Christmas Kick-Off

The kick-off to our traditional Christmas activities usually begins with building graham cracker houses with the Thomsen's.  We love to host this event and to have kids (of all ages!) build and nibble on their creations. 

In Jack's case - mostly nibbling.

Cole discovered the fun of completely covering his house with every piece of candy in sight.  Unfortunately, by the end of the evening, the cracker building material proved to be structurally unsound and caved in under the weight of deliciousness.

We Were Classy...I Promise

We were so excited to go back to the Grand America this year for breakfast with Santa.  Luckily, everyone was healthy, and nobody threw up at the table.  (Truly the mark of a good time.)  We took Trax downtown, which the boys just loved.

The breakfast was a kid's dream - mac and cheese, chocolate chip pancakes, french toast sticks, and mini corn dogs. 

But, of course, the real highlight was meeting Santa and Mrs. Claus.  The boys were literally trembling with excitement to go and say hello.  I just sat and tried to figure out a way to discretely ask Mrs. Claus where she got her red glasses. 

We also took a look at the hotel's huge gingerbread house.  It was truly impressive.

Thank you again, Pa and Nana, for taking us to such a special breakfast.  We had such a lovely time!

Thanksgiving First

Due to a series of unconnected events: my Dad's knee replacement surgery and subsequent hospital stay, it being the in-laws year for most of my aunts and uncles, and the passing of my Grandpa; this year, Thanksgiving was at my house.  Now you all know I can hold my own when it comes to baking, but meat preparation?  Sauces?  Hells to the no.  However, with some excellent guidance from those with vastly superior cooking skills, the results were not bad at all.  

We tried a brined turkey, and it was pretty tasty.  Slicing the turkey certainly drew a crowd...

The expert doing what he does best!

Graciously, my mom made the gravy.  It was completely delicious.

We had such an enjoyable dinner and conversation.  Thank you to everyone who made this Thanksgiving a success!

Pinterest Win!

These girls make work bearable for me.  We figured we act like Relief Society at work...we should make the leap and have a craft night at home!  On the agenda?  Our favorite appetizers and a yarn wreath. 

This is my ball of yarn.  Everyone else's stayed tidily together.  Not mine.  I spent nearly half the night attempting to work knots out of it.  Finally, after I threw it on the floor in disgust, Sheila found pity on me and gave me hers.  I left mine on the floor to show it who is boss. 

Diane had to skip out early, but Sarah, Mandy, Sheila and I pressed on and finished.  We were all pretty proud of ourselves.  (You can't tell, but Sheila is actually happy with her wreath - Smile, Sheila!)

It's a Pinterest Win all around!

Cooking with Friends...and Chocolate

You know, it really pays to have friends who like chocolate.  Shan and Lance had found a cooking class which was all about cooking with chocolate, and had been so kind to send out the invitation.  We made a mole sauce, a rub for steak, chocolate dipped strawberries, and a chocolate mousse cake.  

Shan smoking up some chilies: 

I helped!

Dipping some strawberries

Bryce enjoyed the immersion blender.

Delicious!

Licking from the container.  We may or may not have all participated. 

Those little cakes were amazing.  Yum!

They also sent us home with some bags of chocolate, chocolate bars, hot chocolate, and melting wafers.  It was a great date night - especially since the chef and her assistants did most of the prep work and clean up.  Now, if all cooking was that way, I would do it all the time!  :) 

A Good Reason To Celebrate

Back when Jack was in the NICU, Bryce and I saw posters for the St. Mark's NICU reunion, and looked forward to attending with our little guy in the future.  For the first time this year, we received an invitation and were so excited to go.

The event was outside at the hospital, and many of the nurses and doctors from the NICU were there.  We even recognized a few from our short time there. 

Of course there were all kinds of activities.  Both boys got their faces painted:

And paid a visit to the clown who was making balloon animals.  Cole wanted a sword.  Sure, buddy, that looks exactly like....a sword.

The boys were very excited to "drive" the firetruck:

And they absolutely loved aiming and shooting water out of the fire hose.

As well as sitting in a fully equipped ambulance:

But for Bryce and I, it was a celebration of all that Jack has accomplished and a reminder that, without the amazing doctors and nurses, it could have been very different.  We saw many kids who hadn't been so lucky, and who had to continue to fight through physical therapy.  But, in some weird ways, it felt like seeing old friends.  Thanks, St. Marks, for getting us, and families just like us, through it!

For Reals?

Here I was, feeling all awesome and caught up on the blog posts when I found it...the dreaded file of pictures I had ignored.  I have vague memories of slapping these up on Facebook, but nothing past that.  And since Bryce and I don't get to travel as much as we'd like to, when we do it's important to remember it.  

In late August, I was registered for an Employment Law conference update in San Francisco.  I left on Wednesday, and the plan was for Bryce to join me Friday, and we'd make a weekend of it.  Grandma and Grandpa Thomsen and Pa and Nana took turns with the boys, and we had a great little break.  

My flight into San Fran was the best ever.  I'm pretty sure there were about 15 people on the flight.  Ahhh, row after row of empty seats.  It was spectacular.

The conference itself was pretty fascinating.  I don't talk too much about my job on the blog, or anywhere else, mostly because I have to be so careful about what I say and who I say it about.  But I love what I do.  Part of what I do is to write settlement agreements and to try to protect the University from risks associated with disciplinary action.  The conference was a run-down of all of the big court decisions so far this year and how they affect public-sector employers.  Some of the presenters were better than others, but it was definitely good information.  

The other thing that was absolutely fantastic was to be able to spend a little time on my own.  I watched whatever I wanted on TV.  I painted my toenails.  I read racy novels.  I wandered around the city.  (Although I was poo-bombed on the head by a pigeon.  Not so awesome.)

Friday finally arrived, and Bryce flew in.  We knew we didn't have much time in the city, so really just tried to relax and enjoy.  We walked down to the wharf:

We ate a delicious dinner of various meats/cheeses and bread.

We rode the trolley. 

Saturday, we went to the natural history museum.  They had an absolutely fascinating rainforest exhibit running.  We saw snakes,

Spiders,

Lizards,

And beautiful butterflies and birds - just floating randomly through the trees:

We ended the day by going up to Coit Tower.  The view was definitely spectacular, but riding up a small elevator car crammed with other folks is not my idea of a good time.

It was great just to spend time with Bryce and walk through the city.  Everyone needs a small vacation every once in a while!