Christmas

When all is said and done we will have had three Christmas celebrations.  Part one was Christmas Eve with Katie and Brian at our place.  We had dinner, exchanged gifts, played games and read the Christmas story from a new book given to me by a dear friend.  It will become part of our Christmas Eve tradition in years to come.  The next day we gathered at Justin's for the big unwrapping.  Part three will take place on Saturday when the Popes will be here from California.  



Abigail was not too interested in opening presents until she opened this one.

 

 

He is always happy!

 

 

My new apron with little handprints!

Love the big blue eyes and curls!
 

The quilt I made for the new Van Ausdal girl who will soon join the family.

Papa Bear

I'm sure you have been somewhere when you see someone that looks so much like someone else you know that they MUST be related.  I was in the temple this morning and noticed one of the workers.  He looked just like Papa Bear from the Berenstain bear books.  I have read those books to my children and now my grandchildren so many times that the image of  Papa Bear is stuck in my brain.  This man was built like Papa Bear and walked like Papa Bear.  He had suspenders instead of overalls.  He had bushy eyebrows and shaggy, bear-like hair.  He had a happy face like Papa Bear.   Needing to be reverent,  I had to keep my chuckles to myself.  Very amusing.  

I Had a Goal

It was to do more blogging in November.  I started out fine and then the month got away from me.  What was I doing?  Well, Thanksgiving for one.  I deviated from the traditional turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, etc. and made this pork recipe.  I had made it before and it was a big hit.  As it should be - I got it from a friend who is a terrific cook.

Pork Tenderloins

3 small Hormel tenderloins or 2 of the Costco ones.

Carmelized Mango Sauce

8 cups chicken stock
2 T olive oil
1 white onion, coarsely chopped (I prefer a small one)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 mangos, peeled, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 T chopped cilantro

Place stock in a medium saucepan over high heat and reduce to 4 cups.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat, add the onions and cook until soft.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.  Add the mango and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the onions, garlic and mango mix to stock along with the brown sugar and cook until mango is very soft, and falling apart, approximately 30 minutes.  With an immersion blender, process until smooth.  Stir in cilantro.

Spice Rub

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T paprika
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pepper

In a small bowl mix all ingredients together.  Coat each tenderloin with the spice run and place all three in the oven bag, not touching.  It is easier if you put the oven bag on a sheet pan first.  Pour sauce overtenderloins and close up bag.  Cut 4 slits in top of oven bag and bake in 375 oven for 45 minutes. 

 

Growing a Quilt

I recently took a quilting class and learned a new technique - English paper piecing.  It was time to dig into my scraps. I had some fabrics that were from my Grandmother and Mother that I wanted to include. You baste your fabrics around cardstock templates.  

 

Then you whipstitch the pieces together, trying not to catch too much of the paper edges.  These jewel stars go together pretty fast.

 

You then connect the stars to the bigger hexagons and keep adding on to build your quilt, removing the basting stitches and popping out the templates to reuse.  What I love about this is the preciseness.  All of those points match up perfectly!   

 

This is my winter project while I watch basketball and football games.  It might take me two winters to complete it, but I like a challenge and a project.

Trick or Treat

It was fun to get photos of the grandchildren in their costumes.

From California:

 

From Farmington:

From Smithfield:

 



 

(Last two from Bonnie's blog - thanks)

Look Who's 2!

Abigail and Benson just turned two.  I don't think the term "terrible twos" could apply to these children. 

 

 

 

 

Her cousin Cole's sippy cup was much more fun to play with than her presents!

 

 

She was just as excited about her birthday treat this year as she was last year.

 

Bugged

Growing up in Ohio, there were a lot of bugs.  We had lightning bugs which lit up the dark summer sky.  My distaste for grasshoppers began when some random boy dropped one down the back of my dress during recess (about the 4th grade or so).  But the one that really creeped me out was the praying mantis.  My Mother told me they ate mosquitos and grasshoppers, so I left them alone.

This year one has taken up residence in our butterfly bush, right outside our den window.  I would spot it nearly every day.  It was brown on the top and green on the bottom, so it blended in well with the branches.  It was interesting to watch, but I was glad there was glass between me and it.  One day it must have sensed me watching it because it quickly turned its triangular shaped head with bulging eyes toward me.  Still creeped me out.  When the winds came it would hold on for dear life.  Last week when it was windy it must have decided the window would be easier to hold onto.

 



I would often see it using its forearms quite vigorously.  I assumed it was getting food.  But a couple of days ago when I looked for it, I found it had snagged something a bit bigger.  I had to get outside to capture a picture of this.

Poor bee didn't stand a chance.  When I came in I did some Googling about the praying mantis.  They go after big prey.  One photo showed this insect taking out a little hummingbird.  The photographer said the mantis had waited an hour for this bird to land.  Pretty remarkable.  Now, if only the praying mantis could get rid of these nasty bugs that have been around for well over a week. 



 

 

 

All these little white dots that you see are swarms of bugs.  You can see them especially on the apricot tree.  They come out when the sun comes up.  So instead of being able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather, I am indoors most of the day.  I do my yardwork and runs to the garden before the bugs come out.  Kevin said it was like a plague.  They get in your hair, nose, and ears and cling to your clothes.  My friend the praying mantis is gone. Wish he were back - feasting on these nasty bugs.

Puddles

 

Who can resist playing in puddles?

 

It had just rained and the water was warmer than the pool water out back.  Abigail loved the puddles!

 

 

 

 

 

This is Abigail's mommy, Bonnie, at the same age.  She loved puddles, too.  Only she didn't differentiate between winter puddles and summer puddles.  One day I couldn't find her anywhere in the house.  I noticed the inside front door was open and little footprints in the snow on the front porch.  I followed the footprints and there sat Bonnie in the driveway where the water puddles - no shoes on and crying because it was a cold puddle instead of a nice warm summer puddle.



Happy Birthday, Lizzy!

Six years old today!

from then . . .

until now.



While the Popes were here last month we had a birthday party.  There were treats:

Family:

(Great-Grandpa Van Ausdal and Grayson)

(This is an affectionate hug, not a wrestling hold)

(A not-so-friendly push)

Presents:

And Lots of Fun:

By late afternoon:

Happy birthday, Lizzy.  We love you!

Summer Entertainment

The Popes are in town.  Which means:  fun, chaos, and more fun.  We loved seeing Cole interact with his Pope cousins. 

He is so skinny his swimming suit would just not stay up.  It gives a whole new meaning to the term low riders!  He got cold quickly and his lips turned blue and quivered, but he kept on going, trying to keep up with the big kids.

 

 

Down the slide with his cousin Lincoln.

Benson loved his warm snuggly towel!

This boy has no fear.

New event for the 2020 Olympics?

One Year Old

We recently celebrated Cole's first birthday.  His Grandma Manning made this cute cake.

The tail section was broken off.  He was tentative at first, carefully sticking one finger at a time into the cake.

  

He quickly figured out how good it tasted and that two hands would be much more fun than just one finger!

With cousin Abigail trying to figure out the bubble mower.