Kids Holiday Performances

This year all my kids were able to participate in their school performances. Luke and Gabby were in "Winter at the O.K. Coral". Little did I know, Luke had one of the main rolls! He just said he had a speaking part, no big deal. But I open the program and his name is second on the list and he had SEVERAL speaking parts! Way to go "Mayor Manly"!! Now every time I pick him up from school kids come up to him and ask to shake his hand or quote his lines to him. He just blushes :).

Here is just one clip.

Gabby also had a speaking part, but my camera died and we recorded it on Nate's phone. I have to have him home so he can put it on here. Then Lily had a little song performance for preschool. It was super cute. They did 4 songs, here is one:

I love these kids!

More from Lily

Yesterday I was busy working on some projects and Lily was running around playing. All of the sudden she was at my elbow just standing there. I asked her what was up and she said:
"Mom, can Heavenly Father see us all the time?"
"Yes."
"And he knows the things that we do?"
"Yes." At this point I am thinking, yeah! she listens!! Then she says,
"...SO Heavenly Father is JUST like SANTA!!!"

Recipes

For those of you who asked, I figured this would be the easiest way to get you the recipes :). These are some of our favorites! (Though I won't tell you they are healthy, cause they aren't.) I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Layer Bars (Irma Bars)


1 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 c. butterscotch chips
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped pecans
1 can sweetened condensed milk


1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and butter together, press into bottom of 13x9 in. pan.

2. Spread chips, coconut and nuts in layers on top of eachother

3. Drizzle milk evenly over the top of everything.

4. Bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes.



Oreo Truffles

1 pkg (8oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 pkg oreos, finely crushed (about 4 1/4 cups)
6-8 squares bakers semi-sweet chocolate


1. Mix cream cheese and 3 cups of oreo crumbs until well blended.

2. Shape into 1 inch balls (makes about 48). Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

3. Melt chocolate. Dip each ball into melted chocolate and set on wax paper to dry. Sprinkle with remaining oreo crumbs.

4. Refrigerate for 1 hr or until firm.

Super easy! We are planning to do some more baking next week. So ANYONE who wants to join us, just let me know and we will coordinate! I am so excited!!

My little helper

How I love Christmas baking! True most of it is not good for me, but I give most of it away so it doesn't end up on MY hips!! ;) I truly miss getting together with my mom, sisters and sister-in-laws to do our annual Christmas baking. I thought about asking some of the ladies in my ward to come over and bake with me, but when I mentioned it to some of them, no one seemed that interested. Then I had a marvelous idea to just bake with my girls! The first instalment happened yesterday. Gabby was at school, but I was seriously craving mom's layer bars, that we call "Irma Bars" after the neighbor that introduced our family to them. Lily and I gathered everything we would need, put our aprons on, and started. She was such a big help, it made me sad to think that I usually don't let her in because I think she'll just be in the way.

 She felt so big and really did a good job with whatever I asked her to do. She took her job very seriously and was so excited when I told her she could wipe her hand right on the apron! (She LOVED the apron. Shhhh, don't tell her she is getting one for Christmas!!!)

 She was fascinated by the sweetened condensed milk and wondered how it could go from this liquid to something we could pick up and eat!

 After the layer bars were baking we went to making Oreo truffles. They are oh so good! Unfortunately, after we got started on them I forgot all about pictures because I had to roll and dip 48 of these little suckers!

It was a lot of fun to bake with my Lily and I can't wait to do some more with Gabby home to help us! And maybe I will see if any of those ladies want to join us after all. (I have about 10 recipes I want to make this year!!!)

Christmas Tree Time

One of my favorite traditions growing up was to go the day after Thanksgiving and cut down our Christmas tree in the mountains. I have so many fond memories of trudging through the snow to find the perfect tree and then drinking hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music. Unfortunately it has been a few years since we have been able to participate in that tradition. A few years ago we got a fake tree because our landlord wouldn't allow a real tree. I was hoping this year, since we now own our house, that we could get a real one again, but Nate said not this year. We have, however, kept up the tradition of decorating the tree the day after. (This year it was on the Monday after for FHE since we were gone over the Thanksgiving weekend.) The kids were SOOO excited and couldn't stop talking about it! As soon as dinner was over we started. Luke gave us a wonderful lesson on the True meaning of Christmas and reminded us all that it is really about Jesus. (How did I get such good kids?!) We turned on our Christmas music, thanks again Dad for the CD!!, and began to decorate!

 I handed out the ornaments and Nate took some pictures so we could document the fun. Our tree is getting too small for all the ornaments we have acquired!

 This year it was Luke's turn to put the star up!

 My happy helpers!

 One with me just so you can all gawk at my huge belly. ( I have been getting the "Oh my, when are you due?! comments already. It is going to be a long 11 more weeks!!)

Hurray for Christmas!!! We are all super excited for it!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we were able to go back down to visit some of our best friends! It was exciting and much looked forward to by all. The kids had a count down and waiting for Nate to come home from work on Wednesday so we could start was torture for them! Lily would ask about every 30 minutes if it was time to go yet. We finally started our way down to Huntington and made it there by dinner time. The kids were so excited I didn't see them for the first hour we were there! We got to meet baby Kaito, who is just about the cutest little boy ever! We got to eat wonderful food, stay up late talking, shop til we dropped and go see a total girl movie without the boys! It was fantastic! Unfortunately I forgot to take any pictures! It is really sad, but I am hoping someone got some that I can steal later on. On Thanksgiving we spent the majority of the day in the kitchen preparing and then sat down to a wonderful meal. Everyone did such an amazing job and I was so thankful to be able to benefit from some wonderful cooks! After we ate, the kids ran off to play while the adults sat around talking. A little while into our chatting we heard some giggling up in the play room. One of the dad's went to check it out. He came down laughing so hard he could hardly talk. He just said we had to see the kids. So the kids came down one at a time to show us what they had been up to. Paint. Body Paint. All. Over. Themselves! The best was Ethan who painted himself COMPLETELY black. Hands, face, neck, etc. The only thing white were his teeth, eyes and fingernails. He was trying to be a black panther. It was so funny! Luke outlined a skeleton on himself and the girls just painted in every color they had. It was a HUGE mess to clean up and was hard to get off their bodies, but they had such a fun time and were soooo proud of themselves. Nate was NOT amused. But it was a memory I don't think any one will soon forget! The girls and I headed out for some crazy black Friday shopping and had a great time. The boys spent time building a huge wooden play set out in Stan and DeNae's backyard. They also took the kids to a Chuck-E-Cheese type place while we ladies went to see Twilight. We all had so much fun and it was so nice to be able to stay for Gordon to bless Kaito on Sunday. I am so thankful for the friends we have that make living away from family more bearable! I have so much that I am thankful for and I am glad that I have people in my life to share that with! 

AGAIN...??!!!!??....

At the beginning of the year, Luke needed a new pair of tennis shoes. He had out grown the last pair, which had lasted all last year. He found a pair he liked at WalMart. I know not to buy shoes from there, but he convinced me anyways. With in a few short weeks the soul had completely torn off. So I went to Target thinking I should have better luck there. And this is the result a mere 5 weeks later.

What am I going to do?! I can't afford good shoes for him, that is why we got the ones we did, but I can't afford to get him a new pair every month because they fall apart either!!! Any suggestions on brands to get that will withstand a rather tough 9 year old?? I am so frustrated!