Marielle in Bethlehem

Last weekend was our ward temple night so I asked my friend Tricia from Storytime to watch Marielle. Her little boy, Brayden, is just one month older than Marielle, so babysitting trades are great since the babies play so well together and are in the same stages. Out of the kindness of her heart she accepted even though it was their Ward Christmas Party! There ward did "A Night in Bethlehem" and they even managed a costume for her. I think she looks like a nun! We never got to see our little Jewish baby in action because by the time we picked her up the costume had long since been ditched. But it makes a great picture right?

Serious little baby!

Marielle's adopted family for the night.

Here's is little Marielle with Brayden a couple months back on another "date."

My favorite part is watching these two toddler after each other. Never a dull moment. :)

Here's a picture from this morning. Notice the girly jeans and shoes....sorry Brayden, but it was cold outside!

The Christmas Pictures

Here's our attempt at a nice family Christmas picture. They didn't turn out that great but they'll do. Here's a few behind the scenes "fun facts":

• We took this picture in a apartment complex lobby. We know no one who lives there, but we've noted that generally those lobbies are decorated nicely in an effort to attract customers. We guessed they'd have a good tree, and they did!
  
• Ryan's shirt was as close to a Christmas color as we could find in his closet.
• I made a bow for Marielle's hair that morning to match her outfit. You can't see the bow in tree pictures because it looks like one of the tree decorations.
• Last of all, what we'll do different next time-- Get someone who knows us to take the picture. Perfect strangers don't do well with "take another one. Was she smiling? How about one more? Let's see if we can make her laugh. Now! Oh, we missed it. Here let's try again..."

So, Are YOU a Molly Mormon???

We saw this on Wikipedia and thought it was pretty funny. What do you think? Do you fit the mold? :)

Molly Mormon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Molly Mormon is a term for the popular stereotype of a female member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A Molly Mormon is thought to be the "perfect Mormon woman" - an attractive and pure woman whose life revolves around the family and marriage and the social demands of Mormonism, and who embodies the cheery, chipper and domesticated female in Latter-day Saint culture. Peter Priesthood is the male version of the same term, though used somewhat less frequently. Many "Molly Mormons" are stereotyped as being consumed by their life within the church, and as gullible and out-of-touch with the reality outside it. These terms are occasionally used in a disparaging way by members of the Mormon church to refer to other Mormons who display or promote an ultra-conservative interpretation of their understanding of the church's teachings. An example of a person that may be labeled this way is one who abstains from drinking caffeinated cola drinks (based on an interpretation of an ambiguity in the Word of Wisdom), won't watch television on Sunday, and tells on her 15-year-old friend for dating before age 16, and who insists that others do so as well, perhaps claiming to be "setting an example". Abstinence from these behaviors is not required by the church to remain as a member in good standing, but is often preached unofficially as interpretations of church teachings in lessons taught by members of the church's lay clergy.

Usage in LDS culture The term Molly Mormon can take on both positive and negative connotations, depending on who is using it, and toward whom. When used by or toward teens, it can refer to prudish behavior. When it refers to an adult LDS woman, it often refers to a stereotype which may or may not be welcome. The term is used openly in LDS churches, and has even appeared in magazines published by the LDS church for more than 20 years, as in the phrase "they had taunted her and called her a 'Molly Mormon' because she would not participate in their questionable activities" appearing in a 1989 edition of Ensign. The term is often simply abbreviated to "Molly" (or sometimes to "Momo") or used as an adjective: "She's gotten so molly lately - all she could say about these new shorts is that they were too short."

Thanksgiving in El Paso

We had such a fun Thanksgiving weekend in El Paso. It was much colder than we expected. And much snowier. Like five inches snowier. The snow made it feel really holidayish (if that makes sense) and encouraged us to bum around the house for even longer than we usually would. We ate a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner, watched the Mullen Family favorite Elf, hit up the zoo and Chuck-E-Cheese, and visited with Granny. We also got hooked on Guitar Hero and are looking for Houstonites who want to rock out with us (preferably those who already own the game).

(Click on the picture to go to the slideshow)

Thanksgiving 2007

Houston Zoo

Marielle and I took a trip with our friends to the zoo while Ryan slaved the day away in the office. This is one of the major perks of being a stay-at-home mom, I can go to the zoo and I'm still doing my job. We went with Marielle's friends Reed and Lucy. Reed is three and was our party's most excited participant. Marielle and Lucy mainly just liked being out and about. We had perfect weather (yes, Houston can have pleasant weather!) and spent most of the day there. Here are some pictures of our fun outing.

Reed outside the reptile house looking scary!

Who knew babies could crawl right through fish tanks??

I think she liked her undersea adventure!

Marielle would only pet the goat with a brush in hand.

Bored already??



















Rocking out on the drum



















Here's Marielle leaving with her "other" family....

Llamas from Peru

My mom, dad and brother just went on a trip to Peru. As you might expect, they saw a lot of llamas. One picture turned out so great it honestly looks like something you would see in a email/spam/mass forward of cutesy animal pictures. So I thought I'd share the llama fun since not all of us get to go to Peru. :)

Sometimes even annoying habits can become endearing

When I was a kid I liked to carve hearts into the tops of freshly opened peanut butter jars. I got this great idea from a TV commercial where a kind and loving mother makes a heart in the peanut butter to show her children that even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich can say "I love you!" Perhaps some of you out there in blog-world remember the commercials too. Now, since my mom only bought the extra-extra-jumbo peanut butter canister at Costco (to be exact it would have been Price Club back then), this occasion did not happen often. My brothers thought my "quirk" was ridiculous would slash through my little heart with a butter knife upon discovery. But they could not discourage me. I started carving hearts into margarine tubs too, which by the way happened a lot more frequently since we went through butter a lot faster than peanut butter. I think I kept up my heart carving all the way through high school. I don't even really remember when I stopped. Now why I am telling this story? Because the funniest thing happened a week or so ago. I got a call from one of my brothers saying he just carved a heart into his peanut butter jar in my honor. I got a good laugh out of it and then that same afternoon I checked my email and found this picture:

It was from another brother and had the title, "GOOD MEMORIES." I thought it was kinda of amazing to have two brothers remember my funny little habit on the same day. So just as I titled this post I would like to say here's proof that sometimes even annoying habits can become endearing!

Happy Halloween from the cutest little butterfly you ever did see!

We had a great Halloween this year. Dressing up Marielle was the highlight for mom, and I think dad liked it too. We toyed with the idea of dressing in khakis and sporting butterfly nets to be butterfly catchers, but alas we couldn't find a butterfly net and gave up. Halloween is for the kids anyway right? Maybe next year we'll pull off the family theme costume.

We had four occasions to dress Marielle up: our neighborhood carnival, a ward trick-or-trunk, story time and Halloween night to say hello to our neighbors. She looked adorable in her little costume and we got a kick out of watching her walk around in her costume. By some streak of fate I had bought sandals at a garage sale over a year ago that matched her costume exactly. What luck! The other Halloween Miracle happened when the costume I sold on Craig's List finally arrived at it's destination across town six weeks after I shipped it. (Beware of US Mail I think they've got a few real life Newman's working for them!) Enjoy the pictures!

Can we go trick-or-treating yet??
At the Halloween Carnival with twin butterfly Annalee

At the trunk-or-treat

Happy Halloween!

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch!

We went with some friends to the pumpkin patch. Boy, have pumkin patches evolved since I was kid. They had hayrides, trainrides (same thing as the hayride, but with a train facade at the front), a craft fair, jolly jump slides, a full barbeque lunch menu, tons of photo backdrops, and duck races. All of these activities were of course for a cost. But I am sure there is no need to tell all of you this since I'm pretty sure this is a national pumpkin patch phenomen. Anyway, we went, we saw, we paid the bucks, and now you can see how cute Marielle is amidst pumpkins.

Birthday Celebration

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Marielle turned one on Tuesday and we had such a fun day.  The celebration started around 6:30 when Marielle woke up.  Normally she eats and then goes back to bed for a few more hours, but today her parents were too excited for that.  We opened her presents from Grandma and took a few pictures. Later that morning we went to playgroup at McDonalds.  Marielle loved the kiddie slide and trying to climb up in the jungle gym. She is not afraid of heights that's for sure!  We had friends over later that night to sing Happy Birthday and eat some cake.  Marielle  liked her cake, but ate it like a little lady.  No frosting in the hair for her. :)  I smeared some on her nose in the end just for fun. We wish all of you could have been there to celebrate with us, but we hope the video will do. 

The Great and Dreadful Day Has Come ---Marielle is WALKING!

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We knew it was coming, we saw all the signs.  But we were still unprepared how cute it actually was to see our little Marielle walking!!  We are late on posting this marvelous accomplishment because our computer was down all last week, but we are up and running now and as you can see Marielle is too! 

Dinner Time is Fun Time

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Marielle is usually a very good eater and waits with a wide open mouth for MORE FOOD. But this particular night she was distracted so I tried the old flying airplane trick -- it worked. And worked so well we ran for the camera... here's the show!

Cheesy Slideshow!

I saw a slide show from this website on someone else's blog and thought I'd try it out. Since I didn't have any new pictures I pulled from the archives. So just in case you missed our wedding reception, now you too can watch Ryan and I grow up together.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

One Great Recipe and a Call for More!

Today I am trying to get my grocery list together and had a great idea. Instead of searching online like I usually do, I thought I'd try the blogging world since I'd rather have your recommendations than on-line mystery cooks. :) So my great idea is that I post a great recipe and then you post one for me in the comment section. The sharing of good dinners will abound without anyone having to print a RS cookbook. If this works I post more recipes periodically. And please comment if you try our recipe and like it, feedback is fun!

Our latest family favorite is Apple Quesadillas. They are super easy, the recipe makes a lot, and delicious. Ryan loves them and requests them all the time.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium tart apples, sliced
• 1 cup diced, cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 cup shredded fat free Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 (8 inch) (8 inch) flour tortillas
• 3/4 cup shredded lettuce
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 6 tablespoons fat free sour cream

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Place about 3/4 cup on half of each tortilla. Fold tortilla in half over filling and secure with toothpicks. Place on a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. ( I cook mine on an electric skillet, works pretty well for me)
   
2. Carefully turn quesadillas over; bake 5-8 minutes longer or until golden. Discard toothpicks. Cut each quesadilla into three wedges; serve with lettuce, salsa and sour cream.

Hope you like them! And PLEASE post your rave review recipe!

Day THREE

I love this picture of Marielle not only because she has a way cute smile, but because it reminds me of a story my mom and dad used to tell about me. Apparently when I was a little girl I loved to dance, but I had to be holding the couch arm rest covers. I'd whip those covers off and swirl them around as I danced around the house. Mom and Dad love to tell me how stubborn I was : no covers, no dancing.

So you'll notice in these pictures Marielle has two dish towels and it made me think my couch covers. She was waving them up and down and having quite a good time (who knew dish towels could be entertaining!)

She's a Climber!

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Day TWO -- We Miss You DAD!

Five thirty was a sad time for me since Ryan didn't get to come home and liven up the house. Marielle took a late nap around 6 and although I should have wakened her so she would go to bed on time, I just needed the break! We had a fun day though, here are some pictures from our time at the mall.

Ryan's Business Trip -- DAY ONE

Ryan left this morning for a business trip out to Wyoming to do oil well stuff. I am never sure exactly what he does when he goes on his trips (he does try to explain) but I know this time he will be wearing coveralls the entire time. The coveralls are great, he'll look just like a mechanic -- they even have an embroidered patch with "Ryan" on the front. To ease his homesickness I promised I would post pictures and even a video or two on the blog for him to look at each night in the hotel data center. So watch for daily posts until Thurs when he returns!

One phone is just not enough!

Love the smile!

She's actually smiling because she sees the camera and wants to play with it...

Close UP!

For the untrained eye, she is stuffing an outlet protector into her mouth. Baby-proofing your house doesn't work when your baby can remove the safety mechanisms and put them in her mouth.