Happy New Year 2009!!
(and yes, I'm posting this a bit early,
but one of my New Year's resolutions is to be prepared,
so there ya go!!)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Robin & Steve's Wedding
The wedding.
We drove up to Sandy late Sunday afternoon. We gathered with Andy & Jennie and kids, Amy & Doug & kids, and Gordon & Marcia. It was a beautiful reception area with a front hall, and seating area for dinner to the right, I believe it also had a chapel area, that wasn't used for the wedding. It had beautiful vaulted ceilings, and was very simple building, yet beautiful at the same time. There was a large picture window, with a brilliant view of decorated trees outside in the white snow. This is where the wedding party would gather for the ceremony, and to the right was a huge decorated Christmas tree.
We had parked our belongings near the back of the seating area where they were gathering for the ceremony, in hopes of making a quick exit if we needed to dart out because of children. We only lasted there but a few minutes before being moved to the second row. We were hoping for no outbursts.
Robin had purchased suits for both Tom, and Adam in hopes of getting a ring bearer. Both had refused, and at the last minutes Adam and Josh switched clothes, and Josh became the ring bearer. Emma was the flower girl, with Grace at her side for support. The wedding party was led in by bagpipe players, that stayed up front after the wedding party had entered, and played "Amazing Grace" as a tribute to those family members that were no longer with us. Both the little girls and Josh stayed up front the entire time, much to the surprise of us parents anxiously waiting for them to do something silly. Josh did a great job, and except for a few thumbs up, thumbs down moments (which we later realized was Andy sitting behind us trying to tell Josh he was doing a good job by giving him a thumbs up. We hope there are no pictures of the ceremony where Josh is giving a thumbs down!!) I believe their bishop did the ceremony and gave some beautiful thoughts, before they exchanged rings and vows and were pronounced as husband and wife.
After the ceremony, they cleared away the seats for the ceremony and brought out more tables and chairs for seating, and appetizers. Many of the guests stayed for appetizers and then left, not realizing that dinner was to be served. Dinner was buffet style with choices of vegetables, and potatoes, and both turkey and ham. It was honestly the best ham I have ever tasted. It was so moist and flavorful. They had a chocolate fountain for dipping fruits, and rice krispy treats in..ooh la la, and a hot chocolate station, which was always lacking marshmallows, thanks to my boys. Afterwrds we had cake, and the guests started to head home. The cousins played with bubbles and then we all made our way into the chilly night to head home.
Congratulations Steve & Robin
We drove up to Sandy late Sunday afternoon. We gathered with Andy & Jennie and kids, Amy & Doug & kids, and Gordon & Marcia. It was a beautiful reception area with a front hall, and seating area for dinner to the right, I believe it also had a chapel area, that wasn't used for the wedding. It had beautiful vaulted ceilings, and was very simple building, yet beautiful at the same time. There was a large picture window, with a brilliant view of decorated trees outside in the white snow. This is where the wedding party would gather for the ceremony, and to the right was a huge decorated Christmas tree.
We had parked our belongings near the back of the seating area where they were gathering for the ceremony, in hopes of making a quick exit if we needed to dart out because of children. We only lasted there but a few minutes before being moved to the second row. We were hoping for no outbursts.
Robin had purchased suits for both Tom, and Adam in hopes of getting a ring bearer. Both had refused, and at the last minutes Adam and Josh switched clothes, and Josh became the ring bearer. Emma was the flower girl, with Grace at her side for support. The wedding party was led in by bagpipe players, that stayed up front after the wedding party had entered, and played "Amazing Grace" as a tribute to those family members that were no longer with us. Both the little girls and Josh stayed up front the entire time, much to the surprise of us parents anxiously waiting for them to do something silly. Josh did a great job, and except for a few thumbs up, thumbs down moments (which we later realized was Andy sitting behind us trying to tell Josh he was doing a good job by giving him a thumbs up. We hope there are no pictures of the ceremony where Josh is giving a thumbs down!!) I believe their bishop did the ceremony and gave some beautiful thoughts, before they exchanged rings and vows and were pronounced as husband and wife.
After the ceremony, they cleared away the seats for the ceremony and brought out more tables and chairs for seating, and appetizers. Many of the guests stayed for appetizers and then left, not realizing that dinner was to be served. Dinner was buffet style with choices of vegetables, and potatoes, and both turkey and ham. It was honestly the best ham I have ever tasted. It was so moist and flavorful. They had a chocolate fountain for dipping fruits, and rice krispy treats in..ooh la la, and a hot chocolate station, which was always lacking marshmallows, thanks to my boys. Afterwrds we had cake, and the guests started to head home. The cousins played with bubbles and then we all made our way into the chilly night to head home.
Congratulations Steve & Robin
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Christmas Day
The kids woke early Christmas morning, and bounded into our room. We had placed wrapping paper over the doorway leading down the stairs, so that all children could be present before they made the great descent downstairs.
Mommy and daddy got ourselves out of bed, with the little bit of sleep we were able to enjoy the night before, and assembled the kiddos at the top of the stairs. We removed the paper, snapped a few pictures and then the festivities of Christmas morning began.
Daniel got an electric guitar with amp, Caleb got a PowerWheels, and Josh got remote control helicopters. Natalie is pretty in pink with her new chair and blanket and thanks to craigslist we were able to get some big toys this year, and still stay within our budget. We look to forward to returning home and playing with all their fun toys.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve started out so differently from the previous days before. Dave was home, and we were hoping to get much accomplished before heading down to my parents for Christmas Eve.
Dave woke with the birds, and had the front tires off the van by 5:30am. His goal for the day was to get the brakes done on the van for our trip to Utah. BY mid-morning the tires and rotors were off, and he was ready to make a trip to the auto parts stor to have thme turned, and swing by the dealership to pick up some replacement screws. He finished before 11:00am, an hour earlier than his goal of noon. He was very proud of himself, the nice tight brakes, and the money he'd saved by doing it himself. Way to go babe!!
I started in on laundry in preparation for the trip. Somehow I'd fallen behind, and seemed to do the same loads of laundry week after week. My goal was to have all clothes in the house clean. This would make packing easier, and start off my new year on the right foot.
After his stellar job on the brakes, Dave attcked the yard, while I continued washing, and putting away load after load of laundry. We flet good about our morning progress, and began dressing and getting ready for our Christmas Eve with family.
We enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner at my parents and enjoyed family and conversation. The kids were antsy to open presents, and dove into their presents like they were at a glorious feast. They came away with Disney dollars from both Great-Gram and my brother and his wife, and fun gifts from Grandma & Grandpa. Daniel is now well stocked with books for the trip and the new year, Josh has a fun fuzzy Remy (Ratatouille) to cuddle with, Caleb enjoys his new GeoTrax airport, and Natalie is loving her baby doll and stroller.
After the festivities were over, and our bellies were full of peppermint ice cream, we packed up the kiddos and headed home. They were ready for bed with jammies on and sadly only two of the four fell asleep in the car. The two oldest did a last minute tracking of Santa's position on the internet, before promising to stay in their beds the entire night, and maybe sleeping in a bit for mommy & daddy. (one can only hope). Caleb was another story, as he most often is, and we spent the evening settling him down and trying to get him to sleep. Even after he was asleep he managed to wake up numerous times through the night, maybe that's why I'm so tired.
After they were all snuggled in their beds, we began our preparations for Christmas morning. I had lots of little things to wrap for the kids and Dave had a few things to assemble nad recover from the depths of our garage. We finally headed to bed around 1:30am, and I so hoped they would let me sleep in, did they, oh no...
Dave woke with the birds, and had the front tires off the van by 5:30am. His goal for the day was to get the brakes done on the van for our trip to Utah. BY mid-morning the tires and rotors were off, and he was ready to make a trip to the auto parts stor to have thme turned, and swing by the dealership to pick up some replacement screws. He finished before 11:00am, an hour earlier than his goal of noon. He was very proud of himself, the nice tight brakes, and the money he'd saved by doing it himself. Way to go babe!!
I started in on laundry in preparation for the trip. Somehow I'd fallen behind, and seemed to do the same loads of laundry week after week. My goal was to have all clothes in the house clean. This would make packing easier, and start off my new year on the right foot.
After his stellar job on the brakes, Dave attcked the yard, while I continued washing, and putting away load after load of laundry. We flet good about our morning progress, and began dressing and getting ready for our Christmas Eve with family.
We enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner at my parents and enjoyed family and conversation. The kids were antsy to open presents, and dove into their presents like they were at a glorious feast. They came away with Disney dollars from both Great-Gram and my brother and his wife, and fun gifts from Grandma & Grandpa. Daniel is now well stocked with books for the trip and the new year, Josh has a fun fuzzy Remy (Ratatouille) to cuddle with, Caleb enjoys his new GeoTrax airport, and Natalie is loving her baby doll and stroller.
After the festivities were over, and our bellies were full of peppermint ice cream, we packed up the kiddos and headed home. They were ready for bed with jammies on and sadly only two of the four fell asleep in the car. The two oldest did a last minute tracking of Santa's position on the internet, before promising to stay in their beds the entire night, and maybe sleeping in a bit for mommy & daddy. (one can only hope). Caleb was another story, as he most often is, and we spent the evening settling him down and trying to get him to sleep. Even after he was asleep he managed to wake up numerous times through the night, maybe that's why I'm so tired.
After they were all snuggled in their beds, we began our preparations for Christmas morning. I had lots of little things to wrap for the kids and Dave had a few things to assemble nad recover from the depths of our garage. We finally headed to bed around 1:30am, and I so hoped they would let me sleep in, did they, oh no...
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Happy Anniversary..
On Saturday, we celebrated our 11 year Anniversary. 11 years!! Really. We were very fortunate to clebrate this year in style on our actual day, which of course is definitley not the norm. We drove up to LA and saw the musical WICKED at the Pantages Theatre.
We have been listening to the music for months, and our eager anticipation to see it, and figure out babysitting all came together perfectly. We took the kids down to my parents early Saturday morning, and swapped cars with them so they could bus our kids around for the afternoon. They had plans that afternoon at my Dad's club for a holiday family party. The kids bounced in a jumpy house, and sat on Santa's lap, while almost two hours to the north we celebrated just the two of us.
The musical was fantastic. It was a combination of an amazing theatre, where I thouroughly doubt there is a bad seat in the house. The amazing architecture of this grand building, and the attention to detail wowed us. The score to this musical is amazing, and to sit awe struck for three hours and listen to well trained voices blending in perfect harmony was such a treat. We felt so blessed to enjoy this indulgence, and how grateful I am to have a guy that loves this stuff like I do.
On our way home we did the math. 11 years, 4 kids, a total of 6 different jobs between the two of us, 5 cars (two of which we still have), 4 different cities we've lived in, countless blessings, and all because two teenagers locked eyes in freshman typing class. We've known each other for over 18 years, and it still seems like yesterday that I got butterflies just thinking of him. We both feel so grateful to be married to our best friend, and our marriage and our children are my best and greatest accomplishments.
Thank you sweetheart for being my better half in every way.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Happy Birthday Joshua!!
Today Josh turned 6 years old!!
In true "joshie fashion" as he woke up and started getting ready for school, he said "Hey guys, today is a special day!" And that it is.
My sweet boy is growing into such an amazing person. He as an amazing light that shines in his big bright smile. His witty and unusual comments can always bring a smile to my face. I had no idea I would be having such intellectual conversations with him, when he was only three. He has always been interested, in well, everything. How things work, why things are the way they are. Always asking questions, and better yet insight as well.
I was reflecting back to the morning he was born, just a week before Christmas. When we got home we took tons of pictures, even with him in a Christmas stocking. He was so little, sweet and precious. And now six years later, I still think of him, as just that, precious.
Happy Birthday sweet boy, for making us laugh, making us think, and always wanting to snuggle and offer big hugs. Exciting things are in store for you, I can't wait to be a part of it.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
A
I am so loving all the wonderful recipes with candy canes. Candy Cane Bark, Candy Cane Brownies, and Candy Cane Truffles.
I think I will definitley be putting off getting back into shape until after the holidays. Too many sweet minty treats to be tempted by.
Here's an amazing recipe for Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies, courtesy of the girlies at Our Best Bites
Yeah, for Christmas time, and the glorious candy cane.
I am so loving all the wonderful recipes with candy canes. Candy Cane Bark, Candy Cane Brownies, and Candy Cane Truffles.
I think I will definitley be putting off getting back into shape until after the holidays. Too many sweet minty treats to be tempted by.
Here's an amazing recipe for Peppermint Candy Cane Brownies, courtesy of the girlies at Our Best Bites
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Blessings & Service
On Thursday evening we had our Christmas Enrichment for Relief Society. Usually we do a nice party for the women of the ward, with food and entertainment. This year, we decided to start of the month of December with a great Christmas message - service.
We found an amazing woman, Cynthia Martinez that lives locally and was just honored by the Pentagon with the Star of Hope (Bob Hope) award for the Marine Corps. After 9-11 she felt that she needed to do more to honor our troops and support them and their families. She wrote a book, and then started Words of Comfort Hope and Promise a non-profit organization to do just that. She does everything from pampering parties for the wives who's hubby's are deployed, to big beach parties in the summer, and Christmas Parties in the winter. Before Thanksgiving they assembled 1,000 care packages to Marines that are deployed, and over 22,000 cookies were donated.
Our goal was to raise money and assemble 50 toiletry kits that would be given to the single men in a returning squadron before Christmas. We not only raised enough money for the toiletry kits, but also for an additional snacks and goodies. It was so amazing to give service to these men and women that do so much for our country. Even if it was really a small token.
Friday afternoon, Cynthia had asked if I could set up the projector and DVD of clips of their many activities for a luncheon they were having to honor those that had donated to their efforts. It was amazing to sit their and listen to retired marines that were now serving young marines following in their footsteps, and how they wish they could do more. The spoke of hope, and the hope that we must give to those marines and their families, and the hope that is given to us by their efforts. I was really moved, and comforted to hear how much good really is going on in the world. It also reminded me of all the blessings I really have.
That evening the kids and I worked on homemade Christmas cards that will be added to those kits, and even though it's something small, I know those Marines will smile when they see those hand drawn cards of Christmas trees, and Santa. It's really the small things that many people do that make a difference.
We found an amazing woman, Cynthia Martinez that lives locally and was just honored by the Pentagon with the Star of Hope (Bob Hope) award for the Marine Corps. After 9-11 she felt that she needed to do more to honor our troops and support them and their families. She wrote a book, and then started Words of Comfort Hope and Promise a non-profit organization to do just that. She does everything from pampering parties for the wives who's hubby's are deployed, to big beach parties in the summer, and Christmas Parties in the winter. Before Thanksgiving they assembled 1,000 care packages to Marines that are deployed, and over 22,000 cookies were donated.
Our goal was to raise money and assemble 50 toiletry kits that would be given to the single men in a returning squadron before Christmas. We not only raised enough money for the toiletry kits, but also for an additional snacks and goodies. It was so amazing to give service to these men and women that do so much for our country. Even if it was really a small token.
Friday afternoon, Cynthia had asked if I could set up the projector and DVD of clips of their many activities for a luncheon they were having to honor those that had donated to their efforts. It was amazing to sit their and listen to retired marines that were now serving young marines following in their footsteps, and how they wish they could do more. The spoke of hope, and the hope that we must give to those marines and their families, and the hope that is given to us by their efforts. I was really moved, and comforted to hear how much good really is going on in the world. It also reminded me of all the blessings I really have.
That evening the kids and I worked on homemade Christmas cards that will be added to those kits, and even though it's something small, I know those Marines will smile when they see those hand drawn cards of Christmas trees, and Santa. It's really the small things that many people do that make a difference.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Oatmeal Carmelitas
On the 3rd Day of Christmas we finished decorating the tree, yes it took three days for some reason, and we made the kids favorite cookies, Oatmeal Carmelitas. The little ones helped me with the dry ingredients, and the older boys helped with chocolate chips and caramel. Truly a group effort.
If you feel so inclined to make something ooey, goey caramely, and chocolatey, then here's the recipe. I usually chill them in the fridge so they're not completely impossible to eat.
Oatmeal Carmelitas
By Grandma Bennett
By Grandma Bennett
Description:
Chewy gooey caramel, oats and chocolate. Our absolute favorites, and they taste better the next day if you get them to last that long.
Chewy gooey caramel, oats and chocolate. Our absolute favorites, and they taste better the next day if you get them to last that long.
Ingredients:
2 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 c quick cooking oats
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 1/2 c melted butter (unsalted)
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
12 oz jar caramel ice cream topping
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one cookie sheet
2. Combine the 2 c. flour, baking soda, oats, brown sugar, salt and melted butter. Mix to combine, mixture will be very crumbly. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes.
4. Let cool slightly then sprinkle over the crust the chocolate chips. Mix the caramel ice cream topping with the 6 tbsp of flour and drizzle over the chocolate chips.
5.Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture. You will need to break it into small pieces to cover.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
2 c all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 c quick cooking oats
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 1/2 c melted butter (unsalted)
12 oz semisweet chocolate chips
12 oz jar caramel ice cream topping
6 tbsp all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one cookie sheet
2. Combine the 2 c. flour, baking soda, oats, brown sugar, salt and melted butter. Mix to combine, mixture will be very crumbly. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10 minutes.
4. Let cool slightly then sprinkle over the crust the chocolate chips. Mix the caramel ice cream topping with the 6 tbsp of flour and drizzle over the chocolate chips.
5.Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture. You will need to break it into small pieces to cover.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15 minutes.
7. Let bars cool to warm temperature, and then refrigerate. Once cool cut into small bars and keep refrigerated.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes
Category: Desserts Servings: 48
Monday, December 1, 2008
Safely
Every night when the boys say their prayers, I hear the same word used in both their prayers. I'm not sure how they starting using it, I mean it is after all a real word, safely. Which means in a safe manner, or to use caution. I think it is more how it is used.
"please help be safely on our way to school, and help daddy as he goes to work to be safely"
One of these days I will correct them, but for now in their perfect child prayers, they are asking for safely travel for their loved ones and themselves, and it brings a smile to my face each evening, and makes me want to hold them closer and let that goodnight hug linger just a bit longer.
May you all have safely journeys as you go about your day today!!
"please help be safely on our way to school, and help daddy as he goes to work to be safely"
One of these days I will correct them, but for now in their perfect child prayers, they are asking for safely travel for their loved ones and themselves, and it brings a smile to my face each evening, and makes me want to hold them closer and let that goodnight hug linger just a bit longer.
May you all have safely journeys as you go about your day today!!
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