Life

Apparently blogging/ journal writing is not a top goal for me in 2013 ;) Over Christmas, my family all got really sick and Jameson was teething up a storm. However we still made the drive from Santa Barbara to Utah to spend Christmas with my family and then drove over to Truckee to see Billy's family after that. We made it home on new years eve and were all in bed by 10pm. Happy New Year. We both decided that we are staying put next year for the holidays. I had a good time in Utah despite not feeling the best and the rest of my family down for the count. I loved spending time at my parents house with all my sisters, parents and in laws. It was awesome to watch the cousins all run around together and have tons of fun. William was SO excited to play with Grant! It was nice to take a new family picture and awesome to take some new sister pictures. I wish we could have gotten a picture of all the cousins together... one day i guess. I got a short Christmas run in, the snow froze my feet and the air was very cold but it was refreshing to be outside. I started some art on canvas with my sisters one night. I don't know how long it will take me to finish mine- probably a while. Not sure why I chose to do something so challenging, but it should be cool if I ever finish it :)
I got a fancy camera for Christmas. I haven't used it much so far, but I did take a few pictures of the boys the other day out on the playground. They were being really cute. I am looking forward to learning all about what this camera can do!

Billy and I made it to the temple last weekend. Camie said she would hang out with the boys while we went! Now that she lives in Redondo Beach, only 15 miles from the temple, we can do a two for one deal :) Go to the temple and visit friends! Billy and I are still new to it all. We got there thinking the sessions were on the hour only to have just missed the start of one on the half hour. Whoops. Then of course the next session happened to be the American sign language session :) It was pretty neat though. After we made it back to Redondo and the kids, who had a blast and were great for Camie & Ryan, Camie and I went out for an evening run. Ahh how I miss running with Camie. We ran up & down hills, to the beach and on the sand and back home again for 8 miles. I was able to keep up with her, even on the hills coming back, and felt great. I guess after sitting in the car and then in the temple my body was ready to move :)
Now I am starting to get into move mode. Looking around the house at what I can get rid of and what I might be able to box up. It's so overwhelming. I am not doing to much right now because I am hosting all the ladies over in a week for Bunco. No need to box up the house before a party. I will get down to business once Bunco is over.
I want to sew another messanger bag. I made one for my sister for Christmas and loved the way it turned out. I want to make one for me and maybe make one for the door prize for Bunco night.
I think that about catches me up to current life.

Rub a dub dub

Three boys in a tub!

One more mouth to feed

Jameson is officially a food eater. He loves pretty much whatever I spoon into is mouth and he can really put away a good amount. No surprise there, his brothers were exactly the same way.
Here is a picture of him eating pureed black beans tonight at dinner- yummy. If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face right?!?

Monday, Jameson had a wellness check. He weighed in at 16 pounds, slowing down a little with the weight gain but still well ahead of his brothers at this age. He has relapsed with another respiratory infection and I am back on the same regimen as before... no dairy in my diet, extra immune supplements with meals and Ivy calm for Jameson. Not sure if I will take him to the Chiropractor again though... $40 for a 3 minute lung shaking.... I have a little hand held massager at home that I have been using on him, that should be about the same right?
Anyway, he is as happy as ever. Sitting up like a champ and wants to move soooo bad. I'm really in no rush for that though.
7 months sure has flown by!

Crazy Patch Stockings

A few years ago while in Utah for Christmas with the family, I noticed my sister Kristy's cute stockings. I complimented and inquired only to discover she had made them! Not to surprising, she is so very talented and crafty. She gave me the pattern and instructions right then and there for me to attempt my own crazy patch stockings.
Before I left Utah, I found some table cloths that were on super sale after Christmas which got me started with lots of fabric. Back home I found a few festive fat quarters at the craft store and some shiny trim at a garage/ craft sale.
Fast forward about 2 years (or has it been 4? yikes) I finally made the attempt. I actually started sewing these beauties at the beginning of the year in my evening sewing class. People looked at me kinda funny that I was sewing stockings in February, but I knew I needed an early start to get them done by Christmas. There has not been a whole lot of sewing time in the last 6 months with Jameson joining our family and a VERY busy fire season. However, as of December 1st I have finished 6 crazy patch stockings for hanging and stuffing this Christmas. They will not hang over our fire place... that would be a fire hazard, but they are near by on the cabinet. I'm really happy with them and glad that they are done. I let the boys each pick which stocking they wanted and then we pinned on their initial. Maybe, just maybe, I might try and embroider names on them at some point.

I sure love the Christmas season!

Thanksgiving in the Wilderness

We had a wonderful and mellow Thanksgiving this year. Just the 5 of us at home with a few good things to eat. I'm sure we could have joined in with the Hixon crew this year, since we have the family tie, but they were having ALL 10 children and their families for dinner. I think that is close to 60 people... so we opted for our own family meal. At first Billy suggested I buy a nice piece of salmon for dinner and we just make it really easy on ourselves. I however, really wanted turkey (and the leftovers to follow) since we only cook one once a year. So turkey it was. I also made cheesy potatoes, oven baked green beans, butter leaf salad and a layered jello in individual cups. We used the help of Pillsbury and had croissants :) All in all, not to much fuss, I didn't even end up making apple crisp like I planned. We had root beer floats.

William had collected some fall leaves at the playground in the morning where Billy was playing football with the elders quorum. (I got to go for a run with Jamie!) He put those along the table runner to decorate for our feast and he did a great job.
Zachary was sleeping when everything was ready to dig into and William refused to try anything. So, Billy and I sat down together and ate on our china and enjoyed every bite.

I can't forget about our thankful tree we made during family night the week of Thanksgiving! The boys were really excited to hand me leaves and tell me things they were thankful for and then hang them up. It was a full tree. Everything from family & primary to dirt & macaroni and cheese.
I sure am thankful for my family! I'm glad we have this special day set aside to celebrate our gratitude and I think I would like to start setting a few more aside during the year as well- one day a year is just not enough :) Maybe we will celebrate quarterly.

A funny thing about Thanksgiving in the wilderness that I have noticed the past several years...
We have wild turkeys that hang around our neighborhood everyday. I don't think there is a day that they aren't by someones house and when it's by ours the boys chase them away. (I don't care for the turkey poop in the yard) Every year at Thanksgiving, the turkeys are no where to be found! I have made note of this each year we have been here, that the turkeys disappear for a few days around the Thanksgiving holiday. It's really weird. They must smell their kind being cooked and they hide or something. Anyway, they are back now that Turkey day is over.

Santa Monica Mountains Trail Race

On Sunday (I will repent) I ran my first trail race! It was an awesome experience, a beautiful day, and a great location. My friends Lauren and Kevin Gleason convinced me to sign up for this race about a month ago and run it with them. Lauren & I signed up for the 18K and Kevin was going for it all in the 50K. The morning of the race I fed Jameson around 5am, got up and out of the house right after 6am and down to the Gleason's home where we all left together at 645am. We drove down to Oxnard and then out to the PCH, just past Point Mugu and parked along the ocean next to La Jolla canyon. Walked in, grabbed our bib numbers and about 35 minutes later we were running on the trails. The race started with uphill switch backs all the way to the top of the first little mountain, about 2.5 miles. I surprised myself and jogged all the way up. Normally I don't make it very far running uphill and I end up hiking instead. Once we were at the top, the view was gorgeous! Beautiful blue sparkling ocean, clear and crisp morning and perfect running conditions. It worked out in our benefit that it had rained the day before because the trails weren't slippery and had just the right amount of stick to them. There was only a couple spots where the mud stuck to my shoes enough that I had to slide my feet on the rocks to take the extra inch of weight off. Anyway, the trails were nice and there was only one really challenging climb from mile 6.5 to mile 8. My legs were really tired by that point but I knew it would be pretty much all down hill from there, so I ran. It was nice to descend into the finish area. I ended up surprising myself again when I finished in 1:55. I thought for sure it was going to take me around 2 and half hours. I also was the 3rd girl to finish, right behind Lauren, so I got a ribbon! I've never placed in a race before. Pretty cool.

I got home at 2pm and was very ready to feed Jameson again. It was really nice to have a morning to myself, to be outside enjoying God's beautiful creation and get some good exercise and time away. I REALLY needed it.

Fire

Tonight I started our first fire of the cold season in the fireplace. It only took me one try :) It never even made it past 65 degrees in our house today... a big change from last weeks 95+ degree weather we had. Maybe that's why Jameson is a little under the weather. Well, it felt like a fall day today anyway. Can't wait for Billy to come home from New York, I'm tired.

 

On another note, I really need to finish sewing the Christmas stockings I started at the beginning of the year :)