Christmas Day

A few pictures from that morning:

Aubrey's new music box A new David Lanz piano book for Abram, since he has mastered "Christmas Eve"
Zacky loves his Cars set

Joel has been dreaming of having a keyboard. Thank you, Costco!

We make the kids stay in bed until 6:30 Christmas morning. It used to be 7:00, but the past few years we have given them a break. As you may remember, we don't do Santa Claus at our house. The kids get plenty of presents, but they all know that Santa is a fun story, and dad and mom work hard to get money to buy their presents because we love them. It is always funny when some well-meaning adult comes up to one of our younger kids (it happened to Savanna today) and asks, "Did Santa come to your house?" Savanna said, "No." She left it at that, and so I quickly explained that we don't do Santa, but we DO do Christmas.

This year we decided to buy a big family gift and go easy on the individual presents. We ordered a pool table on October 17th, and we were told it would be 4-6 weeks until it arrived. Perfect, right?

I called 2 weeks before Christmas to make sure the table was still on schedule. The store checked, and the table hadn't even left Arizona where it was being made. The lady promised me that we would have a pool table for Christmas, even if it meant they gave us the one in their showroom (at least $2000 more expensive than the one we bought) instead. I was OK with that. We would have the table for Christmas.

And then it snowed. The pool store is right by the dental office, and they, too were socked in with snow. Their delivery truck was buried by snow, and they weren't able to dig out until after Christmas. So we wrapped up the brochure and Mark started the gift opening with this story:

"One year there was a really big storm at Christmas (making windy, stormy sound effects, and wearing his Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer jammies I made for him a few years ago). Everyone was worried because they were not going to have presents for Christmas. The UPS truck wouldn't come with the presents. The FedEx truck wouldn't come with presents. The Post Office wouldn't deliver any presents. And the people said, "Don't worry, Rudolph will save us!" And then they remembered, "Oh, no! Rudolph is fake! He can't help us!" But don't worry. This is going to be the best Christmas ever. Some people got presents yesterday (the oldest 3 got new beds which were delivered Christmas Eve), some people will get presents today, and some people will get presents the day after Christmas, and the day after that!"

With that setup, the kids opened the envelope, and they were excited. We then dug into the rest of the gifts, and only Noah was missing one thing we had ordered for him. But he was OK, because he had walkie talkies.

Each kid got a few cool things, and then my mom and dad saved the pool-table-less day by giving the kids a wii. They were amazed and excited. The wii has been a great thing to have during this Christmas break. Each day the kids get up, do their practicing, clean their rooms, and do their chores so that when they ask if they can play the wii, and I ask "Do you have all of your jobs done?" they can say YES and get going.

Kung Fu Panda is an excellent 4-player wii game, by the way. And Savanna is the best bowler around.

Hallelujah, it's Christmas!

We have a lot of Christmas CDs at our house. But it seems that just a handful of them get played over and over each year. Our family's top 5 favorite Christmas albums:

1. The Roger Whitaker Christmas Album (the one with songs you've never heard before, such as "Hallelujah, it's Christmas, Momma Mary and Darcy the Dragon)

2. John Denver and the Muppets- A Christmas Together (Merry Christmas, little Zachary)

3. Carpenters Christmas Portrait

4. Dan Fogelberg (Yes, he had a Christmas album, and it is fantastic)

5. Neil Diamond, vol 2 (I understand the irony, but Candlelight Carol is my all-time favorite)

Lots of other good ones, such as The Osmonds, John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas, Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, etc. But the 5 above get the most play. Our kids can rock the house to Hallelujah, it's Christmas, too.

I suppose I should list our 5 favorite instrumental Christmas CDs also. The above five are for singing along to. These are just for listening.

1. David Lanz-Christmas Eve

2. Liz Story-The Gift

3. Jenny Oaks Baker-O Holy Night

4. Vince Guaraldi-Charlie Brown Christmas

5. George Winston-December

Our nightmare with Canon, or Bad Luck Part III

I promised the lady at Canon today that I would blog about this after being told that the one person who can help me is "in a meeting for the rest of the day and won't be available until Monday." Sounds believeable, right? NO! We got the same answer last Wednesday, and Doug Dodger at Canon conveniently cannot answer the phone when I am on the line, or when Canon Customer Relations calls him to get the information they need to make this situation right. Apparently he has been in a meeting from the time he arrived at work Monday morning and will be in that meeting until he leaves today. I know he is lying. Any normal person knows he is lying. I'm not sure what kind if push-over he thinks I am. Here's the scoop:

Mark has been a Canon guy since 1984 when he bought his first 35mm camera. That camera served him well for 13 years, until he moved up big time to his professional auto-focus yet still film camera. That camera brought him happiness for many years. But 2 years ago Mark decided to join the technology bandwagon and go digital. He bought the Canon 5D, which has been an incredible camera. The only problems we have had are with the lenses.

When we were in Belize, yes, once in a lifetime Belize, his lens broke. Something inside of it locked up and then it really, really broke. We have hardly any of our own pics from that heaven-on-earth place, but the rest of my fam took plenty to help us remember our trip to paradise. This lens was 11 years old, so we figured it wasn't the end of the world to buy a new lens.

We returned from Belize and immediately ordered a new lens for Mark's camera. The Canon EF 70-200 L. A great lens with outstanding capability--we thought.

Mark took many shots of kids and scouts, but not until our trip to Canada in August did we discover that there was something really wrong with this lens. Many shots in Canada were taken at f 32. These shots taken with this aperature have black spots throughout them. Pictures with other lenses do not have black spots in them. We discovered this after printing the pictures a few weeks after our return. Mark cleaned his camera sensor, thinking that perhaps the spots were on there. But still he was getting black spots on the pics. He then looked more closely at the lens. He discovered black pieces of debris exactly where the more prominent spots were showing up, and bubbles, or imperfections in the glass at the top of the lens, where other spots were showing up. We called Canon, and they told us where to mail the lens to have it repaired under warranty.

I overnighted the lens and paperwork to the Irvine service center, and they received it before Thanksgiving. We had it back early the next week--with all the same spots INSIDE of the lens. I called Canon, and someone apologized profusely, and promised to email me a label to send it back to them. The label didn't come. I called. They told me it could take 24-48 hours. It didn't come. I called again. They told me to wait. I called again. Somebody said he was re-creating the label, and I would have it within 24-48 hours. It still didn't come. I called. I waited. I called. I was promised another label. This one arrived about 12 hours later. In all, it took Canon 6 days to send me a UPS label to mail them the lens.

Now, we clearly had explained to Canon what the issue was. We explained verbally, on paper, and even included photographs with the spots so that the technician would be able to see what was going on.

We got the lens back a week later with all the same debris in the lens. They told us to send in the camera body. Not a chance. This problem doesn't happen with other lenses. Allen at Canon promised me a new label which would arrive in 24-48 hours. I told him I wasn't falling for that one again, and he was able to get his supervisor to get a label to me within about 5 minutes. He told me that there should not be any debris inside of the lens, whether or not the technicians can make black spots appear when they test it. A lens this expensive should be clean.

We sent the lens back. Canon called on December 23rd to say that they can see the debris in the lens, but that they think it's fine and we should just live with it. Hungh said that all lenses have stuff inside of them, and you just have to live with it. We asked them if they had tested the lens at f 32. They only test up to f 22, and would not test at f 32. He told us to talk to Doug Dodger, who also said that indeed he can see the stuff in the lens, but they are unable to get it out of there, and as far as Canon is concerned the lens is fine and we should just live with the crud and photoshop it out if it bothers us. Mark told him we wanted a new clean lens, not this one they have taken apart 3 times and which Dough said probably now has more dust in it than when we first sent it. Doug said he could not authorize a new lens--we would have to call Jim in Virginia.

The problem with Canon is their customer service is in Virginia, and the repair facility is in Irvine. Nobody at either place claims to be able to do anything about anything, because they other person is always the gatekeeper. It's a perfect trap for the consumer. We got hooked up with Jim, who was no help, and very hostile. He eventually sent us on to Roderick at the Canon Customer Relations Center 866-886-1901. That's their secret phone number that they won't give out. Roderick said he cannot authorize a new lens--that has to come from Doug in Irvine. Yes, the same Doug who said he couldn't do anything about it, and the same Doug who is in meetings all day every day.

When I call Roderick (who is actually very nice), he says he can't do anything until Doug responds to him to verify that he can indeed see debris in the lens that they cannot get out. Doug doesn't answer Roderick's calls or requests for info. Doug doesn't answer my calls. Doug is NOT in meetings all day, and I know it. He's trying to blow us off.

I called Roderick again today, and he is not working today. I had to speak with someone else who said she could do nothing, because it was Roderick's case, and he was very sorry. This has been going on for 6 weeks now, and we are tired of it. I told her that my only hope for getting Canon's attention now was to blog about our horrible Canon warrany experience. I'm going to get the kids to help me make a youtube video tonight about this. She was suddenly eager to jump in and see if she could help. But she never called back..... What a surprise.

Doug Dodger's phone number is 949-753-4200. See if you can catch him NOT in a meeting!

Gingerbread Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 TBSP vinegar
5 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, molasses and vinegar. Whisk dry ingredients together. Mix with sugar mixture. Chill 3 hours. Roll dough 1/4 inch thick and cut into shapes. Bake at 375 for 6-8 minutes until cookies just start to crack. Cool slightly, then remove to wire rack.
I mix up a sugar glaze of powdered sugar and milk and ice the cooled cookies. I'm way too lazy to actually decorate them.

Christmas Eve

I'm finally getting around to pulling pictures of Christmas off of Mark's memory card. Actually, it was Josh's memory card. I will do a post titled "Bad Luck, Part 3" later and explain. The short version is that UPS stinks.

Christmas Eve was a very, very snowy day. But Mark's family journeyed over the river and through the woods to our house for a fun evening. We had pot roast for dinner and gingerbread cookies and ice cream for dessert. Usually I think gingerbread cookies are disgusting--crunchy, stale--however I have a very good recipe for gingerbread cookies. I got it when we lived in Omaha from the Winter Quarters visitor center. I will post that later, too. So good.

After dinner, we had the usual nativity pageant acted out by the little 'uns while 10 cameras flashed them all blind. Those not in the pageant and not taking pictures watched the usual baby Jesus not wanting to stay in the laundry basket, and the shepherds wresting with the wise man. It is a little bit crazy, but it is a huge tradition, and the kids wait eagerly each year for Grandma to assign their roles. Following the nativity, Abram, Aubrey and Jake performed some musical numbers, and last but not least, the kids got to open their presents from Grandma. This year Mark's mom gave each of our kids a blu-ray movie. It was good, because it gave us plenty of entertainment for the long weekend.

I love having everyone at our house for get togethers. Feeding a crowd is something I do every meal, so it's not a big deal for me to feed a few more. This year we had 28. It's easier for me to have everyone here than to pack up our crew and go to somewhere else. More Christmas posts to follow...

White Christmas

We've had a lot of snow---I mean a lot of snow. Usually when it snows here we get an inch or so, and the next day it is 50 degrees and it is gone. But it snowed here for 13 days in a row. We couldn't open the dental office Monday or Tuesday this week because the roads were so bad, and also there was a 6-ft drift covering the front of the building and extending out to the middle of the street.

It has been a lot of fun. The kids basically got out of school a week early, because the districts panicked on the first 3 snow days that weren't even bad. By the time the real snow arrived last Friday, it was indeed worthy of a snow day, but they got 5 days out of the deal, and lots of time to play in the snow.

Saturday night was a blizzard. A full-on midwest-style blizzard. We also had tickets to a sold-out performance of Handel's Messiah. 6 tickets. We were heavily invested in the event. Mark chained us up early Saturday when it was looking like a blizzard was on tap, and we drove the Excursion downtown for the event. There were probably 40% of the seats filled, but the show went on. It was incredible. I got chills when the soprano sings the nativity recitative and then the trumpets sound from the balcony for the "multitude of heavenly hosts." It was worth the drive through the blizzard. On the way home, there was a bit of freezing rain, and we had to stop a couple of times to un-stick the windshield. The second time we stopped, the driver-side wiper totally fell apart, and we were left with the passenger one working, and the driver one sticking out away from the car as we began a late-night quest to find a new wiper. Sadly, the gas stations had closed because of the storm, and the 2 Chevrons that we knew would have wipers were dark. The Flying J was out of all wipers, and so we headed to WalMart, where they were open, but out of the 20-inch size we needed. So I settled for a 19-inch wiper, and we were on our way back home. It was quite a night.

Sunday there was no church, again. One of our patients texted a picture of the dental office, and so Mark and the boys and Josh headed down to at least dig a pathway to the front door and get the snow off of the front of the building. We were anticipating opening Monday morning. But it snowed even more on Monday, and we got another text picture of the office even more socked in than before. So Tuesday morning Mark headed down and dug again. There was no way our patients or employees could drive to the office Tuesday, so we were shut down again. No more work until after Christmas!

We've had lots of family time and lots of snow time over the past 2 weeks. It has been very fun, and a very memorable Christmas. The downside of all of this beautiful stuff is that one of Noah's presents didn't arrive in time, although I ordered it on December 12th. I may head down to FedEx today to pick it up for him.

No time to blog----too much to knit

My mom taught me how to knit when I was about 14. I knit dishcloths like a crazy girl. I really enjoyed knitting. I was a knitter before it was cool. When Mark was in dental school I would knit at the library while he studied. When Abram was a baby I made a couple of little sweaters for him.

For the past 15 years or so, I have picked up my needles once, and that was about 8 years ago to make some animal puppets for the kids. I guess it's because I really don't have a lot of spare time.

When my mom was here at Thanksgiving, she was knitting some hats, which are very beautiful, and very simple. I watched her knit in the round and I was mesmerized. I had never knit in the round, but I saw that it was really not a big deal. And then she switched to the double-pointed needles and I was afraid.

I remember as a young girl watching my piano teacher knit little Santa christmas tree ornaments on double-pointed needles. It scared me because it looked like she was playing with a voodoo doll. There was no way I could ever do such a thing. Way too complicated for the world's most un-coordinated person to even think about.

My mom and I found a yarn shop here in town that sold Lamb's Pride yarn, and I bought some to give it a try. I first needed a tutorial on casting on again. And then I went crazy. I was able to knit, purl, and even do cables even without trouble. I decided to make hats for my visiting teaching ladies, and I did it! Now we have some frosty weather, so I'm going to make the rounds today to deliver the hats and some Christmas treats to my friends.

What to knit next? I've got to make a scarf to match my beautiful hat!

Social Studies

Last week I went to Noah's conferences. His teacher told me that they had been studying ancient India, and that he was very amazed at how well Noah had been able to keep everything straight, including all of the crazy names of people and places. When I got home I had the following conversation with Noah.

Me: Noah, Mr. M told me that you had been studying ancient India. You know I love India! Why didn't you tell me about it?

Noah: Oh, you mean like about Buddha?

Me: Yeah. Did you learn about Siddhartha?

Noah: Of course. That was just Buddha's name as a young child. And we learned about the Ganges and the Indus rivers, too.

I was proud of my boy. He told me the whole story about the wicked young king and the kind monk who told him he should use his money for good things, and about Siddhartha's dream.

Now, just so you know the other side of things, and so I did not get too prideful, we had the following happen during a game of Apples to Apples the next day.

I don't remember what the word was, but Noah had put down "Cinco de Mayo" as his word. When it was not chosen, he said, "Awww. But Cinco de Mayo is a holiday......For the jewish people."