The Marsipan Pig

Another Scandinavian tradition is marsipan! Marsipan is almond paste mixed with sugar, and formed into animals or fruit or whatever. On Christmas eve all the kiddies get a small bowl of rice pudding - and hidden in one of the bowls is an almond. The child who gets the almond wins the pig made out of marsipan.

So last week when Mom and I went to IKEA we bought a bar of marsipan, and today I formed it into a pig, painted it pink with food coloring, and brushed on an extra coat of sugar to make him sparkle. Oink! Oink!

Christmas in Seattle p. 2

Today to get the kids (and ourselves) out of the house for a while, we took them up the street to a wooded park with a half-mile path. It was cold and damp, but we had fun. Elizabeth walked the whole way - Jane didn't walk at all, and Atticus was all over the place.

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To be fair, Jane doesn't walk well yet (she's talks much better than Liz) and today was a rough day for her from the very beginning. But we made the best of it. It was nice to get out.

Christmas in Seattle pt. 1

This is the quaint little Bed & Breakfast place we stayed in while in Port Ludlow. The string of lights around the eaves, the warm light glowing through the bay window, the Christmas tree, the veranda that wraps around nearly the whole house - it's really a nice home.

But it's not a B&B, it's Rick & D-Ann Butchart's home. The inside is just as nice as the outside - mostly because it's full of grandkids. Trevor and Michelle are quite at home with them in this place. It's been very nice staying with them. Their hospitality knows no bounds, and keeping company with them is very pleasant.

POULSBO

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Yesterday we took the grand kids into Poulsbo, which originally had a large Norwegian population. The old section of downtown has a lot of Scandinavian shops, mostly the kind you can't take little kids into. But up the street were a couple of photo-opp's that worked out well. I parked Jane and Elizabeth in front of a mural with a Norwegian miss, and Atticus is on the same corner with Michelle next to a red phone booth - which are common in Scandinavia also.

The Beach

One morning we took the kids to the beach near the Butcharts. Not much of a beach really, mostly just the place where the water meets the land. Atticus and I walked a ways down the beach and found this little fort made out of driftwood. It's built up against the side of a hill, and Atticus kept referring to the incline as "stairs." it was some of the best weather of the trip that day.

Christmas Scenes

Mom and I both had a REALLY busy week. Yesterday alone there was a baptism, a funeral at which I spoke, a trip to the hospital to bless and visit a friend, and two receptions. Today with meetings and other Church work seemed like a day off.

So to lighten the mood I took some pictures of our home traditionally and festively decked out for Christmas. For those who grew up here - you'll recognize the placement of the tree, Mom's mini creche exhibit (which grows yearly), the stocking hung over the archway with care, the Christmas bells (yes!), and the piano with a variety of Christmas time trinkets and gifts from others over the years, our favorite being the pig that oinks Jingle Bells, with a well placed squeal at the end.

Notice the CHRISTMAS hanging from Pam - Mom's favorite gift so far.

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The singing chipmunks, the nutcracker, the sax playing reindeer, the
colored lights snowman, the Christmas house, the candle in a cupcake,
the incense smoker - these are a few of my favorite things.

Deck HALLS and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
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Stake Conference

Yesterday and today we had one of the best stake conferences I've ever been a part of. Each session was absolutely tremendous. Saturday evening and Sunday we heard outstanding remarks from three outstanding women in the stake. My counselors did a wonderful job, as always.

My 2nd counselor (Courtney McAlister, probably a distant relative) is an attorney and gave a masterful discourse on why others should feel comfortable calling us Christians. One of the great moments is quoted below. I really love this guy.

"Misguided attempts to label our view of the Godhead as non-Christian remind me of a joke that actually originated in a self-deprecating way in Trinitarian churches. In a slight revision to a well known scriptural exchange between Jesus and His Apostles, Jesus asked, “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Logos, existing in the Father as His rationality and then, by an act of His will, being generated, in consideration of the various functions by which God is related to his creation, but only on the fact that Scripture speaks of a Father, and a Son, and a Holy Spirit, each member of the Trinity being coequal with every other member, and each acting inseparably with and interpenetrating every other member, with only a subordination within God, but causing no division which would make the substance no longer simple.”

And Jesus answered and said, "Huh?"

Fun Photos from Last Year

At the Saturday Evening session of our stake conference one of our stake YW leaders gave each member of the stake presidency a photo album of them from our pioneer trek last year. I include mine here for you to have a laugh at.

My favorites are the ones of me fixing the handcarts, and me with my mouth open (as usual). It really was a fun trip.

A Day at the Cannery

Mom had an assignment to work at the cannery doing Marion Berry Jam. I went down to see if I could help without getting in the way. They let me dump the 60lb bags of corn sweetener (3 each batch) and 25lb bags of sugar (7 bags) combined with 8 five gallon buckets of berries. I used a paddle to help it mix in, then I sat around until the next batch started.

Mom spent some of her time making sure all of the jars were full enough, but not too full. Spoon it in or spoon it out - they were all made perfect. Later she sat and tightened lids. We both looked cute in our hairnets and flimsy plastic aprons.

When the 3 hour shift was over they let me work one of the high pressure hot water (180 deg) hoses to clean everything off. Then they coated everything (even the electrical panels) with disinfectant and I hosed it all down again. Then I got to mop the front lobby. I actually kind of like mopping floors. It's easy to do and makes an obvious difference.

Afterward we drove over to IKEA and ate Swedish meatballs. That was a good way to end the day.