Our Family Project

This week's Table Time Tuesday is a recipe I tried back in July when I got my Kraft Food & Family magazine. I used leftover grilled chicken for my filling. We also put sour cream atop our enchiladas and I really liked it that way. Anyway, here's the recipe: What you need: 1 small onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, minced 4 cooked small chicken breasts (about 1 lb.), shredded 1 cup salsa, divided 4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, cubed 1 Tbsp. chopped cilantro 1 tsp. ground cumin 1 cup shredded cheddar & monterey jack Cheese, divided 8 flour tortillas How you do it: Preheat oven to 350°F. Heat large skillet spayed with cooking spray on medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min. Add chicken, 1/4 cup of the salsa, cream cheese, cilantro and cumin; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally. Add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese; mix well. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla; roll up. Place, seam-side down, in ...

I was talking to my sister recently while she was at work, and while we were talking Maryanne started to fuss a little bit. My sister starting oohing and aahhing at all of the baby sounds. Next thing I know, she's telling me that she put me on speaker phone so all of her coworkers could enjoy the baby sounds. It got me thinking that my family won't get to hear Maryanne at all since we probably won't be out to visit for a while. So, here's a little video of Maryanne coping with the hiccups.

I got a request to post lots and lots of pictures of Maryanne. Babies change so much just within the first month or two ... and since we live out in the middle of nowhere, without any family near us, I'm going to post as many pictures as I can for everyone to see Maryanne growing and changing. Those of you who really don't care will probably get sick of all the pictures. But, for those of you who do care ... ENJOY!

Andrew holding Maryanne, or as he affectionately calls her, "Kara" Today at lunch the children were talking about nicknames for Maryanne: Eliza: My nickname for Maryanne is "Annie." Andrew: Well, I call her "Kara." Eliza: Who's Kara? Andrew: My girlfriend. Kate: Andrew you're too young to have a girlfriend. Andrew: No I'm not. Eliza: Yes, you are. Andrew: Well, I want a girlfriend. Me: Andrew, you can have girls that are your friends, and friends that are girls; but, you are too little to have a girlfriend that you hug and hold hands with. Kate: Yeah, but I'm not. You have to wait until you're as old as me.

I saw this shirt on another blog ... and just had to share it!

Adam turned three-years-old today. It's hard to believe that he is three! I don't know if I just haven't noticed within the last few months, but just recently ... well, okay ... since Maryanne arrived ... Adam's personality has blown up! He is very talkative, and says some of the cutest things (from the mouth of 3yo, but from anyone older they are really annoying and rude). One that comes to mind is when he says to his siblings, "Sorry. Poo, poo" and then he giggles. Anyway, since he is only three years old; I'll share eight of his favorite things (since he turned three in 8th year of this century). Adam's favorite ... 1. Toy: Anything Lightning McQueen 2. T.V. Show: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 3. Movie: Cars 4. Food: Fruit 5. Color: Green 6. Thing to do: Play with Shaving Cream 7. Treat: Pop Tarts 8. Game: Go Fish Here's Adam holding his cake. Funny story: I asked him all day long what he wanted for his b-day dinner and his response every time was, ...

Last night we were watching a video we got from my in-laws for Christmas. (Adam decided yesterday morning that he just couldn't wait for Christmas, those presents were calling to him. [Maybe he'll get it out of his system tomorrow when he unwraps his b-day presents.] So, he unwrapped his present, Kate's present, Eliza's present, and the family gift [which was the video] that we got in the mail from my in-laws on Saturday.) After we were done watching the video, Jon was able to snap this picture of our oldest and youngest daughters together. Aren't they just precious like this? Just a little story about Maryanne and her hair. Everyday I look at her hair in amazement. She has way more hair than any of our other children had at her age, and it is light brown instead of the white blond that we are used to. But, the most fascinating thing about her hair is that she already has natural highlights. Each time the nurses switched shifts, the new nurse would comment on Mary...

Today I recorded my children singing Happy Birthday to their grandpa; and, while I was uploading it to You Tube I started looking at all of the other videos I had on there. I came across this one from March and just thought that I enjoyed watching it all over again so much that I had to share it again.

Yes, it's Finished Projects Friday. I'm posting my two recent finished projects. In fact, they were both finished within hours of each other. In respective order, the first project is my sister's Christmas gift. She knows this is coming ... she helped to pick out the fabric when she was here visiting in September. So, I figured it was okay to post it on here. My sister (who works in graphic design) definitely has an eye for colors and patterns. I never would have put these two fabrics together, but she picked them out and voila! They look great together! My second project was finished only three or four hours after the first. (Yes, Kristina, I was sewing your apron while we were on the phone Sunday.) You guessed it, it's Maryanne! Hee hee. I asked Jon to take a picture of me in the apron for Finished Project Friday and he said I should have my picture taken with Maryanne and call it Finished Projects Friday. Anyway, here are just a couple more pictures of...

Wow, pictures with our camera are so much better than with our camcorder! Here's Jon holding Maryanne yesterday. Please excuse the socks on her hands ... they really are socks, although they do look like casts or something. (Just trying to keep the scratching down to a minimum. Speaking of scratching ... Adam wouldn't come near Maryanne in the hospital because he was convinced she would scratch him. He held her for the first time Wednesday night. And, I think he's still scared of her; he doesn't go near her very much at all. I'm sure he'll warm up to her though.)

Meet Maryanne Jon mentioned that I'd give a more detailed account of our morning. So, here's the slightly-longer-than-Jon's version of what happened. I woke up around 2 or so with contractions. I had three contractions before I decided to get up (I was hoping to slow down labor by lying down since it was really early and I didn't want to wake up our neighbor that early). When I got up Jon woke up and I told him I was having contractions. I hadn't timed them yet, so I wasn't sure if it was time to go to the hospital. I had two more contractions and they were two minutes apart, then my water broke. That's when I turned around and told Jon that we had to go to the hospital right away. (From experience, when my water breaks the baby is born within minutes.) So, I called our neighbor and Jon called Labor & Delivery. Then, we got in the car and when we got to the hospital I felt my first urge to push while I was changing. They got the ER doctor up to my room ...

This morning Maryanne Debra Hill was born at 2:41. She weighed in at 7 pounds 6 ounces; with a length of 19.5 inches. Marisa and the baby are doing well. Maryanne has more hair than any of our other children did as newborns. We'll post some pictures and video shortly. Thank you to all for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes. By the way, labor started around 2:05 a.m. The nurses called a her a "rockstar". I'm grateful I was home and not 45 miles away at work. A special thanks to Nikki Branson and Erin Currie for their kind help this morning. Marisa will likely post a more detailed account of our early morning adventure in the next few days. Regards, Jon

Me and Andrew, a few weeks ago after playing soccer in the playroom When my sister first suggested I start writing a blog I wavered on the fence for a long time wondering what I could have to blog about that would be interesting to others. I'm so grateful that I decided to start my blog because Andrew has certainly given me enough to blog about (especially within the last month or so). Plus, I'm so grateful to have a place to instantly write about and remember the precious things he does and says. Tonight was his turn for family prayer. Usually he gets a little caught with the phrase, "And we could." So, a typical prayer goes something like this: "Heavenly Father, thank Thee we could play, and we could {pause}, and we could. ..." Tonight, however, I was reminded of what it is like to be a little child and to feel grateful for the little things. His prayer was pretty close to this: "Heavenly Father, thank thee we can be healthy; and we could. And for lo...

This is actually a project I finished last Saturday, but haven't taken the time until now to post it. I was inspired by my friend, Rivka , last year when she posted a picture of the stockings that she made for her family. (That's something you'll learn quickly about my projects ... rarely do the ideas behind them originate from my cranium.) Anyway, I decided then and there that I was going to make us some stockings for this Christmas. The fabric I actually bought two years ago, and barely had enough to make the seven stockings I need for this year. (Actually, I was able to cut out eight stockings ... which turns out to be good because I definitely needed an "oops" stocking.) I pieced together my squares and then took my square of fabric to my local quilt store to use the quilting machine there. It's an awesome deal ... if you quilt a lot. Basically, the deal is that once you take the class to learn how to use the machine you can come back and rent the machine ...

Jon and Adam at the State Fair, 2008 Have you ever had a moment with someone when they say something that totally blows you away? That moment happened last night when Jon and I were talking while getting ready for bed. For months and months he's been telling me that he'd made a certain decision, and practically begged me to agree with him. I finally did and had fully embraced his opinion on the matter. And then, last night he turned the tables on me and pretty much said that he had almost changed his mind into the opposite direction! I was floored! At first I just laughed because I thought he was joking. Um, no. He wasn't joking at all. He went on to explain himself even further and now I find myself actually laughing at the whole situation because our roles are completely reversed now. I find it so strange that one brief five minutes of time can alter the course we take so drastically and completely.

Today is Table Time Tuesday! I know, I know, I haven’t posted a new recipe is two weeks. That’s why this post is just called: Pasta! A few years ago, my friend’s husband (who served a mission in Italy) taught me how to make two different pasta sauces. I’ve already shared one (I call it: Chunky Red Pasta Sauce), and now I’ll share the other one (of course with my modifications), plus one of my own creation. This first one is an alfredo sauce (or as my family calls it, “white sauce”). If you like alfredo sauce, this is the sauce for you! Well, that is if you want to gain a few pounds. It is rich, creamy, and THE BEST homemade alfredo sauce I’ve ever had, if I do say so myself. We prefer it over the bottled sauces you can buy in the store. And, when I’m in a time crunch, or I just can’t think of anything to make for dinner, I make this and it’s on the table in at least 20 minutes, sometimes sooner. ALFREDO SAUCE What you need: ¼ cup butter 1 clove garlic, minced or chopped finely ¼ cup fl...