5 MONTHS!!

James turned 5 months old (November 30) and he is getting so big.  He is always full of smiles and can roll over, one way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Blessing Flashbacks: Nedra found Ben's Baby Blessing outfit, a blue tuxedo, which Nedra made herself.  It was a little big but fit James and so we did a photo shoot.  Now I only wish we could find a picture of Ben in it to compare!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Yes, it is true, they made another Star Wars! And it was SO GOOD! Let's start at the beginning...
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....

Star Wars is epic.  We all grew up watching it.  We all grew up cheering for the Jedi and quoting Darth Vader to every person named Luke that we know.  When I was in high school they came out with episodes 1,2 and 3 (4,5,6 came first- confusing I know) and they were just, meh...okay.  It was exciting to see the story and fun to see the action but they were not really up to par with the three original movies.  When the announcement of the 7th movie was made it was exciting and apprehensive at the same time; was it going to be good, disappointing like the first three episodes or totally lame like all 100 Rocky movies?

The excitement grew, Ben watched the previews 100 of times and was pretty sure he knew the time line (he was wrong) and we watched as Star Wars, again, started seeping into all aspects of our lives.  Then we learned that for Ben's work party they were renting out a theater and have a pre-showing of Star Wars- PRE SHOWING!! (He got to see it at 7 and it opened at midnight)  The only glitch, it was employees only. I was heart broken and had to come with terms that I was not going to see this (already sold out) movie until the new year.

The day quickly approached (December 17) and I sent Ben to work, knowing that the next time I saw him he would have this epic story in mind.  I then got a call that morning that Ben had gotten an extra ticket and I could come!! I was so excited.  Babysitters were called but it was finals week (excuses excuses) so Mom drove up to watch the kids (thank you thank you). 

I got to the theater and just walked in, no line, and sat in the most amazing seat (reclining and in the PERFECT place in the theater), got free popcorn and a drink (thanks Crocs) and hunkered down. And.... it was amazing!

The original cast, now old, were in it and there were quotes and nods to the originals that made it so fun and memorable.  There was good action and good new characters.  I  laughed and I cried (boy did I cry).  The moment it ended I could have sat down and watched it again.

As we walked out of the theater I walked past everyone, who had pre-ordered their tickets weeks/months in advance, standing in line, hours early, waiting and thought "You guys have no idea how cool this is.... and I got to see it first..ha" (yes, maybe a little childish but I was feeling nostalgic and childish).

It was a great movie and it was fun to remember and have my childhood brought back.  It's fun to see the new generations loving when was old (and it was old when I watched it) and so see this amazing story continue.  Elizabeth loves chewbaca and life is good!

Holiday Fun

I decided that a good way to lower the intake of holiday treats would be to limit the amount I made and do them early. So right after Thanksgiving I began but I was met with a lot of problems. I first made fudge but I did it wrong and ended up with fudge frosting so I tried adding flour and turning them into cookies which also didn't work well.  I then made sugar cookie swirls (to take to the RS Party) but didn't have enough powdered sugar and ended up having to take them without frosting- blah. So I again tried fudge and some famous Stones Family Caramels.  The fudge was a little grainy but it was good enough to eat and I was pretty proud of the caramels.

Later in the month we again attempted sugar cookies to take caroling with us.  I was distracted by James and Elizabeth decided to turn the blender on super speed right after adding the flour and our kitchen quickly became covered in flour.  It was funny and all over Elizabeth but tough to get it all cleaned up. The cookies were good but I used old butter for the frosting and it was gross (tasted like our fridge). So we had to get rid of some of them and make new frosting for the rest. So... I didn't make as many goodies as usual and the ones that I did attempt didn't really work well. I guess I should just stick to making a lot of them!

 

 

On Friday December 4, we met up with some friends (the Hoffmans and the Stephens) in Old Town Louisville to watch the Parade of Lights. It was so much fun to be all bundled and see all of the lights.  It is a great way to start the holiday season.

 

 

 

 

 

We wanted to decorate our tree together but with all of the activities going up at the beginning of the month we got the tree up but didn't get it decorated for a while.  It was fun to get everything out and decorated in the house. Elizabeth loved to help and to look through it all.

 

We watched the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional at the Newson's house while decorating their tree. It was fun seeing the ornament distribution with a toddler decorating.

I had a lot of fun doing things at the beginning of the month. I was invited to sing in a quartet for the Relief Society Christmas Party and I was so nervous.  I discovered that I love to sing in big groups (choirs) but am a little scared of singing in smaller groups.  Rachel helped me practice and the performance was ok.  The next week we had our Annual Book Club Exchange at Red Robin. We all get together and talk, eat and have a white elephant style book exchange.


While we were in California it snowed almost a foot and so when we got home we got to play in it! It was quite a shock to playing on the beach the day before but it was fun and beautiful to tromp through the snow.  James was not a fan.

 

 

This year the Ward Christmas Party (Dec 19) was appetizers and desserts with a small program and it was all very nice.  But the best part was the pre-party where the Primary and YW had made wonderful activities for the kids; Elf Workshop with crafts, story time with Mrs Clause and a special visit with Santa Clause.  Ben mysteriously disappeared when Santa was there and arrived after he left- so he missed him! (They have more pictures of Santa.  We even got a family picture but... Ben wasn't there!)

 

 

At the beginning of the holidays I was telling Elizabeth everything that we were going to do and mentioned a Ginger Bread house. Then December went fast and things got busy, so I figured we would just pass on that this year, that is until Elizabeth reminded me that we had to make one before Christmas.  So, we decided to make a ginger bread house.  We cut the house out of cardboard (thanks Ben) and taped it together.  Then I made frosting and Elizabeth started decorating; the frosting was way to soft and so as I thickened it, Elizabeth just ate the candy.  One side of the roof has a bite out of each piece of candy (but once they were on she didn't touch them because of the glue on them).  It looks a little haphazard and it's okay. It was made with love by a toddler and it helped to fulfill her holiday preparations

 

 

 

 

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