Ho Ho Ho! A Hipple Christmas

We had been watching the weather for about a week trying to decide which day would be best to head home for Christmas. It was supposed to snow on Friday, clear up for Saturday, and then snow again on Sunday, so we thought that Saturday would be a perfect time to go. Well, this is what we woke up to on Saturday morning... So we shoveled the car out and left as soon as possible before it could snow anymore!

This is Cala Christmas morning sitting in a chair that her Aunt Amanda got for her.

My grandpa won the prize for receiving the funniest present! It's a nice cushy toilet seat, if you are having trouble telling what it is :) Mark even offered to break it in for him...how nice of him.

Cala with my granny.

The Christmas aftermath!

Then we were on to more presents and another Christmas dinner with Mark's family...

Cala had a good time opening presents, but she didn't quite understand that first you open all the presents and then you play with them so Mark and I got to open quite a few of hers.

Me with my new GPS wearing my new sweater!!!

And yes, this is the "Daddy of 'em all"... Mark's new plasma TV! He said that if he got a TV for Christmas that he would run around the house, and he did! In socks! The new TV was much needed since I think our current TV is from 1980!

We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas too!

Christmas in New York

We decided to visit NYC after Mark's finals to see Santa and all the decorations. We took the train so we wouldn't have to worry about traffic or parking...and 5 hours later we arrived! It should have only taken 2 and a half hours but the brakes on the train went out so we had to wait for the repair. A friend of ours told us that it would be insanely crowded in the city, and she was right. We were shoulder to shoulder with people everywhere we went! When we finally got there, our first stop was Macy's Santaland where you go on a "journey" to the North Pole to visit Santa. Along the way there are lots of fun things to see like dancing bears and talking trees. Cala LOVED everything until we got to Santa. As you can see from the picture, Santa is her worst nightmare. We think it's probably the beard, she's not a big fan of facial hair :)

Next we went to Times Square and then to John's Pizzeria for some New York-style pizza. The pizza was delicious! And the building was originally a church, so we ate under a beautiful stained glass window.

After pizza we headed over to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. Notice that Cala is passed out! It was a big day for her.

We also stopped in at the NBC studio store, and I just had to get a picture by this...it's filled with M&M's!!!!

Then we went for a stroll up 5th Avenue, which is just as cool as I imagined it would be. We went in St. Paul's cathedral to see the nativity. Our final stop was FAO Schwartz where we played with lots of toys. Cala loved the larger-than-life stuffed animals. So much so that Mark was considering buying her one! For $120! We also got to see the floor piano that Tom Hanks danced on in "Big".

It was a fun trip and we can't wait to go again!

Finals are over!!!

Woohoo! Finals are over and Mark has survived his first semester of law school! We are so excited to have some time to spend together, and I am so proud of him!

Santa Speedo Sprint

Ok, I heard about this a couple months ago, and it sounded hilarious! I've been excited/interested to go check it out. Today was the day! And it was even funnier than I expected. The website said that registration started 2 hours before at a local bar. They were advertising, "Come to build some 'liquid courage' before the race." And I think that most of the runners had had quite a bit of that "liquid courage". It was 20 degrees here today! Anyway, here are some pictures so that all of you can laugh too!

Cala was NOT happy at all with me for dressing her like that kid in The Christmas Story. She couldn't even touch her hands together, but I had to make sure she would be warm :)

Christmas parties and cookies

I am one of the Activities Committee co-chairs and we were responsible for the branch Christmas party, which was held the week after the branch Thanksgiving dinner that we were also in charge of. It was just a little stressful to say the least. But now that it's all over I've decided that it was actually really fun despite all my complaining :) Hopefully I can remember that next year if I still have this calling...

Since the Christmas party planning is done, I started my annual Christmas cookie baking. I'm getting a late start but with the help of my brand new Kitchen Aid, I'm sure I'll catch up in no time at all. Tonight I made 3 different kinds of cookies! Yeah for the Kitchen Aid!

Cala helping Daddy sprinkle sugar on the cookies.

Mark showing off the gash on his chin from helping a lady move today. Don't worry it's not as bad as it looks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year was the first time in our 4 1/2 years of marriage that we have been with our families for Thanksgiving. We loved it! Below are some pictures of all the fun...

It all started with Dad Moustachio's (Mark's dad's) birthday.

Then some good old Thanksgiving morning football (we later found out that the ward had a Turkey bowl but forgot to call us...)

Dinner with Mark's family. I somehow forgot to take a picture with everyone around the table...oops.


Dinner with my family (clockwise around the table: Amanda, Granny, Grandpa, Mark, Dad, Mom, Derek, and Derek's girlfriend, Laura)



Uncle Derek giving Cala a piano lesson...so cute!



Guitar Hero Tournament (Mark won it all of course!)

Hershey's Chocolate World! We rode the ride that tells all about how they make chocolate, and Cala loved it so much that we rode it again!

The Cheesecake Factory

One might ask...is the Cheesecake Factory worth a 2 hour wait on a Saturday night with an energetic one year old whose bedtime is quickly approaching... This picture of my dad says it all! Of course it is!!!

My parents and sister came up to visit for the weekend to celebrate my birthday, and we had a great time!

Isn't cheesecake the most wonderful food?!

Yum Spaghetti Sauce

Note: All these measurements are approximate, except for the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce, I usually just pour stuff in until it looks good.

1/3 c. olive oil
2-3 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 sprinkle of basil
1/4 lb. ground beef
1-28 oz. can crushed tomatoes with basil
1-8 oz. can Hunt's tomato sauce with basil, oregano, and garlic

Add olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper to a saucepan and heat. Add ground beef and saute in olive oil mixture. Sprinkle in basil. Just after the beef is browned add crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer for about 20 minutes (or longer if you want the sauce to be thicker).

And there you have it, yum spaghetti sauce! This recipe is pretty much my dad's spaghetti sauce, so I can't really take much credit for it. Also, in my family we eat rigatoni pasta with our spaghetti sauce instead of spaghetti noodles, and I am a firm believer that the type of pasta used makes a big difference so give rigatoni a try! Enjoy!

Sincerely, Very satisfied Key Bank customers

We decided to open an account at Key Bank when we moved here because of their offer for a free IPod. We did all that we were supposed to do, and Mark has been anxiously awaiting the IPod's arrival. My plan was to intercept the delivery, wrap it up for Christmas, and lie until then saying that the IPod hadn't arrived... Well, of course the day it comes Mark happens to come home from school early and finds the package at the front door! Anyway, it was an exciting to finally get it, and we are now very big fans of Key Bank!

Did someone say YUM?

As most of you know I love to cook. Tonight I made spaghetti...except it didn't turn out to be the spaghetti sauce that it usually is...it was pretty different and amazingly delicious! Hopefully I can reproduce it since I generally don't measure ingredients when I cook and this even happened by mistake. Here are a few pictures of my favorite people enjoying the yum sauce...Mark even licked his plate!

Happy Halloween!

We've had a fun Halloween this year...it all started with pumpkin carving (Mark's is on the left and mine is on the right) with some new friends we've met here.
A few days later Cala's costume arrived via UPS at 7:30pm! I was so excited to try it on her, but we had already put her to bed...luckily for me, she chose that night to have a hard time going to sleep...so I got her up and put the costume on over her PJ's! So cute!

The next day we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat. I don't have any pictures because I forgot the camera :( Anyways, Cala was a little too young for the games and it was REALLY cold oustide for the trunk-or-treat, so she mostly ran around with the other little kids and still had a great time.
On Halloween we had a group shot of our costumed kids before trick-or-treating.
Then off to the mall for trick-or-treating! Cala seemed to enjoy it...although she didn't really grasp the concept, she just wanted to eat the candy right away. Once she had a piece, she was totally content. So I guess the whole trick-or-treating experience was mainly me reliving childhood. I loved it, and now Mark and I are enjoying the candy!