Merry Christmas!

"Holiday gifts: To your enemy, forgiveness. To a friend, your heart. To all, good will."
--Don Ward

It started early, 6:00 am. The packages were opened, much candy was consumed, the whirlwind mess is finally cleaned up. Santa and Mom and Dad did well this year. It's snowing and beautiful outside. It's a very good day.

Here are a few highlight photos:

New PJ's on Christmas Eve.

Reading Luke 2 on Christmas Eve. Kristina was following along in Russian. She read "Glory to God in the highest and on earth, Peace, Good will towards men" to us in Russian.



Christmas morning.



A white Christmas. Sledding fun thanks to JJ Mace.

We hope all of you had as wonderful of a day as we did. We are so grateful for family and friends and for the birth of our Savior. I think Linus sums it up best.


Merry Christmas everyone.

Your Best Christmas Present Ever...

It's Christmas Eve. Today we'll have a big dinner, watch a Christmas Story, read Luke 2, open new pajamas and then send everyone off to visions of sugar plums while Dean and I wrap all the presents. Since TBS has A Christmas Story on for 24 hours beginning Christmas Eve at 6:00 pm MST, we time our Christmas prep by how many times we get through a Christmas Story. So in light of that funny movie, what was your best Christmas present ever?

This is a hard one when you actually have to sit down and think about it. Christmas was always pretty magical growing up so it's hard to pin down any one thing. It could be this.


This doll was tiny and she had this tiny little furniture to go with her. She even had a miniature amusement park with a merry go round, ferris wheel and everything. I love everything in miniature so this was a pretty good one.

But it could be the year I told Santa to surprise me and he got me the Olympic gymnast Barbie with her own balance beam and a Barbie cruise ship. Or the year I got the supersized Stuffed Mountain Lion. I had been prepared to just get the small one and then the jumbo one showed up Christmas morning. That was a pretty good one too. But then last year, Dean and my parents surprised me with these.


Library Drawers! Those of you who have never aspired to being a librarian or who have no love of things antique may not understand this one but it was pretty great.

I'm posting this assignment to my kids and husband so I'll post later with their favorites. Please post and let me know yours.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night! (This was a pretty good Christmas present too.)

Family Photos

We recently had family pictures taken. We were way past due for them and more importantly, we needed one that included Kristina. Allison of Pretty Little Pictures in American Fork did a great job, especially considering her subject matter. The one of the four kids above is my absolute favorite. It's rare to get a really good photo of all my kids together so I was thrilled with this one. Amazingly, all the kids cooperated, no one complained of how cold it was outside, and Allison was incredibly patient.


Dean doesn't like this photo but I don't think it is too bad. We're just not getting any younger, darn it.


We took a few photos inside like this one but they weren't my favorite. We aren't a "formal portrait" type of family. This was the only one indoors I liked, probably because it wasn't quite as posed.


I liked these photos in front of an old building better. Some people may not like the grungy feel of the old building.


But I love it. Makes me wish we could have taken a picture by the old white house in Kelton where I spent the summers. Or the Quanset. Or some of the tractors.


This is the photo we sent out this year. We just antiqued it a bit for the Christmas card.


This is the photo we chose to blow up for our wall. But, we toned it down just a bit...


...like this. I like the antique look of this.

So there you have it. Our latest family portraits. Let's hope it's not another five years before we do it again.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We are in full Christmas mode at the Shupe house. It took a few days to get everything up (we took it slow and easy this year) but the house is now decorated and as festive as can be. Kristina has had a great time seeing all the new decorations (it's not as festive as my mom's house but we're not that far behind). My kids have had a good time rediscovering decorations through Kristina's eyes. And the great part---she didn't wear out like the rest of the kids do when decorating. She stuck it out to the end. We'll see if she has the same stamina when it is time to take it all down.

Here's a few scenes from our house.









If it isn't obvious, I have a soft spot for Christmas Story, Peanuts and nativities.

The kids did gingerbread houses this year. We didn't have any major house crashes (last year Spencer and Christian's looked like an earthquake had hit). And you know what the best part of decorating was? Charlie Brown's Christmas was on at the same time, not on video but actually on TV. Does anyone else remember timing your life around when the Christmas specials were on TV? I lived for those and Wizard of Oz. It is nice to watch them at will but there was something about scarcity that made them more special.







Now that I have a blog and am posting photos for all to see, I've finally decided that it's time to go manual on my camera and play with aperture and shutter speed. These photos would have benefited from that. If anyone has some great sources for learning more about photography, I'd love to hear them. (Lit, if you are reading this, I'm sure you will say, "It's about time.")

We hope everyone is having a great Holiday season this year. We'll keep you posted on more of our events.

Disco Elves

I had so much fun making the ElfYourself video yesterday that I made another one today. After all, Dean needed to get in on the action. The kids helped me and laughed as hard as I did.

Once again, Merry Christmas from the silly Shupes.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Dancing Elves

The holidays are upon us and we are in the Christmas spirit at the Shupe house. Just check out the video below. Merry Christmas everyone!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

They're Magically Delicious!

Cold Cereal is a staple in our house. While I would love to say I make my children a hot breakfast every morning, that is just not reality here. Cold cereal, in various varieties, is breakfast most mornings and on Sunday evening it is usually the snack of choice and on crazy nights when Dean and I are both running around, it often becomes dinner. So when Kristina arrived here from Russia and did not like cold cereal, we were thrown for a loop. We had to scramble to try to find things she could eat for breakfast when everyone is rushing around trying to get out the door by 7:30 am. Muffins, granola bars, fried eggs (when time permitted) and apple pastries have all been offered at breakfast with mixed results. But this past Sunday, for whatever reason, Kristina decided to try Lucky Charms. And apparently, those frosted marshmallows were a hit.

She thought I was crazy for taking this picture of her, but this was truly a milestone!

And, in keeping with my attempt to celebrate the abundance in my life over the past week (and yes, I have slacked a bit on my posts), today I choose to say thank you for the abundance of food in my life. It is a basic need but one that I think we sometimes take for granted. You can talk about rising food prices all you want but the truth is, we have plenty to eat and can usually get what we need when we need it. And if you doubt me, next time you visit a store, just look at the number of varieties of cold cereal available to you. If that isn't abundance, I don't know what is.

More Thanksgiving

Today I spent some time organizing my photos on my computer. I have over 11,000 (yes, 11,000) photos on my computer and they are getting out of hand. In the midst of the photo organization, my computer locked up and after shutting it down to reboot, would not restart. I thought I was going to meltdown. But after a few minutes, my Mac decided to come back to life (needless to say, I'm backing everything up tomorrow). And as a result of my organization efforts today, it is easier for me to share photos like these with you today.


In keeping with my efforts to recognize the abundance in my life, I want to say how grateful I am for an amazing childhood. It seems that a childhood like mine is harder and harder to come by in today's world and too few kids get to just be kids. So I am grateful that I got to be a kid. No one can top the memories I have of Kelton summers, of playing with cousins, of reading books for hours on end, of just hanging out without a care in the world.


There is nothing like good clean Kelton dirt for a kid. I swear my immune system is stronger for it. I think Dr. Mitch Moffitt, known for eating a bucket of dirt daily as a kid, would back me on that one.


Man, we had a good time. My parents and grandparents are largely responsible for that and so I'll sing their praises in the next few days. Thanks for the memories.

Adjusting my attitude...

I'm having one of those days. You know, one of those days when the universe seems aligned against you? So in an effort to adjust my attitude I thought I would share this quote with you. I found it while reading a talk from Thomas S. Monson from October's General Conference.

Both abundance and lack (of abundance) exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present---love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us (happiness)---the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.
~Sarah Ban Breathnach

So, on that note, I am going to try to focus on abundance over the next few days. Thanksgiving is, after all, only a little over a week away. So I'll start with today. Today I am grateful for a husband who is patient through my moods, loves his kids, takes good care of all of us and still loves me even when I post pictures like this.


Really, could I ask for anything more? (Don't you think he bears a striking resemblance to Ruprecht in this photo? "He's going to love Oklahoma's wide open spaces. He likes to run and run and run."--Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)


I do love this guy.

My Brother, the Rock Star

My baby brother is a rock star. Really, he is. He has played for a band called Broke City for a while now. They've had their ups and downs in their quest for fame and fortune but they seem to be on an upswing. They recently competed in the Global Battle of the Bands. They first won the Northwest's regional competition and then went on to the national competition in Anaheim, CA. The good news is that they won this competition which means an all expense paid trip to London in December to represent the USA in the final global competition.

Hey, Gooch, we are proud of you. Good luck in December!

And to think I can say I knew you when.


If you want to check out more about Robert and his band, go to this website: www.brokecitymusic.com

School Yard Casualty

It's been a busy day. When I awoke this morning, the most significant part of my day was going to be voting. Well, Sidney woke up sick. Not a big deal--she's pretty low maintenance when she is sick. But not long after arriving home from voting, I got a phone call that Spencer was in the school nurse's office. He appeared to have sprained his ankle and the nurse thought I should get it xrayed.

How did this happen? Spencer was playing Steal the Flag and as he lunged for the flag, he fell, twisted his ankle and then was tackled by his buddies who conveniently fell on the ankle. I have to admit, I thought maybe he was overreacting. But when the nurse moved him to my car in a wheelchair, I decided maybe I should take him to the doctor. And when the doctor touched his foot and ankle and I could see a true grimace of pain on his face, I repented of doubting him. And when we went for xrays on crutches at the doctor's orders, I was pretty sure we were facing not a sprain but a broken ankle.

Happy news--no broken ankle/foot. But Spencer is on orders to keep weight off his foot and wear a splint for the next two or three days. Is he milking the injury? A little. He convinced Sidney to sleep on the floor in his bedroom tonight in case he needs help in the night to get a drink or needs her to hand him his crutches. She has acted as his personal nurse most of the day in spite of feeling a bit under the weather herself. I'm sure there will be some excitement at school tomorrow when Spencer comes on crutches. But don't we all need some extra attention once in a while? Especially when we are the middle child. And especially when you have a major sprain. So if you would like, send him your condolences. I'm sure it will speed his recovery and let him know he's loved.

Happy Halloween!

I love this holiday! What other time of the year can I drop my kids off at school and be stopped by a crossing guard with batwings coming out of her head? What other time of the year can I see Indiana Jones skateboarding in front of my house and a pink pirate riding a scooter by? What other time of the year can I avoid dusting for a whole month and say "It's part of the decor!"?

Speaking of decor, gotta love this bunch. Every year I look forward to their annual visit.


And speaking of visits, my parents decided to hang out with us on Halloween this year. Yeah for Friday Halloweens! Here's Grandma and the girls at Gardner Village.


My ghouls have been planning their costumes for quite some time. And, with the exception of Kristina, they have coordinated with their friends.

Here's the scary bunch.


This bunch is almost too cool for Halloween. I mean it--this is the only picture they would let me take.


Here's the pretty bunch.


Here's the blonde bunch. Any other Hannah Montana and Lily's out there?


Oh, and here's another scary one---Dean, channeling his aging rock star. Monkees anyone?


So did I dress up? Actually I did. I threw on a witch hat during the school Halloween party I volunteered at. I intended to dress up as Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas to hand out candy but the trick or treaters started early and I never got the time. I promise, I didn't intend to be so boring. But someone's got to work behind the scenes.

This was Kristina's first Halloween. She was excited for the costume part but not too sure about the trick or treating part. Why would crazy Americans give out candy for free? (Why do we do this?) She hit the jackpot.


Would you look at all of this stuff? I am going to have candy wrappers all over my house for days to come.


Tomorrow, I start taking down the Halloween decor and tackling a month's worth of dusting. And before I know it, it will be time to start putting up this stuff (thanks Mom and Dad for the early Christmas gift).


But before the jolly old man starts taking over the scene, I can still relish this just a little longer. "Isn't it beautiful?!"


Happy Halloween everyone!