Games I Enjoy

I love to play games. We didn't play many boardgames growing up so I'm making up for it now, just look at our game closet! Sorry Bruce, it's taking up his closet space! Good thing I'm blogging about this, I almost forgot our tradition of adding to it each Christmas. Hmm, what game to get? Anyone have any suggestions?

Computer games take up the majority of my game playing. For as long as Kirk and I have been married we have been video gaming together. I love that we have found something that we both enjoy and can do together. We mostly play Guild Wars (though I have played a wide array of games including Diablo, Sims, World of Warcraft, Warcraft, Emperor, Evil Genius, Half Life mods, Starcraft, Caesar) and are in a guild with primarily Latter-day Saints (though all who are looking for a positive gaming atmosphere are welcome). It's called Mormon Battalion and these guys/gals are who we got together with at the YMCA of the Rockies for our vacation this summer. We've been interacting and chatting daily with some of these folks for almost two years. Who knew there was a geek behind all this coolness!

Scrabble, but I haven't played it in years. Not necessarily a party game so I have few opportunities to play.

Munchkin is another game we were introduced to by our guild friends. Their website describes it as a card game that captures the essence of the dungeon experience...with none of that stupid roleplaying stuff. It's too funny!

Carcassonne is a great two-player game that I love to play. Unfortunately Kirk isn't as big of a fan of it as I am. It's a tile laying game where you create cities, roads, farms, and monasteries in order to score points.

Acquire, entails buying and selling of stock. I'm mentioning this one as an ode to Kirk. We played it this summer with our gaming friends and he can't stop talking about it. Unfortunately it is out of print and runs about $100 on ebay, ouch! Maybe we'll just wait for that one to come back.

What A Game!

The biggest game of the season, Tigers vs Jayhawks. Fair weather fans that we are...we were excited to catch the game and were joined by Kevin who was in town for Thanksgiving. The boys enjoyed some time hanging out.

Oh man, they stomped them! The first half was just a brutal stomping and the final score was 36-28. We treated ourselves to some yummy treats like pizza rolls, egg rolls, 7 layer dip, a veggie tray, artichoke dip, chicken tenders, and the jello recipe below. We sure know how to party!

A Happy Thanksgiving

What a couple of days! We were on the road for at least a few hours on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I say that and it sounds like we had a terrible few days, but we actually had a great time. The stops on our tour included Warrenton, Jerseyville, and Columbia. Bruce traveled really well and was sure to impress wherever we went. He actually started sleeping 6 hours during the night while we were gone and it seems to have continued, woot!

I'm sharing two recipes from dishes I tried while visiting with friends. They are both fabulous, in fact I've already made both of them at home!

Cheesy Ham and Mushroom Quiche Bites

6-7 Eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup biscuit baking mix
8 ounces cheddar cheese
1/2 cup - 1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 cup finely diced ham
1/4 cup finely diced onion

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together egg and milk. Stir in biscuit mix and cheese, followed by mushrooms, ham, and onion. Spoon batter into 24 muffin cups that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Turn out of pans promptly. Serve warm.


Raspberry Cranberry Jello Salad

1 (3 oz) raspberry jello
3/4 cup boiling water
10 oz frozen raspberries
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 pt sour cream
1 (3 oz) cherry jello
1/2 cup boiling water
8 1/2 oz can crushed pineapple
8 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce

Dissolve raspberry jello in 3/4 cup boiling water. Add frozen raspberries and lemon juice. Stir and pour into serving bowl. Put into refrigerator to set overnight (I just let it set for about 3 hours and it was too liquidy so I'd recommend overnight).

The next day, dissolve cherry jello in 1/2 cup boiling water. Add undrained pineapple and cranberry sauce. Mix, it will be chunky. Put into refrigerator to chill.

Spread sour cream layer on raspberry mixture. Pour the cranberry mixture on top. Put back into refrigerator until ready to serve.

Girl's Night Out

Oh man, what a great weekly event! I really enjoyed being able to go do some clothes shopping all by myself! Kirk is so good to let me have a night that he takes care of Master Bruce and I can do whatever. I came home feeling refreshed and ready to tackle whatever challenges lay ahead. I'm glad I didn't wait to do this. Thanks Kirk!

Bold and Risky

I just went for my final c-section check up and have been given the green light for all my normal activities. I have been waiting for this as I am feeling motivated and enthusiastic about exercising. I know, I know...what will make this different from any other time I've felt "motivated and enthusiastic about exercising." Hahaha, well I guess Bruce is a new factor as I want to be fit and healthy so I'm able to keep up with him and the obvious, I want to loose some baby (+ pre-baby) weight. I feel posting my intentions is both bold and risky (now everyone will know!), but with it brings some accountability and anything that helps me keep at this I'll do! Oh yeah, thanks FitTV! I can have some variety in workout routines and stay home!

A New Title

I'm becoming more convinced that this should be titled Bruce's Blog because mostly anything of interest that happens around here is about him! Even now...I can think of several very exciting posts to create that are related to Bruce. Disclaimer: The term exciting has taken on a whole new meaning since having a baby!

My Friend Mylicon
Carry Me in This (we just purchased a baby carrier)
Signed Up and No One to Visit (I enrolled with our local Parents As Teachers, there is a four month waiting list for a home visit!!)
Reasons I Know I'm Cute (I should start adding an extra 15 minutes to my expected time on running errands...people can't help but stop and oogle over Bruce)
Spoiled and Loving It (the grandparents visits have assured this!)

The truth of the matter is that Bruce just happens to be the big news in this phase of our life. I'm okay with that!

A Name and a Blessing

This past Sunday was a special day for us! Our precious boy, Bruce David, was given a name and a blessing at church (find out a bit more about this ordinance here). Each new experience and moment with him makes us so grateful that he has joined our family.

Picturetastic!

The talented Meredith Rowley (happens to be a friend of ours from Columbia that now lives only 30 minutes away in Lee's Summit) took several shots of our little guy. He's already a month old, the time has gone quickly. Great photographer and great subject! Check out her photography site at http://www.meredithrowleyphotography.blogspot.com/

Halloween 2007

Both my boys were pretty impressive in their Halloween Costumes!

There were a few activities that we were planning on attending so we decided that Bruce needed a costume. Kirk insisted that he be an inanimate object, mostly because he was a baby and doesn't move a whole lot and in the following years he'll be characters and such. So banana it was! Thanks to a good design it wasn't too difficult to make.



As for Kirk...his work had their annual costume contest. He went to work without a costume, but decided to participate so he came home for a quick wardrobe change and actually won first place! Way to go!