Christmas Cookies

So I LOVE frosted sugar cookies, if you didn't already know that. So one of my favorite things is to make some at Christmas for Santa. Porter has really loved doing these kinds of things lately with me, so we broke out the old cookie cutters and whipped some up. The ones for santa will stay nice and fresh in a ziploc bag until Christmas, but the rest are going to good use in our tummies! Porter helped me do every stage, and LOVED decorating them. It is one of my favorite Christmas traditions:) ho, ho, ho!

Porter's first "crap" (craft)

So despite our repeated attempts to teach Porter the word "craFT" he still thinks it is called a "crap". But anyway, being that he has a pretty crafty mommy, and I seem to do a lot of projects he has picked up on them. He likes to do different projects with me, and is usually a very good helper. The other day though, he saw a craft on PBS kids where they made animals out of sticks. He begged to do it, and had a very specific vision. He was so cute, he worked for literally hours, probably at least 6 or 7 total before it was good enough. He made a cow, if you can't tell:) He colored all of the spots, and then even helped me cut them out with his safety scissors. He drew all of the facial features, and glued everything down just where he wanted it. He was extremely picky, much to my surprise, and then we had to take it everywhere with us for days. He loves his cow! What a cutie:) A chip off the old block!

Appetizers! Help please-

So for Christmas this year we are doing a Progressive Dinner. The appetizers are at our house, and I need some more cute ideas. I have one shrimp appetizer that I am going to do for sure but I need one or two more really good ones, that are also a little fancy or pretty. If anyone has any ideas for me, please please let me know. I am totally stumped. Thanks a million!

Gingerbread Fun!!

Thanks again Art and Steph for another fantastic Gingerbread Bonanza! We had a great time and were quite pleased with the finished product! We have decided after doing the Eifel Tower, that from now on we were going to do different landmarks from around the world, then we can compile a world tour as we go through the years. It is just fun to try to copy something real. So in a crunch, we didn't prepare very long, we decided to do the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. We'll go other places next year, but this was one that seemed easy enough for the dimensions and we were in a crunch for time.

And this was our finished product. We used animal crackers and teddy grahams for the carvings, and notice all the sourpatch tourists!


here are some of the other pics we took in the process. It was a fun family activity. Porter really wanted to help, not just sit on the sidelines. It was fun:)

Thanksgiving

I realize that I am a little slow, but we really didn't get a ton of pics, so no big deal. But we went Colorado for Thanksgiving, and had a great time. Porter and Ronan both had a blast with all the cousins. Porter was especially fond of "abry" this time. "Abbie" really, but he kept crossing it with aunt Aubrye. He just couldn't keep the "r" out of it! We got to see several old friends, and had a delicious dinner. I mostly wanted to post these pics of Ronan. They were so cute. My boys have been very different so far, but one of the main differences is their eating habits! Porter is pretty picky, but Ronan is a total pig. He eats anything and everything, and almost inhales it. So, it was a fun holiday to share with him, our little eater! Last year he was alive, but didn't get to eat anything on this "food holiday" poor guy. So this year I am counting as his first REAL thanksgiving! he loved him some pumpkin pie!

One Word Tag

here it is, The is the one word tag:)

Where is your cell phone? desk
Your significant other? Noah
Your hair? ponytail
Your mother? clean
Your father? silly
Your favorite thing? Caramels
Your dream last night? in a park?
Your favorite drink? strawberry-banana milkshake
Your dream/goal? oodles
The room you are in? Office
Your hobby? everything crafty
Your fear? bad health for me or family
Where do you want to be in 6 years? settled down somewhere
What you are not? quiet
Muffins? cinnamon strusel
One of your wish list items? House
Where you grew up? Montrose
The last thing you did? sew baby gifts
What are you wearing? pjs
Favorite gadget? ipod
Your pet? none
Your computer? mac
Your mood?productive/happy
Missing someone? Yep.
Your car? euro mini van!
Something you are not wearing? 1 sock, it just got a hole in it, and haven't taken off the other
Favorite store? Pine Needles
Like Someone? lots of people
Favorite color? PURPLE
When is the last time you laughed? 10 minutes ago!
Last time you cried? last night, reading obituary

Will Miss these Men...

In the past several days two great men, in my life have passed away. I just wanted to a quick tribute to them. Last week my OB/GYN passed away. I know this sounds a little strange, that I would be sad about this being that he is just my doctor. However, he was so awesome!! We were blessed enough to have him deliver Ronan, and he was so wonderful. I am not even just talking about how he's my doctor so he must be the best. I have had others, I had Porter in Michigan and we thought we had a great experience. I really liked my doctor there, but she was nothing compared to Dr. Gordon. He had an amazing bedside manner, and always remembered me, even though I know he had TONS of patients. He played with Porter everytime we came in, he was so sweet when I was in the hospital and checked on me all the time. He was funny and hip. He also was a great man of God, which I could tell by the way he spoke. It has been kind of shocking to me, because it was just a year ago he was as lively and healthy as could be. He unfortunately was diagnosed with a terrible disease only two or three months ago. I just can't wrap my brain around it. It consumed him so quickly. I will truly miss him, and am sad that he won't be able to deliver the rest of my children. I feel blessed that he was the first human face that Ronan got to see:) Then in our Church, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away last night. He was such an awesome man, I loved all of his great sports stories, and what a great testimony. His talks were always some of my favorites. I will also miss him very much, but am glad that he gets to be reunited with his sweetheart. What awesome men both of them were, and had a great impact on me. I just wanted to say thank you.