Christmas

Every year I vow I will wrap the presents ahead of time and every year I put it off until Christmas Eve.  Jonathan is a good sport and helped me out.

So we were up late and the kids up early.  Matthew, Melissa, and Corinna were all up around 6.  Surprisingly Isaac slept in till 7.  While Isaac slept, I prepared the Apfelpfannkuchen or German apple pancakes with cream (recipe below).  Matthew and Melissa decided that that ought to be a Christmas tradition after trying them at a German breakfast place in San Antonio 2 years ago.  M&M looted their stockings and jumped and danced around the house noisily until Isaac woke up. 

Melissa with her stocking loot.

(Notice the foaming bath soap, hair supplies, book, and crayons.  Santa is a practical elf.)
 

Matthew sorting the presents

Matthew admiring his dad's wrapping paper.  Jonathan's tradition is to use newspaper.  Upon questioning he replied, "You have your traditions, this one is mine.  Besides newspaper comes in pre-cut pages perfect for wrapping." 

Dad got in one last Chinese lesson before opening presents.

He's up!  And he was a bit puzzled by the excitement at first.  He quickly caught on. 

Melissa received a crystal (amethyst) necklace that she'd really wanted.

Licorice for me, from Matthew.  Wrapping paper for Corinna.  

A camera!

Star Wars Legos and a Lego idea book (and lego storage bins)

Grandpa and Corinna

Melissa bought Matthew a magic kit.  She knows her brother.  

We were thoroughly spoiled by our parents and siblings.  The children were delighted with their new treasures.  Thank you.

After opening presents, we dined on German Apple Pancakes with whipping cream.  Mmm.  Then Jonathan and Isaac tried to take Dad to the airport- but Jonathan already wrote about that adventure!

Since the car died right before church and we had no way of getting there, we opted to watch the First Presidency Christmas Message with the children instead.  It was a nice relaxed Christmas day and Matthew, Melissa, and Isaac had a lot of fun with their toys.  That evening Andrea and Jeremy hosted Christmas dinner and it was beautiful and delicious! 

Merry Christmas!

Apfelpfannkuchen (German Apple Pancakes)

You will need:

(batter)

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 (apple filling)

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar + 1 tbls
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•  2 large Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, blend eggs, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Gradually mix in milk, stirring constantly. Add vanilla, melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg.  Let the batter rest 30 minutes.
2.  Preheat the oven to 425 F
3. Melt butter in a 10 inch oven proof skillet (cast iron works well), brushing butter up on the sides of the pan. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over the butter. Line the pan with apple slices. Sprinkle remaining sugar over apples. Place pan over medium heat until the mixture bubbles, then gently pour the batter mixture over the apples. 
4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 425 F and then reduce heat to 375.  Bake an additional 10 minutes.  Whip cream to serve on top.  Enjoy!

Snapshots from Christmas break

Grandma Ellis sent us a big box for Christmas and told us to go ahead and open a bit early.  So we opened it on a day the boys were bored and Melissa sick and feeling just a bit sorry for herself.  Inside were wonderful treasures.

Isaac found a cape and a light up gun.  PERFECT for a super hero!

He raced through the house fighting "bad guys" and big brothers.

"Where's Matthew?"

 "There he is!"

Run, Matthew, run!

 "Bang! I shoot Matthew!"

 Got 'im!

 This game seriously entertained the boys for over 45 minutes.  It was loud, it was wild, and they were happy.

Grandma thought of Melissa too, and she received a zhu zhu pet kitten which she happily snuggled on the couch.  She really was sick, poor thing.  We had a date planned for that night (sitter and all!) but had to cancel. 

Matthew got a hex bug nano from Grandma.  This absolutely delighted him, since his previous hex bug nanos had met an unfortunate end at the hands of Isaac.  Matthew now has a dorm safe in his room to keep his treasures from prying, destructive brothers.  Hopefully the legs on this hex bug last longer! 

During Christmas break we made graham cracker and gingerbread houses.  The Hannas joined us that evening. 

This year we had individual graham cracker houses so everyone could make their own and eat it without interference.  I also made one real gingerbread house that later Melissa decorated.  And then Melissa, Matthew, and Isaac promptly ate it.  Sorry, the destruction commenced before I got pictures.

Corinna enjoyed the Christmas tree.

Her casualties are scattered on the floor.

Family pictures taken after church a week before Christmas.  Matthew was just thrilled by the prospect.

They were tired and ready for lunch, but humored me...somewhat.

Sigh.  This was the best family picture we got.  Grandpa tried his best, but the kids were grumpy.

Father, son, and grandsons!

More pictures from the farm

(Isaac was done but we had tickets for the hay ride and damn it we were going to use them. Once we got on the tractor Isaac quickly forgot his bad temper when a cat sat next to him.)

Sweet Berry Farm

Jonathan already wrote about our misadventures on the way up to the farm.  Figured I ought to post some pictures.

Isaac in the children's corn maze

Matthew and Melissa raced ahead so I didn't get any pictures of them in the maze.

Daddy with his girls

The Sinden Kids

Originally Jonathan was going to speak at a conference in Japan at the beginning of October.  We invited Brian to come out for a visit, and to help me with the kids during the week Jonathan would be gone.  Brian, being the great brother that he is, agreed.  Chris discovered he would have leave during the same time, so at the last minute he decided to fly out too and stay with Andrea.

Somehow during the move to Austin Jonathan's passport got misplaced or lost.  It's hard to say what happened, but he searched the box he thought it was in- and it wasn't!  Unfortunately he didn't discover this until Friday night and his flight was Sunday evening.  Instead of flying to Japan he arranged to give it over Skype with a Japanese interpreter at around 3 AM Austin time. It all worked out, and without the jet lag. 

It was SO much fun to have my brothers here.  Between Chris and Brian's missions, it's been years since the four of us have all been together, so we played, ate delicious things, and had fun.   

Due to the abundance of limestone, Texas is home to many really cool caverns.  While Brian and Chris were here we decided to pay a visit to Longhorn Caverns.  It's about an hour northwest of Austin.  It's unique since it is one of only a hand full of caves in the United States formed primarily by an underground river rather than acidic erosion.  Mammoth Cave in Kentucky is another famous river formed cave.  The cave is carved smooth and you don't see many stalactites or stalagmites.   Still it is beautiful in place, the crystal sections are incredible, and the history is quite colorful.

FDR's Civilian Conservation Corp cleared out the debris in the caves and discovered evidence of a Confederate stronghold.  Inside they found dynamite, weapons, and two uniformed soldiers' remains, likely from an unfortunate gunpowder accident.  Outlaw Sam Bass is rumored to have stashed his loot in the caverns, and legend has it that the Texas Rangers rescued a kidnapped woman from Indians in the caverns.  During Prohibition, the caverns served up bootleg whiskey.  Free drinks to the local sheriffs ensured the law turned a blind eye, and on Sundays the caverns hosted a church.  Patrons who passed out on the floors from the night before would awake to the service and join the congregation!  There is a long wide passageway know as the subterranean ballroom, and yes they did have a dance hall with wooden floors.

The caves are still used for entertainment.  Willie Nelson occasionally performs in the caverns, choirs come to sing, and every December they hold caroling.

Isaac with Uncle Brian.

Unfortunately he wasn't as entertained by the caves, the ipod, or being carried in the backpack as I thought he would be...  Still he made it, and mostly unscathed- just two skinned knees from tripping.  Er, Isaac that is.  Brian did fine.

 

Passageway dubbed "short man's revenge"  It is about 4 to 4.5 feet high and 7 wide.  Duck!

Smooth formations made by the quick-moving underground ancient river. 

Not a very good picture of them, but there were two passageways filled with enormous crystals.  Even Isaac was impressed.

The watch dog.  This is perhaps the most famous formation/sculpture in the caverns.  No tool marks have been found.

The four Sinden kids + 2 babies (and our tour guide) after the tour.  Isaac (not pictured) was DONE and climbing the stairs. 

On Friday night Andrea and Jeremy played host to an elaborate murder mystery dinner.  They even used the fine china!  Andrea set up Brian and Chris each with a date for the dinner and the eight of us busied ourselves in the sordid business of fame, love, Hollywood, and murder.  Watch your back, folks, because it turns out you don't want to double cross me.  Not that I'm confessing to anything...

Jonathan likes it when we have out of town guests, because it provides the perfect excuse to take them out to taste the local cuisine.  We took Brian to try some authentic Chinese, a Brazilian steakhouse, and good 'ol Texan barbeque, plus the world famous Round Rock doughnuts.  Yum!

Brian and Chris also watched the kids for us so we could go out on the town.  Come again anytime guys!  Or as they say here, "Y'all come back now!"  The kids LOVED having so much attention from their uncles.  Uncles are pretty awesome. So are brothers.