December

-Date night with Jaycie-

Sonic for dinner (her choice). She thought it was SUCH a treat to eat at the tables instead of in the car. It was really really cold so she brought a quilt from home. She said none of her jackets went with the outfit.

Gettin' our nails done

When I asked her to go on a date with me that night she hurried into the bath, put on a fancy outfit (heels and all) and asked me for a side pony. She asked me why I wasn't more fancy.

-Park day with Gucas-

We had Mya for the day so we picked up some lunch and met Bobba at the park. The weather was beautiful and the trees were raining leaves.

-Lichlyter Christmas Shindig -

Every year my side of the family gets together at Aunt Linda's for dinner, carols and a gift exchange. We are a HUGE group and it's always fun to catch up with the cousins.

The men in my life

Me and Ab

Love these guys

-Just my cute kids -

-Eclipse -

Jaycie made us promise that we'd wake her up to see the eclipse. We laid out back on the lawn chairs. It was pretty cloudy, but still really neat to watch.

If any of you were wondering, this is what I look like @ 1am

- Temple Lights -

We met the Frosts at Rosa's then headed to the temple to see the lights. This hat is definitely not my most stylish, I know, but it kept my head warm.

Jayce and Porter

-Christmas morning-

Christmas Tree Bread is a recipe that Elliot's mom used to make when he was little.

Warming up by the fire

- Christmas @ my Mom and Dad's -

After delivering sack lunches to the homeless downtown we headed to Bobba's for more food and gifts.

Jaycie is really into drawing lately and was excited about her Wii U Draw

Elliot and Mr. Noah

-Christmas Cardinals Game-

We ended the day at the Cardinals stadium where they had an amazing win.

My Dad, my mom and my sister Stephanie.

They hardly ever open up the top. It was perfect!

Stone Soup with Mya

My sweet niece invited me to her school to have 'stone soup' and watch a little program they had prepared. It was so fun to see her with her friends and to have that one-on-one time with her. The soup was quite delicious but portions were pretty skimpy. Everyone got one stone (meatball) so I cut ours up in tiny pieces so we could savor it!

We also had rolls, cider and pie for dessert...

They sang several songs that I hadn't heard before. Mya did such a good job and I'm so proud to be her Aunt!

Thanks for the fun day Mya Mia! I sure love you.

So You Think You Can Dance.. dance.. dance

Being huge fans of the show and all, Jaymie and I decided to purchase some mediocre tickets to SYTYCD. It was an AMAZING show! I got to see most of my favorite dances from the season. We laughed and cried and felt like we were 28 again!! The zoom on my camera is stuck, so I pretty much can only take pictures of things in a twenty ft. range. Like I said, mediocre tickets. So I apologize for the lack of dancers... Love you Jaymes: enjoy

Avocado What??

A couple years ago Jessica Seinfeld was on Oprah talking about her book "Deceptively Delicious." I hung on every word she said because I loved how she snuck in things like pureed cauliflower (one of my faves) to mac 'n cheese. This is literally how I've always cooked. When I'm making a meal, I open my fridge to see what veggies are hanging around, then toss them in! It almost always works as long as you don't go crazy. My absolute blue ribbon tried and tested winner in the cookbook (yeah, i bought it the next day) is AVOCADO pudding. Trust me on this!

Melt 1/8 c butter in a pan

Stir in 1 pureed (or just mooshed) avacado, 1/2 c powdered sugar

Add 1/4 c cocoa powder & 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cook 3-4 minutes over med-low to thicken

Put mix in food processor or blender

Gradually stir in 1/8 c cornstarch

Purchase of the Century

While garage sale-ing with my sister out in Surprise we came across THIS!

It makes my children SO happy and they play on it for hours! Their friends come over and are obsessed with it! I can even ride it :) You bet I do!

The best part is, it cost me a whopping $5. Chump change.