7 Months Old

This time last year, we found out we were having a little girl, and we chose the name Noelle.  It was a magical Christmas season.  And now we have our little miracle:)

Christmas time seems to make the joys more joyful and the heartaches more painful.  I feel so lucky to be at a happy place in my life right now, and my wish is for everyone to feel true happiness.  It is my prayer that with all the joys and sadnesses that can come with this season, we may all have peace through our Savior.  He is our Redeemer, our friend, and the giver of peace.  May we accept His gifts this Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

Breckenridge, CO

Paul surprised Noelle and I with an overnight stay with a beautiful view and a sleigh ride in Breckenridge, CO.  It was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful.  

Noelle enjoyed everything except the sleigh ride.  It was 8 degrees (wind chill in the negatives) so we bundled her.  heavily.  So her little face was freezing, and she couldn't move her body at all.  It was a long 45 minute sleigh ride trying to keep her from screaming the whole time, but definitely a memory.  The next day we spent in downtown Breckenridge, checking out all the little shops.  Oh, so fun.

Big Day

Rockin' the high chair!!

Twelve/Twelve/Twelve

Happy 12/12/12 Everyone!  In case you were wondering, I was using a public restroom at 12:12 pm today.  Yeah, depressing.  I returned to the table at the restaurant and my sweet husband told me I missed it and it was already 12:13.  Ugh.  I guess life will go on.

Paul's work had a smashing Christmas celebration.  We took some family pics that turned out really cute, especially with the sparkle of the Christmas tree!

Oh my goodness, how much I love Christmas.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We went non-traditional and extra classy this year and had our Thanksgiving meal in Denver at a Golden Corral.  It was really crowded and actually fun!  The turkey and stuffing were pretty dang good, and the desserts were pretty dang bad.  :) 

 We spent the weekend in Denver where we hit up a nice mall for some SANTA action!  Who knew Santa was so expensive??  Good thing we did our Thanksgiving meal cheap;)

**Please note that Noelle is NOT crying in the Santa pics.  :)

You Should Make This Today.

I grew up in Chelmsford, Massachusetts until I was 11.  We had some good friends, the Tolmans, who shared this recipe.  It's a pretty basic cookie recipe but for some reason the extra ton of oatmeal, the shortening instead of butter, and the cinnamon sugar make for some GOOOOOOD cookies!  They have a hearty taste to them and people go gaga over them whenever I share.

Tolman House Cookies

3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. shortening
1 t. vanilla
2 eggs
2 2/3 c. flour
2 3/4 c. oatmeal
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
Chocolate chips (sorry I never measure the amount... just whatever you normally put in your chocolate chip cookies:)
Cinnamon sugar just for rolling

Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix the sugars and the shortening.  Add the eggs and vanilla.  Beat until well combined.  Add all dry ingredients (Some people combine them ahead of time.  I hate getting 2 bowls dirty, so I always just kind of stir the dry ingredients together on top of the wet ones before combining.).  Stir it together and add the chocolate chips!  It's a really thick dough.  Roll into balls and roll in cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 7-8 minutes.  The cookies will retain their shape, but the bottoms will be lightly browned when they are done.  Don't overcook- better to have these slightly underdone than overdone.  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Half Birthday

Noelle on her half birthday:

She is 13 pounds, 13 ounces, and she is healthy and growing as she should be!  Yay for doc appointments that make you feel like maybe you are doing something right.  She has started solid foods and doesn't love them- they only thing she will eat so far is oatmeal combined with banana.  She is almost always smiling.  Love her:)