one of my comforts

The delicious taste of hot cocoa on a cold day. I could drink this every day. In fact, I practically do. One of those small indulgences that allows me a chance to breathe deep and smooth over any rough spots in my day. I love it. 

play days

A little bit of our lives lately ...

Building forts and playing with trains ...

Trying to go to midweek activities for a chance to see other moms and friends - this one was a tour of the Anthony Thomas Candy Factory. Very cool! 

A few of the friends who enjoyed the tour with us. All kids were out of the strollers by the end of it, and before we all left to go home we got 25 cent suckers. I'll pay that amount any  day to have L sit still like that again! That was amazing!

And being creative with our current toys. L loves to find new, daring, adventurous ways to play. He is ALL boy and loves to be a little reckless. I'll try to get a video of him jumping onto the beanbag ... it's pretty cute. 

pictures

I've been organizing pictures lately, and deleting all the multiple copies we have in various locations (desktop, laptop, external hard drives, etc.). I LOVE Picasa by google - it's free and so easy! I have them categorized by year, month, and main theme if there is one. They are all neat and tidy.

This very minute EVERY single digital (and scanned) picture we have in our possession is on my own personal external hard drive. It was a Christmas gift and I LOVE it. Our pictures take up 35+ GB of storage space, and yet I still have hundreds of extra GBs to work with. Ahh the joy of extra room!

That being said, we have over 15,000 pictures. At this rate, taking into account a new member of the family requiring their fair share of camera time and the proportional increase of pictures taken per year, we will come close to having 50,000 pictures by the time we've been married for 10 years.

Okay, that may be exaggerating a bit. But my point is: what on earth do you do with that many pictures?! I worry what this amount of digital stuff will do to me in the years to come!

I have my own ideas of how to document baby's first year, subsequent years and whatnot, and even am making an attempt at family albums. But I would love to hear your ideas and ways to make these memories accessible over the years; plus your own method of madness to keep these pictures contained without taking over your life. Any thoughts?

five years ago ...

... was the day that I spent three and a half hours peeling, coring, and slicing apples by hand for a dessert to take on a group date where I hardly knew anyone. I had met the guy the week before while doing laundry in Glenwood apartments in Provo, and he asked me out.

It was a group date, and we would be doing a potluck dinner, and could I make a dessert to share with everyone? Sure! Not a second later I knew I would make apple crisp - my family recipe and by far my favorite.

The date commenced by shopping at DI for smocks, or rather large shirts we could use. The reason to me was still yet. My main memory of shopping there is how nice my date was to the people we encountered - and you encounter some weird ones at DI.

The date continued by driving up to a bishopric member's home (during which time the juice from the apple crisp leaked out of the pan all onto my jeans ... nice touch on the first date) and having a potluck dinner with 6+ couples. I knew maybe three people there in the beginning - including my date. We played games for a while and ate the yummy food everyone brought (including the main dish which my date grilled - oh yeah). By the time the dessert came around, a new friend, by the name of Jake, announced to my date that he definitely needed to keep me around because it was the best dessert he'd ever had. (score one point for me)

Dinner was done, and three couples continued the date by going to a pottery studio where we threw our own pots. This smaller group consisted of my date and his two roommates with their dates. It was quite entertaining to watch one another try to mold and sculpt clay into anything functional, and we had a good time. My favorite part: a guaranteed second date was required to go and pick up the bowls after they were fired in the kiln one week later.

That was the end of the date. One week later? Went on a date again, but to a concert in SLC. We actually never went back to pick up the bowls.

The best part of the whole evening? The date ended up being the first of many which led to our wedding day in August. Thanks for being my favorite first date Ryan!

Note to readers:

The previously mentioned apple crisp recipe is not a hard recipe. What took me 3 1/2 hours the first time now takes me about 20 minutes to complete. Thank goodness, or else that might have been the only time we would have had one!

christmas in colorado

1. Working together

Preparing for an open house hosted by my amazing in-laws. Hanging out with family is wonderful, but working with the family seems to be so much more meaningful and enjoyable. It's nice to have goals to work towards, and family to help you get there!

{this is just a sampling - there was more food there than I can remember! Many, many more beautiful plates not captured by camera. }

2. Variable weather

Colorado Springs always has different weather - one day it'll snow and the next it's warm enough to only wear a sweater! So we took advantage of that and tried to get the kids outside. Garden of the Gods is BEAUTIFUL, and gave us all a nice walk together!

3. If One is good, Four is better!

There were times when it got crazy with so many kids close to the same age, but it was even a little bit easier at times. If you're doing a bath, throw 'em all in! If you're making dinner, feed 'em all! If you're changing a diaper, change 'em all!

4. Christmas Eve

Santa came! TM (baby cousin) didn't seem to have an opinion, SL was scared and cried, L sat cautiously (and occasionally said "ho, ho, ho"), and CJ kept announcing that it was Papa, not Santa. What a funny crowd!

Being parents has it's advantages - like setting up for Christmas morning! I've never been on that side of the line, and I LOVED it. It made me giddy! And it was even funnier watching the three adult brothers put together a marble tower - does the box really say for ages three and up?

5. The Broadmoor Hotel

We walked around this beautiful hotel, and it was a lot of fun being with family, drinking hot cocoa, and being all bundled up!

6. Snow Days

L cried every time ANYone rode the sleds. It was pretty traumatic! But we were all bundled up, and we were going to have fun, dang it!

7. Taking pictures!

This is a must every time we get together, and we try to make it work with all the kids! I think it was a success!! Love you guys!

8. Playing with cousins

We don't get to see family as much as we'd like, so we had to pack it all in over this vacation! It was fun to have play dates every day!

9. Helping in the kitchen

Nonnie was so kind to always let the grandkids help her in the kitchen! Definitely slows the progress down, but the kids love it and love playing with her!

10. Roasting Marshmallows

We had to test out the new roasting sticks we gave R's dad for Christmas. They were a success! L still does not like to eat plain chocolate, but he loved the graham!

"Smalls, do you wanna s'more?"

"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?"

11. Play Gym

The kids LOVED it and so did we. Such a blast!

12. Taking a break

My favorite part of all was just being with Ry and L together. There were days apart, and I can safely say that the best time for me was when we were all together again!

exploring the outside

Last week (maybe longer?) it snowed a lot, and for people who live in Columbus, that usually means we stay indoors. The temperatures were awful and freezing and way to cold to be outside enjoying the snow! But a few days after, L and I just couldn't take it anymore! We went out for a walk, and after a good half hour Lfinally understood that he could walk on the snow. Geez ... this kid was a slow learner! Good thing we're teaching him young ... because those ski trips are coming up soon!

greatest date ever

Skiing is definitely a favorite in our family - and since we didn't go while out in Colorado (so close, and yet so far away ...), last Saturday Ry and I decided completely last minute to try out Mad River Mountain, a mere 45 minutes away from our house!

This is us on the way - we still couldn't believe there were mountains close enough to ski on!! Can you tell we're excited?!

This was our view as we get off the main road, and our GPS tells us we are exactly 3 minutes away. Are you kidding me? But believe it or not, there really was a mountain (errr ... hill?) 1,460 feet high with a 300 vertical foot drop. Lift tickets were 50% off that day with college ID's, and we were good to go!

To give you an idea, we started out on the black diamonds, and pretty much stayed there all afternoon. I'm not trying to brag at all - I'm trying to give you a reference point: if I am doing black diamonds, then they're really not that hard. I am not a beginner, but definitely not comfortable in any of the blacks I ever even tried out in Utah. Easy blues are typically my favorite. And I was cruising on blacks in Ohio! haha ...

It felt so good to ski again with Ryan!

He's by far my favorite person and the best skiing buddy ever. I can't wait for him to teach our kids!

Thanks for the best date ever Ry!!

resemblance

do you think they look similar?

In case not, try imagining these faces on L, and think again.

Maybe Calvin should have been his middle name?

And the picture of L was taken after three hours of being awake already - and he still had that crazy hair. I love it!

merry christmas

Better late than never, right? Maybe having an on-time Christmas card will be a New Year's Resolution for 2010. We shall see!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

(sorry - the scan's a little crooked, but click on it to open it up and read it)

family weekend

We had so much fun with my family in town. Thanksgiving was fabulous with our own personal Chef who flew all the way from Seattle for cook for us! My brother-in-law Eric is a phenomenal Chef who is amazing in the kitchen. Even breakfast on Thanksgiving morning was so fancy and divinely delicious! And then he brought all sorts of yummy goodness to the dinner in side dishes to add to the deep-fried turkeys my other brother-in-law did and my sister's famous mashed potatoes. Basically it heaven on a plate. SO GOOD. If you want to look at the menu, Eric posted 'em all on his amazing cooking website here.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were mostly just hanging out with everyone. We enjoyed singing around the piano, playing with the grandkids, making candy Buckeyes, shopping, taking naps, celebrating Mindy's birthday, getting pedicures, playing corn hole, watching the BYU game, talking late into the night, and going to church together. It was perfect.

And since everyone was in town together, we did our own Christmas! It's the best when you get to watch everyone's faces as they open their presents! I think the most beloved gift of all was Kendra's Twilight old-school lunch box. She opened it pretty early in the festivities, and in every single picture I have of her, she's still holding it! Makes me laugh - love that girl!

There's something special about having family near you. Even if you are just sitting and talking, it's absolutely wonderful. Family helps make ordinary, every-day things seem like so much more. Thank you to everyone who had to take time off, spend extra money for plane tickets, worry about Christmas fitting into your luggage, sleep on air mattresses that kept on deflating, and even arrive home at 4 in the morning only to have to shower and get ready for work in a few hours.

It was a fast weekend, but meant the world to us all. We have the best family ever.

And for your viewing enjoyment, here's L playing with a new toy Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Bruce gave him for Christmas. He has LOVED this toy and carries it everywhere he goes. He wants to take it to church, in the car, into the doctor's office, everywhere! We've successfully lost two balls already, but he is perfectly fine with substituting anything else he can find (tictacs, golf balls, travel sized toiletries, small toy cars, etc.). And L is now a pro at using a hammer ... even if this video does not show it. Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!!

fun with friends

A good friend of ours interviewed at OSU for a residency program in OB/Gyn this past weekend, and since they live in Hershey, PA, the whole family came! It was great to see TJ, Amber, Kate, and meet Ethan! We were in the same ward back in Provo, and love how we've kept in touch through the years.

Since it's absolutely freezing here, we didn't get out and do a whole lot. I just don't know what to do in Columbus when it has to be inside. If you have any suggestions, fellow C-bus friends, I would love to hear them! On Saturday just to get out of the house and let the kids run, we went up to the mall. Once we got there I realized what a bad idea that was! We were totally oblivious planning it, but duh! It's a Saturday, at the mall, in December. Christmas shopping mayhem! It felt like we were pushing our way through and scouting out territory the entire time. But hey, the kids enjoyed it, and it was an adventure. I'll remember next time to never do that again! :)

Kate and L took a little while to warm up to each other, but quickly became best buds! They would hold hands walking, and L would willingly go and give Kate hugs and kisses. SO CUTE! (although I couldn't catch it on camera) They took turns pushing each other in the stroller while at the mall, and they both really had fun together!

Thanks for coming out guys! It was so fun!

raising money

The Jones' family has established a few ways for those who can to donate to Emily and her children. I have been touched by the dozens of people all over the country who have made comments on the various news articles online saying that they are praying for this family and want to help out. Especially at the beginning of this Christmas season, what a better way to give? If you would like to contribute, donations can be made to:

The John & Emily Jones Memorial Fund (Utah Community Credit Union and Wells Fargo)

The Emily Jones Children Donations (Zions National Bank)

For those of you not able to go to these places, you can donate online here.

I also know of an online auction that started today by stephanie over at A Daily Scoop. She doesn't know the Jones family, but wanted to do what she could to help out. There will be daily auctions, and she gives instructions on how to bid (check out the first auction here). If you would like to contribute any item to be auctioned off rather than bidding, then you can e-mail her (stephaniewaite@gmail.com) or comment on her blog saying you would like to contribute. I think it's a great opportunity to make Christmas gift buying turn into a double blessing for those in need. I have some friends who are contributing items, and I'm excited to be apart of something that will help Emily and her children.

Merry Christmas Emily - I hope this helps.

thankful thoughts

Thanksgiving this year was a very bitter-sweet experience. My entire family came out to Ohio to be with us for the holidays, and my sister hosted the big dinner. Ryan and I had come home to give L a nap, and as we were working on making our dessert we got a phone call from a friend telling us that a good friend of ours had passed away while exploring the Nutty-Putty caves in Utah. We had met John and Emily Jones at our BYU ward in Provo when we were both newly weds, and were immediately drawn to them for their goodness. They both simply radiated Christlike love and charity. We became friends with them and built memories and have continued to keep in touch as both John and Ryan have gone to medical school and Emily and I have become mothers. Our hearts and prayers go out to John's family, especially Emily and her daughter (and another on the way). We love them so very much.

With that news, my view of life and what I am thankful for has shifted dramatically. While life here on this earth is temporary, I am grateful for my testimony that families can be together forever, and that Ryan and I are sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. It is through our faith in Jesus Christ and His life, ministry, and atonement that bind us together. The knowledge that this life "shall be but a small moment" encourages and inspires me to try harder to be better and do better. I am thankful for friends like John and Emily who live their lives worthy of the choicest blessings of eternity and for the example they give me. Most importantly, this year, I am grateful for my family. Both my small family of three, our extended families who make life worth living, and for those precious friends who become family. It may be very simple, but the sacred nature of our family is by far the greatest blessing in life we can enjoy.

every day life

We've been busy getting ready for the upcoming holidays, and enjoying every day life with this handsome boy. I realized it had been over a week and a half without me even pulling out my camera to take pictures. For some that may not be a big deal, but for me that feels like I have neglected a huge part of myself! It felt good to snap a few pictures of L the other day showing off a new shirt from Ry's Grandy. Thanks for giving me an excuse to get camera happy again!

Next week we will welcome the entire Adamson side of the family (except one brother on a mission) to C-bus to celebrate Thanksgiving! I cannot wait, and I better have my camera handy.

halloween

Pretty much the cutest giraffe I've ever seen. We went to a party a week before Halloween with some friends and had a great time. L cried when we first put the costume on him, but once he saw other kids dressed up he kinda liked it I think.

They do things a little differently here in Columbus, and we did trick-or-treating on Thursday night. It was so much fun! L got the hang of it, and with a little friendly reminder signed "thank you" to all our awesome neighbors who had candy.

Without even telling or showing him what to do, we took off his costume and he immediately sat down to view his spoils. He was so cute lining up all the pieces, and he eventually started sorting them all into groups (snickers, skittles, taffys, etc.). So stinkin' cute to watch his mind work!

This was the third time we tried to put the costume on him - our ward Halloween party. He was exhausted from a LONG day, and would NOT let us get that giraffe over his head. Good thing we had a back-up! He was already tired and grumpy, and then in the middle of the party, a balloon popped right on his face. Needless to say we had a meltdown, and he was VERY needy the rest of the night. Ry & I played it easy this year, and switched roles for Halloween. I was a surgeon and he was a mom in a bathrobe. Pretty creative I know ...

All in all a very fun Halloween week! Can't wait for next year!