Visits with Santa

Luke is all about the festivities of every holiday. He was elated to go see Santa! He even brought Santa a gift and made sure to wear his reindeer antlers to impress Santa. A few days later Ben was talking with his friend "Santa" and Santa told Ben that Luke was the only child that has ever brought him a gift. When we related this info to Luke, he became the happiest child I have ever seen. He went into another room and yelled out, "I WAS THE ONLY KID TO EVER GIVE SANTA A GIFT!!!" It was the cutest thing in the world!

Now...Ashlynn on the other hand...well, you can see how her visit with Santa went. She later said, "Hate, hate Santa!" (She loves to repeat things twice!)

Holiday Orchard Salad

Are you looking for a new green salad for Christmas? This is one of my favorites and I love the name of it and all the yummy ingredients that go in it. Everyone loves this salad! We originally received it from Lynnette Behunin last Christmas during a mission reunion. Thanks Lynnette!

Holiday Orchard Salad
8 c. mixed greens (not iceberg lettuce)
Chopped celery
Mandarin oranges (strawberries could be used instead)
Craisins
Apples, diced
Sliced Swiss cheese

Mix greens with desired amounts of celery, oranges, craisins, apples, and cheese. Sprinkle with candied almonds. Drizzle with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette (recipes to follow).

Candied Almonds:
1 T. butter
2 T. sugar
2 oz. sliced almonds

Combine butter and sugar in small skillet. Add almonds and cook over med. heat until brown and candied. Be careful, they go from yummy to burn rather quickly.

Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp. poppy seeds
¼ c. cider vinegar
sm. chunks red onion (diced) to taste
2/3 tsp. salt
2/3 c. salad oil
2 tsp. Grey Poupon (or you can use honey Dijon mustard)

Put ingredients in blender and whirl until smooth. Makes 1 cup. (Stir in poppy seeds by hand last so they don’t get too crushed.)

Dooky Duty

Earlier this week I was having a really bad day. It seemed that everything that could go wrong-did! After putting the kids to bed I finally sat down for a few minutes. All of a sudden Luke came running down the stairs. He was frantic and crying very hard. At first I was mad but then I started to really listen to what he was saying. He told me he had swallowed a 'money' (a coin) by accident. Luke was so scared and immediately fell to his knees and said, "We need to say a prayer RIGHT NOW, Mommy!" He asked me to say it because he was too scared. I felt so happy that he recognized a good time to say a prayer!!! (Good boy, Luke!) After saying a prayer, I called the doctor and asked if it was a big deal to have swallowed a coin and they told me to bring him in immediately for an X-ray. We waited for Ben to come home from work and then headed to the Doctor at 10:30pm. From the X-ray we discovered it was probably a quarter or a Chuck E. Cheese token. It is HUGE! So, needless to say, I have 'Dooky Duty' until the coin shows up! I guess they take Xrays to make sure the coin is in the stomach and not somewhere else. Sometimes a coin can flip over after a few minutes or hours and then block the airway long after the initial swallowing of the coin. I just thought I would share this info because I didn't realize it could potentially be such a serious thing! I will gladly do 'Dooky Duty' until that coin comes. I am just happy that Luke is okay and didn't choke in his bed without me knowing about it :)

Thanksgiving Festivities

We traveled over the river and through the woods to Grandma Fern's house for Thanksgiving. Kristen (Ben's sister) lives with her grandma, so we are able to visit with her also. Our children ADORE Aunt Kris-Kris!!!

Grandma Fern made a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. My parents came over for dinner too. I kind of felt bad having Ben's 90 year old grandma make dinner for MY family. For some reason I thought more people were coming. Oh-well. We had a great time with Gma Fern. Our children loved spending time at "Grah-Grah's" house. Ashlynn stayed up ALL night long telling me how much she loved sleeping at Grah-Grah's house. She was so thrilled to be there.

Aunt Kris-Kris bought a gingerbread house to make with the kids. They loved every minute of it. I yelled at the kids a few times to stop eating the candy and then I noticed that Kristen was eating it too. That's why my kids adore her! She lets them have more fun than Mommy does.

As soon as we pulled up in our driveway after our trip, Ashlynn started yelling at the top of her lungs..."NO! NO! NO! Want Grah-Grah's house and Kris-Kris!!!

Look! We just had another baby! Just kidding. This is my new nephew, Camden. He was born in October and we were so happy to attend his baby blessing over Thanksgiving weekend.

Here is my sister Jaime and her family with Camden. The only one missing is Josh. He had OTHER things to do at the moment.

Camden is such a sweet little baby. I was feeling a little under the weather so I wasn't able to hold him as much as I wanted to. It is so wonderful to hold a new baby and a new member of our extended family. He is so loved by all his siblings and family.

Yah! Take that!

I am sure if you are reading this, you are wondering why the heck I have Rocky music playing instead of Christmas music. Let me explain...

A little over 2 years ago, someone told me, "It appears you like to do things half way in your life. You've probably lived your whole life like that. Maybe you are used to giving up on things and you are okay with that."

I was in shock because this person didn't even know me, but somehow felt he had the authority to say whatever he wanted. I guess living as a missionary in another country, learning a foreign language, leaving my family for 18 months, being accepted into BYU, getting a job as a MTC teacher, being a wife, giving birth and being a mother is only accomplished by living my life in a
half--- way?!!

hummmm...I don't think so Sir!

Well, I later replied to his comment with this, "That's not true. I've never given up on anything...except a diet and who hasn't given up on a diet!"

Well, today I am happy to say I have reached my lifetime goal at Weight Watchers and hit my 30 pound mark! I even lost 2.6 pounds over Thanksgiving week. Now that I hit this goal, I think I'll lose another 10 pounds just because... I WANT TO!

I didn't do this for him. I did it for me and it feels so good. Doesn't everyone need a Rocky song from time to time?! This song just sums up the way I am feeling today. It makes me what to work even harder!!! YAH!!! So take that and......(well, you know how the saying goes!).

Quote of the Day...by Ashlynn

Our sweet little Ashlynn HATES washing her 'princess' hair (that's what she calls it). Well, the other day I was fighting with her to let me rinse the shampoo out of her hair. After swatting me away several times she yelled out...
"Daddy, Daddy says (she likes to repeat things twice),
'no wash hair!'." I told her that Daddy never said that. She then said...

"Jesus, Jesus says 'no wash hair'."

Somehow she knows Jesus has a higher priority! After an outburst of laughter from Ben and I, we reassured her Jesus never said she couldn't wash her princess hair. Nice try Ashlynn:)

The Swearing Cookies Recipe

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin, vanilla and egg, blend well. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Stir in nuts. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake @ 350 for 10-12 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.

Brown Sugar Icing

3 TBSP butter
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2-2 cups powdered sugar

Meanwhile, in medium saucepan, combine 3 TBSP butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for one minute or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Cool 10 minutes. Add milk and beat with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in enough powdered sugar for desired consistency.