Christmas Dance Recital - Part 2

Tonight was Show 2 for Ryan's Christmas Dance Recital.

Once again, it went great and she was cute as always!

For this number she did a routine to the song, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch".The Grinch was dancing around on the stage with them so Ryan seemed to be a little distracted by the big, green, hairy, thing dancing around!!!

Christmas Dance Recital - Part 1

Tonight, Ryan had Show 1 for her Christmas dance recital.

It went great and she was so CUTE!!

It went great and she was so CUTE!!

She had a great time and did not stop talking about the show the whole way home. She kept telling everyone we passed she was in a dance recital (good explanation for all the makeup)! She can't wait to go back again tomorrow for her jazz number with the Grinch!

P.S. I'll apologize now for the video, I was taking video and pictures at the same time all by myself!!! It's mostly for my mom though!!!

The Story of My Cruise Through Pictures!

My good friend Kristen won a cruise on the radio. Unfortunately for her husband, but fortunately for me, he couldn't go with her. I happily accepted her invitation and we set of on quite the adventure. We were on Royal Carribean's brand new ship, Oasis of the Seas. This is the world's largest cruise ship and it did not dissapoint!!!

I REALLY wish I'd gotten a picture of this ship next to a regular cruise ship, but I never had the vantage point.

Deck 8 was "Central Park". This had tons of live plants, beautiful seating, a Coach store, specialty restaurants (you had to pay $75/person extra in one!), an art gallery, and strolling musicians!

On the back of the boat were two extremely tall rock climbing walls and an outdoor amphitheater overlooking a diving pool where they put on a show.
On the front of the boat was an adult lounge, pool, "healthy" restaurant area. These chairs were so comfy and after a red eye flight getting there, it didn't take long for this to happen!!!
There was a "floating" bar that went up and down from deck 5 to deck 8.
A cupcake store on board! What's not to love? I LOVE cupcakes!!!
The contest Kristen won included VIP passes to a concert with Rihanna onboard the first night. We were able to sit in the second row center. I didn't know much about Rihanna, but she put on a fabulous concert!!!
Unfortunately it was only 20 minutes long!!!
Friday morning Good Morning America was filming and they asked all the guests on board to hang out in different areas. Unfortunately it was REALLY early in the morning, but we got to see a BEAUTIFUL sunrise!!
Sam Champion and Melissa Rycroft from GMA.
Apparently "real men" wear rhinestones!!
The full size carousel on the Boardwalk (deck 6)!
We got a private ride since no one else was out!!!
The second night we went to a concert by "Mosaic". These guys sing everything acapela. There was NO music accompanying them but they are able to make their voices sound like EVERYTHING. AMAZING!!
Kristen LOVES Coach!
A Johnny Rockets on board as well!
They were doing face painting on Saturday and Kristen and I convinced this man to do Spiderman on his face!!!
Our "artist" beautified us, Kristen as a cat and me with my "fairy" paint!!
They do some crazy silly parade through the main area of the boat!
We went to an ice skating show that was based on the stories of Hans Christian Anderson. The story of Thumbelina was all drawn by this artist in sand. Very cool.
We met a few of the other radio contest winners. These are our friends David and Jasmyn. We went to a comedy show that was VERY entertaining! Jasmyn also won Modern Bride of the year and is on the cover of their magazine. It's been a good year for her!!! And they live in Phoenix!
Saturday night they had an Elton John impersonator. Very entertaining concert, I'm just not a GREAT fan of Elton John!!
Our new friend Tony, another winner from the Seattle area!
Late Saturday night they had a 70s disco party, complete with the "Village People"!
Seriously a FABULOUS adventure!!!

Two and a Half Years Later....

The day after our "sweet" Peyton was born, the 787 was "rolled" out.

Two and a half years later, we have this...and they have this...

Christmas Dinner

Last night was our Christmas dinner for Relief Society at church. We had a dinner for all the adults in our ward and I was in charge! Me being the control freak that I am decided I'd prepare all the food myself and then had it off to people to cook. On the menu was Cherry and Blue Cheese Salad, Cranberry Chicken, Mashed Potato Casserole, Homemade Rolls, Slushy Punch and Chocolate Fountain for dessert. Some fabulous ladies in my ward volunteered to come set/decorate a table and host their table. We served the food family style, which helped because nobody had to stand in line for a buffet! I spent four days running around like crazy and alternating from being totally under control to having slight panic attacks. Everything turned out beautifully and the food was really good, if I do say so myself (I had never made the chicken, potatoes, or punch before!!).
Our program was excellent! We had two beautiful musical numbers, Janelle sang beautifully for us and Laura played a lovely song on the piano. The Johnson's gave us a short talk on "The Spirit of Christmas". Kelly shared an absolutely sweet story while her husband shared different ways that we can bring the Spirit of Christmas into our homes. The night was just what I wanted. I think it is the perfect kick off to the Holiday Season for me because now I can start to focus on Christmas in our home!
Thanks to all my wonderful friends who very graciously helped me in every way possible!
I'm horrible and completely forgot my camera to take any pictures, but I'll share the recipes so hopefully that will make up for it. Enjoy!!!

Punch
3 oz. package jello, any flavor
1 cup boiling water
3 cups cold water
1 large can pineapple juice
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup lemon juice
Sprite

Place jello and sugar in gallon size ziploc bag. Add boiling water. Mix until disolved. Add the cold water, pineapple juice, almond extract and lemon juice. Mix to combine. Place in freezer. Every few hours mush the bag so it will remain slushy and not an ice block! Place in punch bowl and add sprite.

Mashed Potato Casserole
8-10 potatoes
Salt/pepper
8 oz. cream cheese
1 cup sour cream

Boil potatoes until soft, mash with salt and pepper to taste. Mix in cream cheese and sour cream. Place in 9x13 pan and dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Can be made ahead and either frozen or placed in the refrigerator. Serves 10-12 people.

Cranberry Chicken
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4-6 chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter
1 heaping cup whole cranberries
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. red wine vinegar
dash nutmeg

Combine flour, salt and pepper. Dip chicken in flour mixture. Melt butter in skillet. Brown chicken 4 minutes per side.
Boil cranberries in orange juice until the berries pop. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until dissolved.
Spray a 9x13 pan and add chicken. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Uncover for the last 10 minutes.

My Friend

This is my beautiful friend Ida. Today she has lost her battle with cancer. Ida and I became friends shortly after I moved to the Seattle area. We were called to be on a committee together at church and because of this, we got to know each other. I have never been so greatful for a church calling.
When Ryan started attending Sunbeams (the youngest Sunday School class), Ida was her teacher. I know she made an impact on Ryan that has helped to develop her knowledge of the gospel. Ryan has known that Ida has been sick and yesterday she asked when Ida would be well enough to come home from the hospital. I told her that unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. She asked if Ida had to go live in Heaven now and I said yes. My poor five year old started to cry. A minute later she asked when we would see her again. Me, being in a rush and not thinking in an eternal sense, I said we wouldn't. Her quick response was, Mom, what about the resurrection? I know it is truly from the examples of primary teachers, like Ida, that my daughter has a knowledge that we will all be ressurected after we pass from this life.
Ida was an amazing example to me. While serving on the activities committee together, Ida helped with EVERYTHING. No matter what she was asked to do, she did it without question. She was quick with new ideas and ways to make things better. She truly went above and beyond. Ida had a beautiful knowledge of the gospel and was strong and determined in her beliefs and standards. Earlier this year Ida was called to be an adult Sunday School teacher. I truly enjoyed attending her classes and learning from her as Ryan did.
A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to sit and chat with Ida during an afternoon. We talked about so many things. I will treasure that ninety minutes that we spent together. There are so many things I will miss about Ida. I will miss the silly faces we gave each other, the many laughs we shared, the long conversations had after meetings. However, I know that she is truly in a better place. I hope to have learned from her and find a way to treasure my friendships even more. Life changes so quickly and people move in and out of our lives so often, but my spirit has been truly touched through my friendship with Ida.

Spontaneity!!

Apparently Jac didn't have any plans for Labor Day, so on Friday afternoon I got a text from her saying she should come to Seattle for the weekend. Of course I couldn't say no, so I quickly hopped online, found her a flight, booked the ticket and three hours later she was on a plane headed our way!! Lucky her, she had a bag packed for the weekend at her mom's house. Totally spontaneous!!!
We all picked her up and headed to Naan & Curry for some yummy Indian dinner. The girls weren't crazy about the food, so after their dinner of rice, we stopped by DQ on the way home for some blizzards.
Troy of course had to work on Saturday, so we headed down town to do our loop: Anthropologie, Nordstrom, Sephora, Chocolate Box. Shopping and food, what's not to love?

Wig and Jac love to try on the Anthro headbands!

And, if the big one does it, the little one does too... Hope Wig doesn't decide to jump off a cliff or Peyt is going to follow!

Lunch at Nordstrom, which we haven't had together since Maryland! Nothing beats our first Nordstrom lunch. It was the beginning of a CRAZY friendship and it's always a special place for us to go.

Wow, I look AWFUL!

Reading 'Where the Sidewalk Ends' poetry; Jac gave the book to Wig for Christmas, so it's always their thing to snuggle up and read their favorites. Jac's favs - 'Boa Constrictor' & 'Crocodile's Toothache' and Ryan's favs - 'Sarah Cynthia Silvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out' and 'Unicorn'.

We all crawled in bed to give Troy love. He was trying to watch tv, but we wanted him to play with us instead! He was probably watching 'My Antonio', really bad reality tv anyway.

Wig... followed by Peyton of course... wanted Jac to paint her nails in her special order. Of course whatever Wig wants from Jac, Wig gets! Isn't is gorgeous?!

We're so glad Jac came. Nothing beats just hanging out and relaxing with good friends on a spontaneous weekend!!