Snow Day

I got sent home from work today...The Hospital is closed except for "essential services." They even closed WSU, which never happens. So we staying snuggly inside. Its still coming down, and its not supposed to stop...ever! We're going to be in middle of Winter for the rest of our days.

But how do you go forward?

So Maeli has become a champion scooter...except she can only go backwards. More often than not she ends up stuck under the couch, or entertainment center...



STAND TALL BABY DOLL...
She's pulling herself up on everything, which has involved a lot of falling over, and bonking on things just a smidge shorter than she thought.

In Honor

Ice Fishing

A little late, but these are the highlights from when Dan came up to go ice fishing with Jeremy. They had lots of fun, and we loved having a Grandpa here for the weekend.

Ice Skating

Our stake had its annual ice skating activity last night. We invited my friend Amy and her family, her husband had to work, but she brought her three kids (plus a buddy). Her Son, Gabriel is a potential future boyfriend for Miss Maeli, and baby Maya will be a close friend once they're both a little bigger. Her oldest son Jacob, may be a potential babysitter...we'll see if we're here that long. The activity was lots of fun for us, Maeli seemed to get a little bored after a few times around the rink, and she stayed awake and smiley. And having the stroller made it a lot easier to really cruise and not fall down.

How to Make a Great Steak

First, Purchase Meat from "The Meat Guy." (This was our first time buying meat out of the back of a truck, but its the same kind of meat they sell at Costco, and we got to see each piece of meat we were buying, I was a little nervous about the whole idea, but everything we've eaten so far has been amazing).

Second, Carefully read recipe (We tried one of the recipes out of my new pampered chef 29 minute meals cookbook.

Third, Gather required tools and Ingredients (thanks to the women in my life (mom, Chanie, Sheila, Connie...etc) I had every single tool)

Fourth, Carefully read instructions for those tools you may not be familiar with

Fifth, with the utmost precision, follow recipe to the tee

Now, enjoy your feast, and remember to aways clean up the dishes.
"This is the best steak I've ever eaten" ~Jeremy McLain

Maeli Update

Maeli is getting so big so fast. She cut two teeth over the Christmas break (bottom front) and since then has become quite the binki baby (which we love). She loves to take baths and play with her Daddy. 9 month clothes are starting to get a little snug, but she's on the verge of crawling, so maybe she'll use up some of her cute little belly and they'll fit a little longer. If not, Brian and Sheila sent us home with 3 garbage bags full of bigger clothes...its so nice to have family!

She's spending a little more time with a babysitter this semester. our friend Tarah is watching her 2 hours a day M-F. So far it sounds like they're all still adjusting, but things aren't "too bad." I'm worried more about Tarah who has two kids of her own than I am about Maeli. It'll be good for her as she's gotten kind of clingy.

Snow

We returned to Pullman to find winter in all its glory. I'm still having mixed feelings about the snow, especially since I totaled the car. But our new car is a Ford Escape Hybrid, and it has handled really well so far. We're both really happy with it.

Christmas

Maeli and "Uncle" Roberto
Daddy helps Maeli open her first present on Christmas morning.
We had a great Christmas break. We got to see a lot of family, although it seems there is never enough time to give everyone the quality time we'd like to. Christmas Eve was spent with the McLain Family, although we didn't get to see as many sisters there as we usually do it was pretty fun. Christmas morning with the Brames was great too. Santa was great to us all around. Maeli got the hang of unwrapping gifts and had lots of fun with all the tissue paper and boxes.
Jeremy also gave her a chocolate covered pretzel, which was a big hit.