Quick Wendy visit

I got to see Wendy a couple of weekends ago during her layover in the Denver Airport. We only had about 2 hours to meet up and chat before she had to board and head back to DC, but it was SO great to see her!!! We quickly caught up on recent events and were able to meet eachother's babies!

(Unfortunately my iPhone did not do such a great job in the low light of the airport so the pics aren't great. Also, if you move at all then you look blurry, which with babies means someone is always blurry.) Addie, 5 months & Max, 5 1/2 months, born 12 days apart

(notice my Quasimoto looking hand. Again, if you move at all then you become blurry)

Oh how I WISH Wendaline just lived next door. Someday.

Christmas Weekend

This past weekend we had fun getting into the Christmas spirit. We went to a botanical gardens that puts on a great light display.
Jack thought his shadow was awesome.It was cold, but not so bad once we got all bundled up!Add sipping some egg nog by the fire when we got home and I'd say we had a perfect Christmas evening.

Here are a few pics of the kids in their Christmas Sunday best.



I still can't believe Christmas is THIS week!!! Hooray! I woke up last night at 2am and erped (yuck, I know) so I've spent the better part of today in my pajamas trying to get feeling better. I pretty much hate the stomach bug above all other sickness (at least that I've had) but the good news is I'm getting it out of the way so I for sure WON'T be sick in Utah for Christmas. Now PLEASE cross your fingers that my kids & Jeff don't get it, or if they have to then to hurry and get it before we fly out on Friday! Here's to a healthy family for the Holiday's.

Christmas Ham

You may remember me posting the recipe for my Grandma's ham sauce several months back, well today my Mom is featured on my sister's website, HowDoesShe, talking about how to make the most delicious bone in ham & ham sauce. Check it out! You won't regret making this for your Christmas dinner. Plus the left overs make the most delicious ham sandwiches! :)

We all need a little Christmas

It's Christmasy at my house these days and I'm lovin' it! I really just LOVE this time of year. Especially all the lights on the houses & trees. Jack calls them, "Santa Claus trees!"

We have all of our nativities out...

Our stockings over the fireplace...A little bit of sparkle (it wouldn't be my house if we didn't have something that sparkled;))...

All of your lovely Christmas cards that are starting to pour in are hung along the stairs...
And of course our tree. We have a very hodge podge tree. It's a collection of ornaments from Jeff & my childhoods. One day I'd love to have a lovely coordinating tree, but when that day comes I'll still keep my hodge podge tree as well. It's always such a fun trip down memory lane to pull out all of the hand made and memory filled ornaments from Christmases past.
T minus 10 days! I can't wait!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

30 Years

Jeff celebrated his 30th Birthday on December 6th which means it won't be long until I'm turning 30 as well. When did we become old enough to turn 30?! The thought of leaving my twenties depresses me. I still see myself as 21 and in college (I just happen to have 2 kids). Why is that? Will I always feel like I'm 21? Or will I ever reach an age where I think, yes, I feel (insert old age here). Every year leading up to 21 I felt a year older. I welcomed my birthday and enjoyed getting older. Then after 21 it all stopped. Time stopped. At least in my head. My love handles & crows feet would beg to differ. :)

So we never forget what those magical 20's looked like here is a trip down Jeff's birthday memory lane... (the pics that are fuzzy are pre-digital so I had to take a pic of a pic)
22nd Birthday
I invited some of his buddies over for junk food and video games.

(Apparently we don't have a pic of his 23rd birthday. I searched everywhere...it's like it never happened. Weird.)

24th Birthday
I threw him a Las Vegas themed surprise party (see his surprise face below).
25th Birthday
We had plans to go to SLC for dinner & to see the lights at Temple Square, but we got hit with a HUGE snowstorm that day and instead barely made it to the Bombay House in Provo for dinner.
26th Birthday
Living in NYC now. We celebrated by going out to dinner at Bar Pitti with friends and then back to our apartment to decorate sugar cookies.
27th Birthday
Dinner at Tao with friends & then over to Rockefeller Center to see the tree.
(note: I'm pregnant with Jack in this pic)28th Birthday
Living in Colorado now. I planned a movie night complete with tickets that I sent Jeff at work and all his favorite movie treats. We had the Edgingtons over to eat dinner & watch the flick.29th Birthday
I was in my 1st trimester of pregnancy with Addie so I was uber sick and couldn't even make a cake. Instead I bought the lovely one (above) from Costco. Bless Costco during pregnancy. :)
30th Birthday
His birthday fell on a Monday so on Sunday I fixed him a meal of whatever he requested. He wanted: pork chops, apple sauce, mashed potatoes, spaghetti squash, asparagus & rolls On his actual b-day Jack & I made cupcakes and brought them to him & his co-workers at his office. Then that night Jay watched Jack for us so we could go out to dinner. We had sushi at Jing (delicious).
(side note: Jeff is wearing the same sweater in this birthday pic as he is in his 25th b-day pic. It must be a lucky b-day sweater and he didn't even realize it.)
For dessert we had creme brulee that I'd made at home.
(I made him wear the birthday hat from Jack's 2nd birthday party. I wanted the pic to look festive!)
Jeff with his present. He spent the rest of the night on the Wii playing his new game. He may have turned 30 but he's clearly still a kid at heart. :)About a year ago when Jeff & I realized we'd be turning 30 in the next year we were discussing possible party options & Jeff had the idea to go on a trip together rather than throwing birthday parties for each other. I LOVED this idea! So we are planning to go to Phoenix for a long weekend in January (right in the middle of our two birthdays) to celebrate our 30's. I'm very much looking forward to that.

Happy 30th Birthday Jeffy!!!

Thanksgiving

We headed for St. George to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year & ended up leaving a day earlier than planned due to a major snow storm that was going to hit the Vail Pass. I ended up packing for my entire family in 2 hours (I was sweating), Jeff left work early and we hit the road Tuesday evening. We planned to just drive to Grand Junction that evening and stay in a hotel for the night before driving the rest of the way the following day. Here we are hanging out in our hotel. (Jack loves hotels) We definitely made the right choice leaving when we did. We skipped the snow storm and instead drove through beautiful scenery like this the whole way. It was great! We got to St. George in time for me to get some of my food made the night before & to go out to eat with some of the other families that arrived a bit early. The next day was T-day & as usual it did not disappoint. Here is everyone working like crazy in the kitchen. I found some silly turkey hats in the dollar bins at Target (have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE those dollar bins? Well, I do.) and decided to outfit my little family in them. The kids look cute and... ...well, Jeff & I just look ridiculous. :) But whateves we thought they were funny. The adult table enjoying the fruits of our labors. SO DELICIOUS!!! (and yes we're still wearing our turkey hats...no big deal we wore them throughout the entire meal. We figure even if your joke turns out to be a bit ridiculous you still have to commit to it. We aren't quitters. :))

After the big meal (we eat around 1pm) we relaxed for a bit and then packed up all the kids (22 to be exact) and headed out to the movies. We saw Tangled in 3D. It was Jack's first 3D experience and he only liked his glasses about half of the time, but he sat still and enjoyed the movie with or without his glasses on. After the show we headed home and enjoyed turkey sandwiches on homemade rolls & leftover pies, stuffing, etc. I think I might like the leftovers more than the main meal just because the work is done & all I have to do is enjoy the yummy food.The next morning this is how I found Tom. It pretty much sums up how most of us felt...TIRED! (Notice the size difference in the twins. Max,Batman, is 15 pounds heavier than his identical twin brother Luke, Superman!!!)Later that day we had our annual Turkey Bowl. Jack was more interested in being a monkey than he was bowling.Per my usual I did not break 100, BUT I did beat Jeff!!! So I'm calling it a WIN! Rick & Jodie went home the winners...again. (I think they've won every year since we started like 15 years ago.) In the evening we had the cousin talent show. We do this every time we are all together & the kids love it. It's so fun to see all the grand kids perform & the best part is how all the cousins cheer each other on. After someone performs they all tackle that person and shower them with love and adoration. It's adorable. Even little Addie who's sole talent was to roll over received as much adoration and cheers as Josh's amazing piano solo. I love how much the cousins love each other. After the talent show my Dad busted out his Santa hat and doled out 2 dollar bills to all the grand kids. They LOVED it! Even little Addie got her turn. Jack looks less than impressed here, but not because he didn't love getting the money, just because he was being a stinker about getting his picture taken. The next day we took family pictures (always a stressful event) and then broke off into various groups either hiking, shopping, swimming, or going to the park etc. We were sad to leave (the trip was too short) especially since this is what our drive home had in store for us...The drive home was AWFUL! We left Sunday morning and originally planned to drive the whole way home, but after going 5-15 mph on I-15 in bumper to bumper traffic during a blizzard we decided to once again spend the night in Grand Junction. We made the right choice and more or less sailed the rest of the way home the next morning.
Thunder hangin' out in the hotel again, this time in his new Buzz pajamas that his cousin Luke passed down to him. (It's really been to my/Jack's benefit that his twin cousins are so much bigger than him. We've scored all sorts of shoes & clothes.)

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving 2010!