Guitars, guitars, guitars

A few days ago, Craig discovered Robert's and my guitars stuffed into the back of our closet and has been obsessed ever since. Every time I put them away, he pulls them out again. I'll sit and play it with him. He loves it when I "play it loud," he says. I only know two songs by heart anymore, but (bless his heart) each time I play one he acts like it's the best thing he's ever heard. The guitar in this picture is mine, the "less valuable" one. Yesterday, he was gone and totally quiet for about fifteen minutes, so I went looking for him. I found him upstairs in our room sitting just like he is in the picture. So cool. So mellow.

Unfortunately, today my guitar turned from being a really cool way to make sounds and music to a platform for his race cars. And then it was a stepping stool. Ah well, all good things must come to an end. My guitar now lives at the top of Ethan's closet until it can become "new-to-him" again.

Christmas Day

I didn't get many pictures of Christmas Day. I was either exhausted or too busy. Once everyone was up and at 'em, we started opening presents. Robert's mom was here for a few days, but other than that it was just us this year. I made cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast. Craig really had fun opening presents. We hadn't kept any presents under the tree at all so when they came down Christmas morning, they were all there and their stockings were full. I loved watching Craig as he came downstairs and saw it all. We'd been talking about Santa coming and leaving presents for a while, but I think he sort of got it when he saw it all there. Craig's favorite present is the red guitar we got him. In fact, it's the only picture I took. Don't ask me why he's naked. He's at that stage where he likes to take all of his clothes off.


He likes to watch The Wiggles and play his guitar. He'll play and tell me to sing and then Ethan will dance. Ethan had fun, too, but he was just going along with the opening of presents for the fun of it. Robert's mom got them a remote control truck which they love, too. I got Robert some cookbooks he's been wanting called Ad Hoc and Under Pressure written by his favorite chef, Thomas Keller. He has his first two books already, so this rounded off his collection. He got me a new set of kitchen knives. I've already broken them in and cut myself with them, too. :) I was pulling them out of the box and their wrappings and handing them to Robert as he put them in the knife block. I got so excited I wasn't paying attention and one of them nicked the heal of my hand. They're sharp, so it was a clean cut. :) We had prime rib, funeral potatoes, and asparagus for dinner and orange marmalade cake for dessert. The best part of the day, though, was unexpected. Once we were done with presents and breakfast, all of us adults felt totally wiped out so we laid down. The boys were so preoccupied by all their new stuff, we didn't have to worry about them. At one point, Ethan came in ready for a nap, so I put him down, too and went back to bed. All in all, I got about an hour and a half nap Christmas morning! It was very nice. We stayed in all day, watched The Muppets Christmas Carol, and played with the new toys.

I know it's been a great, fulfilling Christmas season when Christmas Day comes and goes and I feel ready to take down the decorations and get on with the new year. That's how I feel now. Not sad that Christmas is gone, but excited for what lies ahead.

Christmas Goings On

I tried to leave my last post up long enough for everyone to see it, but I guess people are getting busy with the holidays and don't have as much time for blogging and reading blogs, so I am moving on. If you haven't seen my last post, then be sure to scroll down.


Anywho, a couple Mondays ago, we went to the local Bass Pro Shops to see Santa and his winter wonderland. It was awesome! They had toys to play with, trains, so many things for a couple of little boys to see, and (of course) Santa! The line wasn't that bad (much better than the mall, I hear). I thought Craig would be afraid to sit on the old man's lap. Ethan is usually the one to be all for something new so we have to have Craig watch Ethan do it first before he wants to try. However, thanks to our morning friends at Nick Jr. and their Christmas cartoons, Craig was totally prepared for the hairy white guy in a big red suit. Ever since, he's been asking to go back and see Santa again. Ethan, however, was the reluctant one, but he made it through.

I've also been baking a lot of Christmas cookies this year. It's tiring and a lot of work, but there's just that Christmas spirit that makes it worth it. This year I did these:

One dozen Brandy Snaps, from Pioneer Woman (I used maple instead of brandy). Sadly, they were a disappointment. Not "snappy" at all--more chewy. Way too much molasses (unless you like that sort of thing, which we don't). I didn't even bother putting them on the Christmas plates. Oh well.

Four dozen Sugar Cookie Buttons with Licorice Laces. I got this idea from the Family Fun magazine but the cookie recipe I used is called Favorite Sugar Cookies from Tasty Kitchen (I think).

Four dozen Gingerbread Men. The recipe I used for these was actually a Swedish cookie called a Pepperkaker, which is kind of like a Swedish gingerbread but different and better. There are some wide variations out there, so if you want the recipe I used, let me know.


Two dozen Peppermint Chocolate Pinwheels from Food Network's 12 Days of Cookies eNewsletter. They are okay, but I wish I had used semi-sweet instead of unsweetened chocolate and the Favorite Sugar Cookie recipe instead of the one they provided. They made the cut, though.


And last but not least, 36 mice (some with Oreo bottoms and some without). If you haven't seen these before, they are really easy. I first made them with a lady and one of my companions on my mission. You dip maraschino cherries (with stems) in chocolate, set it on half an Oreo with the cream, push a Hershey Kiss on for the head, and stand up two almond slices for ears. I used left over Royal Icing from the gingerbread men for the eyes and noses. They're a lot of fun to eat, too. If you start with the head, it's kind of like a real mouse head: small, firm, but not too hard. Then the body is red inside and squishy. (No, I haven't eaten many mice in my day. Snails, yes, mice, no.) I know, that's gross, but I thought it was kind of a cool comparison nonetheless.

All in all, I made 156 cookies (including the mice) and distributed them onto about ten plates (I think) with some leftovers. Phew. Now we are off to deliver them! Happy Baking!

More NEWS

This is what I emailed to Robert at work last week and then called him and told him to check his email while I was on the phone. I couldn't wait until he got home.

Okay, it's only been a week since I found out but I can't stand not telling people anymore.

How am I feeling, you might ask? Great, until today. As I was going to bed I felt a little person inside my head begin pounding a little hammer. It didn't go away after (sort of) sleeping or taking Tylenol. The pounding is making me feel nauseous, the constant drumming kept me from getting much solid rest last night, and when I passed out for 20 minutes this morning, Craig and Ethan created about 30 minutes of clean up time by bringing a Tonka dump truck full of rocks into the living room and evenly spreading them around.

Regardless of all this, I am really excited and feel like this is the right time. I know this will all pass. More will come, but this will pass nonetheless. :)

Ladies and Gentlemen...our 2010 Graduate!

It's been 11 years since I began my college experience at Ricks in June of 1999. There have been many breaks in my education (work, mission, marriage, kids, etc.). Last year, fall of 2009, I began an online program through BYU-Idaho to complete my degree and here I sit, over a year later, facing GRADUATION!

I just took my finals and posted my last posts in the discussion boards. On Saturday, December 18, 2010 I will be an official graduate of BYU-Idaho with a Bachelors in University Studies and a minor in Communications!!!!!

This is something I have always wanted to accomplish but when Robert I got engaged six years ago, I knew it wouldn't happen traditionally for me. I can't explain how awesome it feels to have done this through what some people might call one of the most difficult times in life: having young children, moving, changing jobs, etc. Ethan was only five days old when I began my classes last year but I knew if I didn't take this opportunity now with this online program, I would never do it. I knew things would only get harder and more complicated as the years passed. In January I am starting an online program to get my teaching certificate and will be done with that by this time next year. If I've learned anything in life, I've learned that it's best to start now than to put it off (if possible). I am saying this for all of you out there who have been wanting to do something but didn't think you could right now.

There's no time like the present. Carpe diem!

(There. That's my graduation speech. :))

Our little Pavarati

We've been working with Craig on his ABCs and, since it's the same tune and The Wiggles sing it, he's learned Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Here he is showing off. :)

What is it with kids, dogs, and blankets?

Craig is under the blanket.

I can't seem to wash or fold a blanket without these guys taking it first and rolling around on the floor with it. This one had just come out of the dryer so it was nice and warm. Why do they love these blankets so much, anyway? Are your kids/dog like that?

The 10 Best Cities for Babies/Young Families

I have a subscription to Parents magazine. Most of the time they offer pandering, irritating advice on parenting that only applies to wealthy, middle-aged parents living in big cities (like how to choose a good nanny, for example). I do like their family time ideas, though, and every issue usually has at least one good article. In the November issue they had an article listing the ten best cities for young families to live in. I hoped that the Phoenix area might have made the list somewhere, but I was pleasantly surprised. Did your nearest city make the list?

We live in a (relatively) small community called Fountain Hills. Most people know this area as Scottsdale. And Scottsdale borders Phoenix to the East. Here's the list, beginning at the number one best city to raise a family.

1. SCOTTSDALE! No, joke. :)
2. Fort Wayne, IN
3. Lincoln, NE
4. Pittsburgh
5. Portland, OR (We lived there, too.)
6. Madison, WI
7. PHOENIX! Again, no joke. :)
8. St. Paul, MN
9. Oklahoma City
10. Boston (That one surprises me)

All in all, the best places to live are either in Arizona or the midwest, for the most part. They actually had chosen 100 cities to survey in all. I'm not sure how they chose these 100 cities to being with, but here are a few facts about the rest of the list. You can go here to see the full list.

Number 11 on the list is Mesa! We lived there until earlier this year. Just south of Mesa is Gilbert, which made number 14 on the list and Chandler, which is slightly to the West, made number 17. Glendale, which is West of Phoenix, is number 25. Arizona is the place to be, folks. :) For all the NCRM missionaries out there, Raleigh made number 23 and Charlotte was pushed to number 77! Ha Ha! Even New York got #60. Other than that, for those Californians out there, Stockton did surprisingly well at #93 (being the armpit of California and all) and the very last city on the list? The one that had the worst stats for a family-friendly city? The worst crime, the least family activities, the worst child care resources, the worst finances, and the most dangerous place for a family? Number 100 on the list is................

MODESTO, CA!

For those of you who don't know, my hometown is about 1 1/2 hours away from Modesto, it's where our stake center was, where we would go to the mall, and the closest place with anything like an amusement park.

I just thought this was funny and ironic and interesting. I hope it was to all of you, too. :)

Where did you go, Fairport NY?

Fairport NY has disappeared from my site tracker and now Salt Lake City is stalking me....


I think I know who the culprit is.