Three and a Half Months

William tried out his wagon yesterday for the first time. He loved it (until Caleb ran super fast over our bumpy backyard)! Thanks goodness for a 50 degree day! I thought North Carolina had 50 degree days everyday in the winter!



William has started to sleep better during the nights. Although he is not on a consistant schedule yet, he will sleep most nights for at least 8 hours in a row. This morning when he woke up happily, I went in to get him out and found two extra kids in his crib. He surprisingly didn't seem to mind though.

Lucy, can you hold William?

Lucy is usually so good to help out with William. He was being really fussy with me so I asked her to hold him for a minute so I could help Caleb with piano. With confidence, she swooped him up and calmed him down. Next thing I knew, they were reading books together! It was so sweet - I had to take a picture! Thanks, Lucy!

Free Samples

I have recently really gotten into coupon shopping - which has taken me to a lot of coupon blogs. They don't only tell you about where to get the best deals with your coupons, but I've found tons of free samples, hot online deals, and just basic savings all around. So, sometime in the last month, I saw that if you became a facebook fan of Tide, they would send you a free sample in the mail - so, I became a fan (I really am a fan of Tide!), and yesterday I got this in the mail:

Free sample, what? Its huge! It is a full sized-bottle of Tide stain release! I couldn't believe it. I was so excited, I had James take a picture (obviously)! I have found that I really love free stuff! Does that mean I'm a sucker for handouts? Maybe. Or, maybe I just like finding really good deals!

I do have to give credit to my sister, Michelle, for telling me about a RS activity where sister Layton came and talked about her magic basket full of freebies or awesome deals (shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, contact solution) that made me want to start a collection of my own. And also, thanks to Melissa Layton Brimhall for pointing me to all the blogs and for giving me the basics to get me started! I am WAY elementary with all this couponing stuff - but its fun and addicting, and you get free stuff in the mail!

William's Blessing Day

We blessed William today. Bryce gave him a beautiful blessing. We were able to have Bryce, cousin Peter, Bishopric, home teaching companion (Bother Gunn), and Friend Alan Taylor join in the circle. William was perfectly quiet the whole time. He looked good in his white tux!

Carr Visit

We were so lucky to have Bryce's cousin, Peter, and his family come to visit us this week! They live in DC, so they have been the only family remotely close to us for years - the kids have loved getting together with them when we can. We spent time together at home playing our new Wii, playing outside (yes! the weather warmed up!), touring ECU campus, playing games and watching movies. On New Year's Eve we even went down to the beach! Caleb thought we were crazy for going to the beach in December, but everyone ended up having a great time!

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve! Its a day full of tradition and anticipation. We skipped lunch and had a big early Christmas eve dinner so the festivities could start! We had a talent show full of singing, saxophone and trumpet playing, and even a little baby dancing!

We had the kids act out the Nativity story while Bryce narrated. We even had William starring as the baby Jesus! We watched "Joy to the World" and had a nice testimony meeting. Next up: PRESENTS! We opened our new jammies and the sibling gifts. It was such a wonderful night!

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

Um, ok, I just made this popcorn for the first time today (and first time I've tasted it) and it is a Christmastime MUST HAVE! Oh me oh my! It was forwarded to me from Latacha who got it from my friend Jackie Daley (I have to give them some credit)! Here is the recipe:


Peppermint Bark Popcorn
Recipe by Our Best Bites

16-20 C popped popcorn (fresh, or about 2 bags microwave popcorn)
1 lb Almond Bark
1 6oz box candy canes, crushed. (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best!)
2 tea. peppermint extract
3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

*one bag microwave popcorn has about 10 cups in it, so if you're air-popping, do about 20 cups.

Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.
Crush the candy canes and pour over popcorn. I pulsed them in my blender. Here is the note from the recipe giver:

Unwrapping the candy canes to crush them is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. I put my candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin.
One they're crushed, dump them into the bowl with the popcorn.

To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package. When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract. It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine. Pour over popcorn and candy canes.

Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed. Pour the popcorn out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer and leave it alone! While the popcorn is setting, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn. You can use a fork, or put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off.Leave it until the almond bark and the chocolate is hardened. If you need to hurry it up, do this whole process on lined cookie sheets you can pop in the fridge. When chocolate is hardened, use your hands to break up popcorn into chunks. Toss in a bowl, a jar, a cute package, or in your mouth :)

There you have it! Yum! Enjoy!