I love

Blessings

These kiddos This week was the first stretch of time that I had alone with the kids since the 19th of December. I was a little nervous about it, which seems completely absurd. But I had become pleasantly used to the extra help and entertainment. We had a great week though. I'm so grateful to be at home with my babies.

Our new ward We are still just getting to know people. But I'm always amazed at how quickly the Church can make a place feel like home. The building is different, but what happens inside the building is always the same. The faces are different, but the people's hearts are always the same. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same whether in Michigan, Illinois, Paris or London.

A new arrival due this Wednesday. We finally ordered a new computer and printer. The printer arrived last week. A shiny new Apple is en route. I have literally danced for joy several times since ordering it. So many projects have been waiting for machines capable of their completion. Our home videos will finally make it onto DVDs. I will never hand write the 200 addresses for our holiday mailer again--after our new year/we've moved card which is on its way to you all this week, that is. (our printer wouldn't load the label paper correctly. So I had to print the labels on regular paper then take them to kinkos to have it copied onto the label paper...) Anyway, I have the most fantastic feeling that so much of my life is going to become instantly easier and more interesting the moment I take the beloved contraption out of its box. It is a very materialistic thing to be grateful for, but I just can't help it!

Our first outing to the windy city

When the sad day finally came for Sara to leave us, I had to figure out a way to cope. This kind of thing runs in my genes. Reportedly, the only way my mom dealt with leaving me at college was by taking in a healthy dose of retail therapy immediately after leaving my dorm. Anyway, since Sara was flying out of Chicago O'Hare, we decided to make a day of it and visit the Shedd Aquarium downtown before dropping her off.

The day went better than could have been expected for a few reasons:



I can still drive in the city. After nearly two years of small town driving, I was a little nervous about commuting through the center of the nation's 3rd largest city on the last Saturday before the end of the Christmas break. With Sara driving shotgun with a set of map quest directions we made it through with only two wrong turns. We made good time and my blood pressure remained at a healthy level. I was expecting it to be more like driving through Manhattan- which I wouldn't recommend (Katie? Colby? You got me on that one right?). But it wasn't bad at all. I'm sure it is a much different story during midweek rush hour...

We got in for free. We arrived about an hour after they opened and didn't expect the line to be very long. The Aquarium is located on a museum campus that facilitates a planetarium and another large artifact museum. The museum campus shares parking (for $15 a car!) with Soldier Field, home of the famous Chicago Bears. After figuring out where to park - about 1/2 mile away - we excitedly approached the aquarium. As we rounded the front of the building, a guy with a Shedd Aq. fleece and a black Labrador called out to us, inquiring if we already had tickets. Not wanting to be rude, even to a scalper which I thought he was, Sara and I walked over to him. He asked how many were in our group, and when I told him he proceeded to explain that the aquarium has a certain amount of passes they hand out for free at random every day. He handed over the tickets, (worth $16 a piece) the coinciding wristbands, and tickets to their pet show as well. We didn't realize how truly fortunate this was until we got inside. Not only did the gesture save us a bundle of cash, but it saved us about an hour of time waiting in a line which was quite long. We didn't have much time to spend there, so the saved hour was precious indeed.

The Aquarium is amazing. It was so interesting. Grace was in hog heaven. She was forever against the glass... on the floor... any place she could be as close as possible to the aquatic life. The pet show was a little dull for the big kids, but Gracie was completely entertained for its 25 minutes. Grant was fairly interested in the goings on as well. We are excited to make a return trip in the summer after their oceanarium is reopened.

From the Aquarium it was a quick trip to some lunch and the airport. After big hugs and kisses we left Sara and made our way back home. We did hit some traffic on the Chicago loop coming out but had smooth sailing after that. It was a fantastic trip to the airport!

A New Year Tradition

In the South, it is a well practiced tradition to eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on the first day of the year. The consumption of said foods is meant to bring, respectively, health and wealth. I was not raised in the south. But I have enough of the South in my pedigree to cling religiously to this tradition. My mom was born and raised in Texas. Her mother was born and raised in the South as was her grandmother.

As a kid, I was not a fan of this meal. We ate the black-eyed peas straight and the collard greens with jalapeño vinegar (I actually like eating collard greens this way now. As a kid-not so much). I liked the tradition. I just hated actually eating it. Several years ago, my mom started making a dish she calls 'New Year's Rice.' It is quite delicious and includes both of these important ingredients. I make it every year and have grown to love it so much that I could eat the whole lot of it by myself.



This is how I like to make my mom's recipe.

New Year's Rice
2 cups black-eyed peas or one can, rinsed and drained
2-3 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup butter
4 cups torn spinach or collard greens ( I use a whole 9 oz. bag of spinach)
1/2 link of kielbasa sausage, diced
2 T Parmesan cheese
1 t salt
a few dashes of hot sauce- Tabasco, or if you live in my house, Frank's Hot Sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded

Have peas and rice ready
In a large skillet, brown diced sausage. Remove to another dish.
In same skillet, melt butter. Stir in spinach and cook until tender- about 4 minutes.
Add remaining ingredients except the cheeses. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until heated through.
Just before serving, stir in the cheeses.

Makes 5-6 3/4 cup servings.

Ringing in the New Year

Our new year's eve definitely had the makings of a very dull soiree. We had only been unpacking for a couple of days. We didn't have TV stations yet. But between Sara, Cori and myself, we ended up with a great night. There's nothing that a trip to WalMart and a video store can't fix, right?

Cori made a deal with Grace that if she would take a nap at 5:30, she could stay up until midnight with us. Precisely at 5:30, Gracie informed us that she was ready for a snack and her nap.

In the meantime, Sara and I worked up a little feast for our evening of movie viewing: Cheese fondue (we had to go to two different stores to find some Gruyere, and you should have seen the deli lady's face when we asked her if they had any--maybe it was just my perfect French pronunciation...), crispy potato wedges, and crescent rolled little smokies. While the kids were napping, we ate and watched our big kid's movie. Then once they woke up, we ate some more and watched Wall.E- which was very cute.

Grant didn't make it to the big count down. But Gracie stayed up like a champ. We lit sparklers on the back porch. You can devise from Sara's expression what the temperature was like that night. And if you are wondering about the dark faces huddled together in the corner picture, that is me and Sara. Our sparklers went out the very nano second before Cori snapped the picture.

Then we went in for a little toast. Grace has really gotten into the whole toasting idea. We get to do about 5 toasts every night at dinner now. At least three of them are "cheers for animals." Anyway, here are a few pictures of us doing some "cheers."

Did I mention that she really loves toasts? Happy new year, a week later!

Blessings

Sara who spent her entire break from law school helping us move. There were so many other things that she could have been doing. Even things that she needed to get done before her semester starts tomorrow. But she stayed with us until yesterday. With her help we are almost completely unpacked. I'll post more pictures of her stay, our new year's celebration, and our day in Chicago soon.

Cori who managed most of the details of our move while working a job and a half. I had been so ill and was very overwhelmed by the time we got to the week of Christmas. With out any prompting from me, Cori just took over the tasks that are usually mine to manage when we move. He met the driver and the packers. He took care of all the scheduling and all the tipping. He went up to the house everyday to sign off for things. Then while we were with my family, he really did a lot with the kids. I was given such a great opportunity to rest and recouperate. He has never complained, though I know he has needed a break too.

Grace and Grant. They love our new home. They play so well together. They have been so fantastic during this whole transition.

The new year. It is so great to get a fresh start!

Our Christmas 2008

This is Walloon Lake. We rented a vacation home that is just feet from the Lake. It snowed every day my family was with us. That is until the day they went home. That day it rained and melted half the snow away. But we enjoyed a very enchanted and a very white Christmas holiday.

Because our house got packed up the Monday before Christmas, Mom had the excellent idea to make all our tree decorations. She and Grace made long paper chains. We decorated paper snowflakes with glitter glue and strung cranberries. Mom also brought some photos to put on the tree of gifts that didn't make the trip with them. I think it was my favorite Christmas tree ever.

The house was gorgeous. The kitchen. I couldn't get over the kitchen. It was seriously something out of my dreams. Incidentally, I couldn't get into the kitchen. I was still pretty sick, and the rest of my family banned me from any major work. Everyone divided KP duties and we had lots of great food to eat. Sara spent a lot of time baking yummies for us and always let Grace have a hand in the work. In this picture they are working on the home made cinnamon rolls we ate Christmas morning. We played games everyday. Lots of Skip Bo with Super Grandma Bettie, and Cori and I even got the family to play Ticket to Ride -our new favorite- with us. I also included the picture of Grace looking extra sad. She is going to be a great gal to see a chic flick with down the road. She was watching a Mickey Mouse Christmas special. In the cartoon, Pluto had made Mickey really upset, and so he ran away. Both Pluto and Mickey were really sad, and the next thing we know, poor Gracie had little tears running down her cheeks. We watched all our favorite Christmas movies and then some: White Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol (The best!), Christmas Story...

Christmas Eve, we had the Missionaries over for a big dinner and a some festivities. The kids helped us set up our nativity. Grace got pretty good at telling the story. We read together out of Luke II. We sang hymns.

Then, feeling we had been religious enough, we opened some presents, baked cookies for Santa, and made a big plate of vegetables for the reindeer (Grace was very concerned about the reindeer).

Our family Christmas Eve. The only one missing is Jared. And we really missed him! I would also like to draw some attention to Sara's Mr. Miyagi-clad feet. That girl cracks me up. She swears that it is actually quite comfortable to wear socks with flip-flops.

Christmas morning was so much fun. I think I was more excited than the kids were. Christmas gets pretty fun for parents as kids get older.

The rest of the week we did what my family does best. We hung out and took it easy. We ventured out into the snow a couple of times to play. My dad has some cute pictures on his blog of him, Sara and Grace making snow angels, a.k.a. angel jacks, on the frozen lake. We went out to the movies. We also went downtown to my favorite little place, Julienne Tomatoes, to get some tomato gorgonzola soup. Sadly, they weren't serving it that day. But it was still a great lunch. The kids got lots of story time with all of their attentive grandparents and aunts around. Gracie even got to watch cartoons in bed with Grammie Marla.

Many thanks again to Grammie Marla, Papa Jeff, Super Grandma Bettie, Aunt Thea, and Aunt Sara for making the trip to spend the holiday with us. We had a wonderful holiday!