The Recipe for a Breath of Fresh Air

10 days vacation from work for Tim
4 hours drive to vacation home
10 days of short sleeve, flip flop weather away from it all
1 wonderful funeral to remember a great man fondly
1 book on tape
3 viewings of New Moon (as Team Jacob)
3 days at the pool, private
1 private gym
3 parts hot tubbing
19 hours of shopping (careful to not be stampeded on Black Friday)
1 viewing of The Blindside (highly recommended)
2 BYU Football Games (tastes best when Cougars take the win against the Utes!)
One bounteous table of food on Thanksgiving
1 new hobby started, crocheting
If desired: A handful of daytime naps (Tim and I included)
2 broken toes on Candice (for tartness)

Add pounds of wonderful time to stare at our son and daughter in awe, and to contemplate and ponder on life

Enjoyed by both families: 2 grandpas, 2 grandmas, brothers, sisters, nephews/neice

Warning: Beware. End of ten day vacation may seem as if it were three days. That means you cooked it up properly.

My mom, dad, brother and sister came to stay with us for the first weekend.



Then Tim's family came for the next weekend which included Thanksgiving.



Here's me with the said broken toe #2. Stubbed it hard.


The sisters planning Black Friday, their favorite day of shopping of the year.


Hadley on the game table.


Papa singing to Hadley. She's totally mesmerized.


Trent slept in his new sleeping bag beside our bed on the floor. I absolutely LOVED our ten day slumber party with the kids.


Successful Black Friday. Bought enough to fill the suburban to the brim. Even saved a few lives at Walmart that day. A good day's work accomplished.


Our Blue Eyes.


Hadley was sleeping like this after the Cougars took the win over the Utes, still declaring "Touchdown!" No joke.


My family stopped in again on their way home from California.

This is Us

The other day I started noticing this little thing. This little space of lying shoes. The shoes representing our family.




Little boy. Littler girl.




And then yesterday, little girl just like mommy.




And then I realized an even bigger thing: Tim and I have doubled our population. How strange is that to realize that what once was two, is now two, squared!

How amazing.

I'm So In Love with Her

Handy Indeed

Meet the $100 Garbage Can.



Who ever knew that a Garbage Can could cost so much?

On a frenzied return trip to Target (note: We give four thumbs down to Target's return policies) we purchased the $100 Garbage Can.

Ironically, we ended up appreciating, loving, and even agreeing with a $100 value for our blessed Garbage Can. Imagine that!

A few months ago, $100 Garbage Can = Broken.

Demonstration: Garbage can opens like this.



Garbage can stopped opening with the press of the foot pedal. Suppose to have a hinge like this:



With a little help from the tools, and a little help from Tim's smartness...



...the Garbage Can is fixed!



Tim's secret?

A plastic, pina colada sorbet spoon!

Handy indeed.



I LOVE that smart man!

Where do you think I found all these toys?...

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...inside the subwoofer!

You Know You're a Cougar when...

You know you're a BYU Cougar when...



You take a huge double stroller overflowing with blankets, diaper bags, baby bjorns, coats, snacks, and two kids under the age of two (Oh how I wish I had a picture of that stroller) to your mission reunion, all of your family decked out in Cougargear (Tim would have it no other way), and then afterward haul it all up the hill, running, to Cougar Stadium to snuggle and love as you show your son the Cougars play football for the first time.



The Friday Night Lights were awesome as we entered. It was SO SO fun.



Yes we changed a diaper on the steps right next to the police officer paroling our section.

Yes Trent was mesmerized with the sometimes strange band members that sit in the section right next to us.

And how do we know we've really arrived?

Every time Trent sees the letter "Y" he starts rolling his arms and shouting, "GOOOOOOO (as he rolls and then throws his fist in the airs) Cougars!!"



Yes. We know we're Cougars for sure now.