My Favorite Christmas Carols

Back in the 1960's the Firestone Tire Company released a new album of Christmas Carols every year. My mom bought one almost every year. I loved to listen to those albums played on my parents' Magnavox stereo. If I had a turn table I would still listen to them. So of course, I grew up listening to Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, etc. Frankly, I don't have much use for many of the "new" Christmas songs (except for a very few). Because they don't make 'em like they used to. So in no particular order here are my favorites:

1. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. One of the best!
2. White Christmas by Bing Crosby. I'd love to visit Holiday Inn!
3. Away in a Manager by Julie Andrews. One of those Firestone Favorites, but her whole album is available for purchase.
4. Star Carol by Anna Maria Alberghetti. Another one of the Firestone gems.
5. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Perry Como.
6. Jingle Bells by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters. One of the fun songs from "A Christmas Story."
7. I'll Be Home for Christmas by Bing Crosby. The most popular Christmas carol during WWII and the Korean War.
8. Candlelight Carol by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Beautiful.
9. Let It Be Christmas by Alan Jackson. One of the new ones.
10. The Chipmunk Song by The Chipmunks. Another one from my childhood.
11. A Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl Ives. We watch "Rudolph" every year.
12. Christmas Time is Here by Jeffrey Osborne. Always reminds me of Charlie Brown.
13. Irish Carol by Julie Andrews. Same Julie Andrews album.
14. I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas by the Three Stooges. We had an old 45 record with some Three Stooges Christmas Songs. I found them on I Tunes. I was so happy!
15. Merry Christmas Darling by The Carpenters. One semester at BYU we played it continually in the Business Office Lab.
16. O Come Emmanuel by Voice Male. Emmanuel shall ransom captive Israel.
17. Oh Holy Night by Nat King Cole, Josh Groban, Martina McBride and Jeffrey Osborne.
18. Penguin, James Penguin by Brad Paisley. Brad Paisley is pretty funny!
19. Silent Night by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The one from A Christmas Story.
20. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer by Dean Martin. A Dean Martin Twist on a old song.


My despised list (If I don't hear these during the Christmas season, I'm happy.)

1. Santa Baby by Madonna. Gag.
2. The Twelve Days of Christmas (Except the one by Straight No Chaser. It's pretty amusing.)
3. The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot by Nat King Cole. Makes me SAD every time I hear it.
4. The Christmas Shoes. Argggg.
5. My Favorite Things. This is NOT a Christmas song.
6. Anything by Mariah Carey.
7. I Saw Three Ships. What do ships have to do with Christmas?
8. Last Christmas I Gave you my Heart. Yuck.

Merry Christmas everyone!

P.S. Don't you just love the new cool title to my blog. My son Stephen made it. He rocks!

Yet Another Famous Recipe From My Mom

I didn't really make this cookie, but it looks just like the ones Mom used to make.

This recipe came from the REALLY old red and white Betty Crocker Cookbook. And yes, it it YUMMY!

Ginger Creams

1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix thoroughly shortening, sugar, egg, molasses and water. Blend in remaining ingredients. Cover, CHILL 1 HOUR.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches a part unto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes or until almost no imprint remains when touched with finger.

Immediately remove from baking sheet; cool. Frost with vanilla icing.

Here's a recipe I found in a cooking magazine in 1994 (doesn't seems that long ago). I finally tried it for a Relief Society Party two weeks ago. Another winner.

Cranberry Conserve

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 tablespoon grated orange peel
2 oranges, peeled, sliced and quartered
1 cup raisins
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup chopped pecans
2 1/2 cups sugar

In a large saucepan, combine cranberries, orange peel, oranges, raisins and water. Cover and simmer over medium heat until cranberries are soft. Add pecans and sugar; stir well. Simmer, uncovered 10-15 minutes, stirring ofter. Cool. Spoon into covered containers. Refrigerate. Serve as a relish with poultry or pork, or spread on biscuits or rolls. Yield: 3 pints.

Happy Thanksgiving, gobble, gobble!

The Famous Sour Cream Cookies

This is picture of my mom, Vera Rasband, dressed as a witch for Halloween. She liked Halloween a lot. One of my favorite Halloween memories occurred when I was in the first grade. Mom dressed up as a ghost and Margie dressed up as Frankenstein and they visited each of their children's classes on Halloween. They didn't have to check in at the office and they brought homemade popcorn balls. I didn't know who they were and wondered why this ghost kept hovering around my desk. There were five children between the two of them in elementary school so they made a whole lot of popcorn balls.

One of her most famous Halloween treats was Sour Cream Cookies. She passed them out to trick or treaters and people came from all over to get a cookie. In honor of Halloween here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Sour Cream Cookies

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
About 3 1/2 cups of flour (enough to make a soft dough)

Mix sugar and shortening together. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream.

Chill dough well.

Roll out dough and cut into shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Frost with your favorite frosting.

Enjoy!

Let Me Hear a Melody. . .

The music conductor Mitch Miller died yesterday. He was 99 years old. Most of you probably don't know who Mitch Miller is. I do. He was one of my mom's favorites. We had quite a few Mitch Miller albums at our house and we watched Sing Along With Mitch on T.V. Mitch Miller conducted a male chorus and they sang The Yellow Rose of Texas, The Children's Marching Song, and at Christmas--Must be Santa. I loved marching around the living room to his music--because that's what it made you want to do. When I discovered that I could actually buy Mitch Miller CD's, I bought two. Now I can march all around my house to the sound of March From the River Kwai (which is from the movie Bridge on the River Kwai which if you haven't seen you really should. Alec Guiness is fantastic in his performance as the ranking officer in a Japanese prison camp during WWII. Anyway, I digress.

I actually didn't know that Mitch Miller was still alive (until yesterday that is). When I read that he had died, I had one of those "ahh" moments. The kind that I have when a recall a wonderful childhood memory. I think I will go listen to the Yellow Rose of Texas for old time's sake.

The Rest of the Story

To see the beginning of this story, you need to read my brother Rich's blog. He is the Hairy Curmudgeon listed on my blog.

So. . .my mom arrived in Arizona to help with the newest member of the family, Stephen Gary. Boy, was I glad she was there. Stephen had to go back to the hospital because he was jaundiced. I was pretty much an emotional wreck. This experience did come in handy in September when Lily was born. April and Sam had to leave her overnight for the same malady Stephen had. I was able to assure her that it wasn't the end of the world and Lily wouldn't remember a thing or be scarred for life. At the same time I was reassuring her though, I could remember exactly how I felt when it happened to me (3 times). Anyway, I digress, Mom was there to help me through all that. In addition, we had to move while I was in the hospital and she unpacked most of my apartment.

I also have a "dad waiting in the car" story. When I was in high school, a big seminary bash was held at the University of Utah. Dad drove my friends and I there. I always wondered how he got the same parking place when he returned because I thought he would leave and come back after it was over. No, he just stayed in the car the whole time waiting for us. I didn't know he stayed in the car the whole time until much later. What a dad!

Sometimes, I wish more than anything that I could see my parents. I would love to go to Heber and run up the stairs and see them there. However, I know that because of temple ordinances I will see them again and we will be all together.

I'm grateful that I am my parents' child and I'm grateful for my own children who are all fine people. I'm grateful to Heavenly Father for families!!

My K-Mart Shoes

All this rain and something a third grader said today brought back the memory of my K-mart shoes. The third grader said her mom wouldn't let her wear her new shoes because it was raining.

Flash back to 5th grade. We always used to stop at the K-mart on Parley's way in Salt Lake City on the way home from Salt Lake. Mom used to do her grocery shopping there and the rest of us would hang out next door at the regular K-mart. I found some beautiful shoes that I just couldn't do without. I begged my mom and she finally relented. They were a great deal--only about $5.

The first day I wore them to school it rained. Those K-mart shoes totally fell apart. I don't mean things came loose. They fell apart. I think they must have been made out of cardboard or something. We never bought shoes at K-mart again.

The Wasatch Wave Society Column

The Wasatch Wave is the weekly newspaper for Wasatch County in Utah. When I was a child, Annie Clyde wrote the society column for Heber and Fawn Kohler wrote the column for Midway. These women wrote the People magazine of their day. They left no stone unturned for a good story. Fawn had a fondness for adjectives. She never met one she didn't like. So for your enjoyment, here's my society column for the past week.

Carol Williams, her daughter April Shelly, sister-in-law RaKay Dance, and sister-in-law Stacie Lake (RaKay and Stacie are the daughters of Lamond and Jaselene Williams of Price, Utah), traveled to a Jowell family reunion in Scofield, Utah. The Jowells are Jaselene's mother and father (who are deceased). The reunion was hosted by Lamond and Jaselene Williams at their cabin located by the beautiful, blue Scofield Reservoir. The Jowell family consists of five sisters--Arlene, Merlene, Juantia, Jaselene and Patsy. All sisters were in attendance except for Patsy. The family enjoyed a dinner of fried chicken, turkey, potatoes, salads, fruit, and cookie bars. After dinner, the family enjoyed visiting and playing games.

Stephen Williams, son of Gary and Carol Williams, traveled in his new Honda Civic across the country to visit his friends, Drew and Lauren Stacey in Columbus, Ohio where Drew is attending medical school at Ohio State. He stopped along the way, to visit many places of interest. These included Mt. Rushmore, Nauvoo, Washington D.C., Springfield, Illinois (home of Lincoln), Gettysburg, Pennslvania, Independence, Missouri, and Abilene, Kansas. We are sorry to report that Stephen got a ticket in Independence. He is now visiting his parents.

On Sunday, Gary and Carol Williams hosted a dinner for all their children. The children all enjoyed their mother's good dinner. Isn't it nice that families can get together.

And a good time was had by all!!

It's June -- Things to be grateful for

1. I can go to my new fridge and get a nice COLD glass of milk. I didn't realize how much my old one didn't work.

2. I know it is going to get HOT this week, but we have enjoyed an exceptionally wonderful June so far. Only in the 90's during the day and it cooled off nicely at night.

3. Rich and the girls' visit. We had fun and I got to know my nieces better.

4. April got to spend a few days with us because Sam went camping to help with a young men's activity.

5. I'm getting some awesome pictures from Stephen's cross-country trip. I wish I were there, except for the driving.

6. Life isn't quite so hectic--so why is my house not clean yet?

7. I missed my dad yesterday, but I'm glad that he is with my mom again.

8. I'm grateful for my son-in-law and his willingness to help.

9. Our pool is still nice and cool.

Three Great Artists

I am amazed at the artistic talent in my family. I admit it, I'm also jealous. It's always amazing to me how people look at a blank page and put what is in their head onto the paper.

My niece Grace visited me this month. She is almost five, her birthday is next month. She likes to draw princesses with big lips, fancy dresses and cleavage. No stick figures for this girl. She reminds me of her cousin. . .

Stephen whose choice of subject was super heroes--the Flash was his favorite. The picture below was chosen for the cover of the literary magazine at Mountain View. We have a huge painting of Spiderman on a wall in the basement. Stephen takes after my brother. . .

Rich who is also a great artist. I seem to remember a lot of monsters coming out of his pencil. He would also entertain us with sketches he had drawn in Fast and Testimony meeting. You have to admit, that is sometimes a very fertile field to find great subjects. There was also a picture of an old man that hung on my parents wall.

I'm grateful for these talented people because there is nothing like watching a great artist at work.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Here are some images from 1958, the year of my birth, including me. I'm stealing the idea from Cynthia. I thought it was a great one.

Today is my Dad's birthday

My dad's birthday was always Memorial Day until the government in its infinite wisdom changed a bunch of holidays to Monday. We would always have a cook out and go look at the flowers in the cemeteries.

My dad passed away in January after 11 years without my mom. I'm sure they were very glad to be reunited.

My dad was a good dad. He went with me to all the daddy/daughter dates. He was a "steady ender" when my friend Lois and I wanted to jump rope. We tied one side to the hand rail of the stairs to the house and he turned the other side. He worked hard making a living for our family. He drove my friends and I to a big seminary program in Salt Lake and sat in the parking lot for two hours until it was over. He loved my mom. He was a quiet man. He didn't say much.

I miss him, but I am very happy he is with my mom and my brother Phil. Happy birthday Dad!

Sue Chickering Pyper Retires

Long ago, in a galaxy far away it was 1970, I was 12 years old; I was in the 7th grade; I went to Wasatch Junior High School; and I lived in Heber City, Utah. Heber was a great place to grow up. It's located in a mountain valley. There are four beautiful seasons. It is cold in the winter time. The summers weren't too hot. Heber had two movie theaters, the Avon and the Ideal. We shopped at Safeway, managed by my Uncle Harris, and JC Penney, where my Mom’s cousin Ruth Todd worked. We even had two bars--Clyde's Billiards, and The Other End. When we got older, we used to drag main for fun on Friday night. And one other thing, 95 percent of the town were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. There were a few kids who went to the Catholic church, but that was about it. Even the people who visited Clyde's Billiards and The Other End were members, they just didn't go to church. I love my religion and it was the basis for much of our social life, but we rarely came into contact with anyone different from us.

So, here I was in the 7th grade. We had to take P.E. the whole year (yes, you heard me right). We had units in football, volleyball, flag football, basketball, softball, gymnastics, table tennis and track and field. We also had to wear one piece blue gym suits that were UGLY. By the way, I HATED P.E. I was not talented in P.E. in any way, shape or form.

Why am I all of a sudden waxing nostalgic? My brother Kirk sent me an article from THE WASATCH WAVE (the weekly paper). "Mrs. Pyper, the girl's P.E. teacher is retiring this year after 41 years of teaching." I'm thinking to myself that there is no way in the world that it has been that long. . .

Our gym teacher was pregnant, so she had to quit. Yes, you heard me right, she had to quit. Even at 12 I couldn't figure that one out. If someone was pregnant, they couldn't teach. Go figure. The old teacher (whose name I can't remember) introduced our new teacher--Miss Sue Chickering (Pyper) from Iowa. She could have said the new teacher was from outer space, we couldn't have been more shocked. Okay so here's the deal, she's from Iowa, she wore funny shorts, her last name was Chickering, she had little balls on the back of her socks and. . . .she wasn't a member. What were we to make of this situation? We reacted like most 12-year-old girls-we were little brats. Let's see, we made fun of her name, of how she talked, her glasses, and anything else that we could think of. Now this was all done behind her back because, after all, it was the 1970's. We knew we had to be polite to the teacher. I guess we figured she never knew. Why would she come to Heber of all places. I don't remember her answer to that question.

Another quote from the article--"The first years Mrs. Pyper taught, she replaced a very good, well-liked teacher. The students were upset that they had to have a different teacher, and did not treat her kindly." Of course she knew how we felt. I hope the adults were kinder than we were. I don't know if I want to know her opinion of Mormons back then. We surely didn't act how we were taught.

She married another teacher who moved to Heber named Roger Pyper. They have lived in Heber all this time and have many friends. Heber is a much different place from how it was in 1970. It's much bigger and there are lots of different kinds of people living there. I'm glad she didn't judge us on her first couple of years. So congratulations Mrs. Pyper on teaching P.E. for a really long time.

Photos: Sue Chickering Pyper now, Sue Chickering Pyper 1970, my seventh grade picture, Wasatch Junior high.

Spring Break Memories

Spring Break is here again and I have been waxing a little nostalgic.

In March of 1991, Stephen, Chris, April and I headed to Utah. As you can see, it snowed so they got to build a snowman. Grandma helped. She was always ready to have fun with the grandkids, whether it was building a snowman or sleeping outside with them in the tent during the summer. You will notice the assortment of cold weather gear worn by the kids. These were things we dug up in the basement so they wouldn't freeze. As I recall, someone hit April with a snowball and she was not too happy. We had a great time, but I wonder if we knew what a great memory we were making. My mom and dad have both passed away and the house belongs to someone else, but the precious memory is still with me.

Three years ago, my brother Phil died during spring break. He was almost 40 years old. But when I think of Phil, I think of the teenager with the big earphones rocking out (literally, he loved to rock in the chair and listen). After we moved to Arizona and Phil got married, I didn't see him very much. Sometimes we would all be together for family parties, but not very much. I regret that I didn't know Phil very well as an adult. I don't think he had a very happy life, and for that I am very sad. It seems strange to me that we grow up in the same house, in the same family and sometimes we don't connect very much after we become adults. One thing that I am grateful for is that my mom was there to meet him when he passed to the spirit world. I'm sure she and my dad are taking very good care of him.

My Visit to the Dentist

As a child, I absolutely HATED (and feared) going to the dentist. My stomach hurt. I always hoped my mom would forget about the appointment. (No such luck there, my mother didn't have great dental care when she was a child, so she made sure we had it.) The only bright spot was the HIGHTLIGHT magazine in the waiting room.

Dr. Whiting wasn't a bad dentist (as far as dentists go). I saw him every Sunday. He was in the Heber 1st Ward with my family. He didn't look scary there. However, he had gone to dental school in the army and looked like one of those drill sergeants I saw on TV. Now he did have a beautiful assistant who would always stay in the examining room and try to put me at ease with witty conversation. It was a mostly a one sided conversation because I was way too scared to utter any more than one syllable answers. Now, if everything was a-okay, I would be out of there in a jiffy, however if things weren't--well, bad news for me. For example, there was the time my permanent teeth were coming in on the bottom and those baby teeth weren't even loose.

"Those have to come out," Dr. Whiting declared. I knew that met something really awful for me. No nice numbing gel to deaden the injection site, and the roots on those teeth were long.

Flash forward 40 years. Now, I know that my dentist is not going to hurt me. He goes out of his way to make sure that doesn't happen. Recently, however, I needed to have two crowns put on. I've even had another one put on before so I knew what he had to do to prep those teeth. I was not looking forward to it.

I found myself sitting in the waiting room and I felt like that little girl who was sure something terrible was going to happen behind that waiting room door. I told myself, "I'm an adult and not a little kid." Didn't work. When I finally got behind the waiting room door, I had to confess that I was a nervous wreck. Dr. Williams (no relation) said something very comforting to me, "Well, I can give you nitrous or I can hit you between the eyes with a 2x4." Silly joke, but it immediately put me at ease. He was very careful not to hurt me. The numbing medicine didn't wear off for about six hours as a testament to that fact.

I am very grateful for the wonders of modern dentistry, stupid jokes, and a great dentist. I have two new crowns and they feel great. Thanks Dr. Williams.

Christmas Carol

Long ago in a different city, in a different state, I attended church in this building--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Heber 1st Ward. The bishop of the ward was George Holmes. My dad was the financial clerk, so I used to hang out with him after church while he waited for people to bring their tithing into the clerk's office. He wrote them a tithing receipt and they would be on their way. Bishop Holmes was there a lot also. I don't remember how it started, but he began to call me "Christmas Carol." Know what--it totally fits me.

When I started this blog, I knew it had to have something to do with being called "Christmas Carol." I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite time of year. I have the decorations to prove it, but it's not just the decorations, or the food, or the presents, or the Christmas programs, or even having family all around. It's remembering and being thankful for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's the fact that because of his atonement, I can live with my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and my family forever and that's the MOST IMPORTANT thing! All these good and wonderful things are what I think of when I think about Christmas. That's why I think it's great to have a little Christmas around all year and when other people look at my blog I want them to have that Christmas feeling too.

Miracles

Some people say miracles have ceased. I know they haven't. I live with one. His name is Sam.

Sam decided to arrive very hurriedly on the morning of February 23, 1997. I woke up in pain and we drove to the hospital fast! Sam made his appearance 20 minutes after we got to the hospital at about 4:20 a.m. He didn't even wait for the doctor to get there. A nurse delivered him. They didn't even have time to hook me up to an IV. (For that alone I was happy.)

The doctor arrived in time to deliver the placenta. He told us that it had started to tear away from the uterine wall. If Sam hadn't come when he did, he may have died. Then Doctor G. said something I haven't ever forgotten. "The Lord takes care of his little ones."

Yes He does. Sam turned 12 on February 23 and yesterday he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood. I am glad that he is part of our family. He has provided us with entertainment and lots of love. Congratulations Sam!