It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmas! The lights, decorations, the tree (even though ours is small, fake, and has minimal ornaments), the occasional snow, cookies, music, and how people are generally nicer and more thoughtful toward one another. Provided it doesn't interfere with obtaining the last toy on the shelf marked 50% off.....

Last night the young adults of our ward (known as the Young Men and Young Women) put together a Christmas workshop for the primary children (ages 3-12) - it was organized chaos but the children loved it! They made cookies, an ornament, visited with Santa, and participated in a live nativity where they dressed up and acted out part of the Christmas story. They were pretty wound up by the time the workshop ended! It was neat to see the young people work together and with the little ones.

Since the last post, we've had lots of snow, lots of rain, another trip to Colorado, and madness preparing for Christmas. The countdown continues until we head to my parent's house for Christmas! (1 week) Here are a few pictures to catch you up:

Our first snow - like 6 inches! I had no boots that fit, so she is wearing Albertsons bags on her feet. She wasn't too sure what to think of the wet, white stuff.











Who doesn't love a naked baby in the tub?





While in Fort Collins a second time - Steve and I attended a seminar on the use of low level laser therapy - we visited the Embassy Suites for a view of their Christmas trees. The community gets together and donates a decorated tree which is displayed all season. They even had a life sized gingerbread house! Complete with dog house for Max. The specs are listed below.


The detail was impressive!






We hope the holidays are bringing each of you joy!

Sew-cation

The three of us spent last weekend in Fort Collins, CO with Chadwick's brother, Nathan, and wonderful family. Chadwick had a continuing education seminar near Denver on Sat and Sun, so Morgan and I had a vacation from Boise while he was out. Not only did we get to see his brother, we visited with my cousin and wife who live in Denver - it was so good to catch up with them!

Chadwick spent the two days learning about ultrasonography. The thing he found most interesting, he said, was that the ultrasound machine is most effective when it spends 99% of its time listening and only 1% of the time "talking." Maybe we can all learn something from that.....

Morgan came back from our vacation grateful that she is an only child - Nathan and Beth have 5 children who doted and loved on her all weekend. She was a little overwhelmed with so many people in her "bubble." By Monday, she was doing much better with it all, though she wouldn't let me put her down without hollering for the day after coming home. Her next oldest cousin is almost 2 months older, so they had fun exploring the house. Below is Ed's favorite drawer in the kitchen.

And she found some neat toys to chew while there as well.




Chadwick was not the only one to have some learning over the weekend. Beth loves to sew and challenged me to make some pajama pants while there. With her guidance, I made not one but two pair of pants - one for me and a matching pair for Morgan! They turned out well, and we had a good time throughout the process. I had Beth take a few pictures of me at the sewing machine to prove that I did actually do it myself....for all those who doubt my new skills! They are pink plaid with red ladybugs. I love them!

My New Creativity

I got some digital scrapbooking software for my birthday last month - and look what I can do! The possibilities are endless....

Happy Halloween!

Happy (Belated) Halloween!
In case it's hard to read, Morgan's bib says, "Baby's First Boo." Compliments of my Nana! We had a fairly uneventful weekend - we attended a party Friday night with some friends in the ward, and let me say that on normal Sundays, it's hard to remember people's names.....it was impossible for me to remember anyone's name Friday night since everyone was wearing a costume! So terrible! The couple who hosted the party did a phenomenal job decorating the church gym. They even had smoke! It was a pot luck with games and costume contest (we didn't win anything). In this slightly fuzzy picture, the large spider is eating a man. There are pumpkin "cheeks" at the spider's mouth. Clever!

The three of us dressed up as much as possible for the time we allowed for the process. Can you guess who these two characters are? Clue: Morgan's front reads "Hobbs."

If you guessed Calvin and Hobbs, you were right! If not, you need to read that particular comic series; they are a riot! I was wearing a dark wig and played the part of Suzie Derkins from the same comic strip.

Saturday I worked, we had a nice dinner at Chili's, and Sunday was a normal day. No trick-or-treaters at the house. Mostly because we had no candy and I posted a sign on the front door advertising such.

Welcome to November!




This is how Morgan takes her naps these days....

A Few Firsts

This past year has been full of so many firsts and lasts for me! Here are a few of the most recent ones:

Morgan's first snotty nose - she's finally not looking like an open-mouth cod fish out of water! Poor girl hasn't breathed through her nose for almost a week. This increases the drool factor and snorting while decreasing the sleep at night (for the whole house) and interest in food. I think we're on the upside of it now.

The perfect dinner roll - I've been on a search for the perfect dinner roll that doesn't have a recipe that gives me the jitters on first glance. The current winner came from a Swedish cookbook published in the 1950s. I had to call my Nana and find out what a "cake" of yeast was. Turns out they don't really sell yeast in the form any more....the normal little packets work just fine. These rolls were great with my soup!

A "hit" food at a party - I'm not exactly Betty Crocker, though her and I do team up for dinner occasionally, and I've never managed to bring a food to a party that has been a total hit. Until yesterday! We went to a pumpkin carving party at a friend's house and I brought a pumpkin dip that is super yummy...and everyone loved it! The recipe is from Sister Miles, the Young Women secretary in my ward. She apparently got it from a Hilary Hunt (no relation).

Pumpkin Dip

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 can pumpkin (15 oz)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger

Beat sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well blended. Cover and chill. Will last 5 days. Great for dipping pears, apples, and ginger snaps.

Chadwick carved an awesome little pumpkin - he's amazing! And go Broncos!
I have a confession to make about the pumpkin. We've known about this pumpkin carving party for several weeks. Since the birth of our little girl, I've been much less organized than in the past. So Saturday night as we're getting ready for bed I am thinking about Sunday - my lesson, the party.....the party...we need a pumpkin! To avoid having to go to the store on the Sabbath, Chadwick's brother James and his family were nice enough to donate this one to us. Thanks, guys!

Morgan is up on all fours - she is so close to crawling! She can pull herself to her knees on my legs or the sides of the pack-n-play, she reaches for things out of reach while in a crawling position, and she can take about one step before landing on her stomach. She's so strong! I've been wanting her to crawl to increase her independence....and I think this wish may come back to bite me. =)

The Big 3-0

Each year for two weeks in October, my home town hosts the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Thirty years ago last Saturday, my parents watched the hot air balloons drift over the city from their hospital room at St. John's where I was born.

Yes, I have officially left my 20s and moved into the 30s. Some of my friends were excited to leave their 20s, others hated the thought. I was indifferent to the new numbers of my age, but with the help of my wonderful husband and mother-in-law, I threw myself a party. Friends, pizza, cake and ice cream.....the works! We had a good time enjoying the company of one another.

My uncle was in Boise for a half marathon and was able to join us - it was fun to see him for a bit! I don't know how is race went, but he's an accomplished runner and likely had no trouble. He's met a goal of running a race in each state. Idaho down, Alaska and Hawaii left. Way to go, John!






The cake was one of my favorites, German chocolate. (FYI, my mom mailed a creme de menthe chocolate chip cake to our house Friday....it was to die for and a good, spoil Julie tradition) No, it did not have thirty candles, which is probably good since I couldn't blow them all out anyway! Depressing! The photo on the right is me face planting on the counter trying in vain to extinguish the last candle. I must be getting old. =)






And this picture is too cute not to share! Madeline, Alivia, and Morgan - they will be such good friends in a few years! Alivia and Morgan are 5 days apart (Morgan is younger) and Madeline is 2 weeks younger than the other two. Turns out it's hard to get all three babies to smile at the same time.
Overall, a good day. On to new adventures as a 30-year-old!

Our Harvest!

After much waiting and good luck with warm weather into the month of October (where did September go??), we are now enjoying the fruits of our labor in the garden.



Two nights ago, we had some beets and corn with our chicken pot pie.







I ate the first of our many tomatoes when Nana and Bop-bop were in town - right off the vine!

Granted, our garden is not large, but I'm so excited to be getting something! Two peppers are maturing and the carrots are waiting to be plucked.....not bad for our first attempt!










Random pictures of the pets....Darwin loves to run around the backyard, especially when he has an audience. He may not be bright, but he's sure happy! And Cleo finds comfortable places to sleep on funny objects. In the picture she's on our bed, on top of a piece of paper and one of Morgan's blankets. Such a princess!