HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAM!!!

I hope you have a good day.

Love ya!

Cheeseball

We had a potluck at work on Christmas Eve and so I took a cheeseball. Here's the recipe. It was so wonderful! I thought the combination would be weird and I was worried about it, but it was delicious!

Ginger's Cheese Ball (Recipezaar.com #19721)

2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (16 oz) crushed pineapple, drained
2 Tbsp green peppers, chopped
2 Tbsp onions, chopped
2 Tbsp seasoning salt
2 cups pecans, chopped and divided

Mix all ingredients, withholding 1 cup of the chopped pecans, into a ball.
Roll the cheeseball into the remaining pecans.
Refridgerate.
Serve w/ crackers.

Christmas Morning

My parents got Hunter this 4-wheeler bike. He loves it! He wanted to open presents while riding his bike. (the present he is opening is a vacuum, which he loves)

My parents got him some new slippers too. They have sports balls on them.

This is what Santa brought him. It did have legos in it, but then Hunter discovered he could sit in it instead.

this is when he first woke up and came out to see what santa brought him.

Josh got a blue tooth, so now he won't get mad when I call hime when he drives. He also got the game Blockus and some new socks. He got an air hog helicopter that flies. It's pretty cool.

I got new pots and pans, set of knives, and a parrafin wax bath thing. I'm so happy! My mom got me this beatiful wall hanging with the temple on it and it says together on a journey to eternity. And she gave me a cool clock and so did my sister. We were definately spoiled this year and are so greatful for what we got. Thank you everyone!

The only thing to make our Christmas better would be to spend it with our "big" family. We love and miss you all!

Merry Christmas!!!

This might be a long one-

A little story-So, I got off work today about 2:30. I had to run to Rite-Aid to get Hunter some milk so that he doesn't run out on Christmas day (cuz that would be the end of his world). I don't know the story of events before I got to the checkout, but here's what happend once I got to the checkout line. There is a dad with a little boy who was maybe 4 or 5, 6 at the oldest. The first thing I hear the dad say is, you're not going to get Christmas if you don't behave. Now, I know as parents, we tend to use that threat to children, but this guy was extremly rude about it. They kept walking outside and the whole time this little boy keeps saying no, no and is just bawling. I don't know what he did to make his dad upset, but dad was very rude. Just as they got outside, the store door hadn't closed all the way and I heard that dad say, you are so embarrasing! He put the boy in the car and dad stood outside the car and had a cigarette. I felt so bad for this little boy! I understand that as parents and as a child things happen, and sometimes we don't always make mom and dad happy. But for this dad to tell his son that he is so embarrasing! It broke my heart. I know that my son sometimes has a little temper tantrum in the store, and yes people look at you and stare at you, but I could never tell my child they are embarrasing.

On a happier note-I am so thankful this Christmas season for all the wonderful blessing I have. I have too many to count! I am so greatful for my little family. We may not be very big yet, but we sure do have a lot of love! I love Hunter so much. He is such a joy and adds so much life to our family. He is getting so big and growing so fast and learning so much. I usually try and be 10 steps ahead and I'm usually 5 behind him. He adds so much to our family and we couldn't live without him.

I'm so thankful for my husband and all that he does for me. He is so great and makes me feel so loved. He is such a hard worker and tries so hard to make everything perfect for me. I love him so much!

I'm so greatful for family! Mine and Josh's-My family is so wonderful. They make me smile. I'm so thankful that I could marry into the family I did. They have taken me in as one of their own and I love them so much and couldn't ask for better in-laws. They're amazing!

I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ! I'm so greatful to my Savior who died on the cross and suffered for me. What an amazing gift! Definatley one of the greatest gifts we could ask for! I'm so glad that I can spend eternity with my family and I love them dearly!

I hope everyone has a safe and Merry Chirstmas!!!

Go Broncos!!!

Cheese Ball

I am looking for a good cheese ball recipe. If anyone has a good one I would love to have it. We are doing a pot luck at work and I'm taking cheese ball. I have one recipe but would like another. Thanks for your help!

Snow

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!! It's been snowing all morning. I love it! It's finally starting to feel like Christmas now. It's a fluffy, light snow, but it's sticking. Maybe we'll build a snowman! Hunter is very fasinated with it. He keeps watching out the window to see what is going on outside.

I can't wait...

I can't wait for Friday. It's my work party! We even get to have spouses come this year (this is the 1st time the dr. has ever let spouses come) We are going on a Christmas Train Party. We get on a train in Horseshoe Bend and it goes to Banks and back. They feed you dinner on the train and everything. I'm so excited! I've never rode a train before but it was one of those things on my list to do before I die, so I can cross it off. This is not the same train we will be on, but our's will be all lit up and decorated too. And thanks to my wonderful sister, I have a babysitter. She's so wonderful! A night out and no worries about my sweet baby!*

*Side note-Sweet baby is not an all the time thing. Only when he wants. Today wasn't that day. He wasn't very nice at daycare to his friend, Gavin. Him and Gavin are about the same age. They were playing and Gavin did something that made Hunter mad so Hunter bit Gavin's finger. About an hour later they were playing again. This time Hunter made Gavin mad, so Gavin bit Hunter's finger. Of course they tell me about this when I go to pick him up. Amy (the daycare lady) said Hunter was soooo mad at Gavin for biting his finger. I said good, maybe that will teach the kid not to bite. What to do with my child!!! If he wasn't so cute I could beat his butt sometimes. Gotta love him!

Thankful-

I thought I better do this tonight cuz tomorrow is going to be too crazy. Here's my list of things I'm thankful for.

*My wonderful husband. He is so amazing and does so much for me. He always knows when I need a little pick me up and know just what to do to make me happy. He is such a wonderful daddy. Hunter loves him so much and so do I.

*My crazy wonderful son. He brings so much joy and happiness to my life. I don't know where I would be without him. He's always on the go and always has so much energy. He's full of smiles and laughs and hugs and kisses. I love that he still wants his mommy to snuggle him at times (I know this will fade more with time). I love his love for life. He is always such a happy go lucky kind of kid. We'd be lost with out him!

*My wonderful parents for all they have and still do for me. They are such a great support to our family.

*My amazing in-laws. They are another wonderful support and always so loving and caring despite our downfalls. They are such great examples of charity. (except when it comes to the school down south, then my mother-in-law isn't so much) :) I love them so much and I am so greatful that they raised such a wonderful son and I am so happy to be in their family.

*My siblings-Shell & Bud-They may not have always liked me, but they always love me. I love my sister calling to ask me crazy left handed cooking questions. I love to know that she needs me. My brother is awesome. He is in the Marines and serving our country, for that I am very greatful.

*My sibling-in-law:Danny, Amy, Nick, Farelyn, & Krystal: They are so much fun to be around! I love playing games with them and hanging out with them.

*My niece & nephew:Damien, Rylee, Tucker, Titus, Xander-They are the cutest kids. They are so much fun. What more needs to be said about them.

*All my extended family ( on both sides)-I love family! I love spending time with them and learning new things about the family's past.

*The gospel:The gospel is such an amazing gift and we'd be lost without it. I am so thankful Heavenly Father sent his son to die for us so that we may be able to enjoy the freedoms and things we are able to enjoy. I am so thankful for Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is true with all my heart. I am so thankful for the blessings it can bring to my life.

*The Temple: I am so thankful that I live so close to a temple. I need to make it there more often but I love the peace that we recieve when we are there. I love being able to have our prayers answered and being able to serve others while in the temple. I hope that the work that is being done on this side is being accepted on the other, so that they may have the same happieness that we have.

*My Job: Although, I get frustrated and annoyed many times I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be gainfully employed. Knowing that I am helping to contribute to our families needs is a great blessing. (someday I will be able to stay home with Hunter)

*Josh's Education: It's been stressful for him and for me and it's been a lot of work and time and money but it has been worth it and will pay off in the end. I know that someday he will be gainfully employed and I will be able to stay home with Hunter and I am so greatful for that knowledge and sometimes that's what gets me through the day.

*Holidays:I am greatful for this time of year to give me a little extra help to remind me of all the many blessings I have been given. I am so thoroghly blessed and I am so thankful for all the blessings I have.

I hope everyone has a very happy thanksgiving!!!!

Bacon-Stuffed Mushrooms

Tonight we had a bunch of friends over and played games. We had tons of fun. Well everybody always brings food of some sort. So, tonight my treat was stuffed mushrooms and homemade pretzels. We won't talk about the pretzels but the mushrooms were delicious! I just thought I'd share the recipe. It's so easy and so GOOD!!

Bacon-Stuffed Mushrooms

1 package (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup real bacon bits
1 tbsp chopped green onion ( I used a little more)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 pound whole fresh mushrooms, stems removed

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Stir in bacon, onion, and garlic powder. Spoon into mushroom caps. Place on ungreased broiler pan. Broil 4-6 minutes or until heated through. Serve warm.

Yield: about 2 dozen

These were so delicous and so easy. Hunter even liked them. I would recommend using a little bit smaller of a mushroom but they are still delicious even if they're big. Enjoy!!!

BYU fans may want to turn your head...

Utah dominated! 48-24 It was a great game and I'm happy to say Utah won. Although, we never doubted our team. (so sorry Lynette) And what a wonderful 100th post!!! ~Go Utes!!!

Tortellini Soup Recipe

This is from my Mother-in-law. She's a pretty darn good cook, so you know you can't go wrong with it. It's super good and super easy!

2 lg. cloves garlic, minced
1 T margarine
3 cans chicken broth
salt & basil to taste
parmesan cheese
2 cans italian stewed tomatoes
1-10 oz. package frozen spinach (i've used fresh too)
1-16 oz. package tortellini

In large saucepan saute garlic in margarine. Add 3 cans chicken broth & package of tortellini. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer for 10 min. Pour sauce from 2 cans stewed tomatoes into broth, chop tomatoes and add to broth. Chop defrosted spinich and add to soup. Add salt & basil to taste. Cook through. Serve w/ parmesan cheese on top.

Tortellini Soup (Part 2)

Hunter loves this stuff!!! He ate 12 pieces of tortellini. That's more than I had. He's a little pig. And then he had a sippie cup w/ milk and drained that and then went to the counter wanting more tortellini. I drew the line, I don't want to clean up tortellini later on.

What's for Dinner?

Tortellini Soup...this is delicious stuff. Thanks to my wonderful mom-in-law for the recipe.

Disney On Ice

Disney on Ice

We went to Disney on Ice last night. We had a BLAST!!! It was so much fun. We were originally going to go with a Lynette (a lady I work with) and her husband Merlin and their granddaughter Madison. They ended up getting 4 more tickets for free and so Madison and her mom sat by us cuz we had better seats. We had really good seats. We were on row G and A is at the bottom. Hunter had a great time. He loved all the music and dancing they did. He was quite the trooper. He got tired towards the end but was determined to stay awake and not miss a thing.


This was after the show was over and Madison and Hunter were sitting on the steps, both of them a little upset. She wanted to see the princesses and Hunter wanted to play on the steps and neither of them were getting their way.

Jimmeny Cricket & the girl from the Incredibles (I can't remember her name)

Timone & Pumba

Mickey & Minny Mouse

That's Mickey Mouse in the hot air balloon and yet it was really flying. It was so cool. They did a little scene with It's a small world from DisneyLand.

These people are very talented and did an extremly AWESOME job!

Ward Halloween Party

This past Saturday was our ward Halloween Chili Feed & Trunk or Treat. We had tons of fun! There were so many chilis to choose from I didn't know where to begin. They were all so delicious. But boy did they cause some gas at our house. :) After dinner we went Trunk-or-Treating. Hunter had fun. He got lots of candy, some of which will definatly be consumed by those over 3 feet tall in the household. (Why else would you take a 1 year old trick-or-treating) Every car we stopped at made a comment about his costume. He loved it too.

Hunter also made himself a girlfriend, Kenzington. She is 9 months old, and was a kitty. She is an adorable girl. Hunter fell in love with her. He kept wanting to kiss her and touch her and play with her. When we were outside trunk-or-treating, we passed by them and Hunter just reached for her and wanted her to come with him. I thought he could be mine for a little longer, but it looks like someone else has already won his heart. (I didn't get pics of them tho)

Island Park...Part 2

John took us on a 12 mile 4-wheeler ride to the top of the mountain. It was so fun but it sure did get cold at the top. It was so windy too. I thought I was going to blow right off the top, luckily I didn't. There were 3 4-wheelers and so Josh and I were on one and then Mom & Dad on one, and hten John, Jamie, and Aliina on the other.

This is Josh and I at the top. Lake Henry behind us.

Lake Henry from the top of the mountain.

The farthest patch of green before the wheat, grain area is where our cabin was. So you can get an idea of how far up the mountain we were. It was definatly very high up but the view was absolutly gorgeous. It definatly reminded me of God's wonderful creation that we all too often for get being here in our little "city" world. I love the mountains and the wonderful feeling you get when your there. It's just so peaceful and so nice to get away from the "world". We had an absolutly wonderful time! Thanks to Dad for putting it together for us. We love you!!!

Island Park...Part 1

This past weekend we went to Island Park w/ Josh's parents and Kloepfers. It was SO much fun and so nice to get away and relax. Plus it was nice for Hunter cuz he had Grandma & Papa all to himself. Which doesn't happen very often. And he loved every minute of it. And now all he says is papa. He walks around the house looking for papa and just keeps saying papa, papa, papa. One of these times he might say it enough and papa might actually appear. :)

Here's us getting ready to go.

Kloepfer's brought their 4-wheelers and so Hunter got to go for a little ride. It wasn't very far and of course not very fast but he loved it. He had so much fun.

L-Jamie, M-Hunter, R-Aliina:Hunter loved this chair cuz it was the perfect size for him. He played w/ it a lot while we were there and he loved the girls and fliriting with them. They thought he was so adorable, which he is, and had so much fun together.

Josh dad is the manager of the body shop for Bonaza Motors, so he can borrow cars if he needs to. So he got a Yukon for us to take to Island Park. This was before when we were getting ready to leave. Hunter thought it was so cool to play in the car and thought he was a big kid cuz he didn't have to sit in a car seat, at least not until we were ready to go. :)

Thanks again to the Kloepfer's for letting us go with you. We had so much fun and can't wait to go again.

My poor Hunter...

Today was just not a good day for Hunter. He has a little cold and then he's teething on top of that. Then to make things worse he has pink eye!!! It's been going around the daycare I guess and he got it. (It seems he gets everything) Luckily, I work for an eye Dr and we got it taken care of right away. He said it's a pretty bad case and he can be contagious for 10 days. He has to stay home from daycare for 7. Which is a bitter sweet thing. A. Mom can stay home with him. :) B. The paycheck is gonna suck. But what do you do. You stay home with your sick little guy and nurse him back to health. One thing I do like about him being sick is he cuddles even more than normal. I love cuddles with Hunter. Hopefully the medicine with make him better and he will be back to normal soon.

IT'S SNOWING!!!!!

Hunters 1 yr Dr's Appt

My poor baby. He's such a little trooper. I don't know if the visits are worse on the kid or the parent. Today I think it was both. Today was his 1 year check up. Here's a few things the doc said:

*21 lb 1 oz (25% for his weight)
*29" (25% for his height)
*35% for his head measurement
*He's growing very good and he's very healthy
*He is getting his 14 month molars (she thinks it's crazy that they call them that because they don't always come at 14 months, as in Hunter's case) His gums are very swollen due to them coming in and he's experiencing some pain and discomfort with them (thanks heavens for tylenol)
*He doesn't have any food restrictions any more (yeah!)
*He can have whole milk (which he's been on for 3 weeks now)
*He can face his carseat forward (which has been that way for about 4 weeks (dad got impatient)
*He had to have 5 shots today :(
*He had his hemoglobin checked (which was yet another poke, that was on the toe)-he's not anemic (which is good)
*He has an ear infection in his right ear, yet again (everytime we go to the doc he has an infection. This is probly the 4 or 5 one now and we're only 1)
*For those of you who don't know about my sons penis issue(this may be to much info for some of you but)-He has a patch of fat right above this region and it doesn't stick out like a normal penis should, it looks like it's hidden in a hole (i don't know how to describe it). We saw a specialist when he was about 4-6 months old and he isn't to concerned about it he just has that patch of fat that he needs to loose and then it should be okay. Of course, I as his mother am worried (and lets not get started on how worried Grandma Watson is :) That's a story for another day) Anyways, to the point. She has to break some skin around it today so that his penis sticks out more. What happend his when it healed from his circumcision the skin grew back on to the penis a little bit and isn't allowing it to come out as much as it should. Although, it still stays hidden he has a little more of a head to it. Before it just looked like a little pea size when you pulled it out of the hole. It was very painful.
*We're on an antibiotic now for the ear infection
*We go back in 4 weeks for another shot-it's the other half of his flu shot(I guess they have to do it in smaller doses when they're this young, which stinks)

So, all in all it was a rough appt but it done and over with and he is now peacefully sleeping on the floor

Family Pics 08

I didn't plan the whole Blue & Orange Bronco theme on purpose either. We had bought my shirt just cuz I liked it and hten I found Hunter's and thought perfect, they match. Then I purposefully found Josh's to go together with Hunter and I.

We had just finished taking pics on the tracks and we hadn't much more than walked up on the sidewalk and the train started coming around the corner. So we hurry and set Hunter down and he got to see his first real train in action. He loved it. And he was super close I mean just look at hte pic. And the driver even waved at him. :)

Hunter was ready to jump in and go swimmin with the fishes. Although, they looked just as big as him. They were huge goldfish. He loved the water and was very upset when we left. Our pics turned out pretty cute if you ask us. Hope you enjoy them.

Hunter's 1st Haircut

BEFORE (notice how long it was around his ears and I had trimmed it a few times before this)

AFTER (not the best after pic but if you check out our family pics that I'll be posting you can tell the difference more)

Here's all the hair we cut!

I thought between Josh and I we did pretty good considering we've never cut hair before.

Hunter's DayCare Birthday Party

He had so much fun for his birthday. They partied all day at daycare and then he came home and got to play with Grandma Diane.

Happy Birthday Party-Post 2

All the kids had to get a hand in there and help play with the toys.
Here we are singing happy birthday to Hunter and my dad (they share the same birthday) Hunter of course didn't understand the whole blow thing, so mom blew for him.
He loved his cupcake and ice cream. I think he had more of it in his seat than he actually ate but he loved what he ate.
Here's all of his presents. He got way too much stuff. Talk about SPOILED!!! He loves everythign he got.
Nick & Farelyn & the kids got Hunter a Mr. Potato head. He loves the glasses. He thought it was quite fun to wear the glasses himself instead of Mr. Potato head wearing them.

I have more pics from his party at daycare but I have to load them first, so stay tuned for that adventure.

Hunter's Birthday Party-Post 1

This is going to take me 2 posts cuz I can only add so many pics on a post.
These are Hunter's cupcakes. The soccer balls didn't turn out quite as well as we hoped. Josh actually did all the decorating. He did a good job. But soccer balls are dang hard to make, when you're not a pro.
Hunter was taking a nap and when he woke up there were all these balloons. He loved them. He never even popped one and we just got rid of all of them yesterday. He thought they were so much fun .
I fixed lunch for everyone. We had pulled pork sandwhiches, coleslaw, potato salad, a new tortallini salad, and a relish tray. My sister thought she would be funny and try and eat Hunter's food. He didn't like the idea, and he got food all over her face. (you might have to look close to see it)
My sister gave him this elmo chair. He LOVES it! When you sit in it it vibrates and elmo giggles. He is alwasy sitting in the chair and he's learned how to shake his but when he's in it to make elmo giggle.
Here's him and dad opening his 1st present. At first, he picked it up and started walking to his room. He didn't want anyone to know what it was nor did he want to share.

To my Hunter:

Happy Birthday Hunter!!!

I can't believe he's 1 already. Time went by way too fast. Here's a few things he's accomplished in the last year:

*He can walk

*He has 6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on bottom

*He eats prettty much anything, including radishes and vinegar chips (not the potato chips, the cucumer vinegar chips)

*He can wave bye-bye (only when he wants, not on command)

*He can say mama

*He can say dada

*He know how to give kisses

That's just to list a few, there are many more but we must get ready for the day.

Happy Birthday buddy!

4:30 A.M.!!!!

Yep, that's right Hunter woke up at 4:30 (actually 4:20) and wouldn't go back to sleep. I have no idea why he woke up but he was wide awake. So, of course if he's awake we're awake. Cuz if we weren't we'd have a tornado. I tried putting him back in his crib but he would just cry and cry and cry some more, cuz he was ready to play. He really only wanted to play with dad, but of course mom had to be awake with them. So, Josh went to work early and I got up and got ready. By 6:15 this morning I was ready to go for the day. And it was about that time that Hunter went down for a little nap. I feel so bad for his daycare today. :) He's gonna be a pill! Even though he woke us up that early he was still just so darn cute, Thank heavens!

Steal of a deal

So these are the cupcakes I'm going to attempts to make for Hunter's little birthday party we are doing this weekend. They won't turn out quite the same I'm sure but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Anyways, to the real reason of the post:

I saw this cupcake holder when I found these cupcakes (obviously, cuz this is the exact thing I found the first time) and I fell in love with it. It's just so cute and simple and fun. They are made by Wilton, I'm sure there are other companys but, this was by far my favorite design. They make them in a smaller size that holds 13 cupcakes. I didn't want a 13 holder, I wanted the one in the pic, a 23 count hold. I couldn't find the darn thing anywhere but online. Everywhere on line it was like $30 plus shipping and handling. I wasn't going to pay $40-$50 for a darn cupcake holder. So, I finally found one at Michaels. They are my life saver! They had one for $29.99 which was still more than I wanted to pay for but I've had my heart set on it for sometime and so I broke down and went to buy it. It was the only thing I bought, I got to the counter and the lady said $15 and whatever the cents was! She scanned a coupon she had for 50% off!!! SWEET! So, I paid my $15 and went along my merry way. It was truly the highlight of my day. It made me so happy. To put it into perspective: The 13 count holders are between $12-$15. Talk about a steal of a deal! It made my day. Okay, enough rambling!

Rodeo Adventures

Hunter liked playing in the water from the hot tubs with his Aunt Krystal
Aunt Shell sharing her ice cream with Hunter. Of course he loved that. He was pretty sure he should be able to hold it at one point. It's a good thing we're still a little tougher than him, not by much though.
As we were wandering through the animals with my parents this is how we found one of the sheep. It was so funny, we've never seen a sheep do that before. But talk about UNCOMFORTABLE!!!
Hunter loved the animals, especially the pigs. Every time the pig would touch Hunter's hand he was just start giggling. The pigs were definatley his fav.
Here's Hunter & my dad. We were walking through one of the buildings and so Hunter got a ride on his chariot.

Hunter loved the rodeo. He ate tons of differnt foods, but his favorite remains as the french fries. He loved watching all the people and walking around (or riding in the stroller). He LOVED the rodeo. He watched the animals pretty close. His favorite was the clown. Good ol' Randy Munz, gotta love that clown. For those of you who have been to the fair and sat in the grandstands, you know there are posts, and they tend to get in the way, (that's what happens when you let Diane pick the seats) (love ya) and if the clown was out and the post was in his way he would lean one way or the other so that he could see the clown. We just can't wait till we're old enough to do the Calf scramble and chase those cows. We had so much fun and we can't wait for fair again next year! We're thinking about taking of the whole week! That way we don't miss out on any fair food or adventures! We did miss our family that couldn't be there this year, but hey there's always next year.

Weekend adventures (without dad :(

This was the weekend we went home before fair. Josh didn't get to go with us because he had to work and had school. :(
Hunter ate a whole muffin all by himself and he LOVED it!

While we were home, LeeAnn had the annul neighborhood block ice cream party. It was tons of fun and one of our friend that was there brought their cute little dog. Hunter loved the dog. He let that thing like his ice cream covered face clean. He loves animals so much! He liked the ice cream too (he's definatly his papa's kid)