Dress Up, Turkey, and Decking the Halls

Oh, December. Nice to see you again. You snuck up on us this year, but we are looking forward to cozy nights inside around our glowing tree.

Our Thanksgiving this year was wonderfully simple and delicious. We decided to break the trend of doing Thanksgiving with all of Marty's family and just had a day at home with the four of us. It was especially touching to sit in our own home with our beautiful girls and truly give thanks for all the incredible blessings our Heavenly Father has given us. I so often feel that I do not deserve all that we have. With all of the quiet time in preparing the food and taking naps there was a lot of time for reflection and meditation. I went to bed that evening with my heart overflowing with thanks. There was so much more to savor that day than food, and that is how I hope it will always be.

I have to admit that I also loved carrying on the traditions that I remember so well. I woke up in the morning to fry the bacon for my mom's (passed down from her mom's) stuffing recipe. As I cooked down the celery and onions in the drippings and added spices, all the feelings of warm Thanksgiving mornings under my parent's wings came into my mind. I love how intricately smells are connected to memory. I have also loved all these days after of turkey leftovers. Now that is one bird that knows how to feed the masses.

Aside from the holidays, life has just felt particularly sweet lately. I have been feeling over the last month or two like I can finally manage to take care of my children AND my housework--not just one or the other on any given day. I've also felt like the whole Mary/Martha complex is in balance right now. I have been finding more ways to be spiritual everyday while still being able to maintain our home. I suppose I should really say that I have been more willing, so the Lord has helped me find better ways to balance all the details of motherhood that you slowly discover. And again, I am left to feel like I don't deserve all that I have.

But enough of my thoughts, here is the real bread and butter: pictures of the girls!

Dorothy is very into dressing up lately. I am very into capturing every silly moment to make her embarrassed when she is older.

The Goose just keeps getting more beautiful and wonderful with every day. How can your heart just keep getting bigger with every baby? Mine feels so full of love it is likely to burst some days.

Did I mention that Dorothy is into dressing up?...even when it hinders her ability to walk.

We have a great new family in our ward with kids right around the same ages. Bastian and Lucy are only a week apart, so we have fun watching them hit milestones together. Oh, how I love kissing those sweet baby ears that stick out at ever such a cute angle from Lucy's head!

And we went ahead and put out our Christmas decorations already. I was feeling the Christmas spirit and was amazingly able to pass it on to my sweet husband who insisted that decorations are for December only. What's a few extra days? And just look at how much joy this girl gets from her "snow snow."

1. Kristi's quick and safe delivery of baby Sienna.

2. Preparing for a new season.

3. A date with my hubby to Harry Potter.

I knew someone could say it better...

After my thoughts the other day, I found this quotation:

"The best things are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of God just before you. Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things of life."
~Robert Louis Stevenson

Thank you, Robert Louis Stevenson. I needed that.

1. The Conference issue of the Ensign
2. Finishing the Book of Mormon as a Family
3. A peaceful and Calm heart

Helen Keller once said...

something along the lines of: "I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but my duty is to accomplish humble tasks as if they were noble and great."

I was thinking about this quotation the other day and feeling very much like my life consists of a long string of humble tasks that I try ever-so-hard to feel are noble and great.

However, I then had an "ah-ha!" moment, and a glorious lightbulb shone. My duty is to take care of my family and raise my children in righteousness. What more noble and great tasks could there be? If I am able to accomplish these two things, then I truly will feel that I have lived a life of greatness. So bring on the sinks full of dirty dishes, the sad cries of Dot at 2am, the goat milking, the endless vacuuming-up after a toddler--I'm ready for greatness!

Keeping Busy

We have been BUSY bees this fall,
but it has been a wonderful sort of busy.

This weekend we celebrated the 10 year anniversary
of the dedication of this beautiful building:

We have a lot of sweet memories at the Boston Temple
including our marriage in 2008.
Marty and I were lucky enough to speak at a Youth Devotional
and we loved having the girls on the grounds.
Dorothy was especially enchanted by the Temple.


We also took a family trip to Walden Pond to get some fresh air
(much needed after a sick and rainy week at home).

I love coming to visit Walden.
I'm hoping to make it a fall family tradition.

Dorothy hanging out with Auntie Eva--
my little bohemian child. Not surprising.

Apple picking with Aubrey, Char, and the mini Char.

Finishing up some fruit bars on a warm fall day.

Lots of walks when the weather cooperates.

And can you guess what one of the favorite
forms of entertainment has been at our house?
Who knew pumpkins were so versatile.

1. The Temple
2. Healthy Children
3. No School on Columbus Day!

The Weekend

What a busy and marvelous weekend!

We packed up Friday evening and drove to PA

to spend the weekend with my sister, Eva, doing THIS:

87 quarts of applesauce to enjoy until next fall.

We are full of fall fruit goodness.

We are also full spiritually from a wonderful

General Conference.

It was hard to catch everything with the kiddos

and making sure the applesauce got done,

so I look forward to listening to and reading

the talks again.

But it really was a wonderful conference.

I loved all the focus on

following the Prophet,

using our free agency for good,

improving and understanding our own faith,

and being grateful.

Oh, how wonderful to feel so FULL!

1. more food storage

2. inspiring words

3. some cool weather--finally!

Fall

I walked in from milking the goat this evening to the smell of roasted butternut, garlic, and sage. The air outside had started to cool down and the warmth of the house was inviting, especially mixed with fall scents.

I love this time of year. However, this year it feels even more satisfying. For one thing, I'm not morning sick for the first fall in two years! WOOHOO! I'm also feeling more satisfaction out of the harvest this time of year brings. I didn't do as much in the garden as I had hoped, but I look at the ever growing pile of winter squash and root vegetables and feel proud--and safe. We have food to eat for at least a few months.

I've been working hard to keep to my local foods pledge. We have frozen up kale, tomatoes, tomato sauce, green peppers, broccoli, shredded zucchini, rhubarb, peaches, blueberries, strawberry freezer jam, and all sorts of local meats. In a few weeks we'll be canning up applesauce. We're so grateful for all of our fresh milk, and we're amazed at how much can still come in from the garden. Oh, the wisdom of braising greens, winter squash, and root vegetables. I'm hoping that we'll get through to January on mainly local produce. We may need to supplement some non-local onions, garlic, and carrots. Our goal is to make it even further next year until we see our asparagus poke it's nose through that gorgeous brown soil. We're feeling closer to and ever more grateful for this beautiful Earth and the corner of New England in which we have the priviledge of living.

1. sweaters
2. freezers
3. piano lessons

let's get away from goats for a while...

The goats are great,

but these people are perfect:)

Lucy continues to be a mellow, sweet baby girl.

She is getting up on her hands or knees,

but hasn't quite figured out how to do both at once.

I'm afraid she might be crawling before she turns 5 months old.

A typical moment at our house:
Lucy enjoying life; Dot getting ready to do some damage.

We're always ready for damage control:)

Can you believe how big she is getting?

Speaking of BIG--

we enjoyed every bite of our farewell to summer sundae.

Just a mama and her Goose.

Another failed attempt at a nice Sunday morning picture.

Dot officially enters nursery this week!

Another shot of my beautiful first born.

I love my family!

1. needing a sweater for our walk today

2. new young couples moving into our ward--

but we still want Allison and Kent back!

3. a boatload of winter sqush ready to eat on my back porch.