MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

We had such a fun Christmas weekend--really it could not have been better. It started out on Thursday (Christmas eve) with a little free (thank you culture pass) trip to the zoo.

Harrison was super excited about seeing all the animals...
He really liked the goats in the petting zoo (although getting close was a little scary). And the monkeys. And the wallabies.

Plus he got to sit on a frog in the "enchanted forest". So that's fun.
And of course check out a Kangaroo's pouch.

A first for Harrison was the carousel! He may still be a little young because he was kind of scared at first. But he got used to it :)

On Christmas morning we got up bright and early (mommy woke Harrison up at 7....) so we could open presents. We have video of about an hour of Harrison opening presents. It's pretty thrilling but I'll save it for later. He got the hang of it once we started each present. We kept our presents to two toys but I did go a bit overboard on books and clothes (that he needs right?) so we set some aside for birthday presents but DON'T TELL!!!

Later in the morning we went over to my mom and Larry's for "brunch." My grandpa was in town and it was awesome to see him.



Aaron and Stephanie were ridiculously late and we were all pretty starving. Luckily they made up for it by spoiling everyone rotten. Stephanie made us the most BEAUTIFUL scrapbook of Harrison's first year. She put so much time into it. Such a thoughtful gift!! My bro sure is lucky!

Harrison cleaned up in the gift department. We now have one of those houses full of toys I never thought I would have :)

Later that day I went for an awesome run and then we went to see the temple lights. Luckily we got there early enough before it was really crowded.


man I'm hot stuff.

The fun continued Saturday. Larry took Cory and I both on glider rides out in Maricopa. A glider is a plane without an engine. You have another plane drag you up like a kite and then they let you go and you basically float down (with some turns and stuff). It was awesome and such a beautiful day!!!
Cory getting ready to go

I was a bit nervous

You may think that's it but last night we went out to dinner at Rawhide. It's this Western town out near us. Cory was sure looking forward to hearing live country music and wearing a cowboy hat --ok, just kidding. But the atmosphere was really fun.
And we got to eat rattlesnake...which wasn't bad

and Rocky Mountain Oysters...GROSS


Harrison and grandpa did some dancing

And of course he had to ride a bull...er..horse...



So..there you have it--what I did on my Christmas vacation. I had a great time and I'm so grateful and SO BLESSED to have such a wonderful family.

carseats???

I'm sorry for non-mommies who read this but I need advice. It's time for Harrison to get a new carseat because he has outgrown his. He's over 20 pounds so when he turns 1 we were planning to go get a convertible seat and have him face forward. HOWEVER while reading carseat reviews on Amazon just now I stumbled on all kinds of articles and what not basically telling me that while the American Academy of Pediatrics technically maintains the 1 year 20 pound rule, it is MUCH safer (and that you're basically putting your child's life in danger in the name of keeping him happy if you follow the "outdated" rule that the AAP will soon be changing...) to keep your kid rear facing for absolutely as long as the carseat allows---at least up to age 2. They cite this article.

http://babyproducts.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=babyproducts&cdn=parenting&tm=224&f=00&su=p948.1.230.ip_&tt=13&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/13/6/398.abstract


So the question is when I get a seat that allows rear facing up to 35 pounds do I rear face or forward face??? Safety is obviously most important but at the same time some of these internet people are just a little crazy. Besides. I've never actually met anyone with a 1 year old that does not do forward facing, so what gives?? Anyone have an opinion???

Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!!

Trip to Texas and a stinker

Last weekend we got to go to Texas for my very good friend Kerri's wedding. Kerri and Marcy got married on Saturday in McAllen (you know, like the border) and Lisa, Jen, and I were bridesmaids.

It was good times. We ate lots, set up for the reception, (tying more bows than I thought I'd see in a lifetime) and thoroughly enjoyed the festivities. The bride and groom were SO cute and SO happy and it was great to hang out with the girls and their spouses.

The night before we had some girly time with Kerri. She wore a tiara. Gifts were given. Tiny ben and jerry's pints were eaten.
Jen and Russ at the reception. They love each other as you can see.

Harrison and his mama
Lisa and Nick looking suave as usual.
Family shot
A little daddy-son bonding. SO cute.
Kerri dancing with Marci, or maybe her dad.....
Harrison was a trooper during this trip. He got very few naps and was put to bed way later than usual. Needless to say he was a little tired here....

Oh yeah and they had a Mariachi band during dinner. How awesome is that?
Cutting the cake. Someone in their ward made it. For free. Those Texans sure are hospitable!
The girls

The girls and one BEAUTIFUL bride

If you'd like to see better pics of the trip check out Jen's blog here And if you'd like to see more of Kerri and Marcy, here's their wedding website.

And now for the stinker

So the eighteenth christmas treat I made this year was some cake truffles--just cuz I wanted to try them out. It's harder than it looks. I managed to salvage about eight pretty-ish ones that I gave to Jen and Lisa
The leftovers are in our fridge now in a ziploc baggie. Safely on the second shelf...Right????

Well I thought so. Until today.

Best. Potato. Soup. Ever.

There is a reason this was in all recipes top 20. YUM YUM YUM. And really easy.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 3/4 cup diced cooked ham
• 3 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups milk

Directions

1. Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.
2. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

What Harrison does when he thinks I'm not looking

And more on what we've been up to lately:
The kitchen faucet broke...here is our ghetto fabulous temporary solution while we try to track down a part (in order to avoid buying a whole new faucet...). Awesome.

I decorated 82 christmas cookies while harrison ate colored sugar off the floor
We got a tree and decorated it-YAY!!! I love this time of year
(we are re-arranging some furniture..that's why outdoor lights are sitting where the TV should be....)
AND harrison had fun with some garland.

That's pretty much it. Still no job for me. And sadly, I think the job-getting time of year is about over. However, the good news is that I have FINALLY been recommended for admission to the AZ bar. To save paying $267 for dues for like three days of 2009 I'm going to hold off on actually getting admitted until 2010 but it's nice to know that a license to practice law is in my future :)

Warning: This is kind of dumb

But I laughed :)

http://vimeo.com/8009598

Happiness is....PLAYING IN YOUR JAMMIES!!!!

He's coming to get me!!!
Hi mommy!!!!
I can push the high chair across the room too, right???
whose SEXY leg is that???
And no, he didn't take the cabinet doors off, that was me...of course, he did take everything OUT...

How's it gonna be Harrison?

Will you ever be able to resist the toilet paper roll???
Will I ever be able to use toilet paper that hasn't been gathered from a pile on the floor???

Thanksgiving round one and a trip to the park

Harrison plays around with uncle Aaron

We celebrated Thanksgiving last Sunday with my mom and Larry and Larry's son Kevin and his wife Candace and there kids. It was way fun. I made pumpkin cheesecake and cranberry sausage stuffing which were huge hits and a blackberry peach pie that was just a bit on the watery side. Oh well. Next time wait until the peaches are defrosted before putting them in the pie. Harrison had a great time playing with the kids and eating turkey and stuffing from the comfort of his stroller. Since we now have Thanksgiving day free we decided (knock on wood) to take Harrison on his first road trip to Utah to spend the holiday with Cory's family. Pictures forthcoming...hopefully not all of Harrison screaming from the back seat.

Jonathan would slap the exercise ball while Harrison stood against it. Harrison found this to be SO much fun.

The big table
Yum Yum turkey!

Today Harrison and I celebrated the beautiful 70 degree weather by going to Chaparral park. I had some dried bread left over from stuffing and I thought it would be fun to feed the ducks.

Birds!!!!

Look mom, birds!!!

I'm just going to go get some birds

Grass is fun!!!

Ducks and birds were attacking us. The birds would snatch the ducks bread right out of the air. It was pretty impressive.


Enjoying the wildlife

I don't know if you can tell in this pic but his 12 m pants are a bit big. Saggy pants already!!!!
And of course--the swings!! Harrison loves swinging. The picture doesn't really show his joy, I'm working on posting a video :)