More pictures from Utah Christmas

Finally home. Exhausted. Lots of fun these last ten days. A miserable flu virus for the whole family, too, but mostly good times. Brooklynn got her beloved bow and arrow. That's right - on the day we celebrate Christ and peace on Earth, I got my daughter a weapon. Erik got her a basic piano book to bring her back on to the straight and narrow ;)

Adam's favorite gift was from his Nana and Opa. It was his own stuffed Viking. Now he can stop stealing Brooklynn's!

Christmas in Utah

Enjoy picture upload.

 Aaron loves Legos. His imagination is on full display when they're out.

 Can you tell which kid was actually there to be seen by the doctor?

 At our so-far favorite kids place in Raleigh

 Where's Aaron, you ask?

 He stayed right there.

Arlie Gardens Christmas light show in Wilmington. Ask my dad for better pictures :)


Apex Stake nativity celebration. 600+ nativities in one room. 35+ countries. Lots of musical productions, including a stake volunteer orchestra.

Busy, of course

 We found a fun park near NC State where you can ride a train, a carousel, motor boats, etc. in addition to all the typical playground stuff. Fun times!

The past week has just flown by. It's a total blur. All I can remember is cooking our old Halloween pumpkins to make canned pumpkin puree. Our neighbor friend heard what I was doing and followed up with giving us her pumpkins, too! We've got 6 quarts of pumpkin puree in the freezer now. I saved the pumpkin seeds, chopped them up, and put them into some homemade granola. Delicious.

I'm working with others in the neighborhood to set up a grocery co-op. The state farmers market has a wholesale division that is open to the public on Saturday mornings. (Other days it is strictly open to restaurants and grocery stores). As long as I can find enough committed friends to split up the booty, we will become wholesale buyers in order to afford other fun things in life.

I am also enjoying my calling in the Young Women's presidency in our ward. Held our Christmas party on Tuesday and delivered one of those "dun, dun, dun!" lessons yesterday. (ie, on pornography and repentance.) It actually went very well and was not "Dun, dun, dun!"

 The kids and their milk. A must.

Birthday + Holiday = Calories

Still taking walks around the lake when we have a chance. Adam enjoys it the most...

During last week's cold front, Aaron snuck outside, took off his clothes, and played in water. So, we took a picture. And then forced him to come inside. 

On Wednesday, Erik turned 30 years old. We celebrated with a cookie dough Blizzard cake, followed by a decadent cupcake from my dad.  This birthday was a big deal to Erik, particularly because he actually remembers celebrating his dad's 30th birthday. One of Erik's first acts as a thirty-year-old was to forego a planned, rare, trip to the movies in order to buy Christmas jammies for the kids. So... I hope they like them when they open them on Christmas Eve.

The next day, we continued to consume deliciousness as we celebrated Thanksgiving with family and friends in Wilmington. LeAnn's stuffing was so good I actually had seconds. I hate stuffing. 

I called dibs on being in charge of the dessert. I made a pumpecapple. It was a pumpkin pie, a pecan pie, and an apple pie. Each was baked into the center of a complimentary-flavored cake (as seen below) and then stacked with cream cheese frosting. It was yumminess. Still true to the originals, since they were merely surrounded by cake. But a good twist. I already have plans to alter it for next year. Also, as seen below, Erik got to cut the turkey. He did a pretty great job!

This morning we went to a tree farm and picked out our Christmas tree. The kids enjoyed playing on a swing set and bounce house while Erik got the tree chopped down and tied to the car. It was a great tree farm. Does it count for Shop Local Saturday?

Photographic Draught

Well, I went on to Erik's laptop to steal my weekly pictures... and there were none to steal. Maybe Erik's trying to demonstrate his passionate longing for this :)

Aaaanyway,...
Brooklynn went to Cinderella the musical this week. Loved it. Thank you for the birthday tickets, Grandpa. Brooklynn is loving her "track out," which is the term for month-long breaks interspersed throughout the year (in place of summer vacation).

Adam is such a good sound imitator. He will copy anything you say, if it's short enough. And he'll usually match pitch.

Aaron is Aarony. We need to get that boy into gymnastics. Last night I dreamed about him trying recreational soccer, hogging the ball all around the field. I think I laughed in the middle of the night as I dreamed about him picking up the ball and holding it in the air while scolding someone else with," You're not allowed to touch the ball with your hands!!!"

Adaaaaaam!!

Adam is a cute boy. I am officially convinced it's an evolutionary self-defense mechanism. I cannot remember the last time I slept for two uninterrupted hours. At the end of my rope with this kid. Then the sun comes up and he smiles at me like nothing happened.... Every. Day.

Oh, These Boys

 This is the lake in our town. We love to go walking here on Sunday evenings.

When Erik saw Adam like this, he scolded me with (and I quote), "Darlene, chili is not a finger food!" I disagree. And I cleaned this up.

The boys have been bonding this week. A lot of playgrounds. One included a train to ride, as well as a carousel and boat rides. Erik says he had no idea this lady's butt was in the picture he took. (No, it's not mine. I was at work.) He just wanted to show off Aaron climbing.

We like finding lizards in our back yard. I have been prepping our garden beds for the Spring, and Aaron has been stomping on all of the worms who come out.

Missing My Girl

I thought life might be easier this week as we go down to two kids instead of three. Instead, I am realizing how much Brooklynn is a great peacemaker/babysitter/communicator, etc. Five more days!


On the other hand, Aaron is surprising me every day and I think it has something to do with him being free to do so. So, well, there's that!

On the Road

(Created this post yesterday, but apparently forgot to click "publish"): Right now I am in our car, returning from South Carolina. Brooklynn is spending the Week in Georgia for some extended family fun. Since I hate typing with phones, here are some pictures.