Christmas Time and Beyond

It's about time we updated everyone on our Christmas season, and what we've been up to since coming home. We did actually get a Christmas tree this year, even though I knew our time to enjoy it would be short lived, I just couldn't pass it up. We went to Hunter's Honey Farm in Martinsville to cut our own. Unfortunately, all of the trees were pretty much dead, but we decided to cut one down anyway since we'd driven all that way. In the midst of our trying to find the most perfectly dead Christmas tree of all, Jonah kept pointing and blabbing.


I thought, "This kid really has an opinion on what Christmas tree we should get."
Come to find out, Jonah had spotted a tractor and was trying to get our attention.

Daddy let Jonah ride on the tractor and our little boy could not have been happier about finally getting his way.


Our Christmas break started on December 15 when we flew out to Utah. We spent a few days there with my family before coming to California to celebrate Christmas. Now, we've gotten snow in Indiana...

Here's a picture of Jonah with his very first snowball in Indiana. He learned to say "snow" but it comes out more like "mow" (so cute).
And, here is Jonah playing with Daddy and Uncle Nathan in Utah in "real" snow.



After spending time in Utah, we flew to California for Christmas. It was so fun to see all of Mike's family and to see Jonah experiencing some time with his cousins.
Here's Jonah on Christmas Day.


While in California, we also made a trip down to Monterey to go to the aquarium. Jonah loved all of the cool sea creatures that he got to touch. He also discovered how to make a "fishy face" while watching the fish swim.


After two weeks with the Lowes, we headed back to Utah for another week with the Blacks. We played in the snow some more. Michael built two pretty awesome snow caves/igloos.

We had our annual "Bake Your Buns Off Bake Off" in which my mom starred as the honored judge. Here's a picture of all of the delicious desserts and almost all those that participated.

After a stiff competition, Marissa won with her absolutely amazing chocolate raspberry cake.
We had such an incredible time over Christmas break and seriously could never get enough of our family. It's always sad to come home.
Mike and I had another trip ahead of us to look forward to in January. For my birthday/Christmas present, Mike bought me tickets to Wicked in Chicago. These weren't just ANY tickets though. These were front and center, Elphaba singing, "defying gravity" in your face tickets. We saw the show this past Thursday at the Ford Oriental Theatre.

It is a beautifully ornate theatre.

The show was MAGICAL. SUPERB. FABULOUS. Pretty much every superlative you can think of. Thanks to my good friend Katie Quinn Anderson and her family for letting us stay with them and for watching our cranky baby. :)

It was fun to catch up and see Katie's new baby boy Mark. What a cutie!!
Oh, I also ordered a pair of rain boots from Target for my birthday and I just can't pass up posting this picture of Jonah. When I told him to "Smile" this was the goofy face he made.

Whew! And, I think that's it. Our blog is officially caught up, and I'm blog-guilt free.

I Love Thai Chicken Pizza!!

I realize that I have yet to post an update about our amazing month-long Christmas break (Hip-Hip-Hooray for being an MBA student), but I just have to post my new favorite recipe. I got this Thai Chicken Pizza recipe from my friend Megan Whiting about a month ago, and tonight was our second time making it.

Mike's friend from school, Dian, came over with her daughter Kaylia,and I taught them how to make pizza. She is going to teach me how to make the Indonesian version of chicken noodle soup sometime soon, so we're sort of doing a hands-on recipe swap. We made a pesto pizza with tomato, goat cheese, and chicken (which is also fabulous) and this pizza.
Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Thai Chicken Pizza
Peanut Sauce:
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
2 T. Hoisin sauce (I did not include this when we made it because I haven't been able to find it)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. granulated sugar
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. water
2 tsp. sesame oil (or canola oil)
2 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. minced onion
1 tsp. minced ginger-root

Mix above ingredients in microwave safe bowl. Pour this mixture into blender and blend for 15 seconds or until mostly smooth. Pour back into bowl and microwave for 1 minute. The peanut sauce should be darker now. At this point, you can add more sesame oil to achieve desired consistency.

Toppings:
1 cup cooked, chopped chicken
1 1/2 c. grated mozzarella
1-2 green onions, sliced (you could also try using thinly sliced red onion instead)
1/4 c. grated carrot
2 tsp. minced cilantro
1 T. chopped peanuts

Spread peanut sauce onto prepared pizza crust. Sprinkle 1 c. mozzarella, onion, chicken, carrots, cilantro, nut, and then the rest of the mozzarella. Bake pizza for 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees, or until edges of crust turn golden brown.

Here's the pizza crust recipe I use (thanks to Mike's mom) just in case you don't have one you like:

Pizza Crust
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 pkg. yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)
2 tsp. salt
3 T. Oil
31/2 - 4 C. flour, enough to make a stiff dough

Dissolve yeast in water. Add other ingredients and knead for 8 minutes. I actually don't let the dough rise at all, so pizza night is actually pretty time friendly. I just plop the dough on a cookie sheet on which I've drizzled olive oil and sprinkled corn meal and use my hands to roll it out. Then put your toppings on and bake it up.

I've Been Tagged!

Rules:
1. Post rules on your blog
2. Answer the six '8' items
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

So...I've been tagged. Here goes my first shot at this tagging business.

8 favorite TV shows
1. The Office
2. Good Eats
3. Ace of Cakes
4. MythBusters
5. the Today Show
6. So You Think You Can Dance
7. Man vs. Wild
8. The Hills (I can explain: I was nursing for what seemed like every other hour when Jonah was first born, and this trashy yet highly entertaining television really made the time go more quickly)

8 things I did yesterday
1. Bought apples and eggs at the Bloomington Farmer's Market
2. Drank hot cocoa and ate a pumpkin bagel with pumpkin shmear from Bloomington Bagels
3. Played with Jonah at WonderLab
4. Went Christmas shopping for Mike
5. Watched Jonah destroy an Anne Klein purse display at Macey's waiting for Mike to decide on a Christmas present for Marissa.
6. Ate leftover pancakes for dinner
7. Hung out with some girlfriends while MIke watched the BYU vs. Utah football game.
8. Read A Tale of Two Cities

8 things I look forward to
1. Spending time with Mike over Thanksgiving break
2. Eating Mike's Thanksgiving turkey
3. Winning the pie contest (yes, this means beating Mike...a difficult but not impossible task)
4. Working out with Megan and McKenzie
5. Seeing my family in December
6. Having my family spend time with Jonah in December
7. Celebrating my 3rd Anniversary with Mike
8. Spring!!

8 favorite restaurants
1. Turquaz Cafe (Bloomington)
2. Smokin' Jack's Rib Shack (Bloomington)
3. Saigon Cafe (Provo)
4. Demae (Provo)
5. Bombay House (Provo and Bloomington)
6. The Chocolate Moose (Bloomington) -Not really a restaurant, but they have the BEST Mint Oreo ice cream ever.
7. Siam House (Bloomington)
8. Mi Ranchito (Orem)

8 things on my wish list
1. Fruit Dryer
2. Big Baggy Man Sweats...for lounging around of course
3. Books
4. someone to scrapbook all of Jonah's pictures from the last year and a (almost) half of his life
5. Garden
6. House with a porch
7. New upstairs neighbors (that don't party like it's 1999 nightly)
8. a baby girl (someday...I'm not pregnant)

8 people I tag
1. Annie Green
2. Kelli Black
3. Jessica Gillespie
4. Jeanette Millward
5. McKenzie Stoddard
6. Celeste Johnson
7. Dirk Black
8. Kellie Yeates

Brrr!! The Latest in Gloomington

This past week has been a busy one for our family. Mike is busy with school and preparing for more school (Bless my sweet husband). I have been busy with cub scouts, play groups, Thanksgiving potlucks, Christmas gift scheming, and hot cocoa. Mike and I have decided that in order to spice up our winter season we are going to drink 100 hot cocoas. That's 50 cocoas each. We've dubbed this: "The Winter of 100 Cocoas." If anyone else wants to join us, please do! Cheers! I've had 5 hot cocoas so far; only 45 to go. I have a feeling it won't be too hard to achieve my goal of 50 hot cocoas seeing as it is pretty darn cold here in Bloomington.

Here's a picture of Jonah bundled up to go and get the mail. Don't you love his little scarf. Thanks Auntie Kathryn!

Jonah has found a new trick. He loves to hide in the cereal cabinet while I cook dinner. Since discovering that he can fit inside, he has dumped out my dried oatmeal, a box of cheerios, and his baby oatmeal. He really is fascinated by making messes. As long as he's not whining while I'm cooking, I'm fine with a mess.

Apparently, Jonah likes his privacy.

Grandma Jo and Grandpa sent Jonah an early Christmas gift to save us the hassle of trying to bring it on a plane. Jonah loves his new barn. Thank goodness for Grandparents!

Jonah was so excited to play with his new toy.

Happy Fall to One and All

I don't know if it is still Fall where all of you are, but the crisp weather and beautiful colors of Fall are still going strong here in Indiana. I've got to brag about our good weather while I can, because I know we've got some cold months ahead of us. It seems like October flew by. Here are some recent pictures of our family.

Mike was able to baptize one of our Cub Scouts, Derik Gonzalez on October 25th. One of our other Cub Scouts was also baptized that day and we were asked to speak on Baptism for their program. It was wonderful to be a part of their baptism.

We went on a hay ride as part of a MBA Kelley Kids activity. Jonah loved watching the cows follow the trailer. I think that's the closest he's ever been to a cow and he was absolutely enthralled by them. He even wore a John Deere tractor t-shirt to fit in. Grandpa Winder would be proud.

Jonah was a lion for Halloween. Thanks to Camille for letting us borrow the costume. We practiced our roaring and he got pretty good at it.


Me and a couple other girls planned a Trunk-or-Treat so our little guys wouldn't have to walk so far on Halloween to get candy. We had a potluck before hand at Bryan Park. People brought soups, bread, and dessert.
Jonah caught on pretty quickly to the whole concept of Trick-or-Treating. "If I hold my bucket out, people will put candy in it." He sure was cute walking around in his costume; he looked like a big doll.

Here are some of Jonah's friends who came to the Trunk-or-Treat. They all looked so cute, it made me wish that our kids dressed up like this more than once a year.

Lastly, Mike and I let our political voices be heard and we voted!
Mike and I like to think we've educated ourselves on the issues surrounding the election and both voted this past week. Mike voted by mail, sending his votes all the way to California. I had to wait in line for an hour in downtown Bloomington. Not too bad, considering I prepared myself for a two hour wait. For those of you who know I am maybe the biggest eavesdropper around, let's just say I saw some really interesting people and listened in on some pretty crazy conversations. (Or, maybe they weren't really that unusual, and my excitement stemmed from the fact that I just don't get out much) Either way, I came to a few conclusions on my own early voting day:
1. Boys should never ever wear lip gloss and/or turquoise-colored skinny jeans.
2. It's hard to make small talk with a local politician you know is a liar.
3. You can never prepare too much. After preparing myself as best I could for the presidential vote, I was surprised to see that I had no idea who half the other people running for local office were. So much for being politically prepared on election day.
4. The era of two party politics in America needs to end. The Presidential candidate who I thought would best represent my convictions was NOT on the ballot in Indiana. I had to write him in.
5. It feels pretty darn good to wear an "I Voted" sticker.

Back in B-Town and Lovin' It

Has it really been since August 16th that I last posted? Well at least I never promised to be good at this blogging thing. We've been back in Bloomington, Indiana for almost two months now, and it is absolutely amazing to be home. I missed our good friends here, my kitchen, the farmer's market, and my shoes. Let's just say I got really tired of rotating through about 6 outfits this summer. Packing for four months in less than an hour doesn't bode well for variety in the wardrobe department.
Here are some pictures of us back in B-Town:

Jonah "just chillin'" on the couch. You wonder what he thinks when he sees Mike and I sitting on the couch; we must seem to be really enjoying it.

Jonah playing golf inside with Dad when Mom was gone.

To keep Jonah entertained one day while I was trying to get ready, I put a pair of his church socks on his hands. He loved trying to pick up things. And, yes that is my toothbrush in his mouth. Good thing it had the cap on it.

Jonah and Dad at an apple orchard just south of Bloomington. We picked lots of apples. Jonah was more interested in eating the rotten ones that had fallen off the trees, so we had to keep our eye on him. He loved being outside.

Mike made sure Jonah wore his overalls so he'd looked the part.


Jonah sitting in a tractor (at least I think it's a tractor) that was parked right outside of our apartment. I'm becoming more convinced everyday that I want to live on a farm.

Jonah opening a package of toys from Grandpa David and Grandma Nita. He'd just woken up from a nap and he was so dazed and confused when he opened up the toys. Maybe he thought he was still dreaming.

Jonah driving for the first time facing forward in his car seat. He had the funniest look on his face, like "Are you sure this okay Mom?"

We went to a pumpkin patch this past weekend and Jonah loved walking around the rows of pumpkins. He liked to sit on the pumpkins, pat the pumpkins, and pick up the smaller pumpkins and throw them. Good thing we never did have to find out if "You break it you buy it" was a pumpkin patch policy.

Here he is with his little friend Giana.

Jonah has taken to sleeping with a teddy bear Kathryn and Peter gave him. It is so cute to watch him cuddle up with it. He really hasn't gotten attached to any other toy, but his teddy bear. So sweet!

Mike is staying busy with school. He is taking finals this week to finish up the first 7 week semester. He is applying to Marketing Ph.D. programs. Didn't we just do this? Here is the list of schools we're applying to: (Don't you love that I put "we're applying to"? It really is a "we" thing though!!) From East to West here they are:
1. Columbia
2. Penn
3. Ohio State
4. Indiana University
5. Texas A&M
6. Arizona State
7. USC
We are excited to see what this next year will bring. I love that I have a husband who is willing to go after his dreams, no matter how daunting they may seem at times.

I have to also list a few recipes below for friends who have been waiting on me...Sorry Chris and Jenner!
Here are some of my new favorite Fall Recipes:

Curry Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
2 T. butter
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
1 medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (this usually consists of cinnamon and nutmeg; I eyeballed the amount of each b/c I didn't have "pumpkin pie spice")
2 (15 oz.) cans pumpkin
2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth
2/3 cup water
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:
In 4-quart Dutch oven (or big pot) melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrot, and celery. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add curry powder and pumpkin pie spice. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add pumpkin, broth, and water. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
In food processor or blender, add one-third of the pumpkin mixture at a time, cover, and process or blend until smooth. Return all pumpkin mixture to dutch oven.
Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper into pumpkin mixture; heat through.
Optional: Top with Cranberry Topper. This consists of 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1 T. finely shredded orange peel, and 2 T. fresh Italian parsley.

Pumpkin Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. fresh ginger (I added 1 tsp. ground ginger)
2 tsp. curry powder
dash of cayenne pepper
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups chicken broth
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the bell pepper and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the garlic, cumin, ginger, curry powder, and cayenne pepper. Cook, stirring, for an additional 2 minutes.
Pour in the pumpkin puree, black beans, corn, chicken broth, tomato sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a gentle boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 25 minutes.
Optional: Garnish with fresh cilantro and a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. (I didn't do this and the soup tasted great without)

Apple Scones
Ingredients:
2 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter, chilled
1-2 apples peeled, cored and shredded (I added 2 small-medium sized apples and was glad I did.)
1/2 c. milk
2 T. milk
2 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:
Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter or margarine until crumbly. Add shredded apple and 1/2 cup of milk. Stir to form a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 8-10 times. Pat into two 6-inch circles. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Score each into a 6 pie-shaped wedges.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes or until browned and risen. Serve warm with butter OR (and this was Mike's idea) make a frosting of sorts out of apple juice and powdered sugar. It was delicious!!

Hope you all enjoy these yummy recipes. Happy Fall to One and All!!