He's In!!

Some of you know that Scott has been going through the long (and dreaded) process of applying for graduate school. We have been fretting about it for months. Well, he just got his acceptance letter from the University of Utah! He will start the Professional MBA program in August. This program allows him to work during the day and complete the program at nights (taking 2 years). We are excited because we know it is where he needs to be right now, although it will be a long road of feeling like a single mom :). Thank you to everyone who was rooting for us! We couldn't have done it without support and prayers from you.

So I guess now we are Ute fans!! But I am sure we will root for BYU from time to time :).

Go Utes!

First daddy-daughter date

I have been down with a cold for a few days :(. On Friday, Scott came home and decided to take Addie out so I could get some rest. They went out to eat (McDonald's) and did some window shopping. Scott had a great time with his little girl. Hopefully they will do daddy-daughter dates often.

Diet Changes

Ever since Adelyn quit nursing she has been on soy milk. She seemed to do OK with the soy formula, but was sensitive to soy milk. She would be fussy and refuse to drink straight soy milk. So for a long time we mixed half formula with half milk in order for her to get used to it. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to get rid of the formula and feed her just milk. She would get diarrhea and a serious diaper rash (that would even bleed). So we went back to formula, which stopped the diarrhea, and then transitioned to rice milk. What an improvement! No more rash or diarrhea and she is super hyper. In the past she would really want to be carried everywhere, walk or play slowly, and not really entertain herself. I didn't know any different... until now. Addie will run in circles, entertain herself, and eat tons more. I feel bad we didn't realize that soy was making her feel yucky even though she is not allergic. Other people have told me the same story about soy and their kids... sometimes it just makes them sick. Well, yea for rice milk. And the best part?? I can buy tons at Costco and it doesn't have to be refrigerated until opened! Now I just need to figure out what to do with all the extra soy milk we have in our fridge.

Candy Canes

This is a little late, but I wanted to do a recap of how our candy cane experience went this year. Making candy canes is our new family tradition, passed on from great grandparents on the Stephens (Scott's Mom) side of the family. I guess the great grandparents were candy makers in England. Scott's grandma is the "candy cane lady" in Layton, and his mom is the "candy cane lady" of Fruit Heights. So I am slowly learning and perfecting my ability to make candy canes (it doesn't help when you only do it for one month a year). I love this tradition because we really get to know people (it takes a big group), and not many people know how to make candy canes. You have to cook, cool on a stone, stretch on a hook, twist, cut, and shape them. This year was quite an experience. Our candy thermometer was not great but we endured for many batches. Our candy canes would turn out too hard or too soft (one degree makes a big difference) and it would be hard to make them look pretty. Finally we decided to get a different thermometer and things went much better. We invited over about 10 different family at different times, so we really got to know our neighbors much better. It was a lot of fun. I am feeling much better about my candy cane making ability (since we figured out the right temperature) and am excited about making more next year. I stole these pictures from Becky's blog since I didn't take any pictures myself.

Here are some friends pulling the candy on the hook. Thanks for being such good sports, even with babies crying!

Then twisting and rolling the candy:

Taste testing of course:

The finished product (this was not the prettiest batch -due to the thermometer, but I thought they did a good job):

Food Storage

Food storage hasn't always been important to us, but during unemployment we realized that a lot of our food storage was expired (and how it disappears quickly). We resolved to complete our food storage as soon as Scott got another job. We have been lucky enough to receive a lot of food storage from Scott's grandma when she died, but we still needed a lot more. Scott and I went to the cannery yesterday and got some more food storage. This was my first experience at the cannery and I really enjoyed it. You have to wear gloves, hair nets (they even made Scott wear a beard net for his goatee- where was my camera? we looked like polygamists), and can your own stuff. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs more food storage. We were able to can about 115 cans in under 2 hours. We are proud of ourselves :). We had to bring it all home in our snow-filled truck, so we let the boxes air out before putting them in a closet (that is why they are on their sides):

To top it off I made soup and rolls from scratch (using food storage items). Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a good bread maker (so if anyone wants to show me how...). I opened our first bucket and wheat, ground it by hand (I got a hand grinder for Christmas), and made rolls. They actually turned out great (and by great I mean the best I have ever made them). The soup wasn't too bad either.

Picture Me!

I thought I would take a picture of Addie in front of her growth cart so we can keep track of how fast she is growing. Well, she loved it. She kept saying "more" "more!". She especially loved the flash. I couldn't help but keep taking pictures because she was making the cutest faces. She will even say "cheese" over and over again. Hilarious.

"more, please?!"

Zoo

For play date this week, my neighbors and I got together and headed to the zoo for a couple of hours. We had a great time. The weather was not too cold, and the kids were not too fussy. Not very many animals were out, but we still had a great time. Becky brought along her niece, so we were short one stroller, and Addie and Grace took turns riding on top. Addie could see the animals better and she loved it. Watch it be the only way she will ride in the stroller... on top.

I thought I would throw this picture in... for New Years Eve we went to a friends house to play games (fun, fun!) and Addie was matching her friend. They were so cute!