Merry Christmas!!!

Wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! It's been a crazy year but we feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, a roof over our heads, food on the table, a job that Ben loves and a new baby boy on the way! We hope your days are Merry and hope to see you all soon.... Love, us!

Fall Baking

Fall means holiday baking and thinking about gifts! Every year my family does ravioli with Thanksgiving and Christmas, it's just not the same without it. The recipe comes from my great-grandfather who was born in Italy. There was no written recipe, he just knew how much to put in, so the year before he died, my aunt sat down as he poured spices into his hand, she measured and wrote it down. It's a labor of love, and this is only my second time trying it on my own, and it is so rewarding. I think I ended up with over 12 dozen, I even had to pull off a gluten-free one for my hubby, we'll see how they turn out come Thanksgiving, meanwhile, until then I get to admire them in my freezer! Someday the kids will get to help out a little more, but for this year they just got to play in the flour and make it snow! Fun to clean up, let me tell you.

Last year at Wendy's awesome family and neighbors brought over some yummy treats, so I tried making some of them too... Tomatillo Salsa turned out great, but I wasn't too thrilled with the recipe I found for Jalepeno Jelly... guess I have to really hunt down Debby's recipe :) Meanwhile, anyone else have one they tried and love?

Aren't they so pretty? I love seeing the nice clean, jarred foods :) Call me grandma, but it brings back so many memories!

Happy Halloween

For me an important part of each holiday is fun/good food!!! Yay, so for Halloween we started the day off with Pumpkin Pancakes :) Banana eyes, raisin nose, and of course, chocolate chip smiles.

With all of our sickness we didn't get around to carving pumpkins until the day of, and somehow mom and dad seem to end up doing all the work, that's why we only did 3 this year.

Our creepy, fun dinner... eyeball soup, monster bites and zombie toes. Tally wasn't too excited about it, we had to un-disguise the food before she'd eat it. We'd watched all the Indiana Jones movies recently, so the eyeball soup was a little too creepy for her.


Our dressed up gang... the whole run of princesses... Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, and their brave protector, Superman! Thanks to trunk-or-treats I don't think we need to buy any easter candy, because it probably will last us that long!

Fall Fun

A couple Saturdays ago, before we all got the flu, we got together with some friends and went to a pumpkin patch and another of the local lakes. We found a few turning leaves!

Tally's 3rd Birthday

Tally had the funnest birthday ever... seriously who wouldn't give to be 3 again! Everything was so exciting. She got a huge butterfly baloon, presents all day, and even a package from Uncle Brian. She wanted her favorite color, green, cake, and mommy was a "best friend" all day long because of how excited she was about everything she got. We even got lucky enough to have Wendy and sisters Penny and Cindy come by for dinner... good timing. After dinner we did a fire in our new fire-pit dad made and it was the end to a perfect day. Now she can't wait until it's her birthday again, too bad it has to end.

Kids Chore Chart

I LOVE the world of blogging... I ran across this today and thought I'd pass it along. Cute and free and easy. You can fill in your own chores and print out for your kids:

Just click here if you want to make one yourself!

Open House

Here you go Andrea (and anyone else who wanted a peak), the pics of our new house :)

Small towns are Awesome

I lived in a really small town for a good amount of my growing up and it was so much fun... so being here in Chino Valley, AZ I'm loving the small town feel and events. On Saturday we had a window in the rain just long enough to enjoy the town parade and activities. They had a blow-up bouncy castle and waterslide that probably went up about 10 or 12 feet. Sammie was content to just watch, but Tally was all for it... she went down the waterslide 3 times. It was hilarious.

Another set of Firsts and a Birthday

Ben & Alaura's 1st Day of School... 2nd and 1st graders now

They've always wanted to ride the bus,
so they're thrilled with their van rides to and from school!

Alaura lost her 1st tooth and a couple days later her 2nd

Anabelle had her 1st day in church Nursery...
they turned her into a Nephite... so cute!
Her funny face is because she's saying "cheese"

Squirt turned 31... we nearly set off the fire alarm :)

So Rusty!

I've been without crafting so long I don't know if I can remember how to do it anymore :) So I'm in awe at my Sis-in-Law Andrea's adorable projects you have to check out on her blog! She's bit me with the bug, but I don't know where to start. We got moved into our new home and my craft stuff was finally put all away. I'm debating on doing a couple craft fairs before the holidays, maybe doing I-spy bags, bows & holders, Lost Socks banners, drawer labels for kids... what do ya' think? Anyway, here's my new craft room and my revolving art gallery for kids!My laundry/craft room.... I LOVE all the drawers :)

I LOVE my peg-board, I got it alley-driving in Phoenix
and it's so handy... I even got my ribbons hung on it this time
with some metal rods and curtain rod brackets...
Every time I walk by I'm drawn in, gotta start crafting!

My revolving art gallery for kids... the perfect place to display the kids school and church art-work... I took 12x12 scrapbook paper, covered it with clear contact paper and taped it to the wall. Now I can tape the kids art on and remove it when it's time for fresh stuff.

We've finally landed again :)

After a few months of limbo, Ben got hired at Guidance Helicopters in Prescott, AZ, so we got to stay in the area. We rented a house in Chino Valley and moved in the first week of August. Wendy and Cassie came down to give us a hand, and boy was it useful and fun having them around! Chino has grown on me really quickly, I don't even mind the tarantulas, although the centipedes and wolf spiders I could do without :)Sunsets from our front porch... lots of the neighbors have horses and goats,

the kids love seeing them every time we drive anywhere.

Our back yard on a misty morning

The weeds we moved in to and the surprise Saturday morning
help from some church-members cleaning them up :)

Burning some of our leftover weeds in the back

One of the biggest perks of the house is the swing set!

Cassie set up Alaura & Sam's new pink and purple room

Can we say "Canasta"... little Ben is hooked on it

The Canasta King with his licorice Cigar, he was sooo slap-happy

We love Summer

By far the best part about summer is going to the pool! Our friend's town has the cutest pool with a waterslide. Ben and Alaura remembered enough of their doggy-paddling from last year to get the A-ok from the lifeguard to get to slide. They just have to be able to get out on their own. Even with it a little cool and breazy, they love it!


When we don't make it to the pool the kids slip-n-slide and splash in the baby pool.

May Meanderings

From AZ to Utah and Back Again:

We're still in limbo, but back all together in AZ. Our family and friends have been so generous and kind to us. It's unsettling not to know what's going on in our future, but it's nice to know there are people looking out for you. I think if they could, my kids would let Jessica adopt them! Tally loves to help out, it's hilarious. Baby and dog in tow, here we go... looking back.

Teddy Bear Picnic

School's Getting Out: Ben's Field Day & Alaura's K Graduation

Family Night to Thanksgiving Point

Visiting Grandma & Grandpa's Cabin

Summer fun with Cousins and Cool Yards

Alaura's 6th Birthday

A Wedding