Lately

We've been quite busy lately getting into the holiday spirit! 

We took a trip up to Temple Square with Casey's family to see the lights.

 I made some sugar cookies and we had friends come over to decorate.

And Chase turned 9 months and is moving all over the place!

 Yes that is a blow out :(

 Don't worry, Chase was very warm :)

 The Cousins

 We took the train up to Salt Lake. It was kind of  a lot of work with all the kids but still a fun adventure!

 He thinks he is such a good helper 

 This place opened next to the Barre place I work out at. It's a problem. I go too much. 

 How we do church lately ….

 Chase had his 9 month appointment

-19 lbs (43%)

-28 inches (35%)

-fast little crawler

-stood a couple of times without holding on to something!

-gets into everything

-loves to watch mom blow dry her hair

-loves yogurt, eggs, any kind of puff and avocado

-loves to give kisses and hugs

Wellness Wednesday: A little treat (the skinny version)

( I just realized it is Thursday---I was sick yesterday so it never happened haha)

These cookies are so so good! I got them off one of my favorite healthy food blogs: Skinny Taste.

I can't say that they are good for you but they are the healthier version--made with whole wheat flour and some healthier sweeteners like agave. Make sure you wet your hands when making them into balls, I didn't do this and they kind of fell apart when I pushed my fork on top. 

Skinny Pumpkin Spiced Snickerdoodles

Skinnytaste.com

Servings: 42 • Size: 1 cookie • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 1 pts (3 pts+ for 2)
Calories: 51 • Fat: 1 g • Carb: 9.5 g • Fiber: <1 1="" 6="" g="" protein:="" span="" sugar:="">
Sodium: 20 mg

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups King Arthur white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 tbsp agave or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp sugar*
• 1 tbsp pumpkin spice*

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Line two baking sheets with Silpat mats and spray with cooking spray.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

3. Combine 1 cup of sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended.  Add the agave, vanilla and egg; beat well.  Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, beating just until combined.  Cover and chill for 10 minutes.

4. In a medium bowl, combine 3 tbsp sugar with pumpkin pie spice, stirring with a whisk to combine.   5.With moist hands, shape dough into 42 (1-inch) balls.  Roll balls in sugar/pumpkin pie spice mixture.

6. Place balls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and slightly flatten with a fork.

7. Bake 375°F for 5-7 minutes (cookies will be slightly soft).  Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes.  8.Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.  Enjoy!

A New Tradition: Celebrating St. Lucia's Day!

This last weekend we celebrated St. Lucia's day with the girls in Casey's family. Since we actually all have Scandinavian heritage, Casey's grandma Anna thought it was fitting for us to start this new tradition. She had crowns of candles made for the little girls. We had hot cider and ebelskibers (little round pancakes with jam) that the girls served to us. It was so much fun! 

Just a little history on what St Lucia's day is: 

St Lucia was a young Christian girl who was martyred, killed for her faith, in 304AD. The most common story told about St Lucia is that she would secretly bring food to the persecuted Christians in Rome, who lived in hiding in the catacombs under the city. She would wear candles on her head so she had both her hands free to carry things. Lucy means 'light' so this is a very appropriate name.

In Scandinavian countries each town elects its own St. Lucia. The festival begins with a procession led by the St. Lucia designee, who is followed by young girls dressed in white and wearing lighted wreaths on their heads and boys dressed in white pajama-like costume singing traditional songs. The festival marks the beginning of the Christmas season in Scandinavia, and it is meant to bring hope and light during the darkest time of the year. 

Wellness Wednesday:" Reach out to just 'one' "

If you watched the LDS General Conference this last October you will probably remember this quote from M. Russell Ballards talk. I love how he simply challenged all members of the church to just "reach out to one person". This could be as simple as saying hello to a stranger or making cookies for your neighbor. It doesn't necessarily need to be sharing what we believe with someone. I know that it really is the little things that are important.  I challenge us all to look for the little ways to serve those around us especially during this holiday season. And remember, serving others sometimes does more for you than you think:)

Holiday Bucket List!

1. Sub-for-Santa shopping and dinner at La Carreta (Peruvian Food)- this is a new tradition Casey and I started this year. Both of our works have gift tags you can pick up to get gifts for less fortunate children. 

2. Temple Square Christmas Lights

3. Light Show at Thanksgiving Point and meet the Reindeer

4. Sugar Cookie Decorating

5. Christmas Craft Day (homemade advent calendar?)

6. Make Avalanche Bark (Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory) to give as treat gifts

7. Drive around and find the house with the best Christmas Lights! and nativity

8. Read Luke Chapter 2

9. Make an awesome Christmas Music Playlist!

10. Get a picture of Chase on Santa's lap

11. Go Ice Skating

12. Watch a Christmas Play or favorite Christmas Movie. 

13. Make this amazing looking treat-Peppermint Bark Popcorn 

14. Go Sledding!

15. Visit the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU Museum of Art.

A Costa Rican Thanksgiving: Part 1

We just got back from our trip to Costa Rica on Monday night. We went with my family for Thanksgiving and stayed in a house near Tamarindo in northern Costa Rica. We had so much fun surfing, swimming, golfing (the boys) and just relaxing in the sun. Getting there was another story. Babies are not meant to fly for more than 2 hours hahah. It was seriously rough. I don't know if I would do it again with Chase. I did pack just the right amount of diapers and baby food though! I was pretty proud of myself. I say this is Part 1 because I still haven't gone through Casey's pictures or our GoPro footage (a movie to come soon!). The surf was not as good as we hoped it would be so the boys golfed a couple of days and the girls just hung out at the pool. We were able to go to Witch's Rock-which is this awesome break that you have to take a boat to get to. I left Chase for almost the whole day (good thing I brought formula) and I had to pump on the boat with the Costa Rican captain hahha. It was and adventure. But the waves were pretty fun there- easy to catch with nice warm water, my favorite! So here are some pictures of our trip! More to come…

 One leg of the trip we were able to take Chase's car seat on because it wasn't a full flight. amazing!

 our house was on the golf course! but not on the beach. We did have an awesome pool all to ourselves!

 The JW Marriott pool. Biggest pool in Central America. So pretty!

 Chase pretty much lived in diapers all week. 

 my new favorite picture of my buddy and me

 We didn't really get too many pictures together cause Casey was always golfing or surfing without us 

:(

 My mom and Grandma. Becca photobombing in the back

 Playa Avellanas!

 Chase really loved the beach

The boys at Thanksgiving Dinner

More pictures and a video to come!!!!!! I need to decorate my house for Christmas first and do all my laundry before I can work on those haha.