Christmas 2009

Another Christmas has come and gone. It is hard to believe that it is over already. This was my first Christmas ever without my parents and brother so it didn't really feel quite like it should. We did have a good Christmas eve dinner with grandma Christal across the street, and the Hill family. I am so grateful for these friendships that made the evening special. After we had dinner we went to the botanical garden in Boise to see all the Christmas lights- it was beautiful, but not as beautiful as temple square. Next year hopefully we will be able to take a trip to Salt Lake. Christmas eve we got the call that mom and dad accepted an offer on their house and they will need to be out in a month. We are praying all goes well with the closing, but the news was the BEST Christmas gift ever. My kids are so excited they can hardly stand it. Hopefully this news is the beginning of good things for our family. It has been quite a year- not one I want to relive , but I am thankful for the lessons I have learned and hopefully have grown from. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

sledding for the first time!

Sledding!

Today was the first time that the kids had ever experienced that magical feeling of flying, as they glided over the hard packed snowy hill. What fun we had once we finally got the hang of it. We searched garage sales all summer in search of snow sleds until we each had one of our own. Turns out only Travis has a really good sled, so next time I am taking the tubes we used to use in Kelly springs. I knew they would come in handy again some day! All was going well until I collided head first -going backwards- into Brayden. Turns out a made a HUGE mistake by not going over rules before we started sledding. Brayden got tired climbing back up the hill and decided to just sit down and take a rest in the middle of the track. Once I came too, it was time to go home. Next time we take helmets, NO MATTER WHAT! Even with a splitting headache, the day was magical. Can't wait until Saturday...

Lots of free fun!

Friday the kids were both delighted that they were allowed to celebrate Christmas in school. As I stepped out of the van which I had parked across the street from the school, I heard a loud chorous of singing. I followed the music into the school cafeteria where I discovered the whole school participating in a sing a long. It was such a beautiful sound, I felt I was listening to a choir from heaven. I stood in the back of the gym with tears silently rolling down my cheeks, completely overcome with emotion. This is why we moved to Idaho. So my kids can grow up with the traditions of my childhood and without the world catering to the politically correct. Since Saturday was the official start of Christmas vacation, Travis and I decided to do something out of the ordinary. We told the kids we were going furniture shopping at RCWilley, when really we were just going for the free hotdogs at lunch time and so the kids could talk to Santa again. Kind of a funny place to see Santa, but he was such a kind man. He took time to really listen to each kid and engaged in real conversations with them. It was a successful outing and lots of fun!
That evening we took our neighbor Christal with us to a walk through Bethlehem. It was the 15th year a ward in Eagle has put it on, and it was pretty spectacular. After a hay wagon had picked us up at our car, it drove us to a beautiful farm overlooking the valley. The young men and women all memorized scripture as they led us through the farm to finally see the Christ child. What an amazing group of youth and adult participation. I can't wait to go again next year. It was a fantastic night even with freezing temps!

Santa came on a firetruck

This afternoon Santa arrived in our neighborhood courtesy of the Star fire department. I hauled the kids down the street to take a picture- since this was free and the mall wasn't- Kaity had a great time with her friends but Brayden was acting strange. The minute we entered the house, he threw up- again. "sigh" He is constantly sick here. He has already missed 10 days of school due to the swine flu and most recently a stomach bug. Looks like here we go again. Of course he has to be sick on the night of the only Christmas party I am invited to this year. "sigh again" I think we have a looong winter ahead of us.

Loving the holidays

I love lazy Sunday afternoons when the only thing on my agenda is a nap, maybe some baking and a board game or two. Today I had a turkey in the oven, a cake cooling on the counter and Christmas music on while snuggling under my electric blanket ready to doze into dreamland. As I was about to drift off, I noticed the snow falling. Suddenly the nap was forgotten and out into a winter wonderland we went. The kids were so excited that it was sticking, and that it wasn't the middle of the night. It was one of those perfect afternoons that I wish I could make last forever. We had our dear neighbor Christal over for dinner tonight and it was the perfect ending to a beautiful day. I am so thankful for the holiday season we are enjoying. I am still getting the homesick bug every now and then that will hit out of the blue and stop me in my tracks for a few minutes, but I am grateful for days like today that remind me that we made the right decision to move here. We LOVE living in Star. We were meant to be here. I am grateful for a Heavenly Father that loves us and has a plan for us. As I look back over the struggles of this past year, I can now see that we weren't forgotten, but needed to be patient while the pieces were put into motion for where we are right now. If only I could master that patience thing- but I don't think it is in the genes! and if I could just move some people I love here... :)

Snow

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday shivering despite the two pairs of sweatpants and sweatshirts. As I got up to check the heat, I looked outside and saw that it was snowing our first snow of the winter. I woke up Travis and Kaity and headed outside. Travis had promised Kaitlynn earlier this summer that he would wake her up if the first snow happened at night. I decided that I had better get out the camera and document the moment just in case Kaity didn't remember it waking up the next morning. Turns out we didn't get more than a light dusting, but it made the kids very anxious for more!
The bike is a picture of Aubrey's new Christmas present. Now that we live in Idaho, we entertain ourselves by treasure hunting instead of roller coaster riding. I couldn't resist picking this up for Aub's photography when Travis discovered it at the Goodwill. I LOVE it! and really hope she will love it too!

Happy Halloween!

We have survived our first halloween in Idaho. It sure was different this year to trick or treat with warm clothes on under our costumes instead of bugspray, but the kids had a blast. We had a little bit of drama with Kaity over her jacket, but all turned out well when we found two turtle neck sweatshirts and jacket that fit under her costume. We discovered Idahoans go all out for the holiday, and the kids had to come home twice to empty out their buckets before going out again to collect more candy. I sure am glad that the rain drops all fell this afternoon so the clouds would be empty this evening. We sure missed trick or treating with grandpa this year and attending grandma's chili cookoff. I've taken for granted the traditions that we have enjoyed for the past 9 years. I guess part of life is rolling with the changes that each day may bring, and savoring each precious moment we get with the ones we love. I hope you all had a spooktacular halloween! BOO!

Fall yumminess

So here is a picture of my porch mom. It isn't complete yet, I haven't gotten my cornstalks but you can get the idea. I put the second picture on so you can see my dying grass. I completely forgot that grass goes dormant here. So anyway, when I asked my neighbor next door what do I do for my grass to keep it alive, you can imagine the stupidity I felt when he said, "it's not dying, it's going dormant for the winter." Now in my defense, our lawn looks WAY worse than anyone elses and you know the lawn trouble we had in Orlando, so I think that it was a reasonable question. So our lawn is now going dormant and the leaves are starting to change. Yep, fall has arrived. Today was our first day of cold weather and to honor the occasion I made apple cake. I love that apples are so cheap here. I am taking advantage of it and am putting them to good use!

Apple Cake

3 large eggs 1tsp baking soda
2 cups flour 2tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar 2tsp cinnamon
1 cup oil 1/2 tsp salt
4 cups tart chopped apples
Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Mix sugar, oil and add to egg mixture. mix flour, soda, salt & cinnamon and add to mix. Add vanilla. Fold in apples and por into greased 9x11 greased pan. bake at 359* for about an hour. You can cover with cream cheese icing or icecream, or poke holes in it while warm and drizzle caramel into it. SO GOOD! I however, did not have any extra toppings today and it was delicious!

Falling in love with autumn

We have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of fall and all the fun things that go with it. I know that the novelty of cool weather will wear off pretty soon, but for now we are enjoying the pants and light jacket days, and hot cocoa before bed. Last weekend was the official opening of Linder Farm, so of course we had to attend! The kids had a blast riding on the hay wagon and picking their very own pumpkins right off the stalk. What a different adventure pumpkin pickin' is in Idaho! No more digging through the bins at Walmart looking for one that is not already mushy and rotten! Ah yeah! No farm adventure is complete without a turn through the straw maze and fresh fried donuts! I loved that the kids were in awe of everything around them. We can't drive anywhere without them oohing and aahing over all the pretty leaves. Quite an awesome sight when you have never seen it before!

torture

So this has been my life for the past 6 weeks and 2 days. Hives on my entire body. I am ready to come unglued. I can't believe that today is the last day of summer vacation and I accomplished nothing fun with the kids. I am posting this picture not for sympathy or to just whine, but as proof to my kids later on that it wasn't my fault that their summer was wasted. So here's to hoping for a better fall and a fun itch free winter. Here's to hoping anyway...

Brayden loses his first tooth!

A few minutes ago I was talking on the phone and Brayden came up to me and opened my hand. I looked down and his tooth was sitting in my palm. He was as cool as a cucumber until I realized what I was holding, then he started grinning and ran to look in the mirror. He is so excited to "meet the tooth fairy tonight." Another milestone in my baby's life has now come and gone. I'm feeling a little bit blue about that. Has anyone figured out how to stop time yet!?

camping at Warm Lake

We found this awesome place called Warm lake last Sunday on an afternoon drive. We loved it so much that we decided to go back this weekend and try camping. I was really nervous before we left (I'm not a camper) and packed anything and everything that I thought we would need. Turns out, we needed hardly any of the extra stuff I packed into the van and we had an AMAZING time. I admit, I am hooked! I loved boiling water for hot cocoa over a fire and watching the stars appear. What a better way to get tired than watching tv! I am now mourning the end of summer and the wasted time we could have spent camping. Travis' next day off, we are going again!

canyon county fair

Saturday evening Travis came home from work very excited to take us to the county fair. He heard people talking about it all day long and couldn't wait to get off work and surprise us with tickets. The kids loved all the culture and animals and basically everything to do with the whole evening. I felt like I committed a huge sin by showing up in flipflops instead of cowboy boots, so now "find boots" is on my to-do list! :) Kaitlynn says we are being countrified!