Thanksgiving: The Holiday In-Between

I know it seems a little cliche to spend November posting about what I am thankful for. But I am overdue in writing and I miss it terribly.

I have always felt that Thanksgiving doesn't get the attention it deserves as one of the best holidays of the year. I know I love me some Halloween fun, and some Christmas Spirit... but Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, to slow down to enjoy the things we already have, and to pay tribute to the good things in our lives. I hope to do my blessings justice this year as I write about those people and blessings that I consider most dear.

XOXO

Halloween 2014

This year's party was extremely low key (read "casual fun") as I went totally crazy a little overboard last year... but we still had a blast with our guests and enjoy ourselves every year. And yes, I am already working on a theme ideas for next year! Mwahahaha!

I always hope that my guests have fun. I enjoy getting everyone together for a bunch of craziness. And I love seeing everyone's creative costumes! Its always an adventure!

Cutest Pirate family EVER. 

Itsy Bitsy Spider, Kevin (from UP), Cheshire Cat, my little princess Aurora

Gal Pals from the frontier.

Balloons were a fun addition this year.

Maleficent and her "Beastie"

Most Creative: Glow-in-the-dark Stick Figures

Disney Family: Walt, Mickey, Maleficent, Aurora 

Wonderland never looked so good! 

Thanks to all who came! See you next year!

Happy Easter!

I have been facinated with the new movies that have come out representing the Life of Christ from the Bible. If you haven't seen them, you should definately take some time and watch them. They make is so much more real. My personal favorites are The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane and He is Risen.

I have heard the statements that Jesus suffered to the point that he bled at every pore. It didn't become concrete until I was watching these. To see the stream turn red as he is washing himself, and his robes covered afterward as the mob comes to take him... wow. I admit, I cried as I saw the angel in Gethsemane with Him.

You can see everything they have here too.

I know that my Redeemer lives, that he loves me as a precious daughter of God. He suffered and died so that I may live with my Father in Heaven again. I am eternally grateful for the unconditional love He has shown me and for the guidance and support He has provided throughout my life. I hope you all have a happy Easter!

The Holidays

Wow it has been a loooong time. I made a resolution in November to be better at blogging... right after the holidays... and then low-and-behold my laptop hard drive has finally given up the ghost... and the other computer's cord broke... You never really appreciate what you have and enjoy until it all of the sudden doesn't work... I am posting now. Patience as I strive to be better at writing.

Life got really busy around Thanksgiving and Christmas season (as I am sure it does for most people... or am I just crazy?) We celebrated Thanksgiving with the LeBaron clan. It was fun to see everyone and have a chance to catch up with all that is going on in their lives. With 7 kids, 5 out of home, it gets a little crazy. I tried out my new cinnamon poached pears recipe on them and we ate ourselves full of delicious salads, potatoes, turkey... mmm... what more could you ask for?

December was just about as busy as it possibly could be. We decorated our tree at the end of November with shatter proof ornaments and plastic candy canes... They turned out to be one of the favorite toys of the season as they rolled well for chasing and made funny noises when they "bounce".

The "White Collar" tree at Festival of Trees

We did a fun thing this year. Instead of the traditional "white elephant gifts" for the LeBaron party there was going to be a treat gift exchange. We were all supposed to bring a special treat and we traded them around. I ended up getting a plate of "O Henry!" bars. They were gone before the end of the weekend. Bryce and I used my new mini-donut maker to make mini-donuts for the parties and for our neighbor gifts. It was a day full of donuts but it was fun too. We made Pumpkin with a chocolate ganache, Chocolate Orange, and Gingerbread with a caramel frosting. They were all delicious. Recipes over at What's Cooking?

The Barker party was a lot of fun for us, despite Brayden's teeth coming in... I always enjoy getting to catch up with the family and its fun to see how the family changes over the course of just one year. I am excited for Ashley and hope she figures out that whole schooling business. I know you'll do well, whatever you choose! Then there is the ever favorite talent show. We were party-poopers this year and failed to perform... but rest assured, we enjoyed the other talents. The children's nativity is possibly my favorite part. I love to see how excited the kids are to perform their respective roles. Emma and Alicia were quite serious as they practiced their "wiseman walk" up and down the hallway. :)

Brayden couldn't get enough of the snow around the lights at Temple Square!

Christmas was special for us this year as it was our first Christmas with a child. I was pleased to welcome Santa back into our home! :) He brought us quite the haul as he seemed to visit us in our home and at my parents. We woke Brayden up and groggy as he was, he seemed to know how it all worked. He brightened up to see his new rocking horse, and pulled wrapping paper off boxes like a pro. I'm pretty sure every toy but 1 that he got this year sings and makes noise. It has made for some good times since... :) I got some awesome stuff for the kitchen. I can now make my own homemade pasta and raviolis, soups with my new hand blender, and casseroles in my Rachel Ray casseround. :) Bryce got a remote control helicopter , a new sports watch, White Collar DVDs, and his favorite- Dark Chocolate Peanut M&Ms. Mom and Dad LeBaron are taking us to Washington DC this May as our gift this year as well. We did pretty well for ourselves. ;)

We spent the morning at church with my parents and ended the day arriving at the LeBaron home to visit for a day or so. We had to come home Tuesday so we could pack to get ready for our trip to Zion's Canyon on Wednesday. A lot of driving. Soo much fun. Mom, Dad, and Ben met us at a cabin just outside the canyon. The cabin was amazing! 2 full-sized bathrooms complete with jetted tubs, fireplaces, a kitchen... very posh. We did a little hiking, Brayden was introduced to buffalo and horses (up close!), and we enjoyed some 60 degree weather. It didn't end so well for my brother and mom... who both caught some sort of 24 hour bug...  But all-in-all we had a very fun time.

Ben: a regular stroller pushin' pro! 

The Narrow's Hike December 29... 

Brayden loves bread... 

 New Years Eve found us in our little house preparing for some friends to come celebrate with us. As it turns out, college towns become ghost towns over the holidays and most of the couples in our ward went out of town with family. We did have one couple, some new friends, stop by and a few of my old friends from high school came too. We played some games and watched the ball drop. We caught up with each other's life (as school keeps us all very busy) and talked about the next year and what was coming up. Bryce and our new friend got to talking about grad school and he told Bryce about his program which sounds like something Bryce could be interested in. We still don't know much about it, but there's an info meeting later this month and we hope to get some answers there. 

Its nice to be home, back into the normal swing of things... with a few exceptions as we are trying our hand at the new year resolutions thing again. :) We did alright last year, but want to implement a few changes to our routine that we think will help the household run smoother our family function a little better. We look forward to another amazing year together, full of adventure, romance, and fun.

Brayden had his final check-up before his 1 year mark. He is officially 10 months old! I can hardly believe it! He is getting so big! He never stops wiggling (even in his sleep he wiggles) and he is getting to be quite the speedy crawler. He is learning to feed himself and he likes to make a mess doing it. He stands pretty well when he is next to something and he knows he is on the verge of some thing big as he teeters on his toes. He is quite responsive when you speak to him now and often babbles back. Oh, and he is currently trying to cut 6 teeth... 4 on top, 2 more on the bottom...

Oh!  It finally snowed down here and with that came out the little snow suit we got for Brayden. We built a snow man and Brayden loved the snow. He kept trying to eat it and he looked so cute in his little suit! :)

cold on those new teeth... 

my little Tigger :)

PS. Special love to my momma for being so willing to help me out when I needed her. I am just sorry it cost her a wrist... :( You're the best mom in the world!! Love you! Feel better!

Halloween Monster Bash!

This year's Halloween Bash was the most successful party I have thrown yet. I am so pleased with the turn out. Thanks to all who came and made it the success it was! It was fun to see everyone who came and their costumes. (This is a looong post... just warning ya!)

We had a "Monster Mash-tinis" complete with the "spare parts" bar. Guests were served martini glasses filled with mashed potatoes. Everyone was then able to put whatever toppings they wanted on them and eat them out of the glasses. (hence, the spare parts...)

The spread also included a few... "Dreadful Edibles" including "Purina Wolf Chow" (Chex muddy buddies with candy corn and peanuts), Fruit "ninja bites" (Ica's delicious fruit pizzas), a jello heart, and my mom's panna cotta brain.

Jell-o heart

Ninja bites

As this was originally a cocktial/mock tail party, we had a few drinks. There was pumpkin poison (which was actually a recipe for Butterbeer I found on the Internet), "sweetened swamp water" (hot chocolate), and "bug juice". The bug juice turned out to be my favorite... did you know that if you put a raisin (or in our case, raspberry crasins) into a carbonated beverage it will rise to the top and sink to the bottom? It was way fun to watch! I used the Berry 7-up that was purple and plopped them in. The picture doesn't capture it all the way... but we took video of it too! :)

We also had our traditional pumpkin bowling lane set up in the carport, but this year we decided to hold a graham cracker haunted house contest! Entry into the contest was a bag of a candy you could use to decorate with. We provided the graham crackers and the royal icing. (I found this awesome tutorial on the icing here.)

Tip: glow sticks in the water bottles made them easier to see.

can you guess who's house this one is? :)

After everyone had built their houses and voted on favorite house, and the three costume categories (Creepiest, Cutest, & Most Creative). We started the Ghostbuster movie and held an award ceremony for the winners. The party ended with the movie and the after party began (that is when the clean up happens so we don't have a pile of dishes for the next week and a half.)

we won the office "best family theme" prize at Bryce's work. just FYI.

I had so much fun this year and am already planning next year's bash! I have some crazy ideas and possibly an awesome new venue! So excited! :) Thanks for reading!

xoxo

one more, just because it makes me smile... :)

Witch's Tea Party!

Welcome to the first annual Witch's Tea Party!

Each participant competed for Creepiest, Cutest, or Tastiest treat. The selection was wonderful!

 Starting was a little rocky, but we had a bunch of witches and we had quite some fun! There are some ideas I have for next year... but this party is officially a success. Can't wait til next year!