Mmmmmm..... Pretzels

So the other day I decided to try and make Pretzels... I got the recipe from my sister in law and believe me they are yummy, but don't over do it like I did. I seriously cannot have another green and red pretzel for at least a year min. Well I thought you all would like to try to make some too. So here is the yummy pretzel recipe

1 tablespoon of yeast

1 ½ Cups of warm water

½ Cup of brown sugar

4 to 4 ½ cups of white flour

Knead in Kitchen Aid for 10 min(or in any stand mixer)

Let Raise for 30 min

Roll into pretzels

Browning Stuff - 2 cups of water to 1 tablespoon of baking soda. Dip it in

Bake 8-10 min at 450 degrees

Dip in butter and salt when you get it out of the oven

Teething?

Well, I wasn't too surprised when Sullivan started teething. I had expected it this early because Drezden started teething about 3-4 months... What did surprise me was that Sullivan didn't start drooling until he had one tooth coming through... He also has tooth number two coming through only after 2 days of the first... I hope he becomes my happy little boy soon again!

Shot...Checkup...Shot

So this week was Sullivan's 4 month checkup... We ended up making an appointment out here in Tooele instead of driving into SLC. Well, I made an appointment to see a particular doctor and instead I ended up seeing a PA. What is the deal with that? I have no problems with the PA's, but why don't the receptionist tell you that you are not going to actually see the doctor.
I have never seen PA's until I moved out here to Tooele. I get a little flustered with it.. but yeah, the guy we saw was nice and I wouldn't mind seeing him again, but I think the receptionists should tell you who you are going to see before you get to the appointment.
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Well, Sullivan weighed 16.2 lbs... he is definitely going to be bigger that his big sister, not to much bigger but bigger. He is just one happy boy! He had to get two shots and he only cried for 3 seconds... no lie. He is my little happy boy!

Wedding!!!

On Friday the 12 of December Michael and McKell were married in the Salt Lake City Temple. It was so nice to be able to go and support them and there decision to get married. It was a very beautiful wedding! The reception and luncheon were great too! We went to Marie Calender's in Bountiful and then afterwards we headed out to Layton (McKells home town) for the reception. We ended up getting a little lost on the way. Thanks to Todd for getting us unlost ;) Ha ha, I don't know if we would have made it on time if it were not for him!
Well, it was nice... They even had an Ice Sculpture of the SLC Temple that now sits in front of the in laws house. The boys thought it would be funny to have it in the yard, so it is there.

The first week in December already over???

Wow is all I can say… I know I have said it before but I am going to say it again… Wow, time sure does fly by!!! I was going through some clothes of Drezdens to give to a neighbors baby girl and as I was looking through some of the old clothes all I could think to myself was that Drezden was just 12 months old… not too long ago. Has 6 months really gone by? I haven’t noticed… Sullivan is already going to be 4 months old, and almost rolling over. Where did the days go?I guess this is a reminder to me to enjoy what I have now because it won’t be here tomorrow.
We are truly blessed with so much and yet we worry about what tomorrow brings without enjoying what we have now… I hope that I can slow down a little and stop to smell the flowers, and enjoy these cute babies of mine!

This is a first... and hopefully not the last

Drezden, unfortunately, has not been feeling like herself. She has had a little fever all day and has wanted to be cuddled non stop. Poor girl! She has no idea how bad we feel for her. We just want her to feel better and be back to her ever curious and mischievous self! Although, it is nice to have her be so cuddly and loving.
Well, since last week we have had our pack and play set up so that she could stay with us in our room while we had visitors. We have not taken it down yet... she has found lots of opportunities to climb onto my bed and then climb into the pack and play. She has loved having it around to play in. Well, earlier today while I was watching a program on tv she decided to go upstairs and being the protective mother that I am ;) I followed her just enough that I could see her start to climb onto my bed and climb over into the pack and play... I stayed on the stairs waiting for her to cry out and have me get her, but no cry. I figured she was alright so I went downstairs because I knew she was not very likely to climb out without making a fuss... Well, after about 15 or so minutes of having her upstairs all alone I had Phil go check on her and he found her lying down and resting. I couldn't believe it. She went into her pack and play to rest... This was a first.
I remember talking to Phil when she was younger wishing that she would just fall asleep when she was tired and not to try and fight it like little ones do. She is getting to be a "big girl"... how sad. She is only 19ish months and I feel like she is not the baby that I just had a few months ago. She is growing too fast... How do I get her to slow down a bit? I love her so much, she is such a blessing.

Thanksgiving Weekend

This Holiday weekend has been a busier one than normal... First I participated in a craft fair with my sister in law... It was held in Ogden, Utah; and to our disappointment there was not a huge turn out. We did, however, sell one onesie and we had a special order request which turned out to be a bigger project than we had hoped for, but with this special order we ended up breaking even with the cost of all our supplies. It was a good experience and I am looking forward to doing another one. It was also nice to spend some time with the SIL.
On Thanksgiving we ended up going to both of our grandparents homes for Turkey Dinner. We decorated cute Ginger Bread Houses, which were already pre-made by Phils sweet Aunt. It is always nice to be able to visit with family and we are grateful that Phils grandparents provide a place where we can all visit with one another. After only a couple hours of being with Phil's family, we packed the kids and ourselves into the car and headed to SLC to spend some time with my family. I always love visiting with my grandma. After dinner almost every time we all get together we usually watch a movie before heading out, and this year we watched Hancock. I thought it was a cute film. It wasn't what I was expecting it to be, but I liked it.
The day after Thanksgiving I hosted a bridal shower for my soon to be SIL McKell. She is going to marry Phils brother Michael in December. We are excited to have her be part of our ever growing family. It was nice to have all of Phils side of the family over.
I know this post is going on and on, but so much has happened... To continue we ended up going to the Temple Square lights on Friday. Beth had never been before so it was nice to have her with us and of course it was nice to have Russ and Mike and his soon to be bride McKell there too.
On Saturday(yesterday) Lisa and I went over to Phils grandmas house and finished our special order. We ended up embroidering t-shirts on Phils grandmas embroidery machine. She ended up doing most of the work. It probably took us about 6 or so hours to finish all of them and even though Amanda had a ton of things to do she stayed and embroidered all the shirts until they were done. Not only did she not have to let us use her machine she fed us lunch and showed me how to make an adorable little dress. Drezden ended up wearing it all day yesterday. I am excited to start sewing and for people willing to teach me some tricks!
Well, I guess that is about it. I am sure I have left a lot out, but I have so much to be thankful for and a wonderful family, I love them so much!!! Well, until next time... Oh, and I saw Twilight and I really liked it. I am excited to see the next one! Maybe I will read all the books again!

Happy Birthday to Vanessa

I know I am terrible at posting on our family blog, but today I have something special to post about. It is my Wife's birthday!!! She always does such a great job on my birthday of making me feel special, and I love her for it. Every year I always try to do the same for her, but always fall short. I think she had an okay birthday anyway. Thank you to everyone who gave her a call to let her know you were thinking of her. She really appreciates those calls.

She told me not to spend a lot of money on her present, so I got her a bunch of boxes of Hot Tamalies. Those are one of her faverite candys. I stacked them up in a pyramid so when she walked down in the morning she could not miss them. My faverite part of giving her presents is seeing her smile. I took a picture of the stack, maybe I can get Vanessa to upload that to the site.

Vanessa loves her little kids, but I thought she could use a break from them. This is the part where I fall short. I thought I would be able to handle the two of them and let her relax a bit. This is really hard because whenever I would be feeding Sullivan or paying attention to him, Drezden would slip off and try to play with her Mother. She loves her Mom so much. There were also a few times when Drezden would get a little grumpy so I would be trying to make her happy and Sullivan would decide it was his turn - and would do his best to make it known the only way he knows how. Luckily I have an understanding wife who was willing to step in - despite it being her day off - and help out her struggling husband. I think next year I might just get a babysitter.

The last part of her present is that she will go see the Twilight movie when it comes out. Last year I got her one of the books and she loved them. Hopefully that will make up for everything today.

Photo Shoot!!!

Here is a pic of Drezden playing with my wallet. It is one of her many favorite things to get into

Here is Sullivan just hanging out in his swing

Drezden!

Sullivan!

I probably should not tell you all that this is Drezden's pooping face

Sullivan was being really smiley for me

Drezden likes to try to close herself in the fridge
Just Baby Sullivan again

This is her getting out of the cabinet... She wants the camera now!!! haha

A comforting email with the words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell

A comforting email with the words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell has passed among Latter-day Saints in California with these prophetic words delivered in 1979 while he was a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

“Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

“This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

“Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat."