Salsa for an Army and Other Stuffs
The second week in December was so filled with events that it felt a little bit hectic. I'm pretty sure we had only one family dinner the entire week. Right from the start of the week, things were crazy.
There was no school on Monday so the girls and I went nuts and made yummy treats for teachers, coworkers, and friends. In the afternoon we made a quintuple batch of Sister Frost's salsa which has become our favorite treat to give at Christmastime. There's so much sweetness being handed out in December and we've found that people really appreciate something salty for a change. We got out our five largest bowls, opened what felt like a billion cans of diced tomatoes, chopped bunches and bunches of green onions and cilantro, and diced up some beautiful avocados. Then it was all mixed with the perfect blend of spices and portioned out into containers ready for gifting. As if 43 individual containers of salsa weren't enough, that evening we washed out the big mixing bowls and used them to whip up a quintuple batch of my favorite Christmas goodie, peppermint bark popcorn. Jared and I each delivered salsa to our coworkers the next day and the girls all left the house loaded down with delicious gifts for their teachers. You know what I realized as I was finishing up the popcorn late Monday evening? So many of the things that are on my list are just not necessary and I'm only making my life more stressful. I'm the only one who cares if I make salsa at Christmas and the coworkers/teachers/friends would like us just as much without it.
One thing that was really stressing me out all week was an essay I needed to complete and submit to Work and Wonder (follow the link to read my essay). After October's general conference I volunteered to write two essays about what I'd learned from a couple of the talks. I wrote the first one back in October and in my mind, the December 12th deadline for the second one was a long time away. In reality, it rolled around pretty quickly and I was freaking out a little bit. My submission also had to include an idea for putting faith in action, a ministering connection, and a statement of who I am because of what I learned from the talk. In the end, what I thought I'd learned from the talk by Elder Alvarado (the importance of being an example of faith for our children) wasn't what I wrote about at all. The temple and making time to attend more often have been weighing on my heart a lot lately so that's where I focused my writing. I love the temple and the difference regular temple worship makes in my life.
For musicians, December is a month filled with performances. Abigail and Samantha had their Christmas concert for choir on Thursday evening. Our normal phone call with Emily is on Thursday evening so that was a tricky one to coordinate. Lakenheath High School has two choirs - beginning and advanced. Both girls are in the advanced choir but Abigail is also in the beginning choir. How can she be both a beginner and advanced? Because she's the teacher's assistant for the beginning choir. So she sang with the first choir and then while the second choir was being introduced she hurried backstage to change into her other concert dress. Somehow, we've lost all the photos and videos we took of the performance so that's kind of a bummer. But it was a good concert and it's sweet to see Abigail and Samantha singing in the choir. This is the only year they'll ever attend the same school and we love watching their relationship grow stronger because of the time they're spending together.
The next day we had a home basketball game for Samantha immediately after school (I think they lost??) followed by our squadron Christmas party that evening. We had just enough time after we got home from basketball to clean up quickly and then drive right back to the base for the party. Normally, we wouldn't bring the girls along but Jared felt impressed to have them come along. There was childcare at the party and he felt as if the people who were going to be there watching children might need a little extra help. I'm grateful, and I'm sure the parents of all those kiddos were as well, that he listened to that prompting and we brought the girls to help. There were a couple of adults but it wasn't nearly enough for the number of kids that had been dropped off that evening. As far as the rest of the party goes, it was a pretty standard security forces Christmas party - okay dinner, a few cheesy games, prizes being raffled, and lots of drinking and dancing. We stayed long enough to socialize, eat dinner, take a photo booth picture, win a raffle prize (a basket full of movies and treats), and socialize some more.
We wrapped up the week with the busiest Saturday I think we've had in quite a long time. We woke up early so Jared could get a much needed haircut before the craziness began in earnest. Samantha had another basketball game that morning so we headed back to the school once again. Her team was so close to winning - just one point down at the end of the game. Sam even fouled the other team three times, which made Jared super happy. If she'd made a basket I'm pretty sure he would have fallen over or started crying or something.
Abigail had a shift bagging at the commissary and there's nothing like a Saturday right after payday and at Christmas time to bring in the big tippers. She made $85 and £40 in five hours! In the middle of her shift, she came back to the school so she could sing the national anthem before the varsity games began. Jared and I went to his office after the JV games were over so that we could print out some programs for a baptism that afternoon. Once that was finished, we went to the lodging main office on the base to wait for Madison to arrive on the shuttle bus from Heathrow. Man, we sure love Maddy and are happy to have her home again. It didn't start to feel like Christmas until she got here!
There was no school on Monday so the girls and I went nuts and made yummy treats for teachers, coworkers, and friends. In the afternoon we made a quintuple batch of Sister Frost's salsa which has become our favorite treat to give at Christmastime. There's so much sweetness being handed out in December and we've found that people really appreciate something salty for a change. We got out our five largest bowls, opened what felt like a billion cans of diced tomatoes, chopped bunches and bunches of green onions and cilantro, and diced up some beautiful avocados. Then it was all mixed with the perfect blend of spices and portioned out into containers ready for gifting. As if 43 individual containers of salsa weren't enough, that evening we washed out the big mixing bowls and used them to whip up a quintuple batch of my favorite Christmas goodie, peppermint bark popcorn. Jared and I each delivered salsa to our coworkers the next day and the girls all left the house loaded down with delicious gifts for their teachers. You know what I realized as I was finishing up the popcorn late Monday evening? So many of the things that are on my list are just not necessary and I'm only making my life more stressful. I'm the only one who cares if I make salsa at Christmas and the coworkers/teachers/friends would like us just as much without it.
That same evening was the first night of the base intramural basketball. This shouldn't mean much, except that Jared referees games and Abigail and I keep the books with all the stats and run the scoreboard. Abigail will also be reffing games later in the season. Since it was a Monday evening, we made it a family affair and we all headed to the gym. Natalie and Samantha are the best and didn't complain about sitting on the bleachers watching very amateur basketball for three-plus hours.
One thing that was really stressing me out all week was an essay I needed to complete and submit to Work and Wonder (follow the link to read my essay). After October's general conference I volunteered to write two essays about what I'd learned from a couple of the talks. I wrote the first one back in October and in my mind, the December 12th deadline for the second one was a long time away. In reality, it rolled around pretty quickly and I was freaking out a little bit. My submission also had to include an idea for putting faith in action, a ministering connection, and a statement of who I am because of what I learned from the talk. In the end, what I thought I'd learned from the talk by Elder Alvarado (the importance of being an example of faith for our children) wasn't what I wrote about at all. The temple and making time to attend more often have been weighing on my heart a lot lately so that's where I focused my writing. I love the temple and the difference regular temple worship makes in my life.
For musicians, December is a month filled with performances. Abigail and Samantha had their Christmas concert for choir on Thursday evening. Our normal phone call with Emily is on Thursday evening so that was a tricky one to coordinate. Lakenheath High School has two choirs - beginning and advanced. Both girls are in the advanced choir but Abigail is also in the beginning choir. How can she be both a beginner and advanced? Because she's the teacher's assistant for the beginning choir. So she sang with the first choir and then while the second choir was being introduced she hurried backstage to change into her other concert dress. Somehow, we've lost all the photos and videos we took of the performance so that's kind of a bummer. But it was a good concert and it's sweet to see Abigail and Samantha singing in the choir. This is the only year they'll ever attend the same school and we love watching their relationship grow stronger because of the time they're spending together.
The next day we had a home basketball game for Samantha immediately after school (I think they lost??) followed by our squadron Christmas party that evening. We had just enough time after we got home from basketball to clean up quickly and then drive right back to the base for the party. Normally, we wouldn't bring the girls along but Jared felt impressed to have them come along. There was childcare at the party and he felt as if the people who were going to be there watching children might need a little extra help. I'm grateful, and I'm sure the parents of all those kiddos were as well, that he listened to that prompting and we brought the girls to help. There were a couple of adults but it wasn't nearly enough for the number of kids that had been dropped off that evening. As far as the rest of the party goes, it was a pretty standard security forces Christmas party - okay dinner, a few cheesy games, prizes being raffled, and lots of drinking and dancing. We stayed long enough to socialize, eat dinner, take a photo booth picture, win a raffle prize (a basket full of movies and treats), and socialize some more.
We wrapped up the week with the busiest Saturday I think we've had in quite a long time. We woke up early so Jared could get a much needed haircut before the craziness began in earnest. Samantha had another basketball game that morning so we headed back to the school once again. Her team was so close to winning - just one point down at the end of the game. Sam even fouled the other team three times, which made Jared super happy. If she'd made a basket I'm pretty sure he would have fallen over or started crying or something.
Abigail had a shift bagging at the commissary and there's nothing like a Saturday right after payday and at Christmas time to bring in the big tippers. She made $85 and £40 in five hours! In the middle of her shift, she came back to the school so she could sing the national anthem before the varsity games began. Jared and I went to his office after the JV games were over so that we could print out some programs for a baptism that afternoon. Once that was finished, we went to the lodging main office on the base to wait for Madison to arrive on the shuttle bus from Heathrow. Man, we sure love Maddy and are happy to have her home again. It didn't start to feel like Christmas until she got here!
Our sweet Madison was dragged here, there, and everywhere her first day in town. We started by heading to the high school and we got there just in time for her to hear Abigail sing the anthem. Then it was off to the commissary to grab enough groceries to get us through the next few days. Then back to the high school to pick up Samantha. After that, we headed to church for a baptism for three people we know and love but Madison doesn't. Immediately following the baptism we had our ward Christmas party with even more people Madison doesn't know but who feel as if they know her because they know us and then they wanted to talk to her and she was tired from traveling and stressed out from socializing. After the party, we went to Sainsbury's (we LOVE that store) so the girls could grab the last few gifts for their friends. It was a busy day and Madison was tough. She pushed herself to stay awake until almost 10:30 that evening, which significantly helped with getting over the jetlag.
Phew, that was a crazy week and I'm tired all over again just from writing it all out. Life in December is slightly insane.
Wow!!! That made me tired just reading about it!
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