November - The Month Of . . .

MINIMALISM!

At the end of October, Jon had posted a link on my FB about this idea for playing a minimalism game. Starting on day 1, you get rid of one thing. Then day 2, you get rid of two things, etc etc.

The rules were that you could donate, trash, or sell the selected items.

Here's how it went:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7 and . . .

Day 7

Day 8 and . . .

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13 and . . .

Day 13

Day 14 and . . .

Day 14

Day 15 and . . .

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19 and . . .

Day 19

Day 20

Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24 and . . .

Day 24

So we didn't quite make it all the way to the end of November... but I was still very happy with how much we got rid of. All the credit goes to Jon for making this month happen because he was really good about making sure we remembered every day. It's so nice to get in the habit of going through our things and being realistic about what we never use or wear! Hopefully we can keep it up so that we don't end up becoming hoarders someday :) Bring on December!

Loving Kate

I love it when Kate takes her spoon, dips it in her bowl and then tries to feed me with a huge smile on her face! It is cute to see her mimic the things that we do for her and be so proud of herself.

I love it when she makes goofy faces.

I love it when Kate giggles at the dogs and squeals with joy when she sees them in the morning after we've been on a long car trip.

I love it when Kate runs around in her jammies, laughing hysterically at everything in sight.

I love it when Kate rolls around on the floor and Margo tries to jump in and lick her face.

I DON'T love it when Kate throws herself back in a tantrum and screams... especially at church.

I DO love it when we are singing in primary and she waves her arms around and dances while she is sitting on my lap :)

I love it when Kate eats well. Breakfast is her favorite meal and she usually chows it down. Dinners are the hardest for her. She is always more picky and usually grumpy about having to eat dinner. She LOVES cookies.

I love it when Kate runs up to me with her arms up to be held.

I love it when she talks to herself in her crib at night and reads her books to herself or tells jokes and laughs even though nobody else understands.

I love it when Kate has hiccups and tries to talk, but it comes out with little squeaks.

I love it when she headbutts things. It usually is not so fun with it's my forehead, but she will knock her head on the floor, the walls, on Margo... I think it is her way of testing structural durability. I have no idea where she learned it from. It makes us laugh every time!

I love it that Kate wants to feed herself everything and takes huge bites of bananas and sandwiches. She is no longer content with being spoon-fed most of her meals.

I love that Kate is healthy! She currently weighs 19lbs 9oz and is 30 inches tall. She is in the 20th percentile for height, 25th percentile for weight, and 50th percentile for her head circumference!

I love it when Kate gives us hugs and kisses. I love that we are her best friends. I love that she will light up at smile at us from across a room. I love that she is part of our family.

Pictures from the Tree Farm

 

 

 

I wanted Kate to be able to look back at these pictures and see what the tree farm looked like and how it felt to be there. It is one of Jon's all time favorite places. I'm so glad that we get to experience Christmas with her!

November Highlights

November brought a lot of goodness!

Aside from Jon and I celebrating our 8 year wedding anniversary, we got to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends here in California. Bethany's friend Christopher came all the way from England to celebrate the American holiday with us. When I came home from work on Wednesday, Christopher was giving Kate a personal piano lesson. I was very impressed with what she had learned:

On Thursday we slept in, made candy turkeys, ate delicious snacks and visited my parents. Kate wore her adorable turkey dress from Grandma Chris, and when I tried to get a picture it went really well!

Total meltdown.

Everybody should appreciate seeing that Kate is not a perfectly happy angel all the time, although she seems to be.

I finally got her to stop crying long enough for me to hold her and get a non-blurry picture of her dress!

She was a little bit happier after that :) Oy... toddlerhood is starting.

Back at home we had a beautiful table set up with our candy turkeys at each plate. Jon named his turkey "Frank, The King". You can see him pictured to the right wearing the candy-corn crown.

On Black Friday, I went to work and Kate got to hang out with her Aunt Beth... Not sure what they were teaching her!

That night after work we went to Old Sacramento where they had a performance of The Night Before Christmas along with a tree lighting. Jon's siblings were with us, (Beth, Mike and Dave with the exception of Steve) since they were all in town for Thanksgiving. We wandered some shops and then ended up at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. We let Kate pick out her own 30 cent piece of candy. She chose the milk chocolate Santa Claus, and then bit his head off, foil and all! (Don't worry, we pulled it out of her mouth before she swallowed it.) She loved having a piece of candy all to herself. I wish I had a better picture of the reindeer hat she was wearing, but I'm sure she'll have it on again sometime this December :)

Christopher brought Kate her very own Mr. Blobby plush doll all the way from England for the holidays. She loves carrying it around and playing with his bowtie!

On Saturday we went up to Little Bear Creek Tree Farm in Alta. It's a tradition of Jon's family since he was a baby. This is Kate's second year now.

Me and Kate in 2012:

Beth and Kate 2013:

Kate kept pulling her hat off, leaving her hair funny and flat, but I loved how she just looked like Larry from the 3 Stooges.

We had a great time walking around and looking at the trees even though the whole family got ahead of us and we lost them. After trying to follow them down the mountain for half an hour, we turned back and waited for a truck to just drive us back to the gift shop :)

Jon's family always brings chili and animal cookies for lunch. Kate really enjoyed eating a roll all by herself!

We sat by the fire and picked up some homemade rocky road and fudge from the gift shop. Even though we didn't get our own tree this year, it was still fun to participate in this Christmas tradition!

That night after work, we went to Jon's 10 year high school reunion (woah!) We were so back and forth about going over the years. I'm glad that Jon decided at the last minute to dress up and buy tickets for it. Overall the night wasn't super eventful, but it was still fun to see some people in person that we hadn't seen in years. Oh, and about half of all the women there were pregnant!

On Sunday, Kate wore a fancy dress to church.

I loved how she looked like a puffy cupcake!

After church we ate lunch and Kate was trying so hard to pull the bib off over her head! It was squishing her face and would pull her eyebrows way up. She makes us laugh all the time :) Silly girl.

Sunday night, we helped Christopher experience an American delicacy... SMORES.

Apparently they don't have such things as graham crackers in England.

Jon prepared a delightful fire in our gas fireplace as it was freakin' freezing outside!

Beth showed Christopher the clip from The Sandlot where they explain the construction of a smore. This seemed extremely helpful. We (of course) helped improve the flavor even more by using Ghirardelli chocolate. OH YES.

First bite anticipation!

Even though Beth has this weird idea that your mallow should be burned so that it has a charred outer flavor, Christopher still had a fantastic time making his smore and we're assuming this toe-thumb approval is a win!

We also had smores with bacon strips on them, which is AMAZING! Although it sounds a little odd at first, Sarah and Beth both tried it with me and Jon and agreed it was superb. Christopher, however, does not believe in American bacon. He says it is too rubbery and fatty. Uh... that's why it's delicious! Either way, he agreed to TRY the smore with bacon on it, but was only able to make it through one bite before being totally grossed out. Disappointment.

On Tuesday after work we took Christopher, Beth and Sarah out to Claim Jumper so that he could experience the delight of ENORMOUS American serving sizes. Steph ate her entire Widow Maker burger in one sitting. Proud mama, right here.

Christopher entertained us with stories from his younger days in York and we had a fantastic Mother Lode cake for dessert. No trip to America is complete without a completely ridiculous meal with way too much food that you could never realistically consume yourself!

After dinner, Jon and I went to see the newest Hunger Games movie. We made it RIGHT as the movie started so we were in the very very front center. It made the experience of watching Katniss, Peeta and Gale run across the screen very interesting. But we were super happy with this movie compared to the first one and we even liked all the music they played during the credits! Way to go movie makers for working with Coldplay, Of Monsters and Men and The Lumineers. Triple Win.

That night we said good-bye to Christopher since he is headed back to England on Thursday.

We will miss him bunches! But hope he will travel to California again soon :) Otherwise, we may just be making our own trip out to England.

We really enjoyed Thanksgiving and seeing friends and family. It was fun to see Dave and Meg even though we didn't end up with any pictures of them. Beth will be back for Christmas, and I'm sure we'll have many more fantastic adventures to share!

My Cousin Spencer

Dear friends and family,

This is my cousin Spencer:

He was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 12. Up until now he has been able to fight it with the help of surgeries and chemotherapy. He is one of the strongest kids I've ever known. I think I always took it for granted that he was just amazing and always seemed to pull through even when the odds seemed stacked against him. Unfortunately recent turns of events have indicated that we shouldn't anticipate his ability to fight off the cancer much longer.

Jon and I have already asked that friends and family not get us anything for Christmas. We really don't need anything and Kate has recently been given a lot of hand-me-downs (THANK YOU!) so we are set. We are asking that anyone who might have spent money on us, please consider donating to Spencer and his family to help with their medical bills instead. It would sincerely mean MUCH more to us than receiving "things" this year. Although gifts are nice and thoughtful, this season has helped me see how much material items just don't matter. When all you really want in life (and for others) is to feel appreciated and know that you are important to others, that they care, and that you matter to someone.

A friend of my cousin's family has set up this donation plan which I've pasted below and is also on FB if anyone wants more info. We appreciate your time and support for our family this Christmas season.

Love, Jon, Steph, Kate, Margo & Baby II

***

"As many of you know, almost 6 years ago, our friend Spencer Hardy was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a very aggressive form of spinal cancer. Spencer was about 12 years old when he was initially diagnosed and is valiantly and courageously fighting this disease. He is a true inspiration to us all.

In order to help the Hardy family and Spencer, Natalee Lence, a talented pianist and musician and close personal friend of the Hardy's has generously offered to donate 100% of the proceeds for a limited time from the sale of her current cd, Reflection. Natalee has asked that I be the contact to handle the sale and distribution for this project. There are only 100 cd's available. We are asking for a minimum donation of $20 per cd. Donation amounts can be higher of course. If you would like to order her cd, Reflection, and donate to Spencer's cause please message or call me at 503-330-1004 to make arrangements for purchase and for info on how proceeds will be donated to the family.

If you're not aware, Natalee's cd is a compilation of inspiring piano and orchestral music. I listen to her music weekly and each time I hear it I am uplifted and strengthened. I ask you to consider this special cd this Christmas as a gift for you and your loved ones. Every dollar collected will go to help the Hardy family with their medical expenses. Thank you for helping us help the Hardy's! Please feel free to copy this post on your own facebook account to spread the word. Thank you all for your prayers and support to the Hardy family.

Sincerely,
Nicolle

Spencer's Caring Bridge site
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/spencerhardy

http://www.nataleelence.com
 

8 Years of Marriage

On November 18th, Jon and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary!

Every year we try to go on a mini vacation somewhere. Our original plan was to go visit our friends Bay and Shawn in NV, but when Shawn's grandma had a bad fall earlier this year, the whole family changed Thanksgiving plans and so our mini trip was cancelled. I couldn't let this year go by though as this was an opportunity for us to have our first night without Kate and have a little time to ourselves before baby #2 arrives!

In about a week and a half's time, I planned a surprise trip for me and Jon. I wrote Jon 8 anniversary cards that all told him things I love about being married to him. The final one had his anniversary gift, which was a gift card to Color Me Mine so that we can paint something awesome together. The traditional 8 year anniversary gift is pottery :)

 

I had changed my work schedule and doctor appointments that week so that Jon wouldn't know that I had moved everything around. On the day we were going to leave, he thought I had to close at work. Instead I came home at 4pm and had road trip snacks in the front seat of the car! This was his last day of teaching before the next term, so it was a good chance to celebrate another semester completed.

I gave Jon his first card which said we were going on a surprise date. I had already packed our bags and they were in the trunk. Our neighbors and ward friends were already set to watch Kate overnight and had her bag and pack-n-play. Jon was so surprised. "How long are we going to be gone??" He asked. I didn't tell him where we were going, but just that I wanted him to enjoy it!

We drove up the hill to Nevada City where I had made reservations at a cute Inn. It was adorably cozy and small, super cute and clean! All of the shops in the town were lit up. I was so excited to wander through it all! It reminded me a little bit of Portland and the older shopping district that we loved.

I had even packed sparkling cider for us! Jon was very impressed. We walked a short half mile to an AMAZING restaurant for dinner. Friar Tuck's is definitely in our top 5 of all-time favorite restaurants. After dinner we walked back to the Inn. I just had to get a picture of Jon brushing his teeth with his winter hat on :) It was a bit chilly. Luckily we had a great heater in the room!

The next day we spent our time perusing the shops and had a fantastic lunch at South Pine Deli. Jon found me an awesome pair of wool socks as well as an adorable hat which he bought for me for our anniversary. I've never owned a nice hat before, so it was a lot of fun trying them on!

I would say that Jon's favorite store was the Fur Trader. They had real fox hats with the paws still on and the tail hanging down the back. If they weren't about $300 I'm sure he would have purchased it right on the spot. We loved looking at the coats and blankets! So so so soft. We were also able to pick out our Christmas ornament for this year, which we love to do on our anniversary trips. The winner: a felted fox with a pipe. He is currently chilling in our wreath on the door of our room since we don't have a Christmas tree. We also loved visiting the antique stores. There was some fantastic art deco era jewelry that the antiques lady let me try on. Holy cow, they were beautiful! It was cool to see that some had cuts of diamonds that aren't used anymore in modern jewelry. We could have spent hours in there!

We didn't bring our camera on the trip or the phone charger, so there aren't many pictures. But I kind of liked it that way. We just held hands and talked instead of worrying about social media or capturing every detail. It was such a great chance for us to feel like we were dating again and just talk about our past year and what we hope for this next year.

I'm so thankful for a husband who will do fun spontaneous things with me, even when he has no idea what is going on! I'm glad that he likes to go antiquing with me and stay in cute Inns. I'm so glad that we've made it through year #8 and can't wait to see what we talk about at the next anniversary celebration. We have a new found love for Nevada City and will definitely be going back!!