Well, for some of us anyway. We have officially entered Eric’s busy season, so it seems like we always just hunker down and try to get through January-April.  We don’t really have much going on. My Mom is coming up to visit in a couple of weeks to help me potty-train Logan (finally, I know!), and then the boys and I will leave Eric and head down to Twin Falls, ID to visit our good friends, the Harmons.  But until then, we are alive and we see Eric every once in a while, so we know he is alive too.

Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago of Logan and his cousin Natalie playing in the snow, and Logan and Emmett in their cardboard house that they got for Christmas.

All I can say is that Christmas with kids is so much more fun than without! It seems like it has been Christmas everyday for almost a week! Logan has been asking everyday since we put up our Christmas tree if it is Christmas day yet. Then, we finally got to say “Logan, it’s CHRISTMAS DAY!! And then every day since, he wakes up saying, “Today is Christmas Day!”

We have been super busy, as I am sure everyone else has been too. We have had Eric’s WHOLE family in town this year (all 16 of us. 12 adults and 4 kids) and it has been so much fun! It is like a party every night! They are a pretty crazy group! It has been a wonderful Christmas full of fun, family, love, special moments remembering Jesus Christ and His birth and mission. What a wonderful time of year!

5 years ago today we got married in the Snowflake, Arizona Temple. I tell you, it really was a great day. All sorts of things went wrong ( I lost my engagement ring while getting ready, we were late to the temple, Eric looked so nervous that I was afraid he was going to take off, our cake almost fell over, and the cinnamon rolls that we had for the reception were rock hard), but I don’t ever remember being happier. I was so happy that day(and it turns out that Eric wasn’t THAT nervous).

I have to tell you all that I am the luckiest girl in the world. 5 years ago I met Eric and somehow talked him into marrying me. He is my best friend. He loves me. He makes me want to be better. He makes me feel safe. He is a wonderful father. He makes me laugh. I can’t wait for him to come home everyday. He does the dishes even though he hates it.  He folds mountains of laundry with me. He keeps all our technology in working order. He gives the boys baths and changes diapers. He works so hard. He’s my partner. I am more myself with him than with anyone else. Marrying him was the best decision I have made.  These have been the best five years of my life. I love him like crazy.  Happy Anniversary!

who has been asking me to post pictures of the quilt I am working on. This is my winter project. It takes me a long time, I have been working  on this one for over a month and all I have are these 30  5 1/2 ” squares. The colors are green, brown and yellow, with a little purple being thrown in later. Anyway, here you go Mom!

So to start the Christmas season off right, we got a REAL Christmas tree! Since our First Christmas, Eric and I have had a SAD little artificial tree and after last year, I refused to put it up again. So we decided that we would try going the natural route this year. And I think I am hooked. I love it! Our Christmas tree makes me so happy. And it makes Logan even happier than it makes me. He has a serious, undying love for Christmas trees.

We have also been busy with MANY Christmas parties. Here are pictures from the Moss Adams Kids Christmas Party where Logan and Emmett got to see Santa! Emmett was NOT sure what to make of this crazy guy!

Then, today, we had our first big snowfall of the season! We got about 3-4 good inches and Logan was so excited to go play in it. He went out first thing this morning, before it was even really light out, to help Eric shovel the driveway.

and then we had hot chocolate with whipped cream for breakfast. A Waite tradition. Grandpa Jay should be proud!

Emmett slept in and missed all the snow time fun. But he was still pretty happy!

Gotta love the Christmas season! Only 10 more days!

Eric: Logan it is time for bed. (said for the 53rd time of the night)

Logan: NO!!!! (running down the hall)

Eric walks calmly down the hall to get Logan.

Logan: (kind of muffled) Daddy, I’m hiding in your closet!

Thanks for making that easier Logan, but I don’t think you really get the point of hiding.

For a long time now, almost a year I think, I have been making our own bread. My sad attempt at cutting back so we would have a little more money for other things. So for the past year, every week, I have made 2-3 loaves of bread. While they are FABULOUS on the first…and even the second day, the love just seems to die. After the first day, my bread just gets HEAVY and since we use it mainly for sandwiches and such, heavy is not good. And Eric complains that we have to cut it ourselves and neither of us can cut a straight line to save our lives. A valid complaint.

So on Saturday, I decided to test it out. We were at Eric’s parents house, watching the BYU football game, and I ate a piece of store-bought bread. Oroweat 100% whole wheat bread to be exact. It was good. It was light and soft and it was precut. It had been sitting in the drawer for at least a couple days and it still tasted great. Not as good as the first day of homemade bread, but pretty close. I can’t make good 100% whole wheat bread. It comes out like a brick. And although Eric and I are constantly in debate over the necessity of eating wheat bread instead of white, I think it is healthier and worth it. But I can’t bake a good 100% whole wheat loaf.

So I give up. It is back to store-bought bread for me. I will still bake bread occasionally, because it is SO GOOD on that first day. And i am glad that I learned how to make my own bread, for provident living purposes. But I think I am done.

I love holidays. I love just about every holiday. When I was in high school, my friends and I used to give each other Ground Hogs Day gifts. It’s true. We were a little strange, but we had fun.

My thinking is that anything that brings a little extra fun to an otherwise normal day is alright by me. I like to plan our meals around the holiday too. You know. Corn beef and cabbage with green cupcakes for dessert on St. Patrick’s Day kind of thing. I just think it’s fun.

That being said, I don’t really like Halloween. All that candy makes me uncomfortable. Oh and kids that are way too old to be trick-or-treating coming to my door and taking my candy that would otherwise go to cute little monkeys and spidermen (in essence, stealing candy from children) is a little creepy, and irresponsible. And I hate the constant begging from my three-year-old in the days after.

So as not to sound like a complete old and grumpy spinster, Halloween in a genuine holiday, and as such, deserves a LITTLE bit of my love. So we celebrated. And I did have fun.

We started the day with orange colored waffles for breakfast and “spooky hot dogs” for lunch(see the food theme coming out?).  Then after the boys’ naps, we got dressed up ( Logan as a very dashing Super Why Emmett as an adorable turtle) and went trick or treating at Eric’s parent’s house. Then we went home to give away some candy. Eric and Logan went out trick-or-treating while I stayed home and made homemade pizza for dinner (a Waite family tradition). By the end of the we were all pooped. And we did have a good time. Even Halloween is better than just a regular old day, I guess.

On our last road trip we decided we needed a little more storage space in the garage to get things organized and get the cars back in for winter. We thought we’d save a little money and turn it into a “man project.” I don’t do a whole lot of man projects…you won’t catch me under the hood of the car, I don’t own any guns, and if any of my tools have any dirt on them it is more likely that it is from collecting dust than from actual use.

I accepted the task to build shelves and attacked it just like any other…I went to the internet. I found some pictures of shelves that we liked that looked simple enough for even a number crunching accountant to build and I went to work.

The old shelves got taken apart temporarily to become my work bench.

I know there’s some technical name for these horizontal 2×4’s attached to the wall, but I just call them “horizontal 2×4’s attached to the wall”

And the finished shelves … well, almost finished. Can you spot the missing piece?

We even got the cars back in the garage.

I feel compelled to express the love I have for this most wonderful of seasons. I love everything from September 21st (or 22nd depending on the year) to Thanksgiving day. As soon as I see those school buses rolling around town, I dearly anticipate the cooler temperatures and the coming of Autumn. I love everything about it. I love the brown/golden/crimson leaves that drift across the road as I drive. I adore pumpkin everything, soups, turkey, sausage and cornbread stuffing, apple pie, oatmeal and cinnamon rolls. My heart skitters as I pull out my sweaters and long sleeved shirts from the storage box and place them in the forefront of my closet. My palate yearns for mushrooms sauteed in butter and cinnamon on apple slices. After all the crisp and green flavors of the summer, I am seriously craving some down and dirty comfort food. Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes, baby.

I have amazingly good memories of Fall. When I was in school, I used to love the first day of school. I loved putting on all my new clothes and meeting up with friends and new teachers. In college, I was the only person I know who looked forward to buying books for my classes. In explanation, I was an English major so most of my textbooks were novels. So buying books at the beginning of the semester was really like a sanctioned free-for-all at Barnes and Noble. Pure heaven. I have five beautiful pumpkins on my porch. Three from our garden and two from a friend’s garden that for some reason, turned yellow instead of orange. I love them. Even the gloomy rainy days of autumn make me happy. I have a lasting memory of the first day of school in first or second grade, running to the buses at the end of the day through a torrential storm. It was fun and I was happy. I had two little baby boys in the month of October, so all the happy and tired memories of those unforgettable life experiences have seeped into my seasonal adoration as well. Heck, I even love cold and flu season. Okay, that is a lie. I was just checking to see if I had lost you.

Anyway, my love runs deep. Fall, for me, is like crawling into a warm, downy bed with the love of your life at the end of a long and satisfying day. Joyful.

So, I am trying to pass all this Autumn lovin’ on to my posterity. We went back to the big red barn for another go at the hay maze and pumpkin patch. We brought along two beautiful little girls and their parents. We went on a hay ride.

And I made Apple Pie from scratch. What a great day.