Happy Valentines!

There is so much to love:
Ryan
Brigham
Ryan & Brigham together
Brigham's cheeks
Sleeping through the night
Family Naps
Wonderful Friends
Netflix Instant
A husband that can cook dinner
Brigham's Eyes when he smiles his BIG smile
Long, hot, showers
Packages in the mail
My Beehives
The millions of sounds that Brigham makes
A phone call from a friend or family member
A really good joke
Giveaways
Reading
Cuddling
...have I mentioned Brigham?

Starting out the New Year with some New Stuff!

About a month ago we caught the "re-do" bug or maybe it was the "replace" bug? Either way Ryan has been working on the house in a big way! First we said good bye to our bathroom "tile". Don't be fooled. It's pretty much laminate that we learned is usually used in camper trailers and not in homes (having to deal with the previous owners "home improvement" decisions this didn't surprise us in the least bit. You might be shocked and I wouldn't blame you...I could tell you stories man....stories) Anywho....good bye laminate tile! You were easy to clean, but ya just couldn't handle the water like ya ought to!

Hello clean, white, easy-to-clean, excellen-chaulking-job-Ryan, mold-free, brand-new and inexpensive NEW bathtub surround!! Happy to have you!

Our next endovor was New Carpet!! Oh my what a difference it truley makes to have new carpet. We look like a new home!!

Old, dirty and worn. As you can see there is a lovely pattern that marks where all the traffic has been - and hasn't been!

Hello beautiful NEW carpet. Brigham likes you. I like you and Ryan likes you too!!

BIG thank you to my Handy-man husband Ryan. He did it all!! Along with some good help from our friends the Allens - we really couldn't have put in the new carpet without you!!

Brigham's First Christmas

So, let's just pretend that this was posted a few days after Christmas instead of a whole month and a half later (and while we're still pretending could you turn the pics the right way....like I did, but for some reason they didn't load the right way...Thanks!)

Brigham's first Christmas was just as fun as he is!! We traveled on the best weather days and we got to see tons of family & friends (sadly not all of them, but we can always try for next year!!) and came home with more toys than Brigham knows what to do with!!We had Christmas Eve dinner with the Pope....at Buca Di Beppos! This is one of the hardest-to-get tables and WE GOT IT!! The food was AMAZING!! (I could eat their cheesy garlic bread....oh the drool, it's getting in the way of my typing!!) Buca's is a Great Italian family style restaurant that I think will be part of our Christmas Eve tradition from now on! After some Christmas Eve gift opening at Grandpa's house (Brig's began the incredibly enormous toy collection there) we then spent the night at Grandma's. All the cousins were very excited Christmas morning to see if Santa had come! Oh the gifts - and toys - became more plentiful after that! Do you see the incredibly cute bow and gift tag with that gift? Yeah, I made them myself. At Super Saturday there was a gift bow and tag making demo....I learned, I'm addicted, I'm never going to wrap the same again! Brigham had ALOT of fun playing with the little strips of paper that he would pull off with is little pudgy fingers, the toy train was just an after thought. I was pretty proud of myself with the gifts I got for Ryan - he's sooo hard to shop for, but I really made a home run with Star Wars the Force Unleashed for Wii (he still plays it!) and I got...... A Silhouette!!! YEAH!! Do you know what that means for you?? No more posts regarding giveaways for it!! Woot! Woot! Now I can just post my uber fabulous crafts that I make with it!Onto Christmas with the Steiny's!! Everyone was home (including Jana & Brent from Louiiiisiana!). Brigsy got to meet his Uncle Brent for the first time - they hit it off right away. At some point in the week Brigham and Brent bonded while cuddling and watching football together (aaawh!) As you can see here Brigham has many cousins that are willing to help him with whatever he requires: food, toys and hydrated lips! It's so great to have Brigham surrounded by so many cousins - and he loves it too. We went through the whole Steiny Family Christmas vacation traditions! Gingerbread house making, big family dinners, Park City (I got to leave Brigham at home with the boys while I scored on 47 cent tank tops and $4 jeans!!), Brigs & Dad (and Grandpa) went a Jazz game, movies & games and of course....sledding.

This was Brighams first year. We bundled him up, hauled him out and then .... the screaming, the tears....the frustration!! It really was my fault because it was around his nap time so he really wasn't up for much anyways, but finally after a little help from Daddy, he seemed okay with trying it. We went down a few times. He kept a straight face so we think he liked it....maybe. And then he went back into the car for some warmth and hot chocolate.

The rest of the vacation just few by in a blur of Movies. Food. Ham. More Ham. Must request that we don't have ham for New Years so I can cut one ham out of my vacation. Cafe Rio. Quilt Making. Pedicures. Family Pictures (do NOT go to Sears at Jordan Landing).Ice Cream. Cold Stone Hot Chocolate (oh yeah). Scary snow storms. forming the Steiny Family Bookclub. La Puente Salsa (if you want me to do anything - even if it's illegal, give me this salsa!). New Years. Shrimp Ring. Family Guy doing the Star Wars Tilogy. Aunts & Uncles. More cousins than you can shake a stick at. Stuffy Noses. Fleece Sheets. More food. Getting the song "I Whip My Hair" stuck in my head for the rest of the trip. Reading. Good conversations. Kissing. Fun........oh so much fun. We headed back home...we knew that it snowed, but we weren't expecting THIS!

We couldn't even get into our driveway. Two feet of snow. Thick, heavy, broke our second shovel - snow. Most of you know my feelings about snow and this didn't help it any. Ryan (the tiny figure you see hunched over at the stoop of the step trying to make a way to get to the house) shoveled while I went over to Candace's and heard about the snow storm that went for a full 24 hours .....so glad we weren't in Burns for that!As you can see, with my trusty snow gauge, it snowed far too much. Now (in February) it's pretty much melted with the exception of the mounds from snow plows - those won't go until July. But we made it home safe and sound and after Ryan shoveled us in (and Dan plowed our drive way). We spent the next few weeks unpacking. Why weeks you ask? Because I hate unpacking just as much as I hate putting my laundry away!

It's the start of something new!

Aaah, so as you can see I'm starting to move away from the Christmas theme of the blog and I'm currently trying to make my header, but it's taking forever!! So be patient. So I noticed on Facebook that a friend of mine had signed up for a free photography class - FREE!! and I just couldn't resist clicking on it for more info.

This class is being offered by Willette Photography & More and it looks really fun - and did I mention it's Free! I've read so many posts by some of you who are trying new things and I thought, "this will be my new thing to try" so here we go - I'm excited - I've never been much for photography, but since Brigs landed on the scene I just can't stop taking pictures and would LOVE to have some advice on taking better ones.

The class starts February 1st so there is still time to sign up!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

WHAT! Only a few days till Christmas?!?

We better stop playing around and get some things done!!

We'll put up some festive decorations like: the ULTRA cute sign that I bought this year (Ryan wasn't too thrilled) and the home made wreath that Brenda made (I have been the lucky recipient of her homemade floral arrangements ALL year long!)
And put up the Christmas tree!! Meet Evelyn the Evergreen. For those who are new to us: each year we name our tree alternating between male & female names (we tried peeking under the boughs, but we couldn't see much) WE LOVE Evelyn!! Wilbur was great last year, but a bit too bushy, Evelyn is juuuuust right!
This will be the last year that we can decorate the tree down to the bottom!

Start making Christmas treats!! I went to my first cookie exchange this year. Sadly the cookies didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. Don't worry Cookie Swap Ladies after the new year I will make my Chocolate Chip Pretzel cookies again and you'll see what an awesome cookie it is when it's done right. As you can see Brigs has really become interested in food!

We had to see Santa!! Brigham did very well and didn't cry at all. He even boldly tugged on the "old guys" beard. There must be a reason he felt so comfortable....ya better look twice at Santa he looks oddly familiar!

This year I decided to be frugal and send out Postcards instead of cards, letters & envelopes. So far they have been a hit! I need to make sure to get more next year- we've run out already!!

Merry Christmas to all of you! We have truely had a very blessed year. Our sweet little Brigham brings us more joy than we could even imagine. We thank our Heavenly Father for him daily. We are thankful for our home, Ryan's job, church callings that keep us on our toes and of course our Family & Friends!!

Thank you for being a part of our lives. We hope that you have a peaceful Winter,

a Merry Christmas & a very Happy New Year!!

My Oatmeal Souffle Recipe

I shared my Oatmeal Souffle recipe on She Said today! Make sure to click over there and check it out!

The Mormon at the Catholic Christmas Bazaar in the Baptist Church

Burns doesn't have alot. We are a pretty rural place....well really rural, we are two hours from any big shopping (i.e. Target, Wal Mart, Costco, etc). But there is one time of year that it's really quite fun to be in Burns and that is Christmas Bazaar time. There are three major bazaars that happen here: The Golf Course, The Catholic Church & The Fair Grounds (there are a few other smaller ones, but we'll focus on the top three). The Golf Course bazaar happens before Thanksgiving and has a lot of really cute, nice stuff - however it's really pricy (sorry, that clutch purse is really cute, but it's not worth $24). The Catholic Church Christmas bazaar has been around FOREVER and is really the fore-runner of the bazaars. Everyone goes and you get a really nice range of crafts from really cute and cheap, to really cute and expensive, to totally ugly & tacky. I've had alot of friends do this bazaar and I love going every year. The Fair Grounds bazaar is the same weekend as the Catholic Church and honestly I only went once, they cater heavily to cowboy country themed crafts and as one friend kindly put it some tables looked like personal yard sales.

Well this year I was going to be crafty, this year I was going to make some moolah, this year I was going to do the bazaar!! So after sorting through lots of craft ideas I settled on my tie-onesies:

And my friend, Leah, showed me these cute kid super hero capes! I was surprised at how easy they were to do and quite fun too! (that wasn't intended to rhyme)


(As you can see I had a really cute model for the capes!)

My partner-in-crime, Candace, joined me in the fun and made some really cute headbands and bows (I own a few of her creations myself!) Now back up a few weeks before the bazaar. Sadly a juvenile who didn't have much to do decided to set the Catholic churches Parish Hall on fire. It burnt down to the ground. Luckily no one was hurt and the Catholic churches chapel wasn't damaged, but where would the Christmas Bazaar be? The Faith Baptist Church, just across from ours, offered their building and the Catholic Christmas Bazaar was saved!!!

So after furiously sewing days ahead of the bazaar (because I'm that good at procrastination) and setting up a really cute table; Candace and I were ready for business (not in the slutty way)

I have to admit I had alot of fun with Candace and seeing everyone, but quite dissapointed in my sales. I didn't make as much as I thought I was and didn't think I was asking too much for a good, quality item. I did get alot of compliments, but just not enough people that were buying things for kids or baby boys (I kinda had some specific merchandise). I have to admit defeat to the "it" thing this year: Cow Skin purses.....yep that's what I said, Cow Skin Purses....with Rinestones no less!!

The humiliation. To be out sold by something so......ugly?tacky?rediculous? (if you are looking at these items and thinking they are cute, please keep that opinion to yourself)

I guess it's just the demographic. Maybe if my onesies were cow skin with rhinestones they might have gone faster.....mmmmmmm....

Anywho, it was fun to do. I'm glad that I did it, but I don't think that I will be doing it again.

I still have capes and onesies that I would like to sell so if you are interested just let me know!