Creme Brulee

 I got ramekins for Christmas!

 And Shane let me play with fire in the house.

 So we had creme brulee for lunch.

Gorgeous and Delicious. 

It's Christmas!

 Favorite by far is the sheep!  As soon as she opened her blanket/pillow pet from Vicki, she wanted to lay down for a nap!  (mom'f fav gift too) 

 Shane got Conner a bow and arrow.

 Grandpa gave Bryn a fur-real puppy... that she likes to love, and then throw off the couch.  Good thing we don't have a real dog yet. 

Christmas was such a fun day.  I guess spending time with family can be exhausting too.

Christmas Eve

 Some people dream of white, marshmallowy, four-foot-of-snow, hot chocolatey Christmases.  I dream of white sandy beaches and ice cold lemonade this time of year.  We haven't had any snow this year, but we did have a pretty good frost that turned everything white.  It was beautiful (especially with no white on the roads)!

 Christmas cookies for Santa

 Christmas Jammies

This was a Christmas gift from our ward.  Pretty cool huh.

Shane and I had the pleasure of taking Vicki out to dinner on her last day in Idaho. Dinner was good, company better and entertainment was the best. Bryn said hello and goodbye to every single person who walked by! She also spent ten minutes cleaning the table, high-chair and Shane!

I finally found the iPod blogger! This is Bryn right now, playing in our laundry basket. Notice that it's empty? Yup, I have the best honey in the world!

Family Photos

For Christmas this year, Shane and I decided to get family photos taken.  I'm so glad we did, because I hardly remember when the leaves were so bright and Bryn was that small.  She has gained 3 pounds and 2 inches since then!  Bryn loved the camera, and was so cute cheeseing away.  I hope by having daily reminders of the cheesyness, cheerfulness and the time that is flying by, I take time to hug them.  To love them.  And to make sure  I'm doing everything I can so we can be a forever family.

"Our most important and powerful assignments are in the family.  They are important because the family has the opportunity at the start of a child's life to put feet firmly on the path home."  Henry B. Eyring.

Baked December

 We baked a lot in December at our house.  Pizza was a staple, and I'm pretty sure we've perfected it.

 This is my favorite!   Can you hear my voice getting higher in pitch as I say favorite?  Saute ham, leeks and 'shrooms, bake on a tortilla with olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and pepper.  Add mozzarella cheese, crack an egg.  Bake until egg is set and cheese is brown.

 This was amazing.  Emperor's Pancake from the December issue of Bon Appetite.  (a Christmas present to myself.. all year long!)  Since Shane hates raisins, I substituted cranberries, and added orange zest.  This made an already impressive breakfast become mind blowing!  If you love anyone in the whole world, please show them by making this!  I promise the results are SO worth it!

 Oh ya, my blender started bleeding, sad day :(

 The end result was the most amazing!  Shane (the "i don't care what it is, food is meant to be devoured without even tasting" kind of guy) is STILL talking about it!!  Cranberry-orangeish, baked, then fried (in sugar...wow!) pancake souffle, thing.  it is AMAZING!

 Bryn loves the cookie cutters.

 Our whole family made Oreo Truffles together.  And because it is so easy, you'll make them too.  Beat cream cheese until soft, add crushed Oreos and mix thoroughly.  Chill until firm, roll into balls (I used a cookie scoop to get them all the same size), chill again.  Dip in melted chocolate.  We drizzled white chocolate on top to make them pretty.  Sorry I don't have a picture of the finished product, but like the brown butter rice crispy treats,  cranberry orange shortbread cookies, cake cookies with holly sprinkles, and chocolate dipped pretzles, we quickly took them to lovely neighbors and friends where I heard they were devoured!

 If she drives anything like she operates a mixer, we have a NASCAR driver in our midst.

Eight cups of perfectly round, sprinkled to perfection, Christmas cookies.  I love baking season!

Birthday bowling

 It's a little funny, but Bryn hated bowling.  She liked the sparkly ball, but throwing it, crashing the pins, and the magically appearing ball from the floor... not so much.

Fanny and Pernille bough ice-cream afterward. Bryn ate that entire thing!
I had a great birthday.  Even though my bowling score was close to how old I turned:)

Genius

I just gotta brag for a minute, my kid is so stinkin' smart!  She balanced these jars, and 15 minutes later, she had her bottle on her head!  Poised for something amazing!

Thankful

I'm pretty sure I live in the valley of Fourth Nephi.  There are people around me, that do not dispute or cause contention.  This is a prosperous place, and I include myself, even though life isn't perfect.  I have never seen a happier people, ever, in all the lands.  I know that this world has some really huge problems, but my little world is Zion.  Built by the hand of God, manifested by people who possess the love of God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I'm a pretty prideful person, but I can be humbled...  I'm going to try really hard to be grateful.  Thankful for the goodness that still thrives in people.  It's there.  

I like having total control of my life.  Recently, I have no control of how nice people are.  If I ran the world, I'm sure it would be full of grumpy, ornery and selfish people.  Thankfully, I don't run the world and it is full of generous, non-judgmental, joyful people who just like to share, and give, and uplift, and encourage.  I'm thankful for my neighbors, friends, and simply good people I don't even know.  I'm thankful that people listen to the promptings God sends to help me.  I know that I am a Daughter of God, and I am not forgotten.  He very carefully watches me, and ensures I have what I need, many times through others.  

My goal now, is to be the people I'm thankful for.  It will be rough, and please don't make fun of me.  I'm will work hard, but listen... I'm totally afraid of approaching people.  Seriously it skyrockets my blood pressure knocking on someones door, to give them a plate of cookies!  I'm thankful for Shane who delivered the 20 something plates last night, and only made me do one.  But, I'm going to listen to my promptings, and maybe, maybe, I'll be able to help someone and learn that it's okay to be nice, and give and serve and love.