2010 Calendar

Every year, I undertake a BIG project, I make calendars for Jake's family and my family, there are 82 people that encompass the two families. . .so it gets stressful, and sometimes, I miss new babies, and sometimes I mess up on dates, but I love having my kids look at the calendars and remember fun things about the cousins, or the time they were. . . and I love getting to at least think about the birthday person or the couple that has enriched our life. . .so, it is a labor of love that encompassed this December! Nonetheless, here is the final product, I took some of the pictures of the two families calendars and put them into the slideshow. I used the Shabby Shoppe's premade calendars and then put the pictures in. . .I liked how they turned out mostly :)

Our Christmas Card/Letter

I know Christmas is gone and over, but.. .I didn't get this posted yet. . .so, if I don't have your address, or if I missed the boat, and there are a few very late Christmas card that are coming (one just surfaced today) here is what we sent. :)

Jake REFUSED to let us get family pictures this year, and we didn't think to take any family pictures on our trip to Philadelphia or New Hampshire, we were having too much fun . . .so, I used one of my favorite? pictures of my boys from Mary's photo shoot this summer, and I created a card to go with it!

Christmas Tradition

Last week, our family "braved" the "frigid" Arizona temperatures and went and enjoyed the temple lights. Beautiful and it was nice to enjoy a light jacket. This is one of the most wonderful times of the year!

Ever since I was in probably High School, maybe younger, my parents have always had me make cinnamon rolls, I have used several recipes, but I have one that I LOVE!!!! I made several recipes last week, and will probably try to get some more made this week to take to neighbors and friends, but if you don't live in the area, or you are in need of a DELICIOUS recipe, here you go:

2 TBSP dry yeast
2 cups warm water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup instant non-fat dry milk
2 eggs
6 to 7 cups flour

In mixing bowl, combine yeast and water, let stand for 5 minutes until yeast foams. Add sugar, butter, salt dry milk, eggs and 2 cups flour. Beat together until very smooth. Add 2 more cups flour and beat until smooth. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until dough is sticky and soft. Use as little flour as necessary. Knead until smooth and satiny. Allow to rise until double. Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide dough in half and roll each half to rectangle. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, nuts or raisins, if desired. Roll up, cut and place on greased baking sheets. Allow to rise again until double. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes (mine actually take about 20 minutes). When cooled frost with buttercream frosting. Note: Dough may be refrigerated overnight. . .Delicious.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, we had Grandma and Grandpa Brown home from their wanderings throughout the world, so they got to host Thanksgiving at their house. It was delicious. We enjoyed having Marlene, Jon, Grace, Jon's dad Jon, and GG there with us in addition to Tyler and my mom and dad. I didn't take many pictures, but Spencer was way into the whip cream, but I missed the total effect. . .but he was loving life.

Happy Birthday Spencer

We have a five year old in our house! Spencer celebrated his birthday in November! He came home from preschool that day very upset, he reported "Mom, I don't want to go to school next year!" Why, I queried, "I don't want to do hard work and have to do homework and go to school everyday! Preschool is all I want to do!" This would sum my Spencenator, Punk, French Fry, Nator boy up. He loves to have fun! Play, entertain himself, learn what he wants to and do whatever he thinks up at the time being! Five facts about Spece:

1. He loves to use his imagination, he can play by himself for hours.

2. He is the best airplane traveler you have ever met. People always comment on what a good boy he is on the airplane. He has gone on more airplanes than we care to report, but I will say he has been to: Switzerland, Austria, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Utah, Colorado, California, Nevada, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois and a variety of other airports in his short life. He loves airplanes and is always interested in learning about them at science museums!

3. He is a friend to everyone and has an imagination that will cover at least two . . .Cooper, I tried to upload the pics of you two, but they wouldn't! :)

4. He loves his big brothers and can't wait to go and get "The Brothers" from the bus every day!

5. He hates getting his picture taken. . .he is getting better, but I still have to beg/bribe him when we get pictures taken to have him cooperate -- everyone of these was taken on the sly!
Happy birthday Spencer! We love you and are so glad that you are a member of our family!

Catch up time

I am finally taking the pictures off my computer, in November, to finish wrapping up a busy fall, our family
went to Utah to see Jake's parents and some of his siblings. This is the second year that we have taken advantage of going
up right before Spencer's birthday, does that make it an annual tradition? Time will see, but we were all pleased
at the outcome. . .We, meaning, Jake and I do not care for snow. I HATE driving in it and Jake doesn't like the coldness,
so, we traditionally don't go very many places when the weather isn't good. When we flew into Salt Lake the sky was clear and we could see that they had had some inclement weather recently, but it was perfect. As we drove down to Kanosh, the weather looked a little bad, but we went over Scipio summit without even a snowflake or a sprinkle, so no worries. We arrived in Kanosh and about thirty minutes later we were hit with SNOW! It was a pretty intense snow storm, the boys LOVE the snow about as much as I HATE the snow, so they were dancing and jumping for joy! We had a pretty good snowstorm that afternoon and got at least six to eight inches over the afternoon, and then the weather cleared up. The boys LOVED playing in the snow and playing with their cousins. We celebrated Spencer's birthday with his cousins in Utah and all the boys loved that. By the time we came home on Monday, the weather was PERFECT and the roads clear. . .a perfect weekend!

For Sale

Sorry, for anyone that got excited that we were selling our house and moving away, but I didn't know what to put :). I have a KTec mixer (think Bosch) that I have used for the past several years for making bread, and using as my blender. The only reason that I am getting rid of it is for practicality, I "need" a Bosch for the juicer attachment and am banking on Santa bringing me one (ok let's be honest Santa already bought it and dropped it off on Black Friday) but I have my other mixer and wondered if anyone wanted something to make bread and well just about anything. I am asking 50 dollars. If you are interested, let me know and I will let you check it out to make sure it is something you want.

I will get back to blogging our trip and Spencer's birthday and, well whatever else we have been up to!

Oklahoma

These two are such good friends, they just grabbed hands and ran! I love that Spencer and Cooper just understand each other!

Georgia decided that she loved me. Strange for both her mom and me. I think she has it figured out though, her mom won't always do what she wants and Aunt Deana, she will do anything for a little girl who loves everything pretty! :)

Spencer is such a good sport, or maybe I spoil Spencer a little too much, but it is one of his favorite cousins, and I did need to see Drew. . .but we took a quick trip this weekend to Tulsa to see Drew and Lauren, Cooper and Georgia and their new house. We had a blast! The weather was AMAZING! In fact it was shorts weather and we were ready for a bit cooler!
Cooper and Spencer get along so well. They just enjoy each other and can relate to each other. What one of them finds interesting and an adventure!

They say funny things to each other, one of my favorite comments they told me or maybe Lauren was Spencer: "Cooper, he's a good man"
This trip was fun. We went shopping and hit the jackpot on short and dress pants at Gymboree!
We went to a park by the zoo, and dug, and went hunting for pecans. Drew became a true Oklahoman and shook down the pecans from the tree after his "ignorant" sister asked a guy who was shaking down pecans about pecans. We sure were grateful that he could shake some down! They do taste better fresh, but I still don't like cracking or cleaning them. I also know why they cost so much at the store!

The kids loved running around throwing the leaves in the air and just using their imagination! We loved their new house and all of the space they have! Spencer even tolerated their new dog Scooter! Thanks guys for having us!

Halloween/Bonding in Colorado

For Halloween this year, Spencer changed what he was each place he went. On Wednesday before Halloween he was Captain Hook for preschool, but then changed to a fireman for our ward party. The next day he was a pirate for his other preschool class.

Halloween morning, Jake, Spencer and I went to Colorado to visit my brother Clint, and his family for the weekend. Spencer was Peter Pan that time. Spencer hit the jackpot on Halloween parties, because we got to got to another party with them for their ward. Clint, was a Mormon Richard Simmons, and Natalie was a devil, Torrie was a princess, and Colton was Captain Hook. Porter was a jack-o-lantern and darling at that.

Two days before we went to Colorado, they got 18 inches of snow. Spencer was in heaven, snow to play in and it was quite nice, in the 50's and 60's. He still doesn't understand why we don't love snow :). He got to make a "giant" snowman that melted before I took a picture of it and run around and collect candy and trick or treat with his cousins! He was so hyper! I was afraid he wouldn't go to sleep because of the adrenaline!

My cute neice and nephew were hams with the camera! Spencer got along quite well with all of them and wishes that we lived closer to them. Won't you guys move down here Clint and Natalie?! Looking at the pictures, I never blogged about Spencer's first lost tooth, he lost it on October 19th!

While we were in Colorado, Ryan and Jacob spent time with Grandma and Grandpa, and judging by their candy bags, and from the stories they tell, they are ready to move in permanently to Grandma and Grandpa's! Thanks for hving them over!

New Hampshire

We loved visiting with our family in New Hampshire! On Sunday, it was really wet, but the leaves were so beautiful, we had to enjoy walking in them, wet or dry! Believe it or not, the picture above is less than a block from Jake's brother's house!
Spencer and his cousin JuJu, loved walking around in the rain with their umbrellas! They really got along well, JuJu didn't mind our bossy Spencer, they didn't fight at all, and the only tattling was the older kids not letting the younger kids participate!
Spencer loved riding the zip line that they have in their yard. It was so much fun for the kids, and as long as you didn't look how high the kids were. . . You wouldn't get too worried!
We went apple picking and it was so pretty. The boys sure know how to indoctrinate their cousin Joseph into rough housing (He has two sisters before his younger brother) so he isn't as aware of it as my boys :).

On Saturday, the weather was PERFECT! I couldn't help but dive into a pile of leaves! I LOVE FALL!

My neice, Allie, was so kind to push Spencer around in thier homemade car (it was scoot car) that Spence insisted in being pushed all ove the yard. She did it very willingly.

My neice and nephew weren't quite sure what to think of us when we got there, but they liked us when we left! Thanks Sam and Jennifer for putting up with us and our craziness! We loved it!

My blog is messed up right now, I don't know how to remove pictures, but the kids did have a good time!

Philadelphia

For our fall break, we took the opportunity to find some "real" fall weather, and went to Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. In Philadelphia, it was rainy the whole time, but it was amazing to walk in the footsteps of our founding fathers.

Our first stop was the Liberty Bell. There is something about seeing this to really make you appreciate the age of our country and how far we have come. They really emphasized how the slaves and women embraced this symbol to fight for their freedoms.

One of our country's national treasures is the hall that is named Independence Hall, in this building both the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were formulated and signed. You can't help but feel the thrill of the history that was made is the square.

We were able to see original copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Amazing. It was so interesting, the one that we saw, had editing marks on it. Can you imagine life without XEROX?

The leaves in Philadelphia were beginning to change -- the were BEEE-UTIFUL!!

One of the things in my life that I am attempting to do is visit all 50 states. This does not include flying through the airport, but really being in the state -- insert location of Philadelphia -- Philadelphia is very close to New Jersey and Delaware. We were carless, or we probably would have hit both states on this visit, but we traveled across the Delaware river and went to New Jersey. It was kind of an adventure, as we couldn't find a taxi on the way home, and it got a little exciting, walking in the rain and it getting dark. Fortunately, we were blessed and a taxi drove by and took us home. The driver was so nice and made the comment that he couldn't believe we were walking in the murder capital of the world in the evening!!!! So, yes, ignorance is bliss when you are on vacation :).

We took the opportunity to visit the Franklin Institute, which is an amazing science museum (think Science Center but on steroids) -- it was so fun. The kids were engrossed with all of the stations they could tinker at. Spencer loved watching in the health room a little video on the blood system -- I think actually he loved the idea of army guys in his bodies. Jacob loved the mission control area and figuring out some of the solutions to the "problems" they were having. Ryan and Spencer and Jacob, actually all loved the airplane section and them getting to figure out how planes fly.
On Saturday we went to New Hampshire, but that will have to be a separate post!

Craft Night

Ok, so we are going to have a craft night on November 19th, if you want to come and craft with us, go and check out my blog. It is www.craftnightingilbert.blogspot.com -- If you are interested, we are glad to have any and everyone!

Halloween Party

Tomorrow is our annual neighborhood Halloween Party! We would love to have you join us, it is at 6 pm in the street in front of my house! If you want to join us, bring something to share and a bag of candy! We would love to have you join us, there will be some games, a bounce house and tons of really nice people (at least we think we are nice :))

You're Going to Miss This?

Sometimes I just have to laugh at things that happen with kids. This past week was filled with those, "You've got to be KIDDING me!" situations! On Tuesday, the boys had dentist appointments. . .No worries, I will pick them up at school and run them to the dentist right after school -- just a note to tell the teachers! Well, I get to school, granted about on time, but I wasn't in a hurry, because I was just making sure we would be to the dentist on time, we don't need to be early and I had more than enough time. The boys go to a school of choice school, so there are fewer buses and more car traffic than any other school I have ever seen, maybe an exaggeration, but I digress. So, I go, find Ryan but there is no easily identifiable fifth grade area to pick up the kids, no teachers, nothing. So, I don't see child number one and go to the office, they do an all call on the intercom, and his first and third grade teachers are in front of the office, laughing, they love Jacob. Sometimes, I wonder though, no Jacob. Then they call the bus, yep, he's on the bus, but they have a stop not far from the school, so they will wait for me at the bus stop. The secretary tells me where the bus stop is and the quickest route there. Ryan is in the car, and I ask if this is right, I think so. . .We go and pass some kids walking home, I get worried when he says let's ask the walker where the bus is -- no bus where the secretary tells me, we try again. They have the wrong place noted on the paper for the school. Great. We find the bus at the school a half mile from the place where they send me, we are holding up the kids and I am one of those parents that has to WAIT PATIENTLY on the other side, love that part and I felt terrible this day. Apparently, he remembered but they had already left the school, so much for teachers reminding kids with notes, and the office had just e-mailed a request of no calls, just notes. . .I like the phone calls, he remembers longer. Oh well. Dentist visit went ok, one child has a cavity, but it is going to fall out soon, and it isn't bothering him, so why fill it? I love my Dentist, that is HIS philosophy, not a cheap mom's. Wednesday, no stress day -- RIGHT? WRONG. My phone rings about quarter of four. The school -- oh great, what teacher can't bear my children one more instant? Mrs. Allison on the other end. Ummm, Mrs. DeGraffenried, this is Linda Allison, (I think, oh great, she already doesn't love me, what now?) Hello, I respond. Jacob wasn't happy about something in class today, and stayed after to talk to me, and has missed his bus and needs a ride home -- Jacob has tutoring right after school, and it is ten minutes to get him from school and then I would need to get him to the tutor right away, and Ryan is on the bus and it drops off at our local elementary school. . .How do I become wonder woman and get both kids and get them where they need to be? No worries, I will get Jake to help, he agrees he can go get Jacob at school and meet me at the tutors, Ryan has just started going. . .I pick Ryan up and drop him off at Mrs Sylvester's. No Jake and no Jacob. Oh dear. I call Jake, he is STILL AT WORK -- he figured Jacob could wait at school! GREAT! I go and get Jacob and apologize for picking him up nearly an HOUR after school gets out and do my regular routine. . .

I can't wait until I miss this. Life is so fun, and I truly can't wait until I can look back and laugh about this point in life.

On a funny side note, that has been a big topic at our house. We are going on a family vacation this next week -- no "family" vacation this summer -- Jake couldn't or wouldn't take off, so this next week we are going on a fun one. But Jacob has been opposed to going since we started talking about it. "I am not going!!!" is about how any conversation goes, I finally asked him WHY he wasn't going? He said: "It doesn't have an Amusement park, or a Casino so I am NOT GOING!!!" A casino, huh?! Since when did casino's enter into our decision process?! I think he has been i one when he was about three in Las Vegas while we walked through the town on our overnighter. . .Kids, they are always an adventure!

 

Mary Jordan took this picture during the summer. This picture pretty much summed up my boys feelings about pictures that day, but really she is AMAZING! If you live around Gilbert, you might CHECK her out!

Room For Rent

On our way home tonight, Jacob said that he thought that Spencer could maybe sleep with he or Ryan, or Jacob and Ryan could sleep with Spencer. . .I thought that was strange, and asked what he was talking about. He said that if they slept together we could rent out a room. I asked where he was going to find a person to rent a room, and he said "Your blog, of course" -- He made me promise that I would post that we had a room for rent on my blog. When we asked how much we would charge for our room, he said $6.00 for the first week and then $14.00 for each week after and we would feed the renter. Jake thinks we should just be egg sellers, but Jacob thinks this will be better. Jake thinks we will go under on our room renting business. . .but I guess, we have a room to rent. The cheap price to begin with is so you see what fun people we are and then because we are so wonderful, well, you have to pay more than double!

Any takers? Jake said we might have cereal killers, move in, killers because they eat all our cereal!

Busy!

I don't even have a single picture of my kids this post. . .amazing! But, I have been busy! They go off to school, and what do I do? Well, this week I was able to accomplish a lot of things. . .some of them were noteworthy. . .I was able to make the announcement for my neice Grace. She wasn't the most cooperative little girl, but we found a picture that would work. . .I thought the announcement turned out pretty cute.

 

On Tuesday, Jake said the peaches needed to be done today. I had already started making bread, so I just got started canning the peaches, the peaches were AMAZING this year! Bigger than I have seen in a while, and I was able to put up 19 quarts. Yummy!

 

 

Now, if you are in my quilting class, don't get too excited by this next picture, chances are pretty good, that I won't be much further on my quilt when we go to our next class next month, but I might surprise myself. I had my first quilting class this past THURSDAY, got the pattern, had the fabric, and on Friday, went to my mom's house to have her friend that loves quilting, to have her help me with the flower color selection. We started, and she suggested I start tracing the pattern onto the fabric and she would start cutting out for me. Several hours later, we had the flowers all cut, the leaves done and the flowers all put together!

 

The quilt is not quite the color emphasis I had thought I would use, but I really think the quilt will be BEAUTIFUL! So, there were the highlights from my week!

Now, I am off to soccer for pictures and a game. . .an 11:00 game, it's going to be a hot one!