Thaddeus Video

This is mostly for my mom. She left about a month ago just as he was starting to smile but she never really got to see it. Plus, I wanted to try out my new camera and how to upload video.

Why I moved to the boonies

I took these pictures from my front door today. I love it here!

Impromtu Living Nativity

Wisemen bearing gifts from afar riding on their trusty camel.

Mary and Joseph on their mule. (I know, the mule looks kind of like a camel. Just use your imagination)

Mary and baby Jesus (Thaddeus really looks like a doll in this picture, don't you think?)

A lowly shepherd boy. (But a super handsome one if I do say so myself)

Notice the new star in the sky.

My kids put this together on their own a few days before Christmas and invited me down to watch when it was all ready. They even had Silent Night playing in the background. I loved it! They looked so solemn in their little procession.

Granny's Fudge

This is my Granny's fudge recipe. Even she quit making it by the end of her life because it is a pretty tricky recipe, but I'm proud to say mine turned out perfect this year!
Merry Christmas everyone!

You know you live in the sticks when...

You know you live in the sticks when after tithing settlement at the church you have an almost flat tire and it is a half hour drive to the nearest gas station so you ask the Bishop for suggestions and he sends you to a guy named Lumpy who lives down the street (Lumpy is a mechanic and has a compressor)and after Lumpy helps you with your tire he gives you several pounds of elk meat.


Just as a side note, before I wrote this I looked up the idiom 'living in the sticks' as I thought it was 'living in the Styx' in reference to the river Styx from Greek mythology that separates the Earth from the underworld indicating that you live on the very edges of civilization. Looks like the most people think 'sticks' refers to living near wooded areas. Just wondering if any of you linguistically minded people had any perspective on that.

Where's my Sword?

This morning around 9ish someone showed up at my door--a man from the credit union checking on our progress from our construction loan. I was in my slippers and PJs, dirty dishes everywhere, laundry piled in a few places, toys and general floor grime, etc. A disaster! I open the door, "Yes, I'm from the credit union. I talked to your husband yesterday and he said he would tell you I was coming. Did he talk to you?" Um...Obviously NOT! So I let him in to do his inspections with great embarrassment and apologies and after he left I made a phone call to my wonderful husband. I kindly reminded him that I'm not one of those people who typically has a ready-for-anyone-to-drop-by-at-anytime type of home (though I'd like to be and I'm working on it) and if he would PLEASE remember to tell me if someone is coming over. At some point in the conversation I said something to the effect of, "I'm going to have to kill you." in my most loving tone, of course. Asher was standing by and said in his very innocent 2 year old voice, "Mommy, you don't have a sword to kill Daddy." Guess I'll have to ask Santa for one. :-)

Bottle Success!

Thaddeus had his first bottle last night. I knew I needed to try soon as I have to leave him a few days after Christmas for a few hours to attend a wedding. For some reason, after church, I was leaking a ton of milk even though he had just eaten so I decided to try the breast pump my sister had sent me. I got 2 oz. in about 2 seconds, I swear. I stuck it in the fridge and then while I was making dinner and he started screaming I had Abe give it to him. I thought we'd have to try several times to get him to take it and figure out the different sucking technique but he took it no problem and without a protest. I didn't want to make dinner, I just wanted to watch his Daddy feed him! It is a relief to know I have the option of leaving him for a bit if I need to or just want to.