Giveaway at Simple Mom

Are you exhausted and worn out from the holidays, end of the school semester or just the end of the year hustle and bustle?  Well here is your chance.  One of my favorite blogs, Simple Mom is have a gift basket giveaway.  Be sure to head on over there and check it out.

Christmas Devotional

Last night we had the wonderful opportunity to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional.  It was a beautiful reminder of what Christmas is all about.  I enjoyed the stories that President Utchdorf shared about the Christmases of his childhood.  I loved the songs that were sung by the Tabernacle Choir.  I felt the Christmas spirt.

If you don't know every December the First Presidency (of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) does a 1 hour program with music and talks about Christmas.  I always love listening to it.  I feel the Spirit and I remember what Christmas is all about and I get more in the spirit of the holiday.  If you missed the program or would like to experience it yourself just click HERE.

You will get into the Christmas spirit and you will enjoy the lovely music.  Merry Christmas!

Streets of Bethlehem

*Sorry no pictures*

Tonight we had the wonderful opportunity to head down to Sanford for a tour through the streets of Bethlehem.

Upon arriving at the church Mary and Joseph were making their way to Bethlehem on the donkey. We waited in the primary room, while listening to wonderful Christmas music. Our tour began with an entry into Bethlehem by passing through the Roman guards conducting the census. We were able to witness the exchanging of money. We met some merchants of pots, cloth, spices and bread. We met the inn keepers where Mary and Joseph tried to obtain lodging and ended up staying in the stable of the inn. We met a shepherd and his sheep only to promptly hear from the angel that proclaimed the birth of Christ. We ended our tour with the viewing of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the stable surrounded by the wise men.

It was such a wonderful experience to attend this special event. To have the opportunity to remember the true meaning of this time of year. This is when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who is our Savior, our Advocate and our elder brother.

I hope that we all will remember the true meaning of Christmas and not get so caught up in the commercialism of the season.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Tree

This is my desired Christmas tree

that I got to have this year.

We were able to find an artificial tree

that was skinny enough

to fit in our apartment.

We had a great time decorating 

the tree today.

David was very excited about

his ornament from 2007

that matched his toy Thomas train.

Look for more Christmas Celebration

tomorrow as we take a walk

through the streets of Bethlehem

down in Sanford.

Thanksgiving Fun

We spent our Thanksgiving in Woodland Park.  With the thankful holiday we also did a Hinton family birthday party for David.  He got to have a pinata and really enjoyed it.  The day after Thanksgiving we went to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center.  It was really cool and if you are ever in Woodland Park, I highly recommend a visit there.

Chocolate Peppermint Shortbread Cookies

It's that baking time of year and this recipe arrived in my email yesterday afternoon.  It sounded so good I promptly tried it yesterday evening.  This comes from Land O'Lakes.

Cookie:

3/4 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

2 (1 oz) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Frosting:

1 c. powdered sugar

2 tbsp. butter, softened

1 tbsp. milk

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract

green food coloring

Drizzle:

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. shortening

Heat oven to 375F.  Combine all cookie ingredients except flour and chocolate chips in a large bowl.  Beat at medium speed until creamy.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour; beat until mixture forms a dough.  Stir in chocolate chips by hand.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten each ball to 1 1/2 inch circles.  Bake for 5-7 minutes or until set - DO NOT OVERBAKE!  Let stand 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets.  Cool completely on wire rack.  Combine all frosting ingredients in a small bowl.  Beat at low speed until smooth.  Frost cooled cookies.  Place cookies on waxed paper.  Place drizzle ingredients in a small microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth.  Drizzle thin lines of chocolate over frosting with teaspoon.  Let stand until chocolate is set, at least 30 minutes (if you can, we didn't make it that long).

Leaps and Bounds

....that's how David vocabulary is growing.  Often times I can't believe the words and sentences that come out of his mouth!  No wonder they say that childhood is the best time to learn a new language, the kids pick it up so quickly!  Anyway...this is conversation that transpired this afternoon:

David:  What are you doing Mom?

Me:  I'm making brownies.

David:  Yeah, I'm hungry

Me:  I'm going to make dinner in just a minute.

We're going to have Mac & Cheese dog Casserole

David:  That sounds excellent Mom!

Me:  That sounds excellent?

David:  Yeah, I'm hungry.  I didn't eat my lunch.

Cut, Cut, Cut

Dad:  David, did you cut your hair?

David:  Yeah.....with my orange scissors.

Snow Day

David's Bed

There is no place to purchase a sheet set for a toddler bed, especially a flannel sheet set.  I took a trip to walmart; david and i picked out the perfect flannel, i measured and purchased 5 yards of it and be brought the package home.  when we got home i got to work on my project of making a set of sheets for the bed.  I pulled the sheets off David's bed, brought the bed into the kitchen to put on the table and then proceeded to pin the fabric to begin my fitted sheet.  The fitted sheet is what worried me most and it turned out perfect!  I am so proud of myself.  Now because I got a late start on my project I only finished the fitted sheet and pillow case before putting David to bed rather late.  I finished the flat sheet this morning, you know ironing it flat and then sewing off the rough edges.  I am so proud of my project, have I said that yet?

Anyway, as I was working this morning I had a thought, partly struck by my friends request for sheet sets for toddler beds and my wanting warmer sheets for David.....would anyone be interested in purchasing toddler sheet sets from me?  I want to know your thoughts on the subject.  Also if you are interested in answering more questions I also posted this on my blog with tons of questions.  Please let me know what you think.

Snow is Falling!

The snow fell this morning totaling about 4-5 inches.  Due the the fresh snow came a new pair of snow boots.  David was really excited about them and loves being able to put them on by himself.  Can't you tell how excited he is?

What can I say?

P.S.  it's a skittle

Halloween Fun

We had quite a bit of halloween fun this year.  This is a good sampling of the events we participated in.

Ward Halloween Party - Saturday, October 25, 2008.  David enjoyed doing a cake walk like activity.  

Faculty Drive Halloween Party - Thursday, October 30, 2008.  David enjoyed fishing.  Dustin and I both bobbed for apples, it was fun.

Faculty Drive Halloween decoration contest.  I got some spider web stuff and I made a bunch of spiders out of egg cartons (there are more detailed pictures at the end).

Halloween Carnival at the Rec Center.  David had a hard time with the concept of playing games for prizes with so many activities and people in one room.

Trick or Treating - Friday October 31, 2008.  We went trick or treating with some friends of ours the Wubbens.  David and Abby had a great time going from house to house.

Great Dinner

Tonight we had a great dinner of pizza.  My sister-in-law Danielle sent this recipe to me and we tried it.  Normally I would just put the recipe on my recipe blog but since I want everyone to have a chance to try it.  I thought I would post it here.

Butternut Squash Pizza

2 lb. butternut squash

1 yellow onion

3 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

pizza dough

thyme

1/2 c. ricotta cheese

Heat the oven to 400F.  Peel the squash and slice into 1/2 inch rings, then into 1 inch cubes.  Chop onion into cubes also.  Toss squash and onion with oil, salt and pepper.  Place on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 20 minutes.  Roll dough out onto a pizza pan and top with squash and onion mixture.  Sprinkle with thyme leaves.  Dot with dollops of ricotta cheese.  Bake in a 450F oven for 15-20 minutes.

**Note:  If you want an easy time peeling your squash, warm it in the microwave for a couple of minutes (1-3) depending on how hot your microwave gets.

As Promised

I know you have been wondering how my pumpkin came out.  I had lots of fun carving my pumpkin this year, I think my pattern was a little more difficult than I probably should have started with but that is okay.  I have learned that a pumpkin carved the way I did it should be carved just before it is displayed.  The design seemed to wilt pretty quickly and the pumpkin got moldy within a couple of days.  Here are pictures of our pumpkins that we carved.

**P.S.  I know I still have some prizes to send out, I'll get to it, we had to go out of town for a couple of days.  I have the perfect thing to send to you too.

Fall...Again

Wednesday we went up to Fort Collins to take care of some condo we needed to get done.  It was funny going up there because it was like going back in time.  Down here the leaves have all changed and the trees are pretty bare.  The further north we went the greener and leafier the trees got.  We were able to spend some time with our great friends.  

We had dinner and games with the Padilla's on Wednesday night, we played Zombies, very appropriate for the season!  

Thursday morning I went to breakfast with Chantel, David came too, and Dustin went to lunch with Allen.  In the afternoon Dustin and I worked on Chantel's backyard.  I racked the leaves, David jumped in the leaves and Dustin mowed the grass, he even has the blister to prove it!  David and Arden had a great time in the leaves.  Thursday night we went to the Corn Maze in LaSalle with our friends the Sunvisons.  David and Atticus had a great time running through the maze, there are no pictures because it was dark, but believe me they had fun!  

Friday morning before we left we were able to see our friends the Crawfords.  David enjoyed playing withJessica and I think Jessica tolerated him.  We found out that David really likes candy corn.  Anyway that is our exciting trip to Fort Collins.  Enjoy the pictures.

A Walk Along the River

Every Monday we have a play date with one of David's friends. Yesterday we decided to head on over to the Alamosa Natural Wildlife Refuge. If you remember we went there back in April or May. David and Ava had a great time running, exploring, sticking fingers and faces down holes. Once they started whining about be hungry and thirsty we headed back to toward the car to go home. We got some great pictures of the kids. It was a beautiful day to be out there, we certainly couldn't have done it today! Yes, those last couple of pictures is David and Ava holding hands or getting ready to hold hands, too cute.