Enjoying the Holidays!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Wednesday night we had a pie night with just a couple of friends. I made 7 pies!! We had to have a variety and Blake had to have his kind and I couldn't go without my key lime and lemon meringue. We had a tradtional apple pie, pumpkin. an apple pecan crumb, two kinds of chocolate and then the other two I already mentioned. We had a wonderful time and it was fun celebrating a tradition with others.

Thursday Blake had to work so some friends had invited me and the girls over for Thanksgiving dinner at their house. Some nice doctors at the hospital decided to let Blake come home early though so he could spend Thanksgiving with his family. We were very thankful for that. We had a wonderful time at our friends and our kids loved playing with each other.

We didn't do any shopping this year on Friday, we just enjoyed a peaceful day together as a family and decorated for Christmas. The girls got a kick out of that! The above picture is Kelsey and Mylee in their fall dresses. My mom made them for my sister's wedding a few years back. Mylee is wearing the dress that was made for Kelsey and Kelsey is wearing the dress my little sister grew out of. It's nice to get hand-me-downs. Thanks Mom!!! We don't know what we would do without them!!

We also started a new tradition that we will do all of December. For family night we learned about Jesus's birth and about the Nativity. The I prepared a little manger (a clementines crate) for a doll that we are now calling baby Jesus to lay on. The only problem is that Jesus has no hay to lay in. So every time we do something good, (obey Mom, clean room, be nice to sister, etc.) we get to put some hay in Jesus's manger. When we are able to put some hay in Jesus's manger is it like giving Jesus presents for his birthday. The hope is that Jesus will have lots of hay to lay in by Christmas. We'll keep you posted on our progress. We also have another fun tradition starting this weekend, I'll keep you posted on that one!


Here is a picture of all of our pies. Including the mini pies Kelsey helped make! I have to mention also that she was quite the hostess. She told everyone that we had made pies just for them and before they left she made it a point to tell them I had plates for them to take some pie home. I had also set up an activity table with some things to color for the kids and she made sure they knew about that. She was so cute and so much fun. She is growing up so much!


Here are some pictures of us playing out in the snow. It has since melted, but we sure enjoyed it while it lasted!

These pictures of Mylee crack me up!! She could barely walk!

HELP, I've fallen and I can't get up!!

This past Sunday, I dressed my girls up in pretty Christmas dresses!! My sister-in-law Tanya gave the one Mylee is wearing to Kelsey when she was a baby and Kelsey is wearing the dress my sister wore to my wedding. Sort of fun to think where we have come in five years. I could have never guessed I'd be living in Vermont with the most beautiful girls in the world!!

Blake wasn't too impressed with my photo shoot of Kelsey. Remember the panties? Well, I decided to do another shoot of her. These pictures turned out really cute!! I'm really pleased with them. And oh, Blake approves :)

Dance Pictures

Today at my little dance class I took pictures of my dancers. Two were missing because they were sick--so sad!! Our pictures were a success! I had to show off all of my cute little dancers. Oh yeah, and don't mind Kelsey's panties, opps!! Our dance classs has been so much fun and I'm so impressed with what my girls have learned! Some of you have asked where I have held them

Catching Up!!

It's been a while since I've shared any news, so I'll do my best to consicely catch you up. We've had a great couple of weeks. Having Blake home is definitely a bonus, he was gone the last week of September and 3 weeks into October doing an away rotation in Texas. Luckily he loved it and it looks like a great prospect for residency. We'll cross our fingers. He interviews there December 10th. That is another thing we have been up to, WAITING for interviews. Whoa! that can be stressful, but we have received some responses and that is very encouraging!

We had a wonderful Halloween! Our ward had a halloween party on Halloween so that was our main event. We just trick-or-treated to a few homes on our street. The party was great and the girls had a great time. My friend Michelle planned it and she did an incredible job!! Kelsey was Sleeping Beauty and Mylee was a Giraffe, thanks to Blake's sister Dionne for lending the costume to us :) Here are some fun pictures of that event.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Boston to visit Blake's sister Dionne and her family. They just moved there and boy are we excited to have some family within driving distance. We've been loners out here for a while. It was such a great visit. They moved into a fixer-upper, so we lended our support in helping get some projects done around the house. We were able to get a lot accomplished and we were so glad to be of service. I wish we could have gotten more done for them. While we were in Boston we also had the opportunity to attend the Boston temple. Whoa!! So beautiful! It so great to go to the temple with my husband. We felt so renewed and at peace after we left there.

On that trip we also went downtown to do the Freedom Trail. It was so cool, both meanings intended! The sites were so amazing and it was hard to believe that we were walking in the areas where our country started, but man was it cold!! We were freezing! It was so cold we didn't end up walking the whole trail, but got to see a lot of really neat things.

This is a picture of the U.S.S ConstitutionThe monument at Bunker Hill

Kelsey had a great time with her 5 boy cousins, as she refers to them as. She carved pumpkins with them and had all sorts of fun! She and Drew were little buds. They would find activity after activity and keep themselves busy all day. It was great! Kelsey got confused with all their names though. She is closest in age to Drew and therefore played with him the most. To the others she would refer to them as the bigger Drew or the smaller Drew. You don't blame her for trying to remember everyone's names. Here's the crew, minus Kade or the "smaller Drew" who is 18 months old. He and Mylee will be great buds one day! From left to right, Conner, Trey, Spencer, Kelsey, Drew.

Oh and I can't forget, Mylee took her first steps while we were there! It was so exciting. She is getting better and better at walking every day. She's so cautious, it's funny!

Apple Picking

Today we went apple picking at Shelburne Orchards with our student housing community. It was beautiful and we had a lot of fun. It was "fill a truck full" today, so someone brought a truck from the student housing and we filled the whole truck up with apples, and then met again at our community center to gather our share and make goodies. But listen to this, no matter what size of truck or car you brought in, one vehicle full was only $50. Can you believe that!! Oh and the University picked up the tab. My mother-in-law would be there in a second if she lived here. She is a very talented pie chef and has her own business at making and selling them! Take a look at the pics below. I'm thinking the girls were lovin' it, what do you think?

Fall Hike with the Girls

Today me and the girls went for a hike not too far from our home. It was so WONDERFUL!! It brought back so many memories of growing up when my mom would take me and my sister Megan hiking all the time with just us girls. I have such fond memories of those days and I wanted to pass this tradition on to my girls. We hiked around the whole lake and both girls were nearly all smiles. Kelsey fell down quite a few times and even tore a hole in her pants, but a little bribing with a special treat at the end was all she needed!
I love how you can see the reflection of the leaves in the water here. Isn't it so pretty! Oh man, I'm going to miss it here, have I told you that yet? There no place like fall in Vermont!
We found some nice people along the trail that were nice enough to take a family picture. I realize I am not in the pictures enough.
Here's Mylee just hanging out. She was quite fascinated by all the leaves. And quite the trooper. She was laughing and talking and having a grand old time.
I love how the sun is coming through the trees here and how the tree above Kelsey's head makes a little bridge. Near here, another hiker stopped us and asked Kelsey how old she was, Kelsey said, "I am 3 years old." The lady and man she was with were so impressed that a 3 year old was hiking all this way and with a smile. Then the lady said, "I'm from the city and we don't see things like her there." She must have been from out of town.

Dance Lessons

This fall I am teaching a dance class and am LOVING it! I just love dance. I think it is so beautiful. This is a picture of my little dancers. We dance every Monday at 10:30 A.M and have all sorts of fun. We have danced for the past two weeks and I'm learning even more about the short attention span of 3 and 4 year olds, but man aren't they just adorable! Kelsey has been funny and has not participated like I had envisioned, humm, hopefully we'll be able to remedy that one.

I burned a CD for each dancer with songs we will use each week to teach them rhythm, the 5 ballet positions, simple dance techniques in the genres of jazz, ballet, lyrical, and modern, and 2 dance routines--we'll see how far we get on the last one. The class will run for 7 weeks and we have already completed two. Stay tuned for more fun pictures as I have lots of fun activites planned for upcoming classes :)

Pumpkin Patch

Today for playgroup, we went to the pumpkin at a nearby nursery. We had lots of fun and the weather could not have been more beautiful! The first thing Kelsey asked me this morning when she woke up was, "Mom, are we going to the pumpkin patch today and I can get a baby pumpkin?" She was so excited to go get a baby pumpkin. Funny that as we get older we want the biggest pumpkin. We loaded onto a trailer attached to a tracker and got a ride over to the pumpkin patch.

Kelsey had a hard time deciding on a pumpkin as you can see the handful she has in her arms.

Mylee liked the pumpkin patch, but wasn't too thrilled about the tracker ride. Kelsey thought it was GREAT! After our ride and picking out our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch we got a ride back to the farm and got cider donuts and apple cider, YUMM!! It was a fun outing!

General Conference & a Birthday!

Thanks to the idea from the Friend magazine this month, we have started a new tradition for General Conference. The girls get to watch conference from their "Reverence Tent". It was a big hit. I got a white sheet and created a tent for Kelsey mostly to sit and watch conference from--I tried to schedule Mylee's naps around conference time, all in all I was pretty successful. We also added an activity table along with a bunch of gospel-themed LDS coloring pages and activities. No kidding, Kelsey sat through nearly all 8 hours of conference and she nearly colored every coloring page and activity. Not only that, most of the time she was reverent. I love how in this picture you can see the picture of President Monson on the computer screen in the background. Aside from this great new tradition, wasn't conference WONDERFUL! I'm lucky because I always get conference around my birthday. What better than to hear counsel from living prophets around this special day. I was touched and renewed by what was said. I'm anxious to get the Ensign and further read and ponder what was said. All in all, how blessed we are to have the gospel restored in these latter-days!

The next tradition we started was for my kids (Kelsey in this case) to make and decorate a birthday cake for whoever parents' birthday it is (mine in this case). I admit I had to help with the making/baking part, but she did all the decorating herself. She was completely occupied for about an hour. However, I think most of the frosting and decorations ended up in her mouth.
Here is the finished product. Wow look at those sprinkles and pointy candies as Kelsey calls them (candy corn). What a pro! She then sang me happy birthday all by herself.

On Saturday between the two conference sessions, I took the girls to a local apple farm to enjoy the beautiful Vermont fall landscape and get free tracker rides around the orchard. We had a blast. I wish I had pictures, but my camera wasn't working that day--I'm in the process of trying to find a new one, any suggestions? The fall colors were just breath taking and the air was cool and crisp just as you would except at an apple orchard in the fall. The girls loved the tracker rides and even got to eat an apple for free. We sure will miss this place when we move in the spring.

Mylee Turns 1!

Today is Mylee's first Birthday! I can't believe a whole year has passed by. She is such a joy and we can't imagine our life without her. She is growing up so fast. She loves to play peek-a-boo only she says "Ba!" instead of "Boo!". She's also very independent and a momma's girl. Yeah, she loves me :) Mylee can also say I love you by blowing kisses to us with her hands and waves bye bye. She got to open her present this morning when she woke up per Daddy's request! Thanks Grammy Astorga for the cute baby walker/stroller. She LOVES it! In the evening we celebrated birthday with a giant cupcake cake and ice cream. Poor Mylee though, she wasn't her normal smiley Mylee today. Dad says it's because she understands the gravity of this day and doesn't want to get older. I don't say I blame her, I don't really want her to grow up either. My sweet little baby isn't so much of a baby anymore. How time flys! We love you Mylee and Happy 1st Birthday! Enjoy this slideshow of Mylee over the past year.

Tagged....

I've been out of the blogging world for a couple of weeks, it's nice to be back!

Emily and Dionne here it goes:

10 years ago I:

1- I was a sophomore in high school, counting the days until I turned 16!

2- Anxious and unsure about dating boys, but excited and curious to see if I would get asked out.

3- Trying to find my place in high school: Where to eat lunch, what to do on weekends, what to wear and how to do my hair, etc.

4- Studying and doing homework into insane hours of the night.

5- Taking care of younger siblings, awaiting the birth of another sibling.


5 things on todays "to-do list" (I’ll do tomorrow, since I am doing this late at night)

1- Choreograph 2 dances for a dance class I begin teaching next week.

2- Call maintenance to fix the broken light in our bathroom.

3- Hang picture and shelf in my bedroom

4- Make a cake for Mylee’s B-day

5- Make chicken salad for a birthday luncheon with my friends—it is another one of my friend’s b-day’s tomorrow too.



5 Snacks I enjoy:

1- Yogurt with fruit

2- Cinnamon Pita Chips

3- Nature Valley granola bars

4- Chocolate—humm, is that considered a snack?

5- Sea Salt Pita chips and lemon hummus—any non-Vermonters heard of that one? Oh it’s so good!


5 Places I have lived:

1- Salt Lake City, Utah

2- Rexburg, Idaho

3- Provo, Utah

4- Orem, Utah

5- Essex Junction, Vermont


5 Jobs I have had:

1- Assembly worker at Emergency Essentials

2- Customer service representative at For Every Body

3- Customer service representative at Investools

4- Research Assistant at BYU, studied the effects religion has on the family—very interesting

5- A telemarketer for Moneyline—yes, I was one of those annoying people



5 Pet Peeves

1- Being told all that I am not doing right and not noticing what I am doing right. I need a lot of positive feedback.

2- Having hair in my face

3- Getting telemarketing calls

4- My oily complexion—anyone know any cures?

5- When Blake buys junk food



5 things that bring me joy:

1- Watching my children grow
2- Seeing Blake happy
3- Crafting something, anything
4- Getting my house organized and knowing where everything is.
5- Spending time with good friends or family.

5 People I tag:

1-Miquelle
2-Natalie
3-Annette
4-Melissa
5-Nicole

The Things They Say

The story first starts with Kelsey getting into trouble and going to time out in her bedroom. Of course she was distraught and she cried, but more then that she was calling for someone other then Blake or I. I snuck upstairs and listened next to her door. She was calling for Jesus. I felt terrible that she thought I had been that harsh, but was able to use this as a teaching moment to teach her to pray when she wanted Jesus. She didn't want to at that time, but I hoped that she had learned something.

After bedtime Kelsey came downstaris upset because her tummy hurt. I asked her to go use the bathroom and then it would feel better, then she said, "No Mom, Jesus can make it better." Of course, why didn't I think of that? Then we knelt down together and she prayed to Heavenly Father to ask Jesus to make her tummy not hurt. When she was done, she was all smiles and went back to bed. Is that just not adorable!! It's times like those that make all the demands of motherhood worth it!!!

Back to Normal Life

Blake is home!!! We have missed him SOOO much! Seeing him standing there waiting for us at the airport was nothing short of pure joy! I missed him so much and feeling the immense joy of being reunited with him again has helped me understand the significance of our eternal marriage. Thinking eternally, we never will be apart as long as we are righteous and keep the covenants we have made with the Lord. I'm grateful for his optimism as he has had to make sacrifices to help secure a financial future for our family. We are learning so much and despite the trials and sacrifices, we are enjoying the journey!

PS. I'm over Kelsey's hair, thank goodness!! And I actually like it now! Go figure, the drama I cause myself. And for the record, what happened to her hair was an accident and it wasn't anyone's fault.