Oh Christmas Tree!

I LOVE Christmas! It's my favorite holiday. I love the music of Christmas, the lights, shopping, and I love my tree. Last year was the first time we had a tree as a married couple, and we set it up on Dec. 23rd, so we didn't enjoy it very long. This year, the tree went up Thanksgiving day, and I love it! I love turning off the lights and just looking at it. I hope you all have a tree to enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We are so thankful for all of you, our friends and family! We spent Thanksgiving with wonderful friends (thanks Katherine and Ashley), and had one of the best meals ever!! We have so many things to be grateful for, and we are especially grateful for our little daughter who will be arriving soon. We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Finals Rainout

It is bad enough to be forced to take finals. It's even worse when you get drenched from a flash flood after finishing one. We haven't had much rain in the past few weeks, but we had a complete downpour for about 7 minutes last Monday. The time it took Jonathan to run from school to his car (about 100 yards) and from the car to the front door he got drenched. Jonathan thought it was exceptionally humorous that it started just before he left school, and stopped immediately after walking in the door at home.

Monster of a Cookie

I love it when my friends post their yummy recipes, so I want to post one of my very favorites. Their called Grandma Elizabeth Noakes' Montana Monster Cookies (we just call them monster cookies for obvious reasons).

6 eggs
2 C. white sugar
2 1/3 C. brown sugar
1/2 Tbs. vanilla
1/2 Tbs. white corn syrup
4 tsp. baking soda
2 cubes butter
3 C. peanut butter
9 C. oatmeal
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag M&M's
1 C. peanuts

Mix well by hand (it will ruin a hand mixer). Use full-sized ice cream scoop to scoop cookies onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with a sugared glass (if you want to, I just use the back of my ice cream scooper). Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes. Enjoy, and plan to have a TON of cookies for your enjoyment! They are well worth the effort!

My Little Heros

Everyday I get to work with some very amazing kids. They struggle with autism. They live in a world that they often don't understand and often doesn't understand them. Every twenty minutes a child is diagnosed with autism. One in 150 kids born today will have a diagnosis of autism. The kids I work with have taught me about love and working to overcome. They have become "my kiddos" as I have tried to help them succeed, and their love has taught me a little bit about how I will feel toward my own children. While I am overcome with excitement and anticipation of becoming a mother to my own sweet daughter soon, I will miss my kiddos. Working with them has been a great learning experience and a privelage I will always treasure.

Girl Power

Our nursery is finally ready! I worked all day, cleaning and organizing, but it was fun work. I am really happy with how cute it turned out. I even hung the name boards by myself! That's right, all by myself. I got out my pink tape measure (the one that says "Home is where the heart is") which was given to me by my mother-in-law, and I started measuring. Then I hammered and hung. It's not perfect, but it will stay the way it is until July when we move. It has been so much fun getting ready for a girl!