christmas day

These adorable kittens and I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas!! May your day be extra wonderful and full of Christmas cheer. Let us remember what this season is really about and may the Lord bless us!
Have a most joyous holiday with your family and friends, lovely bloggers!

Peace

As I'm laying in bed the other night drifting off to the music of Secondhand Serenade my mind is running over the last few days and the days to come. This time of year is always so wonderful and amazing to me. To some it may be stressful trying to get everything ready by Christmas day, all the presents wrapped and bought and all the food cooked and the house all decorated and cards sent out and whatever else comes with it. To me though, even with all the bustle, it's a time of peace. Saturday night we went and heard the beautiful music of Handel's Messiah and I must say it was amazing. Such great voices and instruments. And the words. Always so wonderful. And my dad's sermons lately have been so wonderful and comforting too. And when the snow is falling softly on everything with the Christmas lights twinkling underneath in the dark, the peace is there too. And I know we can only have true peace through our Lord, which we should remember all the year but this time of year it's manifested even more.

"For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders.
And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. " Isaiah 9:6

seesterly love

So Lydia keeps asking me if I'm writing a blog about her. I think she's perhaps joking, but you never know. haha. So I decided, hey why not.
So about my sister Lydia. The one that gets mistaken for my twin almost every other day. the one who can finish my sentences and even say the exact same random thing at the exact same time. The one who gets me and takes part in my silliness and seriousness. The one who I can talk to for hours about practically nothing, but yet everything. The one who I know will always be there for me, as I will for her. The one who teases me continuously just because she's a couple inches taller. The one who seems to be so much more mature than I am. It's pretty unfair sometimes. But how I love her.

She loves me pretty well too. Whether she's giving me kisses,

or scowling at me (ignore Chris as he's not a sister),

or sunburned and not so lovely with me on car trips.

And in just 9( NINE!!) days we get to add another sister to the whole sisterly love experience. Our dearest older sister who is one of the loveliest and sweetest people out there. How I love her too!

Feeling the sisterly love vibe?

It's been one week

Who knows why I only end up blogging once a week. I guess my life isn't too thrilling or something.
So these are the highlights:

• I won Steph's blog giveway! So yay for me! I like never win anything, so I'm pretty excited. Pretty nails, here I come! Thank you, Steph!
  
• It's currently 0 degrees outsides, yep zero. Brrr! And yesterday to church when it was like 2 I wore a skirt with heels, bare legs. Genius there.
• Saturday night was our church's Christmas program. We sang a whole bunch of Christmas carols, which I just love. We've got some good voices there too, which is extra nice.
  
• Lydia and I have basically all our presents wrapped and I must say they look just lovely sitting under the tree. We went with a blue and silver theme so they all match with their paper and ribbons and mini ornaments as gift tags.
  
• We finished season 3 of Supernatural. So very sad. Now to wait for season 4. Oh, the suspense!
• I cannot get enough of Josh Groban's Little Drummer Boy song. I just love it. Oh so good.
• Being with my boy when I'm not feeling particularly well is definitely one of the best get well methods. They say holding hands releases feel good hormones or whatever; so true.
• My mom's fudge puddles and rainbow bars are still just as delicious and sinfully good as they are every year.
• Saturday I went to coffee with Stephanie, one of Chris's sisters, and we talked for a good 3 hours. That was pretty nice since we don't really talk much. So catching up is fun!
  
• It's only 13 days till I get some sister and auntie time! Goody goody gumdrops for that! :)
  

my update ramblings

I have no excuse for being such a lousy blogger. Sorry.
Let's see, Thursday Chris came up and we celebrated his birthday. My lemon cheesecake turned out quite delicious and he liked the shirts I gave him, so yay for that. :)
Friday night, Lydia and I did kids night out at our church. We had the theme of church and sang some songs and made paper churches and ate some good snacks, can you say muddy buddies!, and played some games. We had like 8 kids there and my goodness 7 boys together are super crazy! Very weird a few are that's for sure. I couldn't count the number of times I was saying, "Shhhh." haha. But yeah, there's this one boy in our church who I don't think knows how to respect those older than him. He refused to do our crafts because we wouldn't allow guns and gore with his church. He wouldn't listen to us half the time either. I swear, I was ready to wring to his neck, but I'll let you know I restrained myself. So let's just say it was interesting. Hopefully it'll be better next time.
Saturday Lydia and I went and did our Christmas present shopping! That was pretty fun, since we always had to go with a parent before but now it was just the two of us! So we got everyone's presents and I'm quite excited for Christmas now, because I'm pretty happy with the presents we picked out! And I must say I love orange julius'. Yum! Okay, I used to like Hannah Montana, secretly I still do, but she is taking over everything! I don't think we went to a single store where her face wasn't printed on a shirt or a notebook or necklace or something. Honestly. But I must say, I had never been in the Disney Store before and it's so fun in there! Pretty darn cute stuff as well! So yeah.
After we got home Chris came over and helped unload the pool table my dad bought! Yay for pool! Although, I've noticed I need so much practice. lol. Honestly. My dad beat me in like 4 games last night. Pathetic. But practice makes perfect they say.
Saturday evening we all headed down the light rail station to go downtown for the annual Parade of Lights. We got to the station at like the perfect time because there was lighting ceremony going on so we got to see that and they had fireworks and everything, which was pretty cool! So after a few long lines we got to downtown and there were tons of people lining the streets! So we walked and found a reasonably good spot. I was glad for the fence I could sit on, otherwise I would never have been able to see, one of the downsides to being short. haha. Rebecca met us up there then too! So the parade was pretty fun! Marching bands are pretty cool. Good thing too since there were quite a few. One band was called The Snowman Band and when they were by us there was a hold up somewhere so we got to watch them for quite some time. And they were totally fun! They were having a blast trying to keep the crowd entertained. Dancing around, singing, doing whatever. There were some fun, very lit up floats with music and huge balloons. The people watching was definitely interesting as well. So after the parade was over we waited in line for awhile to get on the light rail and then came home, ate Panda Express and Chris put together the pool table. What a hero.
Saturday evening we figured out how truly retarded our cat can be. We had noticed our colored lights weren't working on our tree even though they were plugged in. So I looked at them and saw the cat had chewed completely through the wires! Who does that?? So add that to his list of things he's chewed on. He's like a dog, I swear. Shoelaces, blinds strings, earbuds, light wires. Crazy kitty.
Sunday was our long day at church with two services, communion, fellowship dinner, and Bible studies. So then we came home and relaxed and watching the old Parent trap on tv. I SO love that movie. Let's get together never gets old. Then we watched our weekly Supernatural episode.
And that's the end of my long, rambly post. With no pictures. Sorry.
Oh! On an excited note, exactly 3 weeks till Talia and her family and Elijah get here!! YAY! I so cannot wait. :D
Okay, bye. Xoxo

happy birthday to my boy

Today is my dear Christopher's birthday! I won't get to celebrate with him today, although he did stay at our house till midnight last night so we could tell him happy birthday. :) But tomorrow, he'll be coming up and I plan on making some cheesecake for him and all. So without any further ado, happy birthday, boyfriend love! Have a most terrific 24th!

I love you, babe.

Christmastime is comin

It's the day after Thanksgiving now, so I can start thinking about Christmas! But first, I must give thanks for everything the Lord has blessed me with.
I'm thankful for:

• My family. My mom and dad who have raised me the past 20 years in the way I should go and have helped me to always be a better, God-glorfiying woman. They have always provided for me and been strong. I love them dearly. My sisters who even though one is close and one is far away, I know I can always talk to them about anything. We have our fun, goofy, sister moments, and our serious discussions too. I so can't wait for Christmastime together again! Love you, my dear sisters! My brothers who even though I may find them annoying at times(Josiah) I still do love them all. My older brothers are very protective and just what big brothers should be. We always have a good time when they're home. My nieces who are the three sweetest little girls. I love my auntie time! And my little nephew of course too.
• My boyfriend. He's such a wonderful guy, who's always so encouraging and patient and a great listener. He's incredibly sweet and loving and respectful of me. We can talk about anything and everything and even when I tend to get a tad goofy(what? me?!) he still loves me for me. He's a strong Christian and we share the same beliefs which is of utmost importance to me. I love him so.
• My friends. Whether I've known them for 13 years or 3, they're the best. I know they're always there for me whether it's to just listen or give advice or just have a good time with. I love all my girls! And my guy friends too!
• My possessions. This may seem shallow, but yesterday we helped with Meals on Wheels and saw some people who are just living in the worst of conditions and it really made me thankful for all I have. For living in a warm and clean home and good food to eat every day and nice clothes to wear and all the other little luxuries I have.
• My faith. I don't know how people can live in this world without having true faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Just knowing that all is in His Hands and that everything will turn to our good and that at the end believers in Him shall have eternal life is the most comforting thing. I'm forever thankful that He brought me to know Him and covered my many sins with His blood.

I am so incredibly blessed with everyone and everything I have.

Now on to Christmas! As I sit here there's Christmas music playing in the waiting room(I'm at work) and I love it. Just puts a smile on my face and gets me so excited to decorate our house soon! Hopefully tomorrow we'll be putting up the tree! Yay! :) I found this survey over at Talia's and thought it might be fun!

Egg nog or hot chocolate? This is a tough one. I love hot chocolate on those cold, snowy days. Especially Starbucks signature. But Christmas day we always have egg nog with our dinner. So I can't make a choice.

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? I wrap all my presents. I just love that part. Buying pretty paper and ribbon and bows and tags and doing them up all nicely and seeing them under the tree all pretty. I like it. :)

Colored lights on tree/house or white? When we put up lights on our house, they're always colored. And we do a mixture of the two on the tree. White are so classicly lovely, but yet there's just something about the colors I love. So I can't say I have a preference on this one either.

Do you hang mistletoe? We never have. Although once I'm married, I'm pretty sure this will be a must. hehe.

When do you put your decorations up? Oh right after Thanksgiving. I love seeing them all up for the whole month of December and sometimes even some of January. haha. I can't properly start Christmas shopping and everything without the tree up, where would you put the presents anyway? So the sooner, the better! Although definitely not before Thanksgiving, that's not allowed at our house. :P

Favorite holiday memory as a child? Let's see. Well whenever we went to Grandma's for Christmas I always loved the red and green jello with whipped cream on top. It just always seemed like the perfect Christmas food to me as a kid. Who knows why. And then there isn't a specific memory with this because it's basically every year. But just when as family we all hand out our presents to each other and sit down on the couches and the floor and we all take turns opening one up, from youngest to oldest. And we take turns until each present if opened. I like that better than just the crazy everyone ripping off the paper at the same time ordeal. We get to watch everyone else and see what they all got plus waiting in anticipation to see what they think of the gift you got them. It seems like the perfect present opening system to me. :)

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I never believed in Santa as a kid. Although I do remember the times at Grandma's when we would all watch that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Christmas movie, can't remember the name, but my dad would always wear a Santa hat and coat maybe too? And that's pretty much as Santa-y(new word) we got.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? We have absolutely no theme when it comes to our tree. We just put all our lights on and then get out the boxes of ornaments and then we all just grab a few and place them on the tree wherever we see fit. From pretty new ornaments my mom gives us every year to the old ones we made as kids they all go up. With the exception of the few ugly ones we do have. Lol.

Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it! Some of the best memories I have of Christmas have to do with some snow. Like when we lived in Nebraska and it snowed on Christmas day, all the neighborhood kids and us went down to the hill near the highway with our sleds and we would have the older kids stand at the bottom and stop us so we wouldn't get to the highway yet(although it was a teeny town so there wasn't too much traffic). We sled out there for hours. Such fun. And last Christmas, it snowed the 25th as well! There's just something about waking up in the morning in winter and running to the window to see if it snowed that night. And if it did, I would run downstairs yelling all excited. I still get excited to see snow outside in the morning, just a little less energeticly. haha. I love the look of the fresh, white snow covering everything and just glittering. So beautiful. I'm so glad we live somewhere where we do get snow for Christmas.

Do you remember your favorite gift? This one is extra tricky. So I'm going to be boring and just say I love all the gifts I get. The ones that have special memories behind them or even the practical ones I may get!

What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? Getting to celebrate the birth of our Savior and learning about the true meaning of Christmas. But also, spending time with all my family and giving presents and building snowmen and making snow angels outside in the snow. I love everything about Christmastime!
What is your favorite holiday dessert? I must say I love my mom's fudge puddles and family recipe sugar cookies! Yum yum yum!
What is your favorite holiday tradition? Like I can pick just one! I already said the opening of presents. But also when we make sugar cookies and sprinkle them all and our dinner with the special bread, not even going to attempt to spell it. It's Swiss. I love every little tradition we have and all the memories we make!

What tops your tree? We can't have a tree topper, because our tree is so tall it touches the ceiling. But we used to have this big like 3-D star deal that went on top.
Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Oh, giving! Just going out shopping and trying to find that perfect gift for everyone. Trying to make the present as fun and meaningful as I can. And then seeing their reaction to my present. I love the whole gift-giving process.

What is your favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night is definitely up there as one of my favorites. It's so beautiful. And I must admit I like Feliz Navidad too. I always liked singing Good Christian Men Rejoice too and God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. I love all Christmas music really. All the hymns but also some of the secular ones.

Candy canes? I do like to eat a candy cane once in a while. But they're also fun to decorate with. And they do make great stocking stuffers.

Favorite Christmas movie? I love the classic It's a Wonderful Life. But also I like the Santa Clause ones. And I need to see Elf, never have.

What do you leave for Santa? Well, since we never believed in Santa, nothing. Just plenty of Christmas goodies for us! :)

Now, it's your turn to fill it out. I had fun with it and you might too! :)

I hope you all had such a wonderful Thanksgiving! I did. And that you are getting ready for Christmas! Only 27 days away, yikes.

frosted chocolate chip cheesecake

I keep promising recipes and yet I never do post them. Sorry. But I decided this one was so incredibly delicious I had to blog about it!
Note: not my picture. I completely forgot to take one until it was all eaten. But mine did look pretty much like that, minus the raspberry and almond garnishes.

2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs(I used oreos, which worked well)

6 tablespoons butter, melted

3 packages ( 8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup (6 ounces) miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 milk chocolate candy bar (4 ounces), chopped

2 cups whipped topping

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

In a bowl, combine wafer crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1-1/2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan. Chill for 15 minutes or until set.

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into crust.

Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.

For frosting, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy bar; stir until smooth. Cool to room tempature. Gradually stir in the whipped topping. Remove sides of springform pan. Frost top of cheesecake; garnish with almonds. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12 servings.

Enjoy!

week in a nutshell

I'm not sure why I haven't blogged in a week. Maybe because I haven't done or thought anything worth blogging about. So, way to go, Jerusha.
My usual week goes something like this: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, work from 10-6:30 and come home and just laze around watching tv or a movie. Tuesday and Thursday, work from 2-6:30 and Chris comes up and we hang out till he leaves around midnightish.
It's a very exciting life I lead, I hope you see. Although Tuesday, we have to come up earlier because my mom has a meeting deal so then Lydia and I sit at Starbucks until she's through with that. Mmm, Peppermint Mocha! This last week we were writing our Christmas gift giving list. We have a whole ton of people to give to, since we've got like a family of 14 and then several friends and then I've got the boyfriend. We usually give gifts together, because for one thing it's cheaper(yeah, sorry) and it's also easier and sometimes more fun. It works and no one has complained yet. :P So, yeah. Wednesday, the guys had catechism, so the girls went home and watched Moulin Rouge. So one of my favorite movies! The music is amazing.
Friday, I didn't feel well most of the day, so work wasn't too much fun. Went home, watched Made of Honor, and fell asleep on the couch. Kinda sucked I didn't feel well, since Rebecca spent the night and I didn't get(more like want) to partake in the sleepoever activities. So I slept in Saturday and woke up feeling much better so I was able to go shopping with everyone. Headed to the mall and Lydia and I helped pick out clothes for Josiah so he's somewhat stylish and in longer pants. haha. Went to Aeropostale and Payless where I broke the tenth commandment many a time I'm pretty sure. I just like cute sweaters and shirts and shoes. Can ya blame me? I made cheesecake for guests on Sunday, which turned out super delicious. I'll be posting pictures and possibly a recipe later.
Sunday was church and since we were host family we had guests for lunch. More came than we thought we had invited, which was pretty funny and confusing for a little while. But it turned out just fine. Church a second time and then we had Bible study on Isaiah 2-3. It was a really good study, talking about pride and being thankful and the adornments of women. Then we came home again and chilled and watched our weekly Supernatural episode. Love those Winchesters.
There's the week. Kinda rambly and boring, forgive me.
Oh! This Friday through Monday, the family is headed down to Phoenix for a seminar. So a little getaway should be kinda fun. Road trip and then visiting some relatives down there as well. So I'm excited for that.
Alright, happy Monday all! <3

"when you're here, you're family"

That's right, Olive Garden! One of my favorite restaurants ever! So Saturday night, Lydia, Christopher, Rebecca, and I went out to dinner for some delicious Italian food. This was Chris's first ever time there(I know, what?! crazy) so that was fun! I always get so excited for that first bite of their amazing breadsticks and fettucine alfredo(I'm super predictable, I don't think once have I gone when I didn't get that. haha). We had such a nice waitress too, who said you're welcome each and every time we said thank you, which was like constantly. Lol.
And you know there's a benefit to not being a big eater, I get to have two meals from one! So last night, I got to have Fettucine again! Yum yum! :)

Chris and I.

He always seems to be talking in pictures..but he's still cute. :)

Since it was his first time,

we of course had to commemorate that first bite of a warm breadstick.

Pretty girls, Becca and Lydia

Sharing their Caramel Hazelnut Macchiato.

i love me a surprise

Alright, so I have the sweetest boyfriend ever I'm pretty sure! And I'll tell you why. =)
So Thursday is one of the days I usually get to see him, but yesterday my mom, Lydia, and me had a Ladies' Night Out event to attend, so I didn't get to see him. He was just going to go home instead of coming up to the office or to our house.Well, last night I'm ready to head to bed and I'm flipping back my covers and notice a piece of paper. I'm like, "Hmm, that wasn't there this morning when I made my bed." Then I notice that the writing on it looks alot like Chris's! And quick note, his handwriting cracks me up. I've had to learn to decipher it because it's almost non-readable. (You know I like it, Chris. <3) So I start reading it and am almost through it when he calls me! I was so excited to tell him that I had found his letter! It was such a sweet letter too. I get to the last paragraph and it tells me to look in my pillowcase! So I do, and what do I find but a present!! :D This to be exact:

Bad quality picture, but you can still see it pretty well. Lovely, right? I was so thrilled! Just an out of the blue present for me! :)
And he tells me he never entered our house since no one was home at the time. And I thought maybe he left Josiah a note to put it in my bed, but that's no the case either. So I'm going with the idea that there is a surprise fairy who took care of it! haha
Anyways, I am of course wearing it today!
See, what a wonderful boyfriend that Christopher is?! I certainly think so. :)
So thanks so much, babe! Love you! <3

Election Day

Mmm pumpkin

There's just something about the taste of pumpkin this time of year. I know my tastebuds crave for it. So Saturday I made pumpkin streusel bread(thanks, Talia!)! And boy, was it ever yummy. :) We took a few loaves to church and I don't think I've ever gotten that many compliments on food before. I believe the words "sinful", "fabulous", and "pretty dang good" were used. And one person asked me how much I liked him and if I did I was to bake him more bread. He also, I believe, said that Chris would be one lucky man. haha! So yay for success!

So I've been a really bad blogger lately and I really have no excuse either. So I apologize.
Well let's see, what I have been up to? Well Friday night, Lydia and I spent the night at the Enoch's house which is always amazing. Watched Disturbia and stayed up till 3 just hanging out and chatting and getting goofy complete with a small pillow fight. haha.
Saturday I was woken up by 10:30 and then me, Chris, and Elizabeth went and jumped on the trampoline. I swear, those thing are such a blast. I feel like such a little kid. haha. Their dogs joined us up there too even though they hate the bouncing, so they just laid up there and sneezed all over me. Gross! So yeah. Came home Saturday afternoon and had to the clean the house all up for the open house on Sunday. Chris and Elizabeth were such a huge help with that too! Then our family left for dinner at a women from our church's house. She's super sweet and a really great cook! Meatloaf, potatoes, green beans, homegrown tomatoes with sugar. Okay how many of you have had tomatoes with sugar sprinkled with sugar on top? It is the single way I will eat tomatoes and Chris swears he has never met anyone else who eats them that way. Are we just weird? Hmm. And we had delicious apple crisp with vanilla ice cream too! Yummy! :)
Sunday was church and my mom had a seminar in the morning so we had to pick her up from that afterwards and then we were all starving and we couldn't go home all day since the open house was going on. So we drove around for quite some time trying to decide what we felt like eating and then we spotted Red Robin which we all decided was definitely a good choice. Best burgers EVER! As my mom said, "I don't know how other burger places make it." It was quite humorous. hehe. So I got my bacon cheeseburger, hold the mayo, and steak fries! Finished it all, which if you know me is pretty rare. After eating we drove around for a while through this really expensive neighborhood with gorgeous mansions. I'm talking gigantic! They were seriously amazing. We found an open house going on in a little smaller house but still definitely out of our price range. That was quite lovely too. Massive master bedroom with it's private retreat room. So there you go.
We still had about 2 hours before we had to head over for the exchange service. So we stopped at the Denver Museum to basically use their restroom. But we checked out the T-Rex skeleton in the lobby and walked around their grounds a little bit. Quite lovely, except for the fact it was rather chilly and Lydia and I both had bare legs to our knees and my shoes were pinching, but I'm not complaining. lol. So then we headed over to Park Hill OPC for church. I always enjoy that service since they get to sing regular hymns. Don't get me wrong I love our Psalms very much and the old Genevan tunes we sing, but the hymns were what I knew until last year basically, so I still love them and just love singing them. At the church there's this sweet little girl who always talks to me and this time she gave Lydia and me two necklaces. Such a cutie! We finally got to head home to eat some popcorn and strawberries and watch an episode of Supernatural, our usual Sunday evening activities.
Monday, another chiropractor started working in the office on the other currently unused side we have. It's been different with him here. Definitely something to get used to. It's alot busier, since he's been in practice for about 20 years. Lydia has to do his front desk stuff as well as my mom's and I learned his therapy technique which I apply to all his patients. But he's a reasonably nice guy, just has some habits which we may or mat not get used to. His patients are pretty nice too, one told me I have " a gentle touch." haha. I was never aware of that before.
Today, I'm guest blogger for my sister Talia so I'll have to get on that. But all the pictures I plan on using are all at home on the computer, so it shall have to wait till this evening when we get home, unfortunately. So you'll have to check back at her site later for that!
And that's basically what I've been up to. Friday as you all know is Halloween or if you're Reformed, Reformation Day. So we're going up to Greeley for their Reformation party, which should be super fun since we have some really good friends up there!
That's about it. And I do believe it's just about lunchtime for me. So have a good one you guys.
xoxoxo

walk in the park

Saturday morning we had a house showing and it was rather warm for this time of year, so we all went for a nice walk in the park near our house. It's such a beautiful park too with bridges and a river and walkways and trees and even a little railroad that runs in the summertime. My dad had his camera along so I'll share a few pictures!

trying to balance on the tracks
(note Lydia texting, but of course. haha)

My dad's idea. Lydia victorius!

Now to photoshop a train with smoke pouring out in the distance getting closer each minute while Lydia won't let me up so I meet my sad demise.

We tend to be a bit goofy as a family. =]

one rainy weekend

Saturday morning Lydia decided that the two of us should go for a bike ride. Now it was about 37 degrees out and rather drizzly too, but we decided to brave that and go for it anyways! So we bundled up in a few sweatshirts, gloves, scarves, and helmets and headed out. Me on my nice new bike and Lydia on this old school one Josiah uses, where the seat has absolutely no cushioning at all. So we ride, wind whipping in our faces and I thought that maybe I should have put on a hat, but where's the fun in that? We have quite the lovely bike paths near our house that run the right next to the Platte River and especially now that we have fall colors it's pretty! So partway Lydia decides we should trade bikes for a little while so her butt can have a rest. haha. I must tell you, I so prefer my bike with it's straight handlebars, none of those weird curvy ones for me thanks, and my cushy seat. Man, I'm spoiled. :)
After riding for close to an hour, we decide we should go back home since our mom was leaving and she wanted us to get stuff done. She gave us some baking to do! Perfect activity for a chilly, wet Saturday I think. So we made three kinds of bread! Applesauce with streusal, Apricot-banana quick bread, and Blueberry! They all turned out quite fabulously! Even though for two of the breads as Lydia was pouring the batter in the pans, I just looked at her and was like, "Did you spray those first?" And she hadn't. So she had to pour the batter back in the bowl and spray and then start again. And she did that twice! It was pretty funny. And then we made brownies too!
So baking while listening to Mcfly, Metro Station, and Michael Buble(what's with the letter M?) is quite a delightful Saturday activity!
Sunday was another chilly, rather misty, dreary day. We had church and then it was my day to teach Sunday School for the first time. Since we have a small church and not very many kids, we only have one class. So kids from 5-14 in one class. Which definitely makes it tricky. So I taught on Ruth 1 and had printed out activitie sheets before with word searches and coloring pages and crossword puzzles, which totally helped out. So it was a pretty good class, I think.
After church, we were the host family, so the visitors came to our house for lunch. A Canadian couple and this other guy from Boulder. Very friendly, nice people, so that was neat. Then it was back to church again!
Sunday evening two of our good friends came over to hang out! Our friend from South Dakota, Jenna was in the town and we were really hoping we would be able to see her while she was here, so her boyfriend Aaron, who we've been good friends with for like 12 years brought her down! So we just played games like Sorry and Ticket to Ride and ate and laughed and just had fun. Aaron and I were on teams for both games and we got our butt kicked both times. So that was sad. But okay, peanut butter melted with chocolate with popcorn and pretzels to dip in is amazing! Which probably contributed to our goofiness with all that sugar. Lol. Oh and the week before had been Jenna's birthday so Lydia and I were able to give her her presents then too. She likes Hoops and Yoyo, so I had found this giant singing card with them and it was pretty funny. So we quoted the card all night and probably played it about 20 times.
So it was a pretty spectacular weekend I'd say!

sweata weatha

I'm not sure how many of you have seen Bronx Beat from SNL. Especially the one where they talk about the "sweataweatha." I looked all over and could not find a video of it anywhere! Rather frustating.
But anyway, this week has been just that! Sweater weather! I'm wearing a sweater today! Which makes me very happy. Fall has finally come here! I mean for Colorado we were having some awfully warm fall days, like high 70s to 80s. But today it's reached only like 45 or so. Yesterday was supposedly to be 76, totally wasn't. More like 56. This weekend they're predicting our first snow as well! A little early, but actually I'm ready. I love this weather, I really do. :)

autumn weekend pictures

There's just something about the gold and red and orange of fall colors that gets me. They're just so breathtaking and make me want to praise the Lord for His amazing and awesome handiwork!
You'll see just what I mean.
Picture time! These are all credited to my dad! Such a great photographer

Check out that sky
gorgeous.

horse riders!

Chris and I on the hike...why do I look so bored?

dew on the leaves

Firey red and orange

Green and gold

Lydia took her senior pictures up there. Oh so lovely!

Classic wall shot.

Group shot minus Lydia

Sisterly love.

beautiful.

from a distance.

Lydia and Lily Lake.

snow-capped mountains

look at all those colors!

climbing. such an amazing view from up there

reflection. one of my favorites.

scenery

Elk Fest. disgusting hair right?

owl.

I hope you enjoyed the wonder and beauty of the gorgeous scenery. Colorado in fall is practically perfect.

lovely autumn weekend

Autumn is definitely my favorite season. And that was reaffirmed this weekend on our camping trip. Friday afternoon, the family and Christopher headed up in the Suburban, camper behind, to Estes Park. It was amazingly beautiful up there with the cool weather, golden aspens, cloudy skies. We hiked around this lovely lake, Lily Lake, I believe it was called, hiked through the trees, ate at my favorite Italian restaurant, checked out the Elk Fest, and just hung around. It was wonderful and so relaxing as well.

Lydia decided to take a cowgirl photo shoot of me. One of the results.

We came back Saturday evening. Sunday evening Lydia and I went up to our friend, Hannah's house for her bonfire party! It was chilly and rained almost the whole time, but it was still such a delightful time. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and drank hot apple cider. I managed to burn myself a few times. haha. We all talked and laughed and reminisced over our childhood years.

Hands down, one of my favorite weekends. More pictures to come!

Did you all have a nice weekend?

Days of the Week

There are definitely days of the week I look forward to more than others. For instance, Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week because I love going to church and fellowshiping and worshipping there, but also just because it's such a relaxing day. I usually get a little nap in and then we just chill at home in the evening watching Supernatural.
But Tuesday and Thursday have to be my favorite days of the week! Those are the days when the mornings and early afternoons seem to drag on forever because I know that around 4:20, I'll get to see Christopher walk in the door and reach out for a hug. He goes to school up in the Denver area those days and afterwards he comes up to the clinic to just hang out or do homework and then come home with us after work for dinner and movie and some good ol' alone time with me. :) Just seeing him walk in that door, puts a smile on my face and I get all giddy. Even when he's just at the computer doing homework, he'll still hold my hand while I sit nearby doing some studying of my own. Even just being in the same room makes me immensely happy.


So today, the in between day, is probably the day I least like. Having to say goodbye to him the night before and then having to wait till the next day to see him again. But I manage.

The weekends are always nice too. Getting to sleep in, sometimes hanging out with friends or shopping or just chilling at home. This weekend will be especially wonderful! Friday we're leaving work early and taking the camper up to Spruce Lake RV park in Estes Park to spend the night and Saturday up there seeing the fall colors and doing some hiking and just some good mountain time! Definitely up there in my top 5 of favorite things to do. Waking up in the camper bunk-bed feeling the crisp, cool mountain air. Heading over to the campground bathrooms, which aren't actually too bad, to shower and then sitting by the little lake next to our camper waiting to head out for some site seeing of those gorgeous yellow aspens and snow-capped mountain peaks. Walking around Estes window shopping in all the little touristy shops and hopefully stopping for dinner at Mama Rose's with their delicious fettucine alfredo and mini cheesecakes and cute waiters. One of my all-time favorite spots up there.
And then Sunday, one my bestest best friends who I've known for over 13 years is having a wienie roast for her birthday! Complete with hay bales and fire pits and hot dogs and marshmallows roasted over the fire. Some amazing friend time, being silly and girly and serious too.
So yes, amazing weekend coming up! Now to get through this Wednesday....

Twenty's Plenty!

My birthday when I turned 20 was over a month ago, but just yesterday I received my present from Talia in the mail. Now, I so love getting mail! Especially packages! And upon opening my present I discovered just how cool this present really was and also why it took over a month for her to send it off. Twenty presents!! All wrapped and numbered with cute/cheesy little rhyming notes. The sweetest gift ever! =) So thank you very much, dear sister!
So now I shall share with you my wonderful gifts and even some little notes.

All numbered from one

to twenty!

one of my favorites. :)

not a rhyme(or a good picture) but it was too cute!

plus as you look at the presents you should be able

to figure out which one went with this.

the card! picked out by darling Emma and Annabelle!

I heard they really loved this one and even played with it some before sending it off.

=) too cute

an adorable little cut off cardigan

yum!

cuppycake! you know you think they're super cute.

more candy!

love these super cute notebook and pens

fun rubber gloves! now I'll be ready to clean anytime.

cute stationary is definitely a must

they smell delicious.

sweet frame. now to find a picture of us three sisters.

bees frighten me something terrible usually,

but how can they when they're this cute?

love me some mike and ike's

cute(getting overused perhaps? haha) mini hoody

yay cherries!

lovely floral pen

who doesn't like pretty shirts?

and of course to finish it off, starbucks!

Pretty sweet right?? I love every piece! What a perfectly neat idea for a golden birthday!

I love you, Talia! My dear cuppycake sister. =)