David's Blog - Christmas Time

So, here are David's answers to the questions that were posed to me early. Check out an earlier blog for my answers.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
I'm going to have to agree with my lovely wife. When I've got time wrap it, otherwise bag it.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
I only remember having a tree from the box although I've been told I was a participant in chopping down a tree and bringing it home. I must have been like 2.

3. When do you put up the tree?
I've helped put up the tree but never actually done it. On my mission we had a green lamp that was our tree. It was there when I got there and it was there when I left.

4. When do you take down the tree?
Um… it was there when I got there and it was there when I left.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I like it. Although straight it's a bit thick.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I was a child? How odd…. Um… That's a tough one. I don't remember what I got nearly as well as what I gave. My favroate gift I gave has a funny story. I went to my brother and asked him if I could have 5 dollars to buy his gift. He was understandably shocked. You want money from me to buy me a gift? Isn't that a little backwards? "But" I explained "you'll really like it. And I'm putting in 10$ of my own. I just need a little extra to get both." In the end he loaned me the money and I bought for him 2 Calvin and Hobbs books.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
Right now my wife, I have a couple of idea that have transformed into presents but… well lets just say that I hope she likes them.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Jared my nephew, I know he wants a bionical. I hope I can find one he doesn't already have.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Nope? Maybe? I don't know. Does my wife's count as mine?

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Talking to people who aren't there by written form?? You can do that?!?

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
1 hyphenated word. Fruit-Cake.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Are we saying movies that we really like or just that make us happy because they remind us of Christmas /shrug either way here's a list

1. Scrooge

2. Nightmare Before Christmas

3. While You Were Sleeping

4 White Christmas


13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Depends on the year, This year I'm still in the middle of it and it's the 16^thof DEC.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Yes

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Leftover turkey sandwich, made with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, cheese, on toast.

16. Lights on the tree?
Colored or white? Do I have to pick? I like both. I think the white is more elegant but the colored reminds me of the tree I grew up with. It's a more happy tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
God Rest ye merry gentlemen. Carol of the bells. Anything with good harmony and not too much vibrato or overly dramatic vocals.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Home. I have cookies. Really good ones. Although I am excited about Disneyland!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
No. Santa had to outsource after he picked up Asia, I lost track about the time of Pablo the reindeer.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Don't care.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
What my wife said. She's a smart one.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
It used to be for me the music. I worked in retail and the Christmas Music would start about October before Halloween. 3 Soul sucking months later, it would finally be over and we could go back to the normal mind numbing stuff. 10 hour days with 2 hours of music that cycled through? Let's just say if I ever meet the boy who saw mommy kissing Santa Claus that there may be a rather unfortunate incident. Most of the scars have healed now though. Hmmmm. I'm going to go with the mercantilism of Christmas. (I know I was a part of it at one point all the more reason)

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I really like crystal. Oooooh Rainbows through crystal

24. What do you want for Christmas this year?
I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! Oh wait… I'd likely shoot my eye out. I've got what I most wanted.

25. Who is most likely to respond to this?
Nobody. I'm sending it to my wife to get blogged and no one else. I'm selfish or lazy or something.

Wedding Pictures!

Okay. So I went to my sister's-in-law, Amy's, blog and stole a couple of photos from her blog to share here. Many of you are dying to see pictures from the wedding. Unfortunately, the photographer has all rights to his - - so I can't post those - - but I can borrow from family. Here they are.

David and Melissa at the luncheon
(day of the wedding).

At the reception.
David got tired of holding his eyes open. :)

David and I getting in a little extra dancing practice before the reception.











My new sisters! From left - - Amy, Becky, Elisabeth, and Sarah (front). Wow! I am lucky! They are wonderful and I am so blessed to be a part of their family. They have accepted me in with open arms. It is really fun to have more sisters.

Actually, it is funny - - I inherited 4 new sisters (5 with Caroline - Steven's wife) and one new brother - (2 with Cameron - Elisabeth's husband) AND David inherited the same amount - except opposite from my side. 4 brothers, 5 with my brother-in-law, 1 sister (2 with my sister-in-law). Funny!

Snowman Comic

One of my students, Gabe, shared this comic with me today. I laughed and thought you all would enjoy it too.

Cookie Exchange 2008

Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. Make 3 batches of yummy cookies and head over to a cookie exchange. Katie Rogers hosted our party this year. It is a great tradition complete with yummy egg nog and wassel.

The instructions for everyone was that they had to bring 3 dozen cookies - - but they couldn't be regular chocolate chip cookies. So, David was all over this! He adapted his oatmeal/chocolate chip cookie recipe to include white chocolate, macadamia nut, and craisins. Yummy! I got off easy, cause all I had to do was show up for the party. David did all the baking. Yeah me!


David and Melissa dressed up in their holiday attire.



Kerri, her daughter, and Katie (our hostess)








Cute Ann and Emily trying out the yummy treats!




I am including the recipe for David's delicious cookies below. Adapt if you want with chocolate chips, (including semi-sweet and milk) and white chocolate. Put in one bag of each. Sounds like a lot I know, but it makes a TON of cookies. He makes them up and then freezes the dough in a gallon sized zip-lock bag. Make sure to smoosh it down so it is like 1/2 inch thick. Then, you can just break off some chunks of cookie dough to bake.

Craisin Holiday Cookies
From the kitchen of David Durtschi

Ingredients:
4 cups butter
3 cups white sugar
3 cups brown sugar
8 eggs
4 Tablespoons vanilla
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons baking soda
6 cups oats
7 cups flour
12 oz Craisins
8.5 oz macadamia nuts
12 oz white chocolate chip morsels

Directions: Preheat oven to 325°. Soften, but do not melt butter. Cream butter, white sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add salt and baking soda and oats. Mix. Now, let the mixture set for 1-3 hours to allow all the ingredients to get nice and cozy. It actually allows the oats to expand and makes your cookies nice and soft. The longer you let them set, the better the cookies – up to 3 hours.

Add in flour. Mix. Add in craisins, macadamia nuts, and white chocolate chips. Mix. We like to use our cooking stone, but any cookie sheet will work. Bake on 325° for approx. 13-16 minutes.

This recipe is fabulous to freeze. It makes lots of cookies, so you may not have enough room for all of them. Freeze them. We take the leftover dough, put it in a ziplock bag, smoosh it down kind of flat and then freeze it. Then, later in the week you can pull it out and make fresh cookies. Just break off as many cookie chunks as you would like and cook them a little bit longer - - about 15 min.

One of my favorite memories from the evening HAS to be Caleb, Katie's little boy, becoming BEST BUDS with my hubby, David. The two of them chased each other around the house. It was adorable. Then, when we were all watching the movie - - Caleb snuggled up with me and David. I loved it! Cute huh?!

Girls' Night

There's a lot to be said for Girls' Night! Wahoo! We had a blast going to "The Pie." Yummy. I love hanging out with my girlfriends - - we always have a great time. Thanks ladies for hanging out. We definitely have to do it more often!

A couple of the pictures have the traditional writing on the brick wall. When you go there, you get to graffiti the brick wall. Fun!

Saratoga Shores Faculty Christmas Party 2008

So, we had a great time playing "Don't Forget the Lyrics" with the staff at our Saratoga Shores Faculty Christmas Party. Here are a couple of video highlights from the game. See if you know the lyrics to these popular and not so popular or well-known Christmas songs. It is fun to see what teachers act like when students are not around or when you get a large group of us together. he he he.

Faculty Christmas Party 2008

Wedding Pictures?!

For those of you dieing for wedding pictures . . . . here's the thing. I don't have any yet. As in, my photographer has them all. I haven't had a chance to go and meet with him. So, if any of you have some snapshots of the wedding, I would love to post some. Please email them to me at hymasmel@gmail.com. Thanks bunches!

Grandma Durtschi's Passing

I am sad to say that Grandma Durtschi has passed away after a long battle. I only met her once, but know that she is loved by many. The interaction between she and her husband was priceless. They were adorable. Teasing each other and holding hands like newlyweds. I feel honored and blessed to have met her and to share in their experiences. She will be missed and loved by many. Thank you Grandma Durtschi for your dedication and service. Thank you for your legacy of love.

David and Melissa

Thanks Christina. This is a great way to remember Christmas.

Melissa's Christmas - 2008

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Ummmm. Well, I use both. Usually if I have time I like to use wrapping paper. If I am crazy busy, which is more likely, then I usually use gift bags. However, I think under the tree bags are far too easy to peek in. They are so tempting! On the other hand, for those that sneak peeks, wrapping paper isn't going to stand in their way. I have heard of people using razor blades and knives to carefully cut open the gift to see what is in it.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Well, most of my life we have had artificial. I only remember one year, while we lived in Virginia, that we had a real tree. We doused it in the spray snow foam. Wow, that was a mess! It was fun, but a mess to clean up later. I have to admit that I really don't enjoy putting the lights on the tree. I would much rather a tree that is pre-lit. The tree I have now is an artificial tree that was given to me. The first year I had it I carefully wrapped the branches with lights and then kept it that way and saved it year to year.

3. When do you put up the tree?
I put it up over Thanksgiving weekend. I would probably put it up earlier, but hold myself back. Honestly, if I don't get it done then - - I would be too busy to get it up before Christmas break.

4. When do you take down the tree?
Usually right before school begins again. Usually around January 3rd or so.

5. Do you like eggnog?
I used to say, "Absolutely NOT!" However, I have to change my tune now. Emily Biggs, one of my teacher friends, introduced me to her mother's egg nog recipe. I have to say it is THE BEST egg nog I have ever had. I don't know, the other stuff is far too thick and eggy to me. Is that a word - eggy? Probably not, but I like to make up my own words. It's fun. You know what I mean though - - thick and slimy. ugh. Well, I will have to post Emily's Egg Nogg recipe on my blog so you all can try it. Trust me - - it's amazing!

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
It wasn't one that I received but gave to my father. Christy and I wanted to buy something really great for my dad. We had pooled our money and were in search of the perfect gift at Target. Well, we found it - - a squeaky mouse. Christy and I were thrilled. It was this stuffed animal that had a squeaky ear when you pushed it. My mom thought, "Ok what is he going to do with this thing??!!" She warned my dad to be prepared. He was a good sport and we were tickled that he liked it. He still has it and pulls it out every year to use with his "Christmas Poem" about a little mouse that makes bad choices. The grandkids LOVE it!

7. Hardest person to buy for?
Ok. I totally have to agree with Christina, "Hands down, my brother Geoff!" He is the pickiest of us all. At least my brother David gives us pictures out of magazines of things that he likes.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Probably my husband David. He is a gracious gift receiver. I know a lot of the things that he likes, so it's easy. Another person is my sister Christina, cause we have the same style for decorating and I know her interests.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes and no. Sad to say that the picture below is the nativity pictured below is my sisters - - but it is identical to the one I should have too. It is traditional for the uncles and aunts on my mother's side to purchase this nativity for all the nieces and nephews that get married. Anyway, my Aunt Linda went to pick mine up and they were out of stock and were not planning to get another shipment in until after Christmas. Now this was back in October that she was looking. That made absolutely no sense to me to be out of stock right before the holiday season. Isn't that when they would sell the most. Anyway, then she found out that they were only missing 2 pieces - - - what were they? Yeah. Mary and Joseph and Mary is holding the baby Jesus. So if you want a nativity without the key people, then great - - there ya go. Sad huh?

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Christmas cards? Am I supposed to be doing those? No just kidding. This will be my first year doing them cause I just got married. I felt funny sending out Christmas cards when I was single so I opted out. What would I do? Put a picture of me all by myself and write - - yeah remember me - - yeah I'm still single. Anyway, I will start them this year.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Ummmm. Really - - to be truthful I don't really have any. I mean, yeah I have received things maybe that I would not have chosen for myself, but they were purchased out of love. I have to say though that I have the corner on FROGS. I receive at least 5-8 new frogs each year for Christmas. It is fun to see what new creative frogs there are out there. One of my students said one day, "Miss Hymas (cause I was still single) do you know how many frogs you have in here?" (our classroom) I replied that I didn't and they told me, "74. I counted them." My response was, "I'm so glad to know that you had enough free time to be counting that many frogs around the classroom."

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?

1. White Christmas
2. Holiday Inn
3. It's a Wonderful Life
4. Elf

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually the day after Thanksgiving. Although this year they had some great sales at JCPenney right before Thanksgiving so I went a little overboard for David, my husband. Ooops.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don't think so. Not that I recall. Do white elephant gifts count?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Food. Need I say more? Lots of chocolate, but not fruit cake. ugh.

16. Lights on the tree?
I will echo my sister when she said, "Uh, YEAH! Are you kidding? Do some people really not put lights on their tree?!"

Colored or white? Definitely WHITE. Don't know why, but I prefer white.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Can I go with groups instead - - Josh Groban, SheDaisy, Bing Crosby "White Christmas," Celtic Women
(just to name a few)

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
I have always lived near my parents, except when I was on my mission - - so at home. I don't really know what it is like to travel at Christmas - - except David and I are going to Disneyland for New Years. FUN!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Of course, thanks to the song - - "You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen. Comet, and Cupid, and Donner, and Blitsen. But do you recall? The most famous reindeer of all - - - Rudolph . . . . .

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
I don't have either one. I have a large cranberry bow on top. It matches my other decorations.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Again. I will echo my sister, Christina,
"Both. One gift Christmas Eve (almost always pajamas) and the rest on Christmas morning. The earlier the better!" And add in that David and I are trying something different this year - - well it is our first year together so can it be considered different? Anyway, we are going to have two Christmases - - our own Christmas Eve morning and then go to my family's house for Christmas Eve traditions and Christmas morning. We will see how that goes.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
When it is extra cold and there is black ice on the roads. Yikes! Drive carefully.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I would have to say my ornaments that I bought in Romania. I thought it would be a fun reminder - - I purchased them on my mission. It is great fun to pull them out and tell a story or memory from that time.

I also love taking each ornament out and telling the story behind it. This year, if it didn't have a story, David made one up. It was quite entertaining!

My tinkerbell from Disneyland. I am going to borrow Christina's picture of it though cause we have the same one. (Funny Story: Christy and I bought them at Disneyland the same year. My mom REALLY wanted one, but couldn't decide and waited - - then it was time to go. My dad was a bit impatient and so my mom just grabbed one. Not the one she wanted. She stewed about it for about 3-4 years until Christy saved my dad's bacon and found one on eBay. She got him out of the doghouse and back into my mom's good graces. The funny thing about it though, is that my dad had NO idea he was even in the doghouse.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year?
A husband. Oh wait. I've got one of those - - I'm good then.

25. Who is most likely to respond to this? Santa is watching so all of you better be nice:) Ummmm. Christina will send a message back, I'm sure. Also, Mindy. You both are great at responding! Me? I'm getting better. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Durtschi

For Family Home Evening this week, David and I visited Grandma and Grandpa Durtschi. What fun we had chatting with them and learning about how they met and listening to some of their stories from their lives.

One of my favorite things was the interaction between them. Grandpa loved telling us stories of younger years and we loved listening. He would preface his story by saying, "Just one more and then I'll be done." Grandma's response was adorable. She rolled her eyes - I caught that - and I started giggling. I loved it. It gave me a picture of me and David in the future when grandkids come to visit and David wants to tell just one more joke or is reminded of just one more song. Grandma Durtschi saw me stifling a giggle and brought her finger to her mouth in a 'shhhh, it's our little secret.' I tried to pull out a straight face and fought to keep my giggles in.

Another thing that I thought was totally adorable was the fact that Grandma and Grandpa held hands and there was a tenderness between them.

I told David later, "You're family is so great." He looked at me and said, "We're both lucky. We have amazing families!"

We are too. Thank you to all our families for your examples and love. You're truly amazing!

Bridal Shower - Family

This shower was hosted by my Mother and my sister, Christina. It was at my Aunt Linda's house. Thanks Aunt Linda and Uncle Blair. :)

One of my favorite stories that night had to be my Grandmother Whiting's tale of getting me and David together. You see, I was really overwhelmed with everything and I broke it off with David before anything really got going. We were not seeing each other exclusively, however, I could tell he was moving that way and it totally freaked me out. Now from David's perspective - - he claims that it was no big deal.

Well, David and I kept in touch after the "break up" even though I had said that we wouldn't even do that. :) So, I went to my Grammy's house and she asked me about this boy I had been seeing. I told her I had broken it off and she said, "What? How can you know if it will work out if you don't even go with him? Have you even kissed him? (I hadn't) You should kiss him! How are you going to know?!"

Well, about about 4 weeks later, I called my Grammy and said, "Well Grams, I took your advice and now I'm engaged." It was hilarious.

David and I went up to Grandma Whiting's home for Family Home Evening a week later. When David introduced himself he said, "Sister Whiting, I have you to thank for this girl." It was adorable.

Thanks everyone for coming out to the shower. I appreciate all the support! You're all amazing!

Bridal Shower - Work

MmmmmMMMmmmmmMMM. Yummy Food! The ladies from work threw me a bridal shower Pampered Chef style. We made yummy apple tarts and chatted. Everyone signed my apron and Chelsea Maddux put her special "signature" cute picture on it. I always had her draw me things for the classroom while she was working at our school. So, it was perfect to have a momento from her on my apron. Look how adorable it is!

Anyway, lots of good food, friends, and fun. It was also fun to put away all of the great Pampered Chef gifts. Thanks everyone! And a special thank you to the ladies on my team - - you're amazing!

Visit to Provo Temple

On Saturday, October 18th, we went down to the Provo Temple for Becky's endowment session. It was lovely. We snapped a few photos afterward. Have you been to the Provo Temple lately? They have completely redone the grounds there. It is beautiful! Okay. So they probably redid the grounds 5 years ago or more, but I haven't been there since my mission in 2000-2001. They did a lot to make it look very nice - water features, landscaping, wow.