Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, my mom and dad do a big Christmas dinner. It's like Thanksgiving all over again, but better! We ate prime rib, potatoes, rolls, salads and drank Wassail-my favorite! :)

After dinner, my dad read a few scriptures that Alex had emailed us about the Savior's birth.

We draw names every year so after the story was read, we opened each others' gifts!

My parents got each grandchild a church book! Very much needed to keep them quiet and entertained during sacrament-mine especially!

Thanks Granny and Grandpa!



We got my mom some stuff to make her eyelashes long and lucious! :)


And we got my dad Pres. Monson's "To the Rescue" Book on CD.


Robert got me this awesome cupcake book-which I'm very excited to use!


John got Ashley 3 necklaces!


I got Nick a cover for his I-phone


Nick got Robert a game

And Ashley got John a Wolf target for practice, a Chia pet-which will now roam to someone's house every year, and clay pigeons.

The story behind the wolf target: John is seriously hell-bent on shooting a wolf this year! I told Ashley a tall-tale that John told me on his way back from hunting one day: "Taun! You'll never guess what happened! Rich and I were out in the fields searching for a wolf and then Rich makes a howling sound and guess what? Not 2 seconds later, we hear a call back from a wolf!!!! Isn't that awesome?! I swear if that wolf was in shooting range...POW!! He would have ate metal!" Can you just imagine the excitement in his voice relaying this message to me?
Me and Ash got a huge laugh over it! Personally, I think the howling back was another hunter-but why destroy the ego?? Just...let it be....it is what it is....right? :)

Later, we headed back to Rigby to John's parents house for the night.







I hope Garrett is just as excited as we are about this tractor!


I LOVE to play Santa! ;)

Check out the Christmas Day post below! We had a ball! :)

Simply Had A Wonderful Chirstmas Time!!

We had a great Christmas! We spent it with both sides of the family this year, but opened presents at John's parents house. We all got a lot of good stuff!

It was inevitable that Garrett would get some sort of a tractor this year! A riding one?! Even better!

LOVES IT!!! I really think the riding tractor would have sufficed! It's the only thing he plays with!

Oh ya! Checkin' out the loot from Santa!


Look at this way cute puzzle John and I found for Garrett!






Santa brought him Lincoln Logs! Fun!




Garrett got a musical tool bench along with a musical tool belt!




Garrett and Brylie on Brylie's John Deere Gator


Garrett playing with his farm set he got from Santa


John got reloading stuff this year! Bullets and powder


Oh ya, and a rifle!




And all 3 of them got reloading chairs

Now, I hope I'm getting this story correct, John's gun carrier-gun holster??-(obviously, I'm not into hunting and guns) was his grandpa's that was passed down to John's dad and someday it will be passed down to Garrett....Neat!

My new, cute coat that I love! Oh ya! And my absolute favorite gift given this year was a Nikon camera! SO EXCITED!!! I'm taking it with me everywhere! :)

Then, we went over to my parents house and skyped with Alex! He is doing great and will be home in 8 months! Wahoo!

Merry Christmas!

If You're Not Makin' A Mess, You're Not Really Bakin'!

I was in the kitchen all morning baking up some dang good neighbor treats! I'm really proud of myself as this is the first year I will be going door to door in our neighborhood and passing along the goodness that came from my kitchen! And, yes! My kitchen was in a mess! :)

*Poppy Seed Bread with Orange Glaze*
3 c. Flour
1 1/2 c. milk
2 1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbls. poppy seeds
3 eggs (beaten)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/8 c. oil
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. butter flavoring
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Grease and flour loaf pans. Mix ingredients well and pour into 2 pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
* Glaze*
1/4 c. frozen orange juice concentrate
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. butter flavoring
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Stir; bring to boil with lid on. Take off lid and cook for 2 min. While hot, poke holes in bread with meat fork and pour glaze over.

*Peppermint Cookies*
2/3 c. butter flavor shortening
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. crushed peppermint candies
Cream shortening and sugar til light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into mixture. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min or until edges of cookies are brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes 3 1/2 dozen

*Popcorn*
Mix in LARGE bowl!
2 bags butter popcorn
small box Chex cereal
1 c. orange flavored craisins
1 c. white chocolate chips
In Saucepan:
1 1/2 c. Karo Syrup
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 c. butter
Cook Karo syrup, sugar, and butter on medium heat. Boil 2 min. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla. Pour over popcorn mixture and stir together until mix is coated and chocolate melted. Spread on wax paper to cool. Tip: Dump hot popcorn on chocolate to help melt!

Merry Christmas and Happy Baking!

Garrett At 21 Months

Another month, more stats! Here they are at 21 months:

• Weighs roughly 24lbs.
• Has 14 teeth
• He likes to play with my eyelash curler or any make up brush
• Reminds me everyday that the Christmas tree lights need to be on! Even if it's 10 am!
• He loves to climb on everything!
  
• A few more words have appeared in his vocabulary-"lemonade", "bubbles", "snow", and "Santa"
  
• Absolutely hates to brush his teeth!!
  
• He has become quite independent on feeding himself
• Does the actions to "Once There Was A Snowman", "Patty-Cake", "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam", and "Popcorn Popping"
• His favorite food is Ramen Noodles. He has them everyday for lunch!
• Come the New Year, he will be in for a rude awakening-he will be going from his crib to a big boy bed and totally and completely off his bottle and binky! Wish us luck! Any suggestions would be great on making those transitions easier! :)
  

I can't believe that in 3 more months he will be 2!

All Aboard The North Pole Express! Part 1

The Utah weekend begins!

Starting with breakfast-Excited already?



Nothin' like a bowl of Cheerios to start the morning off!

Before arriving at Heber for the train ride, we stopped at Smith and Edward's. That store is awesome! Then, we made a quick trip into Taipan....actually I shouldn't say quick, we spent about 2 hours in there!

Let's get to the train ride!!

The Engineer


Santa's elves passed out cookies....obviously they were good enough to scarf down 2 at a time!


...and hot chocolate!


And Santa came!!!!


Garrett wasn't too sure what to think of this man with a long, white beard dressed in red!

But, he sure liked the bell Santa gave him!

At one point, he tried eating it

By the end of the 90 min train ride, Garrett was done! :)
My favorite part was when Santa first stepped on board-the magic and surprise in Garrett's eyes was well worth the trip!

All Aboard The North Pole Express! Part 2

NORTH POLE EXPRESS!!!






All Aboard!!