There is nothing so constant as Change - YW Manual

So we have had a few changes in our lives lately. The first one came about a month ago when I was asked to be the new Young Women's President in our Branch. I said yes, with a lot of "I hope I can do this" going through my mind. It is just a small group, about 6 girls. Each Sunday at church I learn something more I should be doing or planning. Seth is also the Young Men's President, so we are in charge of the youth program. There is actually only one young man and one more turning 12 soon. So our two little girls get dragged along each week for mutual and such. Savannah actually loves it. I get overwhelmed with all there is to do, but then the spirit calms my heart and reminds me about the purpose of YW and that is to bring the girls closer to Jesus Christ. All I have to do is take it all one step at a time and do the best I can. The funny part is I will probably be just figuring things out when we move again.
The second change came about two days ago, when Bella decided she no longer wanted to be nursed. Last Wednesday she ate fine in the morning and then I guess she just decided she had enough. Since then, she screams and cries when I try to nurse her. So I called the nurse and asked what the options are since she is 10 1/2 months old. Luckily they said I could start cow's milk. Yesterday was rough, but today is looking better. I am not very good at sudden change like that, so we are definitely still adjusting. Bella pretty much won't let me leave the room without her. This was not the case before the sudden switch. I was able to slowly wean Savannah so this is all new to me. Bella certainly has her own plan and schedule in mind. I was looking forward to being done with nursing, I just didn't think it would happen so soon and so abruptly. I am hoping we can all get adjusted soon. If anyone has ever gone through this and has some good ideas, let me know.
So needless to say, we did not get any Christmas cards out this year. We really wanted to, but with all that is going on something had to go. There is always next year right? We hope you all have a Merry Christmas, safe and warm with family and friends. It is snowing right now and looks so beautiful. White Christmas here we come. What a wonderful time of year!!!

A little late, but Thankful just the same

I have many reasons to be thankful this holiday season. We are all healthy, happy, and loving each other. Recently I have come in contact with a few people that have really helped me see how truly blessed I am. It is so easy to get wrapped up in what we don't have, and forget to see just how much we do have. I am so grateful for my amazing husband. He has worked and continues to work so hard for us. I am so happy that he has found a field that he loves. He still has more training to come, but he loves being a doctor. We have been so blessed with experiences that we would have never had if situations were different.
Savannah is such a wonderful joy and such a sweet little girl. Bella has made our home so much brighter. Her smile makes us smile. I am still learning so much about being the kind of mother I want to be. I am so grateful that my girls love me even when I make mistakes. They are so quick to forgive and move on. I am thankful for family.
I am also thankful for friends. I have recently reconnected with an old friend that I missed so much. She is such an amazing person. Living so far from family has taught me just how important friends are. I am a better person because of the amazing people I am blessed to call my friends.

Little Bo Peep and her Sheep

Happy Halloween! This year Savannah and Bella went as Little Bo Peep and her Sheep! I started working on the costumes the end of September and I don't want to brag, but I have to admit they turned out pretty cute. I also made Savannah a staff to carry, but it didn't make it into any of the pictures. This might be the last year that I have a say into what Savannah is for Halloween. She already informed me she wants to be a witch next year. We shall see.

I just love these girls!!


This little Sheep is ready to go!!


We had a fun time carving pumpkins this year. Savannah's(with my help) is the front one and Seth did the one in the back. The light area is thin enough that the candle would make it glow. We didn't get any good pictures of it lit.


Cooperstown has a Halloween parade that we participated in. The high school marching band led the parade with all the kids (and parents) followed behind. Lots of fun. We also went trick-or-treating to all the shops on main street and some of the neighborhood homes. Savannah had a blast trick-or-treating and did not want to stop. We lucked out and had some great temperatures with no snow.

This is a cute video of Bella laughing. If you watch her mouth closely you will be able to catch a glimpse of her teeth. She has three teeth. Two on top and one of the bottom. Not too different except that the two on top are the side teeth and the bottom tooth is one of the middle teeth, so we have our own Jack-O-lantern smile. Very fitting for Halloween. We are doing our best to get a picture of it. This is all we have so far.

Oh, the first snow fall of the winter...

I find it to be a little crazy to have a nice fall day one day and then full on winter the next day. Yesterday we went from rain to slushy snow to snow and now we have winter. I do love a good snow storm, but I just don't like it to come before Halloween. I am not quite ready for winter to set in. Because the snow was so wet and heavy all the branches are really hanging down. We have one branch that is hanging down onto the roof and somehow is wedged right where the roof and side of the house meet. So now as the wind blows the branch scrapes on the side of the house making a horrible creaking sounds. It sounds like the house is under too much pressure and is going to collapse any second. The branch is right outside Savannah room and woke her up in the middle of the night. She came running into our room so scared. Poor girl. Like I said before I am not quite ready for winter. They say we will have great weather and temp. for Halloween. Hopefully that really happens.

Yesterday around 3:00 p.m.

This is what we woke up to.

Bread

I LOVE Bread. I love making bread. I love the smell of fresh bread. I love eating bread. There is not much better than a warm, fresh slice of homemade wheat bread. My Grandma makes the best homemade bread. Eating her bread is one of the many reason why I love going to Grandma's House. I have always had a goal to make bread like Grandma. I realized that Grandma had probably been making bread her whole life so I decided I better get started. Back when I started college (1998) I decided to make all my bread. No more buying bread. The beginning was rough. I had a lot of very short, dense bread that didn't rise very well. I would have some turn out which gave me hope. After many dense loaves of bread, many questions to Grandma, learning I had the wrong size pans, buying the right pans, getting a new recipe that rises in the oven (thanks Grandma), and 10 years of practice I think it is going pretty well. I really enjoy making the bread for my family. I have now started trying new types of bread - branching out as Seth would say.

This is our whole wheat bread that I make regularly. It makes the house smell so good.

English Muffin Bread - YUMMY


Focaccia Bread. This one still needs some practice, but it is fun to have.

The next one I want to try is sour dough bread. My mom also just gave me an Artisan Breads cook book. I am so excited to start using it.

This one goes to Bella

Our sweet little Bella is growing up so fast. She is already well into 12 mo. size clothes, which just blows my mind, because she is only 7 mo. old. She loves to sit and play with her toys. She is very mello and cuddly - so fun. It is so fun to go through all the new baby stages and watch her learn and explore her world. Life is pretty crazy with two kids, but I am doing my best to enjoy it along the way. I do have to say that she just might be a mama's girl.

Bella loves to play outside while her sister rides her bike around.



I love her smile.


Out for the day at the fair. (I will post about the county fair later)



Bella's favorite thing is to drink from my water bottle. I just think it is so cute.

Where did the summer go?

This summer has gone by so fast. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by. We have really been enjoying living in Cooperstown. It has been a great place for our family so far. We have been doing a lot of fun stuff that I have been wanting to post, but life with two kids gets a little busy some time. I am going to do my best to get everything posted over the next few days, one for our sake and also to get one more thing crossed off my never ending to do list.

The first post goes to Savannah. She turned 3 years old on Aug. 5th. I am so proud of my little girl. She is growing up so fast and loving having more independence, more than I want sometimes, and learning so much everyday. Sometimes I just watch her and wonder when my baby turned into a little girl. For her birthday we did a little family celebration. We were going to go to a county fair, but the rain came and changed our plans. We were able to go to a Children's museum in Utica, NY. It was ok. Let's just say they are trying to have a children's musuem, but still have a long way to go. She liked it well enough so that is what counts. Savannah also got her hair cut for the first time. She was quite excited. The first day we went, they closed about an hour before we got there. She was devasted. Who knew they would close at 3 pm on a Sat. So first thing Monday morning we were there for the big event. I think it turned out great.

Before

After


Our little family celebration!!

I couldn't resist putting this picture on. Just too cute.


Her first time on the bike.


This is at the lake by our house. There is a little beach area we love to go to.


What is a trip to the beach without being buried!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!
This is from a great blog, Grosgrain done by someone very talented. She does amazing giveaways.

Good old family fun

Here are some pictures of some fun things we have been doing lately. We are doing our best to take advantage of all the fun things we can do since we will only be here one year.

Daddy came home from work one day holding a baby bird that must have fallen out of its nest, into the road. Savannah was so excited. She couldn't wait to hold it. The moved it from the road to the trees. We hope it found its mother.

We go on a lot of walks and we love it. We bought an attachment to our bike trailer that turn it into a double jogger. Very handy. Luckily Bella loves it and so does Savannah.


THE 4th of JULY

We went to a small town parade. It was great. Some nice lady let us borrow her umbrella which was heaven sent.

I would love to own a car like this someday.

What small town parade is complete without a trailer full of kids pulled by a tractor?

One the 5th of July we went to the Farmers Museum here in Cooperstown. It is a 19th century town and farm, complete with a state fair carousel.


Savannah meet Daisy the sheep.

Savannah was able to help feed the new calf. This reminded me of when I use to go to Rupert, ID to my grandparents dairy farm and wake up at 5 am just to feed the calves their bottles. So fun.

Our home in Cooperstown

After a week of packing, loading the truck, realizing the truck was too small, getting another truck, loading the second truck, cleaning the apartment, driving 4 hours to Cooperstown, and unloading the truck in the first major heat wave of the summer we have made it to our new home. We are excited to be here. Thank you to all who helped pack up the truck in Valhalla, and to our new branch for helping us unload the truck in Cooperstown. Thank you also to Grandma Diane for being so much help. Luckily she was here to play with the girls and the drive the second truck.
We have actually been here for a week and a half, but it took a week to get the internet. We are still unpacking boxes, mostly the tail end stuff that doesn't go in any certain spot. I am anxious to get the pictures hung up so that it looks more like our home.

We are so lucky to be able to live in a 3 bedroom townhouse. Here are some pictures Grandma took before we unloaded the boxes.

This is the view of our front door. There are 10 units in each group.











Side view of our house. This is the view from the parking lot. I am very excited not to have to re-park my car after unloading groceries. Some of you understand what I am talking about.










Back of the house. The first set of three windows are the living room windows.












When you walk in the front door, this is what you see. There is a carpeted dining room but we will not use it for that. The stairs to the right go up to a landing and the second floor. Strait ahead, down a few stairs is the living room. See pictures below.








To the left of the previous pictures is the area we are using as the dining room.












This is the kitchen. More like a hallway with counters on each side, but it is has more cupboards and counters than the last place so it is great.










Living room













Up the first set of stairs, to a landing area we will use as an office.












Up the second set of stairs to the second floor with the bedrooms and bathroom.












We do not have pictures of the bedrooms, but maybe when everything is unpacked I will take some to share. There is also a half bathroom downstairs right by the front door. We also have an unfinished basement that is so nice for storage and the washer and dryer we will be buying from a previous resident. We really like it so far.

Our little Flower Girl

Last Saturday, we had the privilege of being a part of our friends, Cat and Andrew's wedding. They asked Savannah to be their flower girl. We were very excited. She was perfect for the part. I was a little nervous for the actual day and how well Savannah would do what they wanted. She did a great job. They were married at the UN Chapel and had their reception at the UN Delegates Dining Room. Here are a few pictures of the day.

We are waiting for them to let us inside the chapel to finish getting ready. I put Savannah's hair in curlers earlier that morning. So fun.

This is how Savannah looked at the beginning of the wedding. The hair lost some curl by the end of the day but she looked so cute.

She loved holding her basket of flowers.

Andrew, Cat, Seth, Bella, Jeni, Savannah
Congrats Cat and Andrew!

Savannah loved playing in the blossoms, while waiting for her picture to be taken.

They took pictures at the UN Gardens. It was so beautiful.

Savannah loved to dance and took every chance she could to dance with the Bride.
Savannah had so much fun at the reception. Here she is while the band was taking a break.
We gave Cat and Andrew a denim quilt that I made. Thank you Wendy, Megan, and Seth for helping tie the quilt.

Savannah seriously danced every chance she had. She didn't care if we were out there with her or not. Is this really my child?