Christmas 2008

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebrations:

Christmas Eve:

We spent Christmas Eve enjoying the company of both friends and family. We started off the night visiting with friends. Some families that we know from our ward got together and enjoyed some delicious food and conversation. The kids ran around while the adults talked. It was wonderful! Thank you, Amanda, for inviting us! Afterwards, we went over to my Dad's house and met up with my sister, my brother and his wife. We read the story of Jesus's birth together and then let the kids open up one present (it just so happened that each present turned out to be a brand new set of jammies).

Christmas morning:

On Christmas morning we woke up early (but not as early as I was expecting, thankfully) and opened up the presents from Santa and the ones from our family at our house. We then quickly headed over to my Dad's house (as my little niece was impatiently waiting for us) where we opened up the rest of our presents. I was in charge of Christmas breakfast and I decided to bake homemade cinnamon rolls. I was a little nervous about it because I had been playing around with several recipes but hadn't found one that I really liked. Thankfully, the rolls turned out beautifully. I was so proud of myself (my cooking/baking has come a long way in the seven years I have been married). I meant to take a picture, but forgot. Sorry -- you will just have to imagine the best cinnamon rolls you have ever seen or tasted and then you'll be somewhat close to my culinary masterpiece. j/k.

After presents and breakfast we set about playing with our hoards of toys. Santa had been very generous with our family -- He brought us a Wii plus tons of accessories and games. I don't know who enjoyed playing with it more -- my brother, Ryan, or the kids. We had a blast! For dinner, my sister and I teamed up to cook a delicious feast of prime rib, potatoes, salad, rolls, asparagus and a decadent triple chocolate trifle dessert. Everything was spectacular. All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas and I feel like it will be the beginning of a good new start to 2009 for all of us.

This picture was out-of-focus and it wouldn't let me fix the red eyes, but I thought it summed up the frenzy of Christmas morning present-opening very well.

Gotta love both the hair and her insistence on wearing the new gloves she had received in her stocking.

You can't see it very well, but Travis insisted on opening up his presents by smacking them with his beloved hammer. It was hilarious.

Enjoying the "big" present from Santa.

Alyssa opening up a huge pile of presents at my Dad's house.

Coriel and her pile.

My brother, Ryan, and his wife, Dusti at my Dad's house on Christmas morning.

The best seven years of my life

Yesterday Kip and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary. We didn't do anything too fancy -- we just had a quiet dinner date and then we picked up the kids and took them to the Temple to see the lights. To many this would seem a dull way to celebrate as important an event as an anniversary. To me it was perfect. In a way it very much symbolized the kind of people Kip and I are. We aren't too flashy or outgoing. No one would ever pay money to see a Hollywood depiction of our lives. There isn't a whole lot of drama in our lives. We are just two ordinary, hard-working people who genuinely enjoy spending time with each other and our kids. Some might label our lives boring; I prefer the word steady. I whole-heartedly love my life. I wouldn't want it any other way. Thank you, Kip, for being my handsome, brilliant, patient, loving, kind, considerate, diligent, wise (and the list goes on and on...) leading man in our very un-Hollywood love story.

The Cutest Shepherd Ever!

My friend, who just happened to be substituting in nursery last week, sent me of this picture of Travis playing the role of a Shepherd during his nursery lesson on Sunday. It was too cute not to post. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

A Few Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures of the family decorating our Christmas tree.

Thanksgiving Adventures

I know this is a little late, but I just wanted to update you all on our Thanksgiving adventures. This year Thanksgiving was a time of firsts for me. It was the first time I had ever planned and cooked a complete Thanksgiving meal on my own. I am happy to report that everything went pretty well. I was completely up for trying new and different ideas.

For the turkey, I experimented by using a brining (sp?) technique (kind of like a marinade using salt) and it was really fabulous (if I do say so myself!). The brine was the key -- it made the turkey so moist and delicious. I will definitely do that again in the future. I also used a stuffing recipe similar to what my mother-in-law uses and although it wasn't quite as good as hers, (as that is utterly impossible) it was pretty decent.

The only casualty of the night was the rolls. I underestimated the prep time and tried to make up for it by putting them on top of the oven to rise faster. I ended up cooking half of the dough and it was a complete mess. I ended up just bagging them and using a pre-made set of rolls that I had bought just in case. I always have trouble with rolls! However, I am no quitter so I am determined to try it again (and hopefully get it right) this Christmas.

On Black Friday there was no way I was going to subject myself to the horrors that accompany any kind of shopping venue, so instead, we went downtown to visit the newly reopened American History Museum. Unfortunately, the National Mall was not any less crowded than the local shopping malls. We didn't stay too long and vowed to come back on a day that wasn't so crazy. Here are a few pictures from that day:

Halloween Fun

Paging the Tooth Fairy

This is a little bit of old news, but things have been crazy around here with Halloween so I haven't been the best at updating the blog. Two weeks ago, Alyssa lost her first tooth. She was very excited about the whole process. It had been loose for a few weeks and then it finally came out in school on a Friday. She couldn't wait to get home and tell everyone about it. I have never seen her so excited to go to bed. She couldn't wait to go to bed so she could see if, "the tooth fairy was real." Apparently there was some debate about this amongst her Kindergarten friends. It really pleased me to see the faith that she had. Alyssa just knew that if something was left under her pillow then the Tooth Fairy must be real (even if she couldn't see the T.F. with her own eyes). To Alyssa's delight, the Tooth Fairy did not disappoint and left a very crisp one dollar bill under her pillow. Check out a few pictures of the tooth & Alyssa's new smile:

Georgetown boat trip

We had family in town so we decided to do the tourist thing and see the D.C. sights. However, this time we wanted to try something a little different so we took a boat tour from Old Town Alexandria to Georgetown. The way out was a little cold, but it was beautiful and extremely relaxing. It was fun to see the Monuments from a little different perspective -- from the Potomac River. We had a great time.

It's official: I am a certifiable nutcase

It has been an interesting day... It's only 3:14 pm and I have come to the conclusion that I am officially crazy. For many of you this might not be a new revelation, but for some reason I was still clinging to the notion that sanity had not totally escaped me. Not after today... Let me explain what brought about this discovery:

So, today I set up a doctor's appointment for Alyssa thinking that she had another eczema flare up since she has been sporting a nasty-looking rash around her mouth. I am thinking its no big deal -- I'll go in, get some heavy duty steroid cream and everything will clear up in a day or two. Well, that would be a big, fat NO. Turns out Alyssa has (and probably has had for a while) a serious case of strep throat. This totally catches me off guard. I'm thinking, "how did I not know that she was so sick?" Sure, she has had what I thought was a little cold and has been crankier than usual in the past week but I never guessed it was so serious. Now I am feeling extremely guilty for yelling at her more than a few times over the past few days because of her crankiness (or perhaps mine -- sometimes its hard to tell). At this point I am feeling like the worst-Mom-ever.

Finally, I get over the shock of the diagnosis and I temporarily push aside the ever-present feelings of "mommy-guilt." Now I start to do a little self-assessment. I haven't been feeling especially great lately. I have been really, really tired and my throat has been a little sore. I start to think, "Do I have strep?" Great, just when I thought this day couldn't get any better...

Then I have a sudden thought that actually cheers me up. This is where the nutty part comes in. I am ashamed to admit that I actually thought to myself, "Well, if I have strep, maybe I could wait or day or two to go to the doctor and that way I could lose a few pounds, five if I am lucky." Who does that? Who actually thinks that way? Luckily, I caught myself and reminded myself that no, I do not have an eating disorder so that kind of thinking is just plain crazy. Is craziness a symptom of strep?

A day at the pumpkin patch

The kid has talent!

Those who know me well know that I do not have even an ounce of musical talent (I have decided my musical talent is appreciating those who do have it). In college, my friends used to make me "sing scales" (I don't even know if that is the right terminology) because they thought it was so hilarious to hear me try to "hit" the high notes. So to those great, dear friends who used to delight in mocking my musical prowess it might come as a surprise that my daughter is actually showing some promise as a little musician. About a month ago Alyssa started piano lessons. I initially thought it would be a good idea to try an activity other than a sport in an effort to give her an opportunity to branch out a little bit. I think she is enjoying it and she seems to be catching on fairly easily. We'll continue to see how it goes but hopefully she will stick with it and make her momma proud (not that she doesn't already)!

Things I love about Fall

WARNING: Long post ahead!

Fall is finally here! (Well, not officially until next week but for all intensive purposes...) Now that the mouse that has been tormenting me has been caught and disposed of (sorry if you are an animal-lover, but it invaded my house so I am considering its demise an act of self-defense), I can actually sit back and enjoy my favorite time of year. Here are a the top 3 things that I am currently loving about Fall:

#1. Kids are in school. This means life is back on a schedule and I find myself happier and more productive when I know what's coming up next. Alyssa actually started Kindergarten back at the end of July, but Travis recently started a little preschool/playschool with a few of his friends from church. Its nothing big -- just a little opportunity to get together, play, and perhaps learn something once a week. We rotate from house to house each week. I got to teach on our first week of school and it seemed like the boys all had a great time. Here are some pics of the preschool boys:

Here they are on the big, first day!

Walking to the park with their much beloved lunchboxes (they were so cute -- they would not put those lunchboxes down the whole time they were at the playground)

Having a little picnic at the park

Who doesn't love a picnic?

#2. Being a Soccer Mom. I actually didn't think I would embrace entering the ranks of the "Soccer Moms" as much as I have. (Being a lacrosse player back in the day, SOCCER was always a bit of a dirty word) But Alyssa is having a blast and we were lucky enough to have a bunch of kids that we know on our team so we are all happy. Check out some of these actions shots:

#3. Being outside again! Now that the humid, sticky, yucky days of August in Virginia are over we are spending most of our time outside in all sorts of parks and playgrounds. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the past few weeks:

Happy Birthday Travis!

My favorite little man is now two years old! We didn't do anything too extravagant for his birthday. We just had a little family birthday party on the weekend before his birthday. My Mom, sister and niece were all going to be out of town on his actual birthday so we decided to celebrate a little early. True to form, Travis would not eat any of the food that was made especially for him. (It wouldn't be a day in the life of Travis without rejecting most of the food I give him) He liked looking at his cake, but would not try any of it. So, we all enjoyed it in his behalf. He did, however, enjoy opening up his presents and was happy to discover all the new cars toys he received.

On his true birthday, September 13th, I actually took him to another kid's birthday party (I know, I am a horrible Mom!) We all had fun but I realized that Travis is just not the type of kid that likes being around large groups so I felt a little less guilty about not planning a big birthday bash for him. Later on that night, in a very Travis-like way, we had a low-key family birthday party that he very much enjoyed. He is definitely his father's son!