March Recap

Its that time again!

#1 - Read Scriptures and Pray DAILY
I've done pretty good. We say our prayers all the time now: family, couple, and personal. We also read the scriptures before we go to bed (thanks Janae for the tip! Its helped a lot!!  :) )

#2 - Go to the temple at least once a month
We set a bunch of dates with friends of ours. If we can't make it to the temple, then we try to just go to the temple with Peyton on Sunday and walk around it. I still need to be better about this one though.

#3 - Join a fitness class/get in shape
I have been running just about every day now, at LEAST a mile. Usually, I run a mile and then will run the extra whatever to get to the park by my house so Peyton can play for a little bit, run around the park and then run home. I also have signed up for 2 5ks in the near future (one on April 28th and the other on May 5th) and WEIGHT WATCHERS! See the next post I'm about to write about... AND Ben and I are slowly but surely getting back into indoor soccer and futsal. We also play basketball with friends every Wednesday night!

#4 - Pay my bills on time
Yes!!

#5 - Blog
I'm pretty sure I'm doing a pretty good job of that! Yay!

#6 - Make Memories!!
This month has been BUSY!

At the beginning of the month, we went to St George with some friends to visit Grandma Tweedie. We only stayed there for 2 days and then went to New Harmony with a big group of friends to stay at our friend's cabin for the weekend. We went for lots of hikes and built forts that would rival any other fort built for a zombie apocalypse. The fort included a place to sleep, a toilet, and a tanning room (all necessary for any zombie attacks...)

Ben's cousin, Jennie Ray, got married in Bountiful and we were able to attend her reception. She looked beautiful and it was good to see some of the family from Tennessee. Since we were up in Salt Lake, we decided to take Peyton to the zoo! And of course, her favorite animals were the ducks... animals she can see everyday by the duck pond near our house. Oh well! Afterwards, we went to REI to look at hiking boots for Ben and then stopped by IKEA for dinner. It was good to spend some family time together.

Ben bought me a new snowboard and bindings!! Its totally girly but now everyone will know I'm a girl when I snowboard :) And even though the season was basically done, we went snowboarding as much as we could! On one weekend, we went Friday night and all day Saturday the very next day! On Friday, we took Mira along with us. She was really nervous about getting off the lift so Ben and I explained it to her. The first lift comes and Ben and I both get off, turn around, and there's Mira "Agh! I can't get off!!" Hahaha, yup, she stayed on the lift and kept riding up! She was soo scared and nervous because now she'd have to get off at a more difficult lift AND have to do it by herself! Ben was able to jump back on the lift and find her. It was so funny though. She was fine and actually got off the 2nd lift without dying, and more importantly, without falling!

At work, they made me a Handle with Care Instructor (basically I teach people how to put dumb girls in restraints...) and I taught my first class! It went really well. Speaking of work... I've worked at this treatment center for almost 3 years and I've never been hit (well, I've been hit but it was an accident). First time for me, I finally got punched in the face TWICE by an out-of-control patient. I'm pretty tough though so it didn't do too much damage to my money-maker...My boss told me to press charges but I didn't. Oh well, maybe next time :)

St Patrick's Day dinner... really yummy!

Went back down to St George to visit Grandma Tweedie and Grandma Wheeler for a weekend. We made lots of pomegranate jelly, apple butter, banana pudding, and memories. It was an awesome visit!

Went to a pre-showing of the Hunger Games! We have a friend who does fund-raisers a lot. This fund-raiser was for a 4 yr old boy who has leukemia. The tickets were really expensive but all the proceeds went to a good cause. So basically, we got to see the Hunger Games the day BEFORE it came out and didn't have to go to the midnight showing! The movie started at 6pm and we got home by 9pm. Loved it! Such a good movie.

Peyton: Had her 18 month checkup and is super healthy and active! The Dr said that Peyton is one of the most active, balanced, coordinated kids she's seen in awhile.... Yay for that :) Also, Peyton can climb out of her crib now (toddler bed?!) and she just got a potty seat (no potty training though... I'm not ready for her to be a big girl just yet!!). She just likes to sit on her seat, read books, and then wave "bye-bye" to everything in the toilet when she flushes!

Banana Bread w/ pictures!

Remember the post about banana bread?? Well here are the pictures from that oh so funny day!!

Grandma Tweedie

Ben's Grandma is 90 (almost 91!!) years old... and she doesn't act like it! One of our friends met her and couldn't believe that Grandma was 90 and still able to make jokes, walk (well, with a walker), hold Peyton, sing, and just hold a conversation. (Her Grandma is only 70-something and isn't all there). Ben and I have tried to visit her for a couple days at least once a month. This past time we went down was probably the most fun we've had and I wish I had more pictures from it (but I'd rather the memories than being the person who is so caught up in taking the pictures that they miss the actual memory making.... yes, I'm guilty of that!).

I just wanted to write down some of the things that I thought about/want to remember about Grandma Tweedie...

Friday -- We didn't leave Provo until 7pm and with Peyton wide awake and a little fussy (we had to make a few stops... PS. Gas stations that have playgrounds are now my favorite!!), we didn't get down to St George until 11pm. Grandma T and April stayed up to make sure we got there safely. Ben and I were soo tired (he had to work really late (until 1am but didn't get home until 2 am because the owner of the workshop closed the gate so Ben couldn't drive home. He had to walk!) and I had to drive to Wyoming for work from 11pm to 11am the next day!) and of course, when you get a bunch of really tired people together, the funniest things always happen!

We were laughing about something that was funny when Gma's bird clock went off. This clock has different types of birds and every hour, on the hour, it will go off with the sound of that particular bird. The clock went off at midnight and went "who-whooo, whooo! who-whooo, whooo!" I stopped laughing and looked at Grandma a little strange but I didn't want to be rude so I didn't say anything. Ben saw the look and asked me what the matter was. I realized my mistake and then said, "I thought the clock was Grandma laughing!!" I think we all laughed so hard that there were definitely tears.... It probably doesn't sound funny now and its probably a had to be there moment but it's something I don't want to forget.
That Grandma.... she's such a hoot!!


Saturday -- We mostly hung out and talked stories. It was such a nice day that we were able to sit outside for a few hours too. April brought this mason jar filled with hundreds of random questions. She'll ask Gma a question and record Gma's answer. We did that for a little bit and I learned so much about Gma. It was fun!

A thought that hit me was how humble and grateful this woman is. There were 2 things in particular that I don't want to forget. (1) Grandma thinks that her greatest talent is serving in the temple... how cool is that?! If you ask most people what their greatest talent is, they'll answer something like running, singing, playing soccer, snowboarding, etc. Grandma's greatest talent was when she was an ordinance worker inside the temple... and she was dang good at it too! Seriously, is that not amazing?! (2) Grandma will forever be grateful for her sister Ellen. When she was younger, Ellen and Gma's mother were very sick. They were both in the hospital and the doctors said they'd only be able to save one person. Ellen quickly volunteered saying that Metta and Rosamund needed a mother more than anything else and so, Ellen passed away and Gma's mother was healed. When Grandma told this story, she started to cry. It is so amazing to me how this sister was able to sacrifice herself for her family.


Later that night, we made banana pudding, pomegranate jelly, and apple butter. It's become sort of a tradition with us now. Gma was so proud of herself. Everyone that called or came by to visit, Grandma would proudly say "Oh, me and my Betty made banana pudding, pomegranate jelly, and apple butter!" Grandma did a great job supervising and April, Ben and I had a good time making it! We didn't burn the apple butter this time either!!

Sunday -- On Sunday, I recorded almost an hour of piano music on the piano for Gma. After every song, she would clap and tell me how beautiful the music was or how much she loved the song. It is such a good feeling to be able to give something to a woman who has everything. She was so grateful for the music. I hope that it can bring her comfort and peace during her last while on this earth.

She kept saying that this past weekend was a little heaven on earth and if every day could have been like the past few days, she doesn't mind staying here after all. This woman is amazing. Her stories and lessons will never be forgotten and I hope that I will be able to be half the woman she is someday! I've never really known my own grandparents since they lived in Hawaii and Korea most of my life so I've really enjoyed spending as much time as we have with her. I know I haven't known her for very long but every time I've spent time with her, she's made me feel like I've known her for my whole life.

18 mo checkup

18 month checkup:

Weight -- 23 lbs (54%)

Length -- 33 in (81%)

Head Circumference -- 19 in (92%)

Yup... our baby has a big head! :)

All about Peyton --

Favorite TV show : its a tie between Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins
Favorite toy: any of her stuffed animals! She loves to give them kisses and hugs, tell them where their eyes/head/bum are, feed them her snacks, and carry them into whatever room she is in.
Favorite food: anything. Seriously... this girl loves to eat! She could eat popsicles, edamame (yeah... she is strange), oranges, and rice all day long!! She wouldn't ever stop.
Favorite game: hit daddy in the head with whatever she can find.... From how much she laughs, I guess its a really funny game!
Favorite thing to do that she is definitely not allowed to do: play in the garbage/put all the toilet paper in the toilet....OR climb up on the computer table and see how many things she can throw off of it
Favorite animal: dogs and cows....
 Favorite thing to do: CLIMB!! Oh my goodness, this little girl has such good balance. She will climb on anything and everything she can get her hands on. Chairs, tables, couches, TV, toilet, desks, diaper bin, rice cooker, boxes...

Peyton has a lot of teeth now. She's "talking" more and more every day! If you ask her what she wants, she'll let you know. If you ask her a yes/no question, she'll tell you yes or no (or she'll shrug her shoulders if she doesn't know!).We love our little girl!

St Patrick's Day

We didn't do too much for St Patty's Day....

 We just had green mashed potatoes, a green salad (spinach, broccoli, cucumbers, bell peppers, and green ranch), corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, and Leprechaun Poop Biscuits (I wasn't going to die the biscuits green but Ben said I should but I had already kneaded the dough out. We just speckled the dough and called it Leprechaun Poop...). It was so yummy!

And some pictures of our happy girl!!

Ben took all of those pictures. I never get her to smile like that when I have the camera!! :)

Hope you all had a fun St Patrick's Day! 

Last November....

My neighbor is a photographer and offered to take some FREE pics of me and the fam... Yes, these were from Novemeber but I just got them today so they are up on the blog! (Peyton's blog has all of the pictures... these are just some of the best ones). She was being super cranky so we couldn't really get her to smile. Oh well!

It's crazy to think that it has only been a couple of months and I already feel like she is so much bigger right now then just 4 months ago! She has a lot more teeth, a lot more hair and a lot more personality! I love that little girl!

Banana Bread

I was on the computer writing an email to my sister (she's serving a mission in Ventura, CA) when I realized that Peyton was very quiet.... uh oh. She climbed on the kitchen table and grabbed the bunch of bananas... There were maybe 6 of them total. Using her teeth and hands, she opened up all of them and proceeded to throw and or smash them on the table and the ground... I guess she wanted banana bread! I found this recipe and tried it (using the bananas from the table, not the ground...) and it is SO GOOD! Enjoy!!

Janet's Rich Banana Bread

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 medium bananas, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

* I didn't have white sugar, only brown.... still tastes good! Also, I creamed the sugar and butter together. Added 1 tsp of lemon juice with the vanilla, added 1 tsp of both baking soda and baking powder, and used approximately 1 3/4 c of flour instead. I didn't measure how much banana I put in... I just put in a whole bunch and mashed them instead of sliced them. 

It was so good!!