Valentine's Day

We celebrated yesterday, but here are some highlights:

Nothing says "I love you" like sharing your breakfast in bed.

Watching the BYU women's basketball game. Dash made it on the jumbo-tron three times!

I did a scavenger hunt for Matt based on this Mission Valentine post. I changed all of the missions to include Dash in some way. I also gave Matt the first Toy Story on DVD, which we watched later that evening.

We enjoyed getting Valentines from family members!

And, of course, we had Cherry Yum-Yum
(graham cracker crust, cherry pie filling, and a cream cheese whipped topping).

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Baby's First Christmas

Christmas break was a huge success! 

we went sledding at Seven Peaks 

Dash wasn't a fan of the snow

looking at videos with grandma 

we all got matching REAL soccer shirts

Dash made a super cute "baby Jesus" for the family nativity

opening presents

grandpa giving Dash a 'home alone' hairdo 

one of the only photos of me and Dash...
despite his expression, he loved all of the company

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving Break exceeded my expectations. Here are some of the highlights (in reverse order):

Family Photos on Saturday! My cousin Jen was kind enough to take them.

We were originally just going to get a professional photo of Matt
and then I realized I could sneak in family photos. #momwin

We put up our Christmas decorations! Here is my wreath.

On Friday, we went to my aunt's cabin.
Dash enjoyed kisses from grandma and attention from everyone else.

On Thursday, we went to Matt's aunt's home.
Dash tried pumpkin pie for the first time.

"Hey Dash, let's take a Thanksgiving Selfie!"
He immediately smiles at his picture. Such a ham.

Front row seats for the Panthers game.

And of course, Dash enjoyed spending time with cousins.

Rhetorically, Rebekah

Happy Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year!! 

We had our ward trunk-or-treat the night before Halloween where we dressed up as batman, batgirl, and robin. 

On Halloween day, we had some of my cousins over to make caramel apples!! I used this great recipe to make homemade caramel- my only clarification is that it took at least 15 minutes for us to reach the "medium call" stage. 

We were visited by Belle, Merlin, Mad Madam Mim, and Archimedes the Owl. 

Dash stood for a few seconds on his own. 

We finished the day watching Hotel Transylvania.

Rhetorically, 

Rebekah

Wrapping a Wreath

I've always liked how wreaths brighten up a porch. I looked up a bunch of wreath ideas on pinterest, and decided that even though we don't have a front door, I could still make one to hang up on one of our walls. I was expecting this project to take an hour or maybe two- little did I know how long it would actually take!

I decided to do a yarn wrapped wreath, and chose a foam base for it since I wanted to be able to pin various decorations to the wreath so it could be used all year round. This is what the wreath looked like after spending an hour wrapping yarn around it twice:

Unfortunately, the designs I had in mind called for a thicker wreath. After re-checking some tutorials online, I realized I would have to wrap the wreath with yarn a bajillion lot more times to get that thickness. So I improvised and used grocery bags to help bulk it up:

Matt was slightly concerned when he saw what had become of the wreath, but I assured him it wasn't finished.

I bought new thicker yarn and rewrapped the wreath three more times (adding another two hours): 

And then I spent an hour cutting fall leaves out of felt and arranging them on the wreath. Although white isn't the best background for fall, it will be for other seasons and holidays, so I figured it was worth the sacrifice. I'm still glad I went with a foam center, because the leaves pinned in nicely, but if you just want the thickness of the wreath without having to wrap it in yarn and grocery bags, I'd really recommend going with wrapping a straw wreath. 

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

In Summer

It's been a family and fun filled summer (click on the photos to enlarge):

Celebrating the 4th of July at the Parade and Fireworks at night.

Yogurt with Matt, Birthday with my Parents, and Seven Peaks with Angela

Dash playing with his cousins Niels, Lily, and James.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Life without School

You would think life without school would be boring.
But we find ways to entertain ourselves:

Like playing dress up

Getting a hair cut

Doing family history fingerprint activities

Visiting Provo City Center Temple

Using our new baby carrier to walk around the neighborhood

Oh yeah, and studying for the bar.

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

Happy St Patrick's Day!

We had a great day! Besides wearing green, we celebrated by making "Layers of Luck" dessert, using girl scout thin mints as the garnish. It was delicious!

What did you do to celebrate?

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

And then, we caught the flu

Happy Valentine's Day.

Rhetorically, 

Rebekah

Mary's Christmas

Since I'm great with child this holiday season, I've done a lot of reflecting on what Mary's Christmas must have been like. Since it was her first pregnancy and all, I wonder how it went for her. Did she have all the normal pregnancy symptoms? Was she already having contractions when they were wandering the streets of Bethlehem? Did she even know she was in labor? Was she as sick of being pregnant as I am and just couldn't wait to see her baby in person? How much practice did she have with swaddling clothes, anyway?

I pondered all of this as Matt and I were able to be Joseph and Mary in our family's annual Christmas pageant.  

It was also fun to think about Mary's relationship with her cousin Elizabeth as they were both pregnant. My cute sister-in-law played Elizabeth for the pageant (see us out of costume below) and the scriptures took on new meaning as I thought about my relationship with her and how we've gotten closer through our pregnancies. 

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

If you're looking for a good children's book to read for the holidays, I highly recommend this one. I took us just a few weeks to read (reading two-three chapters a week). 

The Best Christmas Pageant is about a family of rowdy, bully-ish kids who decide to participate in the annual Christmas pageant by taking all the main roles. Having never heard the Christmas Story before, they bring new light to the story that is well-known to so many of us. 

Some of my favorite lines from the book are:

• "Hey! Unto you a child is born!" Gladys hollered, as if it was, for sure, the best news in the world. And all the shepherds trembled, sore afraid--of Gladys, mainly, but it looked good anyway.
• As far as I'm concerned, Mary is always going to look a lot like Imogene Herdman--sort of nervous and bewildered, but ready to clobber anyone who laid a hand on her baby.
• When Imogene had asked me what the pageant was about, I told her it was about Jesus, but that was just part of it. It was about a new baby, and his mother and father who were in a lot of trouble--no money, no place to go, no doctor, nobody they knew. 

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

2014 Top Thanksgiving Memories

1. Watching Big Hero 6
2. Winning at Pinocle
3. Uncle John trying to tell a Thanksgiving memory and his family interrupting every other sentence
4. Cranberry Jello Salad
5. Kristi's pregnancy joke: "When's the basketball due?"

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Pepero Day

Need another excuse to eat candy now that Halloween has passed? Introducing Pepero Day!

Peperos are long thin cookies that are usually dipped in chocolate (or may have chocolate inside). However, they can be coated in other flavors, like strawberry or peanut.

According to Wikipedia: Pepero Day is an observance in South Korea similar to Valentine's Day, but held on November 11. The original purpose of the Pepero Day was to exchange peperos with each other in hopes of becoming taller and thinner. The current purpose is to exchange peperos to show affection for friends and loved-ones.

Naturally, Matt and I will be celebrating. You can find Pepero at any Asian market and you can find the Japanese version, Pocky, at various grocery stores (don't ask me which ones- I just know I've seen them). 

Rhetorically, 

Rebekah