Oreos

 

We've been doing pretty well this month with FHE.  Sunday night Brian did the lesson and I prepared the treat.  Homemade oreos!! So good!!!

 

I keep telling myself one week at a time. 

baby blanket

I started this baby blanket before Thanksgiving, then my machine needed to go into the shop.  I got it back shortly before Christmas but never had a chance to do any sewing till a couple of weeks ago.  I only had about 10" left, that's how close I was to finishing.  I was making it for Cherine's new baby.  We got together a couple weeks ago so I gave it to her...late.  But that's ok.  It's cold where they live too and you can never have too many blankets for a little one.

 

I thought these frogs were super cute!  I bought the material back in Texas before we moved.  I wonder if I can find more here.

more derby

Here's a couple pictures of Carson's 2nd pinewood derby.  He participated in one just before we moved in September.  Since they were so close together he decided to use the same car.  (I'll be honest. I was relieved.)  We have two wards that combine for cub scouts so there are a lot of boys, most I don't know. But it was fun! 

pinewood derby

Here's Carson's second race! Exciting!!

our future

 

 Well, the kids are out of school again due to the cold.  That's four days this month that the temperatures have been -30 with wind chill.  I think last night it got down to -40.  Still not sure how we're going to survive these winters every year.  :-/

 

 

When Mason was 9 or 10 he went to look at commercial airplanes with the scouts.  He thought they were so very cool, especially first class.  Ever since then he decided he wanted to be a pilot.  Sounds cool to me.  For Christmas Brian and I gave him two flight simulator classes.  He wasn't too sure what to think.  Our 50 minute drive turned into 90 minutes due to a snow storm. He was losing his excitement.  Throughout the lesson I couldn't tell if he was enjoying himself.  Once it was over and we were back in the car... oh man! He loved it!! He might be hooked!  Brian and I would love a pilot in the family! Especially the free airline tickets!

 

I love it when we can help our kids find what they love.  We'll probably schedule the other lesson in a few more weeks.  His instructor also told us about a computer game to help teach him to fly.  Mason wants to buy it now!  I'm hoping I can put him of a bit.  That's something for the summer when it won't take away from school work. Yay, Mason!! I'm glad you've found something you love!

snow fun

We didn't have school last Friday so we met the Montie's for lunch and kept Michael for the night. They had so much fun together. I'm glad they live only 2 hours away. The crazy thing is these boys had a sleep over in November the same weekend we had tornados in the area. This time there was another major snow storm coming through. Maybe one of these days we can get them together on a normal, quite weekend. 

way late

 

Last Thursday, January 16th, I finally took down Christmas.  I've never left Christmas up that long. With us being gone through the 7th and then the kids were home for a couple more days, it should have come down the day they were back in school.  But no, I'm still unpacking boxes from the move.  Will that ever end? I'm down to boxes from the office and anything craft related.  Just not sure where to put it all.

 

I think another reason it stayed up so long is because I didn't feel crowded with it all up.  Our family room has more space and I wasn't feeling claustrophobic at all.  Karlee thought I should keep it all up till the snow was gone.  There was no way I was going to even consider that! We could have snow into March! (I pray we don't.) But we are still using our "holiday" dishes.  Only now we renamed them, "winter" dishes.

 

Originally, we would start using these dishes at Thanksgiving and go through New Years.  When snow started to fly early November I suggested we start using them as soon as snow flies! And yesterday the snow was still flying... I wish it would stop...  I know one day it will.  But when...

 

A couple nights ago I had the BEST dream.  I dreamt I was on a cruise.  I was soaking up the sun, swimming in the ocean (and I'm not a good swimmer), and had color on my skin (kind of pink but still color). In the dream I remember thinking, OK I can do this cold for a couple more months now! I wish dreams come true and I could go someplace HOT!!  I really need hot. But for now I will ALWAYS remember a scarf and gloves before I go anywhere.  This is my new life.  I'm trying to accept it.

bball

The Stakes out here offer a sports program for the youth.  The last time I saw this was when I was a youth.  We played basketball, volleyball and softball.  Our Ward always did very well in softball.  Those were some good memories. 

Karlee is playing on their basketball team.  I hope they offer other sports for the youth.  Saturday was her second game.  She made the first basket for her team. Exciting!!  It looked like we were going to lose by more than 10.  Then in the last 6 minutes our team got it together and we lost by 1.  It was so very close. We almost had them too.

one of my favs

 

I took this picture while I was waiting for Stella to do her business one morning.  It turned out pretty cool I think. Maybe phone cameras aren't too bad after all.

too much!!

My friend, Marsha, sent us a picture of our driveway while we were gone.  This is way too much snow for me.  The day we were driving home there was a major storm.  We got off the interstate to cut off miles and some of these roads hadn't seen a snowplow for hours.  There were a couple of roads we were glad there was someone to follow being how we didn't know these roads at all. 

It sure is pretty to look at though.

The Monday and Tuesday after New Years schools were closed.  We had a Polar Vortex and our temps were -40 to -50 with the wind chill.  We were all excited to have a couple days to recoup after our trip. 

A few days ago I heard on the news that Chicago is #6 in America for the coldest city.  Now this is nothing to celebrate.  Every day I'm amazed at how cold it is here.  Today, for example, it is -20 with the wind chill.  So I stay in and ..blog. :0)

 

After my friend sent me the picture of our driveway her husband cleared our driveway.  They are the most giving people I know.  I'm so glad to call her my friend.

college girl

These pictures are on my phone and I have better ones on my camera. I will be adding those later but I needed to share something soon.

The reason we went to Idaho for New Years was to take Bailee to college. She is on the Winter/Spring schedule at BYUI. 

Here she is putting her initials on her groceries. I still can't believe she's gone. We've FaceTimed a few times. Chatted a little and had many short text conversations. I miss her. I wonder if she misses us. She's having the time of her life and she's even enjoying school. 

She's a visiting teaching coordinator, but I'm not sure she knows what that means. ;)

She started this blanket back in Texas before we moved. She finished it about a week ago. I think she used about 14 skeins! The colors are super close to a backpack that I bought her in Mexico last summer. She's soo talented!!

I hope she checks in more often. I don't want to be an overprotective mom but I MISS HER!!

 

Here she is in front of her apartment. She's all grown up!

family in Idaho

We had so much fun just being around family. The kids loved hanging out with cousins. 

I was able to get together with Brenda and Terri for lunch one day. It was at the hospital when Terri had lunch. A little strange but that's ok. I wanted to see them. 

Then another day the kids and I went over to Aarins. Jeannette and her kids were going to join us but her kids got sick. Jeannette and I never did get together. Schedules are hard. 

We were able to see Shon and Holly and their family quite a bit. I'm so glad. Our boys had so much fun together.

Mason and Tyler got in the hot tub too but I wasn't quick enough to get a picture. 

Stella did much better when she was on her leash. Lexi wanted to walk her. It was so cute!

Mason and Carson spent one night with Aarins kids. I hope we can keep these friendships strong. It's hard when we're lucky to see each other once a year. 

The day we were heading back we stopped by to see Grandma Baker. She hadn't been feeling well all week but we had to stop by and give her hugs. 

Just before we headed out we stopped to pick up some snacks. The clerk asked what we were doing for the day. I quickly said we were heading home, back to Texas. Brian quickly corrected and said Illinois. I was sick that it wasn't Texas. I miss Texas... We all do. 

pimples?

These little bumps under Carson's arm really did look like pimple. But it was actually Molluscum Contagiosum. Over time they would keep spreading. They didn't seem to bother him but since we were going in for something else we decided to get these looked at. The Dr treated them with beetle juice. Kind of strange but it's true.

The other reason we went in was for a "boy" concern. The Dr had us go over to the hospital for an ultrasound. Carson was extremely embarrassed. But in the end all was well and he got a day out of school.

And an ice cream with me. :0)

This is a picture of his underarm the next day. The little pimples blistered then fell off. It wasn't painful from the treatment just painful because of where is was located.

New Years Party

I've been slacking again. McKinzie will tell me when I need to get back to blogging every time.

We spent New Years Eve at Brian's parents. It was a lot of fun! Played games, ate yummy food, and just hung out.

At midnight we all put our coats on and ran around the house with a bag. My SIL is from Peru and this is one of her traditions if you want to travel in the new year. Heck yeah!! We would love to travel more. It was super cold! But it's something we'll remember.

Karlee went to a Stake dance with Abby. They said it was kinda lame but they had fun staying up late together at Abby's house. 

Happy New Year!!!