A little Holiday Cheer

I have much to blog about this Holiday Season starting with our trip to Oregon down to this festive yet chaotic and exciting Christmas morn. However, no time now so I'll just put a little taster out there for ya. No doubt that yummy holiday good eats are one of my most favorite parts of the Holidays so I summoned Darren and Cord away from their trucks and trains to help me indulge in the art of baking.

So here are just a few of the yummy treats we have been busy with. I hope you all have splurged a little and enjoyed a few goodies yourself.

"The bomb" (Thank you Rich Krikava for this recipe)

Where is Lance?

Fulfilling his dreams on the sidelines, of course!

clue: He is not wearing a helmet.

He knows if you've been bad or good....

Darren: When does Santa forgive you?

Me: (not quite understanding) What?

Darren: When does Santa forgive you? Is it before Christmas or after Christmas?

(I think someone is getting worried)

me too

Jumping on the bandwagon and going private also. I want to limit the people who can look at my son's bare bum. Shoot me your email if you want to follow us.

Sometimes you just want to play with your 18 gallon storage bin....naked.

Boo or Boo hoo?

Again, this post is a little out dated but I just wanted to share our Halloween merriment with everyone. This halloween was pretty uneventful compared to other years. Just your standard costume wearing, trick-or-treating, candy gorging fun. There are a few highlights though.

Darren: Jet fighter pilot

Cordon: Kung Fu Panda (or stoned Panda in the pic above)

Cameron: Train Engineer

Cord skipped dinner if you can't tell

Trick or Treat. Cam got left behind quite a bit but he was content with his two pieces of candy which he had a death grip on the whole night.

The Dragon Warrior running from a pirate

The funniest part of the whole night was watching Darren pass out candy to the Trick or Treaters. Lance had bought Darren a coffee mug earlier that day with all the logos of the Mountain west conference teams on it. Darren loves it. And he wanted every one else to love it too. That is why before any trick or treater was allotted their piece of candy they had to look at Darrens mug. In fact one time there was a group of about 8 trick or treaters at our door and I heard Darren say "ok everyone, stand back." I peeked around the corner just as Darren pulled out his mug and held it up for them to see and proudly said "This is my mug." All of them just stared blankly at him. And then I heard one kid ask "Uh...Trick or treat?"

Katie and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night.

I am not a good sleeper. It takes me a long time to fall asleep and then once I am asleep I wake up often (I think three young children have something to do with it). Anyway, the other night was no exception but seemed a little worse than normal.

I woke up about 1 am to a dark shadowy head about 1 in. from my face. I gasped even though this happens frequently. Not wanting to waken further by taking him back to his bed I just moved over and let the 3 year old in. While I was moving over I realized that I had been sleeping on my back with my hands above my head. Both arms are asleep. Not just tingly asleep, It was like whose-arms-are-attached-to-my-body asleep. Just as he gets situated his little voice says, "I'm hungry." I just ignore him. Wimper wimper "i'm hungry." Ugh. I'm sandwiched between husband and son and have no use of my arms so I just shush him. So he starts crying. I hiss at him to be quiet as I wriggle over him like a beached whale while I was trying to get out of bed. By now my arms are getting painfully tingly as the feeling is coming back. I get to the kitchen and throw my arm at the wall in a painful attempt to turn on the light. Screw it, I don't need light. I go for the pantry for the only sure thing that I know he will eat: a spoonful of peanut butter. I don't know how long it really took but it seemed like I was unscrewing the lid with spaghetti fingers for at least ten minutes. Finally, with peanut butter in one hand and a glass of water in the other I walk back to my room where he has taken my place in bed. He is asleep, zonked even. I start to gently shake him. Nothing. I rub the PB on his lips. He's out. My effort is in vain. I'm too lazy to move him. I head to the dark bathroom to go pee. In the dark I feel the cardboard of the empty TP roll. Seriously. I hobble to the closet with pajama pants around my ankles to get a new roll. By the time I blindly found the new TP roll I'm sure I didn't even need it any more. So then I go to the linen closet to grab a blanket so I can sleep on the couch. Argh. All our extra blankets are at the house in Pleasant View. The only thing left is a flannel fitted sheet. I head to the couch and cocoon myself into the sheet only to realize that now I can't sleep. So I turn on the food network. Some where between reruns of Ace of Cakes and Good Eats I fall asleep. I wake again when Cam starts crying. Now Im too tired to untangle myself from the elastic in the sheet so I just lay there and listen to him cry. He eventually falls back asleep and then so do I. I wake up again when Lance kisses me good bye as he heads off to works and I know my night is over. I was half relieved the night was over and yet dreading the day ahead with a crick in my neck.

Birthday festivities

I know this post is a little outdated already but Lance did make it through another year and turned 33 last month. We were able to celebrate up in Pleasant view which allowed me to break in the kitchen at our new house. Thanks to everyone that came to party with us.

Here is a little trivia question for ya: How many BYU/football birthday cakes has Lance had over the years?

Enjoying some fresh peach cobbler! Mmmmmm

Yes, our patio furniture is in the living room. This party was BYOF. (Bring your own furniture)

Someone left their cake unattended

Those are indeed pants tied around his head. Where is Dallin's bandana when you need it.

Cameron is just crying because I made them stop to take a picture. Ride on, Cowboys.

Despite what Cordon thought at first he did like riding the horse.

No, there was not a parade for Lance's birthday but it was Peach days that weekend!

God bless America!

Soldiers, tanks, fire trucks and candy! Oh my! Can a boy get any happier.

What a Wonderful World

A couple of Sundays ago we got out and drove the Alpine Loop. It is 19 miles that loops through the mountain canyons. It is such a beautiful drive especially now that the leaves are changing colors. We don't get a lot of time together as a family to just enjoy each other so this was a special day. Now I get to relive it through a ton of pictures.

Darren (pensive as always). Haha. I know he's planning his next move in this picture

Cameron. Looks windy but it was actually just a really bad hair day. really.

My Cord. I love it when he smiles.

Darren fell into the bushes here.

Watching the bees

More watching the bees

I love it when these boys get along.

Yes, they are looking at his booger.

It was a great day.

What a Wonderful World.

Ra Ra RaRaRa!

If you are looking for a post about the technicalities of BYU football this post isn't for you. Lance would write one but he is busy reading cougarboard right now so maybe you can find him on there. Lance has been a BYU fan from the womb. He is quite obsessed actually. I could expand on that but I wouldn't know where to start. (Actually I would start with hernia checks) Anyway, the first year we were married was I think the only adult year that Lance did not have season tickets. We were in Oregon and did not have cable. But thanks to the never failing cougar board Lance would find some local fan with cable and go hang out with a complete stranger for the game.

I am not a die hard BYU fan. In fact I never watched a game until Lance and I were married. I have never painted my whole body or even my face blue. I don't yell at the refs when there is a questionable call. I don't follow ANY of the recruiting news (except what Lance tells me about).

And I don't come home from a game and immediately watch it again on TV recordings while listening to the post game show.

However, I do appreciate BYU football. I enjoy watching the game, especially in LES with 60,000 very excited fans. I love watching games where they play to their potential. But most of all I just love that our family has season tickets every year. Every year since Darren was born. Even when we were poor students and lived in Oregon. Somehow we managed to rent out an apartment in Provo for 2 months during the 2005 season.

2005

2006 was the year we moved to Provo. Now we could just bike to the game to save hastle of parking. Cordon was a newborn and Darren was still just one. We traveled to watch them play Arizona and cheered them on amidst raging AZ fans and blazing heat. I even took the boys to a game by myself this year. I really got a work out carrying two kids to the third from the top row of the stadium. I wait in the car with Cordon when a game is called because of lightning, Lance waits it out and gets to watch the rest of the game in Legacy seating.

2006

I don't remember a whole lot from the 2007 year. I mostly watched the game in a 1st trimester phenergan/zophran induced haze praying that I would not lose my lunch from the smell of

nacho's. The boys are really getting into the game this year and Darren can now sing the fight song. Cordon just says ra ra and shakes his fist. We sit through the entire second half of a game in a monsoon with out even a thought of leaving. One game Lance bike-trailers the boys to the game in 6 inches of snow while I stay home and vomit.

2007

In 2008 Cameron got to go to his first game along with his other newborn friend,Will, in Husky Stadium in Seattle. I spent most of the time out by the concessions since my tenderhearted little babe did not like all the noise. He eventually got used to the noise but I still spent a lot of time running up and down stairs since Darren was potty training and I was still nursing Cameron. I spent a lot of time in the rest rooms last season. This is also the year Lance flipped the bike trailer on the way to the game. When we checked to see if they were alright Darren just asked if we were still going to the game.

2008

2009 started off awesome with the win over Oklahoma. Lance was the happiest I have ever seen him. Then Florida St. happened. I heard the game was horrible but I wouldn't know since I left at half time after using my body as a shield of Cameron's barf after he got heat stroke. I know, if I were a true fan I wouldn't have left to go home to shower and change then come back to pick up Lance who stayed true blue to the last second of the game. Darren now reads his program and associates players names to their numbers.

2009

So even though I am not fanatical about BYU and games are often crazy for us. I still really like going to games and watching the Cougars play football. And I like to think that I have sacrificed a little for the team. After all, we are raising three very die hard, very brain washed fans.

And as a fan I have one request: For those of you out there that don't get excited enough to stand up and then yell at those who do; please stay home and sit on your couch and watch it on TV.

Before and in-the-process pictures

After much hard work and ALOT of help from Lance's sisters Vanessa and Natalie we have made a serious dent in the weeds and overgrowth. Things are coming along nicely and hopefully when spring comes around again we will get things the way we want them for the time being. I can't wait to enjoy all the blossoms in the spring.

I have come up close and personal with a lot of cool bugs. And for me to say that really means something. I saw a bright green praying mantis which the boys were convinced was going to go kung fu on them. Also a way cool aphid that looked so much like a leaf I really had to look hard to tell it was an insect. I have seen pretty much every kind of Grasshopper and dreadfully just as many types of spiders. I usually do not appreciate this kind of thing but they really were very cool.

Next we need to get to work on the backyard. Im glad that we get to go back to Provo and rest and recuperate.

Score!

Ok so after last game I thought Darren's self confidence was shot. He didn't score a point and even left the field before he was through playing. It was a struggle to get him in the car let alone on the field today. But he was victorious! He even scored 3 goals! But most of all he had FUN! and can't wait for his next game. This is one proud soccer mom!