Be Mine

We had a great Valentine's Day -- even though it was Friday the 13th that weekend, too!! 
And since it was on a weekend, we spread it out and celebrated dates on both days!  :)

The girls had their Valentine's parties at school on Friday.  I had purchased their valentine cards & treats for their classmates a while ago and they were on a shelf in our storage room.  Well......when I got them out for the girls to sign, one of the boxes had been opened - and 11 of the treats were missing!!!  It seems Brookelle helped herself to some treats whenever she felt like it over the last little while!  I told her I wasn't going to go out and buy more valentine treats since she's the one who caused the problem of not having enough for her whole class now.  She thought for a minute, then informed me she'd decided she would just be EXTRA NICE to some boys in her class as their "treat" from her, instead of giving them a candy to go along with her valentine card.  ;)  That girl is thinkin;! 
And, ya never know, maybe the boys would like that "treat" better anyway?!?

Matt & I went out to Sushi Monster on Friday night

Katelyn got creative with the Valentine's morning breakfast she made me!

Messages for Matt

Matt took me up to Taggart's Grill.  This has been on our "bucket list" but we've never made it happen, yet, because it's out of the way and there's always a wait - not exactly the type of place you can just drop by when you're passing through.  But, we planned to make the journey up there for V-day!  It was kinda weird going on that long drive up the canyon in FEBRUARY and having the sunroof open!  Instead of our surroundings being covered with snow, it was all brown & barren.  Taggart's is a popular place, I tell ya.  We thought we'd miss the crowds by going at 2:00p.m.  Nope!  Still an hour wait, so we went hiking in the hills behind the restaurant while we waited.  (I needed steps for my Fitbit!)  There's many more things on the menu that I want to try, so we'll definitely be back!

Matt surprised me with a new treadmill!

So I won't have trouble getting my steps in the snowy winter......WHAT WINTER this year?  ;)

He had put it in the front room, but I hadn't seen it.  Katelyn kept trying to get me over there.
She'd call me, telling me to "Come here."  Saying she had to show me something, and I told her to just bring it to me!

Then they finally got me to go up the stairs (that are by the front room) but I

didn't even look in that direction.

(They were trying - I was just oblivious!)

Eventually, Matt had to say, "Just go look in the front room!"  ;)

We finished it off with our traditional HEART pizza from Papa Murphy's and red drink with Valentine-y dishes and table (and Cherry Ju-Ju hearts!).  

Then we watched our traditional movie: "Sleepless in Seattle" (Empire State Building on V-Day!) together with the girls.

  (Kyle went to a didn't-go-to-the-school-Valentine-Dance-party instead of hangin' at home with us!)

#LOVEISINTHEAIR

Celebrate 100

All of our elementary school kids through the years have always made a big "to do" on The 100th Day of School.

Everything they do that day revolves around the number 100.

* Math problems that equal 100.
* Counting to 100.
* Bringing 100 of some object to show the class what 100 looks like.  (When Ryan was in kindergarten, he took 100 Happy Meal toys....with instructions from me to give them to all his classmates!  No joke - we had that many.  How embarrassing!  It's when Matt was working at Hertz, and those toys were left in cars, unclaimed, All. The. Time.  The sad thing was, even after I had him gather up 100.....we still had some junkin' up the playroom!)
* Doing a word search where the only word to search for was, "hundred" like a hundred times.
* Drawing pictures of what you will look like when you are a 100 years old.
* Finding as many words as you can from the word, "Hundred."  (like "red" & "run")
* Making lists of 100 something or other.
Etc., etc.....you get the point.

SOOOO, taking inspiration from all THAT, we did our own recognition of and celebrating for The 100th Day of Ryan's Elder Brenchley's Mission.  Which happened to be December 4th.

We made him a "100" list: "The Top 100 Things we Love About You" and then folded it up, put it in a big [decorated] manila envelope, and sent it to him.

You can't see much of them, but there are things like:

• You have a big heart
• You bring high energy to your interactions with others
• You show interest in the things we do
• You give up your chair for others
• Playfulness
• Blue eyes
• Values & morals
• Enthusiasm
• Loyalty
• Your middle name (it's "Matthew" - guess who put that one?  haha!)

At first, I thought 100 was A LOT (too many?), but once I got writing, I was on a roll!  I got to #78 all by myself, then I figured I better let the rest of the family finish up the last of the list.  :)

Here's to 100 more days.....

And then 100 more...

And 100 more....

And 100....

Then throw in 100 + 100 + 30 more days!

The Day of Awakening

You gotta get through 18 3/4 years of the [back breaking, heart aching, mind going crazy, blue-in-the-face] daily grind FIRST, but it finally comes.....it's the day when your child realizes AND admits JUST HOW GOOD HE HAS IT!  (and always has had it.)

We got this letter from our missionary son, Ryan, this week:

The letter was partially spurred on by him receiving some family photos we had taken before he left on his mission this summer.  They finally came back from the photographer, so I sent them to him in a little album:

We were kind of surprised to have our letter addressed to us in such a way, "My Eternal Forever Family" - such an upgrade from the usual, "The Brenchley's."  ;)

Then the content of the letter provided even bigger "revelations" to us:
"I am so grateful for what a great family I have!  The pics are just too precious!  Maybe it's the great color scheme or all our great smiles, but The Pictures just glows every time I look at it.  I took the album to church with me Sunday to show to some families and it got passed around to a couple of the other sisters in the ward.  Everyone who saw it was all, "Oh, what a Beautiful family you have!"  The other missionaries around the house were all commenting how much younger my family was.  (They're just jealous because their family grew up and isn't as cute as my family!)  I love you all so much.  You are all one of the main reasons I'm serving a mission.  I KNOW the happiness I have knowing my family can be together forever and I want nothing more than to share this message with others, and have them have the same Happiness I have!  I Love You all so much!"

(I think I want him to stay with this current group of missionaries who refer to us as the "YOUNG" family amongst the group!  ;)  In fact, when Ryan was telling his companion that his parents went on a 20th anniversary cruise, his companion pointed out that he's older than Ryan's parent's marriage!  His companion was born a few months before we were married....and he's the 4th child in his family to give ya an idea of the age difference in their parents!)


So, basically, now Ryan thinks we really are great!
(That's why we send them away!)  ;)
One child down, four to go!

A Sure Way to Have a Whole Month Fly By Without Even Realizing It

If time is ever moving too slow for you - just dragging on and you're wondering HOW you can make it go faster.......just GO ON A CRUISE.

Because it takes a WHOLE WEEK of pressing preparations before you can even leave:
Laundry
Writing up lists
Shopping
Making an instructions guide for our children's caretakers
Packing
Accomplishing THE LIST
ON TOP OF the extra hours at work that I had to pick up for others in trade to get the cruise week off, and Matt had to work to get all the things done that were needed for deadlines that would come up while we were gone or very shortly after we returned.
PLUS, add a daughter's birthday and party in there with my annual girls' shopping weekend in Park City on the side....

....and pretty much I was going non-stop for that first 8 days of the month.

THEN we made it on our [20th anniversary] cruise!  Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!

 The Allure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

Relief.

No Responsibility.

Restful.

{Haha.  Matt took this "selfie" on the first evening.  

I was so worn out by the time our vacation actually started, I fell right to sleep waiting for the show to start!} 

 Recreational.

{Yes!  There is a operational Carousal on the ship.} 

Rejuvinating.

 Refreshing.

Royal Treatment.

from our awesome waiters, "Jeff" & "Lito"

 Romantic.

 Rewarding.

Sadly, that week went by way too fast.

Side Note:  My #1 tip for married couples:  Get Away Together (alone) often! (anything from a date night to an extended vacation)  There's really no substitute.....but that's a whole other blog post for another time.

And then we came back home.  Here's another adjective beginning with the letter "R" to describe that experience:  Rude Awakening. 

Not only was is COLD, but I had to now cook my own food, pick up my own towel, wipe my own nose......Oh no!!  

  
(It's been pretty much back to work non-stop again)

So, on MONDAY, I worked my shift all day and had to go to the grocery store for all the, "Mom! We're out of (fill in the blank with anything & everything)! items the kids bombarded me with upon my return.

On TUESDAY, I worked my shift all day and had to catch up on paying bills.  What in the heck was the current status of our bank account?!?

On WEDNESDAY, I worked my shift all day and did the miscellaneous "office" stuff...and finally decorated for Thanksgiving!  With a side of planning our ward's Christmas party.

On THURSDAY, I finally had a day off work, so I got around to unpacking all my luggage.  I also tackled cleaning the stove which appeared as if a 10 gallon pot of an assortment of foods & other stuff had exploded all over it in my absence.  I also slid on in to the Post Office in the nick of time - 4:56 p.m. - to send off this month's missionary care package (a blog post for another time) for Ryan Elder Brenchley.  (It's that time again, already?!?)

So, there's another week that's gone by in a FLASH.  It's November 20th already!?!?!  That means practically the whole month is gone!  And then Thanksgiving week always goes by fast and after that, November's over.  I really can't believe how quickly it went.  Here I am left reeling.

There you have it.
Prep week + Cruise week + Catch up week.....
How to lose a month in 20 days. (but what only seemed like a few)

20 Years Down, An Eternity to Go

THEN:

{9/9/94}

NOW:

{9/9/14}

We've been married 20 years!

*And we haven't changed at all in the past 20 years, have we?!?*

We finally made it to The Anniversary Inn for the first time, after 20 years!

They spoiled us with warm cookies, bottled water, cheesecake, & sparkling cider in our room - and delivered breakfast the following morning...because let's face it, 20 years is cause to celebrate!

Do you notice I keep mentioning, "20 Years"??

20 Years is kind of a BIG DEAL!

I used to think 20 years was such a long time - but it hasn't really seemed that long!

(Or am I just in denial?.....because when someone has, in fact, been married 20 years, it means they're not exactly a "young pup" anymore!!)  ;)

It just so happened, that our missionary son, Ryan, was flying out to the mission field

THIS morning, and he was allowed to call us from the airport, 

so as we were nestled all snug in our bed in The Palace Suite,

the phone rang at 6:50 a.m.!

But, I didn't mind, it was GREAT to talk to him.

(I just couldn't fall back to sleep very easily afterwards.)

THAT was such a huge, important decision to make 20 years ago - it kind of freaks me out

when I consider how young people make that decision (only in their 20's!) - but, for me, it was a RIGHT & WONDERFUL one.  I am so blessed & glad that I did!

Happy [20th] Anniversary, Matt!

XOXOX

If You Hold It, They Will Come

"Money Friends" that is.

Matt is holding $10,000 in Cold. Hard. Cash. (all denominations of bills)

And I've got my hands on $20,000 (all Ben Franklins)

We spent the last 3 days at a "Royalty & Romance" couple's retreat where they taught us (among many concepts) that we have to have a healthy relationship with money.  Therefore, Ben Franklin is one of our "money friends."

The mentors speaking told us we needed to see the money and hold the money to be able to believe we can have it for real in our lives.

OK.  Will do!

This Weekend:

*We celebrated Valentine's Day with our traditional dinner with our kiddos on Thursday night, since many of us had plans on Friday.

Unfortunately, Ryan's missing dinner with us a lot lately due to work and studying.  :(  

I guess it's getting us ready for when he goes on his mission!  :)

(And we watched some Olympics)

* For Valentine's Day, the 6th Graders at our Elementary School

always do a lip sync for their "party."

Matt & I went and saw Haylee's group perform,

"Let it Go" from the movie, Frozen.

{And she wore a TIARA - gasp!}

* While I was in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, Matt sent me a text, Can I reserve you Feb. 14-15? I jokingly replied that I was already busy that day........

Duh! OF COURSE, he could "reserve" me!!

He gave me instructions to pack an overnight bag, but no other details.  Matt came home from work early and we started heading north in the car.  After a while, he had me open an "agenda" printed on pink paper and folded into a "scroll".......later I saw he'd set up a "gift basket" in our hotel room.

 We had reservations at the Marriott in Logan

which included the Valentine's Day dinner buffet at the adjoining restaurant.

(We'd been to that restaurant 2 weeks ago at his Grandma's 90th birthday party, and I saw the signs advertising this Valentine's Day event.  HE saw ME looking/reading the signs, so he decided to book it for us!)  The boy is SMART -- I've trained him well!  ;)  haha.

There was a ton of things on the spread, but my favorites were:

hummus & crostini's

lettuce wraps

stuffed mushrooms

asparagus - with a yummy cheese sauce

coconut shrimp w/ sweet chili/mango dipping sauce

Prime Rib

Matt had about 254 chilled shrimp & 59 coconut shrimps and topped it off with 6 desserts!

Then we ROLLED back up to our hotel room.........  ;)

(And we watched some Olympics)

*  I totally slept in on Saturday morning until 11:00ish!

(Of course, I'd stayed up way late the night before)

* The "plan" was to go to BREAKFAST at The Crepery, 

but due to my late rising, we hit the LUNCH rush there instead - still VERY good!

 There were these delightful hanging chairs to sit in while we ate my savory crepe. 

(It made me want to buy my own crepe maker!)

*Since we were in Logan (the place we met & dated) we decided to visit a few of our old stomping grounds!  First Stop:  A & W for root beer floats.
(Although the big fireplace in the middle with bar seating surrounding it has since been removed.)  ;(

 Now THEY really know how to do a float!  ;)

*Then we went up to the campus of Utah State University, the place

of Matt & I's first meeting (Fall 1993).  We walked around

and found the classroom in Old Main where we had our

Japanese class together.

 Then we hung out in the Student Center.  

We're real nerdy sentimental like that!

(It was DEAD, though.  What?  Everyone wants to stay OFF campus on a Saturday?  Everyone at the Aggies basketball game?)

There has been so many changes/additions to the campus....it was kinda sad for us, 

we feel like we want it to remain the same, but we understand it has to grow with 

its student body and the times!  

(Back in our day, we didn't even have all this technology stuff that needed rooms & buildings to house it!  Email was new.  I didn't even use it, yet, but I knew of some real "cutting edge brains" who were experimenting with it!)  :)

* We stopped by Gossner's and stocked up on some Cookies 'n' Cream and Strawberry shelf stable milk.

Our plan was to just put it in the cold storage room, without telling the kids we had purchased some more,

and see how long it took them to discover it.........since they can't seem to NOTICE the same DANG dirty sock & Fun Dip wrapper that has been sitting on the floor/cedar chest/window sill for A WHOLE WEEK.  

They found it in less than 24 hours!

* We went to DownEast Home looking for some chairs for the Great Room.

The problem with this store is that, while I like their stuff, they only have ONE chair

of a particular kind....and I'm looking for TWO!
We ran into Matt's aunt & cousins there, though!  Fun!  That's very likely to happen in Cache Valley!

* We drove towards home by way of Brigham City (the place of our first residence when we got married)

and ate dinner at Peach City.

* As soon as we got home, I started making treats for Ryan's dance group, who were

coming to our home after the Valentine's dance.

(And we watched some Olympics while preparing)

  {Ryan & Abby - they made their shirts}

Ryan's Sunday School teacher had lent him his sports car convertible for the dance, and unfortunately, kids from his rival high school (I'll say it - it was the DAVIS DARTS!  Sore losers from their basketball loss the night before, I guess) had come into the parking lot during the dance and put peanut butter, egg, and mustard all over a bunch of cars - including the one Ryan had borrowed!  OH NO!  NOT COOL!!  So, the first item of business was washing cars when they first arrived at our home.

10 couples came!

This is what is looks like [in shoes].  ;)

* Sunday morning, I had myYW class presidency meeting before church at my home - WITH cinnamon rolls.

{Ya gotta get 'em there!}  

* Churchy Church on Sunday.

Ryan actually spoke in Sacrament Meeting -- an assignment I knew nothing about, and Ryan had

actually FORGOTTEN until 1 hour before the meeting started!   That was when

he woke up and still had to shower/dress.

We, his parents, could tell it was "on the fly" and, at times, he was just "filling time", but quite a few people came up to him and us afterwards and said how great he did and they were impressed with his ability to do it last minute. 

(Let's just say his High School Debate team experience competing in the "Impromptu" category really paid off!)
I taught THIS lesson in Young Women and handed out this candy quote card:

(On orange cardstock because that is the color that goes with the YW value, "choice & accountability")

* Dinner and FHE at the Brenchley's.

We got to stay later than normal because of NO SCHOOL on Monday.

(We came home and watched some Olympics)

* On Monday, Matt had the day off work for President's Day, so we got serious about looking for some chairs.  We went to three stores and found a couple of things
WE WEREN'T SHOPPING FOR, and were seriously considering buying,
but then we figured we better get Matt fed before we made a major purchase.....

(because those who know him, know he CANNOT FUNCTION when he goes too long without food!  

I KNOW!  It happened the first few times I was in labor, having a baby.....because my labors last SO FREAKIN' LONG, and he didn't want to leave the hospital room.  

We finally learned our lesson and started packing food for him or mapping out the local eateries ahead of time!)  ;)

OK - back to the weekend.

*Lunch at C & B Maddox in Layton

Their menu has the same turkey steaks and fried chicken that is served at my favorite restaurant, 

Maddox Ranch House, which happens to be [too] far away.

So, we can eat there and it "hits the spot" - AND I get my Maddox Turkey Steak fix!

* So, then we returned to chair shopping.

We found just ONE (of course) at this furniture store, but they were able to find ANOTHER one at a different location.

{Score!}

 So, we now have one less empty space in our home.
(I've left the tags on them because I have "commitment" issue, I guess!)

 Because of the pattern, we are either calling them the "eyeball" chairs
or the "UTES" chairs.  (See the "U" in the middle - and they're more red than this pic depicts!)

* I was getting multiple texts & calls from the kids asking what was for dinner, so 

we stopped by Panda Express and got the Family Meal for take out on our

way back home.

* We had Family Night and Haylee gave a lesson on stealing.

She shared a story out of The Friend magazine about a girl who stole a pop out of a cooler

at a public place - and THEN felt awful, etc. etc......

OK, so we all agreed that THAT example IS stealing and is wrong.....BUT we are a house

divided on the subject of whether or not it is considered stealing if you take something [that's not yours] from your OWN house.  

NAMELY:  Us parents say it is stealing.  If it is NOT yours, it's not yours.  AND it's not yours!!!  End of story.  

The kids say it is not stealing.  [BECAUSE THEY'RE THE ONES DOING IT, THAT'S WHY!]
They claim that since they didn't KNOW whose the (fill in the blank with whatever it was they took) was, AND it was just laying out in plain sight when they took it,
that they did not "steal." 

{Do you understand their logic?  Because I don't!}

When presented with that argument,  
I asked, "Was it yours?"

Them:  "No."
Me:  "But you took it anyway...."
Them:  "Ya, so?"

Me:  "Then it's stealing."

Them:  "No it's not."

Me:  "Let's look at the definition of stealing:  

to take (another person's property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it.

What do you think?!?

If they won't take it from their parents, will they at least believe Webster?!?

(Oh!  And we watched some more Olympics)

All it Takes is 1 Song to Bring Back 1,000 Memories

There was once a magical time, when no one knew what song they would be listening to next. We got our music from the radio.  (I still do!)  Songs are like sign posts in our memory. They point us back to particular points in our lives.  When I tune into "80's night" on the radio, within the first strain of the song, I think of, or remember, a specific time/place/person associated with that song.  And in that spirit, with a Christmas twist, I'm going to fire up FM100 this afternoon and play you the next ten songs (so to speak).  There used to be a time when this station played Christmas songs sporadically in between their regular music in December, and it was just  the 100 hours (get it?  FM100) leading up to Christmas that they played continuous Christmas songs, NOT the TWO MONTHS leading up to it.  (My pet peeve.  It's not allowed until after Thanksgiving in my home/car.)  But, I digress.  Back to my experiment: listen while I spin the Christmas hits....and I'll see what comes to mind.

1.  Angels Among Us

I first heard this song performed at a Homemaking Night I attended in my ward when I lived in North Salt Lake.  (1995-96)  A lady who lived in my same apartment complex was one of the singers, along with a bunch of kids singing with her.  I can still see them standing together on the stage.  It wasn't at Christmastime, but the message of that evening was, "THERE ARE ANGELS AMONG US" helping us, serving us, being [sometimes unknown] answers to our prayers - which is a wonderful Christmas message, too.

2.  Frosty the Snowman

This takes me back to another magical time when all the Christmas TV specials were actually on NETWORK TV (as opposed to cable).  At the beginning of the season, the TV schedule would be printed in the newspaper and we would cut it out and hang it on our fridge, underlining the "must sees" in our opinion.  Frosty the Snowman came on every year - it was one of those underlined ones we made sure to watch.

3.  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

This has "Elementary School" written all over it.  I sang this during music time at school.  It's where I learned all the great "echos" such as:
"Like a light bulb"
"Like a flash light"
"Like Pinocchio"
"Like Monopoly"
"Ho Ho Ho"
"Yippee"
"Like Columbus"
How FUN it was to sing it with all my other classmates!

4.  Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

I'm sitting in the multi-purpose room, as a 3rd Grader, at Valley View Elementary watching the 6th Grade Christmas program. (1978)  With Dr. Tak (pronounced "talk") at the piano, the [big, cool, head-honchos-of-the-school] 6th graders started singing this song.....AND THEN started "rockin' out" up on stage, too, while they acted out the song.  And I sit there thinking, They are SOOO cool!

5.  You Make it Feel Like Christmas by Neil Diamond

Honestly, I don't know if I've ever heard this song, but I HAVE heard Neil Diamond.  And whenever I hear ANY Neil Diamond song, I'm taken back to my childhood home.  My dad was a fan of Neil Diamond and we for sure played his cassette tapes (remember those?) on our family room stereo.  The most well-loved song of Neil's (we're on a first name basis!) has to be "America" which leads me to remember my first nephew.  Nick was just a tot - maybe 2 yrs. old - and we'd give him all these miniature American flags to hold in his hands, then turn on "America."  He would just stand there waving the flags enthusiastically the whole song through, with a smile on his face.  "Nick-a-roonie" is now 22 yrs. old.  My dad also gave me two tickets to a Neil Diamond concert after my mission - in hopes that I would invite a date, and get onto the next step in life, but I was too chicken to ask anyone out, so I took my brother, Mike.  Other songs I can't forget are, "Forever in Blue Jeans," "Heartlight," "Love on the Rocks," "September Morn," and "Sweet Caroline" which I saw him perform at a real baseball game this summer -- and it was AWESOME!!!

 6.  Sleigh Ride

I did hear this song when I was younger, but a more recent memory has taken over whenever I hear this song.  Ryan played percussion in the Jr. High band for three years (2008-11) and they would perform this song for their Christmas concert.  The percussion section worked extra hard adding all the special sound effects with their various instruments (glockenspeil, sleigh bells, xylophone, temple blocks, triangle, slap stick, timpani, snare drum).  Whenever I hear the "horse whinny" (courtesy of a solo trumpet player) and the "whip cracks" part of the song now, I think of Ryan's band group at FJH and I can see the view I saw from my seat in the venue of their performance.

7.  Have Yourself a Merry Christmas

For some reason, my oldest brother, David, sang this around the house.....not in a festive kind of way, but an "In-Your-Face, invasion-of-your-space" kind of way - just to bug us, and provoke us to start swinging punches at or shoving him.

8.  Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella

I think of the Kurt Bestor.  Back when I was pregnant with Haylee, my OB asked me if we had any Christmas traditions at one of my monthly appointments.  He shared with me that his family always went to the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert - and he raved about it.  From that moment on, I wanted to go, also.  It took several years, but one December, Matt informed me to "clear my schedule" one Saturday.  I didn't know what we were doing, but he arranged a babysitter for our kids, I got in the car and he just started driving me somewhere.  We ended up at Abravanal Hall in Salt Lake City for the Kurt Bestor Christmas concert -- it did NOT disappoint!  (Why my husband is awesome reason #148).  Kurt Bestor's percussion group were amazing!  During the concert, I remember thinking I hoped Ryan would continue on to that level, but then it turns out, he quit after Jr. High.

9.  Let it Snow

When I heard this song as a boy-crazy teenager (1982-1989), my daydreaming would kick in.  How could it not with lyrics that conjure up images of delightful fires, lights being turned down low, and being "stuck" inside with that special someone?!?  I would fantasize about whichever boy was on the top of my list at the moment and picture me in an actual future scene with him that involved "As long as you love me so" and "When we finally kiss goodnight" and "If you'll really hold me tight."  How romantic?  No?

10.  Up on the Housetop

Back in the day, as part of our family Christmas Eve traditions, we had a talent show.  One year (1978), my little sister, Michelle, and I made up a dance to perform to this song.  I dressed in a red leotard and we wore matching Christmas aprons and tights.  As part of our dance routine, we'd snap our fingers to the "click, click, click" part, and we'd "shimmy" on down to the "down through the chimney" part of the song.  We played the song on a RECORD PLAYER - yes, as in a vinyl record, on a turntable, and a stylus with a needle on it to run around the grooves.  (Any other "mature" adults know what I'm talking/writing about?)

I think I may have a photo in my archives......of us AND the record player......

 {Hey!  I want that red rocking chair in my home, now!}