Cooking with Dad

One of Amanda and Jared's favorite things to do with Dad is cook. Today's pictures show highlights of some of this year's culinary adventures. The cookies were formed using some cookie cutters Amanda picked out for Christmas. The Easter eggs were dyed without a kit; most were colored with food coloring, but some were colored with blueberries. The latest Dad & kids cooking project was a batch of chocolate chip cookies; Amanda and Jared had lots of fun licking the bowl.

2 Weeks with Curtis

Curtis has been with us for two weeks now, and everyone is still doing fine. Of course, it does help that Grandmother is here, so that someone can be awake with Amanda and Jared during the day while Mom is recovering from taking the night shift with Curtis. Mom and Dad have also taken advantage of Grandmother's presence to go out on an actual date together. Amanda is still very excited about Curtis and exclaims "Oh, he's so cute!" almost every time he enters the room. Jared is a good big brother, too. He likes to hug Curtis, and he'll even share his toys with him.

April in Review (Curtis Arrives!)

April brought three important new additions to our family. The first two were a new furnace and central air (complete with new ducts!). This plus the new windows we got last fall gives us reason to exclaim "We love our managers!".

The same day the new climate control devices came, Mom's OB sent her to the hospital for observation. The hospital kindly kept her, and there she stayed until it was time for her to take the new baby home. Curtis was born at 1:45 a.m. He was 20 in long and weighed 8 lbs 9 oz. Big brother and big sister love him, as of course do Mom and Dad.

Christmas with Grandma & Grandpa 2008

Grandma & Grandpa had a big Christmas tree, the same tree they used with Dad when he was growing up. Looks like its in great shape to me, but they know the tree better than Mom does and are planning to replace it. So, this may be a historic photo. Enough trivia, though, we came for the presents! Look at them all!


Above, Jared is checking something out with Grandpa. Jared hadn't seen Grandpa in a while, but he bonded with him right away. It was so sweet watching Jared's eyes light up when he saw Grandpa. Below, Grandma watches as Mom, Amanda, and Jared check out the goodies. Jared liked Grandma, too. In fact, all of us love Grandma & Grandpa. :)



Grandma was especially patient with Dad's favorite project: gingerbread house construction. By the time we got a photo-worthy product, we'd used up all of her flour!

On Christmas Evening (not Eve, mind you, that's the 24th), we went to Salt Lake City with Grandma & Grandpa to see the lights at Temple Square. Later on during our visit time, they took us back to Salt Lake for a trip to Build-a-Bear. We chose a simple doggy for Jared (which he loves to hug), but Amanda picked out something a little fancier. She decided on the way that she really wanted a critter that featured her favorite colors, pink, purple, and black. The family photo below includes the end result, Charlene.


Our time in Utah also included Christmas Eve with Dad's immediate family in the area, as well as a get together later with some of his extended family. Also, Grandma & Grandpa gave a special present to Mom by inviting her parents, Grandmother & Grandfather, to join in the visiting over a weekend; the kids got to see all of their grandparents at the same time! We were also glad to be able to listen to our nephew Elder Thurber speak before leaving on his mission to Japan. My, how time flies. He's the third Elder Thurber to have gone out since we got married . . . and the other two have been home for awhile. One of them even has a baby on the way. Anyway, back to the main topic, we enjoyed our visit to Utah, but we were also glad to get back home to Ohio, where there wasn't nearly as much snow to worry about. :) Thank you for having us, Grandma & Grandpa!

Thanksgiving 2008

For Thanksgiving 2008, we went to Illinois to visit Aunt Julie and cousins while Uncle Joe was deployed elsewhere. The Thanksgiving meal prep was like nothing Mom had ever seen before: Aunt Julie made pies from scratch (and lots of other yummy things, too!). So much goodness to eat, so many cousins to play with, and so little time to take pictures. The next day, Black Friday, Mom and Aunt Julie went out for a bit of shopping. Later in the day, we had a family park outing (and finally took some pictures):

We also took a few pictures in the evening, seeing as how there was another special occasion:

Other memories from the visit: Amanda joined the cousins in a Star Wars marathon one night (and was awake longer than some of her older cousins). Also, Aunt Julie watched the Muffins so that Mom and Dad could sneak out for a date night to see Bolt.

On the way home, Jared was nice and cozy with pretzels and a blanket:

We made a fun stop on the way home. Jared saw his shadow:

And we got some yummy cheese: