CHRISTMAS!!!!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! This is such a special time of year and we hope it finds everyone happy and healthy! We had such a beautiful white Christmas here in Utah! So much snow!! We spent Christmas eve night at my parents house and per a family tradition we watched a movie. Before we all had babies we would go out to see the movie at a theater but with babies we just watch it at my parents home. We watched "Mama Mia" which I LOVED! The music was so fun what a nice way to spend Christmas eve. Zoe had a rough night she must have been super excited for Santa! She ended up sleeping most of the night in bed with Cory and I!

We got up around 7:00 to open presents but my niece Pamela was too tired to wake up..but she finally decided it would be a good idea to wake up! My Dad got a standard Poodle for Christmas named Kona and she is a sweet but rambunctious pup! Zoe just loved Christmas!! She loved all the wrapping paper, ribbons, and presents. My mom bought her the best little "gear" present that she just laughed every time we turned it on! It was so cute! Cory and I got a new dishwasher (this is a picture of the old one right before the plumber installed the new one!) and some other great stuff.

Ever since Cory and I were married we have decorated a Christmas stocking for each other. This year we still decorated each others and we shared decorating Zoe's. Did you notice the Christmas pickle I drew on Cory's stalking?!

After Christmas we watched some movies and enjoyed each others company! Zoe and Pammy got to have a fun Christmas bath in Grandmas big tub with Bubbles! Yay! It was an excellent holiday!

We hope you all have a very fun and exciting new year!

Christmas trees and Cookies

We had so much fun decorating our Christmas tree this year! All 4 artificial feet of it! We bought this tree last year thinking we would be apartment dwellers for a few years to come. So we plan to use it for at least a couple years. Plus it's pre-lit and it doesn't take long to put up ornaments. Oh...and guess who got her Pickle ornament this year!!! Me!!! I was so excited to find this one..and I also convinced my sister that she needed a Pickle on her tree! I love my pickle! The house looked so cute all Christmasy and Zoe just loved all the decorations.

We also had a really fun Cookie exchange Christmas party to go to this year! I love this kind of party it makes me so excited. I had been trying to find the perfect cookie recipe this year and I even made 2 trial recipes just to try and find the most tasty of all. But in the end I decided to try and make gingerbread cookies from scratch. I bought a rolling pin and some super cute cookie cutters and gave it a whirl! I think they turned out so darn cute and they were delicious. However if I make them again I will roll the dough a bit thicker for softer cookies. These ones were pretty crispy and I had wanted more of a sugar cookie type cookie.

Temple Square Lights

I was having some nasty computer issues for a couple of weeks..we got some virus/viruses that were making it really tricky to get online for any length of time. But Cory is a handsome computer genius and he fixed it up real good!

We went to Temple Square a few weeks ago and it was so much fun! The baby loved the lights and wasn't bothered by the cold at all. It probably helped that we had her bundled up so much that she kind of resembled the kid in "A Christmas Story" who can't put his arms down in his snow suit. Check out the pictures..her arms are basically in the same position the whole time!!! We had her in a pair of pants with jeans over those..a turtleneck with a sweater over it and a warm coat on top...mittens, a knit hat, and the hat on her coat. Then we had her bundled with 3 blankets!! I wasn't taking any chances! The lights were so pretty and we even went into the visitors center and listened to some caroling. I love Christmas songs! It was such a fun night!

Christmas Tag

Christmas Tag
1. Egg Nog or Hot chocolate? Egg Nog is soooo gross!! My vote is Hot Chocolate ALL the way!!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? A little of both! That way the kids can have instant fun with the gifts left open and also have fun unwrapping the others.

3. Colored lights on a tree/house or white? We haven't pulled out our tree yet (it's a pre-lit fake one) but I think it might be white lights. However I think both types are lots of fun!

4. Do I hang mistletoe? Nope... isn't Mistletoe poisonous? I have a small baby to think about here!

5. When do I put up my decorations? Whenever I get the chance. Hopefully this week..but we'll see...

6. What is my favorite holiday dish? Nacho biscuits!! So tasty! I also love my Grandmas Chicken Noodle soup with orange rolls.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child? I have way too many favorite holiday memories!! Here is one that I really love...Every year in the Highland house we would tie pretty red bows on everyone in the neighborhoods mail box. It always turned out so pretty the red bows surrounded by fresh white snow!

8. When and how did I learn the truth about Santa? I am pretty sure I was in Sixth grade...sad story! My teacher had us write letters from Santa to the younger children (1st and 2nd graders) and I was really confused about why we would write letters back and not Santa...then someone made fun of me and told me the sad truth!

9. Do we open a Christmas gift on Christmas Eve? Yeah and according to tradition it's usually new Pajamas..so much fun to wear that night!

10. How do I decorate our tree? Lights and ornaments..this year I want a Pickle ornament. It's supposed to be lucky for whoever finds the pickle or something like that. It just sounds funny to have a pickle on my tree.

11. Can I ice skate? Kinda...well at least I used to kinda be able to.

12. Can I remember my favorite gift? They have all been so awesome!! My parents have always been so generous! When I was 19 my parents got me a cell phone and they had it ring so I could hear funny noises in the box! It was very exciting because cell phones were still new and fancy back then.

13. What is the most important thing about he holidays for me? Enjoying the Magic of the season. There is just something about Decmeber that makes my heart feel happier. I can't wait to experience Zoe's first Christmas!!

14. What is my favorite holiday dessert? I don't know about a specific holiday dessert...but my mom makes these wicked delicious cinnamon rolls where the top secret recipe was handed down from my Great Great Great Grandmother. Soooo delish!

15. What is my favorite holiday tradition? We would always watch a movie on Christmas Eve! It was so fun and it probably helped my parents get through the night without a bunch of Christmas crazy kids. I will continue this tradition with my kids...The other tradition I LOVE and Cory hates is after all the gift giving is finished we put the gifts on our beds so everyone can see what we got. This was always really exciting because my Grandparents would come and see our gifts!

16. What tops my tree? A star

17. What do I prefer - Giving or receiving? I love both..however finding the perfect gift for someone is priceless! Like last year for example..I found a really classy fake Llama with Alpaca fur for my sister and I was so excited for her to open it!!!

18. What is my favorite Christmas song? Rockin Around the Christmas Tree

19. Candy Canes? Yummy.

20. Do I feel Christmas is too commercialized? Nah..Christmas is perfect...okay maybe starting to put Christmas in the stores before Halloween is a bit exteme but...

I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas!!

Arggghhh!

Halloween was so much fun this year!! Who would have guessed how much fun it is to dress up your little baby! Zoe was a Pirate for Halloween! Cory and I really enjoyed dressing her up and taking pictures. I thought for sure the hat would drive her crazy. But as soon as Cory handed her the sword she stuck it right in her little mouth and was happy to just chew on the sword. For Halloween we mostly just stayed in and enjoyed an evening together. Cory got off work early so we could enjoy the night.

My sister Heather and I had decided to do a fun little Halloween dinner and dessert thing. She made chili and cornbread and I made doughnuts! Let me just tell you that making doughnuts is WAYYYY harder than I thought it would be!!! I didn't get any pictures I didn't think about it..but man those "treats" sure turned out UGLY! They tasted ok but they were soooo greasy and just not pretty. I had a hard time keeping the oil at a constant temperature and my sister tells me that according to Alton Brown that is why my doughnuts were so greasy. So maybe I'll try again next Halloween.

We hope everyone had a great time..and hope nobody (or their kids) came home with cavaties!

Here are a couple of cute pics of Zoe..I finally got a good shot of her teeth. And the other is her drinking water form a big girl cup. She LOVES drinking water from the cup..don't mind all the baby food mess everywhere. She also LOVES spitting her food out!

Autumn how we love you!

Petersens at a Pumpkin Patch!

I LOVE October!! It is pretty much the best month of the year in my book. The weather is all Autumny, the leaves change colors, people put out the weirdest lawn decorations, and you get to dress up! I am so excited to see all the Trick-or-treaters this year at my new house! I bought some candy and told Cory that if he opened it he would be in BIG trouble..and he hasn't eaten any of it! What a good boy! Last year he opened it (and hid it in a cookie jar) and he ate it way too fast. He is so sneaky sometimes! I had a really hard time deciding what to dress Zoe up as for the festivities. I really didn't like anything I saw..so I considered making something. Which resulted in me waiting way too long and in the end realizing that I didn't have the time or creative streak to actually make a costume. So we went to the store and bought her like the last costume in her size (ok no really I'm just being dramatic) I don't want to spoil the secret so you'll just have to wait for pics.

Zoe checking the pumpkins for proper size.

Kind of a neat picture..Cory has skills.

Me and Pammy at the Pumpkin Patch

This child HAS to put everything in her mouth...sick!

Zoe is a happy camper at the Pumpkin Patch!

Someone (named Heather) forgot the stroller so she used what was available. Cousins

We are still trying to get the house put together..part of it is that we are so lazy and tired after a day of working and taking care of the kid..and the other part is we have soooo much stuff and I just need to decide where it goes. Maybe I'll just throw everything away and start over again?! Not really but sometimes I feel like that would be the best thing to do. It seems like we get it a little more put together every day..so maybe in 2 years it will be ready to have people over!

Zoe eating at the new house.

We got Zoe's pictures taken for her 8 month...I had wanted to do every 3 months but missed 6 due to pure laziness. So I'll probably get her pics taken again in December and then in February for her first B-day. We had to make two attempts to get good pictures because Zoe got really upset and just started crying..and there was no soothing that poor little girl. But between the two sessions we got some really cute pictures..but none of her new teeth..I'll work on getting pics of those guys.

First attempt...FAILED.

Second attempt..MUCH happier!

She got soooo excited about the raffia that she just HAD to put it in her mouth! Sick!

The days are getting colder.

We are finally in our new house and it is great so far! We are just trying to find a place for all of our junk..it's amazing how much crap you keep over the years!! I found some hilarious notes from my friend Laura from High school! I read them all and laughed at the old memories! I'll post pictures eventually..I have been so busy (story of my life) between working, moving, and being a mommy.

Also Cory's car broke down and we have decided not to fix it. It would cost more money than it would be worth to fix the darn thing. So...the new plan is for us to be a one car family (oh the humanity) until we get our 2008 tax return. Then we will use the tax return which should be in the neighborhood of $8,000 to buy him a newish car. Basically being a one car family is the pitts! But we'll work through it. Maybe Cory would be willing to get a bus pass..hmmm..making him get a bus pass is sounding better by the minute.

Zoe is doing great! She is so funny right now because she now knows what she likes and doesn't like. And that girl doesn't like her toys aka: newspaper, boxes, wash cloth, Mommy's hair, Mommy's glasses, Daddy's hair (his hair is short so you know this girl is good), and anything else she can grab that she isn't supposed to. She pretty much has me trained to do everything she wants and I'm convinced that in about 18 years I might get control back. She still isn't crawling or scooting which makes me jealous that because my friend Lauren's little boy Eli is pulling himself around and he is about a month younger than miss Zoe. But I guess it will come when it does..and in the mean time I don't have to worry about baby gates!

State Fair and a swell party

It is crazy how fast time flies by! Zoe is 7 months old now! She is sitting up all by herself and eating crackers and big girl puree food. My baby is getting so big! We have been having a pretty fun summer and are sad to see it slipping into autumn..even though I love the autumn it means winter is on it's way.

We recently went to the State Fair which is one of my favorite things to do. I love looking at all the animals, gourds, art projects, and weirdos. Last year we found a lost little girl and rescued her. This year I found a classy cowboy fireplace grate that I just couldn't pass up. Zoe loved the fair! She loved seeing all the animals..especially the lamb that was licking her hand (grossed me out but she was laughing and it was cute) and the lambs in jackets. Here are some pictures from our fair adventure. I had to put her up next to the big pumpkins so we could see how big she is compared to them. The biggest pumpkin weighed over 80 pounds..Zoe weighs about 18!

Me and Zoe watching the tiger show

Zoe's friend Stella (my friend Leslies adorable big girl) had her first Birthday party and it was so much fun. Leslie is such a cute Mommy and she planned one heck of a party! It was a cowgirl theme and Stella had the best outfit I have ever seen. I think Zoe won second place though with her cute cowgirl getup. It was a great party and we are so happy that Stella and Leslie invited us to party!

Oh...and my niece Pammy had to go to the Dentist recently. It turns out that she drinks too much juice and well...you'll see...