The Gospel According to Ebeneezer

The Girls (Carmen included) and I had a perfect, lazy Christmas today. We especially enjoyed renewing our annual tradition of watching the 1970 musical version of Dicken's A Christmas Carol "Scrooge". Aja & Anna are really into it because they love the music that we play all Christmas season. Besides they are so TV-deprived that they'd watch anything and like it.

Anyway, Scrooge is a key ingredient in my year-end cathartic ritual in which I recommit myself to becoming better. Scrooge's dramatic turn-around teaches me the sheer power in Jesus Christ's Atonement. This year I was particularly touched by the scene below when all Scrooge's debtors break into song and dance because they learn that all their debts are ended. That scene encapsulates my biggest learning this Christmas season: Jesus is the cause for this great celebration. He has provided a way for us to be forgiven of our debts/sins. He is the reason for this great Holyday celebration (get it?). I am grateful that I am able to repent, change, and become better.


I've also attached some highlight photos (click to enlarge) of our 24 hours of fun with Carmen's sister Kaitlyn and her super-cool husband Tim yesterday. They got to sneak away and be with us for a bit while visiting Tim's parents in central Washington.

Losers! - Remodel Contest

Yep, we lost the annual 3-Form best installation contest...sad but true. It was inevitable though. Our bathroom remodel had a modest budget and was designed and installed by Carmen and me. While the winning projects were from BIG BUCK$ design interior firms. Still, our design was a top 10 vote getter out of 73 residential entries. Not bad, eh?

However, I must say that the grand prize entry (from the commercial category) from Jackson Hole, WY is gorgeous (see below).

Jackson has come a long way in interior design since the days when decorating = hanging deer, moose or elk antlers on the wall (or making an arch out of them). It was back in those days (1977) when I uttered the now infamous line while watching all of coffee drinking compared to Utah..."Jackson Holes sure do love coffee." Kinda funny that I ended up living in Seattle where there are 15+ coffee shops within 2 blocks of my office (seriously).

Here are the contest winner details. What are your favorites?
http://www.3-form.com/best_installation_contest-view.php

Zupfa Bread - A Swiss Christmas Tradition

Carmen is a superstar woman. Last night she fully replicated my mom's family recipe for Zupfa ("zootfa"). In fact, I took a hot loaf over to my mom's cousin Steve Glauser (mom's maiden name) while Carmen stayed home with the girls. Steve and family just pulled the bread apart on the spot and enjoyed it as they watched that goofy guy from Utah win on Survivor. At one point Steve's daughter Heather said, "Carmen is an amazing homemaker...which is ironic because she's a liberal."

This bread is great hot out of the oven, or toasted with a protein powder and flax seed shake in the morning.

Zupfa Bread
3/4 C Butter
2 C Milk (melt butter w/ milk on low in the microwave)
1 TBS Salt
3/4 C Sugar
5 eggs hand whipped
3 TBS yeast in 1 C warm water (an additional 3TBS of the sugar in)
11 C (approx) White Flour (untill dough becomes sticky and satiny)

Raise covered, punch down and divide into 6 equal balls
Divide each ball into 4 equal parts, roll into strands and braid left to right (over under over under), repeat. Let raise until size doubles.

Bake @ 350F for 25 mins

Confused? Call Carmen or my Mom and they'll walk you through it the first time.

Christmas Special Villians

We've been having a blast this year watching the circa early 70's wood puppet Christmas Specials. "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" is the most well known. This year we've especially enjoyed "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." It's amazing how un-PC it is...it has numerous Bible references (you go!) and has some pretty harsh stereotypes on German-Hitlerlike villains (Burger Miser Mister Burger). The overall message that crusty, mean people can change if shown a little kindness is what Christmas is all about to me (think Ebeneezer Scrooge).

Besides these villains are totally funny looking. Don't ya think? Who's the scariest or funniest to you? I'm partial to Mr. Heat Miser myself.

White Elephant Party

Our friends hosted a great white elephant party tonight. I'm bummed because the Shrek "Chia Head" that I really wanted got stolen away from me. Oh well, I can't complain we finally got rid of that creepy Carol Channing doll that my sister Jenny gave me back in 1998.

We played this great game called: "Who? What? Where? Why?" in which one person fills in the answer to each of those questions and then hides what they wrote. Then they pass it to the next person untill each of the questions are answered by a different person. At the end you read the wacky, random mad-lib type story. Anyway it is a great low-tech game that just requires paper, pencil and and imagination. Here are some of the best of the night.

Who: John Denver
What: Drove a backhoe decorated with pom-poms
Where: During Spud-Harvest in Rexburg
Why: Because his arms were sore from waterskiing.

Who: Michael Vick
What: Made a pass at Fabio
Where: During the performance of "Wicked" at the Puget Sound Auditorium
Why: Because sometimes he just needs a little "me time."

Who: The Wonder Twins
What: Ate a lot of 18 inch pizzas with anchovies, onions, and sauerkraut
Where: In the men's room
Why: Because one is a little bit country and the other is a little bit rock-n-roll.

Supa youtube video. Gotta dance now...

Tis The Season for Fruitcake

I'm way into these pictures of my gals.

We took hummus to our neighbors tonight. Who needs another fruitcake anyway?