These Boots Were Made for Walking

We're still trying to remember what kept us entertained and laughing before she came along.

Thanksgiving Recap

Here's a recap of our Thanksgiving. By habit I am a nature/landscape (and Maggie) photographer so this is only one picture with people in it...forgive me that I forget to take pictures with people in them. The rest of the pictures were taken when we went for a drive and showed everyone the area. Yeah, I know they don't really fit in with anything, but I wanted to include them. So disregard that there's a picture of a bridge while I'm talking about the tukey...I just wanted to add some interest to your reading.

My family got here on Wednesday afternoon. I made a big pot of chili, so we ate, relaxed and hung out for the most part. Before I went to bed I made the huckleberry pie and made the dough for the orange and cinnamon rolls.

Thursday morning I got up somewhat early and put the turkey in the roasting oven (after I doused it in butter). Then I rolled out the orange and cinnamon rolls. Everything else was delegated to someone else so the rest of my morning was somewhat stress free. Then the turkey finished cooking an hour and a half earlier than I had calculated and I was stressed about it either being too cold, or too dry by the time we ate. It was a little on the dry side, but otherwise it was good. I can't complain though because that was the only major thing that went wrong. All of the food was great and we had a good feast.

After we ate and relaxed for a while everyone decided to go for a drive. Jonathan and I were going to stay home since we couldn't all fit in one car. But we decided to drive the truck while everyone but my parents followed us (they had already left on their drive and we weren't sure where they were).

We took them to Monkey Rock, which is the waterfall by our house and then down to the river bottoms of the Henry's Fork. The waterfall was mostly frozen so it looked cool (no pun intended). While we were there I heard my sister Lori tell her daughter that we might see some wildlife. Then my sister Julieanne yelled to her son that there was a racoon up a tree. When we got a little closer she said, "I don't think that's a racoon." I told her it was a porcupine. They were all surprised that it was in a tree. It was enjoying whatever berries were there though.

When we got back we played some games and relaxed some more.

On Friday morning I went shopping for the first time ever on Black Friday. I am not a fan of shopping, but Julieanne wanted to go and wanted someone to go with her. There were a few deals I was interested in checking out, so I decided to go along. I ended up getting Jonathan a GPS for the car. I got it for one heck of a deal. Santa is getting Maggie a pink rocking horse from the same sale...if you know what I mean ;) I got through the line quicker on Friday morning than I do on a regular day at Wal-mart. The crowd wasn't bad at all.

When we got home from shopping everyone pretty much packed up. They left after lunch. It was fun having everyone. We only wish the rest of my siblings and their families could have come.

So there you have it, our Thanksgiving recap.

Home Sweet Home

I never know what to write here anymore. It's not that I think my life is boring, because I'm actually very happy with where I am in life. I'm just worried that my life is boring to read. So if you care you can proceed. If not, I won't be offended. Most of the stuff I write is for my own record anyway.

To begin, I never announced that our sister-in-law had her twin boys. If my memory serves me correctly they were born on the 14th. Both weighed just under four pounds and are doing well. I used to think that multiple births were some what rare, but I'm beginning to think that they're not. Maybe it's just because I am at the child-bearing age along with most of my friends so I hear about it more often. I now have a sister-in-law with twins, a friend with twins, a friend with triplets, and a friend expecting twins...and I think I might be forgetting one more set of multiples. I'm curious if anyone else knows this many people with multiples...let me know.

Jonathan took a business trip to Phoenix last week. The week leading up to his departure I was debating what I should do while he was gone. I think I changed my mind every hour. I thought about staying with my family, but most of them would be at work every day and I wasn't sure how I would occupy myself. (Sorry Dad and Mom) I thought about staying home because I had a few projects to finish before Thanksgiving. I was worried I would get fretfully lonely being home alone though.

My final decision was to stay with my in-laws and I'm glad I did. I never got lonely, I had Grandma to help me with Maggie, and I had a lot of fun. Plus I didn't have to worry about what we were going to eat the whole week since I didn't want to cook a full meal just for Maggie and I. (I hope you don't think I used you for your food...it was just an added perk).

Most days it was just my mother-in-law and I. We went shopping, which is NOT a favorite past time of mine, but I needed new clothes that actually fit. (What is it about having a baby that morphs your body into a shape that doesn't fit clothes anymore?) I did end up finding some good deals, so I guess it was worth going shopping.

We made applesauce and apple jelly. We played with the puppies. We went to quilt stores and amazingly I didn't add any fabric to my stash! I did a little Christmas shopping. I ate a lot of good food. And I did miss Jonathan, but not as much as I would have being home alone.

Jonathan got home late Thursday night/Friday morning. Then we drove to Star Valley, Wyoming to help his boss unload a tractor. We spent the rest of Friday with his family and we drove back home yesterday. It's nice to be home again, but I'm thankful for my in-law's hospitality (and I'm not just saying all this because I know you're reading it).

Now on to Thanksgiving with my family.

Good News

I took Maggie to the doctor today to get her tested for lactose intolerance. It turns out that she's just sensitive to milk protein. She was given the go ahead to eat cheese and yogurt since the processing destroys most of the allergenic protein. I can reintroduce her to milk in a few months, but we'll just have to take it slow.

I'm sure Daddy is relieved since he's a milkaholic and he couldn't imagine his daughter being lactose intolerant.

Wedding Weekend

The weekend was great! Saturday was a beautiful day for a wedding in November. They couldn't have asked for more perfect weather! It was so wonderful to see family and to be able to attend Randy and Jenny's sealing. The Logan temple is as beautiful as I imagined it would be.

The reception was at the Alumni House at Utah State University. That campus is beautiful as well. I have a deep fascination with old buildings and their history, so I really loved driving past Old Main and the other old buildings on campus. I told Jonathan I think I would have really liked to go to college there. It was the second choice school for both of us...but we both ended up at BYU-Idaho, and for good reason I suppose ;)

While we were down there a miracle occured. Maggie slept through the night...both nights! Maggie never sleeps well when we go out of town. We always have to bring her on a midnight drive (or two) to get her back to sleep when she wakes up during the night. Now I feel like we can travel a little more...and actually have it feel like a vacation :) Hopefully it wasn't just a fluke. She's too cute to hold anything against her though, don't you think?

Here are a few pictures to recap the weekend.

She loved running around the temple grounds. I'm not sure where she gets all of her energy. During most of the reception she ran up and down an inclined hallway. By the end of the night she was walking real slow and dragging her feet up and down the hallway, but she didn't want to be held...she had to keep going. She wore herself flat out! Maybe she should have been the Energizer Bunny for Halloween. I'll keep that in mind for next year.

Jonathan hates being in pictures, so I have to get any candid ones I can. He said I'm his personal paparazzi. I love the father-daughter shots I get though, so I guess I can handle being called the paparazzi.

Such a beautiful and historic building.

The cake.

I made 165 cupcakes. It took about 115 to fill in the stand and they didn't start serving them until a little after the last half of the reception. We ended up with quite a bit left over. I guess we should have started serving them earlier. Oh well.

The end.

Monkey Business and Halloween Weekend

Look at this little trouble maker (or watch her if you prefer). She learns new things every day. She recently figured out how to climb up the kitchen drawers. I'm afraid our little dare-devil is going to hurt herself, but I suppose it's all part of the learning process. This blog is probably making you think that I don't watch our child. I promise I do, she's just always going, going, going and I can't always keep up!

She has also recently figured out how to throw a minor tantrum (sigh). If we don't give her something she wants, she bends over and buries her face in the carpet and starts to cry. It was cute the first time, but I have to admit it's getting old fast. Especially after she did it three times at the library yesterday. If she's starting tantrums this early, what are the terrible twos going to be like? Heaven help me.

But, doesn't she make the cutest little leopard? She was supposed to be a dalmation for Halloween, but she did NOT like wearing the costume, so at the last minute we dressed her up as a leopard. (Sorry Lori to make you go through all the trouble of sending us the dalmation costume to not even use it...and thank you for also sending the leopard outfit!)

We spent Halloween weekend in Utah so we could go to little Preston's baby blessing. It was a special day. We also got to catch up with Jonathan's brother Curtis and his family. His wife Jenny had a BUNCH of hand-me-down clothes for Maggie. (Thank you so much...they're all so cute). It was nice to see family, but we were ready to get home, mostly so Maggie could sleep in her own crib. Have I ever mentioned I hate driving through Salt Lake. It nearly gives me a panick attack every time. We passed this accident on the way home. I have never seen so many flashing lights on the freeway (not to mention two life-flight helicopters. One already landed and one hovering right above us waiting to land.)

Southbound was closed and northbound was reduced to two lanes. Southbound was backed up for three miles. My heart goes out to the families when we pass accidents like this. None of the paramedics seemed to be in a huge rush. I don't even want to think about what that probably meant.

On a happier note, I'm making the wedding cake for this weekend and I am so excited to go to the Logan temple. I'm also busy experimenting with all sorts of new recipes so I can be a good hostess for Thanksgiving. I'll keep you posted if any turn out to be especially good. I hope you all had a happy and safe Halloween.

A Picture Update

Today while I was getting ready, Maggie snuck away from me and made her way to the kitchen. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal because the kitchen is child proofed. But our little smarty-pants figured out how to un-do the childproofing on the turning cupboard. This is what I found:She was reaching her hand in the powdered sugar bag and then licking all of her fingers. Apparently she has a sweet tooth. And apparently we need a new way to lock the cupboard. :) I'm not sure there's ever a dull day in our house with her. This was on our way to Dillon. I forgot to include it with the last post, but I think it's pretty so I still wanted to post it.

A few weeks ago I helped with a cupcake class for our Relief Society's super saturday. I thought our Halloween cupcakes turned out pretty cute.

The clouds yesterday looked surreal. This picture doesn't do them justice. They looked all swirly like Van Gogh's sky in Starry Night.

I scored another bargain bag of ribbon. This whole pile of ribbons only cost me $1! I love bargains. I love ribbons. It made for a good combo.
Sorry, but it's just a girl thing. I can just picture the few male readers of this blog shaking their heads and rolling their eyes in disgust.

Happy Birthday and More

I'm too lazy to write details, so you can use your imagination to fill the gaps:

• Today is Jonathan's birthday. I might be the cruelest wife ever. I gave him a new toilet seat as a gift. But only because he always says he doesn't want anything for his birthday, especially nothing expensive or extravagant. Plus we both hate the toilet seat that came with the house, so I figured it was practical...in a weird sort of way.
• We drove to Dillon, Montana on Wednesday to pick up a piece of equipment from the New Holland dealership up there. It was nice to get out of the house and see some new scenery.
• We spent Saturday in Preston because Jonathan needed to pick up a tractor down there. It was good to see family, but not good to have Maggie forget how to sleep (as usual).
• We finally preg checked my mare and she never caught. I'm a little disappointed, but we'll just have her bred again in the spring and hope everything works out.
• I think Maggie is getting more teeth. And I wonder if she might be lactose intolerant. I really hope not because she loves her milk. But she's had a rash and been pretty congested ever since I introduced milk 3 weeks ago. Maybe it's just coincidence, but prior to this she had never had a bad diaper rash.
• We spoke in church today. I am glad that's over with. Speaking in church terrifies me!
• I am really excited for the upcoming wedding in the family. Partly because I have never been to the Logan temple, but mostly because I am so so happy for Randy and Jenny. (And partly also because I'm sappy and love weddings in general).
• Primary is going well. I'm still getting used to the kids' personalities so I can tailor the lessons to them.
• I feel like Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year. I'm excited, but I'm trying to figure out how to seat everyone. Our table only seats four. Maybe we'll have a B.Y.O.C. (bring your own chair) Thanksgiving. Or I guess we could get real festive and sit Indian style :) I looked into scheduling the church, but it is already scheduled by two different families. Any ideas?

A First...and Definately Not the Last

Maggie took her first official pony ride recently. I'm a little embarassed to say that it took us going to a petting farm for it to happen. But my mare isn't exactly broke to ride and Jonathan's gelding can be a little high strung. Needless to say we've never put her on either of them.

Maggie absolutely loved the pony ride from the second she got on! Love might even be an understatement. She was grinning from ear to ear and giggling the whole time. We'll have to work on her form a little...the way she's holding onto the horn probably makes her dad worry that she's going to be a barrel racer. Not that barrel racing is a bad thing...there are just plenty of other disciplines he'd rather have Maggie (and her horse) excell in.

We'll just keep telling him she's going to excell in cutting. Yeah, that's why she's holding onto the horn that way. Daddy would rather have a good cow horse around than a horse that only knows how to run in a clover leaf pattern :)

Animal Lover

Maggie absolutely loves animals. So we took her to a petting farm while we were in Utah visiting family for my nephew's baby blessing. She enjoyed making friends with all the farm animals. Especially the foals, this chicken, and this heifer calf...and the pony she rode.