MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From our house to yours!

Catch me if you can

I was trying to salvage Jasper's outfit AND rinse him off in the sink after a diaper that was deserving of a rinse off. Well, I ended up soaking the outift.

The second I undressed Jasper and dried him off he decided to play "race track peek-a-boo" - which is were we race each other around the kitchen island (which is 6 feet long). He still had his socks and penny loafers on. The traction from his shoes helped him go extra fast!

Hopefully we burned a few calories after 10 solid minutes of fun, because we were late getting to the gym.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

I picked this recipe up at my ward recipe club a few months ago. I made this stack of mini-pancakes and they are delicious!

5 Minute Blender Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup wheat--whole grain--not ground

1 cup buttermilk or milk

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 cup oil or applesauce (I used applesauce)

2 Tbsp sugar or honey or both (I used honey)

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp baking powder

1. Put the whole grain wheat and 1 cup milk in a blender and bled at high speed for 3 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and blend 2 minutes more.

3. Cook pancakes as usual or make silver dollar size for snacking.

Dancin' a Jig

I bought some cornflakes to crush up and use as a topping on funeral potatoes.

It seems like Jasper has been reading my cookbook, because he took the cornflakes out of the shopping bag and started dancing a little jig on top of the box.

I think that the cornflake crushing can be attributed to Jasper's need to climb on top of anything and everything that he can.

Thanks for crushing my cornflakes Jasper!

Christmas Blankets Full of Cheer

You may remember my post about making a blanket for women who are on bed rest at the Hospital during Christmas.

Let's just say that my blanket for next year will be finished on time -- as I can use the material that I bought for this year and did not finish. :>

Jasper and I still went out for the deliveries and we had a great time.

We were able to go in and talk to 2 ladies who are a little more than 1/2 way through their pregnancies.

That is a long haul to be in the hospital for many more weeks to come. They each have other kids at home -- one lady has an 8 month old baby at home. Whew! That really broke my heart.

We took the extra blankets to the Pediatric Oncology floor where we know they are needed.

Merry Christmas Sunrise Hospital!

Rain, Snow, Sleet or Hail -- The Male Mail Team Rides On

It may be snowing, but the male mail team still delivers!

Thanks boys!

Still Coming Down

I realize that for most of my friends snow is not that big of a deal. But down here in Vegas, this is HUGE! Who knows when it will snow like this again.

I wish that we had a sled, because we live next door to a small hill that everyone is sliding down. I just saw a kid walk past my front door with his snowboard.

All of our trees are falling over with the heavy snow.

Mike just made it home safe from work. He was able to leave early, but it still took him 75 minutes -- which is 1 hour longer than his usual commute. He had to go 20 miles per hour the whole way home. And we all know how painful that is in a car with 306-horsepower engine :>

We're just glad he is home safe.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The news is calling it a "major weather event". The D.O.T. says that Vegas only has 3 snowplows in town. Yikes!

Jasper can't get enough of it! Especially trying to catch the snowflakes on his tongue.

We walked out the front door to head to the gym and look what we found.

Our airport is not accepting flights or letting flights go out. This never happens in Vegas!

We say -- LET IT SNOW!

We are hoping that Mike can come home a little early and avoid the Vegas drivers who have never driven in snow before.

We plan on sipping hot cocoa with candy canes stirred in and bundling up.

St. George Temple

We had an uplifting visit to the St. George Temple grounds and Visitor's Center a couple weeks ago.

The trees were ablaze in gold and yellow and the sky was a clear bright blue. The Visitor's Center was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Nativities were on display.

And the ultimate "Christmas decoration" is the focal point of the entire Visitor's Center -- Christ, prominently depicted in the Christus statue.

I take Jasper here every time we go to Salt Lake City. When I look back at the photos from our July visit Jasper looks so tiny.

Mike had a blast throwing Jasper high in the air and watching him giggle with delight.

New Mercedes-Benz

If you know anything about the cars that the attorneys at Mike's firm drive -- I probably had you going with the title of this blog post. :>

The new Mercedes in the house belongs to the youngest member of our family.

My grandpa won Jasper a ride-on dump truck at the Beaver County Fire Department Christmas Party. In one of those steal-the-gift games he had to take it from someone else -- but we are sure glad that he did.

Jasper absolutely loves it! Thank you Grandpa!

Christmas Party

The last few years Mike's office Christmas party has been at the Anthem Country Club. It is beautiful, glorious and fully decked out for Christmas.

We had a WONDERFUL night out on Saturday. Thank you Mandi for watching Jasper.

This year they had a drawing for gifts and Mike won a new bluetooth headset, which is something that he really needed.

We sat next to Sharon and her husband -- so the dinner conversation was excellent.

I was quite pleased with myself for throwing an outfit together from my closet. I have already requested a new outfit for the party next year. Hopefully Santa will deliver.

I brought my little camera and had fun taking photos of a few couples in front of the big Christmas tree and wreath.

I think I might bring our big camera next year to take photos. I am sure that Mike will just love that idea! :>

Let's Read a Book

I will be honest and say that we have had a lot of fun receiving fun Christmas packages.

Tonight right before dinner we opened a package that just arrived from my friend Bonnie.

In addition to a Beaver, Utah shirt for Jasper and some delicious creamy honey, she sent us a box full of books. Our favorite treat!

While Jasper was in his high chair I showed him each of the books that we received. Jasper seemed most excited about The Little Penguin. He grabbed onto it, started "reading it" and wouldn't let go.

Thanks Bon!