Decorating Cookies

our neighbors brought us such a clever gift. they gave us a plate of gingerbread cookies: a daddy, mommy, and toddler. then they had little baggies of stuff to decorate them with. we had a blast decorating them, elizabeth loved the frosting so much she got it all over her face.

Olive Fingers

elizabeth loves olives!! especially when she gets to eat them off her fingers.

Farewell Beautiful Blondie

i'm sad to say that we have given our beautiful blondie away. i have to say that i was hesitant to take the bird in the beginning, it was my grandma chalmers and she wasn't able to care for it, and so she gave it to me for my birthday.
blondie fell in love with us quickly, we always joked that blondie almost loved me to much cause whenever i walked in the room she would start singing and tried to get my attention...it was rather funny.
i actually thought it was odd that she liked me cause i never held her (i'm not really a bird kind of person).
elizabeth loved blondie from the beginning, however it took blondie awhile to warm up to her...she eventually did.
you know...birds are messy!! i'm talking like feathers everywhere messy!! it was to much for me, but i felt guilty giving her awaycause, one: my grandma gave her to me, and two: blondie loves us.
but...my cousin jon LOVES birds! so, i thought, what a wonderful christmas gift :)
he has already told me that blondie has pooped on his shoulder, and you know what that means?...it's a start of a beautiful friendship.

Ward Christmas Party

i love our ward, i grew up in this ward and though people have moved from the neighborhood, the spirit in the ward has never changed. i love serving in the primary, and was so proud of all the children that participated in the talent and skit part of the christmas program.
it's been so fun this christmas season, because elizabeth has shown some interest in santa. we always read christmas stories about santa and tell her that santa is watching :) she was so excited when santa showed up to our ward christmas party, she waited patiently in line to sit on his lap (which she did all by herself i might add). it was so nice visiting with the wonderful members in our ward, and getting to know all the new people.
it was funny after the party ended and we went home, elizabeth told me that when she gets big she wants to be fat like santa...haha, she says the funniest things.

Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

i have worked for the same company for five years, and in the spring i transferred to a different clinic. i was so nervous to work with such a tight knit group of girls, but i was meant to work there! i LOVE the girls i work with! our work christmas party actually wasn't an ugly sweater party, but we thought we'd spice it up a little! although these aren't all the girls i work with, we always manage to have a good time!

Hayley's Birthday

the family got together to celebrate hayley's birthday. i can't believe hayley is 13!! it was so fun having all of us together, grandma chalmers even brought amelia the baby gift that she made, which put a smile on all our faces.

You Melt My Heart

elizabeth brought me the camera and wanted me to take pictures of her, she really does melt your heart!

Giving...

as we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. -john fitzgerald kennedy

it was so nice being all together at my parents, there was a lot of visiting and laughter. i have to say, that my mom makes thee best thanksgiving dinner! i couldn't stop eating.
one funny thing that was said at dinner was, ryan had made the candied yams and they were delicious! grandma chalmers turned to ryan and said 'oh these are just wonderful, it's like eating candy' and ryan replied 'grandma, that's why they call them candied yams'. grandma thought that was pretty funny.
it was a really nice evening, we just sat around and visited. i even made up some games that we played and we all took turns sharing what we were grateful for.

Thanks...

i love thanksgiving so much, it reminds me of all the blessings in my life that sometimes go unnoticed.
i'm so grateful for a home that surrounds me with comfort and protection, delicious food; in both eating and sharing, clothes to snuggle up in, books and good entertainment to expand my mind, and freedom to worship our god. most of all i am thankful for my family and friends, those treasured people who make my life extra special.
i have such an amazing husband, and we are so blessed to be parents to such a beautiful, intelligent daughter, who teaches us new things about life every day!

my family has a wonderful tradition for thanksgiving. we actually celebrate thanksgiving the day after with the taintor side, so we don't have to pick and choose who we go visit, we can visit them all. so, thanksgiving day we were lucky enough to spend with ryan's family. his wonderful aunt roxcie had us over for dinner. it was so nice, ryan's dad was able to make it, as well as his brother randy & randy's girlfriend mary. it was fun visiting with all of them, and elizabeth even got some play time in with her cousin jessie.



for dessert, we were able to make it to my aunt barbara's house and see some of the taintor's side of the family.

Late Night Buddy

sometimes i call ryan an oldman because he goes to bed early, when i am a night owl! it's nice to have my cousin jon around though, cause i can always manage to persuade him to come hang out with me. this night jon and i went out to breakfast about midnight with a few of my girlfriends, it was a blast!

Coming Soon...

i am finally catching up on my blogging! i am missing a very important entry though! it's our big church history vacation to nauvoo! don't worry though, it is coming soon. it's under construction right now, but keep your eyes open for it you won't want to miss it!!

Because Adam and Danielle Are So Worth The Trip

my brother is a big fat smarty pants. his super-mega brains have taken him to medical school and now all the way to wisconsin for his residency. three years is not so long these days, but it's long enough to start missing them.

adam had a deal on some flights that he just wasn't going to be able to use. after i was able to convince holly into taking a vacation with us, we were all very excited to visit the taintors!

the first night we went to kennedy and seth's german school to a light festival. it was fun to hear kennedy and seth sing and speak in german.


friday we went to a fish fry with long lines, greasy delicious fish, and polka music. Good times.


saturday we headed out to CHICAGO. traffic was horrible but it was well worth the drive. we only lost one of adam's kids and she was shortly recovered. we visited Wrigley field, played with the giant "Bean", rode the subway, and ate some delicious pizza.





sunday all got up bright and early for 9 a.m. church. this was not an easy task with 5 adults, 6 kids, and one bathroom. we pulled it off, and even though danielle was coming down with the flu, we all made it to church. living in utah we are indeed spoiled. within a mile of our house there are at least six LDS meetinghouses. in wisconsin we had to drive 30 minutes to reach the nearest one. i love going to the church in different areas. i love to see how the church is the same wherever you go. it is such a testimony to me of the truthfulness of the gospel. their ward also has a lot of residents and med students from utah.

after the meeting adam took us on a tour of the hospital where he works. my brother is a doctor. i think somehow that makes me cooler. i am sure of it.

friday adam had to work so danielle took us to the quaint little town of Cedarburg, but on monday danielle was very ill with the flu. she was far to sick to take us out, so instead gave us a map and her keys and we were on our way. we visited the most amazing little "hole in the wall" spice shop called the spice house. they had the most awesome blends of spices. we then headed down to the milwaukee public market. with our tour guide sick we weren't quite sure what to do. even wandering around aimlessly were were able to have a good time. elizabeth even had a lot of fun in the taintor's backyard.



thanks taintor's for having us out. it was a great trip.