Christmas Presents

We had such a great Christmas! Thank you to everyone for all your gifts, goodies and well wishes! Here are a few highlights:

Christmas Eve Pajamas


Robert brought back some Christmas items from Germany and we enjoy them each year around Christmas.  Our favorite is the pyramid.  When you light the candles the layers turn.  Each layer portrays a different scene from the birth of Christ.

Michael got a cool helicopter

James got a dump truck
Katelyn got a Noah's Ark
Robert got a new digital camera
Brandy got a new bike

We have had a great time spending time with family, eating good food and having lots of fun! Thanks to all!

Merry Christmas! 

For the Grandparents:

New Carpet!!

Our old carpet was well, old and didn't look very good any more. It also was pulling away from the tile and tack strips so the kids would get poked if they weren't careful and the tack strips caught a few pants too...

I am so excited that we finally bought new carpet!

Katelyn is One!

Wow how time flies! It seems like just last month I was calling my Sister-in-law to watch my kids so I could drive myself to the hospital so they could check to see if my water broke...fun times...That's how it all began with her and after many, many hours of antibiotics and pitocin with nothing happening finally I went into labor and 3 1/2 hours later, and 10 days after her original due date she quickly came into this world. She came so quickly in fact, that my doctor was still driving to the hospital and the random doctor that was hanging out at the nurse's station was still trying to get his gloves on to catch her while the nurses yelled, "Don't Push". Luckily the doctor got the gloves in place just in time to catch our 9lb 1oz beautiful baby girl. She has definitely kept us on our toes ever since her arrival. And really, I can't imagine life without her! Looking back at her first year of pictures it's amazing to see how she has changed and grown and I am so glad the bruising she had after birth went away...boy was she purple! See how she has grown:

Pictures anyone?

I'm not a pro, just someone who likes to take pictures. During the holiday season I love having new family pictures to hang on the wall and send out to friends and family. Here are a few pictures of others that I have taken.






The other thing about me is that I like free stuff. So this holiday season I would like to give of my time to others and share the joy of free pictures. If you or someone you know would like some pictures taken of their family, kids, pets...whatever... I would love to do it for you. Just let me know and we'll figure out when we can get together so you can have them in time for the holidays.

Where did our calm and sweet baby girl go?

Isn't she cute!!


We think she is. However, lately some of the things she has been doing aren't so cute! In the last 24 hours she has managed to get into lots of mischief! Last night I took out the garbage and came back in to see that she had emptied half the books off the bookshelf.

A few minutes later while I helped Michael put the last of the blocks away so we could eat dinner she pulled a plate off the table and it fell to the floor and broke.

Now today I got the boys down for a nap and I sat down for literally no more than one minute when I heard a crash. I found Katelyn in the laundry room standing on a chair that she pushed up to the washing machine. She had pulled the (cold) iron off the shelf which knocked some toys on the floor and landed in the box of train tracks and a bunch of water was emptying out of the iron and into the box...AAAAHHHHHH! What a mess!

Oh, and if you are wondering why the train tracks are in a box instead of on our train table, well she did that too...she kept climbing onto the train table and breaking the tracks so we finally took it off to salvage what we could of the set.

By the way, she isn't even walking yet! I can only imagine what mischief she will be able to get into when she can walk.

Oh little girl, it's a good thing we love you!

Pumpkin Pie Muffins Recipes

We love both versions of this muffin!!

*PUMPKIN PIE MUFFINS (WHEAT & DAIRY FREE)


These muffins are great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or in between. I created this recipe for Deanna…hope you like them as much as we do!

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 C. Rice Flour
½ tsp. Salt
2/3 C. Oatmeal Flour
1 C. Pumpkin, Sweet Potato or Yam Puree
3 tsp. Corn Starch
1 tsp. Cinnamon 1 Egg
¼ tsp. Ginger or ½ tsp. additional Cinnamon
2 Tbs. Oil
1/3 C. Honey or ½ C. Sugar & 3 Tbs. Apple Juice
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
2 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
¼ tsp. Baking Soda
1/3 C. Apple Juice

INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix wet ingredients together. Sift dry ingredients together. Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture. Mix just until it comes together and you can’t see any more flour. Spoon the batter into a grease muffin tin.

For the topping, mix together:
2 Tbs. Sugar 1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Nutmeg

Sprinkle on top of muffins and bake in a 375˚ oven for 25 minutes or until the top springs back when gently pressed. Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

*1 Cup whole wheat flour or your favorite gluten free flour can be used in place of the flours in this recipe. If you would like to use white flour decrease Baking Powder to 2 tsp.

Here is another one...
*PUMPKIN PIE MUFFINS (This one has dairy and wheat in it)

These are similar to the Dairy and Wheat free ones but they are lighter and fluffier due to the soured milk and butter.

INGREDIENTS:
1 C. Flour
¼ C. Cold Butter
½ tsp Salt
1 C. Pumpkin, Sweet Potato or Yam Puree
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Ginger or ½ tsp. additional Cinnamon
1 Egg
¼ tsp. Nutmeg
½ C. Sugar
2 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tbs. Vinegar added to 2/3 C. Milk
¼ tsp. Baking Soda

INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix wet ingredients together. Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in cold butter. Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture. Mix just until it comes together and you can’t see any more flour. Spoon the batter into a grease muffin tin.

For the topping, mix together:
2 Tbs. Sugar
1 tsp. Cinnamon
¼ tsp. Nutmeg

Sprinkle on top of muffins and bake in a 375˚ oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top springs back when gently pressed. Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

September Newsletter

A Trip To The Lake

Over the weekend we went Canoeing with Robert's Dad, Paul and sister, Deanna!



The area we went was just a quiet little cove only for swimming and non motorized boats.




For about half the time Katelyn and I just sat on the sidelines and watched.




Michael was excited that Grandpa loaned him a hat!


James wasn't sure about the canoe but got to go along for the ride anyway. He soon realized that he like to paddle.


While on the canoe all Katelyn wanted to do was play in the water. So we dipped her in and kept going while she floated next to us splashing and smiling. (Unfortunately we don't have pictures of this, we didn't want to risk ruining our new camera.) We had a great day playing in the water, mud and sunshine. We can't wait to go again, I think the only thing we'll do differently is buy the National Forest passes before we drive all the way to the lake so we don't have to go back to town for them.

Happy Birthday Robert!!

We had a great birthday celebration for Robert.
Robert doesn't care for cake so he got mud pie with worms! Really it was Jell-o No Bake Peanut Butter Cup dessert turned upside down with gummy worms added and a little extra "dirt" on top. Michael had Robert a bit concerned because he kept saying "We got snakes for you Daddy!"



Although Robert was hoping for a motorcycle he was still excited to see his present: a much needed replacement battery for his Dewalt Drill.

Zucchini Anyone?

I know some people have a lot of zucchini to spare right now. Unfortunately we aren't one of those people, however, we did buy some because it's pretty cheap at the Ranch Market right now. So, I thought I would share my favorite zucchini recipe with everyone.

Dilly Zucchini Casserole
1 C. Biscuit/Baking Mix (Such as Bisquick)
1/2 C. Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Tbs Dill Weed
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
4 Eggs
1/4 C. Oil
3 C. Chopped or Shredded Zucchini
1 Large Onion chopped finely

Mix everything together and pour into a greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until knife inserted comes out clean.

We like cold or hot. It freezes well too; I cut it into pieces and wrap each piece individually and freeze them together in one big Ziploc bag.
Let us know what you think of it!

July and August Family Newsletters

I put these two pages together because they looked funny apart. You can click on it to make it bigger.

A New Camera!

Well, it was a close race between these two cameras:

Kodak M340

Canon Rebel XS


We were very happy with the pictures both cameras took and especially surprised with the quality from the Kodak one considering it sells for around $130! (That's pretty cheap for a decent digital camera these days!) We love how small and light the Kodak one is but a digital SLR has been on my wish list for awhile now...so we went with the Canon Rebel XS. I am so excited to have it to take wonderful pictures of my kids, the neighbor's kids, any kids we may be related to or know, pretty much if you want pictures of your kids, bring them over!

So, good bye to our old trusty, much loved, Kodak Easyshare-One 6 MP Camera! You were a good camera and we took you everywhere we went and have around 7,000 pictures to prove it!

Ah Life...

So the newest thing in our life is we have realized that our very loved camera has stopped working! Life without a working digital camera....how will I survive!?! So wish us luck as we begin our new quest to find a good camera. It seems so overwhelming with so many choices: 10mp or 12mp, point and shoot or SLR, face detection, optical stabilization, 3x optical zoom or 10x optical zoom...then there is the big question $150 or $600 or somewhere in between!?! I'm sure we'll get a new digital camera soon because I don't think we know how to survive without one for long. So stay tuned and we'll let you know which one we picked out!

New Family Pictures

While up in Utah we had new family pictures taken. Thanks goes to Carly Bates for some awesome pictures!

So Many Projects So Little Time...

I LOVE Projects! I just go a bit crazy without having something to work on. At any given time it seems like I have about 10 projects that I'm in the middle of; Robert took the liberty of counting all my "unfinished" projects for me this weekend. But for the record I do finish many of them, here are a few I have finished lately:

* 3 new Ties for Michael and James to wear to Church
* Cute pink shoes for Katelyn
* A new apron for the kids to wear
* 3 Wooden pictures to celebrate a new baby in the Bond/Phillips family...They will look so cute on a light lime green wall don't you think? :)
* And lastly a precious little purple satin dress for Katelyn; the little girl who hates clothes! (We dressed her today and she screamed for about 45 minutes while pulling at her clothes and throwing her self onto the floor!)






Ah, I love my projects! Perhaps soon I'll start my current dream project of painting our great room! *Sigh* But then again maybe I'll just work on something I've already started.

May Family Newsletter


June Family Newsletter

Ahhh...Free Stuff!

I just love Coupon $ense! I love the high that I get when I have tons of stuff and it rings up for nearly nothing! The greatest is when the cashier says, "I don't know how that happened but we owe you money!" Here's a picture of a trip to Bashas, I spent around $1.60 on EVERYTHING and saved about $70!



Here is a recent trip to CVS I paid about $5 for all of it with a savings of $142! And to think that I used to wonder why anyone ever shopped at Walgreens or CVS!



Is anyone else excited about back to school shopping or is it just me? I love the cheap and free deals on school supplies! $.01 packs of pencils, $.59 for colored pencils, $.39 for mechanical pencils, $.50 for markers, free pens, glue, paper, folders...I just get so excited! I hope you find some good deals too and have fun shopping!!

Good (junk) Food!

Mmmmm...Brownies covered in melted marshmallows then topped with a fudge like chocolate frosting! They are so good, you should try them! If you like to freeze stuff to enjoy later like I do these freeze really well.

Brownies:
3/4 C. Butter
1 1/2 C. Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/3 C. Flour (whole wheat works great!)
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 Tbs Unsweetened Baking Cocoa
3-4 C. Mini Marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 9x13 pan. In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla beat until fluffy. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture. Spread in pan. Cook for about 18 minutes. (It never really seems to be done according to the "toothpick test" until they are way too done.) Sprinkle with marshmallows and return to oven for 2-3 minutes. Spread melted marshmallows around with a knife.

Frosting:
1/4 C. Butter
6 Tbs Milk
1 1/4 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Mini marshmallows
1/2 C. Chocolate Chips

Combine butter, milk and sugar in a pan over medium heat. Stir until it boils, boil for one minute. Remove from heat add marshmallows and chocolate. Quickly stir and spread onto brownies. (Allow brownies and marshmallows to cool before topping with frosting or you'll have a marbled topping instead of layered one.)

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Michael

Michael is now 4 years old!! Michael is such a joy to have! We love him so much and he helps make each day an adventure. We love you Michael!
The following slide show is of Michael growing up!

Go Katelyn, Go!

It's hard to believe but Katelyn is now just over 5 months old and on the move! She has her own style of getting from place to place with a lot of rolling and some lunges but it's very effective. Check out these movies we took last week. (She had pants on but they were slowing her down and she was crawling out of them.) I love how she pops up onto her knees and then crawls and lunges. She rolls around to get around and rolls around and gets stuck too. You should see her now that she has had a week to practice; she is speeding right along with a more regular crawling style. She's growing too fast!

...I have a secret...

It is no secret that I love to be outside, I love my family, yet I love my alone time, I love music, I love our ward (the sisters are awesome) and my favorite time of the day is before the sun rises when the first signs of light come to the sky.

So, for a year or so I have been listening to the ladies of the Sossaman Ward talk about their marathons, triathlons, bike races etc. (Yes, we do have an active ward!) Every time they would start to talk about it and ask others around me if they were interested in joining them for the next race I always thought, "Please don't ask me, running is not my thing!" Don't get me wrong, I run a lot after my kids but that's different than a marathon! So after about a year of all the ladies talking about running I wondered if I even could run, I mean, really run not just sprint after a two-year-old. So I decided to start, just to see if I could and you know what I can! So my secret is this--that I love to run now! I don't know why it took me 26 1/2 years and three kids to figure this out but I do love to run! I love spending the time outdoors in the early morning hours (I get up between 4 and 5 AM usually), before it gets hot, to run a few miles and listen to my music while I get some time away from the kids and the house. (It combines so many of my favorite things!)

Now to those ladies in my ward...you know who you are...I don't think I am ready or even considering a marathon or triathlon but perhaps I'll see you out in the neighborhood in the early morning hours too! Thank you so much for inspiring me to see that I too can run and love it! And to those of you who think, "Running is not my thing!" perhaps it is and you just don't know it-you should give it a try!

April Family Newsletter

Zoo Fun!

Today Robert, Michael, James, Katelyn, Deanna, Emily, Phillip (Emily's friend) and I all piled into our Expedition along with food, a bike trailer, a stroller (just in case we needed one) and two bikes on back and we went to the Phoenix Zoo! We enjoyed seeing the animals, playing in the water, riding the bikes, and eating lunch all at the zoo. It was so much fun! We rented the coolest bike, if you could call it that, from the Zoo for Deanna, Emily and Phillip to ride. Check it out: