A day for sweethearts…mine offered to make us a special dinner of Steak Diane (my all time favorite steak). It’s actually not the steak I like…it’s the brandy and mushrooms! After dinner we watched The Lake House which turns out to be (yes, a sappy chick flick) an actual Valentine’s Day movie. Who knew?
Kelsey ♥ Elliot
Rather spontaneously we found ourselves in Hawaii last week with the Lundgrens, our good friends and neighbors. The stars all seemed to line up and we decided we were ready for a much needed get-a-way!
We spent our days lounging on the beach or by the pool, sightseeing with our friends, visiting with family, attending the temple, snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, playing games, watching movies and eating fresh pineapple.
The weather was perfect and we were in Paradise….
Take a quick peek at some of the design work Phillip (the company’s new design director) and his team have been working on everyday. Go to collegiatepride.net. I like to look at the BYU stuff!
As per our New Year’s Eve tradition, we enjoyed gathering around 3 fondue pots. Our three favorites are: cheese, meat and chocolate. Because we ate too much (as per tradition) and all went into what Madeleine calls a “food coma”, some of us had a hard time staying up till midnight! A few of us did see the New Year in and I personally am looking forward to 2012…I feel in my heart that it will be a good year for our family.
It always surprises me that Christmas actually comes…I guess just because we talk about it so far in advance! As always, our family had a really nice Christmas. Actually every year we have 2 Christmas Days…one with Alan’s parents the Saturday before and then of course Christmas Day at our house.
This year I particularly enjoyed having our house decorated. It seemed especially cozy…I think we had the fire burning morning and night (pretty easy when all you have to do is flip the switch!)
This year we were invited to Alan’s parents for Thanksgiving dinner. We brought the rolls and the pies and they did everything else including smoking the turkey! It was a nice relaxed afternoon filled with good smells and good food.
Elliot and Clark both performed duets with their teacher, Dan Chamberland. They worked super hard and played super well! Enjoy watching videos of their performances…it takes a few seconds to download.
Clark playing Trains with Dan Chamberland
Elliot playing Effugonetrom with Dan Chamberland
![Elliot performing \"Effugonetrom\" with Dan.](https://www.brown8.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/percussion-recital/img_9715.jpg "Elliot performing \\"Effugonetrom\\" with Dan.")
Every Halloween, while most kids are trying to decide what to “be” for Halloween, the big question at our house is, “What am I going to carve on my pumpkin?” This question has to be considered usually a good week or so in advance of the pumpkin purchase, because after all, how do you know what size and shape pumpkin to get unless you have your plan, right? We are starting to get a reputation as the house with the cool pumpkins!
Almost as an afterthought, about an hour before going out with their friends, my kids start thinking seriously about their costumes. My job is to take the kids pumpkin shopping, make hot dog mummies for dinner and take the pictures. Oh, and trick or treat all the little kids and the not so little kids that come to the door.
![Clark, his pumpkin \"pi\" and his Zelda pumpkin.](https://www.brown8.org/blog/wp-content/gallery/halloween-2011/dscf1341.jpg "Clark, his pumpkin \\"pi\\" and his Zelda pumpkin.")
