Let It Snow, Let it Ice, Let it Snow!

So we are experiencing the ARCTIC BLAST here in Oregon. This is the worst weather many Oregonian have ever seen. It has seriously been snowing for a week! School and work were closed much of last week and church has been cancelled the last two Sundays! Now the problem is that we don't have the plows to take care of the snow and ice is the other big problem. We made it out to my sisters house on Saturday morning and we were stuck inside until we finally braved the roads today. We put our chains on (they are required on all roads) and we were going 20 mph and we still did a 180. The roads are just packed with snow and then there is a nice layer of ice on the top. It is INSANE!! We have had a good time playing in the snow but it is a little hard to get out to do all the last minute Christmas shopping. I LOVE the snow and we might even get more snow on Christmas!


This was taken on Saturday night. Eight inches. We probably have at least 10 inches now.




















This slab was taken off the top of our car on Sunday morning. We had some freezing rain after all the snow.














Jenna collected ice slabs and has a beautiful ice gallery on the front porch.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Sixteen years ago I became an Aunt, got my drivers license and started dating. Ten years later I am an aunt to ten, I got my Oregon drivers license a couple days ago and I have been married 4 1/2 years. Crazy! This weekend we celebrated Kelsey's (My 10 year old niece. I can't believe she is 10!) birthday and my birthday. Don't we look fabulous blowing out the candles on our cakes?












My sister had a crazy week AND we had Kelsey's birthday part earlier in the day AND we went to Forgotten Carols in the afternoon, but we still had a little bit of energy to have a little party for me. I got some fantastic gifts and the best part was being with my family.














I LOVE juvenile literature and one of my favorite authors is Mo Willems. He has written Knuffle Bunny, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny Too, Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, Leonardo the Terrible Monster and several others. So, this picture is of me opening Knuffle Bunny. That reaction is completely genuine. I LOVE Knuffle Bunny and I have been wanting a plush Knuffle Bunny to show the kids at school! She also gave me a plush Pigeon and he says "Let me drive the Bus!". They are so cute and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.














Holly, Knuffle Bunny and The Pigeon














Dawson was a very good present helper. He is going to LOVE Christmas!
















It is becoming a very nice tradition that Jenna likes to get me cute socks! I love socks with designs or holiday themes so I look forward to the socks that Jenna gets me.













Here is the other birthday girl! Did I mention I can't believe how old she is? I had the privilege of being there when she was born and it was truly the most miraculous event I have ever witnessed. She was the first niece and she is so special to me. She is so smart and she just got a part in her school play.














We also have a newish tradition of doing Christmas Crackers on my birthday! If you don't know what a Christmas Cracker is then you must not be watching enough British television. A cracker is a cardboard tube that has a small prize, a crown and a joke inside. Two people hold on to each end and then you pull. There is a loud crack and then you get to see the prizes inside. People in the UK have them at Christmas and other special occasions (I'm pretty sure! Like I know what I'm about!) They sell them at costco and I love them!



























The Dans checking out their super cool prizes. They ranged from corkscrew, pocket mirror, yo-yo and lipstick case!













Me and my honey in our cracker crowns!! We were going to make Marzipan fruits and vegetables, but we were all really tired so we watched The Polar Express. It was a great day and I love my family so so much! Thanks everyone!

Kindred Spirits

My best friend is moving tomorrow morning. I feel like a little piece of me is dying. I know she is still alive and we will talk, but it will never be the same. I didn't realize how sad I would be. I'm glad I have a husband to hold me when I cry. On the way home from her house I was thinking about the song "For Good" from Wicked and some of the lyrics just fit perfectly to how I am feeling:

(Glinda):
I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda):
Because I knew you

(Both):
I have been changed for good

I have definitely been changed for the good because I knew Lindsey. Thank you for changing my life for the better. Thank you for listening, talking, laughing and crying with me. I am so grateful that we moved to Oregon and landed in the Columbia River Ward. We are blessed with many wonderful friends and I have learned and grown so much over the past 2 years. This has been a wonderful time in my life and I would not change a thing. Lindsey, I will miss you, but we will always be friends and when I get sick of the rain in Oregon I will just have to come to visit you! I love you.

another NEW harry potter trailer

I heart Fred Ferkel

My brother-in-law just went on a business trip to London and Greece and he had a stop at the Frankfurt airport. I was at his house when he was leaving and he was taking requests for treats from Europe. I remembered a few years ago I received some pink piggie gummies from Germany and they were DELICIOUS. So, I requested the pink piggie gummies. I got a text message from him on Wednesday night that said he did find the pink piggies, but it wasn't easy. He gave me the pink piggies tonight and they are even better than I remember. I also know now that they are called Fred Ferkel. He is a plump little pig who seems to enjoy lemonade. I wish I had enough to share, but I only have one package and I have already had to share a couple with Dan. It's funny because if they were sold in the US I probably wouldn't even like them, but since I have only had them like twice in my life I love them and I don't want to share them. Dan said he was only going to have 2, but he just stole another one. I better find a good hiding place for them so I can eat them all! BWA HA HA!!

Trick-or-Treat

I know I'm a little late, but I finally found some time to post my Halloween pictures. Dan and I went out to my sister's house for the weekend and we had a lot of fun. We always have a Halloween themed dinner and then trick-or-treating. My parents are in town this week so it was fun to have them in on the festivities.














Dawsie eating his finger shaped breadstick.




















Grandma, or Nana, wore her cute witches hat and gives a pretty mean witch cackle.















Uncy Dan and Kelsey with our bubbling witches brew.















The whole Halloween gang.














Dawson was a monkey, Kelsey was a cheerleader and Jenna was Cinderella. We were so happy that it stopped raining and it turned out to be a very nice evening. They ended up getting over 150 trick-or-treaters at their house.

I


















This picture sums up Dawson's Halloween experience! He went to the 2nd house and when the put the sucker in his Elmo bucket he took it out, unwrapped it and was content to suck on it for the next hour. Dan and I went back to the house to help hand out candy and when Dawson came through the door he said "tik teet". When the girls came home and were sorting their candy Dawson, of course, wanted to steal it all so we gave him his bucket and he LOVED dumping his candy out and then putting it back in and doing it over and over and over again.
I love having these fun traditions with my family. Since we've lived here we've had a fun little Halloween dinner and then gone trick-or-treating with the kids. I love spending time with the kids and making these fun and special memories. I didn't have any young aunts or uncles when I was growing up and I feel so lucky to have a special relationship with Kelsey, Jenna and Dawson. I love them so so much and I am so lucky to be their aunt. They are absolutely amazing kids and I my life wouldn't be complete without them.

If I had vanity plates on my car they would say: ILUVHP

Paparazzi

So, the paparazzi followed us up the Gorge this weekend to get some pictures of us. Oh wait, that was Steve. Oh, and we actually asked him to come and are SO SO grateful for his time and talents. The pictures are amazing, thanks to Steve, and I can't decide which one to choose for Christmas cards and for a big print for the house. Vote on my poll on which picture you like the best. You can also check out Steve's blog to see a slide show.

#1














#2














#3

#4

VOTE!!

"The Face"

As many of you know I am hopelessly in LOVE with my nephew Dawson. A couple weeks ago I was with him and he had a new trick. You say "show me the face Dawsie" and this is what you get...







































































SO CUTE!! I can't get enough of it. Whenever there is a camera around Dawson is smiling for it. I think he learned that from his sisters.

Before and After

Can we say 40 pounds lighter? Good job Dan! I am so so proud of him. He has worked hard and been very disciplined as I continue to eat cookies, ice cream and all sorts of naughty foods.

The Crisp Is In the Air

I love fall when you first start to feel the crispness in the air. Since we moved to Oregon we have made it a tradition to go to Sauvie Island each fall. It is a beautiful island that is surrounded by the Multnomah channel of the Willamette River and the Columbia River is on the other side. When you are on Sauvie Island you would never believe that downtown Portland is only 20 minutes away. We go to a farm that has a farm fresh produce market, barn with animals, corn maize, hay tower and free hayrides to their pumpkin patch. I love riding out to the pumpkin patch and being able to choose my own pumpkin right from the vine. I bought some acorn squash, butternut squash, delicata squash, fresh apples from Hood River, fresh apple cider and raspberry syrup. YUM-O!! Being able to get farm fresh produce is truly one of the greatest things about living in Portland, Oregon. On my way home from work I can easily drive past 2 farm stands. I LOVE it!

































Happy Fall!!

Trabajar

Work, work, work! I have been back to work for a little over two weeks and life is now crazy again. My kids come back to school TOMORROW!! AHH! I guess that I am ready. Each year it gets easier. I feel more prepared this year than I ever have before. Here are a couple of things that have happened during the past 2 weeks and 2 days:

1. I have worked at least 102 hours (plus 10.5 hours today!)


2. Scheduled 20 home visits.


3. Completed 11 home visits.


4. Attended 12 different trainings.


5. Lots of fun lunches with the ladies!


6. Two 10.5 hour days doing Orientations (why did I wear heels on those days?)


7. Planned my curriculum for the first 2 weeks of school


8. I act as the resident "computer" woman. (I work with many "mature" ladies who aren't very technologically inclined. Thus, I have to do a lot of computer stuff. Luckily, I don't mind staying late at work because Dan has been studying for finals.)


9. Many trips to Dollar Tree.

And last but not least......

10. I learned that I will be moving to a new site on December 1st! :( This is very very sad. We are opening a new site in January so me and another teacher will be going to this new site in December to get the classroom ready, do enrollments, orientations, etc. It is kind of exciting to be going to a new site and I LOVE the teacher that I am going with, but it is very frightening because I don't know what the classroom is going to be like, I have to leave my class after 2 months, and I get a new boss and lots of other new people to work with. I have had many different emotions on this subject. I have been excited, sad, angry, scared, happy and worried. Lately, I have been too busy with preparing for the kids to come back to really think about it. It is going to be so hard to leave the kids and families after two months. I have already visited lots of my families and most of them are so wonderful. I am so grateful for my job. I love it so much . I learn so much from these families and the children. I see lots of different types of families. Since I am mainly working with families living in poverty I see many families who have a lot of problems/issues/etc. I also see a lot of hard working, persevering and resilient families. I work with many Hispanic/Latino families. They have come here to give their children a better life and they work so hard and so much and they truly amaze me. I am so grateful that I get to work with them.

One last funny thing before I go. I have been using this program called Boardmaker. I make visual schedules, rules, etc. and it is a great tool for working with ESL kiddos and kids with special needs. It has over 4,000 pictures ranging from sit down, brush teeth, food items, toys, health related items and social things like sharing and not biting. I was looking for a particular picture one day and I couldn't find it. I started looking through all 4,000 pictures when I came across this:

I laughed so hard when I saw this! Why would anyone ever need this? I don't know, but it made me laugh and I hope it makes you laugh to! Happy Monday!

And in the end...

Things are coming to an end for me. It is the end of summer, the end of my fabulous life of leisure, the end of sleeping in and the end of lovely laziness. I also finished The Work and the Glory series yesterday, after starting it almost 4 years ago, and it was a great way to end my summer and a great book series.

We went to Hood River yesterday and it was gorgeous. The farther up the gorge we went the warmer and sunnier it got. (It is usually the opposite!) For those of you who aren't familiar with Oregon, Hood River is this beautiful little town in the Columbia River Gorge. It is always windy there, but it is beautiful. There are tons of fruit stands and farms in Hood River and last year I found this great little store that does a BBQ over Labor Day weekend. They have pulled pork, BBQ chicken, maple baked beans and peach coleslaw. Now, I am not a coleslaw or baked bean person, but they are absolutely fantastic. Inside the store they have a million different jams you can sample and they sell fresh fruit, pies, ice cream and gourmet mustards. I got a slice of pie, some peaches and a Walla Walla Mustard. I have been looking for white peaches everywhere so I was very excited to see them in Hood River. We ate our lunch and looked in the shop and then we took some pictures down by the actual Hood River.




























Then we drove back toward town and stopped at a fruit stand to buy some fresh apples, pears and more peaches!! We stopped by the Columbia for a bit and watched all the people windsurfing. It is crazy cool and looks so hard. I have no desire at ALL to every try it. I think I like sitting on the grass in the sun!

When I was a kid my Dad used to cut up peaches, put a little bit of sugar on them and then we would put cream and milk (or vanilla ice cream)in the bowl and it was SO SO delicious. So, last night I cut up my delicious white peaches and had them with vanilla ice cream. Oh my goodness it was so freakin good! I felt like a little girl!

So, we had a great day and I am sad to see summer end. Dan reminded me that we will only have on more Labor Day in Hood River before we move and that made me so so sad. I LOVE Oregon and I wish I could stay here forever and ever. We have officially lived here for a little over 2 years now and I just think it is a wonderful place. We still have about 19 months left in Oregon, but I don't really want to think about leaving. It makes me sad.

Thanks...

Thanks for the food ideas everyone. I am excited to try some new recipes and I think I have a pretty good list of meals for when I go back to work. If you still have any good easy dinner ideas let me know. I always love new recipes. My friend Erin, and her sisters, have an amazing blog called The Sister's Cafe. They are on my list so check it out if you want some fabulous recipes!

Foodie, Food, Food

I love food! I love to cook, bake and consume all types of food. Lately I have been making menus for the week and then doing one big shopping trip and it works great. I have been making a huge list of meals that we like and are pretty easy, so when I go back to work I don't have to think too hard. I can just look at the list and pick some meals for the week. I have noticed that my list is a little stale. I need some new and exciting recipes that aren't too hard to make and don't cost too much money to assemble.

With that being said I call for your help and expertise. Since most of you who read my blog are preparing food for you and/or your families I want to know your favorite recipe. I would love to have the recipe if you want to take the time to leave it or at least describe the dish so I can assemble it.

I will share my favorite dish.
Crock Pot Curry Chicken
2-4 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts (frozen works)
4-6 red potatoes, washed and chopped (leave the skin on)
2 cups baby carrots
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 Curry Brick, medium heat (on the asian aisle at Winco), roughly chopped
1 (14 ounce) can Coconut Milk (low fat)

Wash and chop the red potatoes while leaving the skin on. Chop one medium red onion. Remove the curry brick from box and roughly chop.
Lightly spray the crock pot with non-stick spray. Layer chicken, carrots, potatoes and onion in the crock pot. Sprinkle the curry brick throughout the layers and then dump the coconut milk over the top before putting the lid on.
Cover and cook on high heat 6-8 hours or on low heat 10-12 hours. (frozen chicken)
Cover and cook on high heat 3-4 hours or on low heat 6-8 hours. (fresh chicken)

Serve with Basmati, or your favorite, rice.

This is one of my favorite dishes in the world. So, girls, get your recipes out and start sharing!
THANKS!!

GO WORLD

I have been watching the Olympics everyday for the past 11 days and I love it. It has been so exciting to watch Michael Phelps win each of his 8 gold medals. I think I held my breath through every race and screamed, jumped and clapped at the end. The women's gymnastics is amazing and I love watching Shawn and Nastia win medals for the US. I also love how the Olympics have brought the world together, in communist China, and we can be happy for everyone. I was talking to my mom and she said something great. "I want everyone to have their best day at the Olympics and whoever is the best of the best will win the gold medal." I couldn't agree more. I feel so bad for the athletes who have are just having a bad day and fall of the beam, trip on the track or don't have their best dive.
I love to have a good cry now and again and I absolutely love the tear jerking Visa commercials! The first time I saw the Derek Redmond commercial I cried. When I see it now I just get a little teary eyed!



So, I am a sucker for the Olympics. Only 5 more days....then what will I watch on TV?

Summer

So, summer is starting to wind down and, of course, I have not accomplished all the things I have wanted to. I did go on three amazing vacations, spent time at the pool, did some babysitting, made new pillow covers, picked berries and made jam, relaxed, read several books and recently watched lots of Olympics.

Now I am getting ready to go back to school. I have hit all the sales at Staples, Office Max, Target and Walmart. I love the Staples penny sale! I do have to say that this years penny sale was not nearly as good as last years. This week they have Elmer's glue for FREE! Seriously, you walk in and you can get 2 bottles of glue for free. I have a teacher's card so I can get double the maximum quantity so I got four bottles of glue FREE! I plan on going again tomorrow to get four more bottles. I love a good deal on school supplies! I also started collecting books from the library. I currently have 17 items checked out and 40 items on hold. I have a list of at least 20 more books that I will check out before school starts. Oh how I LOVE the library! I own a lot of children's books but I don't like to take them to school because they get torn and yucky, so I check them out from the library. I am probably one of the few people that has their library card number memorized! (Does anyone else have their library card number memorized?) I also love my educators card because I get to check things out for 6 weeks and there is no limit to how many books I can have out at a time. I usually have about 80 out at one time.

So, with the couple weeks that I have left I plan on going to the temple, going to the Sandy river, organizing my recipes, organizing some drawers in my house, work on my personal history, finish the Work and the Glory series, work on my tan, lose 5 pounds before I go back to work and find a new home visit bag. I am posting these goals publicly in hopes that it will motivate me to achieve all of them.
I love summer, I love my job!

Nauvoo slide show

After Lindsey's awesome Breaking Dawn slide show I was inspired to make a slide show of Nauvoo. It is kind of long, but I thought it was a great way to remember my trip that was so amazing! I am so grateful that I could spend two weeks in Nauvoo and feel the wonderful Spirit that is there. I have also been reading the Work and the Glory and I can't believe the many trials and difficult times the pioneers had to live through. Just everyday tasks like washing the clothes, making dinner and getting water took so much time and effort. I am grateful for the modern day conveniences we have and especially for air conditioning and light clothing! How did the pioneer women survive in so many layers and those long dresses. I did a previous post about Nauvoo and so you will see some repeat pictures, but there are also a lot of new ones. If you take the time to watch it I hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Breaking Dawn

So, I know a bunch of other girls in the ward are going to post about this, but right now it looks like Rosie is the only one with pictures up yet. They must all be busy reading! Since I don't have children or a job I finished the book at 2 am last night! I started reading around 10 and when I finished and looked at the clock it was 1:45 am. It was really weird because I wasn't even tired. Then I couldn't fall asleep and when I did I had strange dreams and I felt like I was reading all night.

I LOVED the book. It was great. It was a lot different than I thought it would be. I won't say much about it here because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. If you want to chat about it call or email or something!

I went to a Breaking Dawn party with some friends and we had a BLAST!! I was kind of a poop about going because I had to babysit at 5 am the next morning, but I decided to go and I was glad I did. There were a bunch of tween, teens and US! The crazy moms in the cool shirts. It was so fun to not care about what everyone thought and get totally into it. Amy's mother-in-law made us these awesome shirts and we had a grand time showing them off in the costume contest. I was only going to stay until 9 or 10, but I was having too much fun and ended up staying until about 11:30. Thanks for the fun time ladies!















Amy, Challene, Becki, Holly and Lindsey
















Challene and Amy joined the Edward vs. Jacob debate after some light prodding from us. It was so funny to watch the teenagers get really worked up about the debate.
















Amy's mother-in-law made us cookies and made them all festive with little Breaking Dawn decorations! So cute!
















Yes, we are the Team Edward Mom's! We rock!