Pretty....

I'll post more tomorrow, but here's a cool sunset picture from our sledding adventures Monday night. Good times!

Winter Poem

Mom fwd this to me after she got it from a friend. It's not quite this bad yet, but I feel it coming...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's winter in Utah
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Utah
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Utah
I'm frozen to the friggin' ground!

Our Christmas

My family has a long-standing tradition of having our big family get-together on Christmas Eve. Thanks to the wonders of Skype and the internet, we kind of got to be together, even though we are in Utah. Sherry, Jeff and the kids came out to Utah to visit us and Jeff's family, so they were here, along with Chris, the warehouse guy at Zac's store. I made lots of yummy food: mini bacon cheeseburgers wrapped in phyllo dough, potato skins, pigs-in-blankets, cheese dip, Kiss cookies, and chocolate/peanut butter chex mix ("puppy chow"). YUM!!! Here are some pictures from the crazy evening.

My family draws names for gifts - too many of us to buy for everybody! The adults draw between each other and each couple draws a kid's name. Todd & Carrie got Abby's name and got her a GREAT assortment of Color Wonder products. Woo hoo!!

Sherry said that the whole drive out here, Megan kept saying, "I see Abby! MY ABBY!" They had a great time together!

I got an awesome Razorback hoodie and new wallet from Carrie!



I don't where Zac's picture is...but he got new dress pants, Razorback sleep pants and yummy Indulgent Trail Mix from my Dad!


Matthew encouraged this - and then I think he regretted it! :) Abby sat on his face and bounced at one point...hilarious, but I didn't have the camera nearby!



And so we move to Christmas morning. We did our thing and then Skyped with the Arkansas branch of the Elliott family. Abby got a Dora Magic Fizzle Bath Wand. ooooohhh!! :) Megan got one the night before from Hope, and Abby really liked it! Score for Mommy & Daddy!

Wearing her new Abby Cadabby jammies, new cute boots, playing with her new 'puter.

For your sake, I won't tell you what this is - but it was hilarious. hehe (It's not THAT bad)

One of Abby's big presents from Santa. We've been planning this one for awhile!

Her new 'puter that she loves!

We got dressed in our snow clothes to go play in the mini-blizzard. Zac found a Chinese restaurant that was open so I didn't have to cook today!! :) LOVE HIM!!!

Abby likes the snow pretty well unless it's blowing in her face. Some of the drifts were almost half as tall as her!!

Merry Christmas!!!

The true meaning...

Our Christmas was pretty simple this year - finances and such kind of demanded it. But we loved everything we got and, in a way, I'm really glad it was simple, because it helped me focus even more on the true meaning of Christmas. As much as I love Santa and make him a part of our Christmas, I want to make sure Abby knows her Savior - he's much more important, really. :) So I will leave you with a scripture thought:

Luke 2:7 - "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

Merry Christmas!!

Abby's fashion statements

Thought I would share a couple of fun 'outfits' Abby has been sporting here lately. :)

We got her some pink furry snowboots last week. She had a gift card left from her birthday and that covered the boots - yea!! As you can tell, she really likes her boots and her "Santa Claus hat." She does NOT however, really love Santa Claus...the shirt lies! :) She likes the idea - just not the fat guy in the suit!

Here are pics of Abby in her Christmas dress. It's a borrowed hand-me-down from Angie & Vivian and I LOVE IT!!! Abby wasn't cooperating enough for me to get the grand, wonderful pictures that I wanted, but you can still tell how cute the dress is. And the cute kid makes it look even better, of course! :)

Merry Christmas!!

Yummy!!

I normally reserve recipes for my other blog, but I had to share this one. Fig's Cheese Muffins from the Pioneer Woman's blog. They are goooood! Similar to Red Lobster biscuits but with a better (I think) texture. Zac and I are going to a Christmas party this weekend and the hostess is making baked potato soup. These are going to be yummy with the soup! Mmmm...give them a try!!

Baby slings

Another giveaway that I've come across in my blog stalking! I'm posting this one for the benefit of others more than myself. lol For those of you who might need one, Mod Mum is giving away three of their really cute baby slings this month. Check out their site for giveaway details! There are lots of cute ones like the Bella (my overall fave) and the Camden (if I ever have a boy, I want this one). Wish I'd had one of these with Abby...

First trip to the dentist

Last Thursday, Abby made her first trip to the dentist! There was a coupon in our local paper for a free checkup and flouride treatment at a fairly new pediatric dental clinic. Abby's not on our dental insurance yet, so I figured this was the way to go! And if it didn't go well, that's ok - it was free!!

But it actually went fairly well. She was a little freaked out and did cry, but I was very pleased with how well she did!!

The really, really nice hygienist helped Abby pick out a new toothbrush.

She settled on Darby from the new Winnie the Pooh show.

She wasn't really sure about the chair. They tried to lean it back, but that wasn't happening! (Even though Dora was playing on the TV in the ceiling...wish my dentist had that!) I ended up holding her and laying her back into Dr. Richter's lap.


A picture with all of her goodies! A sucker, bag of dental goodies and a 'magic wand'! She's frowning because I made her take a picture before she could eat the sucker!

I was so proud of how well my litle girl did!!

On a different note - look how well she holds her pen! I had to post this one to make Aunt Christine proud! :)

Things we miss about Arkansas...

Don't get me wrong...we're really enjoying our time in Utah. We are discovering lots of awesome stuff out here. But there are some things that Arkansas has that Utah doesn't...I'll mostly be focusing on food stuff here.


**Awesome fried catfish. We miss The Crooked Hook in Jacksonville but we REALLY miss the gas station in El Dorado. I don't know the name of it. But I know that they have the best catfish in the entire world.

**Good, cheesy Mexican food. We mourn the loss of Casa Mexicana.

**Cheese dip at Mexican restaurants. They just don't have it here. They do bean dip. UGH. Again, mourning the Casa.

**Mexican restaurants in general. Most everything here is a Mexican-grill type place. I want to sit down and have a little guy bring me a bowl of red salsa and a basket of chips without charging me extra. Is that too much to ask?

**U.S. Pizza salads. I'm sure there's a good salad somewhere around here. But not like that.

**Pork fried rice. They do ham fried rice here...like, ham lunchmeat. And they don't put peas and carrots in it. Weird.

Christmas activities at church

In the last week, we had two activities at church to help us get in the Christmas spirit! The first was an annual outdoor activity called Walk To Bethlehem. Everyone walks (or parks at the church and walks) to the Bishops yard for a short musical/narrative program. (Remember, in Utah, the congregation's boundaries aren't all that big!) The kids are invited to dress as animals or shepherds to sit in the nativity during the program.

I was asked to lead the music and was a little nervous at first. After all, I don't know these people -- will they be as generous and nice to me as my friends in NLR? I called Sherry, my music guru, a few times to help me with the keys/pitchpipe tips, etc. Everything went really well! The pitchpipe needed tuning or something, but I was able to give the ntoes and everybody sang. It was so much fun!! As you can tell, it started snowing, which added to the fun atmosphere. A really neat tradition for us to join!

And this morning was our Breakfast With Santa activity. We were sad that Daddy didn't get to join us for this activity. Here's a picture of Abby and me before the festivities began...

They served a breakfast casserole (eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, cheese) and festive green and red pancakes. A little strange with the colored pancakes, but good! Abby practiced her knife skills...

Yesterday and this morning, Abby kept saying, "I want to see Santa Claus!" She got very upset when it took so long to get to that part. But for all her big talk, the end result...

wasn't all that great! She wouldn't go anywhere near Santa! She took his candy cane and ran for the hills!! But for the rest of the day, all I heard was, "I saw Santa Claus. He give me canee." I guess in her sweet mind, she was a very brave girl!

Trying to get the picture...

Ah, the saga of the family Christmas picture. With my crazy (in a good way!) hubby and goofy kid, I never know what we'll get. Here are a few of the interesting shots we ended up with...

Abby decided that everyone needed to try on her Santa hat...

Trying a zoomed-in face shot. Abby wasn't thrilled with the idea...



Centering the camera



If Zac's grin doesn't make you smile, you have a heart of stone. :) Isn't he cute?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

YEA!! I absolutely LOVE Christmas! The music, the decorations, it's all WONDERFUL!!! Last night Zac got out the boxes of stuff and we spread it all around. Our Christmas spirit started on Monday, though, when Zac went to get our tree. We didn't bring our artificial tree with us and decided to buy a real one so that we wouldn't have to store anything!

I've been keeping a friend's kids for a few days while she works. Tate helped Abby and me put the tree stand together.

Here's our cute tree! The artificial one we had was given to us by some friends that were moving overseas. We loved it, but it was a little small and spindly. So having a tall, fat tree is really exciting!!

Getting to the Christmas decorations meant going through lots of other boxes that Zac had expertly packed in our storage closet. These are some boots of Zac's that Abby had fun with.

On to the Christmas decor!! My mom bought us this nativity set for our first Christmas - I love it!!

This nativity is Zac's. My mom has one very similar to it that we put up every year, so it makes me happy to have it!!

I don't care what anyone says, Santa is a part of Christmas. (Not the main part - but still a part) He can co-exist with the nativities, especially in my apartment that lacks display space. :) I've always loved the old world style Santas. Isn't he cute?

Abby discovered that I had a candy cane in my purse and ate THE WHOLE THING. She loved the "canney" and had to have a bath afterward to get rid of all the stickiness!

Zac trying to figure out all the Christmas tree lights...

I feel a tradition coming on. I started making these awesome cookies because I am taking dinner to a family at church tonight. But I think cookie making and decorating could be the beginning of a great tradition. Abby has a lot of fun helping me cook.

"I mik (mix) it! Abby heyulp (help)! Abby turn!"

Chilling in front of the almost completed Christmas tree.

The completed tree. We still need some kind of shiny star or something for the top. I got the gold twirly things in the fake flower dept at Wal-Mart. We like the extra oomph that they add.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Giveaways Galore...

There are so many giveaways in the blogging world! Check out Sherbert Blosom's giveaway marathon for lots of fun prizes!!

I just love these silly things...

I know, I know....but hey, if you're blog-stalking like I do, at least it gives you something new to read!!

Things you might not know about me

WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Not really...my parents gave me the same initials (SLH) as my Mom and older sister, Sherry, though

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Yesterday...but my wonderful hubby brought me roses and that made it better!!

DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey - I'm kind of a lunch meat snob

DO YOU HAVE KIDS? One daughter (and a husband!)

IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I would like to think so.

DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? No, never. :o/

DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup

WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Heck no!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cheerios!!

DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No

DO YOU THINK YOU’RE STRONG? I can be when I need to be

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Anything with brownie bits...I am currently missing some Wooo Pig Chewie - it's not available all the way out here in Utah

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Facial expressions

RED OR PINK? Oh, this is tough....right now, it's red

WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I wish I was more focused

WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Gray PJ pants and socks, no shoes

WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Hamburger Helper - I went gourmet tonight...lol

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Zac snoring on the couch :)

IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Pink

FAVORITE SMELLS? Abby when she's all clean from her bath; Homemade bread baking; Rain

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My younger sister, Hope

FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Football or basketball

HAIR COLOR? Brown; but my danged silver streaks are coming back!!

EYE COLOR? Brown

DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yup

FAVORITE FOOD? Sushi - haven't had any in awhile, not in the budget...

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings. I don't do scary movies.

LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? On the big screen - Twilight!! Rented - Because I Said So

SUMMER OR WINTER? Winter -- although I haven't experienced either season in Utah, so we'll see if that changes

FAVORITE DESSERT? Fudgy warm brownies with chocolate chips and pecans!!

WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? I just started The Appeal by John Grisham

WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? A gel-filled wrist support thingy

WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LATE LAST NIGHT? Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network

FAVORITE SOUND? Abby laughing, Zac saying "I love you"

ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles

WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Other than where I am right now, it'd be New York City

WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Tulsa, Oklahoma

Sleeping

Isn't it funny how little kids fight sleep? And then, as adults, we long for naps and bedtime? Abby has had trouble going to sleep since we moved; but once she's out, she's out!

Looks super comfortable, huh?

And here she is lying on the couch in her jammies with one of her handmade blankies from 'Gramma Juanita,' one of my Mom's best friends. (Mom, make sure she sees this picture!)

She's very particular about this blanket. It's two-sided and if I put the wrong side up, she says, "I want other side!" Crazy girl...

The Dora doll is a new purchase from KB Toys in Park City (the outlet mall!! woo hooo). She carries it everywhere. The My Little Pony is from a Happy Meal. She's getting to be more "little girl' with her toys, not just playing with baby dolls anymore....so sad. :(

Giveaway

If you have a little girl (or if you want to win this for my girl!), you should check out this giveaway for a really cute bow holder!! I keep thinking I'm going to make one for Abby, but it hasn't happened yet...

Thanksgiving

So, we went to the White's house for Thanksgiving. It was fun! They also invited Ray (their district mgr) and his family, and Jake's parents were there. It adds up to 8 adults and 6 kids. Having Thanksgiving with a bunch of people raised in the Midwest included foods that we Southerners aren't so used to! :o) Our menu included:

*Turkey

*Ham (I brought it!)

*Mashed potatoes/Gravy

*Butternut squash

*Stuffing

(I've never had stuffing, but it was pretty good)

*Cranberry sauce

*Rolls

*Pear jello salad

*Pies

(Apple, chocolate mousse, mincemeat, pumpkin)

*Cute little reindeer cookies

(Sugar cookies with Reeses cups bodies, Reeses pieces feathers and licorice waddles. CUTE!)

I feel like I'm missing something, but this covers the basics. Zac tried the mincemeat pie and said it was "interesting." He ate the whole piece, so it must have been a good interesting. I stuck with the chocolate mousse and reindeer cookies.

After dinner, Sarah and I went to find a newspaper...took a little bit of driving, but we got one! While we girls perused the sale ads, the boys got comfy on the couch:

Jake and his Dad are on the couch by the window, along with Shelby the dog. Ray and Zac are there on the right. None of the boys even moved when the camera flashed! Sarah and I ended up going to Shopko and Michaels to looks for some Thanksgiving Day sales. Didn't buy anything - but it was nice to get out of the house for some Mommy Time.

The kids had a good time playing. Jake & Sarah have a HUGE basement that makes a great playroom. Abby came upstairs and pulled on Jake's pant leg to show him her newest toy discovery:

She's taking her OSHA heritage very seriously. hahahaha And of course, she was sporting her Razorback cheerleading outfit. Woooo, Pig Soooie!!!

So, we had a pretty fun Thanksgiving. Very different - only my second Thanksgiving being away from family. How was yours?

Holiday favorites

Zac and I got an invitation to have Thanksgiving dinner with the White family. Jake is Zac's manager and his wife, Sarah, is my new buddy. So we are trying to decide what we want to take to dinner and it got us started on our favorite holiday foods. I will try to post recipes on my Excellent Eats blog in the coming weeks. We don't care for a lot of the traditional holiday foods like dressing (I know my MIL is reading this and probably just had a stroke) but there are still lots of foods we do like. Some aren't traditional at all...but still good.


**My fruit salad (my nephew, Dylan's, favorite!)
**Meemaw's Oreo ice cream
**Sheila's pecan cobbler (Holy crap - this stuff will up your blood sugar to 1,000,000 but it is SOOOO GOOOOD!!!)
**Mamaw's pound cake with vanilla sauce
**Hope's sausage balls
**Hope's sopapilla cheesecake (Zac saw me type Hope's name on the sausage balls and told me to add this one pretty quickly)
**My dad's fried turkey
**My pineapple & brown sugar glazed ham
**Aunt Donna's layered salad (this is a new one, it's yummy)
**My homemade rolls


I'm sure there are more and I will probably add to this list. What are your favorite holiday foods?

Giveaway

Heard about this giveaway on Jennifer's website. Her friend is giving away some fun makeup stuff....check it out!!

Stolen from Rikki's Facebook

Stole this from my friend Rikki's Facebook...I'm retarded and love these things. Feel free to steal it for your blog/Facebook!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi my name is: Sarah Leanne Elliott

Never in my life have I been to: Boston

The one person who can drive me nuts is: My husband (but there's nobody else I'd rather put up with!)

When I'm nervous I: Tend to get easily overwhelmed and semi-freak out

The last song I listened to was: one of Michael Buble's songs...can't remember which one

My hair is: Free of silver streaks, at least for the next few weeks

When I was 5: I was in kindergarten

Last Christmas: Was our second one with our Abby Punkin

I should be: In bed asleep

When I look right: I see a little girl asleep in the recliner who should be in her bed.

I'm looking forward to: Seeing my hubby next Saturday. I miss him!!

If I were a character on Grey's Anatomy: I wouldn't know who to be; I've only seen half of an episode...

By this time next year: I might be pregnant again....??

My current annoyance is: Clutter.

I have a hard time understanding: How people can be ok with abortion - It disgusts me.

There's this girl I know who: Is the cutest thing ever and is asleep in the recliner right now. :)

If I won an award, the first person I would tell would be: Zac

I want to buy: The Cricut Expression

If you visited the place I'm from: Your sinuses would be going crazy.

I'd rather hold a cockroach than: A mouse.

The most recent thing I've bought myself was: Getting my hair colored.

Most recent thing someone else bought me was: Admission to my nephew's football game on Friday night.

In the mornings: I'm a little retarded.

Last night: We drove to see my nephew's football game - looooong drive.

If I were an animal I would be: A bear - hibernating sounds fun.

Tomorrow I am: Going to church, then hanging with my in-laws.

Tonight I am: Sharing a bed with my toddler. :o/

Flying

By the time most of you read this, Abby and I will be on our way to Little Rock, via Chicago O'Hare.  Zac gave us both blessings and so I know everything will be ok.  But, if you find some space in your thoughts, think a little prayer for us - especially for my patience and my nerves!!

Thanks, love ya!!!

SNOW!!

Tuesday night was bad.  Abby woke up around 2:00am and, after time in the bed with  Mommy and on the couch with Daddy, didn't have a lot of luck going back to sleep.  Finally, around 6:30 she fell asleep in the bed with me.  (By the way, this is not normal for her; once she's asleep, she generally stays that way.)  After all that, none of us woke up until after 10:00.  Abby and I woke up when Zac yelled, "Holy crap!"  I nearly jumped out of the bed!  He came in the  bedroom and said, "Look outside!!"

About six inches of snow had fallen during the night.  Zac went out  around 10:00pm Tuesday night for McDonald's french fries (we binged on fries because we were mourning the election results) and it wasn't snowing at all.  So all of this came in the middle of the night.  By the time we got up, though, all the roads and sidewalks were  cleared and kids were in school.  Totally not the way it would have worked in Arkansas!

So we got some breakfast, got dressed and headed to the nearby park to play in the snow.  Besides the playground area, there's also a huge field that they use for various kids sports.  It was so pretty to see the snow everywhere!

Abby and Daddy couldn't pass up the chance to slide, even in the snow!

And then, of course, we all had to swing.

These are just a few pics of our awesome neighborhood park.  Here's the Little Tykes playground set.

And this is the big playground set.

And a picture of the skate/bike park.

So, we were the only dorks out playing in the snow because people here in Utah just don't appreciate it.  lol  But I can get used to that...