Christmas Fun

Christmas is in the air at our house, and now we're just 2 days away! We started the Christmas season by making our annual trip to the Festival of the Trees, and decorating our house. Kiel put up our little (fake) Christmas tree while we were in California. It was a nice surprise to see it out and ready when we got home! A few weeks ago Kiel and I had a Christmas date to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert with guest Brian Stokes Mitchell, which was wonderful. Okay, I admit it, I fell in love with Brian Stokes Mitchell - he was just amazing. (Thanks to Chad and Whitney for babysitting!)

Christmas has been even more fun this year because Luke is beginning to understand what's going on...he recognizes Santa (anyone wearing a Santa hat is Santa), and says that Santa is bringing him presents at Grandma's house. He also met Santa for the first time this year at the mall in Manhattan Beach. Mom took Luke up to see Santa and, of course, Santa said "Ho Ho Ho!" Now, we've been telling Luke that Santa says "Ho Ho Ho!" so when he actually heard Santa say it, he jumped a little, and his eyes got wide - surprised that he really does! He didn't want to get too close to Santa - forget even thinking about sitting on his knee! - but he thought it was really cool that Santa gave him a candy cane, and talked about it the rest of the night.

He also loves our Christmas tree and insists that the lights have to be on all the time. This year his fireman hat is our tree topper (it's a bit of a makeshift tree since we're going to CA). He gets that presents go under the tree, but leaving a present wrapped under the tree - not even an option! He must take after me...I admit. And everytime he hears the song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," (which is like every 5 minutes on the radio) he yells, "Christmas tree song mom!!"

We delivered a few neighbor gifts last night and Luke was a great helper. He got such a kick out of going to the door with us and giving the gift himself. I hadn't planned on him 'helping' in that way, but I thought it must be a step in the right direction in showing him that it's just as fun to give gifts as it is to receive.

Another thing to put us in the Christmas spirit was our ward Christmas party last week.

Claire looked like our little elf in her Christmas dress.

Here is Claire with her little friend BreAnna,
who was born just 2 days before her, in the same hospital!

Holiday Tortellini Soup

For Christmas, my mom gave me a subscription to the Taste of Home magazine, and I just got the December issue in the mail. I already tried one recipe and it was terrific! It was the perfect soup to make this month, because it turns out to be an incredible red and green - and it was delicious. This recipe is definitely going to be a repeat!

Holiday Tortellini Soup

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 ounces pancetta or bacon, finely diced
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (49-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini
• 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes in puree
• 8 ounces fresh spinach, rinsed and chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta. Cook until crisp. Add onion; cook 3-4 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add broth and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions; drain. Add cooked tortellini to soup mixture. Stir in crushed tomatoes and simmer 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook just until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Yield: 8 servings (2-1/2 quarts).

Sweet Claire

Wearing the cute pink dress from the Bauers

Disneyland at Christmas

Snowy Days!

There's much more snow than this at our house now!

2 Kids!

Whenever I have both Luke and Claire in my lap, or if I've picked both of them up together, Luke says, "I have two kids!"

Today, Kiel and I were laughing at something and Luke pipes up from the back seat and says, "What's so funny?" And if Claire is crying while I'm changing her diaper or something, he says, "What's happening Claire?"

And later today, Kiel and I were talking about going to the park or something and Luke, who was just quietly playing in the room says, "Soo...what are we waiting for?"

In his little voice, everything he says is just too cute and funny.

Family time!

Last week there was a plethora of von Niederhauserns around, and no, not many of you can say that, can you? Holly and Ava and Callie came to visit for the week, and then Kurt came for the weekend, and we saw more of Boyd and Holly than usual, and even Chris came down one night, so it was great family time all week!

Highlights of the week were Luke and Ava and Callie playing together. Luke liked crawling on the floor after Callie and trying to direct her a certain way. I thought it was funny when he would put something on Callie's back while she was crawling to see how long it would stay there as she made her way across the floor (poor Callie). And he thought playing peek-a-boo with her was the funniest thing he's ever come up with. Ava was sweet to Luke and played cars and colored with him all the time. He had a blast having his cousins in the house and he was looking for them after they left.

Another highlight was going to dinner at Pat's BBQ in Salt Lake with the whole gang.

I thought it was fun to have everyone at our house a lot because then we were able to just talk and hang out. I love Kiel's family because they make me laugh. I'm happy when my house is full and I have a chance to play hostess. Although Holly was a perfect guest because she cooked a couple meals for everyone (and cleaned red nail polish off my bathroom floor..I really put her to work...) It was great to have her here, because we've missed them!

It was a fun and busy week and the house is pretty quiet and boring now that everyone is gone!

Triangle, Circle, Love

Yesterday Luke and I were coloring, and I drew different shapes for him to identify. I would point to the shape and he would tell me what it was. So looking at the shapes he said, "Triangle, Circle, Square, Star." And when I pointed to the picture of the heart he said, "Love." It was so cute.

Pumpkin Apple Struesel Muffins

It's no secret that I love to eat anything pumpkin related in the fall! My co-worker Angie gave me this recipe, and I think it's going to be a familiar sight at our house from now on.

Pumpkin Apple Struesel Muffins

2-1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 tbl pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten\

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups apples, peeled & finely chopped

In a large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients; set aside. In medium bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, & oil. Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients; stir just until moistened, stir in apples. Spoon batter into greased or paper lined muffin cups, filling 3/4 full. Sprinkle streusel topping over batter. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Streusel Topping:

2 tbl flour

4 tbl butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon in small bowl. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.

Our little pumpkin

Superman!

Superman on his way to the ward Halloween party. Luke says, "Superman!"

Luke & Claire

Halloween week at Gardner Village

Claire's First Halloween

Aren't I domestic?

Isn't that soft and pink and cute? Not Claire...her hat! I took a class to learn how to knit about 2 months ago and this hat is my first hat. Claire's a good sport to be my model. So far I've made a scarf, another hat for Claire, and I'm working on a hat for Luke that keeps causing me trouble.

Kim and I learned at the same time and it's been fun to have something new to do. It's the perfect thing to keep my hands busy when I watch TV, and the routine motion of it kinda helps me clear my head. So watch out, first hats, and scarves, then you never know...toilet paper cozies anyone?

Zoo Day

Earlier this month, we went to Hogle Zoo with Kim and Leslie and their kids. It was a perfect day for the zoo: sunny, mild, and not too crowded. I love those days. So, we had a big group of boys, and then little Miss Claire.


Luke had a blast because he loves being around other kids. I got a kick out of watching him just follow the other boys around and just laugh at nothing. Luke has such a joy for life. He has the best laugh.

We went all out this trip - we rode the brand new carousel (I'll stop myself from comparing it to the one at Disneyland), and the train. He made me ride the carousel with him, so yes, I got the full experience as well. As for the train, Luke loves trains ("Hi train!" he says when we first saw it) and was really excited to ride it.



It was Claire's first trip to the zoo and she was just as mellow and happy as ever. She's easy to take places because she usually just sleeps in the car seat or just looks out at everything. She's pretty easy going, so I'm enjoying that and hoping it will last!


We let the kids play at the playground for a bit and Kim took these cute pictures. (Kim took all our pictures since we're still without a camera!) Luke was being sweet, and realizing he got a great reaction, when he gave Claire a hug and kiss.


It really was an enjoyable, stress-free day.

Dixie Land

We love the landscape in southern Utah.

Luke and Kiel could throw rocks for hours, must be a boy thing.

Luke had a blast on all the rocks...except for the ones he made me carry him over...

I almost stepped on this desert turtle! Kiel stopped me just in time and I jumped a mile! Luke thought it was fascinating and Kiel helped it along because the poor thing was high centered on a rock.

Me and Kiel....

Grandma Davenport's House

As I mentioned earlier, over Labor Day weekend, we went to St. George to visit Grandma Davenport. We wanted to spend time with her and introduce her to Claire.

The Davenport Family

Here is a recent, and complete picture of my family, including mom and dad, and Chad and Whitney, and both our kids. (Claire isn't too happy in this one) This was taken in our front yard after Claire's blessing.

Growing

Our sweet Claire is up to 11.25 lbs and 23 inches now! Considering how teeny tiny she was when she was born, she's doing great! She's not wasting any time staying small and I'm sure soon she'll be in 3-6 month clothing (which is good because she has a lot of cute things to wear!). She's 11 weeks old now.


She's also really strong and has had no struggles lifting her head. She doesn't even mind doing tummy time.

Mueller Park

Mueller Park is just minutes from our house, but when you're there, you feel like you're away from everything. We have a favorite spot where the picnic table is right by the stream. Luke could throw rocks in the stream for hours. He is completely occupied with finding rocks and throwing them in the water. And when anyone throws a big rock in the water, he thinks that's really cool.

We went to Mueller Park after Claire's blessing with Chad and Whitney and Mom and Dad. Whitney took some really cute pictures.

Bathtime at Grandma's House

I love the newborn days when they can take a bath in the sink! That doesn't last too long!

Claire in the sink - 7 weeks old

Luke in the sink - 8 weeks old

Disneyland

We had a great time at Disneyland! It was Claire's 1st visit, and though she slept most of the day in the stroller, I think she knew how lucky she was! She got a "1st Visit to Disneyland" pin from the office on Main Street.

And Luke had a great time, of course. Being with grandma and papa, plus Disneyland = heaven.
He loved the Playhouse Disney show at California Adventure; he just snapped to attention when he saw the Little Einsteins. His absolute favorite thing at Disneyland is the Tiki Room, he sings along to the songs. He went twice, Grandma took him the second time, and she said that when they went in, Luke sat down and said, "Birdies, I'm back!"