Snow Day

Last night we finally got some much needed Christmas snow and when we got back from delivering a few neighborhood treats, Aidan couldn't resist any longer and threw himself down to make a snow angel. I was glad he got some good playing time in-he was so mad when it was time to come inside but perked right up when we said hot chocolate with marshmallows. :) Sorry about the runny nose in the pictures, but what snow picture of a 3 year old would be complete without a runny nose?

 

 

 

 

Sleepy boy

Even when we have to wake him up, he is still happy to see us!

Here's the Santa picture

Why is it so necessary that Santa pictures always turn out bad?

 

How cute is he....

I have been such a blog slacker. This month has been so crazy- we've been getting over sick kids, trying to finish up teaching lessons before the break, proposing a new job for Brett at work, and oh yea- getting ready for Christmas. I finally have had a relaxing day today and thought I'd put a few new pictures up. Ethan is growing up so fast and is such a cute, sweet, sweet boy. These are a couple pictures we took standing in line to see Santa.

 

 

Happy St. Nick!

We are finally coming to the end of 2 weeks of sick kids and parents (although I think Ethan has caught the cough that Aidan had with croupe) and I'm finally finding a second to update my blog. Today we get to celebrate St. Nick's day, a tradition that I have always really enjoyed in my family and am having fun passing on to my children. My mom lived in Germany, where St. Nick comes from, until she was 6 which is how this got started. We each set out one shoe on the night of December 5th and St. Nick comes that night to fill our shoes with fruit, candy, and a gift- which in our family is always a new ornament that usually reflects something about us or something we've done that year (vacation, ect..) or in my case this year- just an ornament that's too cute to pass up. Aidan was so excited this morning and really enjoyed helping us open all our new ornaments and eating chocolate. :) Later, when I was getting him dressed, he was acting sad and I asked him what was wrong, he told me that he was sad that St. Nick left without giving him a kiss goodbye. So cute. :)

Please excuse the mess... ( or lack there of)

I once again have tried to fiddle too much with my blog, not having any idea what I am doing (I think that I must THINK that I have my Dad's computer design skills when in reality, I have none). Anyways, I have to go teach now and don't have time to finish what I've started. I don't really know what will show up when you view this and hopefully I'll finish construction soon. thanks!

I'm such a copycat...

I usually am a firm believer in not starting the Christmas season until the day after Thanksgiving, but I saw this on a couple other blogs and it was just too funny to pass up. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9550356118

P.S. How come my elf is the lurpiest dancer?!

Happy Day....

We got some really exciting news on Friday. Brett went in to meet with his advisor to make sure all was on track for graduation in April and she was able to substitute a class he'd already taken for the only class he was going to need next semester. The result??? Dum da da Dum! He'll be done in December! We are so thrilled.. for any of you who know us well, you know that this has been a long 10 year struggle for both of us and we are so happy to be able to move on. I am so proud of Brett for accomplishing this goal and for his determination to graduate, when it seemed easier at times to just forget about it. He is so tickled and for him the best news is that he no longer needs the math class he has been taking (it was the pre-requisite for the class he needed next semester) and so they are going to with draw him from it, which means he just has one class to finish this semester and his 50 page paper which should be done sometime in January. Since UVSC doesn't offer commencement in December he will walk on April 25th. Big party on April 26th so mark your calendars now!

Brick Oven or Bust!

October has been such a busy month but we finally got together with An'Jalee and Leslie and their families. It's usually too much work to really go out with everyone, but we all needed to get out so we took the plunge and hauled everyone over to Brick Oven- the kids outnumbered the adults. We always have such a good time- I feel so blessed to have such good friends and to be able to live close, see them often, and have our kids grow up being friends too. Here are some fun pictures of the night. :) Next time: girls night out or date night, right guys?

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday we had such a fun Halloween. When I told Aidan at breakfast that it was Halloween he raised both fists in the air and yelled "Wahooo! Happy Halloween!!" We started out by going to the parade at Mom's school, where Aidan and Mom were the leaders of the whole parade. He roared and breathed fire for all the parents and was so cute! Then we headed over to Brett's work party where Aidan got to be spoiled with big candy bars and play dough and all sorts of fun things from Brett's co-workers. I then managed to get him to take a nap (ok- it was more a threat: no trick-or-treating until he slept. Don't judge- I'll do anything to get him to take a nap :) ). After nap time we went to our ward's trunk-or-treat, where Aidan was so excited to see our neighbors and his little friends from nursery. At one point, he stopped in the middle of the parking lot and yelled as loud as he could, "I have so much candy!!!! This way everyone!!" and on to the next car. Then we piled back into the car and drove over to SF to Joseph and Juli's and then headed up to Juli's parents, where Aidan got to see Spider Man. Juli's brother has been hired by Marvel Comics to do a book signing, at a bookstore, as Spider Man so he had a really cool costume. He was jumping from the banister and really acting like Spider Man, which made Aidan a little nervous but he really enjoyed it. Then we stopped for a visit at our friends, Richard and Tamara Davis where Aidan was more than happy to hand out ALL of their candy to their trick or treaters. I think he enjoyed handing it out as much as getting it. We ended the night at Mom and Dad's and had such a great time. It's so fun to participate in these holiday's now that we have kids and get to see it through their eyes. Of course this morning we had a huge temper tantrum because I wouldn't let Aidan at his candy first thing this morning. Oh well- it's to be expected. Hope you all had a fun holiday!

Our Dragon and Mom as a Bumble Bee- so cute


Ethan was a good sport but bugged that he didn't get his 3 hour nap. :)


I love Aidan in this one. :)


Aidan roaring like a dragon

Carving our Pumpkins

On Sunday we carved our pumpkins over at Mom and Dad's with Joseph and Juli. Aidan had been sick that day, but still had a great time. I was surprised he didn't want to get his hands in the guts of the pumpkin, but he decided that job was better suited for someone else. Here are some pictures of the event.

Brett wasn't all that thrilled with having to scoop out the pumpkin, either.

They are much happier now that Joseph stepped in and took over. :)

Juli concentrating. :)

This is the face that Aidan made to show me how he wanted the pumpkin.

The finished product. Joseph & Juli's Haunted House was impressive. :)

So cute- I was happy to capture such a sweet moment on camera.

Pumpkin Patch!

If you have never been to the big red barn in Santaquin- it is a must! Brett and I started a new family tradition by taking Aidan there last year and it is one of our favorites. You ride a wagon out to a big pumpkin patch and then get to pick your pumkins and ride the wagon back. The barn is filled with all sorts of yummy things like Apple Cider and Apple Doughnuts. This year we invited my family along and had a great time. It is such a fun fall activity!!

New Templates!

I found this great new site (Thanks Leslie!) that has a million new templates. They have holidays, all the colors, pretty much everything you can think of and I found quite a few cute ones that I'll be changing to in the future. I thought I'd better share the wealth and pass on the website. I actually think you can just click on the link on the top of my page and it will take you there. I thought I'd go all out and get in the mood for scary Halloween! Hope you find something you like!

P.S. I found the cutest pumpkin patch template but the picture stays behind your pictures and it kind of looked funny- maybe someone else can make it work. :)

Yum-O!

I found this yummy recipe for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies in the Raechel Ray "Every Day" magazine (which has lots of good recipes in it, by the way). We enjoyed them so much we each ate one and then thought it would be best to give them away (not very weight watchers friendly). I needed to bring a treat over to a woman that I visit teach, whose husband just had brain surgery, and felt they served a much better purpose there. :)

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
1 2/3 cups flour
4 ounces cream cheese, chilled
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour. 3. Using an ice cream scoop or tablespoon, drop 12 generous mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.4. Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.5. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

P.S. My format is acting all funny and won't let me un center the text. Sorry it's a little hard to read. :)

I've been tagged!

I just got tagged by Juli! Everyone who reads my blog is now also tagged!!

1. 10 years ago I had just started my first year at Ricks College. I was living with my cousin Jen and was enjoying being on my own for the first time. Most importantly, I met Brett that first week of school and the rest is history...

2. 5 years ago I graduated with my degree in piano pedagogy from Utah State. Happy Day!!! We were living in Logan and I was on the faculty at the Youth Conservatory and working at the hotel on campus. We went to a lot more movies back then. :)

3. 1 year ago I was enjoying Aidan as a 2 year old and was wondering if I was pregnant- I found out soon enough and now we have Ethan! My life 1 year ago was pretty much identical to what it is now, but now we are lucky to have 2 sweet boys!

4. Yesterday I got up early and Brett took the day off (Fall Break) so we went up to Park City to try to find much needed shoes for Brett and jeans for me. My cranky mood on the way home tells that I found no jeans and reminded me how much I hate shopping for pants. We shopped for about 4 hours, then came home and Anson and Julia came over and watched Aidan while Brett and I went out on a date. We ate at Smokehouse and saw "Hairspray" and had a great time. Ethan watched or slept through the whole movie and it was wonderful!

5. 5 snacks I enjoy: Diet Coke with Splenda, chocolate chip cookies (although now that it's fall I love all things pumpkin- pumpkin pasta, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie in the sky ice cream, but not pumpkin pie), grapes, Fiber One Bars, baked Cheetos.

6.5 things I would do if I suddenly had $100 million: Pay off the student loans, Buy a house, Buy a car that didn't need a new engine and clutch a year and a half after we bought it, Travel on a lot of vacations, significantly reduce the size of my piano studio so I could spend more time with the boys. (Ok, I really need 6 because then I would invest the rest so Brett could quit work too- he just told me that if we had $100 million we wouldn't even need to invest it for him to quit work, but it seems like the smart thing to do).

7. 5 locations I would like to run away to: Hawaii, New York, Boston, Europe (obviously), Vermont or New Hampshire to see the fall leaves.

8. 5 bad habits I have: asking Brett to do things I can do myself, OCD cleaning (it never quite feels clean enough),waking up later than I should, not exercising, keeping all receipts and never cleaning out the filing drawer.

9. 5 shows I like: Grey's Anatomy (I finally joined the craze and I have no idea what took me so long), Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty, The Office, and I must pay respect to my all time favorite show which is no longer on the air, but deeply missed- Gilmore Girls.

10. 5 things I hate doing: cleaning the bathroom, mopping the floors (can you tell what Brett's cleaning jobs generally are?), having shots, hiking, and picking up the dropped plums in the yard. (o.k. I haven't done that last one in probably 15 years but the trauma of it is deeply ingrained- so many squishy plums!)

11. 5 biggest joys of the moment: Making Ethan laugh, hearing Aidan tell me that he loves me, my fall wreath (and everything else fall- this is my absolute favorite time of year!), finding new low fat recipes that I can make and still do weight watchers, having Brett home for Fall Break.

Run Daddy Run!

Last weekend we went to St. George for Dad's 23rd (?) St. George Marathon. He did a great job and we are always so proud and impressed by his hard work and speed. The marathon is always over conference weekend and it's usually our last chance at summer, but for the first time that I could remember, it was cold and windy and we were disappointed that we didn't get to take the boys swimming. We still had a great time being with the family, though, and missed Jordan and Danny being there.

Mom, Joseph, Aidan, Anson & Julia waiting for Dad to come in.

Almost there!

Notice the brown hair? I'm testing the theory on whether or not blondes have more fun. So far, I'm having a pretty good time with dark hair. :)

Ethan loves this little frog wrist rattle, so we attatched it to his car seat and he sits and cooes and laughs at it. So cute.

Bear with me...

I'm in the process of learning how to customize my blog using pages from digital scrapbooking, and not having much luck. In the mean time I'm just sticking with plain white until I get all of this figured out. Anyone who can offer advice would be greatly appreciated! Hopefully my construction will be done soon!

Argh Matey!

Happy Birthday Aidan! Aidan turned 3 on Sunday, September 16th so we celebrated the day before by having a pirate party and we had such a good time! The kids got to go on a treasure hunt to find all their pirate treasures and we had yummy cake and ice cream. I have the best family in the world- Jordan and McKay flew in for the occasion and Joseph and Juli showed up dressed to the nines as pirates. I was so touched by the efforts that were made to make the day fun for him and to support us. We have the best family and friends! We can't believe that our baby is already 3- the time is going by so fast. I'm so proud of him and all he does to learn and grow and make good "big boy choices" (our current work in progress). He makes our home such a happy place to be and I hope he has such a great year being 3! Sorry about the million pictures, but there were too many cute ones!

Captian Aidan and Shipmate Halle

Some of the crew

Yoho,Yoho, a pirates life for me!

I was so tickled that this turned out cute- we were a little worried there when we were making it.

I love this picture of them running to the treasure- Belle looks like she's flying.

ARGH!

So cute of Belle- she looks so tickled. :)

I'm glad Joseph and Juli got this of McKay- he was not having it.

Our little Pirate Ethan

Happy Birthday Aidan!