Up and Running

Hello Everyone I am finaly back up and running with bloging. Abe got me an early Christmas present of a new computer! I feel so behind on everything we have been up too but hopefully I will be able to do a few catch up posts.
We are very excited for Christmas this year as Zander will be much more into it than last year. Abe and I tend to do Christmas presents all month long so we don't have many to open really on Christmas day but we are so excited to see Zander open them!
I hope everyone has a great Christmas and Happy New Year I am very excited to get going on the blogging again!

Technical difficulties

Sorry for the lack of posting lately I have been having computer difficulties. Don't ya just love technology. Hopefully I will be back and running in the next few weeks!

Boating!

This week we went with Abe's family and took out his parents boat up to Pine View Reservoir. This was Zanders first time out boating and he loved it. His favorite part was looking at the wake and white spray the boat would make as it moved. He loved his tummy being tickled by the up and down motion of the boat. It was a great day to be out!

Abe and I are very excited to finally be getting our boat up and running. Last  year one of the engines went out so this year we have been getting it fixed which should be done this next week! We are soooo excited and can't wait to take it out!

Zander with his Grandpa and Grandma Fitch and Cousin Briggs

Trifle

Abe brought home some sponge cake last week and since then I have been wanting to make trifle. If you are not familiar with trifle it is so yummy and easy to make. You can also make so many different variations to fit whatever you like. I did not have a trifle dish which I think adds so much to this desert. Luckily I found one at Walmart for only $7 bucks!

It is a great fruity dessert! In mine I layered it first with fresh cut strawberries and then added a danish desert glaze over it. Next I added my sponge cake. I just cut it up to fit the bowel. You can dice it and soak it in something yummy as well. Then I layered some banana pudding, bananas and then some custard. I then repeated the whole process again! On top I added a bunch of whipped cream just before serving. This was a big hit at Sunday dinner at Abes parents house everyone loved it!

A Future for Tomorrow

I have an amazing and beautiful cousin Haley. She battled with anorexia nervous during her teen years and has now written an amazing book about her experience called A Future for Tomorrow. See the trailer about her book. She also has an amazing web site. If you have or know teenage girls she has great material about the disease but also includes great spiritual messages and information about how to love ourselves.
Check her out. Also if you are involved with a church group or school with young girls she also does speaking events and does an amazing job!
You can find the link to her blog on my sidebar
(I can't figure out how to add a button to a post yet if anyone knows how please share!)

To see the trailer click below
A Future for Tomorrow book trailer

1st Time Swimming!

I mentioned in my 10 things to smile about that Zander had gone swimming for the first time. Over memorial weekend we went up to Park City and took Zander and his cousin Briggs swimming for the first time. Zander loved it and would kick and splash and even went under water a few times Briggs on the other hand was not so sure about it:)

I have two cameras and the battery died on one and my memory card was full in the other! So we bought one of those waterproof disposable cameras. So these are not the greatest pics but it was fun getting them in the water!

We tested out Zander in his life jacket that we bought for boating. It worked great and he loved to just float in it.

10 Things to Smile About

I know this is a little late but better late than never right?

Here are my 10 things to smile about for the month of May!

1. Zander going swimming for the first time

2. Zander getting his first two teeth

My attempt of trying to get a pic of them.

3.My sister-in-law becoming cancer free. She was diagnosed with melanoma and had several procedures to take care of it. Such a great lesson to take care in the sun and stay out of tanning beds!

4. Planting flowers in my back patio

This is the first bloom from the peonies I planted love it!

5. Zander being healthy at his 6 month doctors appointment!

6. Abe getting to go out and paintball with his family

7. Spending some time Memorial Day weekend in Park City and staying at a great resort with the in-laws!

8. My first official Mothers Day!

9. Moving Zander to his Crib.

10. Having an amazing, loving, and thoughtful husband!

Go check out Emmy Moms 10 things to smile about and others that have linked up with her.

6 Month Appointment

Last Friday Zander had his 6 month doctors appointment. He is doing great. He only gained a pound so is now at 15.13lbs and grew 2 inches. He is only at 11% for weight but 73% for height. He is a long skinny kid!

The funny thing is my sister Megans little boy Mason who is 4 days older than Zander weighs the same! They also weighed the same at there 4 month appts.

The hard thing is always seeing him getting the shots. He did pretty well and cried right when they gave them to him but settled down as soon as I picked him up.

I took a few pictures of him and I while we were waiting for our doctor. They had a mirror right next to were we sat so we had some fun with it. Zander loves to look at himself.

This is my Kodak EasyShare MD81

Love this little camera for quick pics

Right after he got his shots and the nurse is rubbing his little legs:(

Cup Cake Brownies

Did you know that you can bake brownies in a cup cake liner? I don't know how this never occurred to me until Sunday. I was making cup cakes to take to my parents for Sunday dinner when I thought, why don't I just make brownies and put them in the cup cake liners too. They turned out fabulous and made for such a nice one portion size that was easy for people to eat.
Really just think of the possibilities! Maybe next I will try some mint brownie cup cakes!

Painting Rod Iron

I was so excited for the nice weather we had this last weekend because it meant I could go outside and paint! I have this rod iron circle hanging on the wall in our front room. The room is full of browns and I wanted a little more color. Our kitchen is kind of an orange/red so I decided to paint this orange and then glaze it with a black/brown color. Abe had his doubts but I am very happy with how it turned out and so is he:)

This is how it started out pretty basic

First I primed it so the paint would stick to the metal

Next I spray painted it with Rustoleam 2x coat in Paprika from the Home Depot

I loved this color it was a great orange with a hint of red

(sorry for the shadow)

You can kinda see where I started to add the glaze over to the left.

This is the part where Abe had his doubts. He was not to sure about the bright orange

If you are not familiar with glaze you apply it and then wipe it off to show the color underneath.

This is the finished product! I absolutely love how it turned out!

I did two coats of the glaze, I wish I had taken a picture after the first coat so you could see the difference. It adds just a little more color and texture to the room.

This was a time consuming project. The hard part was getting the paint and glaze into all the nooks and cranny's of this piece. In the end I think it was all worth it!

I am linking up with

The CSI Project

Check them out for other great painting ideas!

Sorry I'm having technical difficulties and could not post the button

Yummy!

Yesterday I made this yummy coconut lime banana bread. It is sooo good. If you like banana bread this is a great little twist on it. The lime sauce you put on top is the best thing ever and I think I could put it on just about anything!

Recently Abe and I started ordering produce from a group called Bountiful Baskets. Our baby sitter Emily told us about it. It is a co-op that you order produce from every other week. They try and get things from local growers and for a big basket of half veggies and fruit it's only $15 bucks. In our first order we got bananas and limes so I was in search of something to make with them and when I saw this recipe on Our Best Bites I new I had to try it. If you want the recipe check it out on there blog, you can get to it from the link on my sidebar, they have such great cooking ideas.

I hope everyone had a great mothers day. We spent it with family. First we had Brunch with Abes family at Marie Calendars. It was super tasty and you could get any kind of pie you wanted as much as you wanted! It was a great way to sample all the different pies without having to get the whole thing or feel bad about not eating it all after you paid for it. I ate way way to much. Afterwards Abe went Golfing with his family while I went and visited with my side. I also went to my Grandma and Grandpa Holt's. It was great to see my grandma she has been ill lately so I was happy to see her doing better although she still is not 100%. Also a bunch of extended family that I don't see as often.

 

I had a great Mothers Day with all my family and so many great women!

Here are some pictures of Zander at Marie Calenders with his first balloon

3 Years

So it's kinda weired but tomorrow I will have been divorced from my first husband for 3 years. You may think it weired that I remember the day but for me it was such a life changing moment how could I not. Really it was almost as important as the wedding day.
We probably had one of the quickest divorces ever. We went in on a Tuesday and by that next Monday it was final! What made it quick was that we did not have any kids and we did not have a house. So really all we had to do was divide who got what and that was it. We were married for a little over three years.
I really don't regret having been married before. It was not the best time of my life but I learned so much about myself and those that really do care about me. Also I would not be married to the wonderful man I am now if it were not for the trials I went through.
He and I had a temple marriage and honestly I probably would have gotten divorced in the first year but I thought that was such a huge no no being LDS and having a temple marriage.
What I learned is that heavenly father loves us and wants us to be happy. If we are miserable with our eternal companion really what is the point? That's not saying if you are unhappy now divorce is the answer.
The year before he and I got divorced he told me that he did not love me the way he should love his wife. Wow! That was hard to take but at the same time it answered so much about the way he treated me and made a lot of sense. In my patriartical blessing it talks about how I will have a husband who loves me. I always thought well duh of course I will. So that really hit me as I went back and read it.
We went to counseling and really took time to figure out the relationship. I think if both people still care about each other and are willing to continually work on things than it is worth keeping the marriage together. But once one of you stops trying it's over. You can't hold a marriage together with just one person doing the work. He and I had been together for so long before getting married I think we just thought that marriage was the next step without really looking at it.
I defiantly think having been through a bad marriage and relationship I learned what I did and did not want in a partner. Hopefully most of you figured or figure that out through dating before getting married. I on the other hand was a little slow:) When I met Abe I could see what great qualities he had and that he was someone I wanted to be with. He makes me laugh so hard all the time and I love it. I'm sure I make him laugh to it's just I'm not trying to be funny I just do funny things.
Really I am very open about my whole experience so if you have questions ask. I think being LDS and divorced it's important to share what my experience was. Really at first I felt trapped in a bad marriage and that I would be a terrible person for getting a divorce. I wish I had felt differently.
I truly look forward to my future with Abe knowing he loves me.

My New Life

I just watched this amazing video clip My New Life. Please go check it out. It makes me appreciate all the small things that happen each day and makes me greatful for all my trials and how they teach me and bring me closer to my heavenly father.

10 Things to Smile About

One of the blogs I love reading is Emmy Mom. I met Emily back at BYU my freshman year. She and I lived on the same floor at Deseret Towers (which are no longer there) We were in the same ward and had some of the same friends. While I really did not get to know her well at BYU she and I became facebook friends and are now blogging friends. She has such a cute family and is a great mom to her two adorable kids and is expecting her third baby in July.
She lists every month 10 things to smile about and I thought it was a great idea and so am linking up with her and sharing my 10 things to smile about this month.

1. Abe was promoted to a supervising position at work.

2. Zander finally started to roll over (he has only done it twice but we are very excited to watch him as he learns new tricks)

3.That my Grandma Holt has been able to continually get better from her terrible pneumonia.

4. That my Aunt Raydeen finished her breast cancer treatments and is now cancer free

5. That Abe gets me out of bed to go to breakfast with my Grandpa Holt on Saturday mornings. (I'm not a huge morning person and it is an hour drive for us)

6. That I was able to watch General Conference on Easter Sunday.

7. That I was able to experience Zanders first Easter

8. That Abe and I are finally getting the Internet at our house. Now only if my computer would work!

9. That I have such a good friend Adrianne that I can go out and play with

10. That my husband loves me no matter what!

Handy Husband

I love how handy my husband Abe is! He has many talents and luckily building things is one of them. He has so many tools and can really do any home project we need done. Abe put in this banister. Isn't it wonderful! Abes dad help him pick it up and bring it in from the Home Depot but ended up getting the flu so Abe had to instal it all by himself which involved some language I cannot repeat and a few extra trips back to the store.

It was a lot of work and took some creative thinking in parts (since our floor come to find out was not very level!) but Abe was able to see the whole project through. We both absolutely love how it turned out!
There used to be a half wall in this spot and the previous home owner took it out but did not get anything put up in its place. So basically we had this cliff from our dining area into our living room. Not very kid friendly. We did like how open it looked so when we saw this design for a banister we knew that was what we wanted.

Don't ya just love it? I do!!!!

Crombie

So I just realized that Abe and I have had Crombie for a little over a year now and thought I would dedicate a post to him. We had him shipped from a farm in Vermont a year ago March.

Crombies full name is Abercrombie Fitch, clever I know I came up with the name:) we call him Crombie or Croms for short. He is a Hungarian Komondor, if you have ever seen the dog shows and the "mop dogs" this is what they are. Their hair will grow all the way to the ground and into dreads or coords. We opt to keep him nice and short as the cords are a big pain in the butt and they get dirty easily. Although we did just get him groomed and are going to grow the top of his head out into dreads but keep the rest short.

 The komondor is a protector and usually used on ranches or farms to protect the herd or other animals along with families. They can fight mountain lions and other preditors.

Fun things about Crombie:

He has a great temperment.
He is still in the puppy phase and has been known to chew on things he should not like our walls!
He is very sweet and will follow you all through the house and is great with kids.
He is a big momas boy!
He also likes to sleep on his back, weired I know.
He also does what we call happy tinkles. He gets so excited when we come home that if you touch him at all he pees a little. He also does this when you get really mad at him and drives Abe crazy!

We just love our crazy pup!

Another pom pom

This is my latest paper pom pom for my office I love the two tones and it helps make my space happy.

Pom-Poms

Sorry for the lack of posting lately things have been busy. I have been getting into a very crafty mood lately and decided to make these paper pom poms. I got the idea and how to make them from my favorite TV show Studio 5. I love how they turned out and it adds a nice fun punch to the room. You can see how to make them here.
Really it was so fast and super easy. I put these in my craft/computer room. I am currently working on an idea to paint my table so be on the look out. I think I am also going to make these pom poms for my office to give it some very much needed fun and color.

Easter Fun

So Easter weekend was very fun. We kinda got to spread it out over two Sundays. The week before we got together with my side of the family at my parents and had our party. It was fun to see all the kids excited about all the candy and to also see my Grandma and Grandpa Holt. I am truly blessed with great grandparents who have all been amazing examples to me.

This Sunday we got together with Abes family for a huge Easter dinner and played games. Abes parents have only two grandkids and went all out spoiling them. Both Abe and I ate way to much candy. The bummer is that I did not take any pictures of Zanders first Easter at either party! I know what was I thinking. Abes parents got some really cute pictures of Zander. They gave him a huge plastic Easter egg with presents inside. Zander actually fit inside the egg it was so dang cute! I will have to get them to send me a copy.
Hope everyone enjoyed their Easter and Conference weekend.

Another contest

I have entered another contest. This one is through have an epiphanie. They make great looking camera bags for women and are giving a way a Cannon 5D mark II camera or Southwest airline tickets. I get extra points for posting on my blog about it. Go check them out!

Little Trooper

Zander had his four month check-up yesterday. Abe got to take him since I was working. He has been into the doctors a lot lately. We took him in last Friday. While we were out of town Abes parents and sister watched him for us and said he had white poop which can mean digestive problems. He also had really bad dipper rash that was not clearing up. At the drs office they decided to do some blood work and get a stool sample just to be safe and make sure things were okay. Poor little guy did so great getting his blood drawn. They had to strapped him down to the papoose board. He really didn't mind getting pricked but really did not like them holding his arm. He also got some cream for his little bum. His blood work and everything came back fine.

At his appointment yesterday they weighed and measured him. He weighed 14.3lbs and is 73% for height, 25% for weight and 35% for head size. He is a tall skinny kid. I think his weight was a little low with his RSV and not feeling well he really cut back on eating for awhile but has now gotten his appetite back.

I can't believe it has been 4 months since having Zander it seems like so long ago and that he has been with us forever. He is growing so fast and is such a cute happy baby. Abe and I just adore him and are such proud parents.

Lions Gate Manor

Abe and I took a little get-a-way last week. We went to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho and stayed at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast called Lions Gate Manor. They have themed rooms similar to Anniversary Inn. This is the second time we have stayed there. The first time we stayed in the Roman Bath which was very nice with a great view from the balcony. This time though we stayed in the Phantom of the Opera room. It is so amazing! It is a couple rooms together first you have your master bedroom with a huge bed. Next to the bed they have a mirror with the phantom behind it. That was a little creepy. It has a light that turns him on so we turned him off. It also has a little movie room with the organ in it and then one of our favorite things is the catacombs. They have a huge mural of them on the wall with an awesome tub were the water comes out of the sealing it also has a dock walkway that leads to a spiral staircase that takes you out of the secret passage way into the dining area. It really is so cool. On our first stay we were eating breakfast and this bookshelf opened up and a couple came out from behind it. That was when we knew we wanted to stay in the Phantoms Lair the next time we went.

It was difficult leaving Zander overnight. Abes parents were wonderful and watched him for us. I thought I would sleep better not having to worry about listening for him but I had no luck. It still was so nice to spend time with just Abe and relax and have fun.

Abe and I playing with the self timer in the doorway of the B&B

The cool catacoombs

Our yummy huge! breakfast

The secret passage (I know I look chubbers)

New Office + Sick Baby

I love, love, love my new office. I moved from the IHC central offices in down town Salt Lake City to Mckaydee Hospital in Ogden. Since I live in South Ogden I was very much looking forward to working closer to home and avoiding the 40 + min commute. Now instead of being in a cubical I have my own office. It's not much and I don't have a window but it is nice to have some space more to myself and privacy. I loved my cubical friends back at the Central office however and they will be greatly missed! I am going through a little withdrawal from just turning around and having a comment for Melissa and talking over my cubie wall to Luisa and Josh. I decorated my space a bit to brighten it up and brought a few things from home. I still need a poster or something fun and colorful for my wall.

This is only the third day I have spent in my new digs since Zander got RSV last week! So I was home for a few days with a sick baby. Poor little guy I felt so bad for him. It's not fun having a sick baby. He really was pretty good and slept a ton you just hate how miserable they look. He had such a horse voice he could hardly cry. Really he would cry but nothing would come out. He is a big cuddle bug anyways but was even more so with not feeling well. Gladly he is over it and doing so much better and back to his normal happy self. Hopefully we can avoid him getting sick again for a long time!

Good Friends

Last weekend I had lunch with some friends I met while living in Scotland. I went to Scotland back in 2007 and lived with my sister Mindy and her family for a few months. It was amazing to see that beautiful place and I met some amazing people. I did a lot with the sister missionaries in that area one of them being Anne Wellington (I forget her married name now). She is amazing and so much fun! She is from England but raised in the middle east on an American compound, so she has an American accent. I forget she really is from the UK.

Another great gal is Magnolia. She was in our ward over there and is from Mexico. Her husband at the time was working in Scotland. Also in the picture is her little girl Magnolita which means, little Magnolia, I think that is so cute! Both are currently going to BYU so it was great to get to see them again. Both of these women's friendship meant so much to me while I was over there and I am so glad we are still in contact.

Happy Birthday

I had a great birthday weekend. Saturday Abe and I went out on a date night to see Alice in Wonderland. I really liked it although we saw it in 3D which made it hard to see the high action as it tended to seem more blurry and with the glasses being tinted the color was not as vibrant. We also went to our favorite restaurant Zucca which was super yummy and then after the movie we got ice-cream. It was so much fun and really the first time we have been out on a real date since having Zander. We have gone out to dinner a few times but never for very long. I really enjoyed the time with just Abe and I.

Last Sunday my family celebrated mine and Megan's B-day along with our dads and niece Atumn, with a nice Sunday dinner and cake. Megan and I tend to drag out our birthday as long as possible:) So this Sunday, my actual birthday, we were with Abes family and had dinner and yummy Costco cupcakes!
My birthday was wonderful and I am so greatful for everything I have been blessed with this last year.

Holy Molys

I am so excited I just found a great song called She's so lovely! While I was living with my sister Mindy in Scotland this was one of the big hit songs on the radio and when I came back to Utah I could not find it anywear. I could not even get it on iTunes. I would have had to get an imported CD. Anyways it is such a catchy tune and brings back great memories. Give it a listen!

Photo Workshop Contest

Howdy everyone. I just entered a contest for a chance to win a free entry to a photography workshop with Joyce Smith at http://www.joycesmithblog.com/. She does beautiful portrait photos with natural lighting that are so clean and delicate looking. I really like her style of photography and how she just has fun with it. By posting a link to her blog I get an extra chance to win. Wish me luck:)

Favorite Easter candy!

The Cadbury Mini Eggs are by fare my favorite Easter candy. They are just a little piece of heaven and sadly only come around once a year. They are just utterly delicious. YUM!!!

I also think the spring Oreo is fabulous and a close second! These are the Oreos that have the yellow filling. I just think they taste more fresh. Although I do get those more than once a year in it's cousins the orange Halloween and red Christmas Oreo.

Music I like

I just added some music I am really liking at the moment. It is so amazing how music can affect us so much. I love listening to it while I clean my house. It makes it seem like less of a chore and I just lose track of time.
It reminds me of growing up and cleaning our house on Satrudays. The first CD my family ever owned was Neil Dimond. My mom would put it into our cool new CD player and we would rock to Neil while we cleaned.
I also listen to music all day long to help the time go by while I'm at work. I really like about anything but rap but mostly lately it's alternative. Hope you like it.

Future Swimmer

Zander is such a cutie! He just loves his bath time and will kick and splash and talk the whole time. His eyes get so big with excitement as he splashes around. I may be a little biased but he gets this from his mother:) He will even cry when it is time to get out. I think he will be a great little swimmer one day. We will have to see as he gets older which direction he will go with sports. Abe was a football player and is looking forward to one day coaching his peewee team. Zander has such big hands Abe is sure he will make a great receiver. As long as he enjoys it I will let him pick whichever sport he wants.

Baby Mason

I have a twin sister Megan who is one of my best friends, no we are not identical. I was very excited that just a few weeks after finding out I was pregnant Megan told me she was also pregnant with her second baby. She has a little boy Ethan who is three. We were both shocked when our estimated due dates ended up being one day apart! She was due November 22nd and I was due on the 23rd. Megan ended up being induced a week early since Ethan had been 10 days past due and a big baby they did not want to make her wait and chance another big baby. So little Mason was born on November 16th. Just a few days later I ended up going into labor and Zander was born on November 20th only four days apart!

I am excited for them as they grow up being so close. I loved growing up with cousins my same age and look forward to that for my children. Abe's sister Kenzee had a little boy Briggs just three months before Zander so he will have cousins on both sides of the family to be close with.

A couple Sundays ago Mason was blessed so I have posted a few pictures of his special day. I am still trying to decide when to bless Zander. I have to admit I am a little nervous to take him to church. Yes I still have not gone to church with him. With the flu season and now so many kids coming down with RSV it makes me very nervous to have him around so many little kids. I also need to get a banister up in my house before having a bunch of people over. Hopefully in the next month or two.

My mom with both boys

Megan and I

Pink Hair!

So I did it, I colored my hair pink! Well kind of. I had some extensions that my cousin Trisha gave me and used on my hair for my wedding so my sister-in-law Kenzee, who also does hair, took those and we colored them pink. I really love how it turned out! It's nice having them as clip in extensions that way I can wear them anytime I want but can also take them out. I can't wait to wear them! So fun!

V-Day

I know this is a late post but I wanted to share how my valentines went. Abe is so great and got me flowers, a very sweet card and one of my favorite movies Stardust! (I am smiling even thinking about this movie it is so fun and whimsical) I made Abe breakfast of french toast and oranges and got him an Under segue movie combo with the two movies.


Abe loves it when I cook. I guess it is because I don't do it a lot. Not that I don't like cooking I actually really enjoy it, it's just anytime I start dinner or anything with him around he comes in and will well... take over. He is a wonderful chef and anything I am making he can do 10 times better. He says he likes it when I do cook because it shows thought and love. I also think he likes not having to cook all the time. Funny how that seems a bit in reverse usually it's the wife that feels that way. I have also learned so much just by watching him and asking a ton of questions. It is very helpful having my own personal chef on hand. I'm glad you liked your french toast sweetie:)

Bummer

So since I posted my Mr. Clean love I have been informed not to use the magic eraser on walls it can take the paint off or it can make the paint kind of tacky! Mr. Clean I still like you but you are no longer my new BFF.

Mr. Clean

So I came home the other day and Abe was going nuts cleaning. Now he is not the main cleaner in our home, although he does help and does a great job, I love you sweetie. So I was surprised that he was so into it until he showed me the new most wonderful cleaning tool ever!!! The Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! It is a miracle worker, it really does take stuff off of your walls and fridge and just about anywear else you can think of and they look like new! I don't know how I ever lived without it. Mr. Clean you are my new best friend!

Ribs

As some of you may know Abe is a trained chef and can make some amazing ribs! A guy at his work asked Abe to make him some for the Superbowl, so he also made us a batch. They are so tasty and messy! I'm not a big ribs person, I personally think you have to do too much work for getting hardly any meet but I will down what seems like half a rack if they are Abe's! YUM!

Ribs before

Ribs after :)