This year was a first for me. It was my first time hosting Christmas and MAKING a Christmas dinner. I mean, a REAL Christmas dinner. We had Honey baked ham (and not from the Honey baked Ham store), Beef Rib Roast, mashed potatoes (the little red ones), mushrooms, green onions sautéed for a topping, cranberry sauce, croissants, fresh baked bread (zucchini and another kind - compliments of Sue & Jim), salad, apple cider (made by Grandpa Jim and Caiden), and pies (Lemon Meringue, pumpkin, and Dutch Apple pie).
I had ordered these really cute little stockings to hold the utensils, and used Mimi’s Christmas dishes. Jeff Budd helped to take the stickers off of my Waterford Crystal glasses, and Jim helped to cut the meat (both Ham and Beef). Dave was forced to hand mash the potatoes as we could not find my Kitchen Aid mixer (we still are not fully unpacked from the move...where is the time?)
Everyone seemed to have a good time. We had plenty of drinks (mostly of the non-alcoholic kind), so that everyone could toast to the Christmas season. It was a very good dinner, if I do say so myself! :)
About Me
- Mel
- California, United States
- I'm the wife of a firefighter, a mother of two wonderful kids and a full time employee with a crazy busy life. But hey, at least I'm not bored :)
On December 14th, 2006 Sue, Jim, David, Caiden and myself all went to Knott's Berry Farm compliments of Knott's. They were running a promotion that firefighters and their families could get in free to enjoy the park for the month. We didn't have a spare moment until today, so I took off work so that we could enjoy the days events. 
Caiden had a blast. He was such a trooper. He went on all of the rides, even the little rollercoaster. Papa Jim and Caiden went on the car ride while Papa Jim, Grandma Sue and Caiden hit the Ferris wheel. (which was quite adventurous for Grandma Sue as she gets motion sickness VERY easily). Caiden and Dave and I went on the truck ride, where Caiden was the driver! We watched a Peanuts character show, and ate yummy food (although I didn't eat a funnel cake) :(
Dave and I each took a turn rock climbing. Dave did GREAT! He took the most advanced side of the rock and made it all the way to the top. I also made it to the top but chose the medium level side (although I should have done the advanced because the medium was too easy...I chickened out because Dave was holding himself up by his arm strength and I didn't think mine were strong enough). The funny part was that I also climbed down. You see you were supposed to jump back (since you were tethered) and then you would repel down while being held by the tether. The problem was that the kid that was running the rock climbing area was doing simple math problems...I just didn't have the confidence that he knew what he was doing. Dave and I were even able to go on some adult rides too!
Caiden did VERY well on the huff and puff ride. He's small, but strong. I have a short video of him. On every ride that he went on himself there was a crowd of cheering fans..in the shape of Grandpa Jim,Grandma Sue, daddy and of course me! 
All in all it was a long and happy day. Can't wait to do it again! :)
Every year I try to do something creative for the grandparents. You know, something homemade from Caiden. This year I did handprint ornaments. Now, they sound much easier than the actual execution was, but they came out rather nice. At least each grandparent has a handprint of Caiden to remember this moment in time, and this particular Christmas.
Here are a few pictures of the finished product.
Here are a few pictures of the handprint making process. I made one with Caiden myself and then waited until Dave came home to assist with the process. I then painted them all this grey blue color...not very Christmasy, but I liked it :P
Ok, so the holidays are always so hectic and busy. So I wasn't able to post these pictures before now, but I wanted you to know that I DID end up getting the Christmas decorations up...besides just my Santas.
Although I did have some help from Caiden, Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jim...we all worked together to make sure that we had the Christmas Decorations up in time for Christmas!!!
As many of you know we are building a pool. Everything was going according to plan until about 2 months ago (November 10th 2006 to be exact). That happens to be the date that I wrote a check for about $13,000 - one payment before the final payment. Since that date - everything changed. The pool guy stopped returning our phone calls; he promised that his workers would be at our house to work and no one showed up. It was getting pretty ridiculous.
Finally, I stepped in a made a few phone calls. FINALLY, Kevin Murphy of Murphy's Pools called back. I guess Kevin didn't appreciate my phone calls because Dave told Kevin that I would back off and stay out of it and that he could deal with Dave going forward. However, Kevin AGAIN stopped returning phone calls. Finally Dave had had enough. I was very concerned that he had run off with our money, so Dave did a reverse look-up to find out where Kevin lived to see if his house was for sale or something. He found the location (about 2 minutes from our house) and went over to pay Kevin a visit. Dave knocked on the door, and he could hear movement, but no one would come to the door. So, he knocked a little louder. Eventually, Kevin opened the door and pointed a gun (that's right I said a GUN!!) at David. He told him to back up and to go on the curb. (At this point had I been Dave I would have called the cops).
Dave remained calm and did as he was told, but stated that Kevin needed to come out and speak to him. Dave laid it out on the line and told Kevin that he felt that he was going to steal our money and run off with it and the like. Kevin said that he felt ashamed (sure he did that’s why he continued to make poor decisions like pulling a gun on his client). Kevin's only excuse is that he got behind in his business and used our money to finish the job of someone else that he had left hanging and was going to do the same to us. He planned on using the money that someone else was going to give him (on Thursday) to finish our pool. He said he WOULD finish, but it would take longer than expected (uh...yeah...ya think…the pool was supposed to have been completed the first week of December). Dave made it clear that if he did not fulfill the contract that we would have to access our options which most probably would include legal action. Kevin gave some kind of story that he could barely feed his family, and can't seem to get any loans. Not sure if any of this is true, but to be honest…not my problem. I fulfilled my end of the bargain…I paid him. All of the people who work with him (the contractors from other businesses) have stated that he has NEVER left a project unfinished.
At this point, we are going to wait and see if he finishes...if he doesn't...well then stay tuned....
P.S. Can you believe he pulled a GUN on Dave? What kind of businessman does that?
What better way to understand your husband and his job then to job shadow, or do a ride along? Since it was Christmas Day, and the other family members that WERE going to go to the station made other plans, Dave's captain agreed for me to "ride along" with the fire crew throughout their day.
Of course I had to sign the necessary paperwork. You know the kind stating that if I get injured or die that I will not hold SBFD liable. My favorite part is where it stated that the Captain will ensure myself a "safe retreat" if I felt something was too much for me to handle.
I also had to dress the part. Dave went out and bought me a navy collared shirt just for the occasion, and I had to wear navy blue or black pants and black shoes. I was able to wear my navy blue POW MIA flight jacket on medical calls, but for fire calls had to switch to Dave's brush jacket (yellow jacket).
Overall it was a pretty slow day -only 3 calls. I wish I could go into detail about the calls here, however due to the confidential nature of the calls I am unable to. :( *sigh* Needless to say, I have a newfound appreciation for David and what he does on a daily basis. It was cool to see him in action...he TRULY knows what he is doing, and I'm a pretty harsh critic so that's saying a lot. It was cool to actually be in the engine when they were going to calls, and to see the people on the street waving, while hearing the lights and sirens from a whole new perspective. One of the other firefighters let me borrow his headset so that I could hear what people (meaning Dave, the engineer and captain) were saying en-route to medical calls. 
Since it was slow during the day, Dave dressed me up in his turnouts and let me feel how heavy the gear is. He hooked me up to a SCBA (Self-contained breathing apparatus) and let me breathe from it. That was interesting...and I sounded a bit like Darth Vader. He also had me try on the hose pack that they put on for wild land fires, in addition to the turnouts and heavy gear I had tried on earlier. We talked about doing some hose drills, but unfortunately this never came to be...although I am sure that I would have been able to hold my own here. I'm starting to get muscles :P
We had a nice Christmas dinner thanks to Carlos (the engineer) who purchased a Honey baked ham and Claim Jumpers Dutch Apple Pie. We also made mashed potatoes, salad, banana muffins, corn, and something else that I am forgetting. There were 5 side dishes in all.
Overall, I am glad that I had this experience. Although I wish there had been more calls, I truly did gain a better understanding of what David does on a daily basis, and hope that this experience will prove me to be a more understanding wife when he comes home from work. It's easy to get caught up in your own day and drama, and was refreshing to step out of my little world and be a "fly on the wall" of Dave's world outside of our humble home.
Every year the San Bernardino Fire Department holds the Spark of Love toy drive. Basically, three families are chosen per elementary school for an invitation only event in which they are able to come to the fire station, get cookies, hot chocolate and such, meet Santa Claus and walk away with some toys. These families are families within the community that without the assistance of this program would not be able to afford the luxury of gifts under the Christmas tree, or even a Christmas tree at all.
This year was no exception, and I wanted to be involved. I called up the organizer and explained that myself and my team would like to assist. I started a campaign at work that would allow my employees to dress casually for the next month if they donated $20 in toys to the Spark of love toy drive. I got a big box (that came from my dining room table) and sat it outside my Stats board with signs on it for donation. If the team donated $20 in toys, I gave them a certificate which they could post outside their cube so that everyone knew why they got to dress casually at work.
Monday, December 18th was the culmination of the toy drive, as this was the evening of the event. It was VERY cold, and I arrived with Caiden in tow at about 5:30pm. The doors didn't open until 7pm, yet there were people lined up down the street to get into the event. Two lines were created. One for those that had invitations (and were chosen by the elementary schools), and one for those that did not have invitations. For those that did not have invitations they were told that they could wait until the event was over, and if we still had toys remaining we would allow them to come in, but there were no guarantees.
Inside volunteers worked to place each toy into the appropriate category (toddler boys toys; toddler girls toys, boys 5 and under, etc...), and prepare for the nights events. One of the chief's dressed up as a Fireman Santa - he was the main attraction.
The doors opened promptly at 7pm, and the families were let in 2-3 at a time. Each family would go get drinks and food then were directed to a table of writers (I was a writer). The writers would write down their name on a post-it note along with the ages and gender of their children. Some families had 9-12 children each. The "writers" would then pass the post it notes to the "runners" who would run around with large bags and fill them with toys for each child. They would then call out the families names and the families would get their bags of toys (some lucky families received bicycles) along with the opportunity to sit on Santa's lap and take a picture with him. It was extremely cold and a bit windy as well. The families from the invited list were so sweet and appreciative. The kids were amazing. I fell in love with one family. The little boy was so excited when he saw a coloring book (that the fire department normally passes out when kids come visit). I saw him eyeing it, but he didn't want to ask for one. I handed him one along with a packet of crayons, and he was SO excited. He looked at that book like it was the BEST thing, and proudly exclaimed to his mom and dad that he got to COLOR in that book. When he was handed the bag of toys his eyes just LIT UP! It was very touching to see all of the children's faces. I only wish I could do more. The evening was a success as each invited family received a bag full of toys for their child/children. We even had some toys left over for the uninvited families.
Just seeing all of these families truly enjoying this chilly night in December just made me even more thankful for everything that God has provided for me and my family. Although Christmas is the time of year that people start thinking about others and tend to be more generous I feel that it is important to sustain these feelings all year long. Who needs a holiday to be thoughtful, generous and caring? At one point or another in our lives, we have needed to rely on the kindness of others, or will need to…I know I have…so why not give a little all year long? Although I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions…if I did, mine would be something like that. Just a thought. :P