Ghetto Christmas Tree

We LOVE being in college and being poor. We think that it makes us more creative and gives us more time to work together to figure out fun and exciting ways to do things. For instance, building a christmas tree stand out of 2 kitchen aid bowls and a vase with a little duck tape and a cookie sheet. There's nothing that a cute tree skirt can't hide:)

Also, how could we forget Darth Vader on the tree!?! I am a simple person and like my tree to look kind of like pottery barn's trees but Jordan insisted that Darth be right in front so that every time we turn on the lights we can hear him breathe and talk... awesome. What ever, I have to pick and choose my battles right? So the other day we found Vance at the tree waiting for us to turn on the lights and we hear him breathing really heavy. Come to find out, he is mimicking Darth Vader's breathing! hahaha! I think Darth will be on the tree every Christmas from now on. Vance loves Darth and this couldn't make Jordan more happy! :)

(Thank you Sandy for this ornament:)

If any of you don't know, Vance does not do textured things. He really hasn't touched the tree because he hates the feeling of the branches. If he goes for Darth or the cowboy boot, he very carefully touches it with two fingers to be sure not to touch the branches. ha ha. This makes the whole christmas tree issue not an issue at all:)

Happy Holidays to you all!

Vance's Savasana

Savasana is a yoga word meaning "relaxation pose".

BUMMER news!

We finally got Vance in to a Allergist and had him tested for egg, soy, milk, wheat, peanuts, and fish and he is allergic to egg, milk, and peanut! Pretty big surprise to us all, even the doctor. He was a 5 out of 5 on egg ( 5 being the worst), 8 out of 10 on milk(10 being the worst) and a 10 out of 12 on peanut(12 being the worst). I hope that's right, if not I will correct it later. So anyway, he does not have the worst allergies but he is allergic so we are having to cut those 3 things out of his diet... ps... milk is a JOKE! But he already loves soy milk, even more than he did cow's milk, he loves rice yogurt and I think we will have to dress up the soy yogurt some how to make him eat that, he wasn't a fan. So on to our new adventure with Vance and food. Hopefully his skin will clear up soon!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we had about 25-30 people over at Grandpa's and Grandma's house. It was crazy, loud and fun! We loved of course the yummy food and playing with the babies and kids! We love having family here!

These are some tasty turkeypops: I got this idea from thepartyanimal-blogspot.com. Ava, Aidan, Steph, Jordan and Kylie, helped me with these crazy turkeys!

My favorite time of the weekend was bath time with the three babies. They were so funny to watch. They would splash and play together. Oh I wish we all lived near by. LOVE THESE KIDS!

Those were the only pictures I took, hopefully Steph has some good ones of the rest of the family. What a fun weekend! Can't wait until Christmas or whenever we will all be together again!

Spontaneous Trip

The Manwill girls were headed out to california and I invited myself the morning that they were leaving. My sister was going to meet them up in Chico and so that would be a way out to see my sister and Cade. It was a huge surprise to Angie... she freaked out...

We had so much fun and got to spend a lot of time with Scott and Kayci and the boys in Chico. Of course, my camera died so I don't have really any pictures:( But I can tell you one thing, it was worth the drive across the salt flats to see my family!

This was the only picture I got before my camera died. I love this picture!

Vance is Growing Up...

He is standing on his own. He cannot push myself up to stand but he lets go of my hands or the couch to stand on his own!

Yummy In Our Tummies!

This was really one of the best pork loins we have ever had! Heres the recipe:

*Makes about 2 1/2 pounds of pork tenderloin, enough to serve 8 adults*

Rub Ingredients:
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 1/2 lb. total), each tenderloin cut into two chunks
2 tablespoons olive oil

Glaze ingredients:
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (about 6-8 cloves)
1 tablespoon tabasco sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and cinnamon, then coat the pork with the spice rub. Heat the oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet that is ovenproof (I used my cast iron skillet) over medium high heat until the oil is hot and rippling. Brown the pork, turning, about 4 minutes total. Leave pork in the skillet. If you don’t have an ovenproof skillet, brown the pork in a skillet and transfer it to a foil-lined baking pan (like a 9X13-inch). I’ve done both and either method works great.

Stir together the brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat on top of each tenderloin. Roast in the middle of the oven until a thermometer inserted diagonally in center of each tenderloin registers 140, about 25 minutes. Let pork stand in the skillet at room temperature for 10 minutes. The temperature will rise to about 155 while standing. Slice on the diagonal and serve, spooning the sauce from the skillet on top of the pork.

Note: We didn't use tabasco(we don't like it) and we didn't brown the meat. We just put the raw meat on the foil and cooked it for 35 minutes on 350 degrees and then 10 minutes on 400 degrees. It fell apart! We loved it... hope you do too!

Vance and His Lady

Their play dates will be supervised for a long time:) They share binkies! That is pushing it Vance! Watch it! Ha Ha! They play and have so much fun together. We love when Jane comes over to play... we just wish Cader was here too!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

WE LOVE HALLOWEEN! This monkey needs a zookeeper with him all the time. He is WILD! ( we have a picture with all of us in it but we will upload that later).

Vance is ONE!

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! Where did the time go??? I miss him being so little and yet I don't. I love that he can crawl around and be independent. I really enjoy watching him entertaining himself, talking to himself or watching him get frustrated because he's sitting on a book and trying to open it at the same time. He is so fun! Let me list off some things he loves:

1. Cheese

2. Cheese

3. Cheese

4. Reading

5. Everything in the kitchen

6. Toilets

7. Power cords

8. High pitch screaming

9. Skype

10. Playing in the laundry

Things he hates:

1. Peaches

2. Broccoli

3. Green beans

4. Penguins ( hahaha at the monterey bay aquarium we saw a giant fake one and he hated it!)

5. He hates textured things

Things he does:

1. Flaps his arm(just one arm) like a chicken

2. Points to things

3. He knows where his tummy, my nose, daddy's nose, his foot, his tooth, and his hand are.

4. He waves with two hands at the same time

5. He can say he is 1 with his finger

6. He mimics people, especially Daddy and Auntie Angie but the best is in the store when someone coughs or burps or anything, he mimics them! ha ha!

7. He knows to knock on the door when we say, " Knock knock"

8. He can walk with the walker( I did a video to " now walk it out" but it won't upload!)

9. He can eat most food (not egg whites or peanut butter)and he is drinking whole milk.

10. He knows how to throw (he has a great arm!) Watch out Giants, here comes your next player!

11. He can do the touchdown sign with the two arms in the air.

Some new tricks:

We of course threw a big Monster party for Vance's 1st birthday! We had so much fun! Special thanks to Angie for talking to me on skype while I made all the food, that helped a lot!!! Also, Ashley and Jordan for helping with the monster poster, all of our neighbors who helped with EVERYTHING and of course Jordan's wonderful family for helping with so many things too! We love you all:) Here are some pictures of my boy and his friends and family:

We had a table like this but with a red blanket and a purple head... so cool... but I forgot to take a picture!

He loves food. He was a little hesitant at first because of the texture but then he got over it and dug right in and then threw up! Standard procedure when eating too many sweets!

yeah he makes these faces all the time... I don't even know what to say about it. (The red eye thing wouldn't take my red eyes away, oh well:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BOY! WE LOVE YOU!

Hogle Zoo

We got to go to the Hogle Zoo a couple weeks ago before the snow hit. It was a balmy 75 degree day! Those were the days... anyway, it was Vance's first time to the zoo so, of course, we have to blog about it! Here are a couple pictures:

Update On Vance... Good news!

Vance does not have Psoriasis.. hallelujah! But it was cool to research and learn about something new, ha ha. Anyway, he has a terrible case of eczema. We were so relieved to find this out. Next step is testing for food allergies. We know that food allergies cannot give you eczema but it can worsen it. The only problem is that we are on a wait list of another wait list. The next appointment available is in January, so I guess we will just have to be careful until then.

Halloween Fun!

(just wanted to try this film... kinda cool)

Is This Really Comfy?

Oh the joys...

"Yummy Mummy"

I love love love the website Howdoesshe.com and this where I got this idea. It is so simple and delicious!

Warning: KINDA GROSS...

Our poor little man has had terrible eczema since the beginning. Now that he is almost one his skin has grown and stretched. With that time, his skin has gotten worse and worse. We finally went to the dermatologist. After the exam he told us that from the looks of it, Vance may have something a little worse than eczema. He may have psoriasis. Psoriasis is when the skin cells multiply 10 times faster than normal and so the skin sloughs in large amounts. Anyway, at the Dermatologist, they had to take a biopsy to test for it. This was Vance's first mini surgery so I had to blog about it! I will update the blog with the result of the test next week.

Candy Corn Wreath

I saw this wreath on Howdoesshe.com and I had to make it! I love it! So my neighbor and I got to work last night (Jordan had a boys night so I had to find something to do!). This is what we did...

A Great Day

Jordan got to stay home all day with us and Vance was so happy! He loves playing with his daddy!

Monterey, CA

So we all know that Angie and Bill moved to Monterey.. and no, I'm still not over it but it is getting easier. Anyway, Bill went out earlier than Angie so she and I got to drive out together with the boys. SO FUN! 18 hours with Yo Gabba Gabba playing and singing to Aida never got old. But we made it to Monterey and it was worth it. She lives 1 mile from the beach. I love it there. These are a few highlights from the trip: Waking up to Cade everyday, smelling the fresh ocean breeze, eating a lot, talking, driving on Hwy 1 (getting car sick), and of course, watching sports every night... ha ha! Go Giants!

Can't wait to go out there again!!! LOVE YOU GUYS AND MISS YOU!

2 Years?!?

This is a little past due but we have been so busy. BUT it's been two years! We have been married for two years! I feel like it has been way longer than that... in a good way! I love our life together and I can't wait to see what the years to come bring us!

We went to Snowbird Resort for a night( left Vance for the 1st time over night with Sandy). We loved being in the mountains where you feel like the only people there. We got a couples massage(I had bruises because I told the girl to do a deep tissue... ow!) and we got to go to dinner and talk! We haven't talked in a long time... that was so nice. Then that night we got to get room service! I LOVE getting room service.. like in the movies.. so fun! Anyway, we relaxed and enjoyed lunch the next afternoon. (Thanks Sandy for watching Vance!)

SAD SAD SAD

I don't know if this is necessary to put this up on my blog because it is so sad but oh well. I don't know how I am going to be able to see to type this because I am already crying. This has not really been discussed in our house hold or with friends that much because I cry too much.

About 3 weeks ago we got news that Angie and Bill were moving to California for a new job. I felt like this was so premature. We were all supposed to be moving next May, not now! The problem I have with this move is that we have babies now. We were SO excited that Vance and Cade could play together and now they will only know each other through Skype and cell phone pictures. I am so sad. My best friend is gone. Angie is a person that is so unique. First off, she is my only sister and so obviously you can never replace that relationship. Second, she is crazy and fun. She is real. She is sometimes all-knowing, which can be a good and bad thing:) She is a loyal friend who is always there. She loves to eat out as much as I do. She loves Target as much as I do. She loves Vance as if he was hers and he LOVES her because she is so full of energy and love. She is the best friend that I have always wanted. If you haven't realized yet, I love her and miss her A LOT!

Angie, Cade, Vance and I spent everyday, all day together. I don't even know what we did, that was the beauty of it. We didn't have to be doing anything, but we always had fun! I don't know what to do with all this time I have alone. I hate it! I miss talking to Angie ( face to face, not over the phone because she is not good with the whole phone thing) about whatever came to mind and had no shame with anything( good or bad:) Another thing that we miss is having another couple to go out with or play games. CRAP who are we going to watch SYTYCD with??? What men love that show except Derek, Bill and Jordan? And I bet Bill will enjoy coming home to just Angie and Cade, since Vance and I were there most of the time when he would get home from work, ha ha. But that's no reason to move, Bill! Vance will miss his Uncle Bill. Bill always lit up Vances world for some reason. Bill could give him a weird look and Vance would smile and shake.

Ok, I know they aren't dead but still change is not very much fun! I may or may not be struggling with eating too much because of this move. I will blame it on Angie and Bill if I get obese because I can't stop thinking about frozen yogurt!

Anyway, it is really hard to be unhappy or mad about such a great thing. Angie and Bill have moved and that's that. They love Monterey and everything about the beach. They are happy and Bill loves his new job. I guess this leaves only one option for Jordan, Vance and I... California. Our options are narrowed down to the bay area. We love it there too so it will work out!

Sorry, I don't usually write a post just to complain but I think Jordan is sick of hearing it and seeing me cry. So hopefully by writing my thoughts down, I will be able to move on a little bit and start functioning.

Trip to So Cal

We went down to Southern California after the Goulding Family Reunion because Jordan had a meeting down there for school. So we took advantage of the situation and went for a few days. We stayed in Huntington Beach with my family. It was so laid back and fun. Vance got to go to the beach for the first time. He had fun playing with the sand. Maybe someday we will live on the beach... HOPEFULLY soon:)

WAY Past Due!

This was the Goulding Family reunion in St. George back in July. It was a little toasty so we spent most of the time in the pool. We LOVED that part of it and of course, seeing family was great too!

Here are the pictures:

Jenna, Dareth and I got to go see CATS... we had a lot of fun!

Getting our toes done:)

Idaho, Family and Sunshine= The Cabin

We had our Tall Family Reunion this past weekend. There are never dull moments with all the crazy things that go on. There were 35 people and 2 dogs. The best part about the cabin is that there is NO SCHEDULE. We eat, sleep, drink soda, read, lay out, eat some more all on our own time. I love this way of life so it makes me very very happy to be there. . Here are a few pictures from the trip:

A week at the cabin...you cannot get much better than that.

Furniss Family Reunion

The Furniss Family Reunion is pretty chill. The guys play golf in the morning and then we all meet up at a park for dinner and games. It was relaxing and fun to see everyone. I didn't get pictures of anyone... oops... but we had fun.

Grandpa Jim and Dustin. Grandpa LOVES games like horseshoe and bean bag toss. I got a lesson on how to throw it just right and when I didn't do it right... he gave me a look like, ' you are embarressing me.'

Haha!

The cutest thing ever. He was starving but I made her wait because his cry is so sweet and he rarely does it.

He loves his momma.