Dinosaur Digger

Taylor would like to be a Paleontologist when he grows up. For Christmas, his Grandma and Grandpa gave him an I dig for dinosaur kit. He loved using the little tools to chizzle away the rock to find the bones. He wants another one! The glasses are my favorite part.

PARKER IS 4!

My little boy is 4. He is growing so fast as kids all do. This kid brings so many blessings in our lives. He makes me smile every day. He is always the one to say thank you for making him breakfast or for what ever else I might be doing for him. I am amazed to watch him grow and develop. He loves to constantly tell jokes and we just laugh at them along with him even though they don't make any sense at all. My world is such a better world with him!! I am blessed to be his mother.

Christmas 2008

We had a great Christmas season this year. It is such a wonderful time to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I am so grateful for this time to focus on his birth and his life. I hope that I can remain focused on this through out the whole year. For those of you looking for our Christmas cards, sorry. Cards didn't quite make it out this year. We have been busy, but we have had a wonderful time together as a family. Here are some pictures of Christmas.

Our Ward Christmas Party

Our Christmas party was on Saturday. It was wonderful. Here are a few pictures. Bailey and I were in a dance with a few others. It was so fun to dance with Bailey. It was to What Child Is This. We danced around A couple that were dressed up like Mary and Joseph. The kids saw Santa. Taylor wouldn't even go into the room. He did, however, want a candy cane. We had to work that one out. Bailey and Parker both sat on Santa's lap. Addy, well, the picture says it all!

A Mother's Time Saver

This is for everyone in my life who needs to save time in the kitchen. I bought a beef roast at Sam's Club yesterday for $10.00. It was almost 6 pounds so here is what I did with it. I cut it in half for two meals. An added bonus is that there is only one mess to clean up. Here is what I did....

#1 --Tonight's Dinner

French Dip Sandwiches
4 lb. Cross Rib Pot Roast 2 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper 1 tsp. Marjoram Leaves
1 tsp. Thyme Leaves 1/2 tsp. Oregano
4 Cloves Garlic 1 Can Beef Broth

Cook beef in a 4-quart-Dutch oven over medium heat until brown on all sides, reduce heat to low. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, garlic, and oregano. Add beef broth to pan. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 3 ½ hours. Slice meat and serve with Au Jus sauce and rolls. If desired serve with sautéed peppers and onions.

**I cook mine in the crockpot on low for the day. We also top ours with Swiss cheese. My whole family loves these.



#2 -- For a day next week

Marinated Beef on Buns
3 ½ C. Ketchup 2 Med. Onions, Finely Chopped
1 ½ C. Packed Brown Sugar 1 C. Soy Sauce
½ C. White Vinegar ½ C. Vegetable Oil
4 garlic Cloves, Minced ¼ Tsp. Ground Ginger
1 Beef Eye Roast (3 pounds) ¾ C. Water
12 Sandwich Buns, Split
In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Pour half of the marinade into a large resalable plastic bag; add roast. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate overnight. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.
Drain and discard marinade. Place the roast in a large roasting pan. Combine water and reserve marinade; pour over roast. Cover and bake at 350 for 2 hours or until meat is tender. Let stand 15 minutes before slicing. Serve on buns. Yield: 12 servings.
Note: I cooked this in the crockpot and shred the meat.

***I put the meat in a zip lock with half of the marinade. The other half in a different bag. I put both bags in the freezer. As the meat un-thaws in the refrigerator, it will marinate.

Our Christmas Tree Disasters

For many years, we have had 2 trees. We have a fake tree that is about 5 feet tall that the kids get to do what ever they would like to. All of their cute little homemade ornaments are on it. I love to see the pictures of them on it and see how they have grown. A smaller tree with a one year old is not the greatest. The first night that we decorated it, she pulled it over. She did it again the next day. After taking a picture we cleaned up the mess and tried to fix it. I think that she learned her lesson and has left it alone since. We always get a real tree. This year is our first Christmas in our new house. We have very high ceilings in the living room and 17 foot ceilings in the dining room. Our thinking was WE CAN HAVE A REALLY BIG TREE THIS YEAR. We found a tree that is 9 1/2 feet and we paid a grand total of $24.99 for it. What a deal! We set it up on Saturday night with hopes to decorate it the next day. We ended up going over to grandma and grandpa's on Sunday to watch the Christmas Broadcast. We ended up decorating it on Monday before we went for a drive down Candy Cane Lane. We had a great family home evening. Some how the cat ended up inside (she's an out door cat because she can be a bad kitty sometimes), she must of climbed up the tree and knocked it over. I heard a little noise, latter I was up and found the cat snuggled up to Bailey in her bed. I threw the cat outside and woke up this morning to a knocked over Christmas tree. Parker and I have since repaired it. I just thought it was funny! We will see if we have any more Christmas Tree disasters before Christmas -- 16 days to go.

I love these kidos!


Addy is very interested in the tree.
It is going to be a long few weeks!



A Natural Disaster of a One Year Old....

We have a one year old on our hands!

Addy has learned how to climb. Yesterday I walked into the boys' room and guess who figured out how to climb the bunk bed. She was so proud of herself not knowing that she was about to plunge off of it, most likely falling on her head. Not very safe Addy! She refuses to walk. Who needs to walk when you can get into danger.

A Thanksgiving Feast.

We really had a feast for thanksgiving. We had so much food. It was the first time for us to host thanksgiving dinner. We had a ton of fun. Tom was a huge help. I couldn't of done it with out him. We had 23 people. I didn't know if we all could fit in our house, but it turned out well. Thanks to everyone who helped with the food. We made 2 turkeys and they were both very good. Tom's deep fried turkey was the hit of the day.

The Bird

Grandpa is ready to eat!

Bailey and Krista

Bring it on

Addy and Nana

Adelyn's first thanksgiving. I was so grateful that I was not pregnant for thanksgiving. I actually had room for the food.

Parker and Cody

Madison

Ashely, Celine, and Bailey with Taylor at the end.

He's excited

This is where the kids found the camera. Poor cat!