A Griswald, I mean Hodgen Family Christmas

Yes, that is Shannon under the napkin

For those of you familiar with Steve's "Clark Griswold" holiday expectations, you're aware that it's hard to live up to. This holiday season has been filled with many Kodak moments as well as a few mishaps along the way.

It has been a constant struggle to keep Shannon from eating the gingerbread house. We made a cream cheese pound cake that Lindsey dropped on the floor while transferring into the pan to bake. Shannon found her presents hidden in Lindsey's closet. Luckily she was so infatuated with the first one she found, she didn't have time to dig through the remaining bags before Lindsey found her. As Lindsey tried to wrested the Princess Polly Pockets from her, Shannon cried (I mean she was literally crying), "No, I need these." Of course she returned to the scene of the crime the next day only to discover...nothing. After which she found me and ordered me to find the presents.

Shannon and the present she found earlier in the week

The weeks leading up to Christmas we were able to squeeze in some time to watch our favorite holiday flicks...A Wonderful Like, Elf, A Christmas Story, Polar Express, Christmas Vacation, etc. Shannon, Mom and I attended the Nutcracker and the Parkridge Christmas party, which included a play and good food. I successfully completed my first beef tenderloin with Bearnaise sauce in addition to a pecan pie on Christmas Eve.

Shannon shows off her loot

Christmas day included Shannon waking up at 5 am. Shannon opened princess present after present (apparently the word has gotten out). A special thanks Uncle Buddy and Aunt Jeanette for the princess towel set that Shannon has been asking for every trip to Target. Also, to Steve's mom who made 4 princess pillowcases (2 flannel for the winter, 2 cotton for the summer). And last, but not least, Marti and David (her adopted Aunt and Uncle) for the Disney Memory game. We had so many gifts for Shannon that half way through opening, I scooted some under the couch to save for a later date(apparently my mom used to do the same thing, so I am turning into my mother!).
I guess Shannon wasn't to trilled with her monkey headphones

To those of you who sent us a Christmas card, we loved hearing from you and seeing how your families have grown.

Merry Christmas!

Rock City

The older I get the more I realize you have make time in order to do fun things. So, we met Steve downtown after work and headed up Lookout Mountain (for those of you who didn't pay attention when your high school teacher were teaching about the Civil War, Chattanooga was the site for many battles, hence the names Signal Mtn, Lookout Mtn, etc) to Rock City's Enchanted Garden of Lights. Now, it doesn't compare to Temple Square at Christmas, and it cost a great deal more, but we really needed an FHE activity to get us into the spirit of Christmas.

Of course it was 75 degrees on Thursday, but when we went on Monday, it was a whopping 29! Shannon reminded us of Randy from "A Christmas Story" - "I can't put my arms down!" Anyways, we loved the lights and music. Once Shannon saw Santa's bucket of candy canes, she ran up to him and told him she wanted a Cinderella doll and a dog for Christmas. After we said goodbye and ventured back into the park, Shannon remember that Lindsey had the Little Mermaids "Under the Sea" on her IPOD and had to tell Santa. We hiked back and Santa was a little confused, but played along.The Ward Christmas Party

A pictures worth a thousand words...and this one sums up our Christmas party this year. Steve, standing with barely enough time to be in a picture before he darts off to put out fires and be the MC. Shannon, crying and not wanting to do anything that she is asked. Me, smiling.

More randomness from the Hodgens

Ok, I have no clue where my sister found this but it made us all laugh. Be patient and leave your computer up for a little while until everything loads! Once it gets to the "watch again", scroll back to our blog and click on the website again, it will load quickly and show you the show in its' entirely. I never knew that Steve could move like this or that I was so uncoordinated. ENJOY!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1276238753

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1270750290

Shannon enters the terrible 3's

Shannon celebrated her birthday on November 29th. I was reminding her of her birthday the night before and remembered that at that moment exactly 3 years ago, I was at the hospital in labor. Not quite as pleasant of a thought. Anyways, Shannon started the day with almost 3 bowls of cocoa chrispies and chocolate milk (treats are allowed on holidays and that's what she asked for) Next came a 7 mile walk with mommy's walking group (Shannon rode in her cushy stroller). She was sporting her new Sleeping Beauty present that was found on her floor when she woke up that morning. After returning home from the walk she refused to take a nap. Even after we told her that we couldn't start the party until she took a nap, she declared (in true 3 year old style) that she didn't want a party or presents and that we could eat her cake and pizza. Needless to say she did eventually take a nap, but we had to wake her up after 4pm (because she wouldn't have gone to sleep until midnight).

The princess made her debut in a pink ensemble with a princess soundtrack playing overhead. After eating, presents were opened. At first she wanted to play with each on, then it got to the point where she would open a present, say "Ah!" then ask for the next one.

I had made a chocolate mousse cake (which Shannon was very excited about since she has been restricted from sweets) and decorated it with princess figurines. Because the princesses already had chocolate icing on them, she felt that they should go swimming in her cake.

We bought a house!

The Biltmore, Ashville, NC

Just kidding, I wish....

I would like to take this moment to thank my sister Melanie, who has become quite the little homemaker over the years, for inspiriting me and my family to enjoy where you are and take advantage of the fun around you.

Melanie suggested that we go to the Biltmore House in Ashville, NC. It's one of the largest houses in the US built by one of the Vanderbilt heirs. My mom kindly offered to watch Shannon, so Melanie, Aubrey, Dad and I drove 4 hours to Ashville(which I have never been too, even though I've lived in the south most of my life).
It was BEAUTIFUL! So many of the architectural details reminded me of chateaus' I'd seen in the Loire Valley, France. The house was fully decorated for Christmas, complete with carols paying over the organ in the dining room. Luckily the day was warm so we explored the grounds. Once we'd stretched our legs outside, we noticed that most of the schools and tour buses were gone, so we took one more tour of the house, except this time we had it all to ourselves. They were preparing for the evening tours so all the fireplaces were lit and Christmas lights turned on. It really helped to get the Christmas spirit rolling.

World's Fanciest McDonalds

I would also like to remind you of how big a dork I am in my love for the food network. I had recently seen a special on McDonalds Around the World. It turns out the fanciest McD's is in Ashville, so I had to stop and see! They were right and I thought you'd like to see it just in case you never make it to Ashville.

Thanksgiving!

The Gruwell's Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving at the Gruwell/Hodgen/Pitcher has was a full week affair. Melanie, Zach and Aubrey drove down from Pittsburgh (along with Lulu the dog - as featured in previous posts). Lindsey flew in from BYUI...and the rest of us went downstairs! Thanks to everyone pitching in we had dinner around 1pm . Shannon happily downed some juice, ate a roll with butter, then declared that she was tired and going to bed (no complaints from anyone). You might remember that Shannon is on a "no sweets until you get your poo poos in the potty" diet. Well, the diet allows an exception for the holidays and when she woke up she ate pie the rest of the night. After everyone else napped and ate pie, the Christmas music came on, all the fire places went ablaze and the Christmas tree went up. With hot chocolate in hand, the family watched Elf and Thanksgiving 2007 was declared a success.

Shannon and Aubrey Keeping themselves occupied

Now, ever year I vow to not be apart of the after-Thanksgiving Day sale madness, and yet, when the paper comes Thanksgiving day and I see the amazing deals, a little light inside starts to burn. Apparently all the Gruwell daughters were feeling the same way, so we set our alarms for 3:15 am. Of course the little light inside wasn't as bright when we woke up, got dressed, and into the freezing car. As we neared Kohl's there was bumper to bumper traffic. As we parked in a nearby Japanese restraunt Melanie and I both looked up at the same time and saw the sea of bodies lined up past Goodys, past Target, and into the darkness, we almost gave up then. But we knew we'd be laughed at if we came home empty handed. So we found the back of the line, waddled our way into Kohls and soon discovered that holiday shopping can only be done in 3's. One to get a spot in the check-out line (which wound around the entire store) one to shop, and one to park the car (if going to multi stores). Oh, and a cellphone per person is a must. Anyways, once we got everything, Mel stood in line while Lindsey and I went to a different store. Lindsey and I both got everything we needed at Belk and still made it back before Melanie was at the check-out (kind enough to be willing to buy our stuff too). You know how they put little odds and ends at the check-out line of stores, hoping that while you are waiting you'll grab a few? Well, the entire store had been that way for Melanie and she had acquired 10 more items since we'd left her. We kept our sense of humor the entire time and finished the madness at 7 am. When Mel's husband saw our loot he got a little jealous and ventured out with Steve that afternoon and came home with a few items himself. Of course he'd missed out on the true after-Thanksgiving sale experience, but I don't think he was too sad about it!

River Path

Like I've said, the weather here has been unpredictable. Mostly warm, which has prompted us to take advantage of walking next the the river. Like I said before, I'm trying to take advantage of local attractions.

Lulu takes Shannon for a run

Shannon doesn't run fast enough, Lulu ditches Shannon

Here's a little background on this picture. Lulu is my sister Melanie's dog and she a VERY energetic little mutt. So, we thought the River path would be perfect for her. It was perfect until we started noticing the "NO DOGS ALLOWED" signs and realized we were going to have to hide her whenever we saw a park ranger. Luckily they were understand and let us finish our walk. Shannon, who desperately wants a pet, was walking Lulu when Lulu got a sudden burst of energy, resulting in Shannon being thrown off the path. Melanie took this great picture of the leash flying from Shannon's' hands, Shannon heading off the path, and Lulu running full speed ahead to Melanie with her tongue hanging out in determination.

Rainbow Lake

I'm ashamed to say that even though I've lived in Chattanooga most of my life I've done very few touristy thing. So when the Relief Society hiking group went to Rainbow Lake recently, Shannon and I jumped on the opportunity. With the bipolar weather lately sometimes it hot and sometimes it freezing. On this particular day it was freezing, but hiking warmed us up a bit.

The Leaves Are Falling....

I've always thought that there's nothing like fall on

Signal Mountain. I just thought I'd share some

beautiful pictures to give you a taste of what I

love so much.