Christmas and co-workers go together like tortilla soup and Sundance. Which is precisely where we went and what we ate.

We locked up the office, headed up the canyon, and swapped our gifts. The festivities started with Kendall giving Kate a pecan roll, which may need some explanation. I have none to give.

Then Roxanne gifted Stacy a cream-colored scarf, which happened to match her very outfit on this very day. Hugs!

Whitney made Alison personalized coasters, and Whitney was like a kid on Christmas morning as she watched Alison open the mod-podge beauties.

Kendall’s gift from Sheri wins the prize for the most intriguing shape. Turns out, it was a coach’s bucket labeled with “Coach Bennett” and a padded seat on top. Chocolate licorice — a favorite of this sweet-toothed expo manager — was tucked inside. Perfect.

Last but not least, I opened a rectangular gift from Briana — a gorgeous silver platter, which I promptly recognized as a perfect photo-shoot prop. (It will be lovely to get Utah Valley Bride Magazine off to the printer and off of the mind tomorrow.)

Unlike past Christmas gigs, this meal was bittersweet. The lunch was tasty and filled with laughter, but it also marked the end of an era. After this calendar year, we will no longer be working day-to-day with Kendall and Roxanne (Matt’s brother and sister-in-law). We’ve been together for nearly 12 years, which is exactly how old Utah Valley Magazine is. New adventures await both of us, and we couldn’t be more optimistic — or more sad. Today? Mostly sad. But luckily we share the Bennett name and the Cougar game tickets, so there will be plenty of meals and gifts in our future.

Thank goodness. Someday I just might need a pecan roll.

I can look at my situation in one of two ways — either things are looking up, up, up … OR … things are exploding beyond my control. Shall we go with “up”?

Here is my son Nathan’s recent science fair project. He (and by “he” I mean all six of us in the family) tested the Diet Coke/Mentos explosion using different temperatures of soda. Turns out hot soda explodes the highest. Turns out our dog likes to lap up foamy soda. Turns out that makes him sick. Turns out I have an idea for my next kid’s science project …

We also had an explosion of ballots come in for our Readers Choice awards in Utah Valley Magazine. Next year, we’re going to have technology do a little more of the legwork. But this year, the legwork was done by the legs of our very own, very tired staff.

You can see the stash of goodies in the middle of the table, including the brown box of candy Legos from Blickenstaff’s. Not sure why we opened them “rat style,” but we all found ourselves sticking our hands in the ragged opening to grab colorful, edible cubes. Sugar headaches all around.

This was how Kate celebrated when the last ballot was counted.

And now there’s an explosion of work being done around here. We’re finishing up a few custom magazines, our best-ever issue of Utah Valley Bride, and our “Best Of” issue of Utah Valley Magazine (including the results of the exhausting ballots).

Yep, things are definitely looking up around here — even though our sugar and soda consumption are exploding.

Things are hopping at Bennett Communications this week. Sure, we turned in the Utah Realtors Association quarterly magazine. True, we hand-tabulated thousands of reader choice surveys. Yes, we are organizing interviews with five Olympians. But the real newsflash has everything to do with photography.

Dave Blackhurst photographed four members of our magazine family for our next issue of Utah Valley Bride. When you see this pic in the magazine, these dresses will be cropped and headless. But in this behind-the-scenes shot, you can see (from left) Leah Aldous (graphic designer); Kate Lehnhof (editor); Alison Dyer (ad rep); and Whitney Behling (office manager). They obviously look amazing in solid-colored dresses and brown cowgirl boots, but you should also see how beautiful they are at their jobs — and their job descriptions are obviously all over the place, including this field behind our Orem office.

Here is a close-up of Kate (green dress) who is our very own Utah Valley Bride. She’s planning her nuptials as she plans the pages of our bride magazine. You might call it editorial research — with a bit of permanence attached to it.

We also photographed 20 locally sold wedding dresses this week with Kenneth Linge at InStudio. It’s been a picture-worthy week here, and we can’t wait to show you the final results!

Although Walmart and radio stations start jingling holiday bells in early fall, we have a strict policy of not sending out our Nov/Dec issue until after Halloween. Which is why our holiday issue is just coming out now (well, that and I had a spooky and overscheduled October.)

I tend to feature musicians and artists on our holiday covers, and we kept the tradition alive in 2011. Folk artist Eric Dowdle has been on my “short list” for several years. Last December, my family visited with the puzzle-maker in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where local artists were displaying their beauties. His name spiked its way up the list after I saw firsthand that his personality matched his colorful depictions of cities worldwide.

It wasn’t hard to get this funny man to smile at our cover shoot, but a sure way to light up his expression was to mention his baby peacocks. He loves animals and even had a pet goat named “Art.” More about that in the cover story.

He and his wife, Deb, were terrific sports and gave us an entire afternoon for the photos — despite their hectic holiday painting schedule. When Eric asked Deb to join him in the photo, he called out, “Hey, Sunshine.” That lit up all of our faces.

Several of the photos (including the one with me up above) were taken outside his warehouse along I-15. When the 18-wheelers rolled by, we had to increase our volume and include hand gestures to communicate. But even if I couldn’t always hear Eric, he was always making me laugh.

Thanks, Eric, for a great interview and fabulous photo shoot. Learn more about this paintbrush genius at dowdlefolkart.com.

P.S. The green garland came from my very own storage room and is displayed on my very own banister every Christmas. My only regret in life is that I didn’t deduct it as a business expense — it was also used as a prop for the Kurt Bestor photo shoot two years ago.

So it’s been six weeks since I blogged. I have at least six excuses, but instead I’ll tell you 10 things I shoulda, coulda, woulda blogged about.

1) Hailey, my 11-year-old, accompanied me to the fifth annual Women in Philanthropy Gala this past Saturday. Several people said she looks like a mini-me … maybe it’s because she gets dressed in my closet.

2) One of the women who caught my eye at the Women in Philanthropy gala was Miss Provo Meredith Gaufin, who was our “cover girl” for our May/June 2010 issue of Utah Valley Magazine.

3) There are THREE girls in the photo above (which hopefully explains the “bump”). At my 20-week ultrasound two weeks ago, Matt and I identified the gender and smiled at each other before the technician could type, “I’m a girl!” The tie has been broken. We’re all happy except for Carson, my youngest son. He fasted on Sunday that the baby would be a boy. And the kid’s got faith, so this could make for an interesting March delivery.

4) My kids threw two things off the Space Needle in Seattle during fall break. We’re lucky we’re not sitting in the Seattle Jail right now.

5) I turned 37 this past month. Matt’s thoughtful streak of presents is still alive. He grabbed a brick from the rubble of our first Provo apartment (affectionately called “rat hole” by our affluent newlywed friends) and had “1995″ engraved on it. That’s the year we became roommates and I became a Bennett. I plan to keep this brick for the rest of my life. And I plan to avoid living in another rat hole for the rest of my life.

6) This made up for his other birthday gift, which was the same book he gave me for my 36th birthday. He thought it looked familiar …

7) My youngest son turned 8 on the same day his grandfather turned 65. Neither of them plan to retire anytime soon.

8 ) My oldest son turned 14 and had his birthday all to himself.

9) I put on a race-themed leadership meeting for Young Women leaders. Despite a recent stall in my running career, I was out of breath during my entire presentation (see item #3).

10) I spoke on three panels within a month’s time. One was at TouchPoint, one at a book conference at UVU, and one at a Women’s Business Conference. Panels are the way to go. Expectations for visual aids are low, I can “pass” on a question, and I learn oodles from the other panelists. Oh, and I sit behind a table where nobody can see my ankles (again, see item #3).

So there you have it. Ten news items, zero excuses, 22 weeks gestation and three birthdays within a month. Life is good — and that’s more than just a T-shirt slogan in my often-raided closet.

(Above: Greg Bennett at a recent interview/photo shoot with the UVU basketball coach. Greg is our “sports editor” here at BC.)

This month marks NINE YEARS since my brother-in-law came on board as an editor and writer here at Bennett Communications. There are many kind quips I could share about being related to Greg and working with this man who is 13 months my junior, but here are nine to celebrate the same number of years we’ve breathed the same deadline air.

1) Although Greg and my husband are the same height and hair color, those of us “in the know” can tell these brothers apart instantly by looks and personality. But many clients and community members think Matt and Greg are one and the same. I love that Greg knows when to correct people and when to just “go with it.”

2) Greg is the world’s expert in organizing and producing Parade of Homes magazines from start to finish. I have a call into Guinness to make sure the world knows there is nobody better at coordinating floor plans, subcontractor lists, sponsor ads and last-minute changes. Greg keeps our HBA clients happy in Utah Valley, Park City, Northern Wasatch and Salt Lake. And that keeps me happy.

3) No other staffer can add humor to our monthly meetings like Greg can. His serious side easily gives way to pop culture references and spot-on impersonations.

4) In our first out-of-home office at the mouth of Provo Canyon, I shared a small room with Greg, Matt and our intern. Tight quarters led to funnies and frustration. When Greg repeatedly (and with a flair of humor) asked a certain intern to turn down her Celine Dion music, she started to hold her head down close to the speakers to hear the single decibel Greg would allow. I can’t hear Celine Dion anymore without picturing someone voluntarily getting a neck cramp to keep Greg happy.

5) I’ve been bossing Greg around since 9th grade when I was the yearbook editor of our junior high, and he was the star seventh grader on the staff. He knows when to listen to me, when to ignore me and when to spoon-feed me advice and perspective.

6) Greg patiently waited at numerous press conferences and media moments trying to line up an interview with THE JIMMER for our March/April 2011 cover story in Utah Valley Magazine. Greg did eventually get to ask the Qs to the man-of-the-hour. Some have asked why I didn’t do that interview. Of course I would have loved to chat with Jimmer, but I didn’t have the stamina for the media frenzy. Greg to the rescue.

7) Greg organizes a Bennett Communications tradition — Pick ‘ems, which is a weekly lunch dedicated to predicting football outcomes for the upcoming weekend. He tracks the games and names the winner each Monday morning. He keeps our company culture alive and well. And well-fed.

8. Greg also organizes the cleaning assignments here at the BC. We’re not fancy pants enough to have an after-hours janitorial crew. Our staff cleans toilets and takes out garbage in between photo shoots and interviews. And Greg is the one who keeps the job chart alive. You might say he’s the mom of the office — but if you do say that, be prepared for him to sling a lighthearted comeback your way.

9) As our longest-tenured staff member (other than myself, Matt, Kendall and Roxanne), Greg has lived BC history. Last Christmas, he volunteered to create a video celebrating the company timeline. He tracked down embarrassing pictures and ensured everyone’s face got some face time. And today I wanted to shed a little spotlight on him. Thanks for nine dedicated and delirious years, Greg! You make the office a happy — and funny — place to be.

Back in May, Jeanette Herbert and I chatted in the parlor of the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City. Our conversation jumped from parenting, to marriage, to home repair, to running a business. Her expertise and experience run the gamut, which made for a great interview and (hopefully) an enlightening cover story in our July/August issue of Utah Valley Magazine.

Last night, I returned to the parlor as a guest at the Governor’s Mansion Artist Awards. Matt and I were invited by Layton Construction, which sponsors the awards. We publish Layton’s quarterly magazine and enjoy our business and personal relationship with this commercial construction company.

The Herberts were gracious and entertaining hosts. The governor read a cowboy poem Jeanette had written for him. It poked fun at politicians and had the crowd giggling. I love that the Herberts take all forms of art — but not themselves — seriously.

The program also named past recipients of the awards, and I easily found nine former Utah Valley cover stories on the list:

Karen Ashton (September 2000 — premiere issue)

Donny Osmond (March 2001)

James Christensen (Christmas issue 2001)

Ruth Hale (Christmas issue 2002)

Gary Price (Christmas issue 2003)

5 Browns (March 2005)

Sam Cardon (Christmas issue 2005)

Kurt Bestor (Christmas issue 2009)

Michael McLean (Christmas issue 2010)

Jeanette and I continued our chat after the guests filed out of the third-floor ballroom. I’m proud to share a name with this classy and approachable First Lady.

Here are four “scores” from my first week of September …

1) TIMPANOGOS STORYTELLING FESTIVAL

This annual event is where we go for a new batch of inside jokes and catchy rhymes. We love hearing from tellers around the country who bring their diversity to the stage and to their stories.

My 11-year-old (you can see her hands in the bottom right) got so into the stories that she started painting her nails without remembering she was in tight quarters, which is the wrong place for strong smells. Maybe I’ll tell that story someday in a talk about manners.

One of our favorite things to do when we’re at this beautiful late summer event is to browse the festival store. I’ve been talked into buying puppets the past several years. Now that our closets and fingers are full, we settled for a picture with puppets.

2) FLAPJACKS

Another “score” this week was fixing Tree Street Grains pancakes for breakfast. We featured this locally made mix in our current issue of Utah Valley Magazine here. Although the mix has 16 grains, it touts itself as “amazingly mild,” which is important for my picky pancakers. They gave it two forks way up!

3) POWER WITH A POINT

I also spoke to the Utah County Association of Realtors this week. Other than a major PowerPoint glitch that was fixed with a little audience participation, it was a great event. (FYI: I was “Plan B” when the president of SUU had to cancel last week, but I’m OK with Plan B because I feel like the expectations are lower.) I told them stories from our 11 years of running magazines, and here I am showing our very first cover of Utah Valley Magazine — which was oh-so-exciting in 2000 and oh-so-difficult to look at now. The lighting on Karen Ashton’s face wasn’t quite right.

The best part of this meeting was a box lunch from Spark Restaurant. I’m still thinking about that wrap and guacamole. Click here to see their ad in the July issue of Utah Valley Magazine, which happens to include a coupon that doesn’t expire till the end of this month. Head to Provo and be fed.

4) FABULOUS FRIEND AND HIS MOVIE

Back in March, we printed one of my favorite stories of the year: our Fabulous 50. Christian Vuissa was part of our 2011 batch shown here. His latest creation is in theaters, but he also sent me a media review copy of “Joseph Smith: Volume 1 Plates of Gold.” I watched it this week, and it is really well done.  I learned new insights about the founders and founding of the LDS Church. If you want filmmakers to make clean, meaningful films, then vote with your dollars and catch this flick in the theaters this weekend.

That concludes my “four score” roundup for the week. September is off to a winning start!

Maybe it’s because we write a lot about local dining options. Maybe it’s because we photograph food and design delicious pages. Or maybe it’s just because writing/editing/designing/selling equals appetite.

For whatever reason, our staff likes to eat out. All summer, we’ve met on Wednesdays for lunch at either Milagros, Cafe Rio or Costa Vida. (We thought we’d pick a theme and go with it. Mexican for all.)

Today marks the start of our fall lunch tradition — pick ‘ems. Once a week during college football season, we go to lunch and jot down our predictions for the wins/losses on the field this weekend. The winning staffer is announced on the following Monday, and he/she picks the restaurant for the next pick ‘ems. Week in, week out. Food in, well … you get the picture.

College football starts THIS WEEK, and my husband thinks it’s basically Christmas. Today’s football lunch is at Mama Chus at the mouth of Provo Canyon. Our first office was just up the hill from this must-eat location, so it’s a pick ‘ems tradition to kick off college football around the Mama Chus table. Lunch specials all around.

The only drawback is that I drew the short straw and I’m watching the phones while everyone else prognosticates and pounds down enchiladas. Truth? I haven’t been studying the teams and wouldn’t be a good predictor of wins/losses. But don’t tell my husband. He thinks I’ve been listening the past few weeks when he’s been giving me the rundown on teams, schedules and injuries.

So far during my lonely office time, I’ve talked to a print salesperson, someone with a question about her subscription and a client who walked in to pay his bill. And I’ve looked through old pictures of staff lunches like this one  …

I hope they remember to bring me back an entree.

“Iowans for Mitt” tracked me down a few weeks ago. They wanted to make buttons of Mitt Romney and Ann Romney as part of their efforts to elect the best man for president (so much for my journalistic objectivity). Although they already had a photo of Mitt, they were searching for a great shot of Ann — and they came across our July/August 2008 issue.

So we tracked down the raw image and e-mailed them our lovely Ann Romney photo, which we took on a Thursday in Southern California. It had been a year-long process to land on Ann’s busy schedule in June 2008. I jumped at the chance when her assistant finally offered, “She DOES have time this week if you can come to California.” Being editor of Utah Valley Magazine doesn’t involve much travel, so I was giddy to buy plane tickets for me and for the photographers. After all, I’d been staring at the “Ann or bust!” note pinned above my desk for months (I actually still have it up for a confidence booster).

And now that long-awaited interview and photo shoot is memorialized on the lapels of Mitt lovers in Iowa and beyond.

(I think our photo of Ann outshines Mitt’s mug, no?)

My friends in Iowa sent us a batch of pins as a thank-you for the photo rights, and our art director, Dave, sports both faces on his shoulders. Instead of a devil and an angel whispering advice, Dave says the pins represent two angels helping him make decisions about layouts, fonts and photo backdrops. Watch out, readers! The next issue will be truly inspired!