Christmas: Zimmer Style

Alas, the holidays are over. Tear. I have to admit my Christmas tree is still up. And so are the wreaths on my windows, and the lights on the roof, and the stars on my mantle. I know I know you all think I am crazy but hang on a sec- I only enjoyed my decorations for a couples weeks before I had to leave for a couple more weeks (home to Oregon) and now I want to enjoy the cheer for even a couple more weeks. No one can tell me what do to- its my house! My tree! My twinkle lights! 

Speaking of home in Oregon- we had the most fantastic Christmas. Complete with ping-pong playing, projector watching, gift exchanging, late night game playing, tons of good snack eating, lava lanes bowling, Christmas jammy opening and Christmas Day feasting.

Playing some seriously intense cards games, while eating some seriously good almonds

Cute Jaxon

All of us sporting our new digs (aka Christmas jammies)

Thanks Mama and Papa Z, for such a wonderful Christmas. We are so glad we were able to spend it with you. 

And it Starts

My last semester of school has finally begun. It feels good to be one of those people who get to say that this is their last semester- this event is 6.5 years in the making and  it's finally here! Today I learned about landscape elevation contour lines and how to draw them on Google SketchUp. I also had a quick review of the piano scales CDFGE, and I can't wait to start working on  the level 3 Camptown Races piano piece. All such good fun. Tomorrow should bring another day of good things.

 

A Family Toast. . . .

You know what I love about my family?

I love that they all came to see me at Thanksgiving. I love that we spent two whole days cooking a fabulous meal for thirty when we only had eight, gotta love leftovers. I love that the boys were willing to stay home with the babies while we sisters went to see Twilight. I love that we continued our white elephant traditions, and had a special family toast with sparkling cider.   I love that they helped me put up Christmas decorations inside and out. I love that I was able to get to know my dear niece and nephew a little better. I love you guys, thank you so much for coming.

'Tis the Season

Once again my dear sister Emily has designed something wonderful for this holiday season. She donated her time and energy to create a gorgeous set of Christmas Cards to benefit Stephanie and Christain Nielson who need our help. Click here to see them. First pick the card you like, second, tell Emily about it and how many you want, third, you pay for the shipping and printing, and $5 will be donated to the Nie Recovery Fund. It's really that easy. And if you already have your cards stamped and mailed (my props to you) then get some for next year, or for those last minute cards you might need for the holidays. Once again, Emily isn't making a cent from these, so start ordering! They really are lovely Em. These are my faves.

The Last Few Weeks. . .

Have been CRAZINESS! I can't even describe to you how busy we have been. My brain is on a constant overload with stuff I have to do. And with this election finally over (thank the dear heavens above) there is a little more space in my life to focus on something else. I don't usually do this but I want to type a few things about the election if you don't mind, if you do then just skip down a little to the second part of this post, if not then keep reading. Even though the candidate I voted for didn't win, I still was overwhelmed by the national response to our new president elect. I might not agree with some of his policies, but I do believe he wants what's best for America. If any of you watched the election coverage, the reactions of Americans all over the nation and all over the world was amazing to watch. FINALLY, we saw the two candidates express some respect to one another, and FINALLY I felt a sense of unity in Americans that quite frankly we haven't seen in a very long time. You have to admit, this was an amazing step forward for the minorities in this country! I felt proud that I was able to witness such a significant thing in our history.


Ok Cat, step down from your little political soap box (believe me it's tiny) and update the nice people about your life. . .

These past three weeks or so have gone a bit like this:

Wake up every weekday morning and get ready for school. Go to school until 5, get home in time to make Dan a ham and cheese sandwhich for dinner before he goes to school on T & Th nights.

Wake up earlier every MWF morning for my hour long physical therapy appointments. On Halloween, my therapist dressed up as Dumbledore or at least someone that looked like a wizard. At first it was kinda funny but then it was weird when he had to start adjusting my back and massaging my sore muscles.

Yard work, a never ending thing. Cut down all my perennials, mulched the trees, transplanted, picked pumpkins, raked leaves, turned off sprinkling systems and removed annuals. Great fun. No really, it was kinda fun. But glad its done. Here is a pic of the new trees we planted.



Waited for a week for the window guys to come and install new windows in the house. They came (finally), they installed, they look AWESOME.



Waited for the gutter guys to come and put new gutters on the house. They came (finally), they guttered/chained, they look SWEET. What do y'all think of the chains? I am not quite sure yet what I think, but it's what the professional gutter guy suggested. It's what they are putting on all the houses these days.



Waited for the fireplace guys to come and hook up the new gas insert we got for the house. They came (finally), they hooked us up, we turned it on and its FANTASTIC.



Took Daniel's niece Ila to see High School Musical 3. Every time there was a song (which was like every three minutes) she wanted me to stand up with her to dance and sing. I calmly whispered to her that I wanted to watch her dance from my seat, I could see her better from there. Yikes. For being only 4 years old, she did really well sitting through the movie in the theatre. We only went to the bathroom three times :)

Sanding, sanding and more sanding. We started prepping the bathroom for the new paint job. My fingers are hatin' life after all the sanding and scraping we did. Don't you hate cleaning up after about 50 different horribly done paint jobs? Ugh. I will spare you some before pictures of the bathroom because I think it was too horrible to post. But the afters we be AMAZ-ZA-ZING.

Scraping ice and snow off of my car. Yes we have already had a couple of snow storms here. Bah-Humbug.

So lots of stuff has been happening. I know it won't be slowing down anytime soon either.

Many Thanks

Hello all. I wanted to post a quick thank you to everyone who helped us during the last few months since our accident. We couldn't believe the response from our families and from our ward families at home in Oregon. Thank you to those who offered help to my parents and Daniel's parents, and those who offered so much during those first couple weeks. Thanks to all our siblings, who were all so when we got back to Rexburg. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

Here is a quick update on the recovery process. My sternum feels almost completely healed, only sometimes if I lift something too heavy or use my chest muscles then I can feel some pain. But it gets better everyday. I still feel pain in my neck and back but physical therapy has helped a lot with that. When I first started started therapy (sheesh- that sounds like I am seeing a shrink or something) they said I had problems with my ribs and some of the spinal cord bones in between my shoulder blades. I have had some painful adjustments done that have been hard to get through but things are starting to feel better. They hope to see me for just a couple more weeks. I am supposed to use my muscles, and try to do a little more everyday. Daniel has been wonderful through this whole thing. I think we make a pretty good team. Thanks again to everyone who has helped Daniel and I. We are so blessed to have friends and family who love us and care about us. Happy fall. . .

Becky's House

While in Oregon a few long weeks ago, I went to help my Mother at the Medford Stake girls camp held every year held at the beautiful Camp Esther Applegate. On the way up the mountain you pass many farm houses and open cattle ranges- quite a lovely drive actually. In the olden days, as kids, all the Clasons can remember the multiple trips we took up that mountain to said camp for family day trips, ward campouts and service projects. We learned the route very well, enough so that we started naming specific areas along the drive after the people with whom we were traveling. For example- (some may not remember these but I sure do) Lizzy's house: a rundown farm house with a horse pasture surrounding the whole thing, Emily's house: an old outhouse located directly west of Lizzy's house, etc. We ususally picked old barns and sheds because I guess it was funnier than picking actual houses. Kids those days, sheesh.

One trip in particular we were traveling with our dear friends the Morris family. We commenced with our naming game. I don't remember much about the trip but I know we gave Becky Morris the best house of all. It has been the only "house" that has survived through the years- the only one we actully remembered the exact location of- the only one dare I say that we all loved. Well I saw Becky's house on my way up to camp. Some of you may remember this house and how it used to stand tall and somewhat strong, but that day it wasn't. Sorry Beck, there was nothing I could do.