Christmas Greetings 2006

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FHE Roller Skating at BYUI

Tonight we went Roller Skating at BYUI http://www.byui.edu/ for our Family Home Evening http://www.lds.org/ . Since we were at the student center the previous Monday to see Christmas Tree Lane, the kids saw skating there too and wanted to try it out. We are rusty and the kids are beginners, as the photos show.

Always helpful even if she doesn't know how yet herself. He got discouraged, but words of encouragement bolstered him on. They said roller blading is easier than these training wheels.
I am relaxed. My legs are light. This is fun. I kept telling myself!
He went from going around one time without falling or holding on to anything to
going around 20 times without falling or holding on. Very determined.
He really got the hang of it too. At one point took his skates off when his heal hurt and he thought we were leaving but then quickly went back to get them as soon
as he found we weren't leaving yet.

I'm sure Dad would have liked to go around by himself more, but was often helping someone else. It was fun and they want to go every Monday in January to get better at it!

BYUI Student Christmas Open House w Recipes

Saturday we hosted my husband's BYUI www.byui.edu students

in our home for an Open House. He had a professor who did this when he was in college, enjoyed it and wanted to do the same for his students. They came to play games and eat treats and socialize. We all really enjoyed it.

Every hour a set of students from another class of his came by.

One of them brought his Nintendo Wii http://wii.com/ with him so we tried out golf, tennis and bowling in virutal reality. The students are gathered in the corner of this photo watching and waiting their turn to try it. I would love one of these units. Virutal Reality is so fun. I remember going to the Metreon http://www.mustseesanfrancisco.com/attractions/sony-metreon.html San Francisco and bowling virtual reality down the hills of SF. It was a blast!

A hit of the party was this simple, festive punch. Many asked for the recipe and expecting lemon water, were surprised by it. Here it is:

Safe Party Punch
2 packages of invisible koolaid -- I happened to find Kiwi Watermelon which made it taste like watermelon jolly ranchers. We wanted to use cherry as a cherry lime flavor.
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 qt water
3/4 liter 7 up enough to fill punch bowl
lime slices (maybe float sliced kiwis instead of limes)
maraschino cherries

Some of the other recipes we used included:
Cranberry Crunch Bars
(It reminded him of some his mother made at Christmas when they were young.)
Bake at 400 for 35 minutes
Makes 8 dozen small bars
1 3/4 c sifted regular flour
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
1 1/4 c firmly packed light brown sugar
2 c Quaker quick oats
1 c (2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 c finely chopped walnuts
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 T cornstarch
1 jar 16 oz. whole cranberry sauce
1 egg
1 T water
1 T lemon juice
powdered sugar

Sift flour, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl; stir in brown sugar and rolled oats. Cut in butter or margarine with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly; stir in walnuts. Press half of mixture even over bottom of a lightly greased baking pan, 13x9x2. Bake in a hot oven 400 5 minutes; cool slightly on a wire rack.
While layer bakes, mix granulated sugar and cornstarch in a medium-size sauce-pan; stir in cranberry and lemon juice, cook slowly, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils 3 minutes. Spread evenly over partly baked layer i pan. Sprinkle remaining rolled-oats mixture over top; press down firmly with hand.
Beat egg well in a cup; stir in water. Brush lightly over crumb mixture. Bake in hot oven 400 30 minutes, or until firm and golden. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
Cut into quarters lengthwise then crosswise; lift each piece from pan, with a pancake turner. Cut eachof these pieces in half crosswise, then in thirds lenthwise to make small bars. Dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Rice Pilaf
(This is for 12.5 lbs quantity, so you'll have to do the math to scale it down for you.)
10 lb extra long grain rice, cooked
4 green bell peppers, chopped
4 red bell peppers, chopped
3 yellow onions, chopped
1 lb butter
2 T garlic, minced
2 t salt
2 t black pepper
Cook rice, melt butter and saute' remaining ingredients. Toss together.

Dill Potato Salad
(This is for 20 lbs. quantity, so you'll have to do the math to scale it down for you.)
16 lb new potatoes--we used red, boiled and quartered
4 bunches green onions, chopped
1/2 c white onions, chopped
8 c Dill Dressing (see below)

Dill Dressing
2 bunches of fresh dill
3 1/2 c sour cream
3 c mayo
1 1/4 c fat plain yogurt
1 T salt
2 1/2 t black pepper

Santa Claus was at BYUI Christmas Tree Lane

Our youngest was shocked to be suddenly picked up while he was running. It was his BYUI freshman cousin coming with his student Family Home Evening group to visit Santa Claus. The kids had each just sat on Santa's lap.

We didn't know Santa would be there, but I wanted to take the kids to see Christmas Tree Lane, since I was in charge of it at Ricks College when I was Organizations VP there. Each club or organization may decorate a tree, display it for 2 weeks, and then give it away before they leave for home. I also took this Christmas Tree Lane tradition to Utah State University and later my husband was in charge of it when he took over the student body office there.