Our Peppermint Pig

We received a peppermint pig for Christmas. For those that don't know what this is...I will tell you. It is a pink pig shaped piece of peppermint candy in a nicely decorated box with a story to go along with it. In the Victorian village of Saratoga Springs, candy makers at Saratoga Sweets gear up to produce that year’s batch of "Peppermint Pigs" The pink pig is removed from packaging and placed in the red velvet pouch. After the holiday dinner, the Pig was passed amongst those gathered, each in turn giving the pouch a firm tap and sharing a tale of the past year's good fortune. The delicious broken peppermint and warm memories were enjoyed by all in hopes of prosperity for the coming year.

Here are our photos of our Peppermint Pig fun.

Some interesting facts about "Peppermint Pig"

• Peppermint Pigs™ were first made in Saratoga Springs, New York, about 1880.


• Saratoga Sweets revived the tradition of the Peppermint Pig™ in 1986. To this day, they are made nowhere else in the world.


• Over 130,000 Peppermint Pigs™ are made each holiday season.

Once There Was A Snowman...

Tuesday morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow. After the kids got off to school, Daniel and I dressed up and went outside on our deck and played in the snow.

We made a snowman that was looking in our window. We had a lot of fun. We came in about 11:00am and enjoy Mr. Snowman watching us.

As time passed during the day, the temperatures went up and our cute snowman began to melt. Slowly we got shorter and shorter and then by evening he fell over towards the window and then it looked like he was really watching us. He was really cute.

But by the next day, our snowman was just a scarf, hat, 2 buttons, a carrot and a piece of licorice. But he will be back soon.

Christmastime and Cold Temps

The temperatures have not gotten higher than 20 degrees for almost a week. We are ready for snow and temperatures that are a bit warmer, maybe even freezing at 32 degrees. That would be nice. We have no snow, just cold, cold temperatures. One morning Daniel was trying to warm up by laying in the sun in the dining room. Here he is. The sunshine is beautiful, I must admit, but only when I am inside.

We decorated our Christmas tree and wanted to get a picture of the kids. This is what happened.

Luckily, I am patient and here is our kids Christmas Tree picture. Cute, Cute, Cute!

Enjoy your Christmas!

First Day of School

Katelynn - 10th grade

She leaves the house at 5:55am every morning. She has seminary from 6-7am and then she is in the "Music and Motion" group(dance and singing group) and they meet from 7 -8am and then she goes through the rest of her day. She amazes me at being able to get up every morning and doing it pretty cheerfully. I know she loves Music and Motion. She is also taking drivers training this fall. They meet Monday and Wednesday from 3-5pm. Those are really long days. She is doing great.

Allison - 4th grade

She started at the same school and about 2 weeks into the school year she started talking about transferring schools to the elementary school that is close to new home. We let her decide. We knew it was a big decision to leave a school that you have been at since Kindergarten. After much thought and prayer, she decided to transfer and it has been awesome. She loves her teachers and hasn't looked back once. She knows that she will see her good friends from the other school when they get to the middle school.

Matthew - 7th grade

Matt began the year playing the alto saxophone and was given the opportunity to play 1 of 2 baritone saxaphones. He loves to play it and would love to be able to bring it home to show us, but since it is bigger than him, he just leaves it there. We are looking forward to his first concert so we get to see what it looks like.

Daniel - Home preschool with mom

We are enjoying our time together each day. We enjoy going to the library. During the first week of school, a friend of mine and her daughter came with us and we rode the city bus and rode into the city and went to the Children's Museum. We had a picnic in the park and then ride the bus back. They both loved the day.

Visit from King Grandparents

This August my parents came to visit. We went to Coeur d 'Alene, Id for an outing. Here are the pictures.

Kids and Ben at Lake Coeur d'Alene

The family

Dad and Mom

Daniel, Allie and me

Pictures of New House

These were a long time coming. We have lived in our home for 5 months now. We love it and are enjoying it so much.

Our Home
Backyard

Living Room

Kitchen

View out the top back deck.

Katelynn's Vacation

Katelynn went on a 3 day Pioneer Trek. She hiked 18 miles while pushing and pulling a handcart with all their supplies. She slept under the stars each night. She ate practically nothing. One lunch consisted of a biscuit and a chunk of cheese. She was covered in dirt from head to toe after her 3 days. But she said she now appreciates what the mormon pioneers went through. They were seperated into families with a ma and pa and they even had a baby(5 lb sack of flour) to carry the entire time. Did I mention that she had to wear long sleeve shirt, long skirt, bloomers, and a bonnet? She was glad she went.