Oh Christmas Tree

Here is our tree all lit up. Last night after we got home, we decorated it. There are 700 lights in total on this little thing. My mom has made a tradition of giving us an ornament (or 2 or 3) every year to put on our tree. In the 11 years we have been married, we have quite the collection. I love Christmas!

Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree

Christmastime is all about traditions. So this year, Jeff and I wanted to start the tradition of going out and cutting down our own Christmas tree. We had to go all the way to Price because Utah County was all sold out of permits. We told the girls what fun we had planned and Abbi said, "That doesn't sound like very much fun!" It was pretty funny.

This was the best picture we could take of us in front of the tree we found. When we saw it, it was like one of those ahhhhhhhhhh moments. We knew it was the one! Hallie is crying because she really just wanted to get down and play.
Jeff told me to remind him to remember the saw so we wouldn't have to pull it out of the ground like they did in Christmas Vacation. As you can see, I did my part.

Even our dog, Sadie, took the trip with us.

Now Christmas can begin!

Christmas Fun is Already Starting

Most of you who visit my blog already know this, but for those who don't, my girls are adopted. Abbi's birth-mom and dad were in town for Thanksgiving, so her Grandma Jenny (her birth-mom's mom) who lives here in Utah, had us over for a pizza party. It was sooooo much fun! Abbi had fun visiting with them and we all had fun just hanging out.

This picture is of Teressa (Abbi's birth-mom), Jenny and of course, cute little Abbi.

Here is Abbi with Teressa and Asthon, her birth-dad.

We are so lucky that both of our girls birth-mom's/dad's/families have wanted to keep in touch with us and are okay to see them. It has been so great for Abbi and Hallie. Teressa is actually expecting a baby in a few months. Abbi thinks it's a boy! We'll find out on December 4th!

Blog Worthy

The other night at stamp club, we made the cutest ornaments. They took FOREVER, so that's why I'm calling this entry "Blog Worthy." My friend, Chelsey, and I arrived at a little after 7:00 and we didn't get home until after 11:00. That's right I said 11, and we were the first ones to leave! But they were totally worth it. My other friend, Tiffany, who is Chelsey's sister, is the Stampin' Up Demo "Diva" that came up with all the examples. She is so creative! We made 17 ornaments each. This one is my favorite out of all of them!

Here is all of them piled up together!

It's Nummy Mommy!!!

Our poor little Hallie bug was so sick today. She was throwing up and running a fever. So when she finally asked for food I was willing to give her just about anything she asked for. First she wanted soup with some crackers. Then she asked for a "Nanna". I was fixing dinner for the rest of us and looked over and she had created her own recipe.

We're calling it Chicken soup ala Nanna.
I know you'll all be asking, so here is the recipe

Chicken Soup Ala Nanna

1 Can Cambell's Chicken Noodle Soup (prepared)
5 Saltine Crackers
1/2 Nanna

Put chicken noodle soup in a bowl (princess bowls make things taste better aparently, so it helps if you have one.) Mush 3 crackers in your hands leaving some whole for texture. Let sit for about 5 minutes while you dip the other 2 crackers in your drink (any drink will do, tonight it was Fresca!) Add 1/2 Nanna, whole. Dig in!!!

Happy Fall!

Making Caramel Apples

Jeff had this brilliant idea that he thought it would be fun to make caramel apples for our friends and family. So Abbi and I made a list of all the stuff we thought would be yummy on them and we headed to the store. About $40 later we were on our way! So I got home and started peeling and peeling and peeling caramels. 2 hours later, I wasn't even half way through the never ending mound. So Jeff took over the next day peeling and peeling and peeling. About 3 hours later, he was done. Then came the task of pounding the skewers into the apples. Then chopping the candy and nuts to decorate the apples with. Then finally the melting of the caramel and the dipping of the apples. It was a very long task, but so much fun (okay, Jeff and I really could have done without the peeling caramels part!) And look how yummy they turned out! We have had lots of people tell us how much they enjoyed them. We made 70 apples in all!!!

Ghosts and Goblins...

And Jaguars and Bumblebees!

This year Abbi was a Jaguar and Hallie was a Bumblebee. They were both so cute wearing costumes that I made for them. It was a big (long) day for everyone. But we all had lots of fun.

Birthday's are Fun When Your 4...

And almost as fun as when you are 30. Yes it's true, I turned the dreaded 30 this year. It was actually a great birthday. I have lots of friends and family that made it a great day for me. I started off the day with lots of phone calls wishing me a happy birthday, and then my mom and my little sister, Kristen, took me to lunch. And then we had a party that night. But that's not all, the next day my friends had lunch for me and my friend Kellye who also celebrated her 30th birthday a few days earlier. And then my husband took me out to lunch the following day. It was more like a birth week!