Exciting News!

P is going to have a cousin! YAY! My brother-in-law and sister-in-law (Hi Amber!) are expecting their first baby! In January! It's a girl! SO exciting!

Our family has been praying for this for a long time so we are so excited that it is finally here! They are going to be AMAZING parents and I am just so happy for that little girl...she is being born into a family filled with love.

Chase and Amber also came for a visit this past weekend to meet P!

I will keep you posted on her progress but keep a healthy baby in your thoughts and prayers!

Happy Baby!

Grandpa Joe

Grandpa Joe is Hubby's dad. He lives in Louisiana and made his first visit to see P this past weekend.

He was smitten from the moment he walked in.

P was pretty enthralled too.

Can you see the pride?! I love it!

Three Generations. Absolutely Priceless.

Happy Family!

BABY SHOWER!

So my bestie totally threw me the most rockin' baby shower EVER last Sunday. I mean she out did herself. Frankly I am already stressing and thinking I need to start planning for HER shower even though she isn't even pregnant yet!

She had a book theme, so everyone was asked on their invitation to bring their favorite childhood book. Such a neat idea! We got so many amazing books!

When you walked in, she had tables set up with food and sweet treats, and each dish was themed around a book!

We had nachos for "Nacho the Party Puppy" and chili cheesecake for "Chilies for Benito".

"I Eat Vegetables" for veggies with hummus dip and "A is for Salad" for Cobb salad!

CUTE! CUTE! CUTE!

For dessert, we had...

"Cupcake" with cupcakes of course!

And a Candy Bar (what?!) for "The Yum-Yum House". She knows me too well!!

One of our gifts from Jamie was a bookshelf to put all the books on! AWESOME! It matches the room perfectly and is just what we needed!!

For activities we played two games, and she had tables set up for everyone to decorate onesies for "Punkin"!

So cute! I cant wait to put him in them and take his picture and send them to everyone!

Everyone was so creative!!

My mother-in-law also had this AMAZING diaper cake made for us. I have never seen anything like it. When Hubby and I took it apart, stuff just kept appearing! So cute and SO thoughtful!

Then it was time to upwrap gifts, which makes me SUPER uncomfortable because I never feel like I am grateful enough. I am...I SO am...I just dont feel like I show it in the best ways sometimes. I know people would think I was a bit strange if after every pair of mittens or after every onesie I screamed with delight and ran up and gave them a hug BUT still...being the center of attention and knowing that people spent money on us is less than ideal for me BUT that being said, we got a lot of amazing things for "Punkin" and we are seriously, SERIOUSLY blessed.

For me though, the star of the show was our honorary niece making an appearence.

I mean COME ON! I cant even handle how freaking cute she is!! Her mom, Ashley is going to be a doctor. She is pretty much amazing and has a blog now, you should read it! Mom, M.D. Oh and that is Christina holding her by the way, another amazing friend of mine!

The shower was incredible. More than I could have EVER imagined. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that love us and our little one!

Happy Shower!

Her Recipe Box

This is my Gram's recipe box. You might have noticed it in Monday's post, on Gram's shelf. (PS I apologize for not posting this yesterday...Hubby got all excited about doing the taxes and I fell asleep around 8:30 because that is what I do these days so...don't hate me) Anyways...this is my Gram's recipe box. It was one thing I grabbed instantly when she passed away. Not because it had monetary value or anything wild but because I wanted to make sure it had a special and safe place to live. Honestly...I dont think I have opened it since I brought it home. It's just complicated. I just miss her...a lot. And somehow opening this recipe box meant that she was REALLY gone.

BUT...

I finally just sucked it up...and opened it...and it was glorious.

Was I expecting to find secret family recipes passed down from generations, honestly no. I dont have a WHOLE lot of memories of my Gram cooking but I was expecting to find recipes. Recipes she tried and loved, recipes that she never got around to trying. Old favorites, new favorites, and all those in between.

I love the ones in her handwriting. Slightly smeared as if they had been tested and spilled on. Nothing adds character to a cookbook or recipe than a water spot or food smudge. It means it was tried, and tested, and eaten, and enjoyed. And I love that.

I loved seeing that the "Outdoor Cooking" section was empty. Makes me feel reassured that maybe my lack of grilling abilities are not a reflection of my cooking skills but just my DNA.

I plan to go through this recipe box. Keep every recipe inside but cook or try most if not all of them. She had them or kept them for a reason. They deserve their time to be tried, shared, and enjoyed. I will keep you updated on the results!

In the meantime, start a cookbook or recipe box. Even if you just throw in a recipe you kind of like, you never know what finding that or cooking with that will mean to someone someday...even if it is 50 years from now. Nothing is more special than a handwritten recipe with a few smudges on it.

Happy Cooking!

...

So as you might figured out from my last post...I am without grandparents. It's totally cool, I have come to terms with it and I had a maternal grandmother and a paternal grandfather for a number of years so I did get some grand parent love!

My Gram died in September of 2005. It was hard...I would be lying if I said it wasn't. We knew it was coming, it wasn't a surprise, but I don't know that knowing that made it any easier.

Our recent trip to Utah was the first time that I had been back since she passed away. The last time we were there, it was an emotional time. It was the time we buried her, it was the last time we stayed in her house...the house my mom grew up in and the house I spent nearly every Christmas in, and the last time I was there, I watched people pillage through her stuff in an estate sale, which I would just as soon forget.

I miss her a lot. I have always hoped that I would dream about her or she would come "visit" me in a dream. It hasn't happened yet but maybe I am just not ready.

We did go drive by her house though. The house where I have so many memories. I took this picture...and when I looked at it when I got home it made me smile...

I would like to think that maybe those rays are her smiling or at least just a reminder that she is watching over us.

Sorry for the somber post! Just reflective more than anything.

Hugs Hugs Kiss Kiss (that was our sign off! :) )