Merry, Merry!

This year I designed our Christmas card as an “I Spy” game. Can you spy what we’ve been up to this year? Merry Christmas! Love, the Wards

The Wonders of Christmas

So Yummy It’s Scary!

Photo by John Kernick

Because peanut butter-cup cookies are so delicious and I can eat them all myself in one sitting, I limit myself to baking these once a year around Halloween. The original recipe is from Real Simple, but I have tweaked it for my liking by adding crunchy peanut butter, whole wheat flour and kosher salt. Here’s the recipe:

Peanut Butter-cup Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 12-ounce package small peanut butter-cups, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375° F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in the peanut butter-cups.
3. Drop tablespoon-size mounds of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Sprinkle with more kosher salt. Bake until light brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a baking rack to cool. Makes 48 cookies

Cornbelly's

I'm a cheapo and don't like paying for activities for my kids, especially when I think they would have more fun at a free city park. But I think Cornbelly's is TOTALLY worth the price. We went last year for the first time and I was so impressed I dubbed it a new family fall tradition. The place is PACKED with creative active entertainment we can all enjoy. We spent over 4 hours (we could have gone longer if it wasn't a school night) playing on the haystacks, slipping down the slides, riding the tractor train, watching the pig races.... If you live in the area, and you have kids, you must go. You won't be disappointed. This place is definitely made for family fun!!!

She's a Beauty

What can I say? She's gorgeous!

Great Free Resource

I just came across LDSFamilyFun.com and I am really impressed with all the free resources they provide for teaching. After you register on their website (which is free) you can download bunches of coloring pages, games, and lessons on religious and historical figures. I am thinking I will use it for FHE and the supplemental learning time I do at home. Please note the downloadable packets are long, like 40+ pages, so download them as you'll use them and just print off the pages you want. I just thought I would pass a good thing along. Check it out.

Coming to an End

Our time here in the Bay area is coming to an end. This weekend we will pack up and leave. We have had a wonderful time here. I really LOVE the area. I would jump at the chance to move back here some day.

What I love about the Bay area:

I will miss the perfect weather. We had 2 hot days here this summer. Other than that it has been in the 80’s most days. PERFECT.

I will miss the lush vegetation. I am in awe of the forests here. They are gorgeous. Redwoods, palm trees, pines, cedars!

I enjoy the diversity of the population. The parks and libraries are filled with kids from all different ethnic backgrounds. I have heard all sorts of languages spoken. I think it is wonderful.

I will miss Trader Joe’s apple sauce. I love its tartness.

There is so much to do locally. In 8 minutes I can be at the Bay. In 30 at the beach or in SF. Within 10 I can be at any one of the many parks around. Also within 10 minutes I can be at any one of the many libraries. There are great farmer markets and near by hiking trails and it’s all so close.

 

What I look forward to in UT:

Seeing family. It was fun chatting with them on Skype each Sunday, but you just can’t hug through the computer. I know the girls really want to be with their grandmas and grandpa again. Oh, and all their cousins. It will be fun to see the reunion.

Seeing my friends. I miss the ladies in my ward. I made a few good friends in our ward here and I plan on staying in contact with them. But as a whole, I never felt like I really connected well with our ward. Usually at ward parties I felt out of place. It will be nice to be in my old stomping ground.

My bed. I have been sleeping on an air mattress (surprisingly comfortable) for 3+ months and I am really looking forward to falling sound asleep in my own bed.

A couch. We have been sitting in camping chairs. Lounging on a couch while watching a movie sounds real nice.

I look forward to seeing the sunrise and sunset over the mountains. You just can’t beat the air show you get from UT skies.

Oddly enough, I have missed Walmart. They don’t have them here and I feel like I have lost my grocery shopping mojo. I liked the system I had in UT with shopping at Walmart and price matching and using coupons. Oh, I really look forward to UT prices. Things are so expensive here. $3.99 for a gallon of milk! Gross.

I have to add that my girls are really looking forward to seeing their stuff animals again. They have been whining all summer at how much they miss those toys. I was hoping the separation would cause them to forget about the toys and I could throw them away when we got home. Out of sight, out of mind. No luck with that one.

 

I have been a bit lazy about keeping up-to-date with my scrap book pages, but here’s what I have done.

Seeing some of you soon, Jeana

A Sailing We Did Go

Stephen’s brother Marshall is living in SF this summer doing a Medical clerkship. Doctors have extra money to spend on boats and other luxuries. Since Marshall is working with doctors, he along with the other Dartmouth medical students were invited by a doctor to go sailing in the San Francisco Bay. This very generous doctor told the students they could invite family and friends to join. Marshall let us tag along. I was REALLY excited. Sailing around the Bay sounded like a lovely way to spend the day. I was also excited because it meant that we got to cross the Golden Gate Bridge which I have never done and see the Sausalito area across the Bay from SF.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge with Marshall squished in the backseat between two girls in car seats.

Marshall and his fellow Dartmouth medical students.

Pictures of Marshall for his wife Kirsten.

The brothers.

Marshall and Dr. Katz, our kind host and captain.

Sailing past downtown SF.

Do you notice the tilt? We truly were sailing. The way the wind blew the sail was the direction we went and the direction we leaned. Most of the time the boat was at a 15 degree angle. Which is 15 degrees TOO much for me. Stephen was loving it. The girls were having a good time too. I seemed to be the only one uneasy with the tilt.

The boat. P.S. We saw dolphins! Very cool. When we spotted them Mally yelled out, “I knew there were dolphins here.” We all got a kick out of that.

A Fun Filled Day

We began the day with a birthday party for my cousin’s very cute 4 year-old daughter. So, we headed up to SF for the party.

Annabelle, the birthday girl.

It was an art party. White paper canvases taped to the wall and colorful paint was all the kids needed to have a great time.

My girls running through the “art gallery.”

After the party we headed for lunch. My high school/college friend Michelle and I planned to meet for lunch. Michelle and her husband have been living in SF for years. I’m glad I remembered that. I emailed an old email address of hers and luckily she still checks that account.

In college we met every Friday for lunch. We usually went to unique places around SLC. Today she treated me to a Belgium style crepe restaurant. Very good. It was wonderful to hear Michelle’s successes with getting a Masters in vocal performance, traveling solo through Europe, studying Opera in Italy, and eloping in the Italian Rivera to her long time boyfriend. Her stories all sounded very charming and very Michelle. I was so happy to meet up with her again.

The lovely Michelle.

Next we were off to the Randall Museum, a free children’s museum across town. Since I have no idea where I am going when I drive around SF we ended up at the far backside of the Randall Museum and in the nature park. All I knew was, I saw a sign that said “Randall Museum,” I saw a parking spot on the street (I know how rare that is), so I took it. We ended up hiking through the hills of the nature park. It was a delightful discovery. The views were AMAZING. The girls felt like they were on the top of the world.

Views from Corona Heights Park adjacent to the Randall Museum.

The museum was charming. It’s not new or fancy like other children museums. It kind of felt like walking into a redone high school science lab, but I liked that. There were plenty of hands-on science for the girls to discovery on their own. There were animals to see and pet, specimen slides to examine under a microscope and a red caboose in the train exhibit to play in.

Petting the bunnies.

The girls playing in the big red caboose and Mally drawing animals in what felt like a high school science teachers backroom. That room was full of science treasure like, human skeletons, rock collections, fossil and stuffed animals. They could have spent all day there, but I was getting tired so we had to go.

As I said before I parked on the street and since it is SF that meant it was on a steep hill. When I got to my car someone had squeezed their car between a motorcycle and my back bumper. The car was literally touching my car. And car parked in front of mine was not even a foot ahead. I didn’t know how I was going to squeeze my car through. I put the girls in the car, sat in the driver’s seat and said a little prayer. I knew I needed major help. I started my car and made one attempt to maneuver out. Not feeling confident at all, I noticed a man on the corner. So, I turned off my car and asked him if he would tell me when I got too close to the cars. He kindly agreed. With his help I did manage to drive out of that tight squeeze, but not without bumping the car behind me. I figured they were the ones who parked behind me and “kissed” my bumper, so they must be comfortable being so close and getting a “kiss” in return. All-in-all it was a interesting experience.