Gingerbread House

More Snowfall

This morning we woke up to a lot of snow...Joe and I tried to keep the church sidewalks clear (a monumental task). We walked the short distance home to see ALL of our children out in the snow building an igloo, pushing the stroller with baby inside, Susie in pjs, an open coat, boots on and one mitten...pure JOY on their faces!

Jacuzzi Break

Thanksgiving Break jacuzzi and snow rolling...good ol' fun.

O, Christmas Tree

The Clan and the Perfect Tree (Eva is eclipsed by her coat and the gal holding Susie is Hannah's friend, Sariah.)

As is our tradition, we have a beautiful fresh Christmas tree set up in our living room. Joe was eyeing the trees as we pulled into the lot and spied a gorgeous tree in record time--which was good because it was 34 degrees outside and felt colder with the wind blowing.

Thanksgiving Day (Part 2)

The Feast.

The Desserts

The Hors d'oeuvres (Not pictures was the Peppermint Tea with Vanilla Bean cream, hot apple cider, or hot cocoa varieties)

The Family

The Baby with the Golden Spoon

Secondsies (Desserts)

The Fun! (Close to crawling).

Thanksgiving (Part 1) Glimpses

Thanksgiving Day at the Cabin...Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...

Our Blessing this Year, Eva

Little Ladies

Grandma and Annabell (Lisa and Stu's Miracle Premie Baby)

Bread bits, paper, and most anything NON-edible are her favorites currently

Craft time: Amy set up Turkey Apples.

And Turkey Coloring Pages...Cami's favorite.

Weights or Jungle Gym?

Aunt Melissa and the felt Build-a-Snowman

Gobble, gobble

Caught ya!

Oreo Turkeys too.

This year, as life would have it, we went back to celebrating with BOTH families. First, we met with the masses at the Grandparents Cabin and had a feast followed by fun crafts and games and on to Thanksgiving Dinner number two at Aunt Beth's house where she and sister Lavonalise put together a beautiful feast! As we were recounting blessings with Joe's family, I was so grateful for Eva and her birth this year. What a joy and light she is in our home. We are so grateful for each of our children--gifts from God.

Seven Layer Sins (Brownies)

Seven Layer Brownie Bars

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1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted 1, 20 oz package or 1 pouch Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix 1 cup shredded coconut 1 cup butterscotch chips 1 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 1 cup chopped pecans 1 1/4 cups (14 oz can) sweetened condensed milk

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Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour melted butter over bottom of 13x9x2-inch pan. Sprinkle brownie mix over butter. Top with coconut, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and pecans. Drizzle with sweetened condensed milk, stopping 1/4 inch from edge of pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until edges are bubbly. Cool thoroughly before cutting. (Don't over bake). Makes 24, 2-inch bars.

These were super easy and so delicious they were "sinful"--especially right before Thanksgiving and when I am trying to eat very healthy. Drat! Monday night has Family Night Treat and it always is when I am resolved to turn over a new leaf. Oh well, they are gone now and so it's back to the healthy resolve!

Oh, BTW, I just used any olf brownie mix and (generic) ingredients I had on hand...I got this on a Ghiradelli website.

Hoorah for Martha Graham

Rebekah chose Martha Graham to study and be in the school's Wax Museum Project. She was very convincing tonight as she held artistic dance poses. What a beautiful daughter. "I Hope You Dance..." (Pulled an almost all-nighter to sew a dress/cape costume and then went to bed with less than three hours to spare and got up with Susie and Eva...a true circus magurcus at our house)...Tonight I have five and a half before getting up to do hair and makeup on Bekah for the school's viewing of the wax museum (and because she insists on singing with Concert Choir that meets early before school). Also pictured are some of Rebekah's good friends...Anastasia (Rheanna Dunbar) and Cleopatra (Emily Rodriguez).

Missing Phone--Ask a Three Year Old

Hurt toe.

Playroom from about three feet.

Hurt toe and "pretty princess dress."

Joe mentioned to me tonight that he finally found his missing phone...in Susie's closet. She has downloaded another Princess Puzzle App. Go figure! She is three. I found these pictures on my camera (which has been "wandering" lately). Can you guess who the photographer was?

Donated Breastmilk

I had a mom in the Utah County area call and volunteer donated breast milk. Do you or anyone you know need some? She has a baby born in October and pumped off excess milk and stored it. If interested, please let me know. P.S. If this post strikes you as funny...it does me to. If I were to advertise cow's milk, I don't think people would look upon it as weird. Now that is weird. Huh.

You are Marvis!

I came down this morning because Eva was "singing" in the Jumparoo. A bright yellow-orange was seeping through her pink outfit. Susie came over and pointed out the obvious, "Eww! Eva's had a poo-out! (blow out)" While I changed her entire outfit and gave her a wet wipe "bath" Susie knelt on the floor next to her head and said,"Eva--you're marvis!" "What?" "You're good, and lovely, and marvis!" Susie replies rubbing the fuzz on Eva's head. "Do you mean marvelous?" "No! Marvis!" She jumps up and flips over the couch and complains. "Ow! I just hurt my--anklewrist." "Right here, (smiling at me shyly and pointing to the skin at the back of her waist) my anklewrist!" I think you, for reading this, are just marvis too! Coming soon...Adventures in Las Vegas (or Joe has a very quick business trip and takes Julie and Baby along).

Vegas and Back Again (All ready!?)

Ahh, the Casino (and smell...cigars and cigarettes) A sweet group of ladies offered to take our picture--homeward bound.Joe got these fun toys at his convention for the children as "gifts from Vegas".

Vegas (Day 2)

I slept so soundly that I do not remember Joe coming in and bringing me breakfast! (Rare) This mini snack bar is motion sensored. If you touch or remove any object from the box for longer than 60 second, you bought it. The cashews are $12. The Chocolate is $15. The mini container of Jelly Bellies are $8. Evie slept in a cute, white roll away crib. It kept her happy and safe (she rolls all over now) for a few minutes during the day. View from the Left window View out the main window View of the right window Eva was very fussy and had trouble going down for a nap in the room and so we explored the hotel. Around the Conference and Ballrooms it was smoke/casino noise free and had great art. I pushed her to sleep in her stroller. This artist did a lot of art for the hotel. In the above piece he has used real fabrics, beads, and buttons on this "mixed media." I htought Bekah would be entranced by it. Different fabrics and patterns come together. Ahh...She finally fell asleep. The quilt above was gorgeous. It is not shown but there was metallic thread (silver, gold, etc.) used to stitch it together. Wish I would have got a closer picture of the last two pieces...The detail was amazing. Yes, those are live succulents in a hollowed out piece of wood. We were on the 54 of 60 floors. The elevator was so fast that my ears popped every single time I went up or down. There was six elevators to a side, twelve all together. Dusk--around 4:00 p.m. No joke. Babies are busy. This is Eva playing with a free promo from Medco. Just goofying around together. Mosaic floors and fresh indoor plants The Strip Lights all the way to the horizon (Mountains in the distance) In the evening, Joe, Eva, and I went to Table 10 at the Palazzo across the street. It might be by Chef Emmerill because they had a lot of his things on display. We had sweet potato and artichoke appetizers. I had the Spay fish over mushrooms and vegetables and Joe had Pork tenderloin in a cherry reduction sauce. We took sorbet and Smore pie to go. We met Dave and Kelene after her show and they drove us to Central Town and bought us some desserts at Chili's and we had fun talking and getting to know them better. Eva fell asleep and so it seemed like an adult party for a little while. In case you are wondering, vacations with a baby are still a lot of work! (She had no distractions or friends and so it was Mommy on duty around the clock!)