Eat like a Pilgrim!!

Before it fades into the past, pushed by Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday sales, and putting up the Christmas Tree, I figured I should post about the "Eat Like A Pilgrim" dinner that we went to last weekend!

It was a dinner at Thanksgiving Point celebrating the first Thanksgiving Day, complete with "hosts" dressed in colonial garb and speaking with cool accents and phrases. As usual, Mara was afraid of the "strange man"- the master of our military matters had her looking to her daddy for help.

We had oil and vinegar to put on our salad greens instead of fully mixed salad dressing, and no forks to eat our salad greens. Luckily, we had enormous napkins to keep us clean. The menu also consisted of corn pudding, pumpkin, pork, turkey, mixed berry cobbler, and apple cider. (We had the option of trying some raw oysters, but we voted no...)

There was a guy there writing people's names with a quill pen, traditional games to play, and even a tiny goat and a calf inside for petting.

It was super fun, and Mara thoroughly enjoyed the animals.

No, really...

Maybe because it was her size,

but that goat was her favorite thing!

Mostly she just enjoyed being a pilgrim for a night- with tons of stimulating sights to see, room to run, and of course, modern cooking, indoor heating, and a fancy restaurant-style high chair. Being a pilgrim is fun!

Halloween Pictures

As promised, here are the pictures from halloween.

We had a cute little sheep outfit for Mara, but it was too small, so she only wore it for story time at the library.

On Saturday we went to a halloween party at our friends house. (Ian was a mechanic, and I was a tree.) We borrowed a cute little bug outfit for the party, and unfortunately, this is the only picture we took. Mara woke up from a nap right before the party so she looks a bit out of it, and she wouldn't even wear the hat that went with it. Sad day. Oh well, there is always next year.

Mara was terrified of everyone in costume, but the party was really fun. And I even got a prize for being the most creative costume :) woohoo for halloween!

Catching up, again.

Re-doing the blog header counts as an update, so I'm done here, right? :)

I've waited long enough (and been scolded enough) that, as usual, I have a smattering of catch up to attend to. We'll just start where we left off the last time.

Mara had a birthday party! Ian had some leftover dry ice at the lab, courtesy of Boeing, so we made homemade rootbeer to go with our pizza. It was delicious!

Mara got tooth number 2 at 10 months, and has since then been working on teeth numbers 3 and 4. It takes FOREVER for these teeth to finally break through!! Hence, Mara has become a druggie.

She also likes to play on the shelf with the baking supplies and has found a favorite. (After the bag was punctured by the afore mentioned teeth, we switched it to a bag of dry kidney beans.)

Ian also had a birthday. He requested texas sheet cake (thanks for the recipe Patience!) Everyone loved it and my soon-to-be Aunt Cheryl even said it was the best she's ever had! I gave her the recipe too, Patience...I hope you don't mind :)

Speaking of Ian, he made a new fairing for the car. He made one last year in his Plastics class, but this one is prettier and better. Experience is a great thing, isn't it?

Oh, so sexy! (Its carbon fiber, and its on a car...I'm allowed to call it sexy...)

This cute little kitty was rescued by our neighbor, and Ian wants her to be his. Tara was about 7 weeks old with a broken femur when we met her. Now her leg has healed, and although she's got a bit of a limp, she's got no trouble winning over the whole family.

The kitty didn't really like to play with yarn (until the leg healed), but Mara did!

Oh, and this is why kids aren't born with....bumps. They'd never get anything done!

For Halloween, Mara was a sheep and a butterfly buggy thing. (Pictures to come later.) She really enjoyed Halloween. Especially the candy.

In early November, we had a rose bloom. It was so pretty! We've had such a warm Fall this year.

Mara's favorite season is definitely Fall. She loves the leaves! But she doesn't mind sharing :)

She also loves listening to records,

and, uh.....playing with her pencil!

And today she fed herself from a spoon for the first time. Ah, what fun!

Mara is officially 1 year old! (as of the 27th)

Here are her stats:

Weight: 20.26 lbs 37th percentile

Height: 29.5 inches 65th percentile

Head circ: 18.5 inches 93rd percentile (big ole noggin!)

And she's a super cute 1 year old too!! She does all kinds of things, but some of them make me smile more than others.

I think its funny that she knows how to take off the back of the remote but she doesn't clap (she's seen me pull the batteries out when she wants to push buttons). She "clicks" her tongue (thanks Britt!) and waves- but not hello or goodbye- she just waves for fun, haha.

She walks all over and is thoroughly enjoying the freedom it gives her. (I promise she has shoes!)

She's figured out climbing up and sliding back down, so now stairs and couches are no problem (thank goodness!)

She loves feeding herself,

especially when Daddy gives her a chocolate chip cookie for dinner...

But my very most favorite thing right now, is the way she sticks out her tongue to the side.

I don't know where she got the idea- neither Ian or I do that...but it sure is cute!

Mara is a biped

Well, the little one made the leap to mobility on Saturday. She still prefers to crawl, but the world of the quadrupeds is in her rearview mirror...

I am repentant- at least for the moment...

Mara has decided that eating her dinner is not always her favorite option...

"I read your blog all the time!" I said. "Even if I don't comment, I always read it."

"I read yours too- except you never update..."

So instead of continually telling people "I need to update my blog"...I'm just going to do it right now! From the Pierce Oil Spill, to Mara's first time in the pool, to Ian's cycling team....prepare to be bombarded with fun pictures and movies! Just sit back, relax, and scroll down for free smiles!

One Sunday I was taking a nap and Mara was playing in the kitchen with Ian while he cooked dinner. Ian woke me up suddenly with "Christen, get in here! I need you!" So I ran in to find Ian holding Mara's hands high above her head, her feet slipping and sliding beneath her.

She had been playing on the shelf- one of her favorite places to play- when she found the oil, began to play with it, and then somehow twisted the lid and spread it all over. Ian started cleaning it up, and I made him grab the camera because it was so funny to me :) He said if I had been there when it spilled, I wouldn't have thought it was so funny...I like to think it would only make it funnier. (By the way- it was a brand new oil container...now its less than half full. Awesome!)

Here are some fun videos from the wildlife cleanup after the oil spill. BP- Eat Your Heart Out!

I've been pretty busy with my sewing- the 3 most recent are a dress for Sundays, a diaper bag, and a dress for the Murder Mystery Dinner that was set in the 1920s. All really fun projects :)

Unfortunately, I haven't taken pictures, so we'll make that a different post. (Sorry Lauren, I know you've been WAITING!!)

Mara had a blast in the pool...but we probably should have let it sit and warm up in the sun a bit longer. She preferred to stand since the water was still a bit chilled.

I love that little face!

Ian has been busy with school and work. He's been busy with it non-stop (year round) since August 2008. Thats a long time to be in school. So when he gets excited about something, it makes it easier for him to do the mundane things of life. Recently, he and the other Ian formed a 4 man relay team for the big "Salt to Saint Relay" race in September.

They went on a ride together up the canyon and had a blast. Some of them have been riding since high school, another just got his bike last month, but they all enjoy it. I'm just glad he's having fun.

Oh yea, and Mara has taken to chewing on steel. Ian had this block of steel, and she carried it around the house just gnawing on it. I thought it was funny till I heard her little tooth grinding on it. Then I took it away.

And this is what happens when Ian won't play speed scrabble with me on a Sunday Evening but I really really want to play. :)

Disaster!!

So on Sunday, we got the blinking folder of death indicating that our hard drive was toast. Now I wish we posted more. All of our pictures for the last 4 months....gone! Well- at least we posted occasionally and have a few good pictures. Sad day friend.

July

This month has been very busy and exciting. The sun has been keeping us warm, but we have been enjoying the summer none the less.

Mara has graduated to an adult headband.

We enjoyed a lazy summer afternoon complete with watermelon.

On July 17th Ian raced in the 2010 Utah Tour de Donut. The race was three 7 mile laps up in American Fork. The idea is to eat as many donuts as you can in between each lap and for every donut you eat, you get 3 minutes subtracted from your total race time. He rode with his new cycling buddy, Ian. (Funny story about Ian- he also grew up in Alaska and now he lives next door to us!)

Lined up for the start.

Nothing like eating a donut while racing your bike.

Ian's friend Ian, getting down to business.

Energy food for champions.

Choking down another one.

Ian's wife and I volunteered (yellow shirts) and got to count donuts for the racers.

The finish line.

Mara loved spending the morning outside.

Family photos after the race.

After all was said and done, the Ians both ate 7 donuts and my Ian finished 6th in his division and 13th overall. The other Ian finished in good form in 7th place and 14th overall. The race was a lot of fun and we all had a great time. The next race for these boys is the Salt to Saint Relay (salttosaint.com). They managed to rustle up sponsors and will have brand new kits (cycling jerseys and shorts) that all match! That race will probably be a little harder, since they're riding from Salt Lake to St. George; 410 miles of fun!

Along with all the other fun things in July, Mara also insisted on trying to feed herself...