If you are looking for some incredible music, I would suggest you take a listen to this amazing, amazing album. Last month when I was visiting Sharon, she gave me a copy of this. She sings the part of Mary Magdalene. (wow! how did I get so lucky to be HER friend?)

This is such beautiful music. I was listening to it in the car and could barely focus on my driving because it was so moving.

I could go on and on about this, but you can check it out for yourself at: www.spiremusic.net

Some of you (family members) may be getting this as a Christmas present, so don't buy it just yet! But for those of you who DO want to buy it, I just saw that for 2 or more they are only $10 each (reg. $15.99). Shipping is only a few dollars. Every cent more than worth it.

Babies, Babies...

Sweet, Sweet Little Ones


We got a new niece! This is Shiloh. I am anxious to get to Spokane to meet this little girl. She looks so soft and cozy in her pink outfit. And I am pretty sure I need to give her some love.


I just got this picture from my friend Sharon. I like to think little Parker is officially family-what a cutie. Just wait little guy, this is only the beginning :)

Silhouette Giveaway

Oh man! I would be so excited to be the recipient of this AWESOME give-a-way. I would be so thankful! :)

Check it out here: The Idea Room

Also, if you don't happen to be the lucky winner (as I'm sure my case will be :) ) Silhouette is having a Cyber Monday deal which sounds great too!

Machine for $199 (normally $299)
as well as:
1 Roll of Cream vinyl ( $7.99)
1 Roll of transfer paper ( $7.99)
1 Home decor CD (Value $55)

that's an additional value of $70.98

Not bad! Now...may the stars align :)

My friend Valerie has one of these and she was sweet enough to let us use it at our craft night earlier this month. It was so much fun!

S.N.O.W.

2010's first snowfall in the Tri-Cities.


Katelyn was sooooo excited. I'm trying to stay positive for her sake. If she wants to like snow, that's fine. I won't push my opinions on her....for now. hahahahaha!


Alaina wasn't quite so sure what to make of the white, sticky, COLD stuff.


Here she is checking it out a little further.

The excitement and bliss of the first snowfall ended (after about 20 minutes), in tears...by both girls. And I bit my tongue.

After 33 years I have the right to not like something, don't you think? And snow is at the top of my list. It can snow in December the week of Christmas and that's all that is necessary, in my opinion.

I will admit, it is very pretty to "look" at...from a distance. There is a reason I wanted to move to the desert. I am however excited that this means the Holidays are approaching. That INDEED makes me very happy!

Love these Girls!

Alaina is such a fun little baby. She always makes us laugh. She's got a great sense of humor and I think she knows it too. I found this adorable coat at a 2nd hand shop in town. I couldn't resist. Pink Corduroy and lined. Nice and warm.


Does this picture say a thousand words, or what? She's growing up fast and is a great mix of super sweet and a little sassy :) Katelyn is my big snuggle bug and I love it! She is in love with that "pink Blankie" (it has an official name).





Katelyn learned (well, mostly) this song at preschool and we think it's pretty cute. My favorite part is when she says "very sad" (and the expression on her face and eyes). Plus, I like how she says "very"...kinda like "wary".

lots to come...

A new niece...Thanksgiving...Black Friday Tupperware Event...Craft Group Exchange...Craft Fair...Taking Katelyn to the Nutcracker...Throwing a Baby Shower...and so much more! This is the most wonderful time of the year!

fall crafting

to start off: we FINALLY got this table finished! I looked and looked for a "before" picture of it, but couldn't find one. Anyway, it used to be finished in a very light colored stain and the legs were a cream colored paint. Justin did a great job!




friday, I had a ladies craft night at my house and we made these cute wood blocks. I made mine out of 2x6's and the rest were done with 2x4's. It was really tough to get a picture of it because they are on the ledge as you go up the stairs. I wanted mine bigger so they would cover up the the back of the piano.



then,

I made 3 more fabric pumpkins and decided they looked really cute stacked up like this. I just threaded a thick strand up and down through the middle of them. Plus, I only had to get one stem on. Pretty fun! Now I'm onto my Christmas ideas :)

Recipes for Juliet

Juliet, this is for you!

Saucy Apple Dumplings:

2 C Water
1 1/4 C sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 C butter
2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 t salt
2/3 C shortening
1/3 to 1/2 C whole milk, half-n-half, or light cream
2 T chopped golden raisins
2 T chopped walnuts
1 T honey
2 T sugar
6 small cooking apples (Granny Smith)
1 T butter

directions:

1. for sauce, in a medium saucepan combine the water, the 1 1/4 C sugar, and 1/2 t of the cinnamon. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Add the 1/4 C butter. Set aside.

2. Meanwhile, for pastry, in a medium bowl combine the flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea size. Sprinkle 1 T of the whole milk over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 T of the milk at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Form dough into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 18x12 inch rectangle. cut into six 6 inch squares.

3. In a small bowl, combine the raisins, walnuts and honey. In another bowl stir together the remaining 1/2 t cinnamon and the 2 T sugar. Set aside.

4. Peel and core the apples. Place and apple on each pastry square. Fill centers of apples with raisin mixture. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture; dot with remaining 1 T butter. Moisten edges of each pastry square with water; fold corners to center over apple. Pinch to seal seams. Place dumplings in a 9x13 pan. Reheat sauce to boiling and pour over dumplings. Bake uncovered at 350 about an hour. To serve, spoon sauce over dumplings.

Pumpkin Swirl Brownies:

Filling

1 package (3oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 C canned pumpkin
1 egg
3 T sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg

Brownies

1 box Betty Crocker Premium Brownies Ultimate Fudge
1/4 C veg oil
2 T water
1 egg

directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 (325 for dark or non stick pan). Grease bottom of 9 inch square pan. In small bowl, beat all filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Set aside.

2. Make brownie batter as directed on box, using 1/4 C oil, 2 T water and the egg. Spread 3/4 of the batter in pan. Spoon filling by tablespoons evenly over batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. Cut through batter several times with knife for marbled pattern.

3. Bake 40-45 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. Cut and eat!

(I couldn't find the exact brownies they said to use, so I found something similar. I also doubled the recipe and used a 9x13 pan)

halloween fun

Katelyn had a really fun Halloween this year.

thursday:

She got to have a Harvest Party at preschool. She had so much fun dressing up. She was all set on being a Tiger and then last minute changed her mind and wanted to be a cowgirl. Thanks to Mason and Cooper for hooking us up with the western get up.




At preschool with her friend Morgan, who is just adorable!

friday night was our ward Halloween Party.

Crafty Teri Stephens put on a lovely display.

There was another cowgirl friend at the party too! Cute friend Bailey!


we had a dessert contest in which I declared myself to be winner. And look! I won twice! OK. There were lots of winners =) I made pumpkin swirl brownies and...


Saucy apple dumplings.


Toddler talk: "what's up? I like your costume!"


Alaina was going to be a lion, but the costume was too big, so she got to wear the cutest little chicken costume. She has the perfect waddle-walk for it. I think she's trying to lay an egg in this picture.


cupcake walk


MMMM!




Jen and Avalon


Katelyn with her cute twin friends Claire & Campbelle. Love these girls!


This was a cute crafty display at the trunk-or-treat. The clay pots are painted as candy corn. How cute!

The trunk or treat is perfect! They don't get too tired of walking around. You're not going to strangers' homes and you don't get too much candy!

And I thought it wasn't supposed to be scary!!!


I totally thought this was a fake corpse. Wrong! (hey, it was dark ok!)


thank you Blodgett's for scaring the poo out of me! Next year I will be more cautious....

longsuffering

Needless to say, it's been a helluva year for me physically speaking. Over a year ago I started having excruciatingly painful attacks in my stomach. Painful to the point I was ready to call an ambulance for help. At the peak of pain-vomiting bile. I had my gall bladder removed because I was loaded up with gall stones. Thought that was the end of it, but was so wrong! I continued to suffer from periodic attacks/vomiting exactly like the ones before my gall bladder was removed, yet no one could find out what was causing them. It was determined that I had a condition called Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction CLASS III. (Class III being the hardest to treat because all tests are otherwise normal, you just have pain).

I just figured I would never get it solved, but after having 4 major attacks fairly close to each other this summer, something had to be done. I had become depressed by my physical condition and it was greatly affecting my quality of life.

More testing, more doctors appointments and I was finally referred to Virginia Mason Hospital Gastroenterology Department in Seattle. They are currently doing a study on people (mostly women) with SOD III. The doctor told me flat out that they really don't know what to do for this condition. Well, that's hopeful! Turns out I didn't qualify to be in the study anyway.

So, apprehensively and with some anxiety I went in Monday for an ERCP. The put a scope down my throat, injected dye into my biliary and pancreatic ducts to check the anatomy and make sure there wasn't a retained gall stone somewhere. Then they measured the pressure in my the biliary and pancreatic sphincters. He said the pressure should be under 40 and my pressures were 150. Wow! He also found what looked like to by polyps possibly and took some tissue for biopsy. Luckily, they are not polyps, but chronic inflammatory tissue caused by passing gall stones and crud prior to my gall bladder removal. This is good news, because it means no more surgery.

So, he cut both sphincters and placed a stent to help with drainage from the pancreas (so I don't get pancreatitis) which should pass in a week or two.

I'm skeptically hopeful that this is the end to a very long, emotional road for me. It's still scary because there isn't a lot of positive data about this condition, the procedure I had and the long term outcome. I'm nervous about it.

I hope that the centers conducting the study will be successful in learning more about this condition and how to treat it so others won't have to suffer.