Thursday, May 19, 2011

Jeff's Last Christmas before the Mish

***Warning*** (I get wordy about Christmas in here so don't worry about skipping down to the pictures. Just walking down memory lane and doing some online journaling.)

We had one amazing Christmas! This was the last Christmas before little brother left on his mission so we wanted it to be fabulous! We decorated like crazy and for those of you who don't know our family all too well, the Sadler part of the family are extreme decorators. It stems from Mom and Dad Sadler (especially my Dad) and we always start decorating on November 1 for Christmas. Yes, we are "those" kind of people that skip decorating for Thanksgiving but we have so much Christmas to put up that it would be impossible to start after Turkey day. My dad loved to see our old house decorated. Growing up in the home in California we had 3 Christmas trees that had to be put up on November 1, without fail. The first tree was usually "Mom's" tree and it went right in the dining room and was decorated in all gold ornatments, beads, and bells. Dad could usually put this one up on his own but I always had to help with the lights. Then mom would be busy for about another 5-6 hours decorating it (believe me, we weren't allowed in the room when mom tried to do this! We always would break stuff). This is known as the 8' tree or the gold dining room tree. The next tree was usually the "BIG" tree. It was 15' tall and stood in the front room right when you open the door. For those of you that have seen the Nutcracker and the tree in the ballroom-this is about the same thing. Getting this thing downstairs was ridiculous because it came in about 10 boxes that were heavy and awkward. You see, this tree had to be put together branch by branch. My dad was the master of making sure that the branches were all unfolded from the boxes perfectly. It would take us about 2 minutes to "unmash" the branches and get them suitable for the tree. But even then, Dad would take the one we just finished and always tweak a couple of limbs so that they were perfect. You had to start at the top and go to the bottom so it got longer not shorter in time but it is one of the greatest memories I have. This process usually took about 8 hours and then Dad would do the lights and mom decorating the tree with flowers and gold ribbon. I have to say that I have never seen a prettier tree than this one and my dad loved it too. The last and final tree was known as the "kid" and "present" tree. This tree was 12' tall and went in by the other family room. I enjoyed putting this tree up the most because the kids got to decorate it! It had the old fashioned lights that always seemed to get hot so we couldn't put anything directly next to the lights or they would get a singed mark. (many teddy bears were harmed in this process) Mom and Dad had the old fashioned dough ornaments and each kid had their favorite. I loved my Strawberry Shortcake that was missing one of her arms and I think the boys liked the 3 wise men but I can't remember. One year I was upset because my family was debating putting up all the decorations. (This was the year my dad became really ill with cancer) I was heartbroken but decided that it was my time to take over the decorating. I put up the trees with help from Mom and Jeff and I was exhausted. My dad couldn't do very much but after I had come home from being out with friends, I walked into the family room and saw that at the top of the kids tree, my dad had put a picture of me at the top surrounded in lights. Greatest memory ever, even though the next year Jeff put himself on the tree instead of me. Dad always wanted a Christmas menu too. He wanted to know what we were having and we shopped constantly until we were positive that we weren't missing anything. Couple more memories: Orange Julius, stockings, Department 56 houses, nutcrackers, musicals, Johnny Mathis, waiting at the top of the stairs, Hearts, Who is Santa this year?, fireplace, VHS recorded Christmas cartoons, furry burry, forts under the bar, large outdoor wreathes, "Stefani, this is Dad. I'll be home in 5 min. All Christmas lights must be on.", Dad's fruit cake, See's candy from Dad's Clients, the video camera that we have yet to see one Christmas on-we actually don't think it ever worked, Scrooge, Caroling with the big bell, Dad's Christmas dinner plate (you normally couldn't see anything on it and it was piled high), mom's pies, the Christmas train on the bar, fighting over the Santa place mat, mom's dishes and goblets, Costco pork loin, shopping at Walnut Creek, Dad's Nordstrom Christmas, our specific places on the couch for Santa, Dad getting the biggest turkey known to man, Martinelli's sparkling cider, the 400 nutcrackers, dinners with Aunt Julie's family, acting out the Nativity Story, Luke 2, playing the "bells", singing around the piano, The 12 Days of Christmas-mainly Dad and Uncle Mike singing 5 golden rings, and many more I will probably think of once I've already posted this. I have amazing memories and we tried this year to replicate many of them.

***Out of Memory Lane a Little***
This year Clint wanted a really nice Camera so that it what we got him. He surprised me with something I have wanted ever since I moved out for college-a piano. We were on our way to do something in Salt Lake and he took a little detour and pulled into a piano gallery parking lot and said, "Go in a pick one out." Ya, what a stud. We had Clint's family over for Christmas Eve and it was great. We had a wonderful dinner and then did a couple of my family traditions like singing around the piano, playing the "bells", The 12 Days of Christmas in parts, and reading Luke 2. Such a great night. Pat and Beth were here and we had a great Christmas the next day. Lots of pictures too.









Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cornbellys at Thanksgiving Point

We loved going to Cornbellys this year, probably because it was the first time we had ever been! We invited our good friends Jordan and Jana and Brenton and Jen and we had a great time. Clint got us lost in the corn maze and we totally had to cheat to get out (I feel bad about that one) All in all we shared many laughs and definitely will be going back in October of this year.









We Suck at Blogging but We are Going to Catch Up---Starting with Hawaii!

We went to Hawaii with Dev and Lauren back in August of 2010-yes, I am way over a year behind in blogging but don't worry, I will catch you all up on our lame lives! We had a great time at our condo and we are thankful that we have such great friends that can help enjoy Kona with us! We had a great time cliff jumping, swimming at Rainbow Falls, renting a Jeep and jeep'n it up in the King's Valley, snorkeling, getting awesome tattoos, eating, riding motorcycles across the island, and pretty much being beach bums. Towards the end of the trip Lauren, Clint, and I became pretty ill and we ended up having to go to the local hospital there. Crazy? Luckily Devan was there to nurse us all back to health. Being sick in paradise sucks but we will just have to have to go back to Hawaii again to make up for it.







Sunday, September 12, 2010

Little Brother Graduated! WHAT?!






Ok Ok I know, I know. Little Jeffrey has graduated?!! Yes, he is officially a college boy. I swear the years have just flown by. This sucks but I am happy. Pat came out and we all celebrated Jeff's accomplishment. Dad was totally missed but we got through it just fine. We were a little rambunctious at times but that's ok. Sometimes we just need to celebrate. Congrats to Jeff!

Disneyland For Easter





We took Mom and Jeff and went to Disneyland for Easter...yes I am going out of order on some of these blog posts but who really cares, right? So we had a blast and here are the pictures.

Our Anniversary


Hello again! Well we will be adding little bits and pieces as we kind of update you on our little lives. Clint and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary with him surprising me with a little getaway to Park City. We stayed at the Canyons, of course, and Clint got a pretty sweet deal because of all the things he does with the Canyons and snowboarding. We got massages, and pretty much relaxed a lot. We need it after the crazy summer we have had with the shave ice shack. Lots and Lots of fun.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

What is going on now


Alright so now that I have updated trips and Christmas lets move on to the new year. Clint and I decided we want to run a half marathon before we even start thinking about kids. So we are "training" for our half marathon in June. We might have to choose a different marathon because we might not be ready but we will see. Clint also got a new car. Yes, he traded my cute little Molly (Mazda 3) in for his little car mistress. Her name is Shelby and she is a 2010 WRX Subaru. I honestly wonder the order of women in his life now. I think it goes our dog-Sadie, his new car-Shelby, and then his wife.(If I'm lucky!!!)

My little brother Jeffrey is graduating high school in less than 2 months and I am freaking out. He will be on his mission before we know it and there will be a little void in our lives. We couldn't be more proud as "substitute" parents. We are taking him and my momma to Disneyland over Easter break/spring break so that we can celebrate his graduation and eat as many churros as possible. I still believe that 6 churros in one day is totally fine and Dole Whip and their Bread Bowls should be served everywhere.

Well that is it for now. We haven't done too much more in our lives that I feel is blog worthy so I will leave that for now. Hopefully not all of you have abandoned our blog, I promise that we will do better!