Lookin' Good!

Okay...so I got Dal a suit for Christmas which ended up being two suits. I am not going to go into the long story of why there ended up being two. The short of it is that we might be keeping both, but are hoping to just keep one. The problem is, though, we can't decide which one we like better. I think Dal is just too good lookin' no matter what he has on.

Despite that, we need some input on which suit to keep. Here are the two choices, in no particular order. Make sure to answer our poll on the right to let us know which one you like best...we'll probably take your opinion into consideration!

Christmas Continued...

Santa came through with a stroller for Kelsie. Now if we could just get some clothes for her babies!

While with the fam over Thanksgiving, I made name signs for each of the kids' rooms. I think they turned out really well. They might not have been the favorite present this year, but they liked them and have already chosen where they want them hung in their rooms.

Tyson also got a Planet Heroes space ship from Santa. It was just what he wanted. We didn't get around to writing letters to Santa this year, so we had to call him on Christmas Eve. He was busy with the elves, making toys, so we left him a message. Apparently he got it in time since we each got what we asked for. What a great Santa!

Now that Kelsie has her bright neon orange purse and yellow heels (thanks to big brother, Tyson) she is ready for the world. She has been clomping around in those shoes since she got them. I am a little nervous she is going to break an ankle or something. The price we pay for beauty!

Since I was nervous to spend the holiday with just our little family (I am used to millions of people around on Christmas) I decided that we would have the missionaries over for dinner. That way I would be able to cook a big meal (and not waste it all) and keep my mind off of being away from family! It worked. It gave me plenty to do all day and we had a great time. The meal was excellent and the missionaries, as always, brought a great spirit into our home.

Most of our day was spent lounging around, playing with our new toys. In fact, none of us even got dressed until right before the missionaries showed up for dinner at 6:00. It was a great day. I hope you all had a great Christmas too.

It's HERE!!!

The anticipation for Christmas this year was more than I had ever imagined possible. All day Christmas eve, Ty was counting down until Daddy got home so that it would be almost Christmas day. We had a great Christmas Eve dinner at some friends' house, set out our doughnuts for the big guy and even got the kids to bed at a decent time. Thankfully, Ty let us sleep until around 7:00 before he couldn't stand it anymore. WE read Luke 2 in our bed and then ended up waking up Kelsie...I guess she didn't remember that it was CHRISTMAS!!!

In Rigby style, we hung the sheet to keep any sneaky eyes from seeing stuff they weren't supposed to. Dal explained to Tyson that the youngest family member gets to go into the Living Room first. He insisted that Kelsie was not the youngest and that he should go in first. It wasn't until he realized nobody was going to get to go in unless it was done that way, that he gave in.

Kelsie was just SO excited about the treats in her stocking that she couldn't have cared less about anything else...that was until we started opening presents. Her stocking treats were soon forgotten in a flurry of wrapping paper!

Dal was the present master this year. For some reason he REALLY likes to do that...does it have something to do with when he was growing up...a power thing? I don't know. He did a great job. We did it one at a time so that it would last as long as possible...still wasn't that long. I am going to have to get used to this small Christmas thing.

Note to self...the kids liked the presents from the dollar store AS MUCH IF NOT MORE than the more expensive gifts. Dal tries to remind me this every year, but for some reason I feel like I am jipping them if all the presents come from the Dollar Tree. This is going to have to be continued a little later...gotta run and make the house look like I have done something productive before Dal gets home from work. To be continued...

Ginger Bread House...Move Over!

Making Ginger Bread Houses is a great Christmas tradition...just not one for me. I love the idea. What's not to love...eatible houses covered in frosting and candy...Yum! The trouble is the ginger bread. Have you ever tried working with that stuff? First, you have to have the perfect recipe. Then you have to cut your house pieces EXACTLY right. Then bake them the right amount of time to get the correct firmness. Then comes the fun part...trying to get the pieces to stand up and stay standing up with all the decorations on top. I guess I just don't have the patience or talent for it. The last time I tried, at Enrichment several years ago, my roof pieces didn't quite meet at the top. I decided it would be a sun roof. The sister teaching the class was appalled that I would leave it that way. What can I say...I am not a perfectionist.

My parents had the right idea. We made Christmas trains out of graham crackers when we were kids. Same idea...glue it all together with frosting and decorate with candy. You just didn't have to deal with ginger bread...that was the key. Yeah, we had a lot of broken crackers, but who cares...it's a broken cracker!

Fast forward to 2008 and my attempt at starting fun Christmas traditions for my kids. I decided that I would take any chance out of the equation. We made rice crispy treat houses. I would say they can't fail, but you just have to look at the pictures to see that the roof presents a bit of a challenge. My friend, Eimile, and I got together with our kids last week to make houses. We made the kids' houses first, so we learned from our mistakes. The roofs were a bit heavy to withstand all the frosting and candy and eventually became flat. I think a flat roof is perfectly acceptable. After all, the house I grew up in had a flat roof.


Kelsie couldn't care less that her roof was flat. In fact, the only reason there is even any frosting on her house is because I helped her put a knife-full on. The rest went straight into her mouth. I think she finally got a few pieces of candy on the top too...the ones she didn't like very much.

Tyson, on the other hand, really struggled when his roof came down. He kept saying, "It's not perfect...it's not good enough." I tried to explain that it was my fault the roof fell down, not his, but he wouldn't listen. Once again, we have been traumatized by a Christmas tradition gone bad (Letter to Santa didn't go too well last year). I think this one can be remedied next year though with a little more stable construction.

I cheated a bit with my house after seeing all the roofs collapse on the kids' houses. My roof had a little cardboard and a couple of chop sticks to help it maintin its shape. Anyway, the point is...rice crispy treats are the way to go. If you want it to keep it even simpler, buy the ones from the store and cut them into bricks for your house. They are the perfect consistency for building. And they taste way better than stale ginger bread. We used a combination of homemade and store bought on ours. I think we have found a new tradition for the Rigby family. We will never do anything but Rice Crispy houses from now on!

Merry Christmas from the Rigbys

The Christmas Card Process went a lot smoother this year than last. We had one photo shoot and were able to get a decent picture. I am not sure if it is on-the-wall-for-the-next-four-years-quality, but it was cute enough for a card. And yes...it is still going on the wall so that Kelsie can finally be represented on the family wall in the living room.

I even got the cards sent out on time. Most of you reading this should have received it by now, but just in case something happened (freak act of nature, malicious post man, etc.) and you haven't received our card...here is the picture for all to enjoy!

We hope you all have a great Christmas and have fun over the holiday season. We miss seeing all of our friends and family, but love getting updates on what is happening in your lives. Merry Christmas!

We are still alive!

OK...so by now, you have probably noticed that I am not a very consistent blogger. I promised myself when I started this blog, that I would not let it consume me and take over all my time. I think I have done a pretty good job of that...maybe a little too good of job! Sorry! We have been busy (like everyone else) and this just hasn't made the list of things to do until now. So, like usual, you may get several posts today (depending on how long I can put off working out this morning) and then who knows when the next post will be. I apologize, but that is just how it has to be.

So anyway, we went to Idaho Falls for Thanksgiving and two weddings...my brother, John and one of my roommates from BYU, Lindsay. Dal, of course, had to be back to work the week after the holiday, but the kids and I stayed for another week and a half. It was great fun. I think we ended up going to temple square three times while we were there. It's funny how we never seemed to make it there when we lived in Salt Lake, but this trip I couldn't seem to stay away. Thanks to Jen, we actually got some pictures.




The weddings were both great. We got to hang out with family and to make everything even better, it didn't ever get that cold. It was great. I was extrememly nervous to come home for several reasons. First, I knew I had to do all the things I had been putting off for weeks when I got home. Second, I had to drive home by myself with the kids. It was the first time...Dal wouldn't ever let me before. With a lot of prayers, the drive went PREFECTLY. The kids were gems and we made record time. It makes me think I can go visit whenever I want (Dal doesn't agree). The icing on the cake was that I made the trip for less than $45 in gas. Can't beat that. Too bad gas is going up again. Merry Christmas to us!

It was fun spending time with friends and family...sorry if we missed you. Now that I know I can drive by myself, though, I can come more often and get to visit everyone on the list. See ya all soon!