Ice Skating

We've been wanting to go ice skating all break, so we decided to go for it tonight. Check out the world's smallest skates and cutest child.
Macey did really well walking on her skates, and slid and skidded all over the ice. Macey wasn't the only one having her first ice skating experience! Thomas had never been before. He was a natural. Winter Olympics 2010 here he comes!

This is how we spent most the the evening though! GENIUS! We just stuck Macey on this cone and pushed her with us! It worked perfect.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas one and all! Our little family had a great week here in Provo. Monday it snowed and snowed, at least a foot. So I spent the day making a gingerbread house. I've been making them yearly since I was young.

We had to stay in town to manage the apartments. With no family in town, we spent the holiday with friends. Christmas Eve we enjoyed time at the Bishop's of the singles ward house. The Hunts treated us just like family. They do a major production of The Nativity every year. Macey was a little shepherd and we were Mary and Joseph. It was so much fun.

Bishop's specialty is making the wisemen's "crowns". They are made with heavy duty aluminum foil and lots of creativity. Check out the foil masterpieces.
Christmas morning was our first with just our little family. Macey loved opening presents and got lots of stuffed animals, clothes, and these little mice finger puppets that hide in their box.
Thomas got some tools including a riveter. He got me two flat screen monitors for my computer. He's just as excited about them as I am. We had a tasty Christmas lunch with the O'Dell's.

We are going to Indiana next week to welcome my brother home from his mission in England. It's been over a year since we've been back. I'm looking forward to visiting all my family and friends. Tyler has never even met Macey or Lachelle's youngest Alexander. More posting to come!

Tagged and such.

We've never been tagged before! So I thought we better do it! Thanks Kristin! 6 quirky things about us. Thomas wouldn't write his own, so I'm doing them for him! It was easier to think about little known quirky things for him than for myself.

1. Thomas has a photographic memory. I don't fully understand it, but seeing or reading something once means that it is in his little head.

2. Thomas wants to own a giant Galapagos Island Tortoise. He thinks it would be a super fun family pet to have in the backyard. No one knows how old they live because they have outlived the first scientists who started studying them. He thinks it would be cool if in like 300 years it would still be in the family... a family heirloom turtle!

3. Thomas has cat eyes. Check them out next time you see him. It is a condition called bilateral coloboma. It is pretty rare and even more rare that both of his eyes are like that. His vision isn't affected by it except for being more sensitive to car lights while driving at night.

4. I want to be a mother of multipules. Weird I know, but that is my hearts desire. I would love love love to have twins, triplets, or even quads. Sign me up.

5. Thomas and I didn't see a movie in the theater together until after we were married. In the last 3 1/2 years we've seen less than a handful (maybe 5...). We just aren't major movie people.

6. Thomas and I are adamant "anti-spanking" parents. 85% of today's parents were spanked as kids and 69% spank their own kids (babycenter.com). There is no way we will ever spank our kids; not even "once in a while" to make a serious point. Don't get me started... I'll get on a soap box.

I tag Driel and Evan and Ben and Lachelle!

We also went to dinner at The Roof on top of the Joseph Smith Building in downtown SLC. The owners of the complex we manage took us for Christmas! Check out our view!

Happy Anniversary Chicken Pot Pie. 3 years and counting!
She came out to help us shovel walks, but she had to hold her babies and wouldn't walk in the snow. She kept saying - Stuck, up please (tuck, uppease)

Girl in the plastic bubble...

Utah is a cold, cold place. Macey and I, along with some friends, run in the mornings. It's been a little too cold for Macey though and she cries while we are out. Last week I went running on my own before she woke up so that she didn't have to suffer. After a week of that I decided 1) I'm a social exerciser 2) no one likes getting up earlier than needed. Solution to the cold: Make little Mace a bubble of warmth!

After a few hours and phone calls to The Sewing Master (aka my mom) Here is what we came up with. This was Macey this morning on the bubble's maiden voyage. She didn't fuss once in the hour and ten minutes we were out! SUCCESS!Reason for the cold - beautiful snow. Macey loves Aunt "saa-saa"

Chrissi hosted a fabulous Ugly Sweater Christmas Party! DI was no good to me, so I didn't wear one. Chrissi on the other hand found a real treasure to be cherished! Her treats for the party would have made Martha Stewart proud. Ask her for her whoopie pie and mint brownie recipe...

Not the best picture, but this helps you see the sweaters. Evan, Jaime, and Sarah and Ty. Ty's little number won him the "ugliest sweater award" for the men.

Bath Baby

Macey has started doing this funny thing where she goes into her room and picks up as many toys as she can hold. She then wanders around the house holding them all, occasionally sitting to play. When she wants to get up again, she has to pick up EVERYTHING and hold it in her arms. If she drops something she'll bend down to get it, dropping something else; it can take a long time to get moving again! She can't move on with out everything; nothing can be left behind.

So she was holding all of her things when it was bath time. So the best I could do was to convince her the only take the water safe things. She LOVED her bath today. What a goon!

Christmas is comin' to town!

What a fun time of year. I looked at the calendar this week and could NOT believe how far into December we are! I said to myself

"Self, you're never going to get your Christmas cards in the mial, you haven't
even TAKEN a family picture, let alone done anything else."

This was Tuesday. I think Christmas carding is a treasure so I buckled down and got to work...
Wednesday afternoon - picture taken by friend Rivka
Wednsday night - Thomas photoshops my ugly mug to make it not so ugly
Thursday morning- take CD to Walgreens where they gave me a rockin' deal and were done in 11 minutes!
Thursday afternoon- write letter, print address lables yada yada yada they will be in the mail tomorrow! How is that for some quick work. Check out the finished picture! My theory is if you take enough pictures, you are bound to get a decent one you can fix with photoshop...

Moriah and Macey helped me with the dishes. They wore my tupperware as hats! I wish I could have gotten a better picture. So funny.

Cousin Christmas dinner! Sarah, Christa, Darcy, Macey, Me, and Kaley
I love having family in Provo!

I like winter food.

Gardening season has come and gone, but a few things are still out in our garden. I have kale (the purple stuff), green onions, carrots, and parsley. I'll post a great kale recipe sometime soon.
I'm a super dork I know; check out this monster carrot I found yesterday! Most are about the size of walnuts - short and fat. This was a very proud moment for me. Mace-face was checking herself out in the reflection in the bumper. She even kissed herself.

At Macey's the grocery story you get a coupon for $.50 cents off a turkey every time you spend $25. This is pretty much the only place we shop! We just love it... We boycotted Wal-Mart about 7 months ago and haven't looked back. Anyways, since Macey's is where all my money goes I ended up paying $.98 cents for a 23 lb. turkey! It was in the fridge thawing for 8 days! I finally cooked it tonight. Check out the time on the clock... 9:43pm. It took 7 hours and 43 minutes for this bad boy to cook. I was planning on 5 hours. Good thing we had some leftovers in the fridge for dinner! We would have starved waiting for it. I will now have a freezer full of cooked turkey bird meat to put in my chicken recipes for the rest of the winter! Hurray!

Thanksgiving - Orderville Style

We love going to Thomas' parents. Orderville is always an adventure!

Thomas and his dad Terry decided to change the tire on this monster (Terry loves large machinery...). Notice the itty-bitty jack this thing is sitting on!

Breaking the bead on one massive tire! They were out there all morning changing 3 tires.Orderville, like most small towns, is obsessed with sports. So every year on Friday and Saturday after Tgiving they have the Turkey Tournament for their high schools' alumni and spouses. Men play basketball and women volleyball. The teams are made up of families. So two of my sister-in-laws and I played on a v-ball team together! We were 5-1 so we played the championship game and WON! Below is our team (minus Sally) with our sweet volleyball prize!
I'm not gonna lie... I was SUPER nervous. Everyone else on the team was really good and I've never played organized volleyball (unless YW's counts...). All in all I had a great time! I feel like a true Griffiths now; I've won a sporting event. I am a part of the family officially after 3 years.

Thomas played some great basketball! His team didn't win, but he did make the alternative team! He rocks. What an athletic family I have. This is what we did most of the weekend! Played in games or watched them. Mace and I got sick again the Sunday before we left and stayed sick. I didn't eat much for Thanksgiving and she threw up all over her Grandma's backseat... oh a Grandma's love, she didn't even mind. I think we are finally better though. Cross your fingers.

Hurray for decorating for Christmas! That is next to come!

Turkey Bowl

*Picture for last post... This was what Macey looked like when I was sick. Dancing on a box, no pants, one sock; she was a mess, pretty funny. Wow she looks a stout here.

Turkey Bowl 2008

What would Thanksgiving be without a little football? Here is Thomas playing with the ward!

After the game Macey and Thomas found some marker cones aka "hats". Then the ward had Steakout cater lunch! Yum!

Sis Sarah and I decided to make cards and craft this afternoon. I whipped up a little Thanksgiving decor. I think I'll take it to Orderville for the dinner table center...

Well we had a great weekend! We took Macey to the Bean museum on Friday afternoon and she LOVED all of the "teddies". I love BYU.

The sicky tooltard.

It's been a little while! Thomas and I got the stomach flu over the weekend and today is the first day that we feel like normal people again. We still haven't really eaten yet though. Cherry 7-Up and Dr. Pepper are my new best friends. I don't wish that bug on anyone, at least Macey didn't get it with us!

I'm such a tooltard. I've been trying really hard to listen to Thomas when we are at Home Depot for little clues as to things he would like to own. You know- Christmas present ideas. The thing is as soon as he says them I can remember then long enough to get home and write them down. I feel like I'm going to have to carry a pen and paper with me to write it down on the spot if I'm ever to remember. Poor man is going to end up with a tie every year if I don't figure out how to remember the odd named wrenches he would use (socket, monkey, lug, spanner, strap, stubby... how is a woman to know the difference).

What are you all getting the love of your life for Christmas?? Any ideas??

We are leaving Tuesday for southern Utah and are SO excited. We haven't been to his parents house since July... There will be lots of pictures to come!

Triplets for a night...

Two different friends asked me to babysit last night. All three of the kids at my house were born within 3 months, so I felt like I had triplets. I'm not gonna lie, twins sound a lot easier.

Everyone wanted to spin on the office chair...
30 seconds later:

Chaos

Everyone wants to play the piano!
30 seconds later:

Chaos

All in all we had a great time. Bless all you moms who have more than one kid... you rock.

The Condiment Queen

I left the room for a second and Macey made herself right at home with my snack... veggies and some ranch dip. She picked up a carrot, dipped into ranch, licked off ranch, repeated. She loves all condiments namely ranch, ketchup, and EZcheese. I can't give them to her with her meal because that would be all she would eat.

Notice the ranch in her hair... yucko. She also loves sour cream and ate about a half a cup of it last week when I let her eat it to her hearts desire. I had to cut her off there though! Today she eventually ditched the carrot stick and just ate the ranch with her hands.

Here's a fall recipe you have to try! I've made it probably 5 times and love it!

Apple Bars:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8x8 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix melted butter with sugar and egg. Mix in flour, baking soda, and cinnamon, and then stir in apple and walnuts. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I recommend doubling it and making a 9x13, baking the same amount of time... trust me you'll eat it. I used a few types of apples, Granny Smith being my favorite. I also made a "healthier" version with applesauce instead of butter, less sugar, and adding flax seed. It was fine, but lets be honest, the full fat version is real good!

Let me know how it turns out!

She isn't 2 yet is she?

So Macey has learned the art of the tantrum in a matter of 2 days. She isn't 2 yet, she isn't even 18 months yet! She sure is smart though and is having a rough time not getting her way. What do I do??

Maybe she isn't feeling well? getting teeth? Whatever it is her red-headed fury is astounding. Who would have known something so little could have so much spunk?

Good thing she's cute... I think we'll keep her regardless of her anger management issue. And if you have any advice or books I should know about PLEASE inform me!

Weekend of Weekends

Friday

Happy Halloween/ Birthday Thomas!

Presents bright and early! Notice Macey's sweet scratch on her eye... fell out of the stroller.

We went to see the 1925 silent movie Phantom of the Opera with Chace and Rivka (left). There was an amazing organist in the theater playing for the movie! So sweet. Nate and Tara (right) watched Mace-face for us! They even took her trick-or-treating!

The fattiest cake you'll ever meet, but wow was it worth it! Quarter of a century old and still looking good!

Saturday

My sister Sarah, Macey, and I drove up to Idaho Falls to visit my sister Lachelle who just had a beautiful little boy! Alexander Paul Barnes. My mom was in town from Kentucky so we had a mini family reunion!

Macey and her Grandma

Sunday

Thomas got called into the bishopric in a singles ward here at BYU. Sunday was our first official day in the new ward! His parents and a few sisters came for the event! Macey and I go to the singles ward with him every Sunday from now on! I'm sure that we are going to have some fun stories. Macey is the ONLY kid so it makes her seem even louder than she already is! It should be a great adventure for our little family.

Croup

Croup Symptoms
Children with croup usually wake up in the middle of the night with a loud cough that sounds like a barking seal. Other croup symptoms might include a fever, hoarse voice and runny nose.
In more severe cases, children will also have stridor, which the AAP describes as a "coarse, musical sound each time that he breathes in."
If a child with croup has stridor while he is quite and sleeping or resting, that is usually a sign that he is having a lot of trouble breathing and you should seek medical attention.
These croup symptoms are caused by swelling and mucus buildup below the child's vocal cords.

Holy smokes no one warned me about croup...
So this is what Macey has been battling for the last 4 days! The poor little thing is miserable. We've been to the Dr. every morning for the last 4 days so that they can keep an eye on her because she has had a severe case. Not so fun! Her little voice is super hoarse but really high pitched and she sounds like Darth Vader when she breathes.

I attempted to capture her funny sounds on video, but you can't tell very well. The staticy sound that you hear is her breathing in...

Thomas has been a life saver! Croup is worse at night = no sleep! She gets coughing fits and then hyperventilates and can't breath! We've been taking turns sleeping in her room to make sure she is ok. Tonight is the 5th night though and hopefully it will get better! Who would have known?

The Family Up-date!

Thomas noticed that the blog was lacking in the family photos... so here are a few!

Our fall harvest. Notice the blanket covering my tomatoes in the background... I lasted a few extra days but eventually the frost won. We are done gardening for the winter. What sad time of the year for plants...

She decided she needed to wear this skirt on her head. She was really happier about it than she looks at this moment!

Macey learning to eat with a spoon; an acquired skill...

Her favorite little trick... I'll stand upside down and look at you mom.Love love loves my glasses.

Thomas and I at the luncheon for the Hinckley scholarship he received.

Ward Halloween Party. Tiger and tiger hunters.

The Tiger. A holiday devoted to sugar. How can that be bad?