Cabin Fever

This week, we got cabin fever, that is, the hankering to get up to the cabin and have some good ole' family, snow time. One word-beautiful. I'm so relieved to have grown up in a warm climate, free of snow days and driveway shoveling, but, snow-covered trees and kids sledding in the backyard are sights that the cabin, so generously, offers us. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for that gift.

Highlights (and a couple lowlights) of the month

Wow! What a last couple of months! Where has it gone? In fact, pinch me, am I dreaming? No really, I absolutely LOVE the time from October to January but, it just gets exausting. It was all worth it, though. There were lots of highlights (and some lowlights) celebrating Christmas this year-

My 1st Christmas Cookie Party
Small and sweet, about 15 of my friends and I got together for eating, sharing cookies and laughing. It went smoothly so I have decided to make it a new tradition. Notes to me-next year I'll send out invites and I will NOT have extra sweets! Only some salty snacks to kill off the sugar headaches from all of those cookies.

Las Sendas Ward Breakfast with Santa

The best parts of the breakfast that we had right outside of the lake were...

King-of-the-Mountain, and

eating pancakes and breakfast burritos and hot chocolate.

A couple in our ward (Bette Sue, from the biggest loser and her husband) run some property out by the dock of Saguaro Lake and that's where our breakfast was held. We had a big bonfire and the men were cooking up loads of hot breakfast food. I think that this was the first really cold morning of the month. The kids kept warm playing on the big dirt mound and tire swing. Casey kept warm in a vicious game of ultimate frisbie. I froze.

Sofia's Preschool ProgramNotice that I didn't get one picture of Sofia singing. She refused to sing. But, that was not my concern. My only concern that day was how to mask the bangs that Fia had cut a couple of days prior. Despite the mullet, I thought she looked really cute.

Turley Family Christmas Party

Every year, my mother-in-law and her sisters and all of their families get together for a big Christmas party. This year, the rotating location landed at my in-laws. Convenient since the rest of the family lives way west, from Glendale to Camp Verde. Since it was our year, all of the Skidmore grankids sang a song and we planned games for the program. The night always ends with the reading from the scriptures of the birth of Jesus. We love this party.

and, the finale...
Christmas Day, for us, began at 5:30AM and went like this...

Mom, can we open our presents!?

No! Go back to bed until 7.

SEVEN!? How about 6?

6:30.

Fine.

Fine.

When we all finally got up, the kids were so excited to see that Santa had brought them everything that they asked for (and mom and dad bought everything else). Cade's favorite gift was his WII, Phoebe's was her doll and all of the acessories that came with it, Sofia's was her huge box of PlayDoh (I have the mess to prove it) and Lila loves everything that everyone got. She has no idea what's hers and what's not. I think that my favorite gift was what Phoebe got me, a book on cupcake decorating. Spaghetti anyone?

Las Sendas Ward Family Christmas Breakfast

Casey and I, in Kauai

Christmas Cookie Exchange

I would love to have as many old and new friends as possible come and enjoy this night with us. Bring someone and let's make it a really fun night.

Happy Birthday, Mom.

Today, I was flipping through the Thanksgiving catalogue from Williams Sonoma and I thought of you. You would have loved the little pumpkin soup bowls. I would love to be able to give them to you. Happy birthday, Mom. I love you more than ever.

October in Pictures-

This has been such a fun month. It always is. There is something about the first day that I wake up and it really feels like Fall outside. It energizes me and causes me to run down a list of all of the things that I want to get in before Halloween:

trip to the cabin *
family Halloween party *





Snepf Farms *
Boo-ing friends *






Fall baking *
Trunk or Treat *
school parties *





Halloween Night! *

Looks like it is mission accomplished. Now, onto the next holiday.


Here are all of the Peterson cousins at Trunk or Treat.













Sofia was "a beautiful, princess fairy".



















Phoebe and her girls.













Sofia and her girls.

Lila, at the neighbors Halloween party.

Phoebe and Lauren.



















Cade was a Star Wars guy, two years running.

Oh, alright!

So, Sara tagged me and although I usually ignore tags and email forwards, I am doing this for my beloved sister.


25 Things You May (or may not) Know About Me

-I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE animals, but, cannot tolerate my dog touching me.

-From a very young age, I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up, (I love to argue!)

-During the day, when I'm at home, I listen to Power Ballads on the computer.

-I almost physically fought a woman at the Outback Steakhouse who made a nasty remark about me changing my baby's diaper in the restroom (that ****!)

-Anyone close to me has called me Breezy at some point.

-I'm a lifelong procrastinator. I hate that about me.

-NOTHING scares me like cockroaches. I still have nightmares about them, on occasion.

-My first kiss was in the sixth grade, with Kyle Parker, on my birthday, as a dare.

-I love word puzzles, especially logic puzzles and more recently, Sudoku.

-I fell in love with split-pea soup as a child at my Grandma's house.

-Indifference frustrates me.

-Three years ago, I had surgery to remove a melanoma from my shoulder. My scar is huge and I am in a constant struggle to embrace my paleness.

-I am terrified of open water and don't really even like swimming pools that much.

-I have turned into a political junkie, a conservative political junkie, that is.

-My hair is no longer naturally blond and I will NEVER embrace that.

-My right leg is nearly 1/2 inch longer than my left.

-My Freshman year, I was the Editor of the school magazine, captain of the cheer squad, a member of Student Council and had a 4.2 GPA. Now, my daughter says that when she grows up, she wants to do "nothing" like mom. Where did I go wrong?!

-After high school, I went to massage therapy school for about a year. I completed the entire course of study for Swedish massage.

-My 10-year anniversary is this year, December 18. Casey and I are going to Kauai for a week.

-I collect Department 56 Halloween Village pieces. I'm up to 7, this year, and have just started the North Pole series for Christmas. Kinda silly, but, they bring me joy and kids love them. I will pass them down one day.

-When I was little, I would cry when kids stepped on ants.

-Diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper has become like a hot fudge sundae for me.

-The sound of someone scratching their skin, namely my husband, sends shivers down my spine. I can't take it. (I'm a little irritable.)

-The scent of Fall air is the best scent in the world, (I smelled it this morning).

-Spin class is like meditation. My head and body never feel so clear as they do after an hour of it.

Lazy days at the cabin

Sanity

Sometimes, I have these brilliant ideas. My life feels a little mundane and I frankly just get bored. And then it happens! I should start a new hobby! This time it was cake decorating. So I took some basic classes in buttercream and fondant decorating and I now force myself to sign up to bring dessert for every church and school function. That's how I got pulled into this one. Cade and Phoebe's school was looking for cake donations for their auction and without a second thought, I signed my name. I thought about this stinkin' cake for 2 weeks! I decided to tie in the school's colors of purple and teal and their mascot, which is a coyote. I also try to avoid fondant at all costs. Yuck! Although, over the next few months I do want to try some fun things that you can only do with fondant. But, my problems have changed. Now, I have something to keep me busy, but, my kitchen is a mess and these dang cakes stress me out! One day, I'll just be satisfied with life as is and not try to fill my days with random "busy" work (school term).