Community Christmas Festival

I've said this a thousand times, but I love where we live.  Our community had a Christmas Festival a week ago.  The kids got to read stories with Santa while they ate cookies and drank milk and then they each got to talk with Santa for a few minutes.  Audrey didn't really care to meet him.  She probably would have rather sat back and watched everyone else meet Santa.  It took a little while to get something that resembled a smile.  He was really nice to try to engage her but she was really quiet.  I'm surprised that she finally decided to tell him what she wanted for Christmas.  

After we met Santa we went outside where they had a petting zoo.  Audrey loves things like this.  She went straight to the goat of course and started petting it, and then she pet the donkey.  If we were living somewhere else I would love to have a petting zoo in my backyard.  Donkeys are so cute!  :)

After the petting zoo we played on the blow up toys,  That ended abruptly when Audrey got smacked in the face.  I'm sure the child didn't do it on purpose, but it was enough to convince Audrey that she didn't want to play anymore. 

Then it was on to the camel.  Check that off my bucket list. Sweet!  Yeah, we rode a camel.  In case you were wondering, it's just as uncomfortable as it sounds, but it was pretty awesome to be up so high on such an interesting animal.  

We ended the morning by riding on the train a couple times and then we headed home.   A well spent Saturday morning with the two people I love the most. 

A Small Thanksgiving

Audrey got sick.  Really sick.  We'd planned to go to Jenny's for Thanksgiving but after Audrey came down with a fever and horrendous cough we decided not to spread it around.  For the first time in my married life we had Thanksgiving alone. It was a little too quiet. We watched the Thanksgiving Day parade on TV while we cooked and Audrey played with her toys in the living room.  I made 8 pies which turned out to be a mistake because by the end of the week everyone was sick and I was trying desperately to make it through them on my own. They were delicious but it didn't happen.  I may not have a taste for pie for a little while.  

Thanksgiving evening we revisited leftovers and then we put Audrey down for bed early.  After she went to bed we had Paul's parents and his brother's family over for pie.  It was nice to have a little bit of Thanksgiving with family.  I felt bad that Audrey missed it.  My favorite part of Thanksgiving at my parents house was being able to eat as many pieces of pie as I wanted in the evening and then again for breakfast.  The pie lasted a little too long this time.  Maybe next year we'll only do 4 or 5.  

All in all it was simple.  Paul and I were talking when the day was coming to an end and we decided that despite the lack of people it was sweet to have our little family together celebrating Thanksgiving alone for the very first time.  

I'm so grateful for so many things this year.  I'm grateful for our new home.  I feel so blessed to be here and every time I walk in the door I have to pause and ask myself, "Is this really our home?"  It's been 8 years and this home feels more like home than any of the rest.  

I'm grateful that I have such a sweet little 4 year old girl.  She tells me a million times a day that she loves me and I have to thank my Heavenly Father every night that she is mine.  I'm grateful that I have such an amazing husband who is always there for me and who knows me so well and makes me want to be a better person everyday.  He makes me so happy. He is the best Daddy and the best husband anyone could ask for. I'm grateful that I have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  I'm grateful for the knowledge that he lives and that he loves me.  Everyday I try to be more like him.  I fail a lot, but I'm grateful that he is there to pick me up when I fall.  I'm grateful for the hope that adoption has given me.  I'm grateful that we have the ability to pursue it.  I'm grateful for so many other things: health, life, family, food, water, clothes, cars, and the list goes on.  I am so blessed.  

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as I did.  Bring on Christmas.

 Poor Audrey was so sick.

 Paul was my right hand man.  I've never been so impressed by the cleanliness of a kitchen.  Especially on Thanksgiving.  He's amazing!

Lion, Tigers, and Bears

Let's be honest and say, the only reason why anyone goes to a Zoo is to see the Lions, Tigers, and Bears....and maybe a Gorilla or two.  Our Zoo is amazing!  It's so large that it's hard to get through it in an afternoon.  You really have to make a day of it.

We went with Paul's parents, Jenny, and her kids.  We had a good time.  I wish I could say that I lined us all up and took a picture.  Why do I forget these things?  Next time I will be more present.  I was trying to rush through because I wanted Audrey to be able to see everything and in the process we missed some photos.  Audrey's favorite part is always the Bears and brushing the goats.  If we had some land I would definitely buy a goat because this girl loves her goats.  Especially the white ones....don't ask me why.  Give this girl a brush and a goat and she'd be happy for quite some time. Maybe I should rethink getting a dog.  

Mental note, always go to the Zoo in the Fall/Winter.  All the animals were out and active.  It was awesome.   The best part.  Paul got to come with us.  His days off are limited so I consider myself blessed every time he is with us during the week.  

Paul giving me his best fake smile.  

A Visit From Grandpa and Anna

Helllooooo!  It's been a crazy few weeks.  I feel like I'm so busy and I don't even know why.  Or maybe I do, performances for the community choir I help out with, people booking photo sessions like crazy, Christmas getting closer and closer, and on top of that a lot of sickness going on at this house.  

We got a surprise visit from Paul's parents for the Thanksgiving Holiday.  I love it when family comes into town.  Audrey loves it too, it's just about the only thing she can talk about until they arrive.  Anne played and read with Audrey the whole time she was here. Paul was with his Dad working on the house and projects.  I know that Paul misses time with his Dad working on things so I'm really glad that he was able to spend time with him.  

Anne was the queen of play-doh.  She was building Audrey princess dresses and Audrey was decorating them. Audrey was a little frustrated when I pulled lunch out and she had to stop.  She made me promise that we would pull it out again, and we did, the next day.

I had a photo shoot this weekend.  It's a trial to find good spots to take awesome photos, but since moving here I have used the community a lot.   I love where we live.  One of my favorite spots is the duck pond.  Audrey loves to feed the ducks and I love how peaceful it is there.  

I'm sure the Ducks get a steady diet of bread.  A lot of them are seriously large!  So large that they have a hard time walking. I was curious what you're actually supposed to feed ducks...so I googled it.   :)  It turns out that things like: wheat, rice, barley, oats, and peas are a whole lot better for them. So we pack our bags full of wheat and rice and headed out.  I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of Audrey and her Anna.  

I'm so grateful that we had family for Thanksgiving this year.  Thank you Rod and Anne!  Come back again soon!

Visiting Downtown

I've always hoped that someday I could do a photo shoot downtown.  One of my friends called an asked if we could do something downtown.  I'm so excited!  We took a drive to scout out a location.  We had a fun time hanging out together and just wandering around downtown.  There's something about the old buildings that makes me happy.  We were just messing around but here's a few photos we took while we were there.  Paul humored me and was my model.  

I like him....green shoes and all.:)

Wish me luck.  We'll be doing the shoot this weekend.  I'm so excited!

Roughing It

We had plans to go camping, do some star gazing, and eat smores.  I guess coming from Utah where you can camp pretty much anywhere I expected to be able to get a campsite a couple days in advance. 

Apparently you have to book and pay for these campsites well in advance.  Rookie mistake.  So we decided that we would do a camping preview in our living room.  Audrey was so excited about sleeping in a tent.  She couldn't contain the excitement.  She was jumping around and screaming.  Apparently camping is the best thing ever, even if it's only in our living room.  She fell asleep to the light of our fireplace and slept well into the morning.  

Maybe in a couple of weeks we will make it to and actual campground.  Hopefully it won't be too cold.  In the mean time we really enjoyed the preview.  

Pizza Friday

I'm kind of obsessed with Italian pizza right now.  There's an Italian restaurant downtown that I love.  I had a pizza there that I dream about.  I'm working toward making the perfect Italian pizza.  It's a working progress.  This one was pretty delicious.  

Yes, I dared make crust by hand this time.  I don't think there is a real difference other than the workout your arms get.  That said, I'm ready to make pizzas during the zombie apocalypse when all electronics will be rendered useless.  We'll be living it up over here.

Audrey loves to cook with me so thanks to my sister we have started cookie Wednesday, and now we have Pizza Friday.  Audrey helps me through the whole process, and she usually requires that she wears her apron.  I love that this is our time, and we get to spend it doing something we both love.  

People of the World

People of the World I would like to welcome you.  I've noticed recently that there are people from other countries visiting my blog.  If you are here and I don't know you, feel free to introduce yourself in the comments below.  We should be internet friends...or maybe pen pals. After all, you probably know a lot about me.  I appreciate anyone who is willing to venture into my life and read what I write and stick around.

Sincerly, Your Internet Friend

Emily

Welcome to the Neighborhood

I have fallen in love with where we live.  There are so many parks here that we literally go to a different one every week.  This particular one is our favorite.  It's the biggest park I have ever seen. There are probably 10 sections. Some for younger kids and some for older kids.  We could spend the entire day here, but I usually get tired after a few hours.  

Last week we went with friends.  We were meeting at the park to take their family photos and while we waited I took a load of pictures of Audrey,  

I only wish that I had someone else there that could take pictures of us together.  She will someday be grateful for my thorough documentation of her life. :)  Hopeful someday soon she'll get a buddy and I can document their sweet relationship as siblings.  She was telling me the other day all the things she was going to do to help me when her baby arrives.  Part of me thinks that when it happens it's going to rock her world, and the other part of me thinks that she is just going to be so happy to finally be a big sister.  She's going to be a second Mom to be sure.  

My favorite part about these pictures is the necklace Audrey is wearing.  She asks me every morning to wear my young women medallion ( Something young women in our church can earn by doing projects that are centered around values like: charity, faith virtue, knowledge, and integrity.).  I can't say no.  It makes her so happy and it makes me happy to see it on her.