New Beginnings.

 We held New Beginnings tonight.  It was alot of work, as usual, but it turned out really cute.  Pictured above is one of our new beehives who will join our Young Woman group in March.  She sang a solo!

 And of course, amazing food by all the advisers {I didn't get a chance to try any of it - it must have been that good}.

Our mutual theme for 2012 is "Arise and shine forth that thy light may be a standard for the nations;"   We incorporated that theme into our New Beginnings.

 Each of our girls has a beautiful necklace they got two years ago from the out-going Young Womans presidency.  We have been adding charms to that necklace.  Tonight we gave the girl a sunshine charm to remind them of the new mutual theme for 2012.

clapping.

Bodies loves to clap.

He claps when ever anyone else claps {in the room or on TV} or if Truman yells horray.  He can also clap along as you sing "Pat-a-cake".  I will post a video.

Book Club.

We had book club today.  This month we read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  It is about a girl who is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913.  She arrives with only a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a book.  She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raided as their own.  And that is where I will leave it - I don't want to spoil it for anyone interesting in reading it! 

I liked the book.  I have had a crazy couple of weeks so I didn't get to focus on the book as much as I would have liked to.  I would still recommend it three stars our of five.

Thanks Tami for the fruit and sweet breakfast rolls!

Volleyball.

Our brother-in-law {Chris} is the new BYU Men's Volleyball coach.  We went to his first home game tonight to show our support.  I accidentally called Cosmo {the cougar} a bear, he wasn't to happy with me ... opps.

Chris getting interviewed by BYU TV.  Truman and Bodie both got air time on BYU TV - super cute.

Bodie showing off his new clapping skills.  By the end of the games he would clap when everyone else in the Smith Field house would clap.  Super cute.

Trumans latest sports obsession ... volleyball.

Friday Flashbacks.

My dad's car | 1975

My mom and dad talk about this car often.  I found this picture on my dad's computer {along with some other really good photos from the 1970's} He sold this car to go on a mission.  I wanted to use it as my Friday Flashback so I could remember it.

Pasta Carbanara with Leeks

Pasta Carbonara with Leeks and Lemon

6 slices of bacon

4 leeks, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

¾ pounds short pasta

2 eggs

½ ounce Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped

Set a large bowl of salt water boil.  In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, 8-10 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel to drain.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet.  Add leeks, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring often, until leeks are golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Add pasta to pot and cook according to package instructions.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, Parmesan, and lemon zest and juice.  Whisk ¼ cup pasta water into egg mixture.

Drain pasta and immediately add a egg mixture along with bacon, leeks, and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.  Sprinkle with more cheese if desired and serve immediately.

Ferarri

Thanks Dallin for this video.

drawings.

I posted some of Trumans drawing here.  My sister had fun analyzing them so I took some more so she could see his progress.

He always says "I'm drawing my best friend"

When you ask him who his best friend is he usually says Enoch, Ira, or Lincoln {his three male cousins}.

Army Crawl

Bodies latest trick!

friday flashbacks.

 This Friday Flashbacks is dedicated to my cousin Lindsey who is having her second baby boy today {hopefully}.

I think her son Crew looks just like her in the picture above.

August 1986

for sale.

It's official.

It's for sale.

{see the blue and white Realtor sign on the left}.

My parents built this house in 1988.

We moved in when I was about to turn 8.

Now it's time to sell it.

Time for a new adventure!

{I am starting to have mixed emotions about my parents selling all my childhood memories}

See more HERE.

Winter Swimming.

 We took Truman and his cousin Presley {who lives across the street} swimming at Red Ledges last night for FHE.

Truman adores her!

I think this is a cute picture of Presley.

Presley jumped right in the heated pool and swam like a 'mermaid'  She remembered all her swimming skills from this summer.  It made me excited for summer swimming season again.  Truman likes to hold on to the edge and swim around the pool and every time P dunked her head, Truman had to as well!

She thoroughly enjoyed the 'spa experience' after swimming.  She took a long shower {using all the hot water} used the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, baby oil, deodorant, hair dryer, tooth brush, cotton swabs, etc, etc, etc..you get the picture!  She enjoyed pampering herself before she was chauffeured home by uncle Gregg!  My kind of girl!

Truman lifting a few weights before heading home for bed!

glasses.

Truman found these green glasses at the dollar store and insisted on wearing them around.  He wanted to look like his uncle McKay {who just got some new zile glasses}.

reading.

 We liked having Quinn with us this weekend.  Truman loved all the attention!

teeth.

 Bodie has four teeth now; two top, two bottom.  It has really changed his look.  I wanted a cute smiling picture to remember this stage, but do you think Bodie wanted to show off those new teeth, nope.  This is the classic Bodie look, tongue out covering them up.

 Nope, I am not opening my mouth.

After his morning nap we tried round two for a photo of his new teeth.

There we go, you can see the top ones.

So I asked Gregg and Nathan to help distract Bodie and get him to smile so I could capture the teeth.  This is was I got.  They nailed him to the ground and with all four of their hands they pried Bodies mouth open.  

Thanks guys - really classy shot!

2012.

Ready or not ... here we come!