Christmas 2007

We sure had a great year. We didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to get of our Christmas celebrations, but I guess that means that we were distracted by having so much fun. We made a huge breakfast feast on Christmas Eve, just the two of us. Ash got spoiled with leftover eggs and sausage, so she had a great celebration as well :D

This is our lovely fireplace and Christmas tree. Aren't those stockings adorable? The tree skirt matches them, but it's buried in this picture.



Here's a closeup on our full stockings.



Some of the mess after opening gifts Christmas morning.



Ash discovered that she REALLY loved peanuts. She got excited every time we cracked the shells open, and just scarfed them down when we were trying to show her she wouldn't like them. We were wrong, lol. After that she kept trying to sneak into our stockings to find more peanuts. I had to get a picture of this.

Only a minute or two after this picture was taken, we discovered that apparently she wasn't able to chew them up enough or something... when she vomited on the floor and then tried to do it again. We ended up having to tie her up so that if it happened again it would at least be on linoleum instead of carpet. Stepping in her vomit wasn't exactly the highlight of my morning >:P



We went to my parents' house on Christmas afternoon, and soon after Jeff and Crystal arrived with their kids. Leo was especially cuddly. I was lucky to snatch this adorable picture of him kissing Tom on the cheek :D



Mom didn't have time to make everyone pajamas this year, but she bought them for us all. Crystal was showing Ella her p.j.'s here, and as you'll see in the next picture.....



Ella loved them!! She started carrying them around the house with her, just like they were her new favorite dolly. It was adorable! She loved getting them put on, although she wasn't sure what to think about the long sleeves. She's used to her shorter-sleeved p.j.'s I guess.



Leo got this anime hair from one of his uncles on his mom's side of the family. He wore it around all day (that is when Devin, Ryan and Tanner weren't stealing it to model for themselves).



We had our usual "talent show" this year. Our camera doesn't take videos with sound, but this was Leo and Ella singing the "ABC" song. They are speaking so much now. Leo's speech especially is getting a lot more easy to understand. The dancing and bouncing here was cute, so I couldn't resist posting it.



We hope all of you had a great Christmas wherever you spent it. Have a happy New Year!
--Amy

Tom's Toon of the Month December 07

This is the first of a what I hope to be a series of blogs. I love animation and want to share that with you folks at home. This month I'm discussing Steamboat Willy from 1928. This is the first Mickey Mouse cartoon ever shown to an audience. (The first ever produced was Plane Crazy).
What makes this little cartoon a piece of history is the innovation in sound.
Cartoons had sound before Steamboat, but this was usually just music pasted onto silent cartoons already produced.
The small, scrappy Walt Disney Studio needed something big after flagging sales and badly handled deals in which Disney lost all rights to his first original character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
As you watch, keep in mind that nobody ever conceived that cartoons could be the source of sound or vocal effects. Steamboat was the first cartoon ever to attempt such an effect. The voice of Mickey is Walt Disney himself. Credit goes to Ub Iwerks, Mickey's co-creator and the primary animator on the early Mickeys.
This little parody of Buster Keaton's Steamboat Bill is the film that launched Mickey into super-stardom and promised that his co-creator, Walt Disney would not be far behind.

-Tom

Family Temple Square visit

We finally got Tom out to see the lights at Temple Square this year. Somehow he's been in Utah over four Christmas seasons and never gotten up to see the lights. Now that we're only a few minutes away, it made it much easier--at least for the two of us. My family came up to go with us (My parents, Devin, Ryan, Summer and Tanner). We gathered at our place beforehand and ate dinner and played some games. It was really cold, so we were bundled up like Eskimos and stuck close together. We had a really good time and will definitely have to go again next Christmas.



Tom and I look like we're dressed up for the arctic. It was COOOOLD out there!



This is part of the beautiful nativity they have out on one of their lawns at Christmas.



This is a great reflection pool just outside the temple. These lights flicker and look like candles.



The Spauldings (back-front, left-right): Ryan, Kim, Becky, Devin, Summer, Tanner.





Lights around one of the many fountains




--Amy

Amy's top five...

So Deneal requested that I post MY top five film characters of all time. This is a tough one for me, but this is what I came up with. Not sure of the order, though, I think it changes...

1. Eeyore ("Thanks for noticing")
2. Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)
3. Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean)
4. Severus Snape (Harry Potter)
5. Elastigirl (The Incredibles--or as Leo likes to call them, the "cwapabose")

So once again, your replies are welcome. I'm curious to see YOUR list now, Deneal.

--Amy

Local Sith Lord Makes Good...

The British magazine Total Film recently published the results of a poll of favorite film characters: guess who made the number two slot? Duh duh duh duh-dah-duh duh-da-duh!! Your favorite Sith Lord and certainly mine, DARTH VADER. Here’s how the rest of the list broke down;

1. Jack Sparrow
2. Darth Vader
3. James Bond
4. Indiana Jones
5. Gollum
6. Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver)
7. Ellen Ripley (Alien)
8. Michael Coreleone (The Godfather)
9. Han Solo
10. Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs)
11. Batman
12. Maximus (Gladiator)
13. Tyler Durden (Fight Club)
14. Jason Bourne (The Bourne Trilogy)
15. Yoda
16. Bridget Jones
17. Shrek
18. John Mclane (Die Hard)
19. Norman Bates (Psycho)
20. Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)

It goes without saying I wouldn’t have put Vader in the number two spot. At the risk of getting sucked into the pop culture obsession with lists, here’s my top 5:

1. Darth Vader
2. Captain Kirk (“Khaaaaan!!”)
3. Indiana Jones
4. Jason Bourne (the trained assassin you’d have no problem taking home to meet mom)
5. Mickey Mouse (yes, seriously. What kinda mickey mouse list do you think this is?)

What does your list look like? Feel free to opine below.

-Tom

Ryan's upcoming adventures...

Well, I've fallen behind already, and I only started this blog last month. Last Friday my brother Ryan Spaulding received his mission call for the LDS church. He's going to spend the next two years in the Maputo, Mozambique mission. Yes, that's the Mozambique in Africa. He is being asked to speak Portuguese, so he will enter the mission training center on February 6th, and stay there for two months learning the language. Way to go, Ryan! We're all proud of you.

I stole the map below from Matt and Deneal's blog, so hope they don't mind ;D.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Amy--

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Tom--

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. This was our first year ever to host dinner, so it was nice that there were only 5 of us there. Our apartment was pretty cozy still. Tom's dad came in from California, and his grandfather and brother John were here as well. We had soooo much food! Most of the recipes we used we had never tried before, but we had pretty good luck with them. If you've never heard of the "America's Test Kitchen Cook Book" I'd recommend it. It gives tips and tricks for just about anything you would want to make, even down to how to pick the right cut of meat and what brands of products get the best results. I decided to throw on a few of my recipes here, with a few comments. If you want a recipe that we used that doesn't have a link, just email me and let me know :D

Apple Orchard Punch
This went over very well, although we had to water it down a little so it wasn't so strong. It looked great, especially with the horizontally sliced apples floating in the bowl.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Apple-Orchard-Punch/Detail.aspx?src=etaf


French Bread Rolls to Die For
These were great the night before Thanksgiving when I made them, but turned out a little dry the next day. I would recommend them if you are going to eat them hot. I think my yeast may have been having problems, so this may have been the reason they didn't turn out as good as expected.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/French-Bread-Rolls-to-Die-For/Detail.aspx?src=etaf


Praline Sweet Potatoes
These were fantastic! Everybody went back for seconds, including Tom's diabetic grandfather. This is more of a dessert than a side, because it is pretty sweet. You could cut down the sugar in the mashed sweet potatoes and it would mellow down the taste a bit.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/2128/Praline-Sweet-Potatoes93029.shtml


Butternut Squash Soup (Test Kitchen Cookbook)
This was good, but really strong. It is more of a soup you would have on its own with some grilled cheese sandwiches than something to serve as a soup course. Still, we all enjoyed the flavor and each had a little.

Easy Roasted Turkey (Test Kitchen Cookbook)
This turkey turned out soooo good. The skin was all brown and bubbly, and the inside was really moist. We stuffed it with:

Homemade Stuffing
1 cube butter
1 small onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup water
2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 loaf bread, left out in open air to get dry or baked in the oven until crisp, torn into abt 1 inch pieces.

Saute onion in butter until soft (abt 5 minutes). Add water, sage, and salt until mixed. Pour over bread crumbs and mix together. Add enough chicken broth to make pieces stick together. Stuff into bird. Add 30 extra minutes roasting time for your turkey. Enjoy :D

Holiday Cookies(Test Kitchen Cookbook)
These were really good, they have a buttery shortbread taste and are like little crackers.



Our turkey was lovely and golden brown, although we forgot to take a picture of it before Tom started slicing it. Next to it is the butternut squash soup. John kept saying it was nacho cheese, lol.



It's amazing how quickly the dishes can pile up, especially when you have such a tiny kitchen!



After dinner, we played a few games. That's Merrill (Tom's dad) on my left.



Tom's grandfather really got into the game (Apples to Apples) once he understood what he was supposed to do. He was making us all laugh with some of the cards he came up with. John chose to sit at the more comfy chair instead of at the table with the rest of us.



John and Tom. Why does John always pretend to scowl when I snap a picture of him? :P

Our Third Anniversary

I don't know why it is, but I never remember to take pictures on our anniversaries or Valentine's Day. I got one of the beautiful roses Tom got for me, but that's about it. I love roses, and these actually came as a complete surprise, which made them even more nice. We went out to dinner and then went to Borders, hung out and read some books and magazines. Nothing especially exciting, but it was fun that we were able to take the time to actually have a real date--and it's been awhile. We really had a nice anniversary.

It's fun on days like this to look back at how you got to where you are now. Today I thought a lot about our wedding day and the feelings I had before we got married. I loved Tom so much and felt so excited to be pledging my heart to him. The most amazing thing to me on this end is how much our love has grown since that day.

Finally--some pictures of our house post-paint

Well I finally took a few photos of our apartment with paint and furniture in it. This is the living room (just left of the front door). You can't see how high the ceiling is here, but it actually goes up about 25 feet at the peak. It feels so nice and open, and we're really starting to get use of that fireplace.




This is the entrance to our apartment. Most of our walls we just left white, so I've tried to hang pictures so it's not so overwhelming.




This is one of the corners of our bedroom. It's funny, but we really haven't hung much on the bedroom walls. The canopy over the bed helps dress things up a little. We also have potted plants everywhere in the house. Sometimes it seems like we live in a tropical rainforest. :D

Summer's High School Musical

Summer did a great job in her musical this year, "Once on this Island". She was the liveliest person on stage, and boy did she ever swing those hips!! :D

We weren't allowed to take any pictures during the play, which was a bummer, so I just got these quick shots afterward. At least I was able to get her still in costume. Doesn't she look great?!

Leo's 4th birthday party

Leo turns four next week, but since we were all going down to my parents' house this weekend to see Summer in her high school musical, we decided to give him a birthday party early. He's really into Disney/Pixar "Cars" right now, and it was funny how most of his gifts ended up being "Cars" related even before we started putting our heads together. He had so much fun opening his presents. It was really cute--I think at first he thought the gift bag holding one of his gifts WAS the present. He just sat there grinning and staring at the Lightning Mcqueen car on the front for several minutes. We had cake and ice cream, and my mom went all out with that by finding a "Cars" cake topper and even checkerboard racing ice cream.

Elanie was easy to bribe tonight; with both sweets and our dog around, she was happy and willing to come to us and let us shower her with attention. As usual, Leo was sweet and happy and wanting to give and receive hugs.

Leo got a radio controlled car and a race track set for smaller cars. He wore his winning smile all night, and even let Elanie share some of his cars with him. When she tried to hug him, however, he took her to mommy and said she needed "mommy hugs" now. His subtle way of saying "Get her out of my hair, I'm playing!"

Like I said...Not very hard to bribe. Ella just loves Ash. She kept chasing the dog around the house while patting her chest and calling "doggie!"

That priceless smile...

Leo had the candles blown out before we finished singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Good thing, since even then the candles were mostly melted down.

Jeff & Crystal came to visit

Last weekend Jeff and Crystal brought their kids over and spent the night. Ash is actually doing better with the kids and let them pet her a few different times. She's still leery of Leo, since he likes to try and pick her up and hug her, but even around him she was calmer this time. I caught a few pics of Elanie cornering Ash under the table and couldn't resist posting them. Ash sure had a sticky coat after this!

Elanie even dared feed the dog a treat right from her hand, but she didn't realize this would mean getting doggie slobber all over her. She was shocked and started wiping her hand on her own mouth and face, like "that's where slobber is SUPPOSED to go!" I really wish I had caught that on camera, it was adorable!

Halloween 2007

Next came Halloween... We didn't dress up at all this year, but we had tons of fun carving pumpkins. Tom, of course found some Homestar Runner patterns. I decided to go for Disney...

Laproscopy

I guess the next big thing that came around this year was my surgery. I went in for a laproscopy on October 10th. Fun... Anyway, the doctor found and was able to remove quite a bit of endometriosis. Getting back to where I was before the surgery took awhile longer than I had expected, but I'm doing great now with much less pain than I had before he went in, so I guess it was a success.

Hope these pics don't gross you out too much, I think they're pretty interesting. The endo mostly looks like dark dots on everything. The pictures are awful, but some of them you can still see... :D

Family beach trip in Washington/Oregon

This Jeep was at one of the forts we saw this year. Boy, they used to make them quite a bit smaller!

Well, we're going to be skipping through tons of stuff, but how can I catch up on a whole six months in a day? Our next adventure I guess would have been our trip to Washington state in August. We had such a great time! Tom and I drove up with his brother John. We left early in the morning and just drove straight through. That was my first time doing that drive in one day, and let's just say it got pretty old after awhile. We took turns driving and navigating, and got to stop off in Pasco to visit Abby and Jeremy in their new house for a little bit.

The family beach trip was a lot of fun. We didn't spend that much time at the ocean, but got to see lots of family and hang out and play games. We were glad Grandpa Fawcett was feeling well enough after getting out of the hospital to come out with the family! I'm really breezing over this, I realize. I figure it's better to post something than nothing...