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merry christmas eve!

weston and i are in our own apartment tonight starting our own traditions for christmas. we will be driving to visit family tomorrow afternoon once we are finished with our christmas morning here.

in celebration, i made dinner! weston requested funeral potatoes, ham, rolls, and a cherry pie. i called my mom a few times, but i made this from scratch!

beforeafter

here is our table - all set. we actually got to use our china.

it's the first time it's really been out of the box and washed. it was fun to use it finally.
here is kate in her new christmas pajamas. i think these are so adorable and classic. but so is kate :)

she gave us an early christmas present tonight by showing off and walking! she has been taking 3-4 steps ever since thanksgiving, but tonight she walked up and down the hallway like she was born doing it :)

after dinner, we watched the nativity movie the church sent out a few years ago and then went for a drive to look at everyone's christmas lights. up next is harry potter and the goblet of fire and then bedtime. hopefully santa knows where to find us!

merry christmas to everyone and christmas gift to anyone in my family!

a christmas miracle

so not only did i bake this week, i made a FABULOUS dinner. seriously, it was amazing. i was so excited, i think my exact words were "dude! it's like we're freaking eating at my mom's!" how embarrasing :) on the menu: roast beef, mashed (smashed if you ask weston) potatoes, peas, GRAVY, and freshly baked rolls. i used the old crock pot for the roast and let it cook most of the day, made gravy from the drippings (first time and i was so excited that i didn't have blood clots! inside colton family joke), made the potatoes, baked the rolls, steamed the peas, and set a beautiful table.

kate is patiently waiting for dinner to start

i know this is like any old day for probably every single one of you out there, but for me it's pretty much a first. sure, i have been known to occasionally make dinner, but it's never been a REAL MEAL like this. i am pretty excited about it and kind of can't wait to cook our christmas eve feast!

kate with her full tummy, don't worry if you think she looks like a boy here - i kind of do :)

gingerbread lane

i made gingerbread! can you believe i BAKED? so i wanted to be festive this year and do a christmas "activity." i made the dough on friday, baked on saturday, and we made the houses and decorated tonight (all the while keeping a clean kitchen - it's totally easier to clean while you work . . . who knew?) :)

it was a little interesting when the pieces didn't quite fit together and some improvising had to be done. i was a little worried that my roof pieces were too thick and would be too heavy, but after propping and letting the icing dry, they cemented in pretty well.

here is our little gingerbread neighborhood - it's a new subdivision, that's why there are only 2 houses so far :)my house is on the left and weston's utilitarian model is on the right. he told me nobody could see his because he's a visual arts major and he should have been more creative or something :)

now what are we going to do with them? the gingerbread tastes amazing, but who wants to eat it with all that icing and candy? not me! not weston, either :)

a question

are my pictures as dark on your computers as they are on my work computer?

at home, when i post, the pictures are all bright and full of color - but when i get to a different computer (like at work) they are so dark. like in the hat post from yesterday, i can hardly tell kate's hat is red.

is anyone else seeing such dark pictures on my blog?

temple square 2008

last weekend, we needed to go to salt lake so weston could pick something up from pictureline and he told me to dress warm. he surprised me (and kate) by taking us to see the lights at temple square. we didn't do this last year so i was really excited to go and, of course, for kate to see all the lights for the first time.

naturally, kate was more interested in all the people she could see and all the smiles she could give and get in return. this girl is a ham. she did so well and stayed warm and toasty the whole night.

will she leave this one on?

so i made kate a new hat. she hates having a hat on but with not much hair to speak of, she kind of has to have one on. and so the struggle continues. we try to show her how we all wear hats and that she should leave hers on because we are all leaving ours on, but to no avail. i knew i needed to find a hat with straps or velcro or snaps or something. so we looked and looked. everything we have seen this year either has a face on it . . . (we're not so much into the character clothing - we also know it's going to be a losing battle once she realizes you can get clothes with elmo/princesses/etc. on them but we're avoiding it as long as we can) . . . so as i was saying, every hat either has a face on it or has 2 pom poms on top, neither of which we are fond of.

so, since i am trying to be like my mom and one day hope to be able to make shoes (that's for you, mama), i decided i could probably manage making kate a hat. we went to temple square last weekend to look at the christmas lights and i saw the cutest little red knit beanie with ear muffs and straps. it called to me :) so i tried duplicating it but minus the pom on top - i love this pixie looking hat. my little kate looking all elfin :)

it looks pretty cute in the pictures, but it's MUCH cuter in real life :)

i owe a HUGE shout out to kristi - you taught me how to crochet in like 7th grade when we made some kind of ear warmer . . . was that for mr. woolsey's class? anyway, you taught me how and i haven't picked up a crochet hook since - you must have been a STELLAR teacher for it to stick all these years :)

Kate...again

This sweater was Erin's when she was a baby. The photo above is Erin (to avoid any confusion). Kate spent most of the day looking like this...hood up and all.

This is from the Photography Dept. opening social last September. I just wanted to post it because Kate is so cute, even if my eyes are a little crazy.

flashback/flashdance friday?

i've seen people do flashback friday posts and they always looked like fun. after posting some HS pictures the other day, i got nostalgic and dug through some more. here is a smattering of pictures of weston and myself "through the years". it's kind of embarrassing that we went to so many dances together :) how did we wait for 8 years before getting married? :) if you make it to the end of this post, you should get a prize! :)

sweethearts dance, 1997 prom, 1997girl's day, 1997
my graduation, 1997cascade springs, 1997homecoming, 1997sadie hawkins, 1997

sweethearts dance, 1998prom, 1998weston's graduation, 1998cascade springs, 1998

san diego, 2001

engagement photo, 2004my 26th birthday, 2005