Disneyland Fantasy Parade

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.