Recap

The boys are almost finished with their nap so I will have to post this quickly. Here is a recap of our last few months:

September/October: We (the boys and I) got to spend a whole month at my mom's place in Washington and saw the children's museum (several times) and went trunk-or-treating and rode on buses (this was particularly exciting to the boys) and had fun at the pumpkin patch and played with my mom's dog, Gracie and, and, and..... There were lots of adventures while we were away. Most of them at Nana's house and some on the way to and from. They went swimming in a big pool at the hotel (this was their first time) and LOVED it! Seeing family all the time made it hard to leave and the boys didn't quite understand why Nana and Papa and Cobee (Colby) weren't at our house in the mornings after we came home. The boys also had a language explosion at this time. They talk and talk and talk and amazingly easy to understand. They pick up on things they hear very quickly so TK and I have been VERY careful about what slips out of our mouths when we're frustrated or excited or anytime really. It has been extremely cute to hear Tucker say "ah donnit" (oh darn it) when something doesn't work or gets lost or broken.

November: We came home from Washington after Veteran's Day so instead of putting up fall decorations we jumped right into Christmas. Shortly after arriving home, I was released from my Relief Society calling and am now teaching the Marriage and Family Relations class in church. I loved taking this class, but I must admit that it is so intimidating to be the instructor. Luckily, it is mostly a forum for discussion so there isn't a lot of "teaching" to do, which I appreciate because I definitely don't have all of the answers regarding this subject and at times am not even a good example of success in this department. It has been a very enriching calling one that I enjoy a lot more than I thought I would.
Speaking of family, we spent Thanksgiving with family in Idaho Falls and it was a nice laid back holiday. I've been itching to have a super casual Thanksgiving and even be a little unconventional with the menu, but I'm having a hard time persuading others to share my opinion. I think a pajama party with comfort food on the menu like pasta or along those lines with cupcakes for dessert would be fabulous! There would be no need to get gussied up in you best duds and worry about spilling on them while cooking or making children behave like their in church because they're not wearing play clothes. All of the ingredients for the meal would still be in stock on the shelves at the store so if you forgot something you wouldn't have to worry about where to find some. And no one would get tired of eating the same meal every time. You could even turkey alfredo for the traditionalists in the family. Change it up! I recently saw a recipe on a friend's blog for cranberry salsa. Perfect! You see my point!? Okay, I'm done ranting.

December: This month was full of snow and playing outside and spending time with our neighbor (the boys' favorite buddy) and former co-workers. There was also a lot of baking and exchanging of delicious goodies so I decided to postpone my exercise/weight loss goal until after there was not an abundance of fattening foods in the house. It was silly of me to think that I, queen of the treats who would be right at home in the real life version of Candy Land, possessed the will power to avoid over eating during the holidays. What was I thinking? That may have been a little ridiculous. I was definitely defeated before I even began. So, with resolution in hand, I will start out 2011 slowly weening myself back into a healthy lifestyle. I feel better when I'm healthy anyway. One would think that would motivation enough to stay in shape, but alas my biggest motivation is my own reflection in the mirror (the fact that all of my clothes are getting uncomfortably tight also helps). I used to love getting dressed and looking nice because I had a body that I liked dressing. Now a days it's just "throw on a baggy shirt and some sweats" to avoid dealing with what's underneath and get to it later.
Moving on, Christmas was wonderful! Lots of video chats and smiles as gifts were opened. We had a relaxing day and our friends the Hendersons came for dinner and hung out which we haven't done is such a long time! It was great to see them again and our kids had a good time playing together. We will see them again tomorrow for our New Year's celebration! It will be fun as always. I look forward the this food all year and I'm going to enjoy every bite! Inari sushi, teriyaki chicken, fried rice, party meatballs, tempura (batter dipped and fried veggies), stuffed eggs, broken glass cake (I think some people call this stained glass cake).....oh yum! Today is for prep work and tomorrow will be full of cooking and spending time with friends. It doesn't get much better than that!

See you all next year!