John's Wedding

My oldest brother John got married last weekend in California. We were lucky enough to fly out there to be with him and the rest of our family. Dallin did really well on the airplane. He just played, ate and slept like normal as if he wasn't cruising at 20,000 feet. He slept for almost all of the return flight home.

I always take my camera with me intending to take lots of pictures but then I forget to actually take them. Here are the few pictures I did take. There were lots of relatives to see and play with. Dallin got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Blank for the first time.

And my cousin Stori tried to hold Dallin every chance she got.

John and Becky, my new sister-in-law, were married in the Oakland Temple. My parents were also married in this temple so it has a lot of significance in my family. And this was the first time I got to go inside so it was extra special for me.

It was raining after the ceremony while we were taking family pictures

but we still got to enjoy the beautiful temple grounds.

And here is the one shot I managed to get of the bride and groom.

(doesn't she look beautiful?)

Congratulations John and Becky! We had a really great time celebrating with you guys.

Self, great day.

Today was a good day. I'm not sure what it was about this day that made it good. Here's a few possible reasons:

• I went grocery shopping. It's always nice to have food in the house. Plus we were 100% out of Q-tips.
• I did laundry. Now we will have clean clothes to wear again.
• Provo has been covered in a mound of snow. It took me 10 minutes to dig the car out of its snowy grave this morning, but the snow sure is pretty. And it makes it feel more like Christmas.
• It's getting closer to Christmas.
• I made stuffed shells and garlic bread for dinner. You can't go wrong with that.
• I also made muddy buddies. I don't know how I lived 22 years without this delicious snack but I love it!
• My oldest brother John is getting married in 4 days, so we are leaving in 2 days to go to California!
• Dallin has been a little sick. It's not a good thing that he was sick (he's mostly better now), but it's good that it wasn't worse. He had a very mild fever and a cough. Normally, you would think that being sick would make him more cranky, but he was such a sweetheart. He just wanted to snuggle up close to me all day long. He slept a lot too, and he went down for his naps and to bed with no trouble or crying at all. He was such a cute sick baby.
• Only two more days of classes for Mckay. This means that we just have to make it through finals and then I'll get to see my husband again! At least for a few weeks...
• When you get to spend all day with this little drool face, how could it not be a good day?

The best way to spread Christmas cheer...

...is to put up Christmas decorations!

We put up our Christmas tree and decorations last night. Our little apartment looks so cheerful and festive now.

(I made the bow on the wreath myself!)

Dallin likes looking at the tree and eating the ornaments.

Notice the glitter on his lip now.

And in case you didn't know

It's December 1st. The countdown is on.

Thanksgiving with the Eastons

Thanksgiving was really fun. We had a big Easton family shindig in Salt Lake. Mom and Dad Easton, Tommy, Annie and Graham came from Colorado to celebrate with us to. Add in all the Eastons in the area already and a few from Las Vegas and you've got a party. Our celebration had lots of really great food, fun, and even some Christmas songs. Here are a few of the moments I managed to capture.

Dallin liked jumping around in this thing.

Working on some appetizers before eating dinner.

Dallin was the only baby there so he was passed around quite a bit. Everyone wanted to hold him and he loved all the attention.

There were four big tables of people. I told you this was a big gathering. Maybe 30ish people.

Then after dinner had settled a bit we played Bingo. I think Mckay and I won more than anybody else.

The day after Thanksgiving we enjoyed spending time with family and playing games at Grandma and Grandpa Easton's.

We talked...

...and Dallin napped with his Grandpa.

And here we have 4 generations of fine Easton men.

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

I was watching food network on Saturday and all the shows we about Thanksgiving. The chefs were making traditional Thanksgiving meals. Watching it all was making me really want to eat some Thanksgiving dinner, but Thanksgiving is still quite a few days away. Then I had a brilliant idea! I decided to make a mini Thanksgiving dinner for Sunday. I didn't want to make a turkey, because that would be TOO much like Thanksgiving, and I want to be fully ready for and craving it come turkey day. So I went with a a roast. Here is our delicious dinner, in all it's glory:

Slow cooked Pot Roast and gravy, herb stuffing, carrots, garlic and cheese mashed potatoes, and buttermilk biscuits.

And of course, apple pie for dessert.

Actually, we went to a pie party and had lots of pie for dessert. Mine was one of the few homemade pies there and people were surprised that I made it from scratch. I guess making pies is a dying art.

The story of The Cell Phone and the Watch

I was going through some old things today and I found a story from my student teaching days. I was in 5th grade and the students were learning about fables. Fables have a moral at the end and often include talking animals or things that don't normally talk. All the students in the class wrote a fable and I kept this one. After reading it, you'll know why. Here it is, with the original spelling and grammar:

The cell-phone and the watch.

One day on a holiday called Christmas, a man went to the jewelry store to buy something from there like always. In the jewelry store there was a watch and a cell phone. The cell phone said to the watch "I am cooler than you, that man came to buy me not you because lots of people only talk and talk." The clock began to get sad so the as the man came closer the celphone got more excited and the watch got sader but by the time the man got there the watch said, "There is nothing more to do but say congratulations." The man just grabbed the cell phone to see it not to actually buy it.

The cell phone could not hold his excitement in so he yelled, "oh please buy me I will call all of your friends." The man could not hear him he could only hear the phone ring. So that's when the man said, "I do not want it, it will keep me up all night if I buy it." The man put the phone back in place; the phone got really disponted the watch said, "Why the long face. The phone answered, "The man is not going to buy me so you win," the watch answered its all right I haven't even been picked up." But then that very moment the watch was being picked up.

The watch was saying, "Oh please not me take the phone .the man could only hear beeping the man said, I want to buy it. So that very moment the watch was getting put on the mans wrist. the watch said , "who's better now?

Moral:never say your better than someone when you know you are not as good as they are!!!!!!

A moral we should all live by. I love kids. :)

Best moment of the day

Tonight, I put Dallin in his crib to fall asleep for the night. I didn't hear any crying for like 10 minutes, so I assumed he was alseep. When he started crying I went in to check on him. He was flipped over, rotated 90 degrees, and staring up at his mobile through the dark. I'm guessing he had been staring at it for the whole 10 minutes waiting for the animals to move.

How I love my silly little boy.

What happened to Thanksgiving?

I went grocery shopping the day before Halloween and I was surprised to see Christmas candy. That's right, they were already putting away the Halloween candy, the decorations and costumes were already marked down 50%, and Christmas candy was loaded onto the shelves. All the yellows and oranges were being replaced by reds and greens. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Christmas. It's my favorite holiday and my favorite time of year. I'm not even really big on Halloween, but I look forward to it every year because it means that Christmas is that much closer. It wasn't the presence of Christmas merriment that bothered me, but the lack of celebrating another holiday: Thanksgiving. What happened to Thanksgiving?

My reasons for being distressed about the disappearance of Thanksgiving are two-fold. First, Thanksgiving is not just another minor holiday like Flag day or Columbus day; commemorating an important event or piece of history, but barely noticed by most people. Thanksgiving is a big holiday in the United States. It's a federal holiday. Public schools get a 5 day weekend for Thanksgiving and most people get the day off work. There's the Macy's Parade, the football games, the pie and the turkey. Then there's the actual significance of the holiday itself. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God and the native americans for helping the pilgrims survive the winter. Most people celebrating the holiday today realize this significance and also show gratitude for their blessings and abundance. I personally love this holiday because I get to spend a few days relaxing and being with my wonderful family, one of the things I am most grateful for. And all the delicious food we eat is an added bonus. I understand that a big reason many companies have for selling Christmas paraphernalia so early is that they hope to make more money from a longer display time. Why not capitalize on Thanksgiving more? Sell turkey shaped chocolates! Pumpkin pie cups! (similar to a peanut butter cup. I just thought it up, but it sounds delicious!)

My second reason for annoyance at the early Christmas celebration is that it's just too soon! I love celebrating Christmas, and seeing all these Christmas-y things is getting me in the Christmas mood. I want to play Christmas music, wear Christmas sweaters, buy Christmas presents, and decorate my house with a tree and lights. It's just not time to do those things yet! There are still orange and yellow leaves all over the ground, not snow. I have to wait until after Thanksgiving to do those things. If I start playing Rudolph and White Christmas now, I'll be sick of them before December. And yet, my Christmas glee is hard to suppress.

Remember Thanksgiving! Don't be in a hurry to skip over it. We still have 3 weeks to appreciate the Thanksgiving season and express gratitude. There will still be time to fully acknowledge Christmas. In the mean time, I put this on display to appease my Christmas yearning:

Sweet Tooth

Someone discovered the candy bowl.

"Mmmm, this stuff looks so good."

Success!

Happy Halloween

Our ward Halloween party/Chili cook-off was last night and we went as Aladdin, Jasmine, and Abu. My mom got the monkey costume for Dallin a few months ago, so we tried to think of a theme that all three of us could use for our costumes that included a monkey. Of course, this was the best one.

I made the vests for both of the boys and Mckay made the hats.

My costume was assembled entirely from things that I already had in my closet.

(Doesn't every girl have a pink jingly scarf?)

We had a good time eating chili and seeing friends. I think Dallin's favorite part was playing with his Daddy.

Progress!

After working on this one for almost 3 weeks, Dallin has finally finished one entire jar of baby food! He is making a lot of progress with eating. Today I fed him sweet potatoes straight out of the jar (not diluted) and I gave him twice as much as I normally would. He ate it all. Now that he is getting used to the texture and thickness of baby food, we'll try some other flavors. I hope he likes them.

Mirror, mirror

Dallin really likes looking at himself in the mirror.

He hasn't realized yet that it's himself he sees.

But he sure likes smiling at that other baby.

Notice how he's sitting by himself. He's pretty good at it.

most of the time...

The trouble with food

Getting Dallin to eat baby food has been a struggle. He really puts up a fight and screams and tries to jump out of his chair to get away from the food. The following two videos show some of the things he will do when I try to feed him. Because he was too distracted by the camera, what you see is very tame for his normal reaction to food, but you get a taste of it.

And I'm happy to report that for the past 3 days, he's been eating a lot better and actually enjoying the food, I think. Who knew that sweet potato soup is what the little guy was craving? (pureed sweet potatoes thinned with milk)

Snuggly Bug

This is Dallin relaxing and getting ready for bed.

Just sucking his thumb and snuggling....

...his burp cloth.