Thanksgiving Part Two: YUMMY FOOD

Not only did we have a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, but me & my sister-in-laws were in a baking mood all week. We thought it would be fun to have some treats around for the week since we had quite a house full.

It all started on Monday night when we went up to Leigh and Spencer's for dinner. After dinner, Alyssa/Leigh/I made Leigh's famous chocolate chip cookies, rice krispie treats, and sausage balls ~ a yummy breakfast treat! Then on Tuesday, Alyssa and I made chocolate chip pumpkin bread. Six loaves to be exact. Wednesday morning Alyssa made an orange roll breakfast dish that was great. As if that wasn't enough, we made the chocolate peppermint icecream pie that I posted on my blog a few weeks ago! It was so delicious. It wasn't hard to make, just a little time consuming but well worth it. All of these treats were long gone by the time we left on Saturday!

I love all of the yummy food people make during the holidays!

Thanksgiving Part One: FAMILY

One of the many things I am grateful for is family. My boys, Wes & Nate, are such a blessing in my life. I never thought I could love two people like I love them.

I'm also grateful for my family and Wes' family. We especially love spending holidays with them. This year, we spent Thanksgiving with the Griffeths and we'll spend Christmas with the Marz clan.

Our Thanksgiving was great this year. By Wednesday afternoon, everyone was together. We got to Georgia on Sunday so we had a few low-key days before the entire family was around. It meant I got to spend a few days with just my sister-in-law Alyssa and her daughter Olivia who is 3 weeks younger than Nate. They had a great time together. It was so cute...when I first walked in the door with Nate on Sunday, Grant was holding Olivia in the kitchen. As soon as they saw each other, they both just smiled and "talked" to each other. It was almost like they knew each other and were so excited to see each other again. It was really cute. It's been fun having a sister-in-law with a baby so close in age to Nate. We go through everything together! It was fun to take our kiddos on a walk & let them play together. Bayley and Kendal were also so cute with Nate. They love their new cousin & I know Nate enjoyed all of the attention.

In the last year or so, Wes' sister and brother each bought new homes which we hadnt seen yet. We got to see Alisha/Jeff's home in Alabama and Spencer/Leigh's home in Ellijay, Georgia. They both have such beautiful homes and it was fun to see where they live. They both live in pretty small towns that are so green and beautiful.

Wes got to play golf one day with his brothers and dad which he always enjoys. One tradition that we started this year was a Turkey Trot. All of us were signed up to either run/walk a 5K or a 10K. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain that day so most of us opted to stay home but Alisha, Jeff & Doreen still went. If we didn't have babies, I'm sure more of us would have gone but it was just too cold and wet to take them along. I do think it's a fun tradition to get up and get some exercise on Thanksgiving morning so hopefully next time the weather will cooperate. Another tradition that actually happened is the day after Thanksgiving shopping. I usually get up with Alisha and Doreen but I was so tired with Nate that I wasn't willing to set an alarm for 4:30 to go shopping! So, Alyssa and I left around 6:45 to do some shopping of our own. It was fun!

We play lots of games and watch lots of sports when we're together with The Griffeths. We had such a great time and we are always sad when we leave because we know it will be a while before we see everyone again. I wish Georgia were right next to Nevada!

Here are lots of pictures of the Griffeth family. We got actual family pictures taken but I don't have my disk yet so I'll post some of the those when I get it. These are just a few I took of our vacation!






Nate and Olivia in their matching pajamas

Nate playing on the grass

At Spencer and Leigh's home where they made us a yummy dinner!

Nate with his cousins, Bayley & Kendal

we're back

We made it home this afternoon after a great week in Georgia. We had a wonderful time with the Griffeth family ~ we always enjoy spending time with everyone. I will post details of our Thanksgiving week in the next few days but I am way too tired right now to deal with photos. The 3 hour time change about killed all three of us. We are so tired. Nate actually did pretty well but it made it hard for Wes and I to catch up on any sleep. Three of the Griffeth cousins were sick which is never fun. I hate seeing kids miserable. We think Nate picked up a little bit of it because he definitely isn't his normal self and we can tell he's a little under the weather.

Nate loved all of his cousins but he was fascinated with Olivia. They are 3 weeks apart and we could tell that they were fascinated by this other little person that was their same size! We have lots of pictures of them that I'll post this week. Olivia was nice enough to share all of her fun things....one of them being her bathtub. Nate LOVED Olivia's bathtub. Check out the video to see him kicking and talking.

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving.

a GRIFFETH thanksgiving

Why is it that the week you are going out of town turns in to a crazy week? Work was busy this week, I had multiple appointments to go to, we had Young Women in Excellence on Wednesday night, Wes had to go out of town for two days last minute, and the list goes on! Granted, I guess it was a pretty good week....just really busy.

I've always hated packing and it always takes me forever, but packing for Nate is crazy! I might as well ship his entire room to Georgia! :)

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning to go to Georgia to see Wes' family for Thanksgiving. We are flying in to Birmingham, Alabama where Wes' sister lives and then on Sunday we will go to Atlanta for a week. We haven't been out there yet this year so we are really excited to see everyone! We have a little neice we haven't met yet and the majority of Wes' family haven't seen Nate yet so it will be a fun reunion.

I will just be glad when I am sitting on the plane tomorrow so I can just sit down for a few hours. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

nate's life

While most of our parents have memories of us growing up, how many of them actually put it on paper? How many of us can go to our parents house and find organized photos and memories written down about our childhood? I know I can't. I can open a cupboard and find pictures thrown in a box but no one really remembers how old I am or any of the details. Our memories are amazing but unless certain things get written down, they are forgotten & not always passed along.

I want Nate to be able to compare his childhood to his own kids. I want him to be able to look through an organized story of his life. Thank goodness I love to scrapbook! I've been really motivated since Nate was born to capture the moments of his life that I'd forget if they weren't written down. Yes, the blog is a great way to do it but I still love a good old scrapbook.

I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible....going month by month on his first year of life since he is changing all of the time. I'm all finished through month 2. As you can see, I haven't embraced the digital scrapbooking world. Not sure if I ever will. Although, I'd love to do a combination of both one day. Still the typical book with elements of the digital world incorporated in. That's a goal of mine in 2008.

Here are a few pages of his life so far.....

"ha ha ha" said Nathan.

It's official. My little man can laugh and I think it's so darn cute.

Happy Birthday Anya!

Anya is one of my oldest and dearest friends. Our friendship dates back to Nate Mack Elementary School where we went to Kindergarten together. We were good friends in high school and even ended up at BYU together. We were both bridesmaids in each other’s weddings & we still spend time together now!

She has two adorable little boys & is such a great mom and friend. She has such a fun and carefree attitude about life ~ I love that about her! She’s crafty, creative & a wonderful person! Happy Birthday, Anya.

The top two photos are from our 2 summers as lifeguards at Mandalay Bay & Monte Carlo.

Our senior trip at Newport Beach!

Happy Birthday Ali!

Today is my older sister’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Al.

Ali is such a wonderful sister and friend. She has a cute little family with a new addition due in a few weeks. She is a great example to me in a lot of ways ~ one being how to be unselfish. She is always willing to help you out, lend you something…..anything to make your life easier even if it makes hers a little crazy. She’s all about saving the environment which is a great thing and I love her tips on how the rest of us can do our part. She loves to run ~ too bad my little sister and I didn’t get that gene. She has a great style that is uniquely hers that I really like. She’s a great sister and a wonderful friend! We had a family dinner last night for her birthday....I hope you had a good day today, Ali!

This is the only picture on my computer I could find of the two of us! We are in the COLDEST

lake in Idaho!

Flashback Friday

I decided to start back up with Flashback Fridays. This is a picture that I have up in my family room. It's on my wedding day & I'm surrounded by some of my dearest friends. My two sisters are in the picture, my cousin Shannon, Anya: a friend I've had since Kindergarten, Mimi: a friend that I met at BYU, Laurel/Laurel/Trisha: the best college roomates a girl could ask for.

Granted, there are a number of dear friends missing from this picture, but the girls in this picture are truly amazing people and friends. I was so fortunate to have them with me on my wedding day and to still have them be such a big part of my life today. Friends & sisters truly are two of my favorite things.

I love being able to look at this picture daily ~ it brings back so many wonderful memories!

GYMBOREE 30% off

A friend of mine gave me a 30% off card for Circle of Friends at Gymboree. If you shop at Gymboree for your kiddos....go online and use the code CFCIRCLE and that will give you 30% off your entire purchase....including sale items. Enjoy! Sale ends this Sunday, 11/11.

3 months old

The third month is amazing. I’m sure I’ll look back and think that this was one of my favorite stages.

I really feel like I got a new baby this last month. The first two months were rough. He was a good natured baby but didn’t sleep much and when he did, it had to be in someone’s arms…..usually mine. Everything changed the third month. He takes great naps outside of my arms and is doing a little better at night, too! For two months I couldn’t get anything done during the day so now that he takes naps…sometimes long naps….outside of my arms…I feel like a whole new person! I love it! It makes me enjoy being at home all day because when I’m not working I can get stuff done around the house….read a book…..scrapbook…etc. And, he puts himself to sleep! No more rocking and walking around with him. When its time for a nap we swaddle him, lay him down, give him his binky & a kiss on the head, and walk out of the room. 95% of the time that works!

Nate’s little personality has really come out this month. He smiles from ear-to-ear all of the time and loves to hear himself make noise. He kicks his legs a ton and gets really excited. His new favorite love is the mirror. He loves looking at himself and he cracks himself up all day long. It is so fun to watch. He is rarely upset but when he is….he’s either tired or hungry which are easy problems to solve.

One other thing that is new is that he always has to have something in his mouth. If he can’t pull his shirt in to his mouth or there isn’t a blanket near, he will settle for his hands. He puts his long fingers so far in to his mouth that he gags himself repeatedly. It’s quite funny. It sometimes leads to him puking so we try to give him something else to suck on.

He is definitely out of his 0-3 month clothes and on to the bigger size. Actually, he’s kind of in between sizes since he’s still pretty long and skinny but before long all of his 3-6 month clothes will fit.

I am SO thankful that this month has been MUCH easier than the first two were. I love my little man and he has brought so much joy to our family in 3 short months!

doorbell ditching

I just have to say that I love my calling with the young women. We have some wonderful girls but what makes it even better are the ladies I get to serve with.

Tonight we did a little something fun for our girlies. Katie made delicious caramel and chocolate covered apples & wrapped them all cute with a note from us telling them how wonderful they are. Then, all of the leaders met at the church, piled in Katie's car, and doorbell ditched each girl. You should have seen Emily, Jen & Loralee as they were running! We are definitely amateurs at the doorbell ditching but we had a fun evening out with a lot of laughs.

I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to work with them and feel very fortunate to be surrounded by such great people!

the recipe

Since a few of you have requested the recipe for the chocolate-peppermint icecream cake....I found it online! Check it out at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108968. There are also a few good reviews....a few people have some suggestions on ways to tweak the recipe. I think I'll make it with actual peppermint icecream instead of the vanilla with peppermint pieces.

Let me know if any of you decide to make it!

i love peppermint icecream

I absolutely LOVE peppermint icecream. It's one of the many reasons I love the holiday season. I saw it for the first time at the grocery store yesterday and had to buy it. It was so delicious last night! Every brand is a little different so I have to have them all since it's only available for a few months out of the year!

We always make an oreo peppermint icecream pie....which I'm sure we'll do again this year but I saw this recipe in a magazine so I'm thinking we'll have to try to make this, too.

I love this time of year.

happy haunting!

Last night we went to Ali's house for a little while before they left go to trick-or-treating. Kyle was a ninja and Abbie was the cutest chicken I've ever seen. She was SO excited to go trick or treating that I could barely get her to sit still long enough to take a picture. Usually she at least looks at me and says cheese with a huge grin on her face.

We spent the majority of the night at my parent's house since my mom ditched my dad and went to Utah for the week. The thought of my dad sitting there all alone handing out candy made me sad so we spent the rest of the evening over there. We had a nice chat with him and we enjoyed each others company. Their neighborhood is insane on Halloween. People come from all over to trick-or-treat in there. We just sat on the front porch with the basket of candy.

I thought it was pretty cool of the firemen to bring their big ol' truck in to the neighborhood to hand out candy. The kids loved that.

Here are a few pictures of our monkey and our adorable neice as a chicken. As you can see...the excitement of Nate's first Halloween wore him out. We hope everyone had a fun Halloween!