Thanksgiving, again

Can you bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Can you bake a cherry pie, charming Billy?
Yes! Yes, I can! And Sterling LOVED it. My family, not so much. I tasted it a wee bit just to check out the crust recipe I tried. Obviously, this pie was for my very odd husband (I mean, the man picks fruit over sweets?!?!?) and not for my chocolate-loving family. But he said it was amazing. Thanks to my friend Britney for the pie crust recipe, and for several times on google finding a pie filling that worked great!
Oh yeah, the picture is pre-cooked. I was going to take another one, but we were anxious to get to my sister's and join the Thanksgiving festivities :)

I did not take pictures at the pool, and obviously, my wonderful sister Amy had issues with my camera. Sorry for the fuzziness. 

The above picture is my awesome sister-in-law Lindsay Ann. Yeah, we have the same name. Pretty sweet. Also, she was awesome and got up early to go Black Friday with my teenage nieces. She bought these AMAZING mustard pants. She looked smokin' amazing. So amazing that she was the hot topic of the evening while bowling. Every time she bowled there was a "work the mustard" comment, or something similar. If you know my dad, and my brothers Wyatt and Derek, you could only imagine the hilarity that this caused. Awesome.

Ruth loved these stairs. For over an hour. Sweetness. 

Myles and Garrett 

Chad and Anders. I think that is Kiersten in the background.

Brynne. I know these pictures are terrible, I add this one because Danica and little Megan were AWESOME and took Ruth down this slide a LOT. Ruth, however, did not like that giant splash at the end, so they were also awesome at holding her high above their heads at the bottom, so she did not get splashed in the face. She loved it. 

Brynne again.

The awesome slide-masters little Megs and Danica.

We had Thanksgiving out at my sister Megan's house. Which meant there were horse-rides afterwards. Ruth loves those. 

While wandering outside, I saw these three hooligans (Myles, Garrett, Tyson) on the roof of the barn. I didn't tell their mothers, but I did take a picture. See what a good aunt I am???

My sister Megan and my mom both had their cameras out frequently, so while I slacked and enjoyed my weekend...I'm hoping I can steal the fruits of their labors now :).

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. Partied harder than I have in a LONG LONG time. I got hardly any sleep, played LOTS of games, and had a really great time with my sister Amy who was visiting all the way from Arizona with her family and my brother Derek that was visiting all the way from Canada with his family. Good times.

No Pictures

Thanksgiving was UHH-MAZING!  (think Rook games, Spot It--a new one from Amy-- impromptu shopping at midnight with my mom, Brooke, Lindsay Ann and Katelyn, Ethan racing my sister Megan across a parking lot while she was barefoot and he was on crutches, four long tables set up inside the house and one set up outside for the boys, bowling, swimming, and the highlight... tables and tables of delicious food). I keep wanting to post lots of pictures. Unfortunately, I seem to have maxed out my picture storage limit. While I figure out how to fix that, you'll just have to know that the weekend was awesome. My family is awesome. We had a fabulous time. I saw my husband WAY more than usual!!!! And we are going to bed. Really early tonight. I can't believe the amount of sleep I've been living on lately. :)

BIRTHDAY

My best friend Aleesha had a birthday yesterday, so we had to party. We ate at Kneaders (never been there before, had the most DIVINE sandwich I have ever had, and I'm already craving it again) and then went to the Grand Opening of the new Outlet mall in Lehi. It was pretty, and there were huge sales, and Sterling bought me an INCREDIBLE Christmas present (I am SO SO SO excited!!!!!). We were going to watch a few activities they had going on, but Sterling and I hit traffic on the way there, so we were pretty late. It was a fun night though, and I hope Aleesha had a WONDERFUL birthday!

24 Years of Life

Ever since I started the dental hygiene program, I have kinda thought it would be nice to look older. I didn't think about it constantly or worry about it, but just thought it might be nice if I DIDN'T look like a 12 year old in college (the fact that I had braces certainly didn't help). I've felt the same way in the work place. I work at a perio office. Which means I mostly see patients who are 50+ years old. Every time I see a patient for the first time, I spend five minutes explaining that while I may LOOK like a teenager, I did in fact spend four years of my life in school, I did receive a bachelors degree in this profession, and I do in fact know what I am doing. (And yes, that baby in the picture frame IS mine. I am married. True story.)...the old ladies continue to eye me skeptically the entire appointment, the old men seem just fine. Haahaa.

Lately, Sterling and I have been talking about what we have accomplished in our years of life. Sterling was worried that he hasn't accomplished that much. To which I had to act duly miffed because, obviously, marrying me is the BEST accomplishment of his ENTIRE EXISTENCE. Just sayin' (that was for you Kayli).

We have a new assistant at the office I work at. And today she overheard a conversation that was kinda about me having a baby and my age(long story). So she asked me how old I was. I said 23. She was floored. Flabber-gasted. Absolutely astounded. "I thought you were AT LEAST 27!!!!!" is what she said. SERIOUSLY??? REALLY???? And in that moment I realized, I kinda like looking like I'm 12. The number 27 sounds much, much, MUCH too close for comfort. Okay, maybe not twelve, but somewhere in the middle would be nice.

I disagree with Sterling though, about not accomplishing very much. He's worked incredibly hard, and is almost ready to get a bachelors in three areas and be off to medical school! Besides, half the things on my list would be on his list too:

A bachelors degree
Two years of experience as a dental hygienist (and counting)
A baby GIRL
By my 24th birthday (my due date) a baby BOY
An eternal marriage

In no particular order, I think of these as my greatest achievements so far. I am very, very happy. It was a LOT to fit into just a couple of years. Lots of my friends have fit in more education, or more life experiences, or other things.  But I think it's been the best life for me. Now, if anyone can give me any tips on how to SLOW DOWN this crazy ride, that would be nice. I mean, really, I was just BARELY in HIGH SCHOOL folks, and now I'm supposed to be having baby #2? And since when is Ruth old enough to jabber and play and run around on her own? She's supposed to be my baby forever. I'll check back with you in another 23 years and give you the low-down of my life then. :)

STOCKINGS!!!!!

Sterling's 

Mine. (I mean, it is the red one, right?)

Ruthie's. I'm going to add two BIG silver bells hanging to the side of hers. It's that way in the pattern. Her yarn is also sparkly, its kinda hard to tell, but I definitely think it adds.

Yay for Christmas!!! My friend Bry (from our last ward...she lives two blocks away, but we moved stakes, go figure) is a crocheting demon, really, she is absolutely amazing. She whips out little stuffed-crochet-animals for her little boy all the time. Anyway, I bought this pattern with the intention of learning how. And I bought the red and green and cream yarn. And the crochet hook. And I EVEN started the red stocking. I made it about six rows before I knew I was in a big mess. I haven't crocheted since high school (I was pretty good in high school, I made a baby blanket and a ruffle and everything) and these were SUPPOSED to be easy patterns. Ahem. So I asked Bry for help. And then I realized I was already three stockings behind. So we decided she'd make these three, and teach me over the next few months on a stocking for my little boy. Only, his is the hardest pattern in the book--it has stripes, so I have to switch out colors. But if I learn on the hardest one, then the rest of my kids will be easy-peasy, right?!?!?!? I spent a LONG time looking at all of my sister's styles and stockings, and decided these were my absolute favorite and I am SO SO SO HAPPY with how they turned out, I just LOVE them!!! They are crocheted with two strands at once (hence my difficulty, I have never learned to do that) so they are really thick, like a board, they don't drape at all...its kind of hard to explain. But I am glad because I think that because of how hard they are, they won't stretch over the years.  I am so incredibly happy with them. Every time I look at them its just this excited/delighted/incredibly joyous feeling. I love Christmas. (Oh yeah, for anyone interested, the fluffy ribbon on my stocking is that new ribbon yarn...which does not come in plain white in ANY stores so I had to order from somewhere crazy like Thailand. And its not what is in the pattern, but we think the stuff from the pattern is discontinued. Anyway...this stuff worked GREAT and looks so awesome!)

More random pics from this summer-mom's camera

I don't remember when this dinner was, but aren't they so cute? I can't believe my nieces are getting this old!

Mom's computer is crazy. So we'll jump to a picture of all of us at Cameron Falls. I couldn't figure out where my baby was until I realized mom had her. Figures. She loves grandma more than me.

Back to the dinner.

And....back to Cameron Falls.

We went on this really beautiful hike. Ruth slept most of the way. Awesome.

Aunt LaVerle and Uncle Dave. Lookin' good.

Ashlee trying to carry Karlee around.

And back to the hike.

Brooke and all her kiddos.

Livingstone's.

Rasmussen's in the Cardston Parade.

More at the parade.

Brian looking all normal and innocent.

And Brian kissing Jeff. HAAHAA. I think the best part of the entire thing is Jeff's eyes.

The Rasmussen float.

Random pics from my mom's camera

All the cute boy material mom has for her three grandsons coming in a couple more months!

The back of Kayli's quilt.

The front of Kayli's quilt. It has a yellow tinge. Sorry.

The crew watching the badger kill.

The great white hunter.

The picture I really really wanted off mom's camera of Ruthie and Grandma Ruth. Ruth wasn't sure what to think, but it's the only one of them both looking.

Brian kissing Jeff. Haahaa.

More people watching the badger kill.

List

• I really do NOT like washing cheese graters. At all. Worst ever.

• I LOVE the smell of fresh bread. Especially when it turns out and looks like my mom's, instead of some other creation.
• Vacuuming my entire house makes my arm sore. And while we're on the subject, yesterday I was quilting with my mom and she has one really hard board and she always had to put the pins in that side. She is amazing. She also told me that I needed to start doing push-ups. I informed her that it is your thumbs that push in pins. So she told me to do push-ups on my thumbs. Haahaa.
• I bought flour and sugar at Sam's today, and I left them in the trunk because Sterling told me beforehand that I would be in big trouble if I lifted them (he worries when I'm pregnant). I guess one of them ripped a little...and Sterling was a gem and vacuumed the entire trunk of sugar for me. Love that man.
• I wasted a package of Stovetop today when I was making chicken and broccoli casserole because I cooked it, before I realized that you are supposed to leave it UNcooked. Incidentally, I did that exact same thing last time I made that recipe. 
• The snow outside + the warm bread and Christmas music inside = much coziness.
• Sterling did FABULOUS on a really hard test today, so he has been in VERY good spirits. I'm counting down to the end of the semester!
• I went to the new Gordman's store today. It is kind of like a TJMaxx. I really, really liked it. I found some super cute winter tights for Ruthie for 2.99. Can't wait to see how cute they look on her little legs! 

And that is all for today, folks. 

For Andrea

Miriam was finishing her quilt, and Andrea didn't have a camera. 

I put this one in because LOOK how adorable my little baby is. That is all.