's family live in Cedar, we start with the Jackson party and then rush over to the Riddle party afterwards. The Riddle party is always thrown by my Aunt Vicky at her house. It is always so fun, and the more people we can cram into the house, the better. (There were 57 people in her house on Christmas Eve!) There is always a tantalizing selection of hor d'ovres and fun Christmas beverages like Wassail and Punch. In the past, we have always read The Polar Express and passed the Bell on to the person who gets to read it the next year, but we missed that part this time around.
Some Highlights of this party this year were Shawn and Ian playing an impromtu Piano duet, and the Horse back rides on my Uncle Gale's horses outside.( McKinley is slowly turning into a cowgirl as a result. )

After the festivities at the Riddle party had wrapped up, we went back to my parents house and read "Teach the Children." This Christmas tree and story were given to my brother Johnny by my X boyfriend that I dated all through high school. (At least something good came out of that relationship. Hahaha.) We also read The Gift of the Magi, which is another tradition. Then we went home and went to bed, hoping for Mckinley's sake that the naughty gong hadn't dinged one time too many.
I had a hard time believing it but, the next morning we were amazed that Santa had found our house and that we were not going to be finding creative uses for coal. It's possible that Santa got a little busy this year and didn't actually check EVERYONE twice, but the miracle happened either way.
After opening gifts and playing with some new surprizes, we went over to my Grandma and Grandpa Riddles for Sunday morning breakfast. This has always been such a fun tradition that my Grandparents have done as long as I can remember. My Grandpa was a cook in the Navy many years ago, and he as well as my Uncle Todd are always busy at the stove on Christmas morning, cooking away. My Grandpa had a bad case of Pneumonia just recently with a difficult recovery and because of that, it was especially sweet to see him making Christmas breakfast this year.

My Baby Loves Santa Claus

Mckinley has never liked Santa Claus until this year. In fact she has HATED Santa! Before this year she wouldn't sit on his lap, wouldn't talk to him, wouldn't even look at him. Now she understands that she has to be nice to certain people for things in her life to be pleasant. These people include Mommy, Daddy and Santa Claus. Interesting, don't you think?

There is no such thing as a free lunch!

Maybe this is true for some people, but man, we have hit the jackpot this month. Not for free lunches, but for free dinners which are even better! One of the best things about this time of year is the food, and free food tastes best.
We have had quite a few parties to go to where dinner has been served. Between ward parties, work parties, firefighter parties, caroling parties, tasting parties and relief society parties, as well as family get togethers, we have been very spoiled this month. Thank you to everyone for your hospitality and wonderful cooking skills! (And especially my favorite meal of the year at Benihana!) Yummy! You all must know that the way to our hearts is definitely through our stomachs!
I have finally had a moment to take some pictures of our Christmas decorations. (Another reason this is such a fun time of year.) So here they are. I usually have a white full sized Christmas tree that I put up every year. But this year, I borrowed this silver christmas tree from my mom. The neat thing about this tree is how old it is, probably close to 100 years old. It is a metal christmas tree that once belonged to the woman I was named after, Abby Smith Riddle, who was my mothers grandmother. I love it because I think it is so pretty and unique but also because of the many christmas seasons I'm sure it has seen. It has seen many years, good times and bad. World wars, Great Depressions... Wouldn't it be interesting to be a fly on the wall (or in this case, a bird on the tree) to witness the world events and history this little tree has been through?

I put up a Christmas garland on the front of our house too. The funny part is that it got so windy that it blew down and would have a new home if David hadn't rescued it. David meant to put up some longer screws so it would stay up but he forgot, so I put it back up. The best part is that I put it up backwards so the part that is supposed to be facing the street is facing the house. By the time I realized this I had said so many swear words trying to get it to stay up, that I'm already going to be doing plenty of time in hell. So that's how it is going to stay until we take it down. I know, it looks pretty sad, and I am in desperate need of a wreath, but we will have to worry about that next year. My domestic housekeeping ship has sailed. (and sunk)

This is Davids tree. Another funny story: Mckinley has been watching Sleeping Beauty and has been carrying around a knitting needle, pointing at things and saying "make it Pink" or "make it blue". She tried to use these magic powers to "make David's tree pink" and he said "it's a man tree, you're not going to make it pink." So here is the "Man Tree." My favorite thing about it is that it has two strings of lights on it. (it's really like two feet tall.) I'm sad that the lights don't show up very well in the picture.

This is my gingerbread village. It gets a little bit better every year because I have been slowly adding things to it. Looks good enough to eat huh?

Brandi Brown!

Brandi! I really really really want to visit your blog. Add this e-mail address ok? abbyroad1@hotmail.com I was thinking that you might have added abbyslemonadestand but I don't think it worked.

Things I've Done
Rene, I copied this from your blog because I thought it was so fun. Thanks for the idea! If you want to do this too, just copy and paste this to your own blog, bold the items that you have actually done.
1. Started your own blog.
2.Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen an eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Danced the night away