Look at those molars!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A Baby Blessing
Two weekends ago, we headed up to Idaho to see Phil and Kelsey bless their new baby. It was lovely, and Annie went to nursery for the first time with these two crazy cousins.
Annie is not 18 months old, but she is 14 months old which is the age kids can enter nursery in our married student ward which, let's all admit, is brilliant. So Annie might have attended Phil's nursery illegally, but I don't feel bad about it. She's tall and mature for her age.
We had a lovely day chatting with the family and eating the most amazing food ever. It was ham and funeral potatoes. Just a magical combination. There was also frog eye salad. At one point, Aaron and I were alone, in the car, with frog-eye salad made by Kelsey. The only thing that kept us from peeling out of the parking lot with that delectable dish was that we had a lesson about sharing frog-eye salad in Sunday school that day.
I didn't actually get any pictures of Kelsey, Phil, and the new baby which is totally lame, but I did get a picture of Annie not taking a nap
And Annie chillin' with her Grandpa.
The three little girls in the family love this guy. During church they sat on Grandma and Grandpa's lap and hugged each other. It was precious.
The new baby was super cute and really liked her Aunt Maren and the baby booties that she crocheted for her (7 times before getting them right).
Annie is not 18 months old, but she is 14 months old which is the age kids can enter nursery in our married student ward which, let's all admit, is brilliant. So Annie might have attended Phil's nursery illegally, but I don't feel bad about it. She's tall and mature for her age.
We had a lovely day chatting with the family and eating the most amazing food ever. It was ham and funeral potatoes. Just a magical combination. There was also frog eye salad. At one point, Aaron and I were alone, in the car, with frog-eye salad made by Kelsey. The only thing that kept us from peeling out of the parking lot with that delectable dish was that we had a lesson about sharing frog-eye salad in Sunday school that day.
I didn't actually get any pictures of Kelsey, Phil, and the new baby which is totally lame, but I did get a picture of Annie not taking a nap
And Annie chillin' with her Grandpa.
The three little girls in the family love this guy. During church they sat on Grandma and Grandpa's lap and hugged each other. It was precious.
The new baby was super cute and really liked her Aunt Maren and the baby booties that she crocheted for her (7 times before getting them right).
Annie's Fancy Photo Shoot
Last month, we finally took Annie to get pictures of her cute, 1-year old self. I found a friend of a friend who only charged $25 to take a bunch of pictures and gives you the CD at the end. They turned out well. Annie is quite photogenic, in spite of her flea-like attention span.
I wasn't expecting him to take pictures of our family (hence Aaron's BYU sweater) but here's what we got.
Now I can cross "never get pictures taken of my kids" off the mom guilt list.
I wasn't expecting him to take pictures of our family (hence Aaron's BYU sweater) but here's what we got.
Now I can cross "never get pictures taken of my kids" off the mom guilt list.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Christmas comes but once a year
Hooray for Christmas, and hooray for Christmas being over. It was lovely being in vacation mode at the Dennis house, but it is possible to get tired of being lazy. However, right before the Christmas break, Aaron mentioned that the 1st counselor in the bishopric told his kids last year at Christmas, "This isn't the Holiday Inn!" Apparently, they weren't cleaning up after themselves. So I tried to remember John and Julie's perspective as we stayed with them and do my part to keep the house looking respectable. I guess I wasn't all lazy, just mostly lazy.
William and Heather joined us for the holidays, so the whole Dennis clan was together. Angela took the official in-front-of-the-tree family picture, and I don't have a copy yet, but here is Annie with W & H.
She loved going into the room where they were staying and messing with their belongings. They were very patient, which is good since they are expecting their own little girl (!!) in April. Heather makes one cute pregnant lady. And William makes a cute pregnant lady's husband.
Annie definitely got more into Christmas this year. Last year she was one of those all lazy one-month olds who lays around all the time. This year, though, her potential Christmas excitement was curbed by her being sick. She'd had a "cold" for most of December, and we kept waiting for it to run its course. On Christmas Eve day she felt terrible and wouldn't go to sleep so we drove her around in the car for a couple of hours. Poor baby. By present opening time she was feeling a little better, but she wasn't as excited as I was about the pajamas she got.
Christmas morning was better for the little lady (how could it not be at the sight of all those presents?) and she had fun with her new toys.
The camping chair was a favorite. She plopped down in it and even put her bottle in the cup holder. How handy! Aaron and I also got lots of great presents. Last night I used, for the first time, the cookie cooling racks Aaron's parents gave us. Imagine me living 2 years as a married woman with with no cooling racks. It wasn't pretty.
Aaron gave me my present a few months ago. And it rocks.
It's a box spring minus the springs. He made it for me since our box spring cannot fit down the stairs to our basement abode. So we may be sleeping underground, but we are no longer sleeping on the ground. The box spring also goes great with the fleece sheets John and Julie gave us. We're living and sleeping in luxury.
I gave Aaron a subscription to the Weekly Standard, a conservative political magazine. My mom tried to give this to Aaron for his birthday, but we spent the money on new jeans for Aaron instead of a subscription. Sorry, mom. But now Aaron is very happy with his subscription and his non-holey pants.
After Christmas itself, I went down to the SLC to meet up with my sisters, Mom, and Aunt Kathleen for breakfast. We went to the Original Pancake House. It was very tasty, and very busy. Someone is making a lot of money. Afterwards, tried out Abbie's karaoke machine and a good time was had by all.
And we went to Abbie's house again for New Year's Eve and got to see Liz and Darren's clan as well. It was a wonderful holiday season. We feel very blessed to have such wonderful families. We're so grateful to have Annie. She makes us happy and teaches us a lot. We are blessed to have a Savior and the gift of His atonement. We know that is the most important thing. We're glad for this time of year to celebrate it.
William and Heather joined us for the holidays, so the whole Dennis clan was together. Angela took the official in-front-of-the-tree family picture, and I don't have a copy yet, but here is Annie with W & H.
She loved going into the room where they were staying and messing with their belongings. They were very patient, which is good since they are expecting their own little girl (!!) in April. Heather makes one cute pregnant lady. And William makes a cute pregnant lady's husband.
Annie definitely got more into Christmas this year. Last year she was one of those all lazy one-month olds who lays around all the time. This year, though, her potential Christmas excitement was curbed by her being sick. She'd had a "cold" for most of December, and we kept waiting for it to run its course. On Christmas Eve day she felt terrible and wouldn't go to sleep so we drove her around in the car for a couple of hours. Poor baby. By present opening time she was feeling a little better, but she wasn't as excited as I was about the pajamas she got.
Christmas morning was better for the little lady (how could it not be at the sight of all those presents?) and she had fun with her new toys.
The camping chair was a favorite. She plopped down in it and even put her bottle in the cup holder. How handy! Aaron and I also got lots of great presents. Last night I used, for the first time, the cookie cooling racks Aaron's parents gave us. Imagine me living 2 years as a married woman with with no cooling racks. It wasn't pretty.
Aaron gave me my present a few months ago. And it rocks.
It's a box spring minus the springs. He made it for me since our box spring cannot fit down the stairs to our basement abode. So we may be sleeping underground, but we are no longer sleeping on the ground. The box spring also goes great with the fleece sheets John and Julie gave us. We're living and sleeping in luxury.
I gave Aaron a subscription to the Weekly Standard, a conservative political magazine. My mom tried to give this to Aaron for his birthday, but we spent the money on new jeans for Aaron instead of a subscription. Sorry, mom. But now Aaron is very happy with his subscription and his non-holey pants.
After Christmas itself, I went down to the SLC to meet up with my sisters, Mom, and Aunt Kathleen for breakfast. We went to the Original Pancake House. It was very tasty, and very busy. Someone is making a lot of money. Afterwards, tried out Abbie's karaoke machine and a good time was had by all.
And we went to Abbie's house again for New Year's Eve and got to see Liz and Darren's clan as well. It was a wonderful holiday season. We feel very blessed to have such wonderful families. We're so grateful to have Annie. She makes us happy and teaches us a lot. We are blessed to have a Savior and the gift of His atonement. We know that is the most important thing. We're glad for this time of year to celebrate it.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
New Hobbies
In this day and age a girl can learn anything she wants. Google and YouTube along with libraries give us a vast array of knowledge right at our fingertips (or a few blocks from our fingertips). Isn't that amazing! Lately, this is what I have been learning.
Years and years ago, my Aunt Kathleen taught me how to knit using capless pens. More recently, my old roommate reminded me of the knitting basics and at Thanksgiving my mom taught me a little crochet. I've been "hooked" ever since. Aaron and I read a lot in the evenings, and I can now knit or crochet instead of just sitting there. Look at us...we're pretty much ready for retirement.
Learning these crafty skills has been a rocky road. I have had some successes:
(Annie counts as a success, although she wasn't crocheted.)
And some failures.
The failures come when I get impatient or too ambitious...like trying to make "easy one-piece slippers for beginners." That was, apparently, too ambitious, as you can see on the left--the one that looks like it came out of a troll's nose. Even the hot pad turned out funky. It was a rectangle instead of a square and the corners curled up. So I still have a lot to learn. But I can learn. The resources are there. It's great!
Years and years ago, my Aunt Kathleen taught me how to knit using capless pens. More recently, my old roommate reminded me of the knitting basics and at Thanksgiving my mom taught me a little crochet. I've been "hooked" ever since. Aaron and I read a lot in the evenings, and I can now knit or crochet instead of just sitting there. Look at us...we're pretty much ready for retirement.
Learning these crafty skills has been a rocky road. I have had some successes:
(Annie counts as a success, although she wasn't crocheted.)
And some failures.
The failures come when I get impatient or too ambitious...like trying to make "easy one-piece slippers for beginners." That was, apparently, too ambitious, as you can see on the left--the one that looks like it came out of a troll's nose. Even the hot pad turned out funky. It was a rectangle instead of a square and the corners curled up. So I still have a lot to learn. But I can learn. The resources are there. It's great!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thanksgiving
We survived the Thanksgiving storm and lived to tell the tale. Aberdeen definitely got hit worse than Provo. We are glad to be back to balmy Utah and out of that icy, mind-numbingly frigid Idaho air. Although the weather was cold, our family was warm, and we were sad to leave them.
Annie got to spend some quality time with her cousins, Daphne and Klara. Unfortunately, I wasn't a very diligent photographer, and I forgot to get pictures of Klara. But here's Daphne and Annie sharing a seat:
Sharing slugs:
And sharing sickness. We think Annie now has what Daphne had all weekend--fever, cough, etc. The sickness is worth it, though, because Annie had such a grand time traipsing after the other little girls.
Of course the weather could not put a damper on the McCombs family pie festival. This picture might make you think we were cutting back this year...but there were 13 more pies in various locations around the house and yard. Yum. I was in charge of the pecan pie, and it was delicious, if I do say so myself. I'll have to make some more pecan pie because I bought a whole bottle of dark Karo syrup, and I don't know any other recipes that call for that:
Annie was a natural at pie festival and dug right in.
Other than eating we chatted, watched movies, crocheted, made super cute potholders, and had an all around great time with our awesome family.
Correction: Aaron didn't crochet. He played basketball and watched football.
Annie got to spend some quality time with her cousins, Daphne and Klara. Unfortunately, I wasn't a very diligent photographer, and I forgot to get pictures of Klara. But here's Daphne and Annie sharing a seat:
Sharing slugs:
And sharing sickness. We think Annie now has what Daphne had all weekend--fever, cough, etc. The sickness is worth it, though, because Annie had such a grand time traipsing after the other little girls.
Of course the weather could not put a damper on the McCombs family pie festival. This picture might make you think we were cutting back this year...but there were 13 more pies in various locations around the house and yard. Yum. I was in charge of the pecan pie, and it was delicious, if I do say so myself. I'll have to make some more pecan pie because I bought a whole bottle of dark Karo syrup, and I don't know any other recipes that call for that:
Annie was a natural at pie festival and dug right in.
Other than eating we chatted, watched movies, crocheted, made super cute potholders, and had an all around great time with our awesome family.
Correction: Aaron didn't crochet. He played basketball and watched football.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
North and South--It's not about the Civil War
Over the last two days I indulged and watched the movie North and South again. This was probably my 5th or 6th time seeing it. I just need to tell the world how great it is. First of all, as previously mentioned, this movie is not about the Civil War. The geographical regions referred to in the title are the turn-of-the-century industrial North of England and the agricultural South of England. The movie is based on a book by Elizabeth Gaskell. Here's the basic plot: Our main girl lives in Britain's southern countryside. Her father uproots her family to a northern industrial town. She hates everything about it, especially that exceptionally handsome man she meets. She finds out the man is actually a stellar fellow. After much turmoil, she changes her opinion about the North, marries man, lives in the North.
This may sound like another one of those I-hate-your-guts-let's-be-in-love period pieces, but it is actually a standout contribution to the BBC 18-19th century time period movie kingdom.
This movie is like Jane Austen for men. #1 male complaint about Jane Austen type movies:
The characters never DO anything!
They play cards, dance, and gossip. Boring!
To which the woman replies...that is true...but see how they looked at each other over the card table! See how he is watching her dance! Sigh.* Well, in this movie, we women don't have to make lame excuses like that. The characters are busy with their industry of making cotton. They work for a living! There's still lots of romance and meaningful glances, but for each dose of love in the movie, there is an equal dose of talk about free markets, labor unions, making a profit, class struggle, etc.
And through it all, the acting and screenwriting are fantastic. My favorite performance is by Brendan Coyle who plays the union leader Nicholas Higgins. I've seen him in a few other BBC productions, and he always does a fantastic job. The movie, even more than the book, makes us feel sympathetic towards many different people and groups of people in the different side plots. No part of the movie feels half-way developed, which is sometimes a hard trick to pull off with the book to movie gig. The screenplay was written by Sandy Welch who also wrote the outstanding television movie versions of Jane Eyre and Emma. She rocks. I'm no expert, but in my opinion, everything was done right with this movie. And I actually liked it better than the book.*
This is the Jane Austen* your man can stand.
*A note: For the purpose of this blog post, I made lots of generalizations about what men like and what women like. If your sensibilities were offended, please forgive me.
*A word of caution: The accents are pretty thick in this movie. Turn up the volume and don't watch it at a party, unless everyone at the party is willing to stop talking and listen carefully. Doesn't sound like much of a party.
*Another note: The book North and South is not written by Jane Austen.
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