Thankfulness

Today as I was sitting at the computer table reading my scriptures, the computer screen saver turned on showing a slide show of all our pictures. I stopped reading to watch and felt an overwhelming feeling of Heavenly Father's love for me. I thought of all the blessings he's given my family and me. All the hard times, worries, fears, and heartache drift away at times like these when we stop and think of our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Take time to be thankful:)

Mr. Mischief

I know what you're thinking... no way, he's way too innocent! Yes he is innocent, but also mischievous!!! When we leave the room for a second, we come back to find him on top of the computer table with the mouse on his head, or playing in the dog's bowl of water and eating her food! To top it all off, when we tell him the doggy food is yucky, he laughs and puts more in his mouth!!! All we can do is laugh because he is just so darn cute no matter what he does! I am struggling about what to do when he bites me, however! I give him a stern face and a scolding "NO" and show him in sign language that it hurts... but he just giggles and tries to bite me again! We even do a 1-min. time-out and that doesn't work either. He doesn't bite Chris much because Chris just ignores the negative behavior. I have a hard time ignoring it because I'm a big baby and can't ignore pain, plus when he starts biting others, they certainly won't ignore the biting! I don't know what to do and am open to suggestions!!!

No veggies? No problem!

Do you have anyone in your family who doesn't like veggies? Well, here is an easy, freezable, recipe that will save the day! I got my idea from wholesomebabyfood.com but changed it so much that now I'm claiming it as my own...

Veggie Nuggets:

2 16 oz bags of frozen veggies, cooked, drained, and chopped
2 cups wheat germ or whole wheat baby cereal
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375
Coat baking sheet with olive oil
Combine ingredients and mix well
Make each nugget the size of a small fist full
Bake for 25 minutes

Recipe makes about 45 nuggets.

I put these nuggets in baggies with three in each bag and freeze them. Then when Hyrum needs some veggies with his meal I give him a couple of these nuggets. Or when I don't have time to cook, this is an instant healthy meal for him! His favorite veggie nuggets use a bag of frozen broccoli and a bag of mixed veggies (corn, carrots, peas, green beans).

THIS IS NOT ONLY FOR BABIES!!! Everyone likes them:)

Prayer-learning

Hyrum is picking up on the sign language I've been teaching him and attempts to say the words also! We're trying to teach him to fold his arms when we pray and say "Amen" at the end. I always wondered when a good time would be to teach a child to pray. I realized that a child is never too young to start understanding the pattern of prayer and understanding the importance of it as it is done regularly in the home. A few days ago Hyrum folded his arms for the first time during our prayer! We try to make it quick for his attention span- he's only 13 months old after all:) I'm pretty sure at the end of the prayer I could make out the word AMEN from his sweet little lips! Oh what a joy!

Our Trip

We drove to Colorado with Chris's parents for an early summer getaway! What beautiful weather they have there! By the time our trip was over, we were all convinced into moving to Durango:)

Our Family

Our cute son Hyrum is 8 1/2 months old now! He climbed the stairs almost all the way to the top yesterday. He's really making his way up in the world! He is always happy and loves exploring and pulling himself up on things around the house. Chris just finished his last class today! He took 24 credits this semester and taught seminary at Red Mountain High School for the first two periods of the day. Chris is currently going through the process of applying for PA school so he can attend in a year from now. As for me (Elise), I am rounding up students to take piano, voice, and violin lessons from me, beginning this summer! I have loved staying home with Hyrum this year! It has been the greatest blessing. I've been learning sign language so I can teach him baby signs. He hasn't signed back yet, but he will soon at the rate he is going.